Attachment_1_-_PWS_Final.DOCX

ATTACHMENT 1 PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

ECONOMIC, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND REGULATORY ANALYTICAL AND EVALUATION SUPPORT

I. BACKGROUND

The Office of Water (OW) of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for implementing the National Water Program. Major components of the National Water Program include the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), Human Health Recreational Criteria and/or Swimming Advisories, the Water Quality Standards Program, managing nonpoint source pollution, the Urban Waters Program, and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program, in addition to other statutory and programmatic requirements and objectives on which EPA works with states, territories and tribal governments to protect and improve water quality both at the tap and in the environment.

OW conducts a wide range of economic and environmental analyses to meet its statutory, programmatic and Executive Order (EO) requirements. In addition to implementing the CWA and the SDWA, OW participates in multimedia program activities conducted by EPA offices under other environmental and administrative statutes and regulations. OW conducts broad-based projects that use environmental assessments; human health risk assessments; cost-benefit analyses, both retrospective and prospective; comparative economic analyses; regulatory flexibility analyses; information collection such as survey research and related analyses; and regulatory analyses. Economics-related analyses include, but are not limited to, costing analyses; financial analyses; regulatory impact analyses; cost of illness and willingness to pay for reductions in morbidity and mortality; total benefits (including use and non-use benefits) analyses; stated preference surveys; and economic components of environmental justice analyses and other distributional analyses, including the cost of regulations. Environmental analyses include, but are not limited to, surface and ground water-related human health impact analyses, aquatic ecosystem impact analyses, environmental modeling of fate and effects of pollutants discharged to surface and ground water, human health risk assessments of contaminants that may affect the quality of public drinking water, geographic information system analyses of pollutant transport and impacts to human health and aquatic ecosystems, development and use of toxic weighting factors (TWFs), and environmental assessment components of environmental justice analyses and other distributional analyses.

This PWS describes OW’s requirements for economic and environmental assessments, and for regulatory, analytical, technical, and evaluation support needs to meet the requirements of the CWA and SWDA, other programmatic requirements, Executive Orders and statutes such as the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), Small Business Regulatory Fairness Act (SBREFA), and Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) among others and, as appropriate, other Agency-wide initiatives and policies.

National industrial discharge regulations, known as the effluent guidelines program, historically has been one of the larger programs under the CWA. The Engineering and Analysis Division (EAD) within OW’s Office of Science and Technology (OST) is the lead division responsible for developing effluent guidelines, and is therefore, the lead organization for this contract.

While the primary purpose of this contract has been to support the economics mission of OW/OST, under this PWS, the contract’s mission will be to support economic analyses and environmental assessment work that falls within the scope of this PWS and is conducted more broadly across the National Water Program including by other OW offices, such as the Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water (OGWDW), the Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds (OWOW), and the Office of Waste Water Management (OWM). In addition, while certain of the basic tasks of this PWS are similar to tasks in the PWS of the previous contract supporting economic and environmental analysis for the effluent guidelines program in OW, such as conducting economic and environmental analyses summarized in draft and final reports, this PWS also describes requirements for several new types of analyses.

II. PROGRAM AREAS

The contractor shall perform tasks, as specified by individual performance work statements (PWS) included in task orders issued by the Contracting Officer (CO) and managed by the Task Order Contracting Officer Representative (TOCOR), in the following general program areas:

· Regulations and guidance documents for implementing the CWA, SDWA and other statutory and programmatic requirements, including, but not necessarily limited to, effluent limitations and guidelines (ELGs), Water Quality Standards, numeric nutrient criteria for lakes and reservoirs, pretreatment standards, development and revision of Drinking Water Standards and regulations, and human health risk and impact assessments.

· Water quality standards components, including, but not necessarily limited to, water quality criteria for the protection of human health and aquatic life, including contaminated sediments and biocriteria; designation of use (designated uses are those uses specified in state or tribal water quality standards regulations for each water body, whether or not they are being attained; antidegradation requirements; and variances (short-term exemptions from meeting applicable water quality standards).

· Multimedia analyses, including, but not necessarily limited to, analysis of treatment and disposal of hazardous and solid wastes; control of air emissions; surface water-related responses to climate and extreme weather events; and control of pollutants discharged to surface waters and publicly owned treatment works (POTWs).

· Pollution prevention, including, but not necessarily limited to, the measurement of economic benefits of source reduction and recycling to support consideration of regulatory and non-regulatory options.

· Economic market incentives, including, but not necessarily limited to, pollution trading and effluent discharge fees.

· Treatment and disposal of municipal sewage sludge biosolids and industrial sludge.

· NPDES and industry general permits..

