U.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)

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