Regulation 216 Environmental Training

ISSUANCE DATE: August 17, 2010 CLOSING DATE: August 27, 2010 SUBJECT: Solicitation No. SOL-517-10-000001 (Regulation 216 Environmental Capacity Building Workshop for USAID and implementing Partners. USAID/Dominican Republic and USAID/Jamaica) NOTE: Solicitation type should be "Combined Synopsis/Solicitation" instead of "Sources Sought". Ladies and Gentlemen: The United States Government, represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is seeking proposals from all interested parties to provide services as described in the attached solicitation. Submittals shall be in accordance with the attached information at the place and time specified. Two different proposals are requested, one to provide services for USAID/DR and another one to provide services to USAID/Jamaica. Final contracts are subject to the availability of funds appropriated annually by the Congress of the United States of America. This solicitation in no way obligates USAID to award a contract, nor does it commit USAID to pay any cost incurred in the preparation and submission of the applications. Any questions on this solicitation may be directed to: Soraya Morillo USAID/Dominican Republic Telephone Number: 809-731-7042 Fax Number: 809-221-0023 E-mail address: [email protected] All proposals and the required documents should be submitted to: Soraya Morillo USAID/Dominican Republic Telephone Number: 809-731-7042 Fax Number: 809-221-0023 E-mail: [email protected] Sincerely, John W. Greenough Executive Officer SOLICITATION NUMBER: SOL-517-10-000001 ISSUANCE DATE: August 17, 2010 CLOSING DATE: August 27, 2010 SUBJECT: Regulation 216 Environmental Training PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: October 25, 2010 to November 19, 2010 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: USAID/Dominican Republic and USAID/Jamaica AREA OF CONSIDERATION: All interested parties Scope of Work USAID DOMINICAN REPUBLIC and Jamaica ENVIRONMENTAL TRAINING INITIATIVE Regulation 216 Environmental Capacity-Building Workshop for USAID and Implementing Partners Workshop in Jamaica November 1-5, 2010 Workshop in the Dominican Republic, November 15-19, 2010 A. Introduction and Background The Dominican Republic and Jamaica, like other developing nations, depend heavily upon its natural resources for economic growth but face significant environmental challenges, such as the following: • the overall poor quality of surface, groundwater and coastal water resources is the result of a lack of waste water management and proper sanitation infrastructure, mining activities, and agricultural pesticide run-off, causing health problems that disproportionately affect the poor; • water scarcity is a regional problem resulting from unsuitable ground-water exploitation and management and poor demand management in irrigation, urban water supply, and tourist infrastructure; • weak watershed management and increased deforestation lead to soil erosion and amplifies the damage and frequency of flooding; and • the overall lack of solid waste management pollutes water sources and coastal zones, causes disease and is a nuisance for both inhabitants and visitors. USAID's Regulation 216 helps ensure the environmental soundness of all USAID-funded programs by requiring implementing partners to carry out environmental impact assessments of programs, as well as environmental monitoring and reporting. Using sound environmental processes to carry out development projects provides an opportunity to consider various alternatives in accomplishing a project while reducing costs and mitigating negative impacts. Furthermore, in order to meet the USAID legal commitment to follow sound environmental processes in development projects, agency employees and partners must be informed about and trained to meet these obligations. In addition, key topics such as climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction are highly important for current and future development programs, especially for at-risk island nations such as Jamaica and the DR, and should be incorporated into the environmental management training methodology. The Environmental Mitigation Plan & Report (EMPR) was developed to assist USAID partners in complying with Regulation 216 and IEE implementation and reporting requirements. Since the EMPR is a fairly new tool (first used in the DR and Jamaica in 2009), training that focuses on its operational use would be beneficial for USAID partners in the DR, particularly considering that a training of this nature has not been held recently in the countries. This initiative focuses on tangible products for use in existing and future project development in the Dominican Republic and Jamaica. The expected outputs of the proposed environmental capacity-building workshops are: • Improved compliance with Regulation 216 requirements • High quality environmental documentation - including Initial Environmental Examinations (IEEs) and Environmental Mitigation Plan Reports (EMPRs). This initiative will also provide the opportunity for organizations to begin inter-institutional collaboration and to share lessons learned. The interdisciplinary approach of these workshops in the DR and Jamaica will ensure that a broad range of experiences is shared across sectors. As this RFP is for 2 separate workshops, one in Jamaica and one in the Dominican Republic, two separate proposals with associated budgets will need to be prepared in response to the RFP. B. Objectives The three principal objectives of the workshop are listed below and take into consideration the needs of USAID, and are based on past workshops in the Caribbean region: 1. Strengthen the ability of USAID staff and contractors and grantees to consistently apply and comply with USAID procedures Regulation 216 and to generate high-quality Initial Environmental Examinations (IEEs) and Environmental Mitigation Plan & Reports (EMPRs). 2. Improve the capacity of USAID and partner technical and managerial personnel to adopt best environmental practices and integrate environmental considerations into existing M&E systems. 