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COMMERCE BUSINESS DAILY ISSUE OF FEBRUARY 3,1998 PSA#2024U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 26 W. Martin Luther King Dr.,
Cincinnati, OH 45268 B -- CAP PHASE II AND CONFORMITY PILOT PROGRAM EVALUATION SOL
PR-CI-98-10272 POC Donna Reinhart (513)487-2114 WEB: Office Of
Acquisition Management- Contracts Management Division- Cincinnati,
http://www.epa.gov/oam/cinn_cmd. E-MAIL: U.S. EPA Contracts Management
Division-Cincinnati, Reinhart.Donna@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV. The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air, Office of Mobile
Services, Regional and State Programs Division, requires support
services to evaluate the effectiveness and implementation of the
conformity process under the new conformity rule and to evaluate the
effects of the conformity pilot program. EPA promulgated the original
conformity rule on November 24, 1993, with the concurrence of DOT.
Since the original rule's promulgation, state and local governments
have gained considerable experience with conformity, and many of these
agencies and other stakeholders have voiced concerns about the 1993
regulation. In response to stakeholders' input, EPA and DOT developed
a three-part strategy to comprehensively reinvent and streamline the
original conformity regulation: (1) comprehensively amend the existing
transportation conformity rule, (2) create a transportation conformity
pilot program, and (3) undertake an objective assessment of the
conformity process. EPA has already completed the first part of this
strategy. Minor amendments to the conformity rule were finalized on
August 7, 1995 and November 14, 1995, and more significant amendments
were published on August 15, 1997. The August 15, 1997 rulemaking is a
comprehensive set of amendments which streamlined and clarified the
conformity rule and made several significant changes. EPA has also
proposed the conformity pilot program, and at the time of this writing,
the pilot program is scheduled to be promulgated by the end of 1997.
The pilot program will allow up to six areas to use alternative
conformity procedures instead of the federal conformity regulation. The
third part of EPA and DOT's strategy is the Conformity Assessment
Project (CAP), which will evaluate the effectiveness and implementation
of the new conformity regulation resulting from the various amendments.
EPA and DOT began the CAP in 1996. The CAP is divided into two separate
evaluation phases. The goal of Phase I is to assess how the original
1993 conformity rule was working, before being amended. CAP Phase I has
always been intended to provide baseline information for EPA and DOT to
determine what effect the new conformity rule (published August 15,
1997) has on the transportation and air quality planning processes. For
Phase I, the contractor interviewed various parties involved in the
conformity process, such as federal, state and local air quality and
transportation planners, contractors, and environmentalists, in 15
study areas. Under this contract, the contractor shall complete Phase
II of the CAP and an evaluation of the conformity pilot program. For
CAP Phase II, the contractor shall assess the implementation of the
conformity process in 15 metropolitan areas after the amended
conformity rule has taken effect, and write an interim report and a
final report to describe the findings. For the pilot program
evaluation, the contractor shall assess the impact of the conformity
pilot program and evaluate how the pilot procedures are working in each
area. The contractor shall write a separate case study report for each
pilot area to describe the findings. The methodology that the
contractor will use to assess both the new rule and pilot program shall
be similar to that used in the Phase I assessment, where in each area
the set of relevant conformity parties, such as federal, regional,
state, and local air quality and transportation planners; consultants;
and members of advocacy groups were interviewed regarding their
experience with conformity implementation. It is anticipated that a
fixed price indefinite delivery indefinite quantity type contract will
result form the award of this solicitation. The Government anticipates
a maximum level of effort of 9,635 direct labor hours for the sixty
month contract period. The requirement will be solicited on a full and
open competitive basis using procedures set forth in FAR Part 15.
Solicitation no. PR-CI-98-10272 will appear on the Internet. It may be
accessed through the EPA's home page on the World Wide Web at the
following direct link URL: http://www.epa.gov/oam/cinn_cmd. It is
anticipated that this RFP will be available in mid February. All
responsible sources may submit an offer which will be considered. See
Note 26. (0030) Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0017 19980203\B-0002.SOL)
B - Special Studies and Analyses - Not R&D Index Page
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