Technical Assistance for Public Participation

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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary

Technical Assistance for Public Participation

AGENCY: Department of Defense, Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of

Defense for Environmental Security (DUSD(ES)).

ACTION: Notice of request for expressions of interest.

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SUMMARY: On May 24, 1995, the Department of Defense published in the

Federal Register a request for comments on several options being

considered for providing technical and public participation assistance

to community members of Restoration Advisory Boards (RABs) and

Technical Review Committees (TRCs) established at Department of Defense

facilities. The Department of Defense has not yet decided which

option(s) to implement. One option under consideration involves the use

of independent technical assistance provider(s) to administer and

provide this assistance. The Department of Defense is issuing this

notice to request expressions of interest from eligible organizations

and institutions for cooperative agreements of grants to provide

technical and public participation assistance to community members of

established RABs and TRCs. This request is for expressions of interest

only. Expressions of interest are expected to be no more than three

pages long and it is not anticipated that they will require prior

meetings or discussion with Department of Defense personnel. Guidance

on the establishment of RABs can be found for non-closure bases in the

April 14, 1994, Department of Defense Management Guidance for Execution

of the FY 94/95 and Development of the FY 96 Defense Environmental

Restoration Program and for closure bases in the September 9, 1993,

Department of Defense policy for establishing RABs at closure bases.

Section 326 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year

1995 (NDAA-95), provides for technical assistance funding to citizens

affected by the environmental restoration activities ongoing at

Department of Defense facilities.

DATES: Submittals must be received on or before September 8, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Mailed submittals should be addressed to: the Office of the

Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Environmental Security/Cleanup,

3400 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-3400.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Patricia Ferrebee or Marcia Read at (703) 697-7475.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Today's notice has the following sections:

I. Introduction

II. Discussion of the Technical and Public Participation Assistance

Provider Concept

III. Expressions of Interest and Informational Proposals

IV. Special Instructions

V. Number of Copies Required

VI. Proprietary Information

VII. Submission of Preparation Costs

I. Introduction

Section 326(a) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal

Year 1995 (NDAA-95) (Public Law 103-337), provides for technical

assistance funding to citizens affected by the environmental

restoration of Department of Defense facilities and requires the

promulgation of regulations on this funding. In the May 24, 1995,

Federal Register, the Department of Defense published a request for

comments on proposed options for providing technical and public

participation assistance to community members of TRCs and RABs. The

options deal with the question of administering funds for assisting

community members near Department of Defense facilities. Among the

options being considered is the use of an independent party other than

the Department of Defense to administer this program and to provide the

assistance. The purpose of this notice is to seek expressions of

interests from eligible organizations and institutions that would be

interested in participating in this effort.

II. Discussion of the Technical and Public Participation Assistance

Provider Concept

The RABs and TRCs which receive funding for assistance may have

little experience in applying for federal grants or meeting the various

record keeping, accounting and contracting and other requirements

established in the Department of Defense grant and procurement

regulations. Rather than having the community members on RABs and TRCs

devote some of their limited resources to managing grants in compliance

with Department of Defense regulations, the Department of Defense may

seek to procure one or more independent technical assistance providers

to provide technical and public participation assistance to community

members of TRCs and RABs. Technical assistance would include the

provision of technical advisors, facilitators, mediators and educators.

Public participation assistance means the provision of training and

related expenses. Technical assistance providers would assume full

responsibility for ensuring that the technical services and public

participation support provided are delivered in a timely and effective

manner, and that all funds are managed and disbursed in full compliance

with appropriate Department of Defense regulations. The technical

assistance provider would be subject to audit(s) and liable for any

costs disallowed as a result of an audit. The provider would also be

responsible for ensuring that use of the funds was consistent with the

overall program budget, scope of work and the allocations for

individual RABs and TRCs. The technical assistance provider concept

could incorporate either a nationwide provider or a series of providers

set up by geographic area.

The community members of individual RABs and TRCs would be

responsible for making requests to the community co-chair or designated

members of the RAB or TRC responsible for applying to the designated

technical assistance provider for assistance and for preparing facility

specific statements describing the type and level of support requested.

The provider would be responsible for allocating available resources

among these competing requests using general guidelines and established

criteria provided by the Department of Defense.

Technical assistance providers would be responsible for ensuring

that use of the funds was consistent with the overall program budget,

scope of work and the allocations for individual RABs and TRCs, and for

ensuring that all funds are managed and disbursed in full compliance

with applicable Department of Defense regulations. Providers would

report periodically to the Department of Defense on activities

performed under this program. Providers would also provide information

to the Department of Defense on the status of the program including the

information for the report to Congress required by the legislation.

III. Expressions of Interest and Informational Proposals

Respondents to this notice should have, at a minimum, the following

qualifications:

(1) Perceived as neutral and credible.

(2) Either have or be able to obtain an interdisciplinary staff

with demonstrated expertise in hazardous substance remediation,

investigation, management and/or research.

(3) Management capability, for both financial and scientific

management, and a demonstrated skill in planning

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and scheduling projects of comparable magnitude to that discussed in

this notice.

(4) Ability to provide facilitation and mediation services.

(5) Knowledge and experience in environmental restoration

activities preferably at federal facilities.

(6) A demonstrated ability to disseminate results of hazardous

substance information through an interdisciplinary program to locally

affected and concerned citizens.