· Other OW programs, including, but not necessarily limited to, drinking water, ground water, point and nonpoint sources of pollution, wetlands, estuaries, and oceans.

· Economic analyses, including, but not necessarily limited to, econometrics, benefit-cost analysis, revealed preference analysis, stated preference surveys to support water-related monetized benefits analysis, economic and regulatory impact analysis, input-output models, partial and general equilibrium models, financial models, life cycle of technology analysis, employment impact analysis, social cost of carbon analysis, estimation of cost of illness and willingness to pay for morbidity and mortality risk reductions, total benefits (including use and non-use benefits) analysis, travel cost models, hedonic price models, benefits transfer analysis, and database management.

· Environmental benefits analyses, including, but not necessarily limited to, estimation of monetized and non-monetized benefits, human health benefits, total benefits (including use and non-use benefits), estimation of benefits of surface and ground water-related ecological services, revealed and stated preference analysis and estimation of surface, ground, and drinking water-related human health benefits.

· Environmental assessments, including, but not necessarily limited to, aquatic ecosystem impact assessments; ecosystem services assessments; surface, ground, and drinking water-related human health risk assessments; environmental modeling and other assessments of fate and effects of pollutants discharged to surface and ground water; and assessments of pollutants that may affect the quality of public drinking water; assessments of threatened and endangered species, and assessments of invasive species. Additional assessments may include cumulative impact analyses of multiple and multimedia pollution sources; analyses of thermal sources of water pollution; analyses of impingement and entrainment of aquatic organisms by cooling water intake structures, analyses of non-water quality impacts that may result from water discharge pollution control technologies; analyses of the conservation status of freshwater and marine aquatic organisms, assessments of changes in water quality and quantity resulting from climate changes and extreme weather, development and use of toxic weighting factors, including development of alternatives to cost effectiveness analysis requiring the use of TWFs; and environmental assessments related to environmental justice analyses. Assessments may also include GIS analyses of pollutant transport and impacts to human health and aquatic ecosystems, GIS analyses of changes in in-stream pollutant concentrations and water quality that may result from potential regulatory options.

· Economic and environmental assessment support for CWA section 304(m) ELG planning, including focused industry pollutant discharge analyses and analyses based on review of TRI and DMR databases.

· Technical support for litigation activities such as Water Quality Standards, existing and future effluent guidelines actions, NPDES permits and other regulatory actions under the CWA and the SDWA.

· Small business analyses, including but not necessarily limited to, regulatory flexibility analyses, and analyses conducted under the RFA and the SBREFA.

· Training activities for EPA, Regional, state and local officials, and industry, including, but not necessarily limited to, training and development of materials to support implementation of effluent guidelines, use of water quality benefits tools, benefit-cost analysis or other OW program activities.

· Conducting literature reviews as requested by EPA staff.

III. CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS

This section describes specific technical and analytical support requirements for the general program areas described in Sections I and II. In addition to the general program areas described above, this contract shall also provide technical support for any future certifications required by Congress, such as the RFA, SBREFA, and UMRA requirements. All products or materials prepared by the contractor shall be reviewed and approved by the EPA.

The contractor may be required to contact the public or industry directly for information or for follow-up on EPA-identified issues. In such cases, contractor personnel shall clearly identify themselves as contractor employees working under an EPA contract.

The contractor shall be required to comply with the requirements for studies and rulemaking records in the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), the CWA, SDWA, Executive Orders, OMB Circular A130 for Management of Federal Information Resources, the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure (Rules 16 and 17, 28 U.S.C. Appendix), the Agency Docket Policy and the Records Management Policy (Directives 2100 and 2161). The contractor shall also be required to comply with the requirements of any other appropriate authorities, including Executive Orders which are issued at the discretion of the Administration in place at any given time.

In the event that EPA decides that a compelling need exists to gather data for regulatory analysis from a Region, State, or local government entity, or the public; or to provide technical support to a Region, a State, or local government entity, or to another Agency (when an interagency agreement is in place) through this contract; the contractor shall be responsible for providing these services. Under an approved task order, the TOCOR shall provide written technical direction to the contractor in such circumstances.

Database technical support is also required under this PWS. This support includes, but is not necessarily limited to, assisting the EPA with developing data element standards for use in Agency databases. See Section E of the PWS: Contract Activity Information Technology Requirements.

As a major part of its responsibilities, the contractor shall provide and maintain access to the expertise necessary to satisfy the requirements of the contract. The contractor shall not engage in activities of an inherently governmental nature, such as the development of Agency policy or the selection of Agency priorities.

