DRAFTPWSforSSWQSSB.pdf

DRAFT PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

Technical Support for Developing and Approving Water Quality Standards and Criteria

1. BACKGROUND

In the Standards and Health Protection Division (SHPD), under the Office of Science and Technology (OST) within EPA's Office of Water (OW), the National Branch (NB), and the Regional Branch (RB), have multiple responsibilities under the Clean Water Act of 1987 (CWA), as amended, and the BEACH Act of 2000. These include directing and overseeing the national program for adoption of water quality standards (WQS) and application of those standards to beach, fish and shellfish monitoring and advisory programs. In accomplishing this mission, the program provides management strategies, guidance, assessments, technical support and tools for use by States and Indian Tribes in developing their water quality standards programs. NB and RB also provide programmatic support for the implementation and evaluation of Water Quality Standards (WQS) by identifying, assessing and controlling risks to aquatic ecosystems.

The national WQS program engages in the following activities:

developing regulations, policies and guidance on WQS program development and implementation, providing and coordinating technical support for development, adoption, and implementation of water quality standards and criteria to States and Indian Tribes, including modeling and expert support, establishing national priorities for State and Tribal WQS programs, coordinating regional WQS reviews, approvals and disapprovals and national WQS promulgations, coordinating WQS information management and analysis, providing program related technical support, outreach, training, and education to

Regions, States and Indian Tribes and other stakeholders, providing technical support for implementing WQS including use attainability analyses, environmental assessments, economic and benefits analysis, and total maximum daily load (TMDL) calculations including use of geographic information systems, multi-media environmental fate, transport, and effects models, and water quality-based permitting, providing maintenance, development, and expert support for watershed, water quality, and ecosystem models both stand-alone and within a GIS-based decision support tool, providing technical support for developing and managing cross-media and multi-Agency policies to ensure standards and exposure goals are attained, and coordinating policies with our partners in other federal agencies to insure that all legal mandates are met.

2. PURPOSE

The purpose of this contract is to provide technical, analytical, and statistical support for the national WQS program in the following task areas. Various work assignments issued under this contract will have specific targeted audiences/users for the requirements.

providing source information (data and documentation) for reports, analyses, and summaries of WQS program priorities and implementation, generating modeling, economic, and statistical analyses for regulatory and policy options, developing technical guidance documents and reports, supporting OW’s and SHPD’s national and international environmental databases, which includes compiling and analyzing environmental data, supporting development of environmental assessments including creating inventories of contaminant sources, and determining effects of discharges on receiving waters, providing technical support for field sampling and laboratory analyses of pollutants, providing support for workshops, conferences and training, including logistical support, facilitation, expert speakers, meeting materials, meeting notes, and meeting evaluations, assisting in developing and providing public outreach and technology transfer documents and informational materials, supporting response to public comments, including compilation, categorization, and summarization, assisting in development and formatting of presentation materials for use in briefings for agency personnel, task forces, and public meetings, and conducting technical, analytical, and/or economic reviews on data and studies developed by OW and other EPA offices.

The resulting contract may be used, with the SHPD Project Officer’s permission and subject to the capacity on the contract, by related organizations in the Office of Water, and by other parts of the EPA, when those organizations require technical support within the scope of this

Performance Work Statement (PWS).

3. PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

The contractor shall supply all necessary labor, material, services, equipment and facilities in support of EPA as delineated below and as specified by work assignments issued by the EPA Contracting Officer (CO). The contractor shall be capable of preparing manuals, technical documents, web-pages, outreach materials, training, and workshop materials. The contractor shall perform multiple work assignments concurrently, and at times the work assignments will be of a quick response nature. The contractor shall provide draft documents or revised draft documents, created in response to work assignments, to the EPA Contract Level Contracting Officer’s Representative (CL-COR) and EPA Work Assignment Manager Contracting Officer’s Representative (WACOR) for review and approval prior to development, use, or dissemination of any final documents. The contractor shall provide technical editing services for all documents as directed by the EPA CL-COR/WACOR. For areas involving curriculum development, or preparation of technical instructional materials or presentation materials for use at workshops, symposia, training sessions, national meetings or conferences, the EPA CL-COR/WACOR will review and approve all materials and courses before presentation.

