Intent to Award Sole-Source Contract: Integrating Dam and Levee Safety and Community and Regional Resilience The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) intends to solicit and award a sole source firm fixed price contract to the National Academies of Sciences (NAS)/National Research Council (NRC) of 500 Fifth St., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20001 under the authority of FAR 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source, for the following requirement: The contractor will identify issues common to both dams and levees, and examine the policy, economic, and human behavioral drivers that promote or inhibit the expansion of dam and levee hazard mitigation and safety programs to promote community resilience. Conclusions will be made regarding tools, information, or guidelines that could be provided by the federal government to broaden the scope of dam and levee safety to include community-level mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery from dam failures. Dam and levee safety programs traditionally have focused on engineering measures that improve infrastructure integrity. It is increasingly recognized that effective engagement of a broad group of stakeholders and inclusion of both engineering and non-engineering measures are important components of these safety programs. An ad hoc committee of the contractor will analyze and provide conclusions on how dam and levee safety programs may be broadened to include community- and regional-level preparation, response, mitigation, and recovery from potential infrastructure failure. The study will examine: Holistic systematic approaches to safety analysis. Links between the geotechnical, geologic, hydrologic and hydraulic, and civil-structural engineering aspects of safety and the risks to communities and other stakeholders will be identified. The committee will consider how incorporating preparedness, response, mitigation, and recovery into safety programs can enhance long-term community- and regional-level resilience. Communication and engagement. The committee will describe current practices for identifying local and regional stakeholders, and for collecting and disseminating information among them, including how concerns are reassessed as infrastructure conditions change, safety issues emerge, and community needs and interests evolve. Conclusions regarding the improvement of these practices will be provided. Decision-making and decision-support systems. The committee will summarize how safety information, including stakeholder input, and inspection, monitoring, analysis, and impacts data are used in safety programs for decision making for both infrastructure management and improving community- and regional-level resilience against the primary (e.g., inundation) and secondary impacts (e.g., regional power loss) of infrastructure failure. The committee will provide conclusions regarding how stakeholder input may be incorporated into the design of safety and communication decision processes. The committee will identify tools, products, and guidance that could be developed at the federal level to address the issues above. The human behavioral drivers that may promote or inhibit the expansion of dam and levee safety programs to promote community resilience will be considered. The committee's conclusions will assist the federal government in developing a more comprehensive and effective dam and levee safety program, but no policy or funding recommendations will be made. The contractor should follow their standing procedure for scientific studies to achieve a balanced, independent assessment of the issues. This will normal include: Assemble a panel of nationally recognized experts to conduct the study Organize 4 meetings of this panel to collect data analyze the issues and develop a report. Arrange for presentations from the most knowledgeable sources available to the study panel to present background and technical data related to the issues of the study. Oversee the writing, revision, and publication of a final report addressing the issues of the study. Produce a finished bound, professional volume comprising the finished study, provide copies to FEMA and distribute the study consistent with relevant executive orders and regulations. Provide leadership and guidance to the panel on the proper methodology for dam and levees resilience studies and insure that the work of the panel follows the procedures and standards recognized by NAS. Provide administrative support, travel and meeting arrangements to support the work of the panel and their meetings. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) for this acquisition is 541690, Other Scientific & Technical Consulting Services. Interested parties may identify their interest by submitting a capability statement in response to this requirement. This notice is not a request for competitive proposals/quotes. However, FEMA will consider all capability statements received by 5:00 pm EDT on Friday, August 20, 2010. A determination by the Government to compete this proposed requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. All responses should be submitted via e-mail to Kelly Blackmon at
[email protected] no later than 5:00 pm EDT on Friday, August 20, 2010. Only electronic submissions via e-mail will be accepted.