SOW for Geotechnical and Structural Consultant - Final 7-17-2026_OEP Final Review.docx

GEOTECHNICAL AND STRUCTURAL DOCUMENT REVIEW FOR LNG FACILITIES

Statement of Work

1.0 Introduction:

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) issues contracts for Civil Geotechnical and Structural experts to review front end engineering design information for proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities and to review final design engineering information for authorized LNG facilities that are under construction. The expert technical review verifies compliance with the applicable federal and/or state regulations, guidelines, codes, standards, specifications, and generally accepted good engineering practices in the United States. This Statement of Work (SOW) describes the services that will be required for the review process of the selected Civil Geotechnical and Structural Contractor (Contractor).

1.1 FERC's Mission:

Economically Efficient, Safe, Reliable, and Secure Energy for Consumers.

Assist consumers in obtaining economically efficient, safe, reliable, and secure energy services at a reasonable cost through appropriate regulatory and market means, and collaborative efforts.

1.2 Purpose:

The Contractor shall provide technical expert level engineering support in efforts to support the FERC mission, specifically, Goal 2 which is to promote safe, reliable, and secure infrastructure. Contractors will provide support to the appropriate office objectives and the level of technical expertise provided supports each individual efforts.

2.0 Background:

The FERC regulates the interstate transmission, storage, and sale of natural gas. The Office of Energy Projects (OEP) carries out Goal 2 of the Commission’s Strategic Plan by facilitating potential benefits to the nation through the review of natural gas and hydropower infrastructure proposals and minimizing risks to the public associated with FERC jurisdictional energy infrastructure. Specifically, the Division of LNG Facility Reviews and Inspections (DLNG) coordinates and manages the engineering design review of applications for liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities under Sections 3 and 7 of the Natural Gas Act. In addition, DLNG has post-authorization oversight during LNG facility construction and through the operational life of each jurisdictional LNG facility. Therefore, DLNG’s oversight has a direct bearing on life, property, and the environment. To support these efforts, expertise is required to supplement existing technical staff.

Companies that propose to construct, operate, and maintain jurisdictional natural gas facilities must secure approval from the FERC in the form of an Order Issuing Certificate or Order Issuing Authorization. The engineering design requirements that apply to any individual project will vary depending upon site specific conditions and the applicable FERC regulations.

3.0 Objective:

The objective of this contract is to provide technical evaluation services on the civil geotechnical, and structural engineering design of proposed LNG facilities. Post-authorization implementation of these required design measures, and other related tasks may also be assigned. Such studies determine the overall adequacy of the proposed civil geotechnical and structural engineering design and input values. Ensure the civil engineering design analysis/calculations of the structures, systems, and components (SSCs) for the LNG facilities are in compliance with the applicable federal and/or state regulations, guidelines, codes, standards, specifications, and generally accepted good engineering practices in the United States. As part of this effort, the Contractor will be expected to have expertise on the field that are qualified in all of these areas.

4.0 Scope:

The Contractor will provide technical evaluation services on Civil Geotechnical and Structural engineering design and operation of various LNG projects proposed to or authorized by the FERC to assure compliance with the applicable federal and/or state regulations, guidelines, codes, standards, specifications, and generally accepted good engineering practices in the United States, including but not limited to the following: 49 CFR 193, 18 CFR 380, NFPA 59A, API 620, API 625, API 653, ASCE/SEI 7, ASCE/SEI 24, ASCE/SEI 41, ACI 376, ACI 318, ACI 350, ACI 543R, AISC, ANSI/AISC 341, ANSI/AISC 360, ANSI/AWS D, IBC, ICC, MOTEMS, PCI, AASHTO, ASTM, AWS, and etc.

For the Pre-Filing and Application phase, the Contractor will review related materials produced by the applicant (in multiple drafts and final form) and provide constructive feedback on the adequacy of the necessary studies to assist FERC staff generating the engineering information requests (EIRs), which will then be provided to the applicant. Elements of the proposed LNG project subject to Contractor review include the applicant's studies of geologic hazards, geotechnical investigations, natural hazards study, and civil structural engineering design of the SSCs for the proposed LNG project site. The Contractor will review and comment on the materials provided by FERC staff and provide analyses and recommendations to FERC staff on the drafting of Environmental Assessment (EA) and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) documents.

