SOLICITATION NOTICE
A -- 2009 Transportation and Air Quality Emissions Analysis
- Notice Date
- 4/3/2009
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 541690
— Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Office of Acquisition Management, HAAM, Mail Stop E65-101, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, District of Columbia, 20590
- ZIP Code
- 20590
- Solicitation Number
- DTFH61-09-R-00014
- Archive Date
- 5/5/2009
- Point of Contact
- Joseph A. Fusari,, Phone: 2023664244, Bob G Prior,, Phone: (202)366-4247
- E-Mail Address
-
Joseph.fusari@dot.gov, Bob.Prior@dot.gov
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- SYNOPSIS 2009 Transportation and Air Quality Emissions Analysis DTFH61-09-R-00014 The Office of Planning, Environment and Realty within the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) intends to issue a multiple award Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). The FHWA intends to issue a BAA solicitation for proposals for research and development projects that could lead to better understanding and advances for tools and methodologies in conducting emissions analysis for transportation projects in the United States on or about May 17, 2009. The solicitation will be distributed through the General Services Administration Federal Business Opportunities web site at www.fbo.gov. Hard copies of the solicitation will not be available. The site provides downloading instructions. All future information about this acquisition, including amendments, will be distributed through this site. Interested parties are responsible for monitoring this site to insure that they have the most up-to-date information about this acquisition. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the upcoming BAA is to advance the practice and application of emissions analysis and modeling among state, regional and local transportation and air quality agencies in meeting specific transportation provisions in the Clean Air Act, and to disseminate these techniques and approaches in a timely manner. PROGRAM SCOPE: The program scope is intentionally ambitious and broad to address the wide spectrum of topics and objectives that the funded investigations can support. FOCUS AREAS: Four focus areas within emissions analysis and modeling are of particular strategic interest and relevance to the FHWA. Proposals in these areas are highly encouraged. This guidance is provided to help offerors in the development of proposals of particular interest to the FHWA. These areas as consistent with emphasis areas identified for the Surface Transportation Environment and Planning Cooperative Research Program developed under Section 5207 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), Public Law 109-59;119 stat. 1797 (August10, 2005). See http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hep/step/index.htm for more information. The four focus areas are: (1) Testing, Evaluation and Validation of New Emission Models and Methodologies The EPA has released a demo version of the new emission model, Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES) in 2007. When the final version is released in 2009, MOVES will replace the existing emissions model, and will be required for a variety of emissions and air quality analysis for conformity, the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) and other regulatory purposes. This research effort would include a number of tasks, including reviewing the MOVES model and identifying issues of concern for the transportation community and evaluating, testing, and validating the model to assure accurate and relevant results. Major research areas may include: a. Identify transportation data collection needs (e.g., vehicle fleet data, truck VMT and speed, speeds on local roads, start and parking patterns, extended idle, etc.) and gather relevant data; evaluate the reliability of assumptions that are used to estimate traffic data for use in MOVES, including the assumptions behind the MOVES default traffic data. b. Examine data conversion methodologies for converting existing data to be compatible with MOVES c. Evaluate and document changes in emissions between MOVES and other emissions models (MOBILE6 and EMFAC) using real world examples or case studies d. Conduct a needs assessment for uncertainty analysis for MOVES; identify or develop estimation methods to quantify uncertainty. e. Identify model calibration and validation issues related to transportation/traffic data, such as modal activities, vehicle mix, and traffic operations f. Conduct MOVES sensitivity analysis such as testing model sensitivity to speed and congestion levels and ability to account for emissions benefits of congestion-relief measures g. Evaluate the sensitivity of MOVES for project level analysis of typical highway and/or transit projects h. Examine how typical transportation projects change driving cycle and Vehicle Specific Power (VSP) distribution; explore integration of MOVES and project level traffic simulation models i. Low-cost methodologies for developing alternative drive cycles for use in the MOVES model based on real-world data, including instrumented vehicle studies, GPS, ITS data, cell phone data, and other technologies. j. Methodologies to characterize and account for non-recurring congestion in MOVES model inputs. k. Examine the application of MOVES in the evaluation of emissions, including greenhouse gas emissions, benefits of different transportation strategies such as transit, congestion pricing, non-motorized strategies, etc. (2) Research on Conducting Project Level Analysis In its conformity regulations, the EPA acknowledged that the