3.1. Program Analyses, Studies, and Reports

The contractor shall provide the source information necessary to assist the Agency in preparing reports, analyses, and summaries utilized in determining water quality standards program priorities and program implementation. The contractor shall provide data and documentation to be used by the EPA in its analysis of technical issues and options and in its preparation of written reports and documentation to support decisions about implementation of the water quality standards program. The contractor shall apply sound environmental planning and management concepts, a broad vision understanding of the program, and scientific and engineering principles to produce technical information including model and Better Assessment Science Integrating Point & Nonpoint Sources (BASINS) user support documentation, modeling results, and deliverables as specified in work assignments issued by the CO. Deliverables will include data summaries, technical reports, case studies, web-sites, and options papers or issue papers.

The contractor shall clearly describe and document in writing the data and information gathering activities; clearly display, characterize and interpret the data and information collected; and clearly explain the assumptions made, indicate the sources used and not used, report dissenting views, and clearly explain the methodological choices made both conceptually and in data selection. The EPA shall fully review all contractor analyses and will make final determinations with regard to program objectives and content of policy.

3.2. Technical Guidance Documents and Reports

The contractor shall provide technical support in the development of EPA technical guidance documents and reports. Such documents and reports shall include but are not limited to those that are prepared in support of the Agency's regulatory and non-regulatory requirements for implementing the requirements of 40 CFR Part 131, and associated requirements of the Clean Water Act, including section 406. Guidance documents and reports will focus on such issues as:

designated uses, water quality criteria development and review, antidegradation policy and implementation procedures, general policies such as mixing zones, low flow provisions, and variances, Endangered Species Act consultations, tribal water quality standard issues, and other policy support and program management areas to potentially increase efficiencies in the program.

3.3. National and International Environmental Data

The contractor shall provide technical support for compiling and analyzing the Office of Water’s and SHPD's national and international environmental databases, e.g., WATERS (Watershed Assessment, Tracking & Environmental Results) [http://www.epa.gov/waters], and STORET [http://www.epa.gov/STORET]. The Contractor shall identify and obtain requisite data layers to fully support watershed and water quality assessments and simulations. The Contractor shall download, and compile data in formats suitable for routine use by models and tools.

Additionally, the contractor shall analyze the data within these databases, as well as completing reports for national studies.

The contractor shall provide, when included in a work assignment, a complete and accurate translation of foreign language data. Translations shall be performed by experienced scientific translators well-versed in statistical, chemical, toxicological, or biological terminology, as appropriate. The contractor shall insure that there are no terminology or language usage ambiguities that make interpretation or analysis of the findings difficult. No translations shall be made without the prior written approval of the CL-COR.

3.4. Environmental Assessments

The contractor shall provide technical support in conducting environmental assessments in support of efforts to implement 40 CFR Part 131 and Clean Water Act section 406. These assessments may take many forms, for example:

conducting national inventories of point and non-point sources of contaminants, estimating environmental concentrations of pollutants released from point and non-point sources, compiling and analyzing point and non-point source contaminant discharge information, conducting analyses such as use attainability analyses and development of site-specific criteria in support of water quality standards, evaluating pollutant-specific environmental fate and effects, human and animal health effects and toxicology, determining effects of evaluated point and non-point source discharges on receiving waters, assessing watersheds using computer models to evaluate fate and transport of pollutants and their impacts on health and ecosystems, performing multimedia modeling analyses addressing fate and effects of multiple pollutants, or determining potential water quality impacts on organisms identified under the Endangered Species Act, and providing support for ESA consultations with the National Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - Fisheries.

3.5. Field Sampling and Laboratory Analysis

The contractor shall provide technical support for performing field sampling for pollutants to support site-specific criteria development and other water quality standards modifications. The contractor shall also provide support for performing laboratory analyses, including analytical chemistry and biological testing. The contractor shall have or have access to the facilities necessary to perform laboratory analyses.

