Department of Transportation, Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), Research and Special Programs Administration HQ, 400 7th Street, SW, Room 7108, Washington, DC, 20590

R -- OPA 90, TABLETOP AND AREA EXERCISES SOL Reference-Number-6-6305 DUE 071200 POC Cynthia Barzey, Contract Specialist, Phone 202-366-6986, Fax 202-366-7974, Email cynthia.barzey@rspa.dot.gov -- Tom Scott, Contracting Officer, Phone (202) 366-4538, Fax (202) 366-7974, Email WEB: Visit this URL for the latest information about this, http://www.eps.gov/cgi-bin/WebObjects/EPS?ACode=R&ProjID=Reference-Num ber-6-6305&LocID=137. E-MAIL: Cynthia Barzey, cynthia.barzey@rspa.dot.gov. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Research and Special Programs Administration, Office of Contracts and Procurement, DMA-30, 400 7th Street, SW, Room 7108, Washington, DC 20590 is seeking SMALL BUSINESSES with the capabilities to perform the requirements as set forth in this announcement. SOURCES SOUGHT for Performance of Tabletop and Area Exercises, to Develop, Conduct, and Evaluate Oil Spill Exercises as required under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90). Government and industry representatives created the National Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP) through a series of public workshops in 1994. PREP was designed to establish a workable program of tabletop and area exercises to further the provisions of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) that relate to spill response preparedness, while being economically feasible for the government and the oil industry. The national PREP schedule of drills is developed by a committee made up of representatives from four agencies. To make the exercises more realistic, RSPA's Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) tries to ensure broad participation from Federal, State, and local agencies. Under PREP, OPS conducts up to 20 unannounced tabletop exercises each year. The tabletop exercises are "unannounced" in that the details of the scenario are unknown to the participants until the day of the exercise. The purpose of a tabletop exercise is to test the pipeline operator's ability to implement its facility response plan (FRP) and thus demonstrate that the plan is adequate to respond to a worst-case discharge from the pipeline. Tabletop exercises are strategic exercises, focusing on the operator's spill management team and their approach to implementing their FRP. OPS chooses operators to participate in tabletop exercises on the basis of several factors, including the environmental risks posed by the operator's pipeline and the results of OPS's review of the operator's response plan. OPS also tries to choose operators to participate in exercises that will be a sample of large and small companies, transporting both crude oil and refined products, and traversing different regions of the country. The PREP scheduling committee schedules 20 area exercises per year nationwide. Of the 20 area exercises conducted annually, two use pipeline spill scenarios. At least one of the two area exercises will be led by a pipeline operator; the other may be either government led or industry led. In the case of a government led area exercise, OPS chooses an operator to participate in the exercise while OPS develops the scenario and evaluates the exercise. In the case of an industry led area exercise, a pipeline operator volunteer develops the scenario and evaluates the exercise. Area exercises are designed to show that all of the agencies which have a role in responding to spills are adequately prepared to do so. Area exercises usually involve the deployment of response equipment and large numbers of personnel. Area exercises are meant to test the response by government, industry, and community players as detailed in the local Area Contingency Plan (ACP). Responsibility for planning area exercises is shared between government agencies and industry. The area exercise should identify weaknesses in spill prevention and response so that the Area Contingency Plan can be corrected. To assist OPS in meeting its PREP responsibilities, contractor support will be required, including technical support for up to twenty (20) tabletop exercises and up to two (2) area exercises annually. This may include technical support for one to four area exercises each year, which may be industry led or government led. This work includes but is not limited to the following tasks: Task 1 -- Provide technical support for conducting government-led unannounced tabletop exercises meeting the PREP guidelines, to include scheduling, designing, conducting, and evaluating tabletop exercises that will test pipeline operators' ability to implement their facility response plans, and assist operators in identifyingweaknesses in their plans. Sub-tasks to include 1.1) tabletop and area exercise scheduling and coordination; 1.2) tabletop exercise design -- design each tabletop exercise scenario in coordination with OPS and the trusted agent from the facility. As part of the research and scenario development, a technical specialist is required to visit the site of each exercise; 1.3) tabletop exercise conduct -- one facilitator and one administrative support specialist is required at each tabletop exercise; and 1.4) tabletop exercise evaluation -- within 48 hours after the exercise ends, the contractor will send a one-page synopsis of the exercise to the Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) at OPS. Submittals for this task and sub-tasks include: 1) Exercise Schedule -- the contractor will maintain and update a master schedule of government-led