Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, Procurement Operations Branch, MS2500, 381 Elden Street, Herndon, Virginia 20170-4817

B -- PREPARATION OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT ON FLOATING PRODUCTION, STORAGE, AND OFFLOADING SYSTEMS ON THE GULF OF MEXICO OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF SOL 1435-01-99-RP-30962 DUE 011299 POC Jane M. Carlson, Contracting Officer, (703) 787-1364 E-MAIL: Contracting Officer's email address, Jane.Carlson@mms.gov. The Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service (MMS) intends to competitively award a contract for the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) systems on the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The MMS's objectives in initiating and conducting the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process and preparing an EIS are to: (1) ensure that FPSO activities conducted in the deepwater (greater than 200 meters water depths) areas of the Western and Central Planning Areas of the Gulf of Mexico OCS occur in a technically safe and environmentally sound manner; (2) describe the types and range of potential FPSO operations; (3) determine reasonable alternatives to specific aspects of proposed FPSO operations; (4) identify potential impacts from FPSO operations and associated support activities on the marine, coastal, and human environments; (5) evaluate the significance of potential impacts from FPSO operations and associated support activities; (6) develop appropriate measures to mitigate potentially significant impacts from FPSO operations and associated support activities; and (7) provide a summary NEPA document that will support future NEPA assessments of FPSO's and associated support activities. Specific Tasks to be Accomplished: The major tasks are identified in order of their chronological occurrence. Phase I: Public Scoping Meetings and Scoping Report. The Contractor will arrange and manage five public scoping meetings; one in each of the following communities: Corpus Christi, Houston, and Beaumont, Texas; and Lake Charles and New Orleans, Louisiana. A report documenting the comments received at each of these meetings shall be prepared by the Contractor. Phase 2: Scenario Documentation. All scenario information will be documented. The basic scenario information for the EIS will be provided by MMS and the industry consortium, DeepStar. The scenario includes the technical description of FPSO facilities, operations, and associated support activities (proposed action); identification and description of technical alternatives to the proposed action; risk analyses of FPSO facilities; technical description of the shuttle tanker and offloading operations; and worldwide FPSO-related and tanker-related spill statistics. The MMS will provide Oil Spill Risk Analysis (OSRA) model results for the oil spill analysis and a summary of the OSRA model and results for inclusion in the EIS. Any extrapolations from and manipulations of these data and information, calculations based on the information and data, and any additional scenario information developed to support the EIS analyses, as well as any assumptions about rates, intensities, influencing factors, areas of influence, or other assumptions in support of the environmental assessments shall be documented in a scenario report. Phase 3: Draft EIS and Public Hearings. The draft EIS must address the issues, alternatives, and mitigation measures specified by MMS and be prepared in conformance with MMS standards and with applicable requirements of NEPA, the Environmental Quality Improvement Act of 1970, the NEPA implementing regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), and other appropriate laws and Executive Orders. The contents of the draft EIS shall generally follow the contents recommended in the CEQ regulations. The draft EIS shall contain appropriate background material, a description of the affected environment, a description of the proposed action, a discussion of all reasonable alternatives to the proposed action, an evaluation of the potential environmental impacts associated with each alternative, and an evaluation of possible measures to mitigate potential adverse environmental impacts. The analysis conclusions must clearly identify the type, severity, and duration of potential impacts. The Contractor will arrange and manage four public hearings to solicit public comments on the contents, scope, and findings of the draft EIS, one in each of the following communities:Corpus Christi and Houston, Texas; and Lake Charles and New Orleans, Louisiana. The Contractor shall be responsible for preparing responses to non-policy comments for inclusion in the Final EIS. Phase 4: Final EIS. The final EIS shall include a summary of the comments received at the public hearings, copies of all written comments on the draft EIS, responses to these comments, and a discussion of the major differences between the draft and final EIS's. In order to compete for this contract, an offeror must demonstrate that they are qualified to perform the work by providing, not later than January 12, 1999, a Capabilities Statement describing in detail: (A) Key personnel with the expertise and experience to coordinate the NEPA process, assess the potential impacts to offshore and coastal environmental resources, and produce a high-quality document. A multi-disciplinary/interdisciplinary scientific/technical team shall include expertise on (1) the requirements of NEPA/CEQ, especially as related to scoping andEIS's; (2) offshore oil and gas operations to support scenario development and identification/projection of impacting factors; (3) oil spill risks and use/interpretation of oil spill trajectory modeling results; (4) emissions and air quality; (5) water quality; (6) Gulf of Mexico endangered and threatened species that may be affected by FPSO operations and associated support activities, including but not necessarily limited to marine mammals, sea turtles, and coastal and marine birds; (7) essential/sensitive marine and coastal habitats; and (8) editorial practices, document preparation, and publication management; (B) Your organization's expertise with this type of work and a description of your facilities and resources; and (C) Specific references (including project identifier and description, period of performance, dollar amount, and client name and phone number) for previous work of this nature that your organization or personnel is currently performing or has completed within the last three (3) years. REFERENCES WILL BE CHECKED. Section 1506.5(c) of the NEPA regulations requires contractors who are employed to prepare an EIS to sign a disclosure statement stating that they have no financial or other interest in the outcome of the process. Offerors evaluated as technically acceptable will be required to provide a disclosure statement regarding conflict of interest. Offerors shall submit their Capabilities Statement in original and two (2) copies to Jane M. Carlson, Contracting Officer, Minerals Management Service, 381 Elden Street, MS-2500, Herndon Virginia 20170-4817. Seven (7) additional copies shall be submitted to Deborah Cranswick, Senior Environmental Scientist, Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, LA 70123-2394. Time of receipt of submissions will be determined by the time received in the Procurement Operations Branch, Herndon, Virginia. The period of performance of the resultant contract will be eighteen (18) months. Your Capabilities Statement will be evaluated based on: (A) Environmental Specialists. (1) experience and expertise in conducting analyses of potential impacts on resources within their area of expertise, (2) knowledge of oil and gas operations for the purpose of analyzing potential impacts to resources withing their area of expertise, (3) expertise on sensitive environmental resources in the Gulf of Mexico region, (4) the currency, quality and depth of experience in working on similar projects (similar in size, scope, complexity, duration, and dollar value), (5) quality and depth of experience on other projects that may not be similar enough to include in (4) above, but that may be relevant, and (6) publication history; (B) Project Manager. (1) experience and demonstrated leadership ability required for the coordination of the NEPA process, (2) experience in managing a large multi-disciplinary team and the interdisciplinary processes required for the development of an EIS document, and (3) ability to control costs and to keep project performance and document preparation on schedule; and (C) Your organization's history of (1) successful completion of similar projects (similar in size, scope, complexity, duration, and dollar value), (2) producing high-quality documents, and (3) conducting similar projects on schedule and within budget. Questions should be faxed to Jane Carlson at (703) 787-1387 or e-mailed to Jane.Carlson@mms.gov. All correspondence should include the RFP number, your full name/company name, address and phone and fax numbers. Requests or questions by telephone are strongly discouraged. Posted 12/04/98 (W-SN277478). (0338)

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