Support for the Metals, Minerals and Energy Sector

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis, under the authority of FAR 6.302-1 with RTI International, to provide support services to the EPA, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) under contract titled “Support for Metals, Minerals and Energy Sectors”, EP-D-11-084, for an additional 5,820 level of effort labor hours to be utilized to extend the contract which expires February 29, 2020, by six (6) months, until August 28, 2020. The EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards requires the contractor to provide the level of effort to provide timely technical support, and possess knowledge and understanding of the Clean Air Act, including the revisions that were enacted in November 1990; understanding of the different clean Air Act standard setting processes; environmental data gathering and analysis; air pollution emission control system evaluation; industrial emission source characterization; and environmental regulation development. The contractor will also require extensive knowledge of metallurgical, mineral processing, electric utility, and other MME Sector source categories as well as significant experience with, and expertise in supporting regulatory development and implementation of New Source Performance Standards (NSPS), National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP), Control Technology Guidelines (CTGs), Residual Risk and Technology Reviews (RTRs), MACT Standards, and other air standards and programs specifically developed to regulate the emissions of the MME Sector. The regulatory support provided under this contract includes data gathering, data analysis, documentation, preparation for proposal of rules, post proposal activities, post promulgation activities, outreach activities, support for external reviews, and support for innovative approaches. The aforementioned regulatory development and implementation tasks include a litany of tasks and requires a diverse amalgamation of skills and competencies. Many of these tasks require personnel with highly specialized knowledge, skills, abilities, and educational backgrounds that are not readily available and/or are peculiar to a few companies within this particular niche industry. EPA believes that RTI International, with its experience and support provided in many ongoing work assignments possesses the institutional knowledge, processes and tools that are not readily transferable to a new contractor. All the aforementioned components are essential in the meeting of EPA’s critical deadlines. THIS NOTICE IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. However, any firm believing itself capable of meeting the aforementioned requirement must submit technical documentation to establish its assertion. This documentation must be submitted to Natalia Fisher-Jackson([email protected]) within 15 days of the electronic posting of this notice. Telephone requests will not be honored. A determination not to compete the proposed requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the EPA. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement or to proceed on a sole source basis. The anticipated award date for this modification to the existing contract is February 27, 2020.