SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Tribal Lifeline Project
- Notice Date
- 11/10/2004
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- Contracting Office
- Environmental Protection Agency, Adp Contract Management Service Center, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, Nw, Washington, DC 20460
- ZIP Code
- 20460
- Solicitation Number
- RFQ-DC-05-00032
- Response Due
- 11/25/2004
- Archive Date
- 12/25/2004
- Description
- NAICS Code: 541511 EPA is issuing a sole source contract to LifeLine Group (LLG) for existing LifeLine software to be used and modified to allow the estimation of cumulative risk from pesticide exposures for Native American and Alaska American populations. The LifeLine Group is the sole owner of the LifeLine software and holder of the copyright to the programs. Under its classification as a 501(c)3 organization, such software assets do not accrue to the financial benefit of any employee or director of the LifeLine Group. Under this contract, LLG will consult with Tribal stakeholder representatives to develop a design to revise the LifeLine software to better represent tribal communities in two distinct biogeographical areas (BGAs). Data and descriptive information will be collected and prepared for inclusion in the LifeLine software, the software will be reprogrammed and beta tested, and LLG will provide training on the software for each BGA with appropriate training materials to course participants. LifeLine software is designed to evaluate aggregate exposures, doses and risks associated with the use of a pesticide active ingredient for a period ranging from one day to a lifetime. It is unlike other currently available risk assessment software in that it is "transparent", leaving data sources, assumptions, and other inputs to the software accessible to the user. EPA and USDA supported the development of the initial versions of LifeLine software through a cooperative agreement with the Hampshire Research Institute. This agreement ended in August 2001 with the delivery of LifeLine Version 1.1 and an associated white paper. Presently, a new version of the LifeLine software is being built, supported by funding in EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs, Health Effects Division. The new version will include the ability to import EPA residue file information for organophosphorous chemicals to run a cumulative risk assessment for organophosphorous chemicals. LifeLine risk assessment software is based on a concept of accurate modeling of demographic, physical, environmental and activity characteristics of individuals in the population or sub-population of interest. Data from many sources is used to quantitatively describe modeled individuals, in terms of physical characteristics, living environments, mobility probabilities, eating habits, and other daily activities. Existing versions of LifeLine and other similar risk assessment software use data descriptions that are representative of the "general public". Sub-populations in unique living environments, with unique lifestyles and diets, may not be represented in this data, and the risk assessments generated by these models may not be representative of such sub-populations. This is the case for tribal communities which often utilize unique housing, and have unique food sources, mobility patterns, and physiological characteristics. The LifeLine Group is actively revising and improving the software to better meet the needs of unique stakeholders. For the current EPA Tribal LifeLine contract (68-W-02-051), LLG has demonstrated its commitment to this mission during the pilot project to create initial tribal exposure assessment software. That experience endowed the organization with a unique understanding of the environmental conditions and community lifestyles in the Native American tribes that present important exposure scenarios to the individuals in those communities. LLG has learned first hand about dealing with the difficult data access issues, cultural complications and communication styles that are inherent in such projects. LLG has demonstrated that it can distinguish between tasks that can be achieved by the non-Indian scientists and those aspects where assistance is necessary from tribal representatives and experienced EPA delegates. This experience is unique for any technical group creating state-of-the-art exposure/risk assessment software, such as proposed for this contract. The programming components listed in the Statement of Work require the hiring of LLG to perform the required modifications of the data to conform to LifeLine architecture and to modify the program code and supporting documentation. These tasks require an in depth and timely knowledge of the software programming structure and use of the copyrighted code. The LifeLine Group is uniquely positioned to complete this project. For a copy of the SOW, please contact murphy.patrick@epa.gov.
- Record
- SN00707229-W 20041112/041110212427 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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