RFP_Scope_of_Work.pdf

2026-2031 RICAPS Technical Assistance RFP

Exhibit A Scope of Work

1. Scope Intent and Desired Outcomes

The County of San Mateo seeks a consultant or multidisciplinary consultant team (Consultant) to provide technical assistance, coordination, planning, analysis, and implementation support for the Regionally

Integrated Climate Action and Adaptation Planning Support Climate Collaborative (RICAPS) during the

2026–2031 contract term.

RICAPS is currently funded by WestLight Energy (formerly Peninsula Clean Energy), the City/County

Association of Governments of San Mateo County (C/CAG), and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) via the San Mateo County Energy Watch local government partnership. RICAPS provides technical assistance to help San Mateo County’s 21 jurisdictions (20 incorporated cities and the unincorporated areas) meet their climate goals. Launched in 2011, the program has historically provided support for developing and collaboratively implementing climate action plans and tracking progress via community greenhouse gas inventories. During the next contract term, the County aims to integrate support for climate adaptation and resilience, explore multidisciplinary, cross-sector partnerships with community partners (i.e. community-based organizations, academic institutions, private corporations, community leaders, etc.) and expand collaborations with other public agencies to advance RICAPS implementation efforts and empower communities.

The County intends this Scope of Work to be:

• Specific enough to obtain comparable proposals and pricing for core services;

• Flexible enough to allow annual workplan refinement based on RICAPS and County priorities, participant needs, funding opportunities, and emerging issues;

• Broad enough to support jurisdictions, County departments and community partners with varying levels of capacity and readiness; and

• Open to improved methods, tools, service models, and multidisciplinary partnerships proposed by respondents.

The County seeks a Consultant that can help achieve the following outcomes:

• Expand cross-jurisdictional and cross-sector collaboration and advance scalable regional initiatives;

• Design and institute a strategic partnership and governance plan to engage leadership of government, non-profit, and academic partner organizations to advance shared goals;

• Empower equitable collective impact through tiered support offerings for local governments and community and non-profit partners based on varying needs;

• Provide actionable, high-quality technical assistance to help RICAPS participants and community partners identify emission reduction and resilience project opportunities and support collaborative implementation;

• Support RICAPS participants and community partners in identifying and securing short- and long-term funding for climate action and adaptation/resilience community empowerment, and other related initiatives.

Annual workplans will be developed collaboratively by the selected Consultant and County staff each year of the term and may be modified based on County direction at any time.

NOTE: Please refer to the page limits listed on OpenGov to ensure proposals are not disqualified for exceeding the page limit. Proposers should use the limited space to clearly identify any unique approaches, recommended innovations, and/or proposed augmentations (i.e. additions or deletions) that would strengthen delivery of the requested services under this RFP. To conserve page count, please reference the applicable Scope of Work task numbers without fully restating or reproducing the Scope of Work text.

2. Core Required Services

Task 1. Program Management, Coordination, and Facilitation

The Consultant shall provide ongoing program management, coordination, and facilitation support for

RICAPS.

1.1 County coordination and strategic support

The Consultant shall:

• Participate in regular and ad hoc project management meetings with County staff;

• Provide strategic guidance, progress updates, issue identification, and recommendations for future actions;

• Support planning and coordination across the overall RICAPS program and its priority work areas;

• Support development of strategy to expand participation by non-profit, community-based, academic and private sector partners in RICAPS to meet shared goals and community needs; this includes developing a Partnership and Governance Strategy to engage executive leadership of participating organizations and identify partner roles, and expanding participation with additional support offerings for highly engaged participants.

• Co-develop a program Equity Strategy with County staff, jurisdictions and community partners establishing tiered program offerings based on category (e.g. mitigation vs.

adaptation/resilience, community engagement) and need (e.g. staff capacity, community demographics, risk; and

• Support development of annual priorities, sequencing, and workplan adjustments.

