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THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT SYNOPSIS AND IS FOR WRITTEN INFORMATION ONLY. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT FOR PROPOSALS AND NO CONTRACT WILL BE AWARDED FROM THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO REIMBURSEMENT WILL BE MADE FOR ANY COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH PROVIDING INFORMATION IN RESPONSE TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND ANY FOLLOW-UP REQUESTS. NO TELEPHONE CALLS REQUESTING A SOLICITATION WILL BE ACCEPTED OR ACKNOWLEDGED.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is performing a ¿market search¿ to determine potential sources in preparation for a future procurement. Information submitted in response to this notice is merely used for internal market research purposes and no feedback will be offered to the interested parties that submit capability statements. A brief description of the work is as follows:
The drinking water optimization program began in the late 1980's with a focus on enhancement and implementation of the Drinking Water Composite Correction Program (CCP). Implementation of the CCP resulted in documented improvements on individual surface water treatment plant performance. The documented success of the CCP, its value for drinking water primacy programs and the desire to apply CCP principles more broadly resulted in the creation of an Area-wide Optimization Program (AWOP). Broad-scale public water system performance improvements and the resulting drinking water quality improvements have been achieved via AWOP implementation. Public Water System Supervision (PWSS) programs implement their AWOPs to enhance public health protection and to benefit from the resulting proactive assistance with regulatory compliance.
The AWOP was established with a focus on turbidity removal, resulting in greater protection against the risk of microbial pathogens passing through treatment plant processes. The program continues the focus on turbidity removal while expanding its technical scope to include optimization of both treatment plant and distribution system operations to minimize the formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs) and maintaining adequate disinfectant residual. The technical scope of the program also includes optimization of process control for ground water treatment and conveyance, and many unconventional (alternate) treatment processes. The program¿s documented impact on enhancing public health protection has also been called upon to address other public health challenges such as treatment for cyanobacteria associated with harmful algal blooms and arsenic removal. The National AWOP has been structured to address additional public health challenges, depending on the commitment of resources to the program.
The EPA has a need for support in the following areas: (1) Strategic Planning and National Optimization Leadership Team Meetings; The optimization program is managed by the USEPA Technical Support Center (TSC) through the implementation of a strategic planning process which utilizes periodic updates to the existing strategic plan. The contractor shall support this strategic planning process through participation in meetings focused on the development of new issues and optimization solutions. Contractor expertise in AWOP implementation, optimizing drinking water treatment, storage and conveyance processes, and providing meeting facilitation support shall be sufficiently provided to help maintain overall program relevancy and value.
(2) AWOP Demonstration; The existing AWOP network of participating EPA Regional offices and state drinking water agencies have Public Water System Supervision (PWSS) authority for the drinking water systems in their respective jurisdictions. The PWSS program elements were in place when AWOP was developed, and each drinking water agency must integrate AWOP into its existing PWSS program for effective implementation. (3) EPA Region/Multi-state AWOP Facilitation; The contractor shall use a working knowledge of AWOP to facilitate the implementation of the program¿s three components of Status, Targeted Performance Improvement, and Maintenance. Two existing documents, the ¿State Area Wide Optimization Program Assessment¿ and the ¿Regional Area Wide Optimization Program Assessment¿, describe implementation goals and performance measures that collectively describe the NOLT¿s vision of fully functional programs. (4) Office Consultation; The contractor shall provide consultation in the form of responding to questions via telephone or E mail, participation in teleconferences, and informal review/comment on materials developed by members of the AWOP network and (5) Additional Optional Tasks.
The successful contractor shall provide all necessary labor skilled personnel, materials, services, equipment, and facilities necessary to perform all the requirements of this performance work statement. A draft copy of the performance work statement (PWS) is included as an attachment.
The applicable NAICS code is 541620 (Environmental Consulting Services) with a standard size of $15 million. It is anticipated that a single award contract. Contract is anticipated starting mid-February 2021 with a 60 month ordering period.
ANY INTERESTED FIRM should submit a capability statement which demonstrates the firm¿s ability to perform the key requirements described above. Standard company brochures will not be considered a sufficient response to this Sources Sought Synopsis.
A draft copy of the performance work statement (PWS) is included as an attachment. Interested parties with the capability of providing any of the services described in the draft PWS posted at the FedConnect website: https://www.fedconnect.net/ are invited to submit capability documents with sufficient information to clearly demonstrate capabilities in the areas above, including personnel, experience and qualifications. A description of similar services previously or currently provided shall be provided. Standard company brochures will not be considered a sufficient response to this Sources Sought Synopsis.
In the capabilities statements, contractors should provide their size status for the above referenced NAICS, (i.e. large, small) and whether or not they are a certified hubzone, 8(a), women-owned, small disadvantaged and/or disabled veteran-owned concern. As a reminder, small businesses are required to perform at least 50 percent of the costs of the contract performance with their own personnel (FAR 52.219-14). The EPA reserves the right to set this action aside for small businesses. A separate synopsis will be issued for the Request for Proposal (RFP) resulting from this sources sought synopsis.
Capabilities Statements in response to this Sources Sought Synopsis MUST BE SUBMITTED THROUGH THE FEDCONNECT PORTAL by 4:00 p.m. EST, on August 31, 2020. Any questions regarding the content of this Sources Sought Synopsis announcement must be submitted through the FedConnect portal. You must register with FedConnect to submit documents, questions, and to view responses. FedConnect can be accessed at https://www.fedconnect.net/Fedconnect/. FedConnect is a web portal that connects agencies and vendors to streamline the process of doing business with the federal government. Through FedConnect contractors will be able to receive, review and respond to contract pre- and post-award actions and documents such as correspondence, request for proposals, tasking instruments and contract modifications. The use of FedConnect also furthers the EPA's commitment to moving towards a paperless acquisition environment by reducing its carbon footprint and conducting its business in an ecologically friendly manner. There is no charge to use FedConnect. Vendors can register with FedConnect at www.fedconnect.net/FedConnect/. For assistance in registering or for other FedConnect technical questions please call the FedConnect Help Desk at (800) 899-6665. In addition, all vendors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM), as this facilitates registration for FedConnect. Please note that vendors MUST have their beta.SAM profile set to ¿public,¿ otherwise FedConnect will not be able to access the beta.SAM information required to validate vendor credentials. Registration may be completed and information regarding the registration process may be obtained at http://www.beta.sam.gov. There is no charge for registration in beta.SAM.
A separate synopsis will be issued for the Request for Proposal (RFP) resulting from this Sources Sought Synopsis. Any resulting contract(s) from the RFP would be a follow-on to contract Technical Support Contract, EP-C-15-019, with Process Applications Incorporated (PAI).
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