This service contract is for NATA and Risk Assessment Activities within the Integrated Air Program, Small Business Set-Aside

Notice of IntentNAICS Code: 541620 - Environmental consulting services. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a requirement for continuation of services under the current contract, EP-W-12-011, as described below.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) uses contactor support as follows:Section 112 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) outlines the statutory requirements for the EPA’s stationary source air toxics program.  Within section 112 there are several different programs for which the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) is responsible.  Historically, OAQPS’s primary focus has been the development of Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standards under section 112(d).  When developing these standards, the EPA based the regulatory requirements on technologies that were available and in use.  Thus, the stationary source air toxics program has been “technology-based.”With the finalization of the Integrated Urban Air Toxics Strategy, the EPA

introduced and outlined its “risk-based” air toxics program, which includes both regulatory and non-regulatory elements.  The Strategy lists the goals of the EPA’s air toxics program, which are as follows: (1) reduce the incidence of cancer attributable to exposure to hazardous air pollutants; (2) reduce national non-cancer risks; and (3) address risks that are disproportionately placed on specific subpopulations and geographic areas. To accomplish these goals, the EPA has integrated its air toxics program into four components.  The first component is source specific regulatory programs.  This component includes the development and review of MACT standards under section 112(d), MACT or generally available control technology (GACT) standards under 112(k), residual risk standards under 112(f), and other standards to regulate emissions of air toxics from specific sources.  The second component includes national, regional, and community-based initiatives on multi-media and cumulative risks, such as the Great Water Program and EPA’s Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxics initiative.  The third component, National Air Toxics Assessments (NATA), provides quantitative estimates of the health risks associated with air toxics on a variety of geographic scales, ranging from national-scale to local-scale assessments.  The fourth and final component of EPA’s air toxics program is education and outreach.One purpose of this contract is to provide support for risk assessment activities associated with the first component of EPA’s air toxics program.  Within the context of this component, EPA evaluates the effects of hazardous and potentially hazardous air pollutants and develops appropriate regulatory strategies. In this role, EPA:  (1) identifies, screens, and characterizes air pollutants to determine which should be evaluated further as candidates for being listed as hazardous; (2) reviews and evaluates health and/or ecological assessment documents on hazardous air pollutants; (3) performs risk assessments using EPA methods and models, or other methods and/or models, if more appropriate, to help guide reasoned decision-making; (4) identifies and evaluates alternative control options; (5) gathers information on production, use, emissions, control technology, control cost, and regulatory status to establish appropriate regulatory development priorities; (6) assesses the effectiveness of EPA and State/local programs in controlling hazardous and criteria pollutants; and (7) coordinates with other EPA offices and Federal and State/local programs to develop appropriate single or multimedia (e.g., air, water, solid waste, and/or other media) regulations.Another purpose of this contract is to provide support for the second, third, and fourth components of EPA’s air toxics program.  In this role, EPA develops assessment tools, conduct assessments, communicate the results of assessments, and educates the public.  In addition, the EPA examines the air pollution problem in a more integrated fashion (i.e., considering the cumulative effects of air toxics and criteria pollutants across media rather than conducting separate assessments). The current contract, EP-W-12-011, period of performance will be extended for three months, from  01-01-21 to 03-31-21. The Government intends to compete, negotiate, and award a follow on contract for a one-year base period and four one-year option periods in accordance with the Federal Acquisitions Regulation (FAR). However, due to delays in the acquisition process, the contract for follow on services will not be awarded prior to the current expiration date of 12-31-20 of contract EP-W-12-011. Since the services of the contract are critical and cannot lapse, the EPA must extend the period of performance of the current contract for an additional three months to allow time for the new follow on contract to be awarded. The EPA intends to negotiate this period of performance extension on a sole source basis.During this extension period, in the short-term, a substantial amount of knowledge transfer resources would be required to transfer the knowledge and expertise to a new contractor. The use of a new contractor would require an extensive phase-in period to facilitate the full knowledge transfer, complete the attainment of personnel and other resources required for contract execution, and complete the transition of contractual responsibilities. In the short term, use of another contractor would result in a significant loss of efficiency due to the learning curve of the new personnel. The lapse in service as a result of the contract transition and phase-in period will also impede any progress on the existing Work Assignments (WA) and significantly hamper the EPA’s ability to comply with deadlines, both statutory and court-ordered. In the short-term, there are no other contractors that can maintain the required infrastructure to sustain this effort without any duplication of effort or degradation of support.The intent of this notice alerts the vendor community to the extension of contract EP-W-12-011, and the upcoming opportunity for competition of this opportunity. This notification alerts all vendors to this action and to determine if any other source (s) exist; and, therefore, no solicitation is available. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract extension based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether competition is viable. Responses to this notice should be submitted to the Contract Specialist, Stacy McAvoy via the following e-mail address (mcavoy.stacy@epa.gov) within 15 days from the date of this notice.