Confidential Business Information (CBI)

For information claimed as CBI under the Clean Water Act, the contractor shall handle CBI under procedures specified in the approved contract CBI security plan and 40 CFR Part 2 Subpart B, and in accordance with contract requirements and limitations (see Section H of the contract). The contractor shall identify the Document Control Officer in its CBI plan, and replacements will require EPA approval. The contractor shall analyze CBI in accordance with contract requirements and limitations. Handling of CBI will be in accordance with the contract requirements in Section H and the “Office of Science and Technology Confidential Business Information (OST-CBI) Application Security Plan” dated August 1, 2011 and which is provided as Attachment 6 of the RFP. The contractor may have access to Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) sensitive information, and shall comply with all provisions in the FIFRA Information Security Manual (https://www.epa.gov/nscep and search “FIFRA Confidential Business Information Security Manual”). The contractor also may have access to Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) sensitive information, and shall comply with all provisions in the TSCA Information Security Manual, which can be accessed on EPA’s website at https://www.epa.gov/oppt/pubs/tsca-cbi-protection-manual.pdf.

A. Economic Analysis and Support

A.1. Industry Profiles The contractor shall characterize various industries by type, size, number of facilities, sales, revenues, profit margins, products, prices, employment, and other pertinent data. The industry profile information shall be used, along with scientific and technical information, to determine the appropriate categories and subcategories of industries subject to regulation. This information shall also be used, among other purposes, to assess baseline conditions in industries that may be regulated.

A.2. Economic and Regulatory Analysis The contractor shall prepare economic and regulatory analyses for various regulatory and non-regulatory program options, initiatives, and compliance alternatives. These economic analyses shall calculate and analyze the private and societal costs and benefits, and their distribution throughout the economy. In addition, the economic analyses shall consider the economic achievability of potential regulatory options in effluent guidelines. The contractor shall have the capability to work with and where appropriate, use, economic and benefits modeling tools including, but not limited to, the Integrated Planning Model (IPM) for both economic impacts and environmental assessments; Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program (BenMAP); i-Tree Vue; and the Integrated Exposure Uptake Biokinetic model (IEBUK). The contractor shall analyze the results of computer models to provide technical and analytical support for the EPA’s assessment of the economic and environmental impacts of alternative regulatory options. In addition, the contractor shall also conduct literature reviews, as directed.

Economic analyses shall be performed in a manner prescribed by U.S. EPA “Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses” (2010 and with selected chapters updated in 2014 and 2016). These publications can be found at https://www.epa.gov/environmental-economics/guidelines-preparing-economic-analyses#download. Economic analyses shall also be consistent with OMB Circular A-4, “Regulatory Analysis” (2003).The contractor should note that all OMB Circulars are now available only on the National Archives site: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/omb/circulars_default/ (also, see Attachment A, “Directives for Performance of IRM-Related Work”).

A.2.1. Cost Analysis and Economic Impacts Based on data provided by the EPA and industry, or obtained from primary and secondary sources, the contractor shall develop and analyze the incremental annualized costs of alternative regulatory and non-regulatory options using capital, operating, and maintenance costs over the useful life of the alternative pollution control technologies. Capital, operating and maintenance cost estimates may be on a model plant/entity or on an individual plant/entity basis and may include various assumptions regarding the current industry baseline. The contractor shall also analyze any capital replacement, improvement and expansion costs associated with the various options. The contractor shall attempt to account for opportunity costs when appropriate. The contractor shall analyze the incremental annualized costs for each facility/firm/entity and parent level entity and aggregate the information at the national level for each effluent limitation and water quality standard or option considered.

The contractor shall provide data for the EPA to use in the analyses of various regulatory options, initiatives and technology alternatives, including data on the impacts of each option or alternative on the regulated community, including industry; and federal, state, and local governments. The contractor shall also provide estimates of the total annualized compliance costs and the social costs at the national, regional, state and local levels as appropriate. The data shall include information such as the economic impacts of regulations, initiatives and compliance alternatives at the firm, facility, entity, and industry level, as well as at the international, national, regional, state and local levels, with respect to costs, production, prices, profits, employment, the community, and society. These analyses may be developed using financial models, including but not necessarily limited to, discounted cash flow, financial ratio analyses, bankruptcy analyses, and working capital analyses; and specified economic models such as general and partial economic equilibrium models, cost models, and cost-effectiveness models.

The contractor shall provide support for primary economic data collection and analyses, including the development of industry financial surveys. Survey results shall be used to determine the financial stability of potentially regulated firms and facilities, and the economic achievability of proposed effluent guidelines and other regulatory and non-regulatory options for pollution control technologies. The contractor shall develop web-based or electronic survey software applications to assist the EPA with conducting financial surveys. The contractor shall also develop survey sampling plans, as well as perform survey data entry, survey data post-processing, and survey data quality control.