1.2 Participant and stakeholder coordination

The Consultant shall:

• Participate in meetings with local jurisdictions, County departments, community partners and other RICAPS stakeholders to understand needs and opportunities;

• Support local government staff and community partners in collaborative, climate-related problem-solving, coordination, and decision making;

• Support coordination across jurisdictions and sectors where shared approaches or joint action would improve efficiency or impact.

1.3 Facilitation support

The Consultant shall support facilitation of meetings with RICAPS participants. Meetings may be proposed and approved by the County, or proposed by the Consultant and approved by the County.

These meetings may include but are not limited to:

• Collaborative-wide meetings (up to 12 including eight virtual and four in-person per year);

• Strategy development meetings (e.g. Partnership and Governance Strategy, Equity Strategy, Funding Strategy, etc.);

• Implementation working groups meetings;

• Topical or issue-specific meetings; and

• Other meetings necessary to support program goals.

Support may include, but not be limited to, agenda development, meeting design, slide deck preparation, background materials, identifying and coordinating with speakers, facilitation support, notes or action summaries, follow-up actions, and related coordination.

1.4 Annual planning and progress reporting

In coordination with County staff, the Consultant shall prepare annual planning and reporting materials for the RICAPS program, including:

• An Annual Plan that outlines proposed priorities and metrics, key workstreams, regional initiatives shortlist (described in Task 3.3), anticipated technical support activities for mitigation and resilience, and actions to implement the Equity Strategy (described in Task 1.1), Funding

Strategy (described in task 4.1) and Partnership and Governance Strategy (described in Task 1.1) and associated budget for all items;

• A Mid-Year Progress update to discuss Strategy metrics, progress on priorities, workstreams and support activities and review actual vs. expected expenditures and projections through the end of the year;

• A Year-in-Review Report summarizing status of activities outlined in the Annual Plan, results of the Annual Participant Survey, accomplishments, lessons learned, emerging needs, funding pursuits, projects in development, implementation barriers and recommendations for strategic adjustments; and

• Other reporting deliverables identified by the Consultant and approved by or requested by the

County.

1.5 Project tracking and work management support

In coordination with County staff, the Consultant shall develop and maintain a shared, dynamic project tracker, dashboard or similar management tool to track:

• Progress across tasks and workstreams and associated costs;

• Metrics related to RICAPS Strategies (i.e. Partnership and Governance, Equity, Funding, etc.);

• Upcoming milestones and dependencies;

• Regional/multi-city collaborative initiative opportunities and related metrics;

• Consultant capacity planning and workload management; and

• Other status or metrics as requested.

1.6 Knowledge management and resource sharing

The Consultant shall support knowledge management for the collaborative, which may include but would not be limited to:

• Maintaining and organizing shared program resources;

• Supporting County staff in managing the SharePoint library or a similar resource platform;

• Identifying opportunities to improve access to and use of shared materials, tools, and references; and

• Supporting peer learning and cross-jurisdictional and cross-sector information exchange with members and community partners.

1.7 Participant feedback and network evaluation

The Consultant shall support the assessment of participant and community partner experience and collaborative effectiveness at least annually, including but not limited to:

• Development of a plan for surveying participants and community partners or otherwise evaluating the experience, satisfaction, information exchange, perceived program effectiveness and opportunities for future program enhancements;

• Development of survey metrics and targets;

• Preparation of survey materials;

• Support for administering the surveys; and

• Analysis and reporting of survey results

Deliverables for Task 1

Deliverables may include, but are not limited to:

• Partnership and Governance Strategy

• Equity Strategy

• Annual Plan

• Mid-year Progress Update

• Year-in-Review Report

• Project Tracker/dashboard

• Meeting agendas, facilitation materials, and action summaries for the up-to-12 full RICAPS convenings and other meetings proposed by the Consultant and approved by the County

• Updated resource library organization and knowledge-sharing materials

• Participant survey administration plan

• Participant and community partner surveys

• Annual summary of participant and community partner experience and program effectiveness

• Other deliverables identified by the Consultant and approved by or requested by the County

Task 2. Climate Action, Adaptation, and Resilience Technical Assistance

The Consultant shall provide technical assistance to support climate action, greenhouse gas emissions reductions, adaptation, resilience, local hazard mitigation plan implementation, and implementation work across the RICAPS program ecosystem, including County departments, local jurisdictions, implementation groups, community partners and other parties as identified by the Consultant, jurisdictions, and/or community partners, and authorized by the County. Technical assistance should support current and future risks such as extreme heat, flooding, wildfire smoke, drought, public safety power shutoffs, and related infrastructure disruptions. Sea level rise support is provided by One

Shoreline.

