SOLICITATION NOTICE
A -- Hydrologic and Transportation Network Interactive Mapping Tool
- Notice Date
- 2/15/2012
- Notice Type
- Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- Contracting Office
- RTPPODUS Environmental Protection Agency109 T.W. Alexander DriveMail Code: E105-02Research Triangle ParkNC27709USA
- ZIP Code
- 00000
- Solicitation Number
- SOL-NC-12-00022
- Response Due
- 3/12/2012
- Archive Date
- 4/11/2012
- Point of Contact
- Marsha B. Johnson
- E-Mail Address
-
johnson.marsha@epa.gov
(johnson.marsha@epa.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- Total Small Business
- Description
- THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL SERVICES PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN SUBPART 12.6, AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION. PROPOSALS ARE BEING REQUESTED AND A WRITTEN SOLICITATION WILL NOT BE ISSUED. The solicitation number is SOL-NC-12-00022, and the solicitation is being issued as a 100% small business set-aside competition Request for Proposal (RFP) using FAR Part 13 Acquisition of Commercial Items Procedures. The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 05-29. The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 541990, which has a size standard of $7.0 million to qualify as a small business, is applicable. A firm, fixed-price contract is anticipated to result from the award of this solicitation. This procurement is for the development of an int eractive mapping tool that allows a user to identify locations (areas) that are linked via hydrologic networks. Task One: The Contractor shall develop a geospatially-explicit, modular, transportable, interactive mapping tool. This tool shall be able to identify service flows to and from an area of interest (AOI) and quantify ecosystem goods and services production or related functions in source areas and demand by beneficiaries in sink areas. The tool shall integrate spatial modeling tools with publically available data and/or user supplied data, ultimately including literature-based valuation and qualitative interpretation, and shall provide estimates of uncertainty for calculations and outputs. The tool needs to allow a user the option of either using default publically available datasets or load their own data. The outputs from this tool shall include maps, tables/charts, and reports delineating ?benefitsheds,? quantifying benefit flow paths, estimating economic valu es and reporting of assumptions/values used in generating each map, table or report. The tool shall be modular in that various types of user-supplied data, maps and information shall be able to be imported into the mapping tool so that users can explore quantifying service flows under differing sets of data (scenarios), assumptions, and timeframes. The tool shall be transportable in that this proof of concept tool shall be based on the Tampa Bay watershed region, but by using differing maps and datasets the tool may be applied in other areas outside Tampa Bay. The initial proof of concept mapping tool shall identify ecosystem functions and services flows/pathways in terms of landscape surface hydraulic connectivity including built infrastructure. The tool shall provide the ability to select, trace, and summarize upstream and downstream areas for making estimates of the availability of ecosystem goods and services at a scale appropriate for the AOI. For example, user choo ses a location of interest (a neighborhood, grid cells, watershed pour-point, etc.) and the tool shall identify all surface water mediated ecosystem goods and service flows, including flows through built infrastructure, of upstream areas (wetlands, agriculture, pasturelands, forests, etc.) capable of producing selected ecosystem goods and services. Conversely, the tool shall be capable of identifying all surface water mediated ecosystem goods and service flows, including flows through built infrastructure, downstream of user-selected areas (wetlands, agriculture, pasturelands, forests, etc.) where ecosystem goods and services are delivered to beneficiaries (a neighborhood, grid cells, watershed pour-point, etc.). The Contractor shall develop hydrologic connectivity networks at several scales depending on availability of both surface topography and built drainage infrastructure data. The Contractor shall obtain publically-available hydrology data at the highest resolution possible from Water Management Districts, Counties, and/or the City of Tampa Bay, and shall assess data availability from other information sources as necessary to model hydraulic connectivity flow paths through built drainage infrastructure. First, the tool shall allow users to explore surface flow pathways between any given areas of the Tampa Bay drainage basin at a resolution commensurate with NHD+ basins while also accounting for major drainage infrastructure structures (eg. reservoirs), withdrawals (eg. municipalities, industrial), or discharges (eg. tertiary treatment spray fields). Secondly, topography at typical national digital elevation models resolution (30 meter) and including major and finer scale drainage infrastructure (eg. canals, major storm water drains) shall be applied to demonstrate flow paths for one or more county level analyses for each county, if available. Lastly, at the finest scale (neighborhood), high resolution lidar and associated street sca le drainage infrastructure (street scale storm water drains, retention ponds, rain swales and other green infrastructures etc.) shall be used to develop several neighborhood scale demonstrations of water mediated ecosystem goods and services flow paths. The tool shall be structured to allow flow path analysis at various scales and levels of interactivity. At a minimum, the user should be able to assess ecosystem goods and service flows to and from an AOI using publically available national datalayers (eg. NLCD, SURSGO, Census) using a desktop -based mapping tool. The network connectivity would be static for general users, but able to be updated at a higher administrative permission level to reflect future drainage conditions corresponding to future or anticipated landscape development. This version would allow users to upload different data layers to be assessed with the existing or user provided hydrologic network. The desktop version will include both the national an d county scale drainage networks as stated above. The desktop tool will allow the user to select an AOI (eg. an area of urban development, a floodplain) and generate a report summarizing ecosystem goods and services production and delivery through the hydrologic network to and from that AOI. The desktop tool shall include the ability for a user to also work at finer scales (neighborhood) to modify drainage patterns using new built infrastructure (eg. storm sewers, retention ponds, green storm water infrastructure) and have the tool recalculate the local drainage patterns within a small AOI extent and then link this modified hydrologic connectivity network to the unmodified existing drainage network in the broader landscape. This local modification would then allow users to assess the ramifications of different local scale drainage management activities to ecosystem goods and service flows upstream or downstream of their AOI. A user, for example, might want to upload new landcover/use and associated drainage network dataset, have the tool generate the network connectivity in a localized area and how that network connects to the rest of the unmodified network, and have the tool summarize changes in how much storm water retention is available upstream, or how much pollution removal capacity exists downstream etc. Optional Subtask: After delivery of the desktop tool, EPA may choose to exercise an optional subtask. The Contractor shall develop a web-based version possessing rudimentary functionality of the previously developed desktop web-based tool. The web-based tool shall allow the user to select an AOI (eg. NHD basin) and generate a report summarizing ecosystem goods and services production and delivery through the hydrologic network to and from that AOI. This optional web-based tool would use a static hydrologic network but would allow future scenario analysis by summarizing changes to ecosystem goods and services flows due to user uploa ded scenarios of ecosystem goods and service production on the landscape. Subtask optional: Web-based tool to visualize flow path analysis at various scales and levels of interactivity. At a minimum, the user should be able to assess ecosystem goods and service flows to and from an AOI using publically available datalayers. Applicable and Controlling Documents: The contractor shall provide a written Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) equivalent to the EPA?s requirement document [EPA Requirements for QA Project Plans (QA/R-50] for the Project Officer?s review and approval 60 days after contract award. This reference document can be located at: http://www.epa.gov/quality/qa_docs.html. The QAPP shall describe in detail all approaches, software, data storage, system requirements, etc. and all standard operating procedures used in the development of the tool. There is an option for additional work for Tasks 2, 3, and 4. Task Two: The Contractor shall develop a tran sportation network module once the geospatially-explicit, modular, transportable, interactive mapping tool hydrologic module in task one has been developed, demonstrated, and accepted. This module shall provide the ability to map the accessibility of areas where ecosystem goods and services are produced in relation to the proximity of transportation networks. For example, user chooses a location of interest (a neighborhood, grid cells, watershed pour-point, etc.) and the tool reports the distance-weighted accessibility to areas (recreational spaces, farms, natural areas, etc.), including those assessable by boat, producing selected ecosystem goods and services. Conversely, the tool shall be capable of reporting the distance-weighted availability of a selected location to all available beneficiaries of goods and services through the transportation network. The transportation network mapping module shall be fully integrated with the hydrologic mapping tool in task one. Ta sk Three: The Contractor shall develop an interactive mapping tool module that allows a user to identify line-of-sight views to landscapes (?Viewsheds?) that influence human well-being. The vista, or visually pleasing view, from any point on the landscape represents value that must be considered among other ecosystem goods and services and shall be fully integrated with