A.2.2. Benefits Analysis The contractor shall provide technical support for developing creative and innovative ideas to improve regulatory and non-regulatory benefits analyses supported, where feasible, by comprehensive environmental assessments. The contractor shall develop potential regulatory and non-regulatory options, and assess the environmental impacts of effluent guidelines and other regulations and policies on affected communities. To the extent possible, the contractor shall identify, quantify, and monetize the benefits of regulatory and non-regulatory options at the local, state, regional or national level. Benefits may take the form of direct and indirect market-use benefits, direct and indirect non-market use benefits, as well as total benefits including non-use benefits. Examples include human health benefits, recreational benefits, benefits of ecosystem services, and economic productivity.

The contractor shall provide support for primary data collection to estimate benefits resulting from proposed regulatory and non-regulatory options to, for example, reduce pollutant loadings. Primary research shall include travel cost models (TCMs), hedonic (implicit) price models (HPMs), and stated preference (SP) survey research. The implementation of the TCM and SP survey research shall require significant use of random utility modeling and econometric analysis. In developing SP surveys, the contractor shall conduct focus groups and cognitive interviews; develop survey sample frames, survey questionnaires, and non-response data collection tools; assess response and non-response data; develop survey weights and strata; and perform non-response bias identification testing and corrective weighting. The contractor shall also conduct expert elicitation to address gaps in available data. The contractor shall implement SP surveys that may require mailed surveys or the development of web-based survey software applications and/or mail and telephone based survey support. The contractor shall also develop survey sampling plans, and perform survey data entry for non-electronic modes, survey data processing, econometric analysis of stated survey responses, and survey data quality control. The contractor shall provide technical support to the OW for preparing information collection requests (ICRs) for OMB review and approval, including estimating the paperwork burden requirements for affected entities to respond to the EPA’s surveys.

The contractor shall also gather and analyze existing (secondary) data as required for analyses of various regulatory and non-regulatory options, initiatives and compliance alternatives. One example of such an effort is EPA’s ongoing work on a meta-analysis of surface water quality benefits. A meta-analysis is a synthesis of existing research from secondary data to develop models that can be used for policy analyses. Meta-analyses are particularly useful for benefits analyses when the EPA has insufficient time or resources to conduct primary research. As needed, the contractor shall develop and adhere to criteria for inclusion of studies, and apply probabilistic analysis and other statistical methods to assess risks resulting from exposure to environmental contaminants and hazards in calculating benefits. The contractor shall incorporate appropriate statistical measures of uncertainty in the risk assessment estimates. All analyses using existing data shall be conducted in accordance with EAD’s quality assurance policies and procedures (see Section G of this PWS).

A.2.3. Benefit-Cost Analyses The contractor shall use the information it develops for the EPA’s assessment of the options’ benefits to society; and the information it develops for EPA assessments of the total compliance costs that may be incurred by a community for alternative regulatory or non-regulatory options, as well as the cost that may be incurred by local, state, and federal governments, and by society as a whole; to perform benefit-cost analyses. These analyses may include environmental benefits, health benefits, recreational benefits, benefits of ecosystem services, and other ecological benefits. Advanced benefit-cost analysis techniques are required, including monetization of benefits where possible, and the use of correct discounting practices.

A.2.4. Environmental Justice and Other Distributional Analyses Executive Order 12898, “Federal Actions To Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations,” directs federal agencies to focus on minority, low-income and disadvantaged populations in implementing their programs, policies, and activities. Consistent with the goal of ensuring the fair treatment of all people who may be affected by EPA regulations and policies, the contractor shall conduct environmental justice and other distributional analyses consisting of both economic and environmental components. These analyses shall assess potential minority and low-income populations, as well as other potential populations with differential patterns of subsistence consumption of fish and wildlife or other activities who may experience disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects caused by a program, policy, or activity analyzed under the contract. The EPA shall make all final decisions with respect to the applicability of EO 12898 to any EPA action. The contractor may be tasked with assessing distributional effects and identifying impacts on affected populations and subgroups from different options and policy approaches. The analyses of distributional effects may consider the incidence of benefits; costs; and impacts on individuals, tribes, minorities, and other disadvantaged groups; regions; or other affected entities.