2.1 General technical assistance

The Consultant shall provide technical support for climate-related planning and implementation activities, which may include but would not be limited to:

• Needs assessments for climate action, adaptation and resilience;

• Support for identifying, planning and implementing projects at jurisdiction, countywide, and/or community/neighborhood scales that align with:

o Local Hazard Mitigation Plan actions o Capital project needs and budgets o State/federal grants o Regional, State and Federal requirements and related planning expectations o Partner-led mitigation and/or resilience opportunities o Other local and regional planning documents

• Support for leveraging existing program resources, especially those provided by the Bay Area

Regional Energy Network (BayREN), WestLight Energy, and the San Mateo County Energy Watch program;

• Technical issue analysis and strategy development;

• Assisting jurisdictions in setting goals and developing impactful policies and plans;

• Supporting local government staff and community partners in communicating technical concepts, strategies, and proposed policies to decision-makers and stakeholders;

• Analysis of costs and benefits of recommended measures, projects, initiatives and co-benefits;

• Other climate action, adaptation, and resilience technical assistance identified by the Consultant and approved by or requested by County staff.

2.2 Implementation group and topical support

The Consultant shall support technical working groups associated with RICAPS implementation priorities and working groups. These may include, but are not limited to:

• Building electrification;

• Transportation mode shift;

• Electric vehicle charging;

• Climate bond and funding coordination;

• Resilience and adaptation;

• RICAPS Strategies implementation;

• Other implementation-focused topics identified during the contract term.

Support may include but would not be limited to facilitation, technical analysis, strategy development, policy and program research, coordination support, decision support, and preparation of implementation materials. See Section 5 reference documents for examples of implementation group work products.

2.3 Adaptation and resilience integration

The Consultant shall support the County’s expansion of RICAPS beyond mitigation to include adaptation and resilience as a program priority, with emphasis on implementation readiness, environmental justice, and nature-based solutions. This may include, but would not be limited to:

• Helping integrate adaptation and resilience strategies into RICAPS priorities, tools, plan templates, and technical assistance offerings;

• Establishing and implementing resilience and adaptation elements of the Equity Strategy and developing tiers of support based on local hazard priorities and need;

• Supporting jurisdictions, community partners and County departments in identifying adaptation and resilience strategies and advancing implementation, including but not limited to:

o Resilience and adaptation education, outreach, and engagement for community empowerment o Funding explorations o Preliminary project scoping through procurement material preparation for capital projects o Regional collaboration opportunities o Reviewing and recommending modifications to budgeted capital improvement projects for grant readiness

• Identifying and sharing best practices from adaptation and resilience-related groups operating regionally and beyond;

• Translating adaptation and resilience concepts into practical actions for local government and community partner use with framing relevant to a variety of audiences.

Deliverables for Task 2

Deliverables may include, but are not limited to:

• Technical memos;

• Policy and strategy briefing materials;

• Implementation support materials;

• Capital improvement project budgeting, plans, descriptions, procurement and other capital project deliverables;

• Decision-support materials for local government staff;

• Technical presentations or explainers;

• Topic-specific analyses for implementation groups;

• Cost studies and analyses of impacts and co-benefits;

• Other deliverables identified by the Consultant and approved by or requested by the County.

Task 3. Shared Tools, Data, and Technical Products

The Consultant shall support the evaluation, maintenance, modernization, and development of shared

RICAPS tools, data resources, and technical products.

3.1 Greenhouse gas inventories

Every other year, the Consultant shall develop community and municipal operations greenhouse gas emissions inventories for all 21 San Mateo County jurisdictions (including a community inventory of unincorporated areas and municipal inventory of County operations) and a countywide community inventory, consistent with best practices and County direction.

