U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Contracts Management Division (MD-33), Research Triangle Park, NC 27711

A -- VERIFICATION TESTING OF ADVANCED MONITORING SYSTEMS BY A NON/NOT-FOR-PROFIT ORGANIZATION SOL NERL-AMRD-001 DUE 030797 POC Shari L. Pricer, (919)541-2198 The United States Environmental Protection Agency's (US EPA) National Exposure Research Laboratory located at Research Triangle Park, NC, (NERL/RTP) is issuing a "Request for Assistance" (RFA) for a nonprofit or not-for-profit research organization or consortium of research organizations to organize, develop, implement, and coordinate a pilot public/private-sector program for verifying the performance of advanced monitoring systems. The advanced monitoring systems proposed for verification under this program are those commercially-available environmental monitoring systems employed to characterize the extent of environmental contamination in air, water, and soil. The proposed collaborator should have demonstrated experience in planning and conducting air, water, and soil environmental research and technical support activities commensurate with the overall goals of program. The verification program outlined in this RFA will include the active involvement of EPA and other appropriate stakeholder groups (e.g., technology manufacturers/vendors; consulting engineers; scientific service organizations; federal and state regulatory agencies; and potential monitoring technology buyers). EPA and the stakeholders will provide overall guidance to this program and assist in the design of the verification protocols and the establishment of verification priorities. The awardee will be responsible for resourcing, scheduling, coordinating, conducting, validating, and reporting the results of the verification activities. The stakeholders are anticipated to provide critical input from various perspectives on implementing the verification program. Through this collaborative program performance verification protocols will be developed, efficient procedures for conducting objective and quality-assured verification programs for advanced monitoring systems will be designed, and opportunities for manufacturers to have their advanced environmental monitoring instruments tested and verified will be provided. The EPA-sponsored program addressed in this RFA is intended to be a three-year pilot program designed to demonstrate it's value to the stakeholders and environmental community. If warranted, the advanced monitoring systems verification program will be continued beyond the pilot period with no or minimal US EPA funding. The statutory authority under which this program is conducted does not allow the US EPA to enter into Cooperative Agreements with "for-profit" organizations. Pursuant to 40 CFR 30.23, cost sharing is not mandatory. However cost sharing is strongly encouraged both as a means of leveraging resources and to aid in bringing the program to self-sufficiency. A minimum of 5% cost sharing is recommended, and greater amounts are encouraged A rigorous review and evaluation will be conducted based on the selection factors and criteria described in the RFA. Contingent upon the availability of funds, and sufficient progress to warrant continuation, funding in the amount of approximately $1,600,000 is anticipated to support a three-year pilot verification program. The EPA resources are intended to support the day-to-day operation of the verification activities with minimal funding available for the procurement of instrumentation and/or facilities to conduct these activities. In response to letters of interest, NERL will mail out the solication package on or after January 7, 1997, which will describe the requirments of the RFA. All requests for the RFA must be in writing, telephone requests will not be honored. Requests may be mailed to the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Exposure Research Laboratory, MD-78A, 79 T. W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, Attn: Shari L. Pricer. Responses to the RFA are due to the NERL by Close of Business, Eastern Standard Time (5:00P.M.) March 7, 1997. (0352)

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