A.3. Cost-Effectiveness and Cost-Reasonableness Analysis The contractor shall provide support for analyses of the cost-effectiveness of various pollution control regulatory and non-regulatory options. These analyses shall include the estimation or modeling of pollutant loadings in various baseline cases and under each option, by facility. The analyses shall also include calculation of pollutant removals by facility and pollutant, calculation of the compliance costs for each option, and calculation of the cost-effectiveness ratios. The analyses shall be conducted either with or without TWFs, which account for the varying toxicity of different pollutants. Analyses which use toxic weights are called cost-effectiveness ratios and analyses without toxic weights are called cost-reasonableness ratios. The contractor shall also provide support to conduct analyses based on proposed or new TWFs, including support for developing alternatives to cost effectiveness analysis requiring the use of TWFs. Other cost per unit calculations may be required as part of regulatory and non-regulatory analysis conducted by the EPA.

A.4. Regulatory Flexibility/SBREFA Analysis The effluent guidelines program and other programs under the CWA, SDWA and other EPA statutes require the preparation of a small business analysis for each proposed and final regulation. The contractor shall provide technical support to analyze the impacts of regulatory options on small businesses and other entities under the RFA and SBREFA. The contractor shall provide technical support to EPA for the regulatory flexibility analysis and in the SBREFA panel process, which involve small businesses early in the regulatory development process. The EPA will make all decisions related to the applicability of these statutes to its actions and the potential impacts of its actions on small businesses and other entities.

A.5. Analysis of Other Statutory and EO Requirements The contractor shall provide support for the analyses required under statutes such as the UMRA and the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA), among others; EOs such as Federalism; Protection of Children’s Health; Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments; Environmental Justice; and Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use; among others, including EOs and statutes issued at the discretion of the Administration in place at any given time. The EPA shall make all decisions related to the applicability of these statutes and EOs to its actions.

A.6. Methodology Development and Technical Review The contractor shall research and evaluate new methods for economic analyses related to water pollution control. The contractor shall investigate innovative and streamlined approaches to conduct benefit-cost analyses, economic impact analyses, cost-effectiveness analyses, equity analyses of effluent guidelines and water quality standards, and other regulatory and non-regulatory programs and initiatives under the CWA and SDWA. The contractor shall also provide support to OW in the technical and economic review of various studies, including economic/financial guidance documents. These studies may be prepared by the EPA or outside organizations. OW often comments on studies during their development phases and on final reports to assess the studies’ accuracy and significance to the EPA. The contractor shall prepare comments on such studies for OW, which shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, the accuracy and soundness of the methodology and data used to support the study.

B. Environmental Assessment

B.1. Performing Environmental Assessments The contractor shall perform environmental assessments to examine and estimate the environmental impacts of discharges from industrial and other sources (e.g., municipal), and the changes resulting from various regulatory and non-regulatory (e.g., voluntary compliance) options to control those discharges and to support the benefits analysis components of regulatory cost-benefits analyses. The assessments shall examine the interactions among or between humans, aquatic and terrestrial organisms, and pollutants. Examples of interactions include water body eutrophication, adverse human health effects, fish consumption advisories; and impacts to ecosystem services (e.g., food web impacts among aquatic, terrestrial, and avian species). The assessments shall also examine how these interactions change as a result of different regulatory and non-regulatory options.

Environmental assessments shall estimate the impacts of pollutants and other environmental stressors released from various industrial and other sectors (e.g., municipal), at local, state, watershed, and national levels, as appropriate. Although the primary focus of environmental assessments shall be on impacts to surface and ground water quality, the EPA may request that the contractor examine multimedia pollutant releases and impacts, as well as secondary impacts of pollutant discharges, such as on aquatic and terrestrial organisms.

Environmental assessments shall examine the continuum of impacts, including but not limited to, the discharge of pollutants to surface water (or transfers of pollutants to POTWs); the dilution and alteration of pollutants in receiving waters; the downstream transport of pollutants; the uptake by, and effects of, pollutants on aquatic and terrestrial organisms and ecosystems; and the health effects of human exposure to contaminated organisms and environmental pollution through various routes, including consumption of contaminated organisms and exposure to contaminated water. Environmental assessments shall also examine, when necessary, the interference and pass-through of industrial pollutants at POTWs, and their impacts on sewage sludge quality and treatment effectiveness. Where appropriate, environmental assessments also shall consider physical alterations to water bodies such as stream bank erosion; sediment scouring, transport, and deposition; increased or decreased flows; and temperature changes.