3.2 Existing tool assessment and improvement

The Consultant shall evaluate existing RICAPS technical assistance tools and recommend which tools or methods should be maintained, updated, consolidated, retired, or replaced based on program needs, usability, current best practices, and available science.

Existing tools and methods include (see Section 5 reference materials):

• Climate action plan template;

• Climate action plan menu of measures;

• Greenhouse gas emissions inventory methodology;

• Emissions reduction measure quantification tools;

• Implementation support tools and related technical references.

3.3 Countywide Climate Action Plan analysis and carbon neutrality progress assessment

The Consultant shall support the 21 San Mateo County jurisdictions in understanding their combined progress towards countywide carbon neutrality and identifying opportunities for collaboration. This may include, but would not be limited to:

• Developing and then utilizing annually an implementation progress evaluation framework to gather information on the status of work completed by the 21 San Mateo County jurisdictions on their adopted climate action plans;

• Developing annually a shortlist of multijurisdictional initiatives to advance countywide climate action with clear implementation concepts, projected costs and impacts, and grant pathways;

• Preparing a countywide carbon neutrality progress memo forecasting scenarios for 2030, 2045, and 2050 using existing CAP measures and current implementation statuses and identifying synergies, gaps, and opportunities for regional coordination for mitigation and sequestration initiatives.

3.4 New tool development

The Consultant may develop new tools and/or suggest using other available technical resources to meet evolving RICAPS needs, subject to prior approval from the County. Examples may include, but are not limited to:

• Countywide emissions tracking dashboard concepts;

• Countywide resilience risk/needs and adaptation opportunities assessments for facilities, infrastructure, services and community resilience asset and adaptation opportunities maps with vulnerability, equity, and service continuity considerations;

• Resilience and adaptation project development tools with project concept sheet templates, pre-feasibility analysis calculators, and implementation roadmaps

• Community, County and local jurisdiction resilience and adaptation project prioritization dashboards;

• Funding tracker and project/partnership evaluation criteria;

• Emissions reduction quantification tools;

• Higher-resolution transportation or VMT emissions data approaches (i.e. aggregated and anonymized GPS/mobile device, real-time transportation data with associated backcasting through previous inventories);

• Building inventory tools;

• Other decision-support or implementation-support tools.

• The County is interested in practical, scalable tools that improve usability and decision-making, not merely the replication of legacy products.

3.5 Communications materials

The Consultant shall develop communications materials that make complex climate topics more understandable for RICAPS participants, community partners and other designated stakeholders.

This may include but would not be limited to:

• Concise explainers;

• Visual summaries;

• Technical memos;

• Presentation materials;

• Implementation guidance;

• Stakeholder-facing summaries, as authorized by County staff;

• Other materials identified by the Consultant and approved by or requested by the County.

3.6 Tool and resource utilization tracking

The Consultant shall support tracking and reporting on use of program tools and resources by participants, where useful for program improvement, funder reporting, and annual planning.

Deliverables for Task 3

Deliverables may include, but are not limited to:

• Community and municipal operations greenhouse gas emissions inventories every other year

(inclusive of unincorporated county community emissions and County operations);

• Combined Countywide greenhouse gas emissions inventory every third year, including scenario analysis for 2030 / 2045 / 2050;

• Countywide carbon neutrality implementation progress assessment memo;

• Annual shortlist of multijurisdictional initiatives;

• Jurisdiction and agency interview summary and methodological appendix;

• Countywide resilience needs assessment and asset map;

• Project development tools;

• Resilience and adaptation project prioritization and/or progress tracking dashboard;

• Funding database and project suitability evaluation framework;

• Updated planning tools and methodologies;

• New tools or prototypes, as authorized;

• Utilization summaries for tools and resources;

• Technical memos and explainer materials;

• Communications materials authorized by County staff.

