Description
THIS NOTICE IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY. NO SOLICITATION WILL BE ISSUED AGAINST THIS SYNOPSIS AS THIS WORK IS ISSUED AGAINST AN EXISTING AGENCY CONTRACT. The purpose of this Modification 2 is to obligate $3,050,000 in support of six work assignments under Contract EP-C-11-004. These work assignments continue the support provided under Contract EP-C-06-026. Additionally, this modification adds the appropriate clauses required by the Federal Acquisition Regulation for contracts involving ARRA activities. (1) Work Assignment 0-100 is funded to $1,250,000. The period of performance for this work assignment will be from January 1, 2011 through November 30, 2011. (2) Work Assignment 0-101 is funded to $303,000. The period of performance for this work assignment will be from January 1, 2011 through November 30, 2011. (3) Work Assignment 0-102 is funded to $1,164,000. The period of performance for this work assignment will be from January 1, 2011 through November 30, 2011. (4) Work Assignment 0-103 is funded to $101,000. The period of performance for this work assignment will be from January 1, 2011 through November 30, 2011. (5) Work Assignment 0-104 is funded to $100,000. The period of performance for this work assignment will be from January 1, 2011 through November 30, 2011. (6) Work Assignment 0-105 is funded to $132,000. The period of performance for this work assignment will be from January 1, 2011 through November 30, 2011. The objective of Work Assignment 0-100 is for the contractor to provide support to EPA's Office of Water in management and oversight of ARRA funds provided to the CWSRF and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) programs. Management and oversight of the CWSRF and DWSRF ARRA funds will include assisting EPA Headquarters and EPA Regional Offices in the review and auditing of State Revolving Fund (SRF) programs of individual states to ensure proper use of ARRA funds and compliance with ARRA requirements. The objective of Work Assignment 0-101 is for the contractor to provide support to EPA's Office of Water in the preparation of State and National reports on the implementation of the ARRA CWSRF Program. The reports will be used to provide Congress and the public with information on how the CWSRF succeeded in meeting the requirements and intent of ARRA. The objective of Work Assignment 0-102 is for the contractor to provide support to the Office of Water's Office of Wastewater Management in implementing a comprehensive program management strategy for the Green Project Reserve (GPR) provisions of the ARRA. Key tasks include a comprehensive accounting of GPR projects and an evaluation of their performance. The objective of Work Assignment 0-103 is for the contractor to support OWM by working with the OWRB in developing a computer model that will show the beneficial impacts of ARRA funded infrastructure investments. The objective of Work Assignment 0-104 is for the contractor to conduct a study on how ARRA impacted a representative sample of the CWSRF programs nationwide. Additionally, the contractor shall also conduct research that results in the development of metrics that capture the projected social, economic, and environmental benefits of communities within the Chesapeake Bay watershed that received ARRA funding through the CWSRF program. The objective of Work Assignment 0-105 is for the contractor to provide services for the management of the CWSRF Benefits Reporting (CBR) Database for tracking ARRA funds, to include, data definition updates and providing technical assistance to States and EPA Regions. The contractor shall provide technical assistance to facilitate reporting transparency, and develop, update, and expand a portfolio of reports on the environmental and economic impact of CWSRF loans made with ARRA funds. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) contains specific acquisition requirements that must be met when using appropriated funds from the Act, including the need for acquisitions to be in accordance with the FAR and, to the maximum extent practicable, awarded as fixed-price (FP) contracts using competitive procedures. However, the Office of Management and Budget's guidance allows for the use of other than FP contracts. Although the Agency's Office of Water (OW) contracts were not awarded as FP contracts, they were awarded competitively, and each contract structure was selected to provide the contractor with the greatest incentive for efficient and economical performance, given the types of services to be performed. The existing OW contracts have sufficient qualified acquisition personnel to provide appropriate contract administration and oversight to monitor contract performance to mitigate the Government's risk. In order to meet the requirements of the Act in the most prudent business manner within the time constraints imposed, existing OW contracts are the most appropriate contractual vehicles consistent with Agency plans that promote the goals of the ARRA.