Source_sought_notice_OSRTI_TASOT_RAC.doc

SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE

SOL-HQ-12-00020

OSRTI TECHNICAL ASSESSMENT, SUPPORT, OUTREACH, AND TRAINING

This is NOT a solicitation announcement. This is a Sources Sought Notice only. The purpose of this sources sought synopsis is for market research purposes to determine if capable, qualified Non-Response Action Contract (RAC) contractors possess the capability to support EPA’s Technical Assessment, Support, Outreach, and Training requirement.

1) A RAC, as referenced in 42 USC §9619(e), means any written contract or agreement entered into by a response action contractor (as defined in paragraph (2) (A) of this subsection) with—

(A) the President;

(B) any Federal agency;

(C) a State or political subdivision which has entered into a contract or cooperative agreement in accordance with section 9604

HYPERLINK "http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/usc_sec_42_00009604----000-" \t "_blank"(d) (1) of this title; or

(D) any potentially responsible party carrying out an agreement under section 9606 or 9622 of this title; to provide any remedial action under this chapter at a facility listed on the National Priorities List, or any removal under this chapter, with respect to any release or threatened release of a hazardous substance or pollutant or contaminant from the facility or to provide any evaluation, planning, engineering, surveying and mapping, design, construction, equipment, or any ancillary services thereto for such facility.

2) A Response Action Contractor means

(A) any

(i) person who enters into a response action contract with respect to any release or threatened release of a hazardous substance or pollutant or contaminant from a facility and is carrying out such contract; and[1]

(ii) person, public or nonprofit private entity, conducting a field demonstration pursuant to section 9660

HYPERLINK "http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/usc_sec_42_00009660----000-" \t "_blank"(b) of this title; and

(iii) Recipients[2] of grants (including sub-grantees) under section 9660a

HYPERLINK "http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/9619" \t "_blank"[3] of this title for the training and education of workers who are or may be engaged in activities related to hazardous waste removal, containment, or emergency response under this chapter; and[1]

(B) any person who is retained or hired by a person described in subparagraph (A) to provide any services relating to a response action; and

(C) any surety who after October 16, 1990, provides a bid, performance or payment bond to a response action contractor, and begins activities to meet its obligations under such bond, but only in connection with such activities or obligations.

Responses to this sources sought notice shall not constitute responses to any solicitation, which is not currently available. As stipulated in FAR 15.201, responses to this notice are not considered offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. No solicitation exists; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation.

The decision to solicit for a contract shall be solely within the Government's discretion. This sources sought notice is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, nor will the Government reimburse any costs associated with the submission of information in response to this notice. Respondents will not individually be notified of the results of any government assessments. The Government’s evaluation of the capability statements received will factor into whether any forthcoming solicitation will be conducted as a full and open competition or as a RAC contractor exclusion.

DESCRIPTION

OSWER is an Agency component that is responsible for programs articulated under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) of 1980, as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986; the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and amendments; and other legislation and Agency directives related to the characterization, remediation, and monitoring of solid and hazardous wastes. OSWER provides policy, guidance and direction for the Agency's emergency response and waste programs. It develops guidelines for the land disposal of hazardous waste and underground storage tanks. It provides technical assistance to all levels of government to establish safe practices in waste management. It administers the Brownfields program, which supports state and local governments in redeveloping and reusing potentially contaminated sites. It also manages the Superfund program, which responds to abandoned and active hazardous waste sites and accidental oil and chemical releases. Finally, it encourages innovative technologies to address contaminated soil and groundwater.

The mission of OSRTI is to return contaminated areas of land associated with Superfund sites to communities for safe reuse in a healthy environment. The intent of this notice is to request information from non-RAC business concerns for OSRTI’s requirement for technology assessment, support, outreach and training. EPA is seeking market research into whether capable non-RAC business sources are able provide support consisting of preparation and conduct of analytical studies of OSWER program strategies and regulatory initiatives; technology transfer for innovative and established cleanup procedures, technologies, and techniques; training related to program implementation; and site-specific technical support for site cleanup.

