Request for Qualification Statements - Qualified Environmental Professional - Brownfields RLF

Bid Postings • Request for Qualification Statements - Qualif Skip to Main Content Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more. Website Sign In City Government Our Community Doing Business Just Visiting How Do I Search Home Bid Postings Print Sign up to receive a text message or email when new bids are added! Print Bid Title: Request for Qualification Statements - Qualified Environmental Professional - Brownfields RLF Category: Economic Development Status: Closed Description: CITY OF BELFAST, MAINE FISCAL YEAR 2022 UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY BROWNFIELDS REVOLVING LOAN FUND PROGRAM COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT BF-00A00906-0 REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATION STATEMENTS QUALIFIED ENVIRONMENTAL PROFESSIONAL SERVICES 1. PURPOSE OF THIS REQUEST In May of 2022, the City of Belfast was selected for a cooperative agreement (Cooperative Agreement BF-00A00906-0) in the amount of $1,000,000 from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) in their Fiscal Year 2022 Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund Program competition. The City of Belfast will utilize this USEPA Brownfields Revolving Loan funding to establish, implement, and manage an impactful program to provide funding in the form of loans and subgrants, to be primarily used to remediate brownfields located within the City of Belfast, with an emphasis on identified target areas (Census Block Groups 230270430001 and 230270430003). Cooperative agreement funding will be used to cover the costs of activities at or in direct support of brownfield sites, as defined under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 §101(39). The City of Belfast now seeks a firm to serve as the Qualified Environmental Professional (QEP) to perform specific activities under this cooperative agreement. It is anticipated that this QEP will work collaboratively with the following entities and individuals: 1) the Project Team, comprised of USEPA personnel, Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MEDEP) personnel, and the City of Belfast’s Economic Development Director, who functions as the Project Manager and who carries out the overall coordination of the cooperative agreement; 2) other personnel from the City of Belfast, including, but not limited to the Belfast Government Television and Belfast Community Television Station Manager, the City Attorney, the City Manager, the City Planner, the Director of Code and Planning, and the Finance Director; and 3) members of the City of Belfast’s already-established Brownfields Selection Committee. Finally, additional technical assistance and oversight will be provided through the MEDEP Voluntary Response Action Program. The period of performance for this cooperative agreement is July 1 st , 2022 to September 30 th , 2027. This cooperative agreement contains all financial resources to be used for this project. $72,500 out of the total cooperative agreement amount of $1,000,000 is currently allocated for the work to be performed by the QEP. 2. SCOPE OF SERVICES REQUIRED The following is the scope of services that the firm chosen as the QEP will be required to perform. Some of these services will be performed exclusively by the QEP, while others will be performed in conjunction with other individuals and/or entities: Task 1: Cooperative Agreement Oversight Activities Specific subtasks to be performed by the QEP (whether exclusively or in conjunction with other individuals and/or entities) under Task 1 include: 2.1.1: assisting the Brownfields Selection Committee and/or a working group (comprised of members of the Brownfields Selection Committee, and potentially USEPA and MEDEP representatives) regarding the procurement of other, non-QEP professional services, specifically financial managers/underwriters and/or other financial specialists; 2.1.2: preparing, reviewing, and submitting quarterly reports to the Assessment, Cleanup and Redevelopment Exchange System (ACRES); 2.1.3: preparing, reviewing, and submitting additional site information to ACRES; 2.1.4: preparing, reviewing, and submitting Minority-Owned Business Enterprises/Woman-Owned Business Enterprises forms; 2.1.5: preparing, reviewing, and submitting Standard Form-425 Federal Financial Reports; 2.1.6: preparing, reviewing, and submitting Final Report and Cooperative Agreement Closeout materials; 2.1.7: assisting the Brownfields Selection Committee regarding their development of the loan and subgrant program, including developing loan and subgrant operational plans, developing loan and subgrant processes, developing loan and subgrant evaluation criteria, and developing loan and subgrant documents (applications, agreements, promissory notes, etc., that include all applicable federal environmental and cross-cutting requirements (i.e., Davis-Bacon Act)); and 2.1.8: drafting minutes for Brownfields Selection Committee meetings when