Review of civil structural basis of design, and criteria will be assessed for facilities including interaction with ships and marine facilities and their supportive engineering calculations, drawings, and other engineering documentation, to determine whether they have been done correctly, consistently, and in accordance with the applicable federal and/or state regulations, guidelines, codes, standards, specifications, and generally accepted good engineering practices in the United States. Special emphasis shall be placed on all loads referenced in FERC Guidance Volume II, 2017. The evaluation reports are the property of the FERC and the information contained in the reports is considered proprietary.

Review basis will include knowledge of appropriate federal and/or state regulations, guidelines, codes, standards, specifications, and generally accepted good engineering practices, prior experience, precedents, and engineering knowledge. Work will be coordinated with the LNG facility owner/applicant through the FERC staff. It is anticipated that the FERC staff will obtain the necessary background and technical material including facility specifications and design details appropriate to the individual projects, as the basis for each technical review. The Contractor shall prepare and submit to the FERC brief monthly Status Reports.

The Contractor will be expected to participate in technical conferences with the applicants or operators and their consultants with respect to civil geotechnical and structural design issues. Based upon the studies, conferences, and inspections, the Contractor may be requested to submit summary reports to the FERC staff setting forth the technical evaluation, recommendations, and conclusions for the various aspects of the proposed project. The Contractor will review and prepare EIRs on relevant materials and will submit them to FERC staff for review and issuance to the applicant. In addition, the Contractor will be available as an expert witness on behalf of the staff of the FERC in any hearings on applications.

A post-authorization review may be performed to ensure that the civil structure and foundation design of SSCs are properly implemented as intended by the FERC authorization. The Contractor will also provide technical reviews and recommendations to FERC staff regarding any post-authorization "changed conditions" or other post-authorization requests from the project owner that require modification of the civil structure and foundation design. Contractor’s post-authorization reviews should plan to review: referenced applicable codes and standards, relevant load cases, consistency with basis of design, consistency with prior commitments by the applicant, etc. Further guidelines would be provided by FERC staff as necessary on a case-by-case basis.

5.0 Applicable Documents:

The FERC’s Contracting Officer Representative (COR) will provide a list of projects as they become available. The project data and specifications are available from the FERC’s eLibrary System under the docket number for the project including project maps, resource reports, the NEPA document (EA/EIS), Commission Order, Implementation Plans, clearance letters and notices, and the company’s construction status reports. The COR may provide additional materials upon Contractor request.

6.0 Confidentiality of Information:

To the extent that the work under this contract requires that the Contractor be given access to confidential or proprietary business, technical, or financial information belonging to the government or other companies, the Contractor shall, after receipt thereof, treat such information as confidential and agree not to appropriate such information to its own use or to disclose such information to third parties unless specifically authorized by the COR in writing. The foregoing obligations, however, shall not apply to:

6.1 Information which, at the time of receipt by the Contractor, is in the public domain;

6.2 Information which is published after receipt thereof by the Contractor or otherwise becomes part of the public domain through no fault of the Contractor;

6.3 Information which the Contractor can demonstrate was in its possession at the time of receipt thereof and was not acquired directly or indirectly from the Government or other companies;

6.4 Information which the Contractor can demonstrate was received from a third party who did not require the Contractor to hold it in confidence.

The Contractor agrees, that upon request by FERC, it shall execute a FERC-approved agreement with any party whose facilities or proprietary data it is given access to or is furnished, restricting use and disclosure of the data or the information obtained from the facilities. Upon request by FERC, such an agreement shall also be signed by Contractor personnel.

