SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Greenhouse Gas Inventory
- Notice Date
- 12/9/2003
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- Contracting Office
- Environmental Protection Agency, Administrative Management Section, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, Nw, Washington, DC 20460
- ZIP Code
- 20460
- Solicitation Number
- RFQ-DC-04-00048
- Response Due
- 12/19/2003
- Archive Date
- 1/19/2004
- Point of Contact
- Point of Contact, Carole Britt, Purchasing Agent, Phone (202) 564-9714
- E-Mail Address
-
Email your questions to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(Britt.Carole@epa.gov)
- Description
- NAICS Code: 541620 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) Climate Protection Partnerships Division (CPPD), in collaboration with the Clean Air Markets Division (CAMD) intends to award fixed-price Purchase Order using Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The provisions at FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items, FAR 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Items, and FAR 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items, apply to this acquisition. The Government will award a Purchase Order resulting from this solicitation to the responsible Offeror whose offer, conforming to the solicitation provisions, will be the most advantageous to the Government, cost and other factors considered. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE :From the date of Purchase Order award through March 1, 2006. BACKGROUND: The Climate Protection Partnerships Division (CPPD) in collaboration with Clean Air Markets Division (CAMD) of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for preparing the national greenhouse gas inventory estimates for the United States. As a result of attained experience, CPPD/CAMD staff participate internationally to help other countries improve the quality and accuracy of their national greenhouse gas inventories in accordance with accepted international standards? while at the same time, meeting EPA's goal to improve the monitoring of global emissions of greenhouse gases. In October 2003, CAMD received funds from USAID via the Office of International Activities to help seven Central American countries (Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama) improve their capacity to prepare greenhouse gas inventories. The funding will be used by CPPD/CAMD to carry out a three year, comprehensive inventory improvement project aimed at building institutional capacity in each country. In addition, the project aims to improve the quality of data and the methods used in the Central American region to estimate greenhouse gas emissions/removals from selected sources/sinks. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES: Under this Purchase Order the Contractor shall assist in developing improved estimates of soil carbon flux and nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural soils using approaches that are compatible with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Revised 1996 Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Inventories, as updated by the Good Practice Guidance for both Agriculture and LULUCF. The Contractor shall provide assistance in documenting test results, developing uncertainty estimates, evaluating mitigation options and training selected experts from each country on the methodologies or models used to develop the estimates. TASK DESCRIPTION AND DELIVERABLES: Task 1. Workshop in San Salvador, El Salvador ? February 4-6, 2004 On February 4-6, 2004, a "kick-off" workshop will be held in San Salvador, El Salvador. This workshop will serve as the initial meeting for the three-year greenhouse gas inventory capacity building project in Central America. Participants from the seven Central American countries (Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama), and technical specialists from the United States and Mexico will participate in the workshop. For this workshop, the Contractor shall attend the meeting and describe the methodology and models they intend to utilize in developing the soil carbon and nitrous oxide estimates for each country. Additionally, the Contractor shall interact with the experts from each of the countries to develop a work plan for implementing the project over an 18-24 month period . The meeting will have simultaneous Spanish/English translation. The desired outcome of the workshop will be a work plan for improving the country estimates for both nitrous oxide and carbon in agricultural soils. The final plan resulting from the meeting must meet the needs of each participating country but also conform to the budget and time constraints of the project. Several approaches have been suggested in the agreement between EPA and USAID including the use of static IPCC approaches and the use of dynamic soil process models. The final choice of which approach or mix of approaches to use will depend upon numerous country-specific, and region-specific factors such as: 1.) the goals of each country; 2.) the availability of data for each country that is required to prepare more accurate estimates (soils, crop types, management systems, climate, etc.); 3.) the technical capabilities of the people preparing the inventory; 4.) the level of collaboration desired between each of the countries; and 5.) the funding available for the project. These and other factors will influence the outcome of the work plan developed at the workshop. For the initial part of the workshop the Contractor shall provide an overview of the approaches in order to familiarize the in-country experts with the different approaches. The Contractor shall then facilitate an open discussion to get feedback from the various country representatives on their ideas and preferences. In addition, EPA has asked each of the countries to prepare short briefings on the current state of their Agricultural Soil Inventories and their ideas for improving this component to be presented at the workshop. Following the discussion and presentation phase, the Contractor shall aid in developing