both the hydrologic and transportation network modules within the mapping tool. The tool module shall provide the net viewscape ?value? both to and from each and every location in the study area (vista). Task Four: The Contractor shall develop a valuation module using valuation databases or results of available primary valuation studies to derive areal based valuation estimates of the delivery of ecosystem goods and services to and from areas of stakeholder/client interest. This will allow for visualization of specific services and their values in a user defined or predetermined geographic location and c omparisons of those values between different locations and/or through time. The objective of this work is to determine the impacts of alternative policies, landscape changes, or climate effects on individual or bundled ecosystem goods and services related value over time. These impacts should be presentable as changes in value associated with changes in the delivery of ecosystem services after accounting for non-linear relationships among ecosystem goods and services supply and demand, and cost benefit ratios related to the value hierarchy of beneficiaries such as willingness-to-pay and other approaches which can also change over time. The following FAR provisions apply to this solicitation: 52-212-1, Instructions to Offerors?Commercial Items; 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Items. Evaluation criteria to be included in paragraph (a) of provision 52.212-2 are as follows: A. TECHNICAL CRITERIA: 1. Demonstrated experience in similar areas of research/mapping tool development and performance as described in the statement of work. 2. Demonstrated adequacy of methods, data, and approaches to be used in mapping tool development to meet the requirements of the statement of work. Offerors must provide detailed information regarding approaches to developing the task one and how all optional tasks (modules) will be integrated and function in the tool framework. 3. Demonstrated adequacy of Record Management Program and Quality Assurance Management Plan (QAMP) (QAMP requirements can be located at: http://www.epa.gov/quality/qa_docs.html, see section QA/R-2 for specific details) to meet the requirements of the statement of work. Describe the components of your data management plan and what will comprise reports and deliverables, for example, data quality objectives and metadata. B. PAST PERFORMANCE: Submit a list of 3 customers for whom like or similar services have been performed within the past 3 years. Include specific points of contact and pho ne numbers. Past performance will be evaluated on 1) quality of product or service; 2) timeliness of performance (ability to adhere to deadlines); and overall customer satisfaction. C. BASIS FOR AWARD: For this requirement, technical capability and past performance are more important than price. Price will be evaluated inclusive of all options. All offerors are to complete the On-line Representations and Certifications at https://orca.bpn.gov/. The following FAR clauses apply to this acquisition: 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items; 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items and the following additional FAR clauses which are cited in Clause 52.212-5: 52.219-28, Post Award Small Business Program Representation; 52.217-9, Option to Extend the Term; 52.222-3 Convict Labor; 52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities; 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity, 52.222-35, Affirmative Action for Spe cial Disabled and Vietnam Era Veterans; 52.222-36 Affirmative Action for Handicapped Workers; 52.222-37, Employment Reports on Special Disabled Veterans and Veterans of the Vietnam Era; 52.222-50, Combating Trafficking in Persons; 52.225-13 Restrictions on Certain Foreign Purchases; 52.227-17, Rights in Data-Special Works; 52-232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer-Central Contractor Registration; 52.222-41, Service Contract Act of 1965, As Amended; 52.222-42, Statement of Equivalent Rates for Federal Hires, 52.246-11 Higher-level Contract Quality Requirement; 1552.217-77, Option to Extend the Term of the Contract-Fixed Price. Any applicable wage determination(s) will be made a part of the resultant contract. All technical questions are to be forwarded via email to the Contract Specialist no later than February 23, 2012, 12:00 p.m. ET at the following email address: Johnson.marsha@epa.gov. Offerors should review the Statement of Work including required deliverables, and other information posted with this Request for Proposal on EPA's website at the following address: http://www.epa.gov/oamrtpnc/1200022/index.htm. Please submit two copies of the technical proposal and price proposal to Marsha B. Johnson, Contract Specialist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, RTP Procurement Operations Division (D143-01), Research Triangle Park, NC 27711 if using the US Postal Service. Courier delivery address is U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Attn: Marsha B. Johnson, RTP Procurement Operations Division (D143-01), 4930 Old Page Road, Durham, NC 27703. All offers are due by March 12, 2012, 12:00 p.m., ET. No telephonic, email, or faxed responses will be honored.
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