tabletop exercises and area exercises in a format OPS chooses; 2) Tabletop players' manual -- written by the contractor to include an agenda, scenario, maps or diagrams, and other helpful information; 3) Tabletop exercise synopsis -- to be submitted by the contractor within 48 hours of exercise completion; 4) Tabletop exercise reports -- a written report on each tabletop exercise within 10 working days of completing an exercise; 5) quarterly report -- this report measures the operators' performance; and 6) Lessons learned reporting -- within 15 days of completing an exercise the contractor will summarize the lessons learned from each tabletop exercise and enter the data into the U.S. Coast Guard's Standard After Action Information and Lessons Learned System, known as CGSAILS. Task 2 -- Provide Technical Support for Conducting up to Four Area Exercises Per Year. These exercises involve coordination between several agencies under the PREP guidelines. Each exercise may last up to three days. Some area exercises will involve deploying spill response equipment in the filed. Others are only a command post exercise. The three sub-tasks are area exercise design, area exercise conduct, and area exercise evaluation. These are similar to the sub-tasks similarly titled under main task 1. The difference is that these sub-tasks relate to area exercises in lieu of tabletop exercises. The deliverables -- area exercise scenario, area exercise synopsis, area exercise reports, and lessons learned are also similar to those sub-tasks under main task 1, but are changed to relate to area exercises in lieu of tabletop exercises. As referenced above travel is required under this requirement. The estimate is approximately 24 site visits. The contractor personnel must possess expertise in the following areas: a)Designing, conducting, and evaluating crisis management tabletop and field exercises; b) Responding to oil spills using the National Interagency Incident Management System (NIIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS); c) Using oil spill mitigation including containment, mechanical recovery, in-situ burning, and dispersants; d) Mastering the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA _90) and RSPA implementing regulations (49 CFR 194), EPA (40 CFR 112), USCG (33 CFR 150 & 154), and Minerals Management Service implementing regulations (30 CFR 250 & 254); e) Facility Response Plans and Area Contingency Plans; f) Hazardous liquid pipeline operations and maintenance practice; g) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations on spill response, including HAZWOPER (29 CFR 1910.120), respiratory protection (29 CFR 1910.134), and hazard communication (29 CFR 1910.1200); and h) Applying a rigorous quality control process to ensure that all work products are free of factual and grammatical errors. The required key contractor personnel are as follows: project manager, senior analyst(s), technical specialist(s) and administrative support specialist. Responses to this SOURCES SOUGHT request must contain the following information: 1) A summary of the contractor's relevant prior work; 2) Resumes of key individuals (documenting expertise in oil spill response, preparedness, and exercises); 3) A brief description of the contractor's quality control processes for deliverables; 4) References (names and contact information) for whom the contractor has performed similar work; 5) A one page description of how the contractor would design, conduct, and evaluate an Oil Pollution Act of 1990 Tabletop exercise; and 6) A one page description of how the contractor would design, conduct, and evaluate a large-scale Oil Pollution Act of 1990 Area Exercise. Items five and six may be combined into a single two-page narrative, if desired. The Standard Industrial Code (SIC) for this requirement is 8742 and the small business size standard is $5 million. All firms responding to this SOURCES SOUGHT should ensure that their responses are complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the government to determine the firms qualifications to perform this project. Only firms having relevant experience performing this type of requirement will be considered qualified for consideration. The response to thisSOURCES SOUGHT shall not exceed 15 pages and is to be mailed on company letterhead to U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Special Programs Administration, Office of Contracts and Procurement, DMA-30, ATTN: Ms. Cynthia D. Barzey, Contract Specialist, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Room 7108, Washington, D.C. 20590, not later than 4:00 PM, Eastern Time, 7/12/00. TELEPHONE INQUIRIES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. However, submittals by email may be sent to : cynthia.barzey@rspa.dot.gov. Electronic format should be MSWord/Excel or WordPerfect. The Government does not intend to award a contract based upon this SOURCES SOUGHT announcement or otherwise pay for any information or inquiry. This SOURCES SOUGHT synopsis does not constitute a commitment by the Government. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. In all correspondence to the RSPA Office of Contracts and Procurement, reference Solicitation #6-6305. NOTHING IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT SHOULD BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY RSPA TO AWARD THE PROJECT IDENTIFIED ABOVE. A Government panel will evaluate all submissions for responsiveness to this announcement. cynthia.barzey@rspa.dot.gov. See Note(s)1 and 25 Posted 06/27/00 (D-SN469140). (0179)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0076 20000629\R-0014.SOL)