The contractor shall be required to develop and use local, regional, and national level water quality models, such as, but not necessarily limited to, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), Spatially Referenced Regressions On Watershed Attributes (SPARROW), Storm Water Management Model (SWMM), AQUATOX, Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI), and the Hydrologic and Water Quality System (HAWQS). The contractor shall also be required to develop and use local, regional, and national level GIS applications to support various types of environmental analyses. Modeling and GIS analyses include, but are not necessarily limited to, the transmission pathways and effects of pollutants discharged to surface water necessary to quantify changes in ecosystem services and human health impacts that may result from regulatory and non-regulatory options; assessment of pollutants that may affect the quality of public drinking water; land cover and land use analyses; analysis of changes in in-stream pollutant concentrations and water quality, ecological and health risk analyses; and air quality and emissions data analyses. The contractor shall also conduct literature reviews, as directed.

The contractor also shall conduct the following types of assessments and analyses: potential impacts to threatened and endangered species; potential changes in invasive species; environmental justice-related, disparate environmental impacts to minority and low income populations similar to the analyses described in Section A.2.4 of this PWS; cumulative impact analyses of multiple and multimedia pollution sources; and thermal sources of water pollution. As needed, the contractor shall apply probabilistic analysis and other statistical methods to assess risks resulting from exposure to environmental contaminants and hazards. The contractor shall incorporate appropriate statistical measures of uncertainty in the risk assessment estimates.

The contractor shall develop and conduct analyses of non-water quality impacts that may result from waste water pollution control technologies, surface and groundwater impacts related to cooling water discharges and climate change, and the conservation status of freshwater and marine aquatic organisms. The contractor also shall provide environmental assessments, including pollutant-specific evaluation of environmental fate and effects, which include human and organismal health effects and toxicology. Additional assessments provided shall include effects on receiving water ecosystems (i.e., freshwater, tidal, and marine waters), effects on POTWs, and multimedia assessments.

In addition, the contractor shall evaluate multimedia impacts for industries or entities for which a coordinated approach with other EPA Offices is required. For example, to support OW coordination with the Office of Air and Radiation, OW might task the contractor with evaluating the deposition of emissions of nitrogen and toxic pollutants to surface water. Where possible, the environmental assessment shall be conducted to facilitate analysis of the monetized, quantitative and qualitative benefits of different regulatory and non-regulatory options.

B.2. Toxic Weighting Factors or Alternative Approach The contractor shall calculate TWFs for specific pollutants associated with various industrial categories and dischargers under regulatory consideration, and provide the data used in these calculations to the EPA. TWFs enable the EPA to compare the inherent toxicity of various pollutants. The EPA uses TWFs to develop cost-effectiveness calculations required in the development of effluent guidelines. Where necessary, revisions to and improvements of the methodology for deriving TWFs may also be included. The contractor shall also provide support for developing alternatives to cost effectiveness analysis requiring the use of TWFs, as directed.

B.3. Methodology Development and Technical Reviews The contractor shall research and evaluate new methods for environmental assessment, including risk assessments and other general pollutant impact analyses, as directed. The contractor shall develop and investigate innovative and streamlined approaches to conducting environmental assessments for effluent guidelines and other regulatory actions. The contractor shall assist in the development of water quality indices and other methods for linking environmental improvements to economic benefits. The contractor shall also develop and investigate approaches to improve the utility of the environmental assessments for benefits analyses and other types of analyses as appropriate. The contractor shall provide support to OW in conducting reviews of various studies, and shall review and provide comments on studies conducted by other EPA program offices. Comments shall include, but not be limited to, the accuracy and soundness of the data and methodologies used to support and conduct the study.

C. Technical Assistance

C.1. Collection/Preparation of Reports The contractor shall provide the documentation required for preparation of various reports and the documents explaining the methodologies used to complete projects under this PWS. These documents may include Economic Analyses (EA), Environmental Assessments (EnvA), and Cost-Effectiveness Analyses (CEA), among others. The contractor shall also collect and organize information for public and confidential records (e.g., reports, analyses, databases, memoranda, correspondence, surveys, etc.), prepare public dockets in support of ELGs and the ELG planning process in addition to other regulations, and maintain active access to and capability to use “regulations.gov” (https://www.regulations.gov).

C.2. Review and Analysis of Public Comments The contractor shall review public comments on proposed and final regulations, Notices of Data Availability and preliminary studies. The contractor shall provide technical support for EPA’s activities to classify, analyze, and respond to public comments. Based on an analysis of comments, the contractor shall provide the EPA information to use to develop comment responses on economic, financial, cost, benefit or environmental assessment issues. The contractor shall establish and maintain database systems in support of the public comment response process in support of ELGs, the ELG planning process and other regulatory actions.

C.3. Multi-Media and Pollution Prevention Issues The contractor shall provide technical support to the EPA to identify pollution prevention opportunities and assess regulatory and non-regulatory options involving transfer of pollutants from one media to another (e.g., removing pollutants from water and transferring them to solid waste). The contractor shall develop and employ analytical tools, including but not limited to, life cycle analysis, to determine the technical and scientific merits of various multi-media and pollution prevention alternatives.