The contractor will provide support to the three OSRTI divisions:

· TIFSD provides technical support to a wide variety of customers, internal and external to the Agency. Technical support includes direct field assistance in response to incidents and spills, developing and providing analytical services in the field and via laboratories, and training and support on innovative field investigation and remediation technologies. More specifically, division staff provides technical direction in the role of “first responder” for environmental, analytical laboratory support through the management of the Contract Laboratory Program (CLP) or other non-CLP contracts, hazardous waste characterization, exposure assessment, outdoor and indoor air monitoring, and data management. The division develops response guidance and regulations as well as supports on-site response actions. TIFSD also provides outreach and training to assist Regional/state project managers integrate new technologies and tools into Superfund and other cleanup programs. In addition, TIFSD provides expertise for information on remediation technologies, evaluates field readiness of potential remedies, and identifies important cost and performance issues.

· The Assessment and Remediation Division (ARD) is responsible for supporting the regions on all aspects of Superfund remediation, including site assessment, placement of sites on the National Priorities List (NPL), remedial investigations/feasibility studies, study and design, remedy selection and implementation, post-construction activities, and deleting sites from the NPL once they are cleaned up. The division is also responsible for coordination with state and tribal organizations, for involvement of the community at Superfund sites, and for encouraging the return of sites to productive uses in communities. The divisionserves as the lead within OSRTI for science policy issues, including risk assessment policies and technologies, chemical-specific policies, and coordination of Superfund research.

· The Resource Management Division (RMD) is responsible for supporting the Superfund program through work planning, analysis, budgeting, contract, grant and interagency placement and management, and human resources activities. In addition information technology systems, including Superfund Enterprise Management System (SEMS) and program web material, and Superfund record management systems are designed and developed in this division. The division monitors and evaluates programmatic achievements and reports results though Agency systems.

This Technical Assessment, Support, Outreach, and Training contract includes the following tasks and corresponding percentage of total Level of Effort (LOE) each task is estimated to require:

1) Investigating, documenting, and disseminating technological state-of-the-practice and innovations in remediation practices, technology use trends, and cleanup markets; 16% of total LOE;

2) Providing cutting-edge technical assistance to EPA site managers and emergency responders, federal and state regulators, and local Brownfields communities on site characterization, remedial strategies, remedy design, and optimization approaches; 24% of total LOE;

3) Planning and hosting symposia of leading practitioners and researchers to define the state-of-practice and research and demonstration needs for various aspects of cleanup programs; 7% of total LOE;

4) Developing and delivering technical training and hands-on workshops for EPA and state cleanup professionals; as well as other members of the cleanup profession; 20% of total LOE;

5) Providing support for technical analyses and program initiatives; 27% of total LOE;

6) Providing graphic arts and exhibit support; 6% of total LOE.

ESTIMATED LEVEL OF EFFORT (LOE)

The estimated level of effort for this requirement, in professional labor hours, is:

· 44,592 hours per year for a five (5) year contract (Maximum potential LOE of 222,960 total hours)

CAPABILITY STATEMENT:

The Government requests demonstration of capability by interested parties through submittal of capability statements. The government will evaluate the qualifications of interested parties based on their responses. To help determine if this potential requirement may reasonably exclude RAC contractors, the government is seeking input from the non-RAC community regarding their interest, experience, and expertise in performing the tasks reflected in the following areas:

Technology The contractor must have demonstrated expertise, knowledge, and experience in applying, investigating, documenting, and disseminating strategic and technological innovations in the areas of: risk assessment; contaminant measurement and monitoring; sampling and sampling design; data quality: data management and interpretation approaches; decision support tools for site cleanup; modeling; geospatial analysis; decision support tools; information management tools; the Triad approach; innovative remediation techniques and technologies; vapor intrusion investigation and mitigation techniques; green remediation approaches; land revitalization and ecological restoration; remedy optimization for all phases of cleanup; contracting; and large project management/value engineering. Knowledge of technologies and clean up approaches include, but are not limited to: in situ treatment (e.g., bioremediation, thermal treatment, chemical oxidation, phytoremediation, multiphase extraction, soil vapor extraction, solidification/ stabilization); ex situ treatment (pump-and-treat, bioremediation, thermal desorption, incineration, landfilling, solidification/stabilization); and ecorestoration using soil amendments. Knowledge of technologies and characterization approaches include numerous characterization/analytical tools (e.g., membrane interface probe, laser-induced fluorescence, surface and borehole geophysical tools, hydrogeologic field methods in overburden and fractured bedrock environments); real time analytical and rapid sampling tools and approaches; conceptual site model development, including 3-dimensional visualization; and modeling of groundwater flow and chemical transport of contaminants in vadose and saturated zones.

Information Development Expertise The contractor must have demonstrated expertise, knowledge, and experience in collection, analysis, and reporting of site characteristics and technology use trends in Superfund and other cleanup programs using data such as site and remedy information for Superfund sites found on the Internet and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Information System (CERCLIS)/ Superfund Enterprise Management System (SEMS)

Field Experience/Technical Support Requirements The contractor must have knowledge of the state-of-the-practice approaches and innovative techniques in the development cycle, and knowledge and extensive demonstrated prior experience with the intricacies of managing site cleanup activities in the field. Technical support activities require a sophisticated, cutting-edge, and up-to-date understanding of newly available techniques, as well as identification of new uses or optimized uses of existing tools and technologies. The EPA provides site managers with an understanding of the tools available to them to address specific site cleanup issues and advice and support on the application and integration of these approaches into a variety of implementation scenarios. Understanding and demonstrated experience with real world site situations, issues, and challenges is essential. Technical support involves the application of the latest field analytical tools and approaches; rapid sampling techniques; decision support tools and methods, data management, data visualization, information communication technologies and strategies and systematic project planning. State-of- the- art knowledge about current cleanup, containment and removal technologies and approaches, and the ability to devise and recommend alternate technology methods and approaches is essential. Technical support may include site-specific characterization, monitoring and cleanup optimization reviews and tracking and monitoring the implementation of the recommendations.

Support will involve the evaluation of treatment systems, cleanup approaches, characterization and monitoring strategies and data for the purpose of optimizing site cleanup in accordance with the National Strategy to Expand Superfund Optimization Practices from Site Assessment to Site Completion (available at www.cluin.org and www.epa.gov/superfund). This support area will be a major area of emphasis under this task area. This support area involves expert review (optimization) of large and complex hazardous waste site cleanup projects by multidisciplinary teams of engineers and scientists that are independent and conflict of interest free of project activities. Optimization reviews are intended to provide comprehensive evaluations of site cleanup activities to identify opportunities for improvement in five primary areas: remedy effectiveness, cost effectiveness, technical improvement, site closeout, and green remediation.

Support also includes maintaining and operating the Superfund Sediments Resource Center to provide input on contaminated sediment science and engineering issues related to site characterization, contaminant fate and transport, food chain modeling, risks, and effective analyses for remedies such as capping, dredging, monitored natural recovery, and sediment treatment technologies. Support also includes maintaining and operating the Brownfields and Land Revitalization Technology Support Center, which provides technical support to federal, state, local, and tribal officials for questions related to the use of innovative technologies and strategies for site assessment and cleanup. The types of services provided by the Brownfields and Land Revitalization Technology Support Center (BTSC) include: providing project strategy consultation and facilitating systematic project planning; reviewing documents, including requests for proposals, work plans, field sampling plans, and other project documents; and providing information about the use of innovative and field-based technologies for site investigation and cleanup.

Training Expertise The contractor can reasonably anticipate providing the expertise to co-develop, design and deliver basic thorough advanced courses that can range from a few hours to a week long. It is imperative that the contractors developing and delivering these courses be seasoned and experienced in their areas of expertise. It is also imperative that they be current in their field of expertise. In addition, the contractor must have expertise in instructional design, logistics, on-line and other distance training mechanisms, training registration, and outreach activities related to hosting training events.