Field sampling and analysis shall be performed in accordance with the requirements outlined in:

"Guidance for Assessing Chemical Contaminant Data for Use in Fish Advisories, Volume 1:

Fish Sampling and Analysis", EPA 823-B-00-007; "QA/QC Guidance for Sampling and Analysis of Sediments, Water, and Tissues for Dredged Material Evaluations", EPA 823-B-95- 001; “Methods for Collection, Storage and Manipulation of Sediments for Chemical and Toxicological Analyses: Technical Manual”, EPA-823-B-01-002,1 or other documents specified in individual work assignments.

If the contractor has no laboratory facility, the contractor shall have a plan in place to coordinate appropriate laboratory services when necessary, to access the facilities, equipment, and scientific expertise needed to conduct laboratory and field studies.

3.6. Workshops, Conferences, and Training

The contractor shall provide logistical support for a variety of meetings for EPA, other federal and state agencies, the regulated community, and the public, to support the implementation of the water quality standards program both in headquarters and in the regions and states. These meetings may include technical training sessions, workshops, technical assistance workshops, public fora facilitated negotiations, and conferences (whether live, interactive, web-based, or satellite-based).

Contractor support shall include:

arranging for meeting space (when federally-owned space is not available) and audio-visual equipment, preparing and formatting of EPA-developed agendas and advance information for attendees (such as background papers and logistics sheets), preparing visual aids, preparing case studies and interactive activities, preparing instructional or informational materials providing registration support, including on-line capability and sign-in check-lists providing instructors and facilitation support, providing on-site technical support, summarizing participant evaluations of meeting effectiveness and interpreting results, 1 Publications available at http://www.epa.gov/nepis/ preparing minutes, summary reports, and proceedings documents, facilitating strategy sessions with the regions, and training regions and states in the use of science tools.

The contractor shall also identify and provide speakers or technical experts, including logistical support for their attendance when they meet the requirements of specific contract performance.

The contractor shall arrange travel only in accordance with the authority and limitations in the Section H clause titled “Approval of Contractor Travel” (i.e., use of contract funds to reimburse travel is strictly limited to logistical support for speakers, scientists, and experts who contribute directly to the requirements specified in a work assignment).

3.7. Public Outreach and Technology Transfer

The contractor shall assist the EPA in developing public education, outreach, and technology transfer documents and information materials. The contractor shall also have the capabilities to develop web-based clearinghouses for a variety of water quality standards issues. Such materials shall be submitted to the EPA in draft for EPA review, recommendations and approval, prior to final preparation. Such materials shall be related to the PWS of this contract and developed for a public audience or specific stakeholders. All outreach materials shall conform to the guidelines described in OPA’s Policy and Implementation Guide for Communications Product Development and Approval (available on-line at www.epa.gov/productreview/archive/guide/index.html) and shall be submitted in draft to the CL- COR/WACOR for approval prior to issuance or use. The contractor shall provide technical editing services for all documents as identified in the specific PWS of the applicable Work Assignment(s).

The contractor shall also have the capability to conduct mass mailings and send mass e-mails, as specified in work assignments. As specified in each work assignment, all training and outreach materials may be developed in both printed format (e.g., documents, posters, pamphlets, newsletters) and electronically-readable format (e.g., CDs, disks, html for internet posting). For print products, the contractor shall provide a camera-ready copy and a copy on disk in a format that enables the material to be loaded onto the internet as needed. All materials shall be provided in accordance with the limitations set forth in the Section H clause titled “Printing” (EPAAR 1552.208-70).

3.8. Public Comments

The contractor shall compile, categorize, and summarize public comments on, and EPA responses to, draft and/or proposed rules, policies and guidance developed by EPA related to water quality standards and criteria. The contractor shall prepare a comprehensive index of comments for purposes of classification into categories. The contractor shall prepare a list with cross-references of all issues, as well as all supporting data and information.

Based on its analysis of comments, the contractor shall provide information to be used by the Agency to respond to comments; to improve regulatory and policy development; and to prepare rebuttal testimony or briefs for litigation and court review. For technical issues assigned by EPA, the contractor shall, based upon a thorough knowledge and understanding of the rulemaking strategy, or guidance, prepare cogent, accurate draft technical responses to comments including all relevant citations for review and approval by EPA personnel.