in attendance/participating. Task 2: Community Outreach and Engagement Activities Specific subtasks to be performed by the QEP (whether exclusively or in conjunction with other individuals and/or entities) under Task 2 include: 2.2.1: providing individual confidential responses to questions and/or concerns posed by residents, current property owners, prospective property purchasers, and/or prospective developers; 2.2.2: developing new community outreach and engagement deliverables, including, but not limited to: frequently-asked questions; informational brochure; reviewing information for a portion of the City of Belfast’s website; developing and hosting a public informational meeting; participating in informational meetings of area real estate professionals, banking professionals, and/or other Brownfield-aligned groups (at least 2); reviewing information for news releases; reviewing information to be distributed in local community partners’ e-newsletters and e-mails; and reviewing information for City of Belfast’s and local community partners’ Facebook posts; 2.2.3: reviewing information for site-specific repositories established on the City of Belfast’s website; 2.2.4: preparing site-specific Community Involvement Plans; 2.2.5: implementing 30-day public comment periods on Analyses of Brownfields Cleanup Alternatives; and 2.2.6: conduct public site-specific cleanup meetings. Task 3: Loan and Subgrant Activities Specific subtasks to be performed by the QEP (whether exclusively or in conjunction with other individuals and/or entities) under Task 3 include: 2.3.1: confirming site and borrower/subgrantee eligibility; 2.3.2: ensuring that the borrower/subgrantee has enrolled site in Maine Department of Environmental Protection Voluntary Response Action Program; 2.3.3: assisting the USEPA project officer in collecting information and determining if a Section 106 review applies to a site cleanup; 2.3.4.1: performing Analysis of Brownfields Cleanup Alternatives (ABCA) activities (if an ABCA is to be developed by the QEP), including: assisting the Brownfields Selection Committee in reviewing and deciding upon requests from current property owners, prospective property purchasers, and/or prospective property developers to conduct an ABCA; developing the ABCA; submitting the draft ABCA report to the Project Team; receiving comments on the draft ABCA report from the Project Team; finalizing and submitting the ABCA report; 2.3.4.2: performing Analysis of Brownfields Cleanup Alternatives (ABCA) activities (if an ABCA is to be developed by the borrower’s/subgrantee’s representative), including: reviewing the ABCA for adequacy and compliance with USEPA rules and regulations; 2.3.4.3: performing Analysis of Brownfields Cleanup Alternatives (ABCA) activities (whether an ABCA is to be developed by the QEP or by the borrower’s/subgrantee’s representative), including: discussing final ABCA report findings and possible next steps with current property owners, prospective property purchasers, and/or prospective property developers; 2.3.5: incorporating green and sustainable remediation principles/techniques into cleanups; 2.3.6: documenting results of public comment period and public meeting (to include comments received, public meeting attendance, response to relevant comments, selection of final cleanup remedy, any changes to the final cleanup remedy, etc.); 2.3.7: preparing appropriate remedial design documents for the MEDEP Voluntary Response Action Program (VRAP), engineering design documents for cleanup contractors to perform work (including Davis-Bacon requirements), and a budget detailing how USEPA funds will be used to clean up sites; and 2.3.8: preparing Site-Specific Quality Assurance Project Plans and Health and Safety Plans. Task 4: Site Cleanup Oversight Activities 2.4.1: conducting oversight of cleanup activities; 2.4.2: conducting site inspections, conducting on-site interviews, and collecting payroll documentation for Davis-Bacon Act compliance; 2.4.3: collecting post-cleanup samples, as necessary (unless instead done partially or entirely by the subgrantee’s/borrower’s representative); 2.4.4: preparing and submitting close-out documentation to the MEDEP VRAP (unless instead done partially or entirely by the subgrantee’s/borrower’s representative); and 2.4.5: receiving Certificates of Completion from the MEDEP VRAP and submitting them to the USEPA. 3. QUALIFICATION STATEMENT FORMAT, EVALUATION FACTORS Interested firms are instructed to follow the format by providing a cover letter and responding to each of the six evaluation factors (3.1-3.6) listed below; the percentage weight for each evaluation factor follows. Statements that do not follow this format or do not contain the requested information may be considered unresponsive statements and will not be considered by the City of Belfast. The maximum length for a statement is 60 digital pages; this limit applies to the entirety of the qualification statement, whether it is the cover letter, responses to the evaluation factors, ap