Staff Capacity

In addition to demonstrating the necessary expertise, the contractor must demonstrate the capacity to handle the mission requirements as needed. For the training requirements, OSRTI hosts multiple classroom trainings a year. The contractor can reasonably anticipate being expected to deliver multiple training courses in different geographic locations at the same time. The contractor can also reasonably anticipate working closely with EPA experts to develop and deliver training courses.

OSRTI also plans and hosts a number of week-long training programs per year. The OSC Readiness Training Program and the National Association of Remedial Project Managers (NARPM) Training Program are two of these annual programs. These are large events with 30-55 courses offered during the course of a week with as many as 11 courses offered simultaneously. The contractor must plan and coordinate the logistics, content, and audio-visual support for all training courses along with the overall support for the conferences and ancillary meetings. The Contractor must coordinate and team with other training stakeholders and other contractors to support this event. Contractor can anticipate responsibilities for up to 40 training courses and working with other contractors and training providers for an additional 10 -20 courses. Products developed for these events are disseminated throughout the training year using multiple venues and media. These large events require months of planning and close coordination with multiple EPA training teams, providers, stakeholders, and the training venues/facilities. In addition, the contractor can anticipate 25-40 smaller training events, from one day to one week, with 30-160 attendees.

The required contractor qualifications for optimization, sediments, site characterization, and other technical assessment and support involves senior level expertise with a minimum of 15 years experience working on Superfund caliber sites nationally in the following disciplines: cost and process engineers, experts in a variety of engineering fields, biologists, chemists, hydrogeologists, geochemists, geologists, toxicologists, regulatory specialists. Furthermore, specific technology expertise described in the above paragraphs will be necessary for most optimization projects and technical support tasks. Innovative technologies and approaches may apply to specific problem areas including emerging contaminants, Dense Nonaqueous Phase Liquid (DNAPL),specific site-types (e.g., dry cleaners, petroleum sites, manufactured gas plants, former mining sites, munitions sites), and for all media types, including surface and subsurface soils, groundwater, surface water, sediments, and air. Due to advances in characterization and remediation technologies, the contractor may need to procure third-party subject-matter experts to supplement contractor personnel capabilities related to new or niche technology support on an ad hoc basis. Overall, the contractor must have the capability to provide support at 20-25 sites at one time.

All capability statements must:

1. Not exceed and will be restricted up to ten (10) single-sided pages in length.

2. Shall be electronically submitted to the email addresses below by the stated deadline.

3. Address technical competencies, related experience, and management/personnel relative to: (a) the key task areas in the above requirement synopsis and listed focus areas; and (b) the overall business demands of the proposed acquisition for the best mix of cost, performance, and schedules.

4. List references as well as demonstrate experience in conducting projects of similar size, scope, and complexity in the past 5 years.

5. State the (a) average number of employees of the concern; (b) average annual receipts based on the last 3 fiscal years; (c) other current business commitments (i.e., contracts, etc.); and (d) a description of the concern’s accounting system for estimating and accumulating costs under fixed rate contracts—and whether or not those system(s) have been audited and/or reviewed/approved by any Government agency.

6. Demonstrate the management capability, corporate structure, and financial capability to meet the needs of the anticipated level of effort and scope of this requirement.

The Government intends to consider all comments and the responsive capability statements when developing its final acquisition strategy and resulting RFP(s). The synopsis, amendments and other information related to this sources sought as well as any subsequent procurement notifications will be posted on FedBizOpps and EPA's website, at: http://www.epa.gov/oam/srpod/index.htm., under the “OSRTI Technology Assessment, Support, Outreach, and Training” link. All interested parties should check these sites frequently for updates. All information related to this procurement will be available at this link through the date of any award.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Please submit all Capability Statements by 4:00 P.M. EST on December 7, 2012 via email to:

Christie Deskiewicz, Contract Specialist at Deskiewicz.Christie@epa.gov, AND Eric Schermerhorn, Contracting Officer at Schermerhorn.Eric@epa.gov .

NO FAXES, MAIL OR PHONE CALLS WILL BE ACCEPTED