U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Program Contract Service Center (3803R), 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460-0001

B -- COST AND BENEFIT ANALYSIS FOR PROJECT XL SOL RFQ-DC-98-00173 DUE 082898 POC Valoree S. Lilley, lilley.valoree@epamail.epa.gov WEB: click here to download a copy of the RFQ, http://www.epa.gov/oamhpod1/oppta_grp/dc9800173/index.htm. E-MAIL: click here to contact the contract specialist, lilley.valoree@epamail.epa.gov. The U.S. EPA is seeking a contractor to provide a cost and benefit analysis of Project XL under FAR Part 13 Simplified Acquisition Procedures. This is a small business set-aside. The SIC code for this requirement is 8748. The EPA is FACNET certified. You may e-mail the contract specialist at: lilley.valoree@epamail.epa.gov. Please include the following: Company name, address, phone number, and business class. NO PHONE CALLS WILL BE ACCEPTED. Two copies of the proposal must be submitted by the due date. U.S. MAIL ADDRESS IS -- USEPA, 401 M Street, SW, Mail Code 3803R, Washington, D.C. 20460, ATTN: Valoree S. Lilley. HAND CARRIED PROPOSALS should be submitted to the Ronald Reagan Building, 6th Floor, Room 61107, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. 20460. Proposals are due NLT 2:00 p.m., August 28, 1998. The purpose of this requirement is to evaluate the economic effectiveness of Project XL, i.e., to determine whether Project XL is a good investment of human and economic capital. The project will involve three phases of work: Planning, Preliminary data gathering, and Final data gathering and analysis. This purchase is for completion of Phases I and II. Phase I: The contractor shall gather data about environmental and economic performance measures and shall complete an analysis plan that will permit effective evaluation of the financial costs and benefits accruing to XL projects. The contractor shall seek input from stakeholders to define the kind of data that shall be collected and shall use methods that enhance cooperation and participation from the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) and stakeholder communities, including holding a meeting to discuss sampling strategies with selected attendees from these groups, XL industries and regulators. The contractor shall complete a detailed sampling and analysis plan to guide Phase II. Phase II: The contractor shall analyze the data from Phase I and form a model of the relationship between economic and environmental performance. The Phase II report shall answer the following questions: Are the economic benefits for this facility greater than their costs in participating? What are the environmental benefits? Which kinds of transaction costs are the most important? What are the regulatory transaction costs for this project? What would they be if this approach was taken across the country? What are the costs involved in stakeholder participation? What are the benefits? Were the primary industrial costs that were mitigated regulatory in nature, or more process-based? The results shall be presented in written format which shall include an improved sampling plan. The report shall be written and disseminated to stakeholders in a manner that will enhance acceptance by potential future program participants. 1. Contractor Tasks Task 1: Prepare Workplan The contractor shall prepare a workplan detailing the items that are to be performed in response to this SOW and include a schedule of sequential tasks. Deliverables: Draft and Final Workplan PHASE I Task 2: Conduct Phone Interviews with Industries, Stakeholders and Regulators The contractor shall prepare a script to be used to seek input from each of the separate sectors (industry, stakeholder, government) on what economic and environmental data should be measured, including the kinds of data that should be collected, what kinds of data should be kept confidential, and what can be published. Upon approval of the script by the Project Officer, the contractor shall conduct interviews with no more than 9 individuals from a sector group. Full telecom notes shall be taken for each phone interview. Written summaries of the data and comments shall be delivered to EPA. Deliverables: Draft and Final Script, Written Data Summaries Task 3: Prepare Strawman Sampling and Analysis Plans The contractor shall deliver at least two strawman sampling and analysis plans to EPA based on the results of the phone interviews. The plans shall include industrial environmental costs (e.g., pollution control measures, administrative costs, regulatory costs) and will account for both capital and operating costs. Cost accounting methods employed will include activity based costing. Costs associated with the regulatory/stakeholder community shall be addressed as well as costs associated with lost market opportunities. Deliverables: Two Strawman Sampling and Analysis Plans Task 4: Conduct One-Day Meeting with Select Stakeholders and Regulators The contractor shall hold a one-day meeting with a subset of the phone interviewees using the strawman scenarios as a basis for the discussion. The contractor shall submit a list of suggested attendees (approximately 20) to the Project Officer for approval. The contractor shall provide tight meeting facilitation to keep discussions on target. Written notes shall be kept by the contractor. Deliverables: Meeting Minutes Task 5: Prepare Detailed Sampling and Analysis Plan Based on the outcome of the discussions, the contractor shall prepare a draft sampling and analysis plan which shall address, at a minimum: The amount and level of detail of economic and environmental data to be collected from industry, government and NGO's; Approaches to evaluating opportunity costs; Kinds of data that should remain confidential; Strategies for extrapolating to missing information; Quality controls for assuring the data is accurate and representative; Choices of the XL project to be the pilot for the analysis. The contractor shall submit the sampling and analysis plan to the Project Officer for final acceptance and approval. The Project Officer will select the pilot project to be completed in Phase II. Deliverables: Draft and Final Sampling and Analysis Plan PHASE II Task 6: Gather Data for Preliminary Sample The contractor shall collect the data using the sampling and analysis plan approved by the Project Officer in Phase I. The contractor shall gather industrial data from one XL project and the data from all regulators and stakeholders related to that project. Estimations shall be made if the data is not readily available. Deliverables: Preliminary Data Task 7: Analyze Data, Modify Sampling Plan and Prepare Report The contractor shall analyze the data from Phase I and submit a draft report to the Project Officer. The report shall address all the questions outlined in the background section of this Statement of Work. The report shall also discuss how well the sampling effort went, and identify ways to improve future sampling efforts, especially with respect to stream- lining of data collection efforts. The report shall provide a good basis for completing the final assessment of the costs and benefits of Project XL and for determining what kinds of projects show the greatest potential for superior performance and cost reductions. The approved sampling plan from task 5 shall be included in the report. Deliverables: Draft Analysis and Final Report 1. Evaluation Criteria Award of this contract will be made on a "best value" basis. Contract price and the following factors will be used in making the award decision: PERSONNEL a.Specific experience of the proposed individuals in interacting with high level senior officials from the groups identified to aid in the research, including Project XL participants, stakeholders and regulators . b.Knowledge of the Project XL program and its evolution, and its approach to innovative environmental management. C. Specific experience of the proposed individuals with industrial environmental and economic performance data collection, storage and analysis including quantitative data collection and issues related to its confidentiality. d. Specific experience of the proposed individuals with environmental cost accounting, environmental management systems assessment, environmental economics, and cost-benefit analysis. e.Past performance and experience of the proposed individuals with the interview approach to environmental performance data gathering and to evaluation and analysis of environmental management systems. f. Resumes to be submitted must include years and level of experience of the proposed individuals who will provide senior-level stakeholder interactions and perform the analysis. PAST PERFORMANCE We are requesting a minimum of two references for similar services provided to the Government or private sector within the last three years. References must provide summary of specific services performed, sample documents, dates of performance, and point of contact for confirmation. Items Required for Submission: The following items must be submitted for a quote to be evaluated: a.A description of how the organization meets the required qualifications, including a description of the organization's experience as it relates to the evaluation criteria; b. A detailed account of the proposed approach that will be taken to meet the needs of this request as outlined and described in this SOW; c. Resumes of the proposed review team members. Posted 08/13/98 (W-SN236430). (0225)

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