a detailed outline of the work to take place, including the assigning of responsibilities to individuals and a time line of activities. The EPA has asked each of the seven countries to invite experts with a range of qualifications to the meeting. Due to budgetary constraints, the countries will only be sending three representatives. At least one or two of these participants will have expertise in agriculture and the agricultural component of the greenhouse gas inventory, such as crop experts or experts in ecosystem process models. Task 2. Develop Improved Estimates of Soil Carbon Flux and Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Agricultural Soils for Each of the Seven Central American Countries. As part of the development process of this project, EPA proposed to each of the countries several alternative approaches for improving the estimates of soil carbon flux and nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural soils. These alternative approaches ranged from the IPCC methodologies using improved data inputs and updates recently completed by the IPCC (e.g., Good Practice Guidance for Agriculture and LULUCF), to the use of dynamic soil process models. Following the initial meetings held with the inventory experts from each of the countries, most of the countries may prefer using the soil process models, in combination with parallel estimates being developed using the latest IPCC methodologies. The Contractor shall work with each of the countries to implement the methodologies that are agreed upon at the February 4-6, 2004 workshop. During the process of implementing the agreed upon methodologies, Contractor shall make one to two site visits to each of the countries. in order to gather data and collaborate with the designated in-country inventory experts. The generic approaches for improving estimates of both soil carbon and nitrous oxide, as described to each of the countries during initial site visits by EPA personnel, are shown below. (Soil Carbon) Agricultural soil carbon is a major component of greenhouse gas inventories in Central America. The following are two approaches to estimating soil carbon stocks: 1.) the IPCC default methodology, which is a ?static' approach, and 2:) a dynamic ecosystem simulation model approach. For this project, the Contractor shall assist EPA to work collaboratively with experts in each Central American country to determine which approach best suits their needs and national circumstances. Both approaches require collection of basic background data on land-use/land-cover and soil types, therefore requiring Step 1 regardless of the final methodology chosen:Step 1: Stratification of land use/land cover by soil type: Accounting for areas and changes in areas of land under different uses is fundamental to any inventory activity. Remote sensing (satellite, aerial photography), together with ground-based survey data, are typically employed to determine land cover. Country-level land cover maps developed collaboratively by NASA and Central American colleagues may be used. However, to effectively account for biomass and soil C stock changes, land cover needs to be further stratified by major types of soils and landforms. This typically requires use of soil survey-type data (i.e. soil maps and soil classification).In collaboration with EPA and researchers from each of the Central American countries, the Contractor shall undertake the following tasks to improve their land use and land cover databases: Compile and review currently available soil survey data. Determine adequacy of country-level soil maps, and compare with FAO soil map. Develop, or apply existing GIS soil coverage for overlay with land cover/land use data. Make initial stratification of soil types by land cover/land use types. Step 2: Option A ? The IPCC Methodology The IPCC methodology for estimating changes in agricultural soil carbon stocks has not been applied comprehensively in Central America, but other countries have found that the default IPCC values for carbon stocks and management factors do not reflect their specific combinations of climate, soil and land management conditions. The following proposed steps and tasks may be undertaken to implement a country-specific application of the IPCC methodology for each of the countries:a) Compilation of data for reference C stock determination: Reference carbon stocks, by major climate and soils types are needed for applying IPCC inventory methods. Global default values exist but country-specific data (i.e. Tier 2 approaches) can reduce uncertainty and improve the value of the inventory considerably. Reference stocks can be estimated from soil profiles under native vegetation as well as on managed land (provided land use history is known), or both. Considerable data are typically available from soil surveys or other sources ? however, evaluation and classification of the data may be necessary for its use in inventories. In combination with researchers from Central America and EPA, the Contractor shall undertake the following tasks to improve the data on reference C stocks: Review available in-country soil pedon data, taxonomic system and measured soil attributes; Query international pedon data sources (e.g. ISRIC, USDA) for applicable soils; Determine most appropriate classification scheme for inventory purposes (cf. IPCC Good Practice Guidance for LULUCF); Classify and analyze data according to classification system b) Stock change/emission factor determination: Information on how soil C stocks change as a function of land use and management changes, for specific soil types and climate regimes, is key to any inventory methodology. The IPCC default approach employs stock change factors that are used in conjunction with the reference soil C stocks. Field data from long-term experiments, re-measured permanent plots or field chronosequences (for land use change) that are applicable for a country or region could be compiled, quality controlled and used to improve estimates of stock change factors. Estimating country/region specific stock change factors would enable countries to