NCB 6557 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford University

The California Air Resources Board (ARB) has issued a Non-Competitive Bid (NCB) contract opportunity with the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University for developing a California-specific life-cycle model for natural gas systems. The primary objective of this procurement is to create a comprehensive emissions calculation model that covers the entire natural gas production process from extraction through transmission, storage, and distribution. Specifically, the contract aims to develop a methane emissions model that will be integrated as a module within the existing Oil Production Greenhouse Gas Estimator (OPGEE) tool, which was previously developed by Stanford University in 2010. The procurement supports ARB's mandate to develop strategies for reducing short-lived climate pollutants and complies with Assembly Bill 1496's requirements for conducting life-cycle greenhouse gas emission analysis of natural gas produced and imported into California. The contract period is set from June 30, 2016 to June 29, 2018, with a specified contract amount of $150,000 for non-IT/telecom related services. This procurement is specifically designated as a non-competitive bid, with explicit instructions that no bids will be accepted, and is being posted in the Fi$Cal database solely for record-keeping purposes in accordance with Government Code Section 14825.

The contract opportunity is uniquely structured as a non-competitive bid due to Stanford University's existing intellectual property rights to the OPGEE tool, which precludes competitive bidding. No specific set-aside designations or restrictions on organizational respondents are mentioned in the documentation. The procurement directly involves Stanford University as the sole vendor, leveraging their existing intellectual property and specialized expertise in greenhouse gas emissions modeling. The contract represents a continuation of previous collaborative work between ARB and Stanford, building upon the university's established modeling framework. The total contract value is $150,000, which will fund the development of a specialized methane emissions model as a module within the existing OPGEE tool. The procurement is specifically tailored to support California's environmental policy objectives, particularly those related to comprehensive greenhouse gas emission analysis in the natural gas sector. The contract is being processed through the California Department of General Services Procurement Division, emphasizing its governmental and policy-driven nature.