3. Enhance collaboration, networking and exchange of ideas, lessons learned and technical solutions between implementing partners and their local staff in the field, ministries, and USAID personnel. C. TASKS The contractor will work with the Mission Environment Officer (or his/her designee) to complete the following tasks: A. Pre-Workshop tasks: 1. Plan, organize, and facilitate 2 Regulation 216 workshops of a week (4.5 to 5 days) each - one in English for Jamaica and one in Spanish for the Dominican Republic. 2. Prepare a final workshop agenda for both workshops to meet the needs of both USAID DR and USAID Jamaica missions. The agenda shall be approved by the USAID MEO. See Deliverables section for specific topics of the workshop. 3. Compile and review relevant existing training material documents. Prepare all training material handouts (in Spanish and in English) for each session of the workshops in a binder as hardcopy and as well on a disc or thumb drive for each participant. Workshop materials should be prepared for 45 participants/speakers for each workshop. 4. Prepare workshop certificates that are approved by USAID MEO. 5. Identify venues for both workshops. Organize and oversee the logistics for the workshop, lodging, meals, and extra activities at the workshop venues. 6. Together with USAID mission staff, identify key workshop session presenters (USAID staff, Government staff, and/or technical consultants/guest speakers) and open/closing session participants. Inform and provide them with the necessary materials to prepare them for their tasks. 7. Together with USAID mission staff, identify appropriate field trip to conduct EMPR field training sessions. Field trip shall visit existing or proposed USAID mission projects that require the use of an EMPR. There will be one field trip session during the workshop consisting of one day, with at least 2 sites to be visited by different groups. 8. Organize the logistics for the workshop field trip, to include coordinating the trips with Project partners, transportation, and ensuring the safety of workshop participants while in the field. 9. Organize the field trip classroom sessions to include preparation of materials, virtual tour presentation, and organizing the participants for visiting the different sites. B. Workshop Tasks: 1. Conduct various plenary sessions as needed based on the final agenda. 2. Capture the notes for all of the workshop sessions. 3. Serve as the facilitator for each of the workshops. Organize breakout sessions as per the agenda. 4. Conduct workshop evaluation C. Post Workshop Tasks: 1. Compile workshop evaluations, participants list, and notes in one final report to be presented to USAID DR and USAID Jamaica. 2. Distribute workshop summary to all participants. D. Workshop Methodology This training is focused on the practical applications of concepts and tools. A key way to achieve this is through field visits to specific technical case study sites as a central focus of the workshop. Participants shall be provided with ample preparation for these visits, including a written guide, and they visit the field in teams, accompanied by a local contact with significant knowledge about the project. The workshops shall consist of technical plenary sessions, field trips for gathering data for the preparation of an EMPR, and small group working sessions for preparing an EMPR. A plenary session shall include a presentation by a Ministry of Environment official on environmental legislation within each country. Special technical sessions shall include such topics as Global Climate Change, Pest Management/PERSUAP, Biodiversity, and other USAID earmarks. The Reg. 216 workshops are designed for project managers and sector coordinators of partner organizations and government ministries that work in or coordinate with USAID-supported programs, as well as USAID COTRs/AOTRs and Office directors. Workshop participants will gain capacity and environmental skills to incorporate compliance with USAID Environmental Regulations at project design, implementation, evaluation and development of appropriate and best practice mitigation measures. It is anticipated that each workshop will have 45 participants. E. Proposed Work location and Schedule One workshop will be held in Jamaica during the week of November 1st, 2010 and the other workshop will be held in the Dominican Republic during the week of November 15th, 2010. Based on past experience in similar training events, a workshop site outside the capital city is recommended to provide easier access to high-quality case study sites, as well as to minimize distractions and increase participants' focus on the workshop content. The specific agenda for the workshop will be prepared as a deliverable of this RFP. See section H for core topics to be included in the agenda. F. Language Spanish will be the spoken language, with materials and other content available in Spanish for the Dominican Republic. English will be the spoken language, with materials and other content available in English for Jamaica. G. Roles & Responsibilities Contractor- The contractor will be responsible to provide a team of experienced environmental trainers to facilitate and manage all operations of both workshops as per the tasks listed above. They will coordinate all planning activities with the USAID Mission Environment Officers. The contractors will also be responsible for organizing the venue, logistics, field trip operations, and identification of key speakers. The contractor will need to plan sufficient time in each country previous to the workshop to set up all of the logistics and operations for the workshop, including the field trips. This preliminary trip by the contractors shall be planned in coordination with the Mission Environmental Officers (Malden Miller-USAID Jamaica and Odalis Perez-USAID DR). A major role of the contractor is to facilitate the plenary workshop sessions. The Contractor will also serve as a presenter for various plenary sessions. The USAID Mission Environmental Officers (MEO) will work with Office Chiefs and COTRs/AOTRs to identify workshop participants and will make the list available to the selected contractor. The MEO will work with the contractor to identify possible venues and key speakers. The MEO will also work with the USAID COTRs/AOTRs to identify potential field trip sites. The MEO will assist the contractor in the organization of the field trips and will accompany the contractor during the contractor's preliminary