Description
The Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water (OGWDW) requires a contactor to provide technical support for services that will support EPA's implementation of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The SDWA envisions a joint federal/state partnership to protect public health through safe drinking water. The Act as amended in 1996 further envisions a multiple barrier approach to public health protection including protection of source waters from contamination; treatment at the water plant and management of the distribution system to ensure compliance with nationally-promulgated standards; and efforts to inform customers of public water systems about local drinking water quality. Since 2001, EPA's responsibilities have been extended to address the security of the nation's critical water and wastewater infrastructure from terrorist and other intentional acts, in accordance with the Public Health and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (Bioterrorism Act) and Homeland Security Presidential Directives. The SDWA requires EPA to evaluate unregulated contaminants as well as to periodically review existing regulations. EPA oversees implementation of the Public Water System Supervision (PWSS) and Underground Injection Control (UIC) programs by states and tribes with primary enforcement authority and directly implements these programs in the absence of state or tribal enforcement authority. In addition to assisting states and water systems in meeting regulatory requirements, EPA carries out an array of related activities including promotion of source water protection; oversight of the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF); characterization of public water system needs; data management and verification audits; development of tools and analyses to support program accountability; analytical methods development; Geographic Information Systems (GIS) modeling promotion of approaches for sustainable infrastructure; support for consumer confidence and public notice requirements; support for sanitary surveys; and development of products such as guidance, training and tools to strengthen small water systems' capacity development efforts and support the use of certified operators. EPA may promulgate regulations under the UIC program and is also engaged in addressing emerging underground injection issues such as carbon sequestration and disposal of drinking water treatment residuals. The contractor will provide technical, analytical, administrative, engineering and statistical support to the Agency's efforts to develop and implement regulations, guidance and policies across this full range of SDWA implementation activities. This includes activities such as collecting data, information and materials and providing factual studies, trend analyses and recommendations; conducting modeling and assessments to support risk characterization and impact analyses development and survey support and facilitation. The contractor shall provide such support in accordance with specific written work assignments related to the Agency's development of drinking water, ground water, and UIC regulations, future regulatory and programmatic decisions, and implementation of its policies and programs under the SDWA. Responsible offerors shall demonstrate an ability to provide the level of effort, material, equipment, and facilities necessary to provide timely, professional engineering, technical and administrative services necessary to investigate chemical, radiological and microbiological contaminant occurrences to characterize drinking water threats. The resulting contract will include management of multiple, concurrent work assignments which will require long-term as well as quick turn-around responses essential to the statutory responsibilities of the Office of Water. This will be a performance based acquisition including a performance work statement and quality assurance surveillance plan. The anticipated contract type level-of-effort, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract consisting of a base period performance of twelve months, followed by three (3) optional performance periods of 12 months each and (3) award term options for a total potential performance period of seven (7) years. The base period will consist of a maximum amount of 27,300 professional direct labor hours, with 18,200 base direct professional labor hours plus 9,100 optional quantity direct labor professional hours. Option period one will consist of a maximum amount of 27,300 professional direct labor hours, with 18,200 base direct professional labor hours plus 9,100 optional quantity direct labor professional hours. Option period two will consist of a maximum amount of 27,300 professional direct labor hours, with 18,200 base direct professional labor hours plus 9,100 optional quantity direct labor professional hours. Option period three will consist of a maximum amount of 27,300 professional direct labor hours, with 18,200 base direct professional labor hours plus 9,100 optional quantity direct labor professional hours. Award Term Option period four will consist of a maximum amount of 27,300 professional direct labor hours, with 18,200 base direct professional labor hours plus 9,100 optional quantity direct labor professional hours. Award Term Option period five will consist of a maximum amount of 27,300 professional direct labor hours, with 18,200 base direct professional labor hours plus 9,100 optional quantity direct labor professional hours. Award Term Option period six will consist of a maximum amount of 27,300 professional direct labor hours, with 18,200 base direct professional labor hours plus 9,100 optional quantity direct labor professional hours. There will be a maximum potential combined total of 191,100 direct labor professional hours, base and all optional quantities, over the potential seven (7) year life of the contract. The standard EPAAR solicitation provisions (EPAAR 1552.209-70 and 1552.209-72) requiring an offeror to certify that it is unaware of any potential Conflict of Interest or to disclose any potential Conflict of Interest of which it is aware will be a part of the solicitation. The standard EPAAR solicitation provision (EPAAR 1552.209-71) requiring a contractor to make full disclosure of any actual or potential Conflict of Interest discovered after contract award will also be a part of the solicitation. In addition, the contractor shall be subject to the clause LIMITATION OF FUTURE CONTRACTING (EPAAR 1552.209-74), which may limit the contractor's eligibility to perform work as a prime Contractor or subcontractor under an ensuing EPA contract. Additionally, this clause will require that for the life of this contract the contractor shall be ineligible to enter into a contract to perform work for any of the following types of firms unless otherwise authorized by the Contracting Officer: (1) Firms that own, operate, or invest in waste management/waste disposal firms. (2) Firms that are subject to or may be subject to EPA water regulations. (3) Firms that manufacture/sell/import water treatment chemicals and/or equipment (including point-of-use/point-of-entry treatment devices). (4) Firms that are or support voluntary consensus standard bodies that set third party voluntary consensus technical standards (e.g., materials specifications, test methods, sampling procedures, business practices, etc.) (5) Firms that produce or distribute bottled water for sale. (6) Firms that own or operate public water systems. (7) Firms that own or operate regulated Underground Injection Control (UIC) Wells. This requirement will be a total small business set-aside. The applicable NAICS code is 541611. The projected start date of the contract is September 16, 2007. The solicitation is expected to be posted to the internet on or about July 1, 2007 as Solicitation Number PR-CI-07-10464 and may be accessed through the EPA?s home page on the World Wide Web (www.epa.gov) or through the direct link URL: http://www.epa.gov/oam/cinn_cmd. A draft copy of the Performance Work Statement may be accessed through the direct link URL: http://www.epa.gov/oam/cinn_cmd. No hard copies of the solicitation shall be provided. It is the responsibility of the offerors to frequently check the EPA website for updates or changes. All responsible sources may submit a proposal which will be considered by the agency. Numbered Notes: 1 and 26.