current emissions model is not appropriate for conducting local emissions impact, especially for particulate matter (PM). In the absence of an appropriate model and guidance, although PM local hot-spot analysis has been required since 1993, the EPA has yet to require quantitative emissions analysis until a new emissions model and associated analysis guidance are released. Given the recent interest in project level analysis for Mobile Source Air Toxics (MSAT) under the NEPA, these pollutants should be included in the list of emissions to be analyzed in each of the research tasks. This focus area will examine a number of issues related to the project level (including hot spot) emissions analysis. Possible research areas may include: a. Examine traffic characteristics (volumes, speeds, congestion levels, etc.) and its relationship to local emissions b. Evaluate critical factors that may impact localized project level emissions such as background concentration, sensitive receptors, land use, and other meteorology and environmental factors c. Establish emissions gradients along transportation corridors to identify impact zone and to locate sensitive receptors d. Evaluate and assess dispersion models, especially the applicability in project level analysis. Such an evaluation may consider the inherent and reducible uncertainties associated with modeling and its input conditions and how any uncertainty in the estimates affects regulatory decisions e. Develop/evaluate methodologies to calculate emissions benefits for project level mitigation measures f. Conduct analysis for emissions impacts of congestion relief strategies such as ramp metering, HOV and HOT lanes, congestion pricing projects, etc. g. Examine the emissions impact of activities at intermodal and port facilities such as diesel reduction strategies h. Provide analytical support for CO and PM categorical hot-spot findings i. Develop/evaluate methodologies for lifecycle greenhouse gas analysis at the regional and project level. (3) Air Quality and Transportation Conformity Outreach and Communication The goal of the outreach and communication focus area is to inform and provide technical assistance in an easily accessible format and to identify new and innovative methods of communicating scientific and regulatory information on transportation and air quality to our State and local partners and to stakeholders. The EPA and the FHWA currently conduct extensive outreach on transportation and air quality issues; the objective for this focus area is to identify new methods of communication on air quality topic areas that are not fully addressed. These efforts may include: a. Develop strategies to facilitate outreach and communications to the transportation and air quality communities on issues related to air quality and transportation including requirements in the clean air act and transportation legislation; synthesis and compilation of research results etc. The strategies may include a combination of presentations at conferences, written materials (hard copy and online), webcasts/webinars, web-based communities of practice, teleconferences, video conferences, public education materials, etc. b. Document best practices including project level analyses, models and methodologies to apply in specific situations such as modeling protocol c. Develop training materials and conduct training sessions for various transportation and air quality related topics (4) Fleet Data for On-road Mobile Sources Emissions Inventory Vehicle fleet data is one of the critical factors in emissions inventory development. Research should focus on how State and local transportation and air quality agencies develop fleet data for State Implementation Plan (SIP), conformity, and other air quality analyses and to provide insight on how fleet VMT, especially diesel truck VMT are estimated for use in such analyses. Possible research areas include: a. Research and document how State vehicle registration data has been adapted for SIP and conformity analyses and how specific tools, such as vehicle identification number (VIN) decoders have been successfully used to improve the credibility of fleet data. b. How diesel truck VMT is being accounted for in SIP, conformity and other air quality analysis, and how these VMT estimates can be improved. Evaluate tools and methods that are being used to estimate intraregional (e.g. delivery trucks, garbage trucks) and interregional (e.g., interstate freight trucks) c. Research methodologies for estimating urban and rural freight/commercial vehicle activity by vehicle class and methodologies for developing age distributions for heavy-duty trucks in urban and rural areas d. Research methodologies to estimate hours of heavy-duty truck and construction equipment idling, and to estimate the effectiveness of idle reduction strategies. e. Identify or develop methods to estimate future market penetration and effectiveness of GHG reduction (fuel efficiency) and idle reduction technologies in heavy-duty trucks and construction equipment. GENERAL INFORMATION: The FHWA has budgeted approximately $950,000 to fund this research program. Upon issuance of the solicitation, proposals will be evaluated using a two-part process consisting of pre-proposals and full-proposals.
- Web Link
-
FedBizOpps Complete View
(https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=ff1a0616350987f743aaf4d12521c365&tab=core&_cview=1)
- Place of Performance
- Address: District of Columbia, 20590, United States
- Zip Code: 20590
- Zip Code: 20590
- Record
- SN01785197-W 20090405/090403220503-4f24593c23d3d287d3fda4b31da8e16f (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |