Delaware River Basin Commission, P.O. Box 7360, West Trenton, New Jersey 08628

R -- ESTUARY COORDINATING CONFERENCE SUPPORT SOL 321 DUE 092796. Contact Point, James Walsh, 717/787-2529. On behalf of the Delaware Estuary Program (DELEP), The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) is inviting all interested parties to submit proposals for support services in conducting three Estuary coordinating conferences. The three conferences are tentatively scheduled for January, May, and September 1997. BACKGROUND: THE DELEP is a National Estuary Program funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with matching funds provided from the states of Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey. The aim of the Program since its inception in 1989 has been to develop and implement a Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) for the Delaware Estuary region. The CCMP, expected to be approved by the Governors of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania and the EPA Administrator in September 1996, addresses seven main issue areas including: Land Management; Water Use Management; Habitat and Living Resources; Toxics; Education and Involvement; Monitoring; and Regional Information Management Service (RIMS). The CCMP recommends 77 specific actions items within these issues areas to address problems confronting the Delaware Estuary. Implementation of these actions will be coordinated through a series of conferences as described in the CCMP. Because of the comprehensive nature of the CCMP, and because most of the entities involved in the Program have a focused mission, it would be impossible for one entity to undertake the full scale implementation responsibility of the CCMP. Hence, three conferences will be held yearly to further discuss the implementation of the CCMP. The three coordinating conferences will be consensus driven and will bring together those entities that have CCMP implementation roles. These conferences will consist of participants including, but not limited to: the three states and their relevant agencies; US EPA Regions II and III; other federal agencies; watershed groups; local governments; the DRBC; non-profit organization; non-government stakeholders; and business and industry groups with a role in the development and implementation of the CCMP. Each participant of the conference is encouraged to prepare an annual CCMP work program outlining CCMP initiatives to be undertaken and forward the work program to interested participants. At the conferences, the work programs will be discussed for the purpose of exploring coordination of actions on a voluntary basis, such as minimizing the duplication of effort and sharing action responsibilities. PURPOSE: The purpose of the conferences is to foster the implementation of the CCMP through the open coordination process established during the development of the CCMP. Each year, one of the states involved with the program will be charged with chairing the conferences. A conference implementation team will assist the chairing state in this effort. One of the primary roles of the conferences is to recognize existing and/or establish new implementation teams. The implementation teams will work towards implementing specific actions set forth by the CCMP. These teams will consist of a lead organization(s) and various partners. Many initiatives are already underway in some form in a particular state(s) that may constitute the completion of an action through an existing ``implementation team''. These initiatives should be recognized as completing aspects of the CCMP. In all cases, these efforts being completed should be shared with the participants of the conferences, and if appropriate, should establish a regional implementation team to share information gained. Prior to the first coordinating conference occurring, a ``Call for Action'' questionnaire will be sent to: federal, state, and local agencies; watershed organizations, environmental groups; business/industry, etc. The purpose of the questionnaire is to gain feedback from the regional organizations on the types of CCMP implementation activities they are conducting. The results of the questionnaire will be used in lieu of receipt of participants preparing an annual work plan described in the ``Background'' section of this Request for Proposals. Based on this solicitation, a catalog of activities will be compiled and prepared for distribution at the first coordinating conference. At the conferences, these activities will be discussed for the purpose of exploring coordination of actions on a voluntary basis. Specifically, the conferences will provide a forum for the following: Updating other participants on ongoing CCMP initiatives. Updating other participants on project funding requirements, sources and constraints. Establishing contracts for implementation teams. Establishing a stronger relationship between public and private entities. TASKS: The majority of work tasks described below will be required for establishing the first conference. It is anticipated that subsequent conferences will require much less time and effort on the part of the contractor. An Estuary Coordinating Conference Implementation Team has already been established to assist the Commonwealth in a conducting the conferences. The estimated attendance of each conference is approximately 150 persons. The contractor will be responsible for the following tasks: 1. Develop a catalog of CCMP implementation activities based on responses to the ``Call for Action'' questionnaire. This task is critical to the success of the conferences. The catalog will be an ongoing compilation of data through the length of the contract, September 1997. The actions contained in the DELEP's Strategic Action Plan will be the basis for responses to this questionnaire. The questionnaire is anticipated to be sent to organizations in early September, 1996. The contractor will be responsible for the following: compile and synthesize the information received; conduct follow-up phone calls and other means of communication to organizations that did not respond to the initial questionnaire; prepare a matrix of organizations and action items being completed within the estuary region; prepare data sheets on each organization from the information gathered from the questionnaire to be included in the catalog; professionally format the catalog. 2. Assist the conference implementation team in organizing agendas, identifying and confirming speakers if necessary, preparing press releases, media mailings and media packets. 3. Assist in the conference implementation team in gathering and organizing mailing lists for the conferences. The current DELEP mailing list will be used as a basis for these lists. 4. Coordinate and establish meeting locations for the three conferences. The conference location should be located near public transportation, accommodate up to 200 persons, and provide sufficient space for up to six breakout rooms and a separate room for lunch. The contractor is also responsible for any costs associated with the location rental if applicable. 5. Assist the conference implementation team in developing meeting announcements, meeting packets, including developing meeting materials and visual aids for the conferences. 6. Established and maintain a pre-registration list prior to each conference. 7. Maintain and account for all pre-registration funds collected for meeting purposes. 8. Provide on-site conference coordination to ensure smooth operation including registration, coordination of poster session/exhibits, meeting set-up, note taking, trouble shooting, and returning materials following the conferences. 9. Develop and analyze a questionnaire and/or other methods to determine the effectiveness of the conferences and provide a critique on improvements to be made to PADEP. 10. Preparing a conference summary report that will be included in the DELEP's Newsletter and submitted to the DELEP's Steering Committee. 11. Assist the conference implementation team in developing and coordinating the breakout sessions. PROJECT PERIOD: It is anticipated that the project period will begin on October 15, 1996 and be completed by September 30, 1997. ESTIMATED BUDGET: Estimated budget for this project is $35,000. Applicants must submit a detailed budget of their proposal work plan in a separate sealed envelope. The budget should include the approximate cost of room rentals, catalog compilation, etc. INCURRING COSTS: The DELEP is not liable for any cost incurred by a bidder in replying to this request or in the preparation of the proposal. PROPOSAL SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS: Each proposal statement must not exceed 10 pages (5 sheets of paper, double spaced, printed on both sides of the sheet) of text, illustrations and references. Qualifications of the bidder (or vitae) may be submitted as an addendum which will not be counted towards the ten page limit. However, if an addendum is not included, a statement is required as part of their proposal identifying individuals and their qualifications, and specifying individual responsibilities when there is more than one person assigned to a task. Proposals should be printed on white 8.5 x 11 inch paper without covers or other extra sources of bulk, and be bound by a staple in the upper left hand corner. If the applicant wishes to illustrate his/her competence by example with a similar project, this may be done as a separate single addendum (no more than three examples). Review of the addendum is optional. Proposals that do not follow this format may be rejected without review. Each applicant must submit fifteen (15) copies of their proposal. Each applicant must submit the budget requirement in a separate sealed envelope. All proposal statements must be received by 1:00 p.m. on September 27, 1996. On behalf of DRBC all proposals should be directed to the attention of: James H. Walsh Jr., PA Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Land and Water Conservation, Delaware Estuary Program, P.O. Box 8555, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8555. PROPOSED AWARD OF CONTRACT Proposals will be evaluated by members of the conference implementation team. A contract will be awarded by DRBC to the highest ranked applicant with whom an agreement can be negotiated in accordance with the terms and conditions offered. If it is not possible to reach an agreement with the chosen applicant, negotiations shall be undertaken with other applicants in order of their final ranking. The DELEP reserves the right to award no contract for any project for which no proposal is evaluated as satisfactory. (241)

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