SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) Environmental Fate and Exposure Data and Related Information
- Notice Date
- 12/23/2015
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541620
— Environmental Consulting Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, 6707 Democracy Blvd., Suite 105, Bethesda, Maryland, 20894, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20894
- Solicitation Number
- NIHLM2016739
- Archive Date
- 1/15/2016
- Point of Contact
- Keturah D. Busey, Phone: 3014966546
- E-Mail Address
-
buseyk@mail.nlm.nih.gov
(buseyk@mail.nlm.nih.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- Total Small Business
- Description
- This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS codes should not submit a response to this notice. The applicable NAICS codes that are being considered for this requirement are: 541620 - Environmental Consulting Services. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Library of Medicine (NLM) is conducting a market survey to help determine the availability and technical capability of qualified small businesses, veteran-owned small businesses and/or HUBZone small businesses capable of serving the needs identified below. This Sources Sought Notice is for informational and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation or commitment by the Government. This notice is intended strictly for market research. BACKGROUND The National Library of Medicine (NLM) develops and maintains the Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) which is a part of TOXNET, a group of databases on toxicology, hazardous chemicals, environmental health and toxic releases. HSDB focuses on the toxicology of potentially hazardous chemicals. It is enhanced with information on human exposure, industrial hygiene, emergency handling procedures, environmental fate, regulatory requirements, nanomaterials, and related areas. All data are referenced and derived from a core set of books, government documents, technical reports, selected primary journal literature and other sources. HSDB is peer-reviewed by the Scientific Review Panel (SRP), a committee of experts in the major subject areas within the data bank's scope. HSDB is organized into individual chemical records, contains over 5,800 such records and is accessible free of charge, via TOXNET at: http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this procurement is to acquire professional services to compile and deliver information on the environmental fate and exposure of chemicals and/or substances and related information such as chemical physical properties, production, manufacturing, risk assessment, end use, and overviews of chemicals and substances. This effort requires detailed knowledge of environmental fate and exposure sources and proven experience with environmental fate estimation models, and chemical risk assessment. The Hazardous Substances Data Bank has approximately 150 data fields that are grouped into sections which include specific data. The information and services obtained in this procurement are to populate Section 3 (Chemical and Physical Properties), Section 7 (Environmental Fate and Exposure), and portions of other Sections when that data relates to the information and/or sources used in Sections 3 and 7. All information obtained for these sections are to be entered into the NLM/SIS provided Specialized Information Services Edit/Update System, SSEUS, for review. Section numbers are for sections as labeled in SSEUS, not the public HSDB Table of Contents sections. PROJECT REQUIREMENTS: The contractor will perform the following tasks: 1. Identify and compile all data and information necessary to populate Sections 3 and 7. See http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/help/hsdbf.htm for a description of HSDB data fields where section titles are listed in boldface and may be expanded to view subsections. Coordination with the primary HSDB contractor handling toxicology data and other sections will be necessary. This information is required for new and existing HSDB records that need to be updated. Access to SSEUS will be given at time of award for all data delivery. 2. Identify and compile all data and information necessary to populate portions of other fields related to information in Sections 3 and 7 such as, but not limited to, manufacturing, production, use, overviews, and export data in Section 2. Coordination with the primary HSDB contractor will be necessary. 3. Summarize the fate and exposure of chemicals in the environment. In the absence of experimental values, estimate and calculate environmental values. 4. Efficiently retrieve full text articles from environmental databases, extract portions of the articles for HSDB and refer to the articles during peer review meetings while consulting with subject matter experts and the NLM HSDB team. 5. Provide health effects and toxicology information available from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) such as Toxic Substances Control Act Test Submissions (TSCATS) and other government agencies. 6. Provide a Senior Environmental Scientist for attendance at the Scientific Review Panel (SRP) meetings and provide an Information Specialist or Scientist as needed at the SRP meetings to consult with the SRP and the NLM project team regarding environmental fate and exposure data and related information. The SRP and the NLM project team normally meet for 3 days, 3 times a year. This schedule is subject to change. 