Administrative Contracts Service Center (3803R), Environmental Protection Agency, Ronald Reagan Building -- 7th Floor, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20460

B -- ANALYSIS OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FROM AND MITIGATION OPTIONS FOR THE AGRICULTURE SECTOR SOL EC0381 DUE 062700 POC Mekeba Brown, NO PHONE CALLS ACCEPTED E-MAIL: Click here to contact the Contracting Officer via, brown.mekeba@epa.gov. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning on awarding a sole source contract, utilizing the Simplified Acquisition procedures of FAR Part 13 to Texas A&M University Department of Agricultural Economics Blocker Building, 2124 TAMU College Station, TX 77843-2124. A brief description follows of the work to be performed. "The contractor shall identify and define options and practices for reducing GHG emissions from and increasing soil carbon sequestration in agriculture. Focus should be on options for which there is currently little or insufficient information in the Agricultural Sector Model (ASM). After specific mitigation options and practices have been identified, the contractor will outline the data requirements and collect the data needed to conduct the analysis. The contractor shall employ the new version of the ASM -- ASMGHG- to examine the response of agriculture to alternative levels of carbon equivalent emission prices ($/TCE) in terms of the choice of mitigation options and practices available for reducing GHG emissions and increasing soil carbon (as well as alterations in primary energy consumption). The model should project changes in CO2, methane, nitrous oxide emissions, and soil carbon sequestration when changes are made in crop mix, irrigation, land diversion to forestry, land retirement or pasture reversion, cattle feeding management regarding enteric fermentation, manure management, rice cultivation, bio-fuels production, tillage choice, and fertilization of agricultural lands among other alternatives. Multiple gas emission tradeoffs are to be incorporated utilizing global warming potential information. Model results should identify which options and practices appear economic at different $/TCE values. The contractor will conduct preliminary analyses with the ASMGHG, evaluate the results, and then make any needed changes and adjustments in the model or input parameters before a final analysis is completed under this purchase order. The contract shall develop an approach to incorporate results from the ASMGHG into computable general equilibrium (CGE) models of the economy which evaluate the costs and benefits of GHG reductions. The approach should compare ASMGHG results to CGE models to check for consistency. The approach also should consider off-line use of ASMGHG as well as the possibility of more directly linking the ASMGHG with CGE models. The contract shall write a report explaining the functioning of the ASMGHG, stating the principal assumptions used in the model and input data, and describing and interpreting the results from the analysis. The report should be suitable for publication in a peer-reviewed journal." It is the belief of EPA that no other contractor has a model such as Texas A&M's Agricultural Sector Model (ASM), nor the expertise to analyze the response in agricultural production and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to alternative levels of carbon equivalent emission prices ($/TCE)in terms of the choice of mitigation options and practices. Any firms that believes they can complete this work, should submit their capabilities statement and supporting documentation via E-mail (see address below) or via U.S. Mail to : US EPA, Mekeba Brown, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW (3803R) Washington, DC 20460. Responses are due NO LATER THAN, TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 2000 5:00 P.M. If no responses are received an award will be made on June 28, 2000, to Texas A&M.. Posted 06/12/00 (W-SN463743). (0164)

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