3.9. Presentations and Briefings

The contractor shall support the EPA in the development of presentations and briefings for use by agency personnel to present at task forces and public meetings. These presentations and briefings would discuss the results of scientific and modeling analyses, scientific and modeling methodologies, draft policies, and environmental and watershed assessments to support the development, revision, or implementation of water quality standards. Support shall include the preparation of presentation materials, such as posters, slides, inter and intranet sites, or briefing packages. All products or materials prepared by the contractor will be reviewed and approved by EPA. These activities shall only be performed directly in support of the requirements of this

PWS.

3.10. Review of Data and Studies

The contractor shall conduct technical, analytical and/or economic reviews of data and studies developed by the Office of Water and other EPA Offices related to the implementation of water quality standards and criteria. The contractor is precluded from reviewing data and studies which it assisted in developing to insure objectivity. Based on its reviews, the contractor shall provide comments and information for use by EPA officials to evaluate the soundness and defensibility of the technical approach or methodology used to develop the studies, and the effect of the data and studies on standards and exposure goals.

4. QUALITY SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

EPA policy requires all organizations conducting EPA-funded environmental programs to establish and implement a quality system. This is accomplished through a Quality Management Plan (QMP) that documents how the organization structures its quality system and describes its quality policies and procedures, criteria for and areas of application, and roles, responsibilities, and authorities. It also describes an organization’s policies and procedures for implementing and assessing the effectiveness of the quality system.2

All technical activities performed under this contract must be supported by the Contractor’s quality system and documented by the Contractor in a customized QMP that documents how the contractor will integrate quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) procedures and plans into the wide variety of technical activities contemplated in the PWS.

In addition, all individual projects under the contract that involve environmental data operations must be supported by a Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) that describes the quality assurance procedures, quality control specifications, and other technical activities that must be implemented to ensure that the results of the project to be performed will meet project specifications.

Requirements governing the customized QMP and QAPPs prepared in support of this contract are described below.

4.1 Customized Quality Management Plan

A customized Quality Management Plan (QMP) is a QMP that is tailored to the requirements in the PWS, explains how the organization’s Quality System will support those specific activities, and is prepared in accordance with EPA Requirements for Quality Management Plans.

2 The contractor shall annually review, and if necessary, revise this customized QMP to ensure it accurately reflects the contractor’s organizational structure and quality system throughout the duration of the contract and to ensure its content continues to be valid and applicable to the program over time.

4.2 Quality Assurance Project Plans

EPA’s Quality Policy requires that an approved Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) be in place before commencing any work that involves the collection, generation, evaluation, analysis, or use of environmental data/information. The work to be performed by the Contractor under this contract involves such activities.

The Contractor shall prepare and submit a programmatic Quality Assurance Project Plan

2 See EPA Order CIO 2106.0 - EPA Quality Program Policy; EPA Order CIO 2105.0 (formerly

5360.1 A2) - Policy and Program Requirements for the Mandatory Agency-wide Quality System, May 2000; and EPA Requirements for Quality Management Plans (QA/R-2), March 2001 (Reissued May 2006), EPA/240/B-01/002.

(PQAPP) upon the award of the contract. A PQAPP is used to describe, in a single document, information that is not site- or time-specific, but applies throughout the program (i.e., contract).

Application-specific information is then added to the approved programmatic QAPP as that information becomes known or completely defined. This may be accomplished through the use of:

Supplemental QAPPs (SQAPPs) prepared for individual work assignments, which are designed to supplement the approved PQAPP with the additional detail needed to describe the specific goals and objectives of the project or tasks supported under the work assignment and the specific QA strategies and technical activities that will be employed to support the objectives of the work assignment project or task

- OR-

Traditional QAPPs prepared for individual work assignments, which are designed to serve as stand-alone documents that focus on the goals, objectives, QA strategies, and technical activities needed to support a single work assignment or project.

Note that while the customized QMP documents an organization's management system for the environmental work to be performed under the contract, the programmatic QAPP documents the technical QA/QC elements needed to support the environmental work that will be performed under contract. Supplemental and traditional QAPPs also document the technical QA/QC elements needed to support the environmental data operations that will be performed, but they do so at the work assignment or project level, rather than at the contract level. Note: Because the programmatic QAPP is prepared as a contract-level document, it is understood that the details (e.g., specific objectives, analytical methods, and/or acceptance criteria) of specific projects may not be known. In such instances, the contract-wide programmatic QAPP should document the Contractor’s procedures for defining and documenting this information for specific projects or work assignments.