7. Identify chemicals or substances which may be hazardous to the public and the environment, for which there is a public demand for information, for which there may be a hazardous risk of exposure and/or credible reports, studies or information exists that would support an HSDB record be built or updated. Collect and maintain databases for sorting and prioritizing chemicals for selection to be added or updated in HSDB and provide this information to the NLM project team. 8. Provide chemical and physical properties data for related NLM/SIS databases that link to HSDB such as ChemIDplus. These properties may include: boiling point, melting point, solubility, octanol/water partition coefficient, and other chemical/physical properties as specified by the project officer. 9. Provide information that aids in improving approaches to estimate chemical exposure. This may include identifying routes of exposure, identifying specific use, linking specific products and general use categories. 10. Identify and provide information for alternative chemicals to consider in the interest of safety for specific uses such as information from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Safer Choice Program formerly Design for the Environment (DfE) alternatives assessments. 11. Provide data and information for special projects related to the tasks and information described in Tasks 1-10. Meaning, similar activities may be performed outside of the usual record building schedule. This task may be in support of special enhancements to HSDB to improve the current-ness of the data and/or expand content or impact on existing or new user groups. ANTICIPATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE The NLM anticipates a period of performance of 12-month period from the date of award, with two (2) 12-month option periods, if exercised. The anticipated award date is expected to be on or around February 1, 2016. OTHER IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS The NLM anticipates the proposed acquisition will be procured as an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) type contract to be issued in accordance with the policies and procedures under FAR Part 13.5- Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items and FAR Part 8.4- Federal Supply Schedules. All responsible sources may submit a capability statement which will be considered by the National Library of Medicine. This Sources Sought Notice is not a Request for Quotations (RFQ), nor is an RFQ available. All responsible sources may submit a capability statement which will be considered by the National Library of Medicine. This Sources Sought Notice is not a Request for Quotations (RFQ), nor is an RFQ available. Interested firms responding to this Sources Sought Notice must provide a capability statement that displays the following: (a) Microsoft Word or PDF file in 12 point font with numbered pages; (b) DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, and size and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HUBZone, etc) pursuant to the applicable NAICS code); (c) Technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses; (d) Staff expertise, including their availability, experience, and formal and other training; (e) Current in-house capability and capacity to perform the work; (f) Prior completed projects of similar nature; (g) Corporate experience and management capability; and (h) Examples of prior completed Government contracts, references, and other related information The capability statement should contain enough sufficient detail for the Government to make an informed decision regarding your capabilities; however, the statement should not exceed 6 pages (excluding attachments.) All capability statements received via eCPS by the deadline will be considered by NLM. Interested firms responding to this Small Business Sources Sought Notice must adhere to the following: All capability statements must be submitted electronically no later than 3:00pm local prevailing time on December 31, 2015. NLM requires capability statements to be submitted electronically through the NLM Electronic Contract Proposal System (eCPS) using the following link: https://ecps.nih.gov/nlm. All capability statements received via eCPS by December 31, 2015 at 3:00 p.m. local prevailing time will be considered by NLM. For directions on using eCPS, go to https://ecps.nih.gov/nlm and click on "How to Submit." NOTE: To submit your electronic capability statement using eCPS, all offerors must have a valid NIH External Directory Account, which provides authentication and serves as a vehicle for secure transmission of documents and communication with the NLM. The NIH External Directory Account registration process may take up to 24 hours to become active. Submission of quotations by facsimile or e-mail is not accepted. Firms interested in responding to this notice must be able to provide the professional services required by NLM outlined in the attached Statement of Work. The offeror shall include all information necessary to document and/or support the qualification criteria in one clearly marked section of its quotation. All responses from responsible sources will be considered. Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Confidentiality: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/NIH/OAM/NIHLM2016739/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Contractor's site with the exception of certain meetings., United States
- Record
- SN03977161-W 20151225/151223234228-38695ae93745277c478630aaf3a742f0 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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