NOTICE OF INTENT TO ISSUE AN ORDER/CONTRACT. This is not a request for competitive proposals/quotes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), hereby announces its intent to issue a sole source order/contract to Environmental Risk Sciences, LLP, 4376 N 95th Street, Lafayette, CO 80026 The NAICS code for this acquisition is 541330 Engineering Services, with a size standard of $16.5 million. _______DRAFT SOW________ Advancing Cumulative Risk Assessment Knowledge and Assessment Techniques Background Cumulative risk assessment (CRA) is an advanced risk assessment approach that has been used in environmental and ecological contexts to evaluate the combined risk from co-exposures to chemical and/or non-chemical stressors. To date, the U.S. EPA has used this approach to characterize the cumulative risks from five classes of pesticides (e.g., organophosphates) that act via the same mechanism of toxicity and for which there are multiple exposure pathways (e.g., dietary, residential). Additional research has explored how to potentially incorporate non-chemical stressors or account for joint toxicological interactions under specific and relatively narrow scenarios. While the chemical mixtures threshold limit value® (TL®) approach has been used within the industrial hygiene (IH) community for many years, a broader focus on joint exposures to chemical and non-chemical stressors (e.g., noise, ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, fatigue, psychosocial stress) is rarely considered and is not standard IH practice. A number of peer-reviewed and trade publications, as well as technical presentations given at the American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition (AIHce) and other scientific conferences, have advocated for the use of CRA methods in occupational contexts over the last decade (including work led or co-authored by NIOSH), but there has thus far been limited progress in applying this methodology in real-world settings. Practical tools and guidance are therefore needed to support the greater adoption of a CRA perspective among IH professionals and practitioners, particularly among those working in the field and serving as key health and safety personnel within various industry sectors. Project Objectives The project goal is to conduct research and analyses to support the development and advancement of practical tools and guidance for evaluating and managing cumulative risks in the workplace. The primary focus is on identifying those industries or occupations potentially at greatest risk from simultaneous exposures to chemical and non-chemical stressors believed to result in the same health effect (in either an additive or greater-than-additive way). This identification process will allow for the development of more targeted and specific guidance and tools that can be applied in specific industry settings. Because there are many possible co-exposure combinations that occur within the workplace, and these have varying degrees of uncertainty and supporting data, the proposed project will target a particular co-exposure scenario of growing interest in the United States and abroad and for which there exists some toxicological information and exposure monitoring data. Specifically, the proposed work will evaluate co-exposures to noise and a variety of ototoxicants (e.g., carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, lead, solvent mixtures, xylene, ethylbenzene, toluene, styrene, arsenic, carbon disulfide, chlorobenzene, mercury, nitriles, n-hexane, pesticides, trichloroethylene) which have been associated with hearing loss. The information gleaned from this work will be used to support conducting similar types of analyses and tool development for other co-exposure combinations. This work will be done in collaboration with various NIOSH divisions. Scope of work and tasks to be performed The purpose of this contract is to provide services for comprehensive review of existing literature, databases, and other occupational exposure information for knowledge gap analysis, combined exposure analysis, development of CRA tools, and potential input and analysis of a field evaluation including co-exposure monitoring (depending on travel restrictions due to COVID-19). The scope of work is broken into 6 specific tasks outlined below. The contractor will provide written reports and peer-reviewed manuscript drafts when the results warrant. Included in this assignment is the attendance of the contractor at two onsite meetings at the NIOSH Taft building in Cincinnati, OH at the beginning of the project (or when COVID-19 travel restrictions allow) to discuss this work with NIOSH staff. The second onsite meeting will be scheduled at a later date and dependent upon results from early tasks. Other onsite meetings (including meetings at the NIOSH Western States Division Office in Denver, Colorado) and teleconferences will be held as needed. No PII will be collected, retained, or transmitted back to NIOSH. Period of Performance 24 months _____________________________ A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed action will be based on responses to this notice and is solely in the discretion of the Contracting Officer. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. All vendors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) at www.sam.gov , prior to an award of a federal contract. This action is for supplies or services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b) and 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1). Interested persons may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement or submit quotations. This is not a request for competitive quotations; however, the Government will review any/all product, capabilities, and pricing information submitted prior to the closure of this notice. A determination by the government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Responsible sources that believe they possess the expertise and capabilities identified above are hereby afforded the opportunity to submit to the Contracting Officer within 5 days from the posting date of this notice, their written capabilities statement and pricing information in the format they choose, not to exceed 10 pages. Please forward product and pricing information to Diane Meeder, Contracting Officer, CDC, OAS, through email at
[email protected]. Any responses should be emailed to Diane Meeder at
[email protected] by September 8, 2020 at 12:00 P.M. ET.