To support requirements specified in the EPA Quality Manual for Environmental Programs (CIO 2105-P-01-0), (1) the Contractor's programmatic QAPP for this contract must specify that all major deliverables (e.g., Technical Support Documents, Study Reports, Study Plans, etc.)

produced by the Contractor under this contract will include a discussion of the QA/QC activities that were or will be performed to support the deliverable, and (2) this discussion will provide a sufficient level of detail to support EPA’s use of the data. Note that the PQAPP is an umbrella QAPP; therefore, the QA/QC activities to be discussed in major deliverables includes those performed in the PQAPP and in any supporting documents (SQAPPs, Study Plans, SOPs, etc.).

EPA policy requires that an approved QAPP must be in place before any environmental data operations begin. Accordingly, the Contractor shall not incur any billable costs for work that involves the collection, generation, evaluation, analysis or use of environmental data under the contract, unless those activities are covered under an approved PQAPP, SQAPP, or traditional QAPP, or unless those activities are merely administrative.

All QAPPs prepared under the contract, including the PQAPP, shall be reviewed at least annually to ensure their content continues to be valid and applicable to the program over time.

Previously approved QAPPs that do not specifically address all of the environmental data operations performed under the Work Assignment, or that were prepared under a different contract, will require revision and resubmission for approval.

Unless EPA has accepted arrangements to the contrary, any QAPP that is approved by EPA for a Work Assignment issued under this contract will be considered by EPA to be available in the public domain and may be distributed by EPA to the public. (See the discussion of “Data Quality Act/Information Quality Guidelines Requirements” above for alternative arrangements.)

The Prime Contractor shall ensure that all parts of the organization performing work, including subcontractors (including consultants), are responsible for implementing the approved PQAPP and any other QAPP that has been approved by EPA to support an individual Work Assignment issued under the contract. The Prime Contractor shall also ensure that all personnel involved in the work have access to the latest approved version of the QAPP and all other necessary planning documents applicable to the work they are supporting.

The Prime Contractor shall ensure that all personnel in the organization, including subcontractors (including consultants), who are involved in each individual work assignment and task, understand the technical and QA requirements applicable to their function prior to the initiation of data collection, generation, evaluation, analysis, or use activities.

The Prime Contractor must ensure that all personnel, including subcontractors, who develop and review QAPPs prepared in support of this contract have the experience and educational credentials to understand the relevant issues.

The Contractor shall provide all QAPPs prepared under this contract to the EPA WACOR in electronic form in both a word processing file and a PDF file. When preparing QAPPs under this contract, the Contractor shall do so in accordance with the following documents:

U.S. EPA QA/R-5, EPA Requirements for Quality Assurance Project Plans, March 2001 (reissued May 2006). EPA/240/B-01/003. http://www.epa.gov/quality/qs-docs/r5-final.pdf

U.S. EPA QA/G-5, Guidance for Quality Assurance Project Plans, December 2002, EPA/240/R-02/009. http://www.epa.gov/quality/qs-docs/g5-final.pdf

The contractor also may be asked to comply with other guidance when preparing QAPPs for specific types of activities such as the use of existing data, modeling, environmental assessment cost-benefit analyses, economic or environmental surveys, monitoring, generation of GIS data, biological assessments, etc. Examples of such additional QAPP guidance include:

U.S. EPA QA/G-5M, Guidance for Quality Assurance Project Plans for Modeling, December 2002, EPA/240/R-02/007 (http://www.epa.gov/QUALITY/qs-docs/g5m-final.pdf)

U.S. EPA Guidance on the Development, Evaluation, and Application of Environmental Models, March 2009, EPA/100/K-09/003 (http://www.epa.gov/crem/library/cred_guidance_0309.pdf)

Guidance available in the in New England Regional Library Quality System Documents (http://www.epa.gov/region1/lab/qa/qualsys.html); see Modeling and Use of Secondary Data

Guidance)

U.S. EPA QA/G-5S, Guidance on Choosing a Sampling Design for Environmental Data Collection for Use in Developing a Quality Assurance Project Plan, December 2002, EPA/240/R-02/005 (http://www.epa.gov/QUALITY/qs-docs/g5s-final.pdf)

U.S. EPA QA/G-5G Guidance for Geospatial Data Quality Assurance Project Plans, March 2003, EPA/240/R-03/003 (http://www.epa.gov/QUALITY/qs-docs/g5g-final.pdf).