(7) The ability to perform the required tasks either nationally or

within a defined geographic area.

(8) Not-for-profit.

Expressions of Interest submitted in response to this notice shall

indicate interest in serving as a technical assistance provider for

providing technical and public participation assistance to community

members of TRCs and RABs that, at a minimum, includes the following:

(1) The identity of the responding institution, organization or

consortium, including the name, title, telephone number, mailing

address, facsimile number and where available electronic mailing

address of an individual point-of-contact.

(2) Brief statement of qualifications.

(3) Summary of ability to perform the required tasks at either a

regional or national level.

Respondents are advised that the Department of Defense is not

requesting extensive data on technical performance, partnership

arrangements, or project economics as part of any proposed submission

under this notice. Respondents are also advised that any procurement of

technical assistance providers in the future would not be limited to

parties and organizations responding to this notice.

IV. Special Instructions

Expressions of Interest shall be prepared in accordance with the

special instructions provided, and shall be structured in the order

that follows. Respondents may reproduce and complete these forms

electronically (by computer software) in lieu of completing the actual

forms published in this notice. There is no preference given to the use

of published forms versus electronically recreated forms.

(1) Cover letter.

(2) Expression of Interest response form (see Appendix A).

(3) Attachments to Expression of Interest response form.

Cover Letter

A single page cover letter should accompany the expression of

interest response form. The cover letter should contain a basic

statement of interest on the part of the responding party in serving as

a provider. The cover letter must include the notice of proprietary

information described in Section VI if one is required.

Expression of Interest Response Form

Appendix A of this notice provides a form that shall be used for

the preparation of the Expression of Interest response form. Submitters

are required to complete the form in accordance with the instructions

that follow, and then to photocopy that form for use in their

submission. Instructions for the form are provided in the following

section.

(1) Respondent: Identify the name(s) of the submitting

institutions, organization or consortium listing the primary party

first and listing all other participants in the response.

(2, 3, 4, and 5) Mailing address: Provide the full mailing address

of the primary single point-of-contact for the respondent (i.e. the

party that Department of Defense should contact if necessary).

(6) Primary contact. The name of the person who will serve as the

primary point-of-contact for the expression of interest.

(7 and 8) Phone/Fax Numbers. The telephone and facsimile numbers

for the person identified in item (6), area code first.

(9) Electronic address: Where one is available, the electronic mail

address of the primary contact.

(10) Project phase: Respondent should check the box indicating

which phase(s) of the project the respondent is interested in.

(11) Geographic area: Respondent should indicate whether the

Expression of Interest is national in coverage or should indicate the

geographic area in which it could provide service.

(12) Attached statements: Respondents shall indicate the number of

attached pages.

Attachment to Expression of Interest Response Form

Respondent shall attach two statements. Attachment 1 shall indicate

that the respondent meets the qualifications listed in Section III.

Attachment 2 shall include a summary of the respondent's ability to

perform the required tasks as described in Section II.

V. Number of Copies Required

Each submittal should consist of seven (7) copies, one original and

six (6) photocopies. The original copy of the expression of interest

shall contain all documents that bear original signatures. Indicate the

copy number of each copy using number ``1'' for the original and

numbers ``2 through 7'' for the six copies.

The cover letters, expressions of interest and attachments should

be contained on sheets of paper that contain no writing or information

of any kind on the reverse sides. In each instance, for all items, no

other information shall appear with, or be added to, that required in

Appendix A.

VI. Proprietary Information

Submitters should strive to avoid including proprietary and

confidential business information in their expressions of interest.

However, information provided by a respondent and identified as a trade

secret or confidential business information will be treated in

confidence, to the extent permitted by law, provided that this

information is clearly marked by the submitter with the term

``Confidential Proprietary Information,'' and provided that appropriate

page numbers are inserted into the notice that is set forth in the

following section which must be placed in the expression of interest

cover letter:

Notice on Restriction on Disclosure and Use of Data

This submission includes data that constitute trade secrets or

confidential business information and shall not be duplicated, used,

disclosed, in whole or in part, for any purpose other than to analyze

information contained in this submission, except to the extent

permitted or required by law. This restriction does not limit the

Government's right to use information contained in these data if it is

obtained from another source without restriction. The data that are

subject to this restriction are contained in sheets ______ [insert page

numbers or other identification of sheets].

VII. Submission of Preparation Costs

The Department of Defense is not able to reimburse respondents for

any costs associated with the preparation of expressions of interests

or informational proposals.

Dated: July 3, 1995.

L.M. Bynum,

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.

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Appendix A

U.S. Department of Defense; Expressions of Interest Response Form for

Administration of a Program To Provide Technical and Public

Participation Assistance to Community Members of Restoration Advisory

Boards (RABs) and Technical Review Committees (TRCs)

(1) Respondent:

(2) Mailing Address:

(3) City:

(4) State:

(5) Zip Code:

(6) Primary Contact and Title:

(7) Phone Number:

(8) Fax Number:

(9) E-mail Address:

(10) Project phase:

Respondent is interested in:

{time} Initial Phase (FY95)

{time} Subsequent Phase (if implemented)

{time} Both phases

(11) Geographic area:

{time} Nationwide

{time} Other

If other, specify area:

(12) Number of attached pages:

[FR Doc. 95-16777 Filed 7-7-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 5000-04-M