Task 4. Funding, Grant, and Implementation Readiness Support

The Consultant shall provide support to improve implementation readiness, research funding models and pursue funding opportunities aligned with RICAPS and County department priorities, with particular attention to adaptation, resilience, nature-based solutions, and implementation of local hazard mitigation plans.

4.1 Long-term funding strategy

The Consultant shall support identification and development of funding models, and tracking and reporting of specific opportunities relevant to RICAPS priorities, local jurisdictions, County departments and community partners. The Consultant may support County staff in assessing how pilot initiatives, tools, cohort models, and implementation approaches developed through related RICAPS and County department efforts could be integrated into the long-term collaborative structure, annual workplans, and partnership plan. Support may include coordinating with other consultants to integrate high-level recommendations for governance, staffing, sequencing, funding pathways, and alignment with partner priorities.

This may include but would not be limited to:

• Reviewing and reporting on relevant capital expenditures budgeted for San Mateo County jurisdictions, state agencies and other organizations within San Mateo County;

• Stakeholder engagement: hosting meetings, interviews or focus groups with stakeholders in San

Mateo County to further understand funding needs and challenges;

• Fundraising strategy and resource mapping which includes assessing the various public and private funding mechanisms available to support climate-related, hazard mitigation, resilience hub, and nature-based solution projects to produce a funding mechanism comparison matrix.

These may include green banks, bonds, philanthropic donations, climate resilience districts, market-based revenue generation and private capital;

• Developing a Fundraising Strategy Memo: A financial assessment exploring various public and private funding mechanisms, regional case study examples and implementation plan;

• Developing a Collaborative Programmatic Integration Plan: A roadmap detailing how to permanently fold the Funding Strategy and recommendations from studies completed by other parties and/or consultants into RICAPS;

• Coordination with other consultants working on behalf of the County and support for trainings/workshops and integration of findings from ongoing studies and related initiatives; and

• Trainings and workshops for County departments, RICAPS participants, community partners and/or other parties authorized by the County tailored to the needs of the specific audience to support implementation; and

• Implementation support for completed plans and selected fundraising strategies.

4.2 Project scoping and implementation readiness support

The Consultant shall support development of project concepts, scopes, and related materials to help jurisdictions, County departments, community partners and other County-authorized parties advance mitigation, adaptation and/or resilience projects toward funding, capital planning, procurement, and implementation.

Support may include but would not be limited to:

• Developing project concept sheets, project descriptions, and scoping memos;

• Preparing preliminary project budgets, cost assumptions, sequencing considerations, and implementation roadmaps;

• Identifying project dependencies, data gaps, partner roles, and next-step technical, planning, or coordination needs;

• Reviewing and recommending modifications to proposed or budgeted capital improvement projects to improve alignment with grant, funding, or implementation requirements;

• Preparing capital project overviews, decision-support materials, and presentation materials for internal or external use, as authorized by the County;

• Preparing procurement-support materials for capital projects, including draft scopes of work, task descriptions, and related materials to support future solicitations, as authorized by the

County;

• Preparing materials to support pursuit of grants, capital planning, philanthropic support, private capital, public-private partnerships, or other funding avenues; and

• Coordinating with County staff and other consultants working on behalf of the County to strengthen project definition, funding alignment, and implementation planning.

4.3 Grant application support

At County direction, the Consultant may support County staff, jurisdictions, or designated leads in preparing and submitting grant applications. Support may include but would not be limited to:

• Reviewing funding guidelines;

• Scoping eligible projects;

• Preparing narrative and technical content;

• Coordinating input from relevant stakeholders;

• Coordinating with and supporting other consultants working on behalf of the County and authorized parties;

• Preparing draft and final application materials;

• Ongoing grant reporting and project management.

Deliverables for Task 4

Deliverables may include, but are not limited to:

• Funding opportunity tracking summaries and funding mechanism comparison matrix

• Project concept sheets

• Project scoping memos

• Preliminary project budgets, cost assumptions, and implementation roadmaps

• Capital project overviews and public procurement materials

• Procurement-support materials, including draft scopes of work and related solicitation materials, when authorized

• Draft and final grant application materials, when authorized

• Grant compliance/reporting documentation

• Partner coordination support materials: Concept proposals, introductory letters, templates, slide deck tailored to regional foundations and private capital.