4.3 Reporting Quality Assurance Progress

When an approved QAPP is in place for any Work Assignment issued under this contract, the contractor shall be required to include Statements of Quality Assurance Progress in the contractor's monthly progress reports from the time of QAPP approval until the final deliverable necessitating the QAPP is accepted by EPA.

The contractor shall also furnish a Quality Assurance Report (QAR) at the time a final technical support document or other final document is provided. The QAR may be a section or chapter of the final document. The QAR will be submitted for review and approval by the WACOR to document the contractor's QA/QC of the technical effort to produce a defensible deliverable. The contractor can anticipate including the QAR with other deliverables of the Work Assignment.

The WACOR will specify the format the contractor must follow for preparing the QAR in the individual task of the PWS.

5. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS

All work performed under this contract shall adhere to clause EPAAR 1552.211-79 “Compliance with EPA Policies for Information Resources Management,” which requires the adherence to all Agency directives for performance of any IRM related work. The following is a list of EPA websites where guidance documents may be found.

IRM Policies, Standards and Procedures [http://www.epa.gov/irmpoli8/]. The 2100 Series (2100-2199) of the Agency's Directive System contains the majority of the Agency's IRM policies, standards and procedures.

Registry of Environmental Applications and Data (READ):

[http://iaspub.epa.gov/sor_internet/registry/systmreg/home/overview/home.do] A contractor developing or enhancing an information resource shall first conduct a thorough search of existing information resources, through means such as READ, to ensure development/enhancement of information resources does not duplicate existing information resources. If duplication is determined, the contractor shall consult with EPA project officer to ensure that existing information resources are optimally utilized in conjunction with information resource being developed/enhanced by the contractor. For any development/enhancement of information resources, the contractor shall work with EPA on inserting/updating resource description information in READ.

Monitoring information in STORET [www.epa.gov/STORET]. Any ambient water quality, chemical, physical, biological, sediment, tissue and ecological monitoring data collected as part of a contract or grant or cooperative agreement activities must be entered into STORET or made available to EPA using the Water Quality Data Exchange Schema (WQX) National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) Indexing [http://www.epa.gov/waters].

Data related to OW programs that is required to meet the EPA Latitude/Longitude Standard shall also be indexed to the NHD, using EPA OW standard formats available on the WATERS website [http://www.epa.gov/water]. Exceptions include groundwater data and data that are related to points greater than two miles from the United States coastline.

The WATERS website describes EPA tools and training that are available for NHD indexing.

Data Standards and Environmental Data Registry (EDR) [http://www.epa.gov/edr].

Contractor shall adhere to Trading Partner Agreement (TPA) Data Exchange Templates (DETs) and data standards detailed in EPA’s EDR. This includes any development/enhancement of information resources, as well as any data products flowing to or from EPA information resources. (Information Resources include systems, databases, and models/web applications that utilize information in OW systems and databases.)

Environmental Information Management System (EIMS) http://www.epa.gov/eims. A contractor developing or enhancing an information resource shall first conduct a thorough search of existing information resources, through means such as EIMS, to ensure development/enhancement of information resources does not duplicate existing information resources. If duplication is determined, the contractor shall consult with the EPA project officer to ensure that existing information resources are optimally utilized in conjunction with information resources being developed/enhanced by the contractor. For any development/enhancement of information resources, the contractor shall work with the EPA on inserting/updating resource description information in EIMS.

National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) indexing http://www.epa.gov/waters. Data related to OW programs that are required to meet the EPA Latitude/Longitude Standard shall also be indexed to the NHD, using the EPA OW standard formats available on the WATERS website. Exceptions include groundwater data and data that are related to points greater than two miles from the United States coastline. The WATERS website describes EPA tools and training that are available for NHD indexing.