advance to a Tier 2 IPCC inventory approach. In addition, a compilation of such studies would also support application of more advanced approaches such as simulation models. In collaboration with researchers from Central America and EPA the Contractor shall undertake the following tasks to improve the data on stock change/emission factor determination: Discussions with in-country scientists and experts to ascertain what information is already available (since there may be studies that have not been published or have been published in the ?gray' literature, e.g. station reports, agency bulletins); Identify information gaps, i.e. key systems or soil types for which information is lacking, and which could possibly be addressed with targeted field studies; Compile and perform quality control on field study data; Do statistical analyses to derive factor values. c) Support for inventory calculations: Once activity data and inventory methods have been refined, inventory calculations can be carried out. Depending on the level of detail, the complexity and large data amounts may benefit from the use of different software tools and data base programs.EPA and its Contractors, in collaboration with researchers from Central America, may undertake the following tasks to develop the inventory estimates for soil carbon.Develop database for land management areas and area changes, classified by soil and climate; Or, high-resolution GIS-based records of land management changes over time; Populate ?IPCC stock change estimation tool' (developed for the IPCC Good Practice Guidance for LULUCF) with reference stocks and stock change factors and land use systems; Support with formal uncertainty estimation procedures. Option B ? Dynamic Eco-system Simulation Model In the United States, researchers have developed several dynamic ecosystem simulation models that compute annual changes in soil carbon stocks as a function of inputs of carbon to soil (i.e., crop residues, manure, sewage etc.,) and soil carbon decomposition rates, which are governed by climate and soil factors as well as management practices. These models simulate major field crops (maize, wheat, soybean, sorghum, cotton etc.) as well as hay and pasture (grass, alfalfa, clover). Management variables include tillage, fertilization, irrigation, drainage, and manure addition.The Contractor shall work with EPA and experts in Central America to adapt one of these simulation models to local conditions in order that each Central American country can use the model to estimate annual changes in agricultural soil carbon stocks. This work shall be a collaborative effort between U.S. and Central American agriculture experts to determine the appropriate inputs for the model and to prepare a customized version of the model that can be updated and used in later years for making inventory estimates. The Contractor shall provide training on the model in order to ensure in-country expertise regarding its operational capacity. (Nitrous Oxide)Agricultural soils are a large source of nitrous oxide emissions for Central American countries. The IPCC methodology for estimating nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural soils is based on use of parameters that may not be representative of conditions (e.g., climate, soils type, management) in Central America. The collection of activity data is a difficult and time-consuming task that can greatly affect estimates. In the United States, researchers have developed several dynamic ecosystem simulation models that compute emissions of nitrous oxide. The models simulate major field crops (maize, wheat, soybean, sorghum, cotton etc.) as well as hay and pasture (grass, alfalfa, clover). Management variables typically include soil type, temperature, precipitation, tillage, nitrogen inputs, irrigation, and drainage. By collaboratively running the model for the local conditions in the seven countries, specific factors can be obtained for leaching, volatilization, and nitrous oxide emissions that can be utilized with the IPCC methodology and greatly improve the accuracy of overall estimate from this source, as opposed to using the default values provided with the IPCC method. Alternatively, depending on data availability, the model could be run in such as way that a comprehensive estimate of nitrous oxide emissions is developed for the country. The Contractor shall work collaboratively with EPA and experts in Central America to adapt one of these models to local conditions, so that each country can use the model to estimate and develop country-specific emission factors for nitrous oxide and estimate nitrous oxide emission with the model alone. This work will be a collaborative effort between U.S. and Central American scientists to determine the appropriate inputs for the model in order to make inventory estimates. Task 3. Prepare Documentation and Uncertainty Estimates of the Methodologies Used to Estimate Soil Carbon Flux and Nitrous Oxide Emissions. The estimates of soil carbon and nitrous oxide developed for each of the countries under this project will be used by the countries in their upcoming National Communications, as part of their obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In order for the estimates to be useful for this purpose there must be sufficient documentation describing the methods, data sources and uncertainty ranges. Therefore, the Contractor shall assist the inventory experts in each of the countries to prepare this documentation and associated uncertainty estimates. The Contractor shall refer to the appropriate guidance prepared by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for guidance on documentation of National Communications, and for methodologies to develop uncertainty estimates. Task 4. Mitigation analyses Depending upon the inventory methodologies agreed upon by each country at the February 4-6 Workshop, it may be possible to assist countries in evaluating various mitigation strategies. This could include a variety of
- Record
- SN00484251-W 20031211/031209212508 (fbodaily.com)
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