Estimating Agricultural Crops, Pesticide Use, and Animal Density near Residences in Denmark

Contracting Office Address

Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Office of Acquisitions, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Room 1E136, Bethesda, MD 20892, UNITED STATES

Description

The National Cancer Institute (NCI), Division of Cancer Epidemiology (DCEG), Metabolic Epidemiology Branch (MEB) plans to procure on a sole source basis, land use (agricultural crops), pesticide use, and animal data for Danish residences for a study of childhood cancer from the Contractor, Aarhus Universitet, Frederiksborgvej 399, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark.

This acquisition will be processed in accordance with the simplified acquisition procedures as authorized by FAR Part 13.106-1 (b) (1) and is exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6. The North American Industry Classification System Code is 541380 and the business size standard is $15.0 million.

Only one award will be made as a result of this solicitation.

It has been determined there are no opportunities to acquire green products or services for this procurement.

1.0 BACKGROUND

The National Cancer Institute (NCI), Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch (OEEB) in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG) conducts studies of environmental and occupational exposures in relation to cancer risk. Epidemiologic studies of childhood cancer have found that living on a farm or in agricultural areas during pregnancy or early life is associated with an increased risk of childhood leukemia and childhood brain tumors (CBT). Early life exposures to pesticides have been associated with increased risk of childhood leukemia; whereas, animal exposures have been associated with increased risk of CBT.

The majority of land use in Denmark is agricultural (61% in 2010). In prior work, the NCI linked Danish land use data, pesticide use on crops, and animal counts to all Danish residences for two years (2012 and 2013) (contract HHSN261201800599P). The NCI now wants to link additional years of these for a Denmark-wide study of childhood cancer incidence using the same metrics. The Early Life Exposures and Childhood Cancer in Denmark study is a record-linkage cohort study of childhood cancer among Danish children who were born in 1997-2017 and whose pregnancies occurred during the years 1996 to 2017.

The Centre for Integrative Register-based Research at Aarhus University (CIRRAU) has established a nationwide database of longitudinal residential information (Geographic Information System [GIS] coordinates) on all Danes from 1971 onwards, thereby enabling the linkage of environmental exposures to residence locations for studying diseases on a nationwide basis. Starting in 2011, the location of agricultural crop fields that were treated with pesticides are available. There are 618,000 georeferenced crop fields totaling 2.6 million hectares with approximately 250 different types of crops. The Department of Environmental Sciences at Aarhus University determined that 1.7 million Danish residences had one or more agricultural crop fields within 500 m of the residence. For the Early Life Exposures and Childhood Cancer in Denmark study OEEB requires that Danish residences be linked to land use maps in order to characterize crops around homes. OEEB also requires the linkage of residences to locations of animal operations so that animal numbers and distances of animal farms from homes can be estimated within 500 - 2000 meters of homes. This requirement shall be performed in Denmark by Danish experts and translated to English by a researcher with fluency in English and Danish.

2.0 OBJECTIVE

The primary purpose of this contract is to obtain land use (agricultural crops), pesticide use, and animal data for Danish residences for a study of childhood cancer. The Contractor shall provide these data for every residence in Denmark so that the data can be used in analyses of childhood cancer incidence. This contract will provide the additional data necessary to conduct this large study of childhood cancer that is important to the mission of OEEB/DCEG and NCI.

3.0 SCOPE

The Contractor shall use Danish land use, pesticide consumption, and animal data to determine the crop area (by type) around Danish residences, estimate pesticide use, and determine animal counts and distances based on data from years 1996-2011 and 2014-2016 (including distances for years 2012 to 2013; counts were completed in an earlier effort Contract HHS261201800599P). For homes with agricultural crop fields and/or golf courses within 500 and 1000 meters, the Contractor shall estimate the specific pesticide active ingredients that were applied using nationwide farmer journals on pesticide applications. Pesticide journals are mandatory for farmers in Denmark and for golf courses that apply pesticides. Because the data may not always complete, the quality of the self-reported data must first be checked for errors and consistency with pesticide application guidelines. Secondly, estimates of pesticide consumption data must be estimated for farms that are missing this information. Organic farms will also be identified as agricultural areas with no pesticide applications. Finally, pesticide consumption estimates (grams of active ingredient) will be determined for the area of crop fields and golf courses that is within 500 meters of homes. The result of this work will be estimates of land use, pesticide consumption, and animals by type for every residence in Denmark in 2012-2013.