6. DATA QUALITY ACT/INFORMATION QUALITY GUIDELINES

REQUIREMENTS

The Data Quality Act (also known as the Information Quality Act) requires EPA to ensure that influential information disseminated by the Agency is sufficiently transparent in terms of data and methods of analysis that the information is capable of being substantially reproduced. To support compliance with these data transparency/ data reproducibility requirements, EPA may include quality assurance project plans (QAPPs) and deliverables prepared by the Contractor as part of any rulemaking record documentation to be made available to the public. The Contractor may claim information in QAPPs as confidential; if the Contractor chooses to do so, the Contractor shall submit a sanitized (i.e., public) version and an unsanitized (i.e., confidential) version at the time the QAPP is submitted for approval by EPA. The sanitized version shall be included in the public docket for the applicable rulemaking (or other docket record), and the unsanitized version shall be included in a non-public (i.e., confidential) portion of the docket (or record).

Information contained in the approved QAPP and other documents prepared by the Contractor for dissemination by EPA shall be transparent and reproducible and meet the requirements of the Data Quality Act for influential information. EPA’s Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity, of Information Disseminated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA/260R-02-008, October 2002), referred to as “EPA’s Information Quality Guidelines,” describe EPA procedures for meeting Data Quality Act requirements.

Section 6.3 of EPA’s Information Quality Guidelines indicate that “especially rigorous robustness checks” should be applied in circumstances where quality-related information cannot be disclosed due to confidentiality issues. Where applicable, the Contractors should indicate which results were obtained using the tools (e.g., standard operating procedures, checklists, and guidelines) that the Contractor designates as confidential so that the EPA WACOR can easily identify the areas that shall require rigorous robustness checks and document that those checks have been performed. At the discretion of the EPA WACOR, the Contractors may be requested to prepare pre-dissemination review checklist as described in Section 5.5, Information Quality Guidelines, of the Office of Water Quality Management Plan, February 2009 (or as updated). If this is required, the EPA WACOR shall notify the Contractor through written technical direction.

7. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Executive Order 12898 (Environmental Justice) directs federal agencies to focus on minority and low-income populations in implementing their programs, policies, and activities. Consistent with the Agency’s continuing commitment to environmental justice and fair treatment of all people, the contractor shall notify the EPA project officer of minority and low-income populations, as well as populations with differential patterns of subsistence consumption of fish and wildlife, likely to be affected by a program, policy, or activity associated with work done under any resultant contract. Additionally, when directed by EPA, the contractor shall identify any disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of the program, policy or activity of concern on these populations.

8. PERFORMANCE BASED REQUIREMENTS

The requirements contained in this contract are considered performance-based, focusing on the Agency’s desired results and outcomes. The contractor shall be responsible for determining the most effective means by which these requirements will be fulfilled. In order to fulfill the requirements, the contractor shall design innovative processes and systems that can deliver the required services in a manner that will best meet the Agency’s performance objectives. This performance-based requirement represents a challenge to the contractor to develop and apply innovative and efficient approaches for achieving results and meeting or exceeding the performance objectives, measures, and standards described below.

The Contractor’s performance will be reflected in the positive or negative evaluation offered by the Agency in the Past Performance Evaluation (PPE) which is evaluated annually (per the Past Performance Evaluation clause in the contract). In issued work assignments, the Performance Objectives shall be designated as “Tasks” specified within the scope of work. In cases where Tasks (Performance Objectives) and minimum Acceptable Quality Levels (AQLs) are not being met, the contractor will make every effort to immediately correct the problem to ensure customer satisfaction. If the problem is systemic, the contractor will submit a plan of corrective action to the CL-COR and WACOR.

Each WACOR shall submit a complete annual review of the areas outlined in the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP), included as an Attachment to the resulting contract, which will then be utilized by the CL-COR in preparing the overall evaluations submitted annually in response to the PPE requirements in the contract. The past performance evaluation scoring will take into consideration the successes, shortcomings, and corrective actions associated with meeting the performance standards delineated in the QASP.