C.4. Quick Turnaround The contractor shall conduct quick turnaround analyses of regulatory options, issues, and policy decisions in support of other areas of this PWS as required. Quick responses require completion in one to five working days.

C.5. Regulatory Language and Analytical Support The contractor shall provide analytical and technical support to help OW draft and review regulatory language for proposed and final rules, Notices of Data Availability, and other regulatory actions.

C.6. Technical Support for Litigation Activities The contractor shall provide litigation support as directed. Most litigation includes multiple, complex technical allegations relating to almost every facet of a rulemaking or planning record. As directed on assigned litigation issues, the contractor shall provide cogent and accurate draft assessments and analyses based on thorough knowledge and understanding of the rulemaking or planning records to support the EPA in judicial and administrative reviews. Litigation support activities may include use of the rulemaking records for current effluent guidelines rulemakings and other regulatory actions. The contractor shall not provide any legal services to the Government under this contract unless prior written approval is obtained from the Contracting Officer. Under no circumstances shall the contractor develop EPA litigation or negotiation strategy or represent the EPA during litigation or negotiations.

C.7. Database Development and Management The contractor shall provide technical support to the EPA to maintain existing databases, create new databases, and access data from commercially available databases to perform the required analyses in Sections III.A, B and C. Examples include databases containing responses to the EPA’s surveys authorized under Section 308 of the CWA, databases of economic or industry financial information, Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMR) and Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), databases, the Water Quality Portal, databases containing results of literature reviews and other water quality and pollutant databases, and EAD’s Effluent Guidelines database. All databases developed by the contractor shall be nonproprietary. Data sets, analytical software, and documentation are the property of the EPA and shall be made accessible and available to the EPA TOCOR.

D. Outreach and Training Support

D.1 Outreach Activities The contractor shall prepare materials to support the EPA's outreach activities to the public, industry, professional associations, and other local, state, federal and NGO stakeholders. These materials may include reports, brochures, PowerPoint presentations, leaflets, posters and other media. All materials shall be submitted in draft form for EPA review and approval. In some cases, the contractor shall present lectures, workshops, and/or discuss research, analyses or regulatory activities developed by the EPA. The contractor shall develop training courses to provide technical support for OW in its work with EPA Regional Offices and States, as well as technical support for the development and evaluation of EPA guidance documents, such as economic guidance. Also, the contractor shall provide technical support in the development of briefings for EAD and OST, OW, EPA Regional staff, and others on the results of analyses performed, data collected, and data management systems developed by the contractor under the contract. The contractor shall also support the preparation for, and conduct of, public meetings and workshops. The contractor shall also provide expert speakers for conferences and symposia as identified in the task order(s).

D.2 Training and Logistical Support The contractor shall provide technical and logistical support to plan and execute workshops, conferences, training sessions, symposia, and public meetings related to the contract PWS, and to address various rulemaking issues and practical implementation concerns on related subjects. Activities shall include preparing course materials, coordinating facilities and providing course instructors for training, conferences, symposia and public meetings. The contractor shall follow the clause, 1552.223-71 EPA Green Meetings and Conferences (May 2007), for the use of off-site commercial facilities for an EPA event, whether the event is a meeting, conference, training session, or for some other purpose. In accordance with EPAAR 1552.223-71(a), “Environmentally preferable” (defined at FAR 2.101) shall be used when soliciting quotes or offers for meeting/conference services on behalf of the Agency. Travel may be required for these activities. Meetings shall vary in size, location, topics, and level of documentation. Materials prepared under this paragraph shall be submitted in draft for review and approval to the EPA CL-COR and/or the TOCOR.

E. Contract Activity Information and Technology Requirements

The following are standard requirements for OW contracts. Only those sections relevant in the context of the requirements in Sections A, B, C, and D apply to this contract. All information developed under the contract shall be amenable to electronic data processing, and shall be capable of being stored and utilized by, or converted to, the EPA’s computer systems. The task order shall designate the specific computer system to be used for such storage and utilization (i.e., EPA mainframe or PC systems).

All final documents for web posting produced under this contract shall be compliant with the requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1998, which requires federal agencies to make electronic copies of their documents accessible to persons with disabilities.

The contractor shall develop and maintain information management systems compatible with existing OW databases and databases developed under this contract, so that the data from other studies can also be entered. Data sets and analysis software and documentation shall be accessible to the EPA CL-COR and TOCOR and that information shall be provided to the CL-COR upon expiration of the contract. The EPA TOCOR must approve the use of proprietary models or information in advance to ensure that the models or information meet the requirements for usability and transparency under the Data Quality Act.