4.0 CONTRACTOR REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall perform the following tasks:
3.1 Thoroughly check annual pesticide consumption data for the years 2014 through 2017;

3.2 For farms that are missing pesticide consumption data, proxy application rates will be estimated based on either average data for each crop from prior year submissions or nearby farms;
3.3 Identify organic farms in the database of all farms and in the pesticide records. Organic farmers are also obliged to submit records to the pesticide use database but these data may not be complete in the pesticide database;
3.4 Link Danish residence locations to the land use maps in a geographic information system (GIS) and conduct spatial analyses to determine agricultural crops and golf courses within 500 and 1000 meters of residences;
3.5 Determine pesticide records for golf courses as feasible. Golf courses are not included in the agricultural register, but they are required to submit pesticide records if they are using pesticides;
3.6 Calculate hectares of each crop type within 500 and 1000 meter circular buffers of all Danish residences. Address register is provided by CIRRAU;
3.7 Estimate the agricultural area and crop type in each buffer zone (Approximately 240 different crop types in total);
3.8 Determine annual pesticide active ingredient applications in each buffer zone based on the farmers actual-reported pesticide consumption from The Danish Environmental Protection Agency. This includes organic farmers which do not apply pesticides;
3.9 Provide an expert-based monthly distribution model for the different pesticides separately for herbicides, fungicides, insecticides and growth regulators or by pesticide active ingredient if appropriate;
3.10 Provide animal counts by species for animals raised on any farm with >10 animals within 500, 1000 and 2000 meters of homes and the distance from the home to all of these farms with >10 animals within 2000 meters;
3.11 Datasets with the crop type, pesticide consumption, and animal counts and distances to farms will be provided in txt format and will be send to the NCI Technical Point of Contact (TPC) using a secure Danish server (with no location information). The datasets of crops, pesticides, and animals linked to residences will be sent to CIRRAU;
3.12 Provide a short report describing any issues or details about the data;
3.13 Provide support for questions about the data deliveries through conference calls with NCI scientists.

5.0 TYPE OF ORDER

This is a severable Firm Fixed Price Purchase Order.

The services acquired under this contract are severable services. Funds are only available for use for the contract line item (CLIN) to which they are obligated. Unused funds from one CLIN may not rollover for use in other periods.

6.0 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The period of performance shall be August 29, 2019 through August 28, 2020.

7.0 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

All work shall be performed at the Contractor's facility.

8.0 REPORT(S)/DELIVERABLES AND DELIVERY SCHEDULE

Data will be provided in text (txt) format and will be sent to the NCI Technical Point of Contact (TPC) via a secure server. The Contractor shall provide a short written report via email that describes the variables provided, the methods used, and any issues or details about the data. The Contractor shall also answer questions about the data deliveries through conference calls with NCI scientists.

All written and electronic deliverable products shall be submitted in draft format for review, comment and approval by the NCI TPC. Final copies of approved drafts shall be delivered to the NCI TPC within ten (10) business days after receipt of the Government's comments.

All deliverables shall be sent electronically as text files to CIRRAU at Aarhus University per the following deliverable schedule. Additionally, a summary of the files sent to CIRRAU, the files without geocodes and residence IDs and the final report shall be sent to NCI:

DELIVERABLE DELIVERABLE DESCRIPTION / FORMAT REQUIREMENTS DUE DATE
#1 (Tasks 4.12)

#2 (Task 4.13)

Dataset(s) in text format

Short report describing the land use and pesticides variables (metadata), methods used to create the variables, and any problems or issues encountered in created the variables
60 days before the end of the award

30 days before the end of the award

8.0 NCI Technical Point of Contact (TPC)

TBD

9.0 CLAUSES

Section 508 accessibility standards for HHS Web Site Content and Communications Materials Regardless of format, all Web content or communications materials specifically produced for publication on, or delivery via, HHS Web sites, including text, audio, or video, under this contract shall conform to applicable Section 508 accessibility standards. Remediation of any materials that do not comply with the applicable accessibility standards of 36 CFR Part 1194 as set forth herein shall be the responsibility of the Contractor. The following Section 508 accessibility standards apply to the content or communications material identified in this Statement of Work:
• Telecommunications products;
• Video and multimedia products and;
• Web-based intranet and internet information and applications.

There is no known commercial source for the data the NCI requires for this study. The data reside with the Environmental Sciences Department at Aarhus University and the department staff have the unique expertise and permissions to access the data and link it to the Danish population. As allowed under FAR 13.106-1 (b)(1)(i), these unique qualifications and nature of the data acquisition are such that only one source is available to provide these data. In addition, this is a follow on from a study (HHSN261201800599P) which only the proposed Contractor would have access to the previous data.

This notice is not a request for competitive quotation. However, if any interested party, especially small businesses, believes it can meet the above requirement, it may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency. The statement of capabilities and any other information furnished must be in writing and must contain material in sufficient detail to allow NCI to determine if the party can perform the requirement. Responses must be received in the contracting office by 5:00 PM EST, on August 19, 2019. All responses and questions can be emailed to Kathy Elliott, Contract Specialist via electronic mail at kathy.elliott@nih.gov. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. In order to receive an award, contractors must be registered and have valid certification in the System for Award Management (SAM) through sam.gov. Reference: 75N91019Q00115 on all correspondence.

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