7.0 Organizational Conflict of Interest:

Immediately upon assignment of an Contractor to a new project and prior to incurrence of any review or inspection-related costs, the Contractor shall prepare and submit one electronic copy of a No Conflict of Interest Statement as required by 40 CFR § 1506.5(c) to the Contracting Office (Contract Specialist), the Contracting Officer's Representative, and the Office of the General Counsel - Administrative Law staff. In the alternative, if the Contractor decides that the appearance of a conflict of interest is possible or that a conflict exists, the Contractor shall submit a full disclosure statement, describing the circumstances or conditions that create the conflict and any mitigating measures the Contractor intends to implement to resolve the conflict or the appearance of a conflict. If no mitigation will suffice, the Contractor will not be assigned to that particular Task. The Contractor shall also assure that each of the proposed subcontractors on the team for this Task has submitted to FERC, a No Conflict of Interest Statement, if the subcontractors are to be used. In addition, the Contractor shall submit a plan for how it will handle any potential conflicts which may arise during the performance period.

8.0 Project Review Deliverables:

The COR will provide a schedule for review and data request preparation for related materials. Typical turn-around-time to document review and comment varies from a few days to four weeks depending on project schedules and the type of deliverable.

The Contractor shall provide FERC with the following technical deliverables at the indicated timeline intervals during the Pre-Filing and Application phases of an LNG project (Note: Contractor estimated billable deliverable hours should be agreed/approved by the assigned COR prior to proceeding.):

The Contractor shall provide FERC with the following technical deliverables at the indicated timeline intervals during the Post Authorization phase of an LNG project (Note: Contractor estimated billable deliverable hours should be agreed/approved by the assigned COR prior to proceeding):

In addition to the above the Contractor shall provide FERC the following:

8.1 Monthly Project Progress Reports. The Contractor shall provide monthly Project Progress Reports in electronic format to the COR using software compatible with FERC’s systems. This report shall include progress of all outstanding tasks, activities completed during the month; cost and status of invoiced charges and deviations from planned status of each task.

8.2 Monthly Invoices. Monthly invoices shall include dollars expended by work/expense category, percent spent of the total funds allocated per contract, etc.

8.3 Monthly Status Reports. The Contractor shall provide monthly Status Reports to the COR in electronic format using software compatible with FERC’s systems. This report shall include a summary table of all projects that the Contractor currently has in progress, date awarded, contract end date, total budget, amount invoiced to date, and amount invoiced for the month.

8.4 Technical Meetings. The Contractor shall participate in technical meetings with the applicant or operators and their consultants with respect to Civil Geotechnical and Structural design issues. Based upon the studies, meetings, and inspections, the Contractor shall review and prepare relevant material and shall report the Contractor assessment to FERC staff for review.

8.5 Emergency Situations. The Contractor shall have the capability to respond to "emergency situations", involving construction-related problems, environmental-related complaints, potential violations of environmental certificate conditions, or the first crossing of a major or sensitive water body within one day of receiving notice from the COR. The duties include: investigation, damage assessment, remediation measures, and coordination with applicable federal, state and local officials.

8.6 Other Tasks as Assigned. From time to time the Contractor will be asked to provide consultation/technical peer review for more specific projects or for special non-project-specific tasks. The Contractor may also be asked to provide a lesson learned or technical briefing or training for projects in which unique circumstances, risk hazards, or design methods are encountered.

9.0 Period and Place of Performance

The contract is anticipated to have a 1-year base and four 1-year option periods.

The primary place of performance is the Contractor’s facility and may require travel within the U.S.

10.0 Travel

The Contractor shall make arrangements for travel to and from the site and shall secure its own rental car for performing site visits. Travel expenses will be reimbursed according to Federal Travel Regulations and FERC policy. Special transportation methods e.g., helicopter, small plane, or boat are seldom required. In the event the COR determines that use of such special transportation methods will be advantageous to the Government, FERC is obligated to either reimburse the transportation cost, pro-rate the share of transportation costs, or to hire and pay the transportation service directly. The Contractor must obtain written approval prior to use of special transportation from the COR. The FERC preferred method of travel is that the Company provide the special transportation and bill FERC for our share of the expense. The Contractor will coordinate payment arrangements with the COR for submission to FERC’s Division of Financial Services.

For offshore portions of projects where the construction site or platform is only accessible by air or boat, the Contractor is permitted to ride in the company’s craft without reimbursement.

Note: The Contractor shall not generally accept rides in company vehicles without sufficient justification. However, it is understood that safety concerns and ground conditions at an inspection site may dictate the need to use four-wheel drive or an all-terrain vehicle, and the Contractor is permitted to ride in a company representative’s vehicle to complete the inspection without reimbursement to the company.

11.2 Project Manager - The Contractor shall have one Project Manager assigned to the task, and an alternate contact who shall respond within 24 hours to all inquiries from the COR. References for the proposed project manager shall be provided, including name and phone number for pertinent and related work within the past 3 years.

11.3 Personnel - The Contractor should provide hourly rates for all personnel, estimated time required to perform each of the tasks, as described in Section 3, and total estimated costs. Technical evaluation services required under the contract will vary in complexity but for costing purposes, the Contractor should assume similar level of difficulty as an example provided in the Appendix. In addition, the Contractor shall be available as a witness on behalf of the staff of the FERC in any hearings or rehearings on applications.

11.3.1 All Contractor personnel shall complete a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) as part of their onboarding to the executed contract.

11.3.2 All Contractor personnel are required to complete FERC in processing procedures that includes a background investigation.

11.4 Qualifications – All Contractor personnel that provide technical evaluation services shall meet the following:

11.4.1 Experience: A minimum of fifteen (15) years’ professional experience in civil geotechnical investigation and structural engineering design analysis, construction, operations, and maintenance at industrial facilities or engineering firms with particular emphasis on processes involving LNG. Prior work experience associated with LNG facilities is more heavily valued and preferred over experience in other industrial facilities that do not involve the design, operation, and maintenance of processes that handle cryogenic fluids.

11.4.2 Professional Registration or licensure: Current registration as a Professional Engineer by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. A Structural Engineer license is preferred.

11.4.3 Education: Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering focusing on Geotechnical and Structural Engineering or a combination of certifications and experience.

11.5 Document Control - All final documents will be reviewed and edited by the Contractor to ensure that the document is both technically and grammatically correct. Final documents will be organized in a logical manner. The COR will also review final documents and request Contractor edits as necessary.

12.0 Non-Disclosure Agreement

The Contractor shall obtain the written agreement, in a form satisfactory to the COR and Security, of each employee permitted access, whereby the employee agrees that he/she shall not discuss, divulge or disclose any such information or data to any person or entity except those persons within the Contractor’s organization directly concerned with the performance of the contract. The Contractor agrees, if requested by the Government, to sign an agreement identical, in all material respects, to the provisions of this clause, with each company supplying information to the Contractor under this contract, and to supply a copy of such agreement to the COR and Security. From the time upon request of the COR, the Contractor shall supply the Government with reports itemizing information received as confidential or proprietary and setting forth the company or companies from which the Contractor received such information.

Appendix

Provided samples are public documents that are available on the Commission’s eLibrary (http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/elibrary.asp). Direct links are provided below.

Public Resource Reports (RRs) Examples:

https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/filelist?accession_number=20190820-5125

· For RR 1, see Commonwealth_LNG-RR01.PDF and Appendix_1-PUB.PDF

· For RR 6, see Commonwealth_LNG-RR06.PDF and Appendix_6-PUB.PDF

· For RR 11, see Commonwealth_LNG-RR11.PDF and Appendix_1-PUB.PDF

· For RR 13, see Commonwealth_LNG-RR13.PDF and several Appendix_13 files

· For Natural Hazard Design, see Appendix_13.I-PUB.PDF

· For Site Investigations and Foundations, see Appendix_13.J-PUB.PDF

Data Request Example:

https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/filelist?accession_number=20220511-3006 Final EIS Example:

https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/filelist?accession_number=20230728-3008

· For Geotechnical and Structural Design section, see Volume 1 PDF page 499 of 675.

https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/filelist?accession_number=20240621-3025

· For Geotechnical and Structural Design section, see PDF page 380 of 435.

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