Provision of Atmospheric Dispersion and Air Quality Modeling Services for Input into Human Health Risk Assessments

NOTICE OF PROPOSED PROCUREMENT (NPP)

Solicitation #: 1000158271

Closing Date: October 8, 2014 Time: 3:00 PM EDT

This requirement is for the department of Health Canada.

Title: Provision of Atmospheric Dispersion and Air Quality Modeling Services for Input into Human Health Risk Assessments

Introduction: Health Canada's mission is to help Canadians improve and maintain their health. A key element of the Health Canada mission is to provide health protection through the assessment and communication of human health risks including risks posed by air pollution. In particular, the Air Health Effects Assessment Division (AHEAD) of Health Canada is responsible for assessing the relationship between air pollution and human health, and evaluating the health effects of air quality on the Canadian public. The Division is guided by the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) and the Air Quality Management System (AQMS).

The AHEAD is responsible for the research, risk assessment and development of policies, and regulatory options to manage the risk of health hazards associated with air pollutants. The Division manages and conducts studies to assess the health impacts of exposure to air pollution. This research supports risk assessment and risk management activities including development of air quality objectives and standards. The Division also monitors new knowledge, technologies, and methodologies as well as new applications of existing technologies in the area of air quality.

Examples of key activities of the AHEAD include

• Assessing the toxicity of various airborne substances, identifying information on human exposure to these substances, and assessing the health effects and risks resulting from exposure; • Investigating the amounts and types of air pollution to which Canadians are exposed (i.e. exposure assessments); • Evaluating and conducting clinical studies of the physiological links between exposures and health outcomes; • Assessing the health outcomes of exposure to air pollutants among vulnerable populations; • Conducting epidemiological research to support regulation and standard setting under CEPA; • Evaluating and synthesizing existing scientific information (health risk assessments) into policy and program initiatives regarding various air pollutants and • Utilising health risk assessments to guide policy making and the development of new regulations. To support the Division’s role as summarized above, Health Canada would like to establish a competitively-awarded Standing Offer Agreement with firms capable of providing Health Canada staff with a broad range of scientific expertise and services related to the development of emission inventories and atmospheric modeling of air pollutants for input into human health risk assessments.

Estimated Value: The total estimated cumulative value of all Call-Ups emanating from this RFSO shall not exceed the sum of $250,000.00 in the first year, $250,000.00 in the second year and $250,000.00 in each of the two (2) one (1) year option periods, should they be exercised. This amount includes travel and living expenses and Goods and Services Tax or Harmonized Sales Tax where applicable.

Ownership of Intellectual Property: The Crown will own Intellectual Property and Copyright as the scientific documents are prepared exclusively for the use of Health Canada in regulatory and/or guidance packages and may contain sensitive information unless specified in the call-up.

Security Requirement: Security requirements will be determined in the individual Call Ups resulting from this Standing Offer

Mandatory Requirements: M1. The Bidder must propose within their proposed team the following resources demonstrating their experience within their perspective categories as indicated below:

1 Project Manager with a minimum of five (5) years of experience within the last eight (8) years from date of this RFSO demonstrating their experience in Project Management related to atmospheric modelling. 2 Atmospheric Modeller with at a minimum of five (5) years of demonstrated experience in atmospheric modeling within the last eight (8) years from date of this RFSO. 3 Emissions Inventory Specialist(s) with a minimum of five (5) years within the last eight (8) years from date of this RFSO demonstrating their experience in the development and use of emissions inventories, and emissions modelling. 4 Meteorologist(s) with a minimum of three (3) years of experience within the last five (5) years from date of this RFSO demonstrating their experience accessing, interpreting, and manipulating meteorological data. 5 Geographic Information System (GIS) Technician(s) with a minimum of three (3) years in the last five (5) years from date of this RFSO with demonstrated experience in GIS and air data processing.

The Bidder must provide within their proposal CV’s of all team members proposed.

All experience must be in months and years and is from date of this RFSO. • One Individual may fulfill more than one of the following roles and/or responsibilities, up to a maximum of two roles. M2. The Bidder must include within their proposed team a Project Manager with a Professional Engineer (P.Eng.), designation. The Bidder must provide proof of designation.

M3. The Bidder must provide a minimum of five (5) projects completed within the last five (5) years of this RFSO demonstrating their use of the United State Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) approved versions of CALPUFF/CALMET and applications thereof. Three (3) out of these five (5) projects must be within the Canadian geographical area predicting ALL (and not only criteria air pollutants) contaminants of potential concern (COPCs) emitted by the facilities / sources for EACH receptor in the study area (more than 10 000 receptors).

M4. The Bidder must provide three (3) written project summaries for fully successfully completed projects detailing their experience in “Provision of Atmospheric Dispersion and Air Quality Modeling Services for Input into Human Health Risk Assessments”. *The minimum total value for all three project summaries must be a minimum of 200K (taxes included) with at least one project summary having a value of 50K (taxes included) or more. Within each project summary provided, Bidders must indicate: 1. the client organization, 2. the name, address (email address or civic address) and telephone number of the client project authority for each project to whom the Bidder reported for reference purposes) 3. a brief description of the scope and intent of the project; 4. the dates/duration of the project; 5. the number of Bidder resources involved in the project; 6. Project has come in on time and on budget 7. provide detailed Project Plan 8. provide a detailed account of protocols followed to extract extensive statistics (i.e. mean, standard deviation and a series of percentiles (a minimum of 10 different ones) from CALPUFF outputs for each receptor i.e. for the entire inventory of contaminants of potential concern (COPCs) emitted from a facility, and not only criteria air pollutants. 9. provide a detailed account of proven Quality Assurance/ Quality Control (QA/QC) procedures, of their successful implementation to verify/correct CALMET/CALPUF modeling inputs and outputs, including specific examples of their successful implementation to verify/correct the extensive statistics extracted from CALPUFF outputs. Note: Health Canada reserves the right to check references by contacting one or all of the references provided. Health Canada also reserves the right to reject a bidder should one or more of the references provided not be available within one week from completion of bid evaluation and if in checking references they do not confirm the resource’s work experience and information provided by the bidder. References should not be older than eight (8) years from date of this RFP All inquiries must be submitted in writing to the contracting officer of the Division of Procurement and Contract follows:

Name: Donna Pettit Email address: donna.pettit@hc-sc.gc.ca