• Collaborative Programmatic Integration Plan

• Documentation from stakeholder engagement meetings, interviews or focus groups

• Fundraising Strategy Memo and regional case study examples

• Trainings and workshops

Task 5. Capacity Building, Training, and Communications Support

The Consultant shall provide training, workshops, and related capacity-building support to help County staff, local jurisdiction staff, implementation groups, and County-authorized community partners to advance climate action, adaptation, resilience, and implementation work.

5.1 Training and workshop development

The Consultant shall design and deliver trainings, workshops, clinics, briefings, or similar capacity-building activities based on County direction and participant needs.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

• Climate action planning and implementation;

• Adaptation and resilience planning and implementation, including hazard mitigation, nature-based solutions, and community resilience strategies;

• Effective public speaking and presentations for varied audiences;

• Storytelling and communications;

• Community outreach and empowerment strategies to meet community needs;

• Partnering with community-based organizations and community partners generally;

• Data analysis;

• Capital improvement program project development;

• Technology tools, methods, and practical tips;

• Explanation of technical issues and initiative benefits to align with priorities of various stakeholders and decision-makers;

• Other technical or implementation topics identified by County staff.

5.2 Communications support

The Consultant may support communications related to climate action, adaptation and resilience initiatives, including development of materials that help participants communicate complex issues and co-benefits clearly and consistently.

Deliverables for Task 5

Deliverables may include, but are not limited to:

• Training agendas and materials

• Workshop facilitation materials

• Technical briefings

• Communications support materials like newsletters and website content

• Summary notes or follow-up resources from trainings and workshops

Task 6. County Government Operations Support

The Consultant will provide support for County-specific government operations climate action and resilience implementation planning services.

6.1 Government operations implementation plan support

In coordination with County staff, the Consultant shall review and revise the County’s government operations climate action plan with the goal of preparing an actionable implementation plan.

This work may include but would not be limited to:

• Developing a Government Operations Climate Action Plan (GOCAP) Implementation Roadmap that includes prioritized actions, timelines, sequencing, roles and responsibilities;

implementation barriers and recommendations; near-term pilot project recommendations; and implementation tracking tools and performance metrics.

• Identifying and prioritizing near-term implementation opportunities and pilot projects, and providing technical assistance to support selected efforts, including project scoping, partner coordination and progress tracking;

• Developing a Co-Benefit Assessment and Reporting Framework, including methodologies, performance metrics, and reporting tools to identify, quantify, track, and communicate the environmental, financial, operational, and community benefits of implementation actions across

County departments and the organization.

• Developing implementation tools, guidance, and management systems to support ongoing

County-led action and establish performance metrics and a reporting framework to monitor and communicate progress.

6.2 Mission-Critical Fleet and Facility Resilience Planning

The Consultant shall conduct a resilience study focused on the County’s mission-critical fleet vehicles, charging infrastructure, facilities and backup power needed to ensure essential operations can be maintained during grid outages, extreme heat, smoke events, flooding disruptions, and other emergency events.

This work may include but would not be limited to:

• Developing a Mission-Critical Fleet and Facility Resilience Plan that includes facility prioritization, emergency energy needs assessment, critical load planning, backup power technology evaluation, site-specific resilience recommendations and operating procedures, implementation priorities, and funding considerations.

• Identifying mission-critical fleet vehicles and prioritizing energy generation and storage for up to six associated facilities based on emergency operational need, fleet size, near-term electrification plans, and site characteristics;

• Conducting department interviews to assess emergency energy requirements, minimum vehicle and facility availability needs, operating continuity expectations, and existing backup capacity under short, extended, and prolonged outage scenarios;

• Evaluating critical load planning and backup power technologies at prioritized facilities (e.g., battery storage, solar + battery, fuel cell, vehicle-to-building, generators), including cost estimates, site feasibility, and relevant funding opportunities;

• Developing site-specific emergency operating procedures covering vehicle prioritization, charging protocols, and restoration procedures;

6.3 Carbon Sequestration Methodology and GHG Inventory QA/QC

In coordination with County staff, the Consultant shall develop a methodology for quantifying carbon sequestration from County climate-smart strategies implemented in County parks and other nature-based settings and conduct quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) review of the County’s municipal operations GHG inventory, building on the County’s Parklands Carbon Sequestration and Co-benefits

Analysis. The analysis identifies opportunities to increase carbon storage on County parklands through climate-smart land management practices, prioritizing strategies that provide greenhouse gas reductions while enhancing ecosystem and community benefits.