All work performed under this contract shall adhere to clause EPAAR 1552.211-79 “Compliance with EPA Policies for Information Resources Management” (IRM), which requires the adherence to all Agency directives for performance of any IRM-related work.

All software development (including web pages) shall be done in consultation with the TOCOR according to functional requirements and design found in the following documents. All work performed by the contractor must also adhere to the government policies, procedures, and guidance in the following manuals:

1. EPA Standard Operating Procedures for the Development and Review of Publications: Printed, Web, and Other Media: https://www.epa.gov/product-review;

2. EPA Web Guide: https://www.epa.gov/webguide;

3. EPA Section 508 Accessibility Guide: https://www.epa.gov/inter508/index.htm;

4. Guide for Developing Usable and Useful Web Sites (Usability Guidelines): http://www.usability.gov/;

5. EPA Information Resources Management (IRM) Policy: http://www.epa.gov/irmpoli8;

6. Data Standards and Environmental Data Registry (EDR):

https://www.epa.gov/data-standards. Any development or enhancement of information resources, as well as any data products flowing to or from EPA information resources, must adhere to data standards detailed in the EDR. Information Resources for this process include systems, databases, and models/web applications that utilize information in OW systems and databases. The Environmental Data Registry is now part of a broader collection, called “System of Registries.” https://ofmpub.epa.gov/sor_internet/registry/sysofreg/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 the Science Inventory (https://cfpub.epa.gov/si/) to ensure the development or enhancement of information resources does not duplicate existing information resources. If duplication is determined, the contractor shall consult with the EPA CL-COR to ensure that existing information resources are optimally utilized in conjunction with the information resource(s) being developed or enhanced by the contractor. For any development or enhancement of information resources, the contractor shall work with the EPA to insert/update resource description information in the Science Inventory.

Any water quality, biological, sediment, and ecological monitoring data collected as part of contract activities must be entered into STORET or made available to EPA in a STORET compatible format in the Water Quality Portal, which integrates publicly available water quality data. (https://www.epa.gov/storet https://www.epa.gov/waterdata/storage-and-retrieval-and-water-quality-exchange.)

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. Exceptions include groundwater data and data that are related to points greater than two miles from the U.S. coastline. The WATERS website describes EPA tools and training available for NHD indexing. National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) Indexing: [https://www.epa.gov/waters].

The contractor shall have the required clearances, the capability and knowledge to access, use, support and update the ICIS-NPDES, DMR and TRI databases in conformance with all EPA requirements. Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMR) [https://cfpub.epa.gov/dmr/] and Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) [].

F. Deliverables

All deliverables developed under this contract must be provided to the CL-COR in electronic formats that are supported (i.e., PDF) and can be edited (i.e., Word, Excel) by the EPA. GIS data must be in ArcGIS format. Ambient Water Quality Data collected must be entered into the Water Quality Portal or its follow-on data systems. The contractor shall support the CL-COR to conduct a “Final Deliverable Validation” to ensure compliance with Section 508 and the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) related to “electronic and information technology (EIT) deliverables”. The contractor shall furnish certification, in writing, to the CL-COR that the contractor has complied with EPAAR Clause 1552.211-79 “Compliance with EPA Policies for Information Resources Management” (Reference Contract Clause C-1), including the requirement that all electronic and information technology (EIT) deliverables be Section 508 compliant in accordance with the policies referenced at https://www.epa.gov/accessibility/ .

The contractor shall furnish all data (e.g., GIS, monitoring, modeling inputs/outputs, etc.) to the CL-COR upon completion and acceptance by the CL-COR of final deliverables for each task order under this contract. The data must also be accompanied by an inventory list describing all the data used for each task order.

Metadata must be developed for all project-generated GIS and must accompany the GIS deliverables. Metadata must be compliant with the "Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata" approved by the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC). Metadata compliance can be checked using the following tool: https://www.fgdc.gov/metadata/csdgm/

PDF Requirements: All PDF files must meet the following standards:

Web Standard: PDF - When to Use, Document Metadata, PDF Sections https://www.epa.gov/web-policies-and-procedures/web-standard-pdf-when-use-document-metadata-pdf-sections

How to Create a Web-Ready PDF https://www.epa.gov/webguide/how-create-web-ready-pdf

1. Page numbers must reflect actual document page numbers. Include i, ii, iii and chapter/subsection re-numbering.

2. Bookmarks shall be used in long documents with multiple sections.

3. Table of Contents entries must be jump-linked to the correct location in the document.

4. The initial view must display Bookmarks Panel and Page (unless the document is short and has no…