country visit prior to the workshop to visit potential project sites for the field trip workshop sessions. Evaluation Criteria The criteria presented below have been tailored to the requirements of this particular RFP. Applicant should note that these criteria serve to: (a) identify the significant matters which applicant should address in their application and (b) set the standard against which application will be evaluated. To facilitate the review of proposal, the applicant should organize the narrative sections of their applications in the same order as the selection criteria. The technical application will be evaluated in accordance with the Technical Evaluation Criteria set forth below. Thereafter, the cost application of applicant submitting a technically acceptable application will be opened and costs will be evaluated as stated below and for general reasonableness, allowability, and allocability. To make an objective evaluation possible, applicants must clearly demonstrate how the organization and the application meet these criteria. A Contract may be awarded to the applicant or applicants representing the overall best value to the government. 1. Technical Criteria (100 points) The technical evaluation will focus on the applicant's overall ability to meet the objectives of the workshop. The technical criteria are broken down into three factors totaling 100 points. a. Proposed Workshop Approach (50 points) The proposal will be evaluated on the basis of how well-conceived, technically sound and responsive the approach presented is. Specifically, USAID will evaluate the applicant's skills, expertise and experience to successfully delivering the Reg 216 workshop. A strong proposal will provide convincing evidence of the applicant's understanding of the activities it proposes to carry out. b. Past and Current Performance (20 points) USAID will evaluate the degree to which the applicant has a demonstrated and successful past and current track record at organizing and delivering Reg 216 training workshops in LAC. c. Appropriateness of Proposed Staff (30 points) USAID will evaluate the capabilities of proposed staff to determine how well their skills and abilities are matched with the proposed activities and level of assigned responsibilities. Proposed staff must have experience working in the workshop thematic areas. This evaluation will focus on the demonstrated experience and specialized skills concerning Reg 216 and natural resource management of the proposed staff in relation to the actual proposal. All proposed staff must be fluent in Spanish (Dominican Republic Workshop) and English (Jamaica Workshop) at the a 3/3 level. II. Cost USAID will also evaluate the cost proposals, but scores will not be assigned. All non-cost factors will be more significant than cost factors. The cost evaluation will focus on two sub-factors: Cost Realism/Reasonableness and Cost Effectiveness. This evaluation will involve consideration of whether the budget notes and narrative provide a clear explanation of each category of estimated costs and whether the budget aggregation has been broken down appropriately and in accordance with the instructions. Cost Realism: The cost realism analysis is intended to determine whether the costs estimated accurately reflect the costs that would be incurred during the actual performance of the program, and whether those costs are reasonable. In addition, the cost realism analysis will: a) verify the Applicant's understanding of the requirements and regulations; b) assess the degree to which the cost proposal reflects the approaches in the technical application; and c) assess the degree to which the cost proposal accurately represents the work effort included in the technical application. H. Deliverables A. Preworkshop: 1. The contractor shall have a venue confirmed and logistics organized for the venue and participants stay within a five week period prior to the workshop dates. 2. Five weeks prior to the workshop dates, the contractor shall have submitted invitations to participants that have been previously identified by USAID. 3. Four weeks prior to the workshop dates, the contractor shall have a finalized agenda that is approved by USAID/DR and USAID/Jamaica. The agenda must include sessions on: • Reg 216 compliance, • Concepts and techniques in monitoring of environmental actions and mitigations, • National environmental laws and regulations, • Environmental Mitigation Plan & Report overview and field trip to prepare an EMPR, and • An overview of USAID Environmental Earmarks (i.e. Global Climate Change, Biodiversity, Water) • Other sessions applicable to USAID Environment Program. 4. The agenda shall have a field trip identified with field sites to at least 2 USAID projects that have been approved by the USAID MEO. 5. The contractor shall also confirm all guest speakers as per the agenda. 6. Three weeks prior to the workshop date, the contractor shall provide a set of workshop materials to the USAID MEO for review and approval. Upon approval, the contractor will have all of the workshop materials binder ready for the workshop. B. Workshop 1. Conduct a 4 to 5 day workshop as per the agreed upon agenda. 2. Certificates of participation in the 216 training workshop for each participant and local guest speakers. Certificates are to be signed by USAID. C. Post Workshop: One week after the workshop end date, the contractor shall submit a final report that includes the workshop outcomes, lessons learned, recommendations for follow up actions, and documentation/notes of the workshop. The contactor shall provide a clean hardcopy binder of all of the workshop materials (handouts, copies of power point presentations, field trip materials, agenda, participant list, etc...). As well this information will be made available electronically on a disk or thumb drive. I. Suggested Team Composition The contracting workshop team should have at least one facilitator, one notetaker, and one logistics assistant. The workshop team for the Dominican Republic should be fluent in Spanish. All team members should be experienced in natural resource management and USAID Reg 216 compliance. J. Payment (assuming no advance) USAID will reimburse the contractor the full amount of the contract upon compliance with deliverables in Section H.