This work may include but would not be limited to:

• Developing a Carbon Sequestration Methodology and Integration Framework that includes sequestration calculation methodologies, pilot project identification with implementation recommendations, and data collection and reporting protocols for integrating carbon sequestration into future government operations greenhouse gas inventories.

• Reviewing data sources, methodologies, and calculations for accuracy and consistency across reporting years, and documenting QA/QC procedures, results, and process improvements.

Deliverables for Task 6

Deliverables may include, but are not limited to:

• Government Operations Climate Action Plan Implementation Roadmap

• Co-Benefit Assessment and Reporting Framework

• Mission-Critical Fleet and Facility Resilience Plan

• Carbon Sequestration Methodology and Integration Framework

Task 7. Additional related studies and on-call services

This task includes an annual budget of up to $50,000 per year for additional studies, initiatives, and/or work products requested by the County, or identified by the Consultant and approved in writing by the

County. Work may be completed by additional subcontractors identified by the Consultant if approved by the County.

3. Proposer-Recommended Enhancements and Innovation

The County welcomes proposer recommendations for service enhancements, new initiatives, improved delivery models, specialty partnerships (e.g. with community-based organizations, private corporations, academic institutions, economic development professionals, collective impact experts, health department personnel, mainstream news media and social media consultants, transportation agencies and/or community empowerment and resilience subject-matter experts), and strategic opportunities that could strengthen RICAPS over the 2026–2031 term.

Proposers are encouraged to identify ideas that would improve the program’s effectiveness, efficiency, flexibility, implementation orientation, and long-term value. The County is interested in thoughtful recommendations, including those that may differ from the current operating model or improve upon existing tools and methods, especially where they strengthen adaptation, resilience implementation, community partnership and empowerment, or hazard mitigation delivery.

Proposers may recommend innovations as:

• Enhancements/augmentations to core services;

• Optional task-order services;

• Phased initiatives;

• Pilot concepts;

• Partnership-based approaches involving subconsultants or specialty experts.

The County reserves the right to incorporate, defer, modify, or decline proposer-recommended enhancements.

4. General Scope Provisions

4.1 Annual workplan refinement

The selected Consultant will work with County staff to refine the scope and sequencing of work on an annual basis. The annual workplan may vary based on:

• County priorities;

• Jurisdiction needs;

• Funding availability;

• Partner coordination opportunities;

• Implementation timing;

• Emerging climate, resilience, hazard mitigation or policy issues.

4.2 Flexibility of service delivery

The County anticipates that the selected respondent may be a single firm or a multidisciplinary consultant team. Use of subconsultants or specialty partners is permitted and encouraged where it strengthens technical capability, facilitation, communications, adaptation/resilience, hazard mitigation, environmental justice or community partnership and empowerment expertise, or implementation support.

4.3 Representative, not exhaustive, examples

Examples of tasks and deliverables in this Scope of Work are intended to illustrate the nature of the services sought. They are not intended to create a rigid or exhaustive list of every assignment that may be requested during the contract term.

5. Reference Documents

I. Climate action plan template

II. Climate action plan menu of measures

III. San Mateo County countywide community greenhouse gas emissions inventory example

IV. San Mateo County Government Operations greenhouse gas emissions inventory example

V. RICAPS work product example 1: grid reliability explainer

VI. RICAPS work product example 2 – countywide electrification communications campaign

(developed in response to RICAPS participant feedback)

Task 7. Additional related studies and on-call services

5. Reference Documents