Request For Proposal

[Karina Amaya <karina@environmentalhealth.org>]

[The following was sent to us and we are forwarding in case any newsgroup
participants are interested in applying. Please be advised that this is a
LONG FILE. --Aimee Houghton, CPEO]

To Whom It May Concern:

Enclosed please find a Request for Proposals from Environmental Health
Coalition (EHC). Environmental Health Coalition (EHC) has received a
grant from US EPA Environmental Justice Pollution Prevention program to
identify and advocate for pollution prevention within the shipbuilding
and ship repair industry in San Diego. EHC is seeking statements of
qualifications and technical proposals from independent consultants,
academic and research institutions, non-profit organizations and others
to develop a comprehensive report on toxic pollution from shipyards and
pollution prevention opportunities available to improve and protect
worker, public, and environmental health.

Please distribute this Request for Proposals to any people and/or
organizations you know who may be qualified. The proposal is due by
Oct. 31, 1998. We encourage bids from small business enterprises,
minority business enterprises and women business enterprises. Please
feel free to call (619-235-0281) or email (ehcoalition@igc.org) with
any questions. The Request for Proposals is also available on our
website at www.environmentalhealth.org.

Very truly yours,

Nicole Capretz
Program Manager
Shipyard Pollution Prevention Campaign
***************************

REQUEST FOR STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATION OF
CONSULTANTS AND TECHNICAL PROPOSALS TO IDENTIFY AND EVALUATE
POLLUTION PREVENTION OPPORTUNITIES AT SAN DIEGO BAY SHIPYARDS

INTRODUCTION

Environmental Health Coalition is a private, non-profit organization
founded in 1980. EHC works with the communities of San Diego/Tijuana and
its long-term projects are the result of providing technical and
organizing assistance to populations adversely affected by toxic
chemicals. Our mission statement is:

 Environmental Health Coalition is dedicated to the prevention and
cleanup of toxic pollution threatening our health, our communities, and
the environment. We promote environmental justice, monitor government
and industry actions that cause pollution, educate communities about
toxic hazards and toxics use reduction, and empower the public to join
our cause.

The shipbuilding and repair facilities along San Diego Bay conduct
common shipyard activities such as metal cutting, welding, surface
preparation and painting that are potential sources of toxic pollution
to the land, air and water. The shipyard facilities contribute to an
inequitable pollution burden on the residents of the adjacent communities.
These communities are predominately Latino communities and
among the poorest in the County. The environmental and public health
risks come from this industry's use, storage and disposal of hazardous
materials and, to date, pollution control and waste minimization
activities have not significantly reduced these risks. The major
facilities of concern are: National Steel and Shipbuilding Company
(NASSCO), Southwest Marine, Campbell Industries and Continental
Maritime. An additional ship repair facility of concern is the Navy's
Graving Dock at the San Diego Naval Station.

Environmental Health Coalition (EHC) has received a grant from US EPA
Environmental Justice Pollution Prevention program to:
* identify opportunities for and advocate for pollution prevention
within the shipbuilding and ship repair industry:
* establish a reliable way of measuring reductions that includes both
per unit reductions and overall reductions;
* develop a mechanism for alerting the community to cumulative
overloads;
* empower community residents to resolve toxic pollution problems in
their neighborhoods;
* and reduce pollution sources within and adjacent to the target
communities.

EHC is seeking statements of qualifications from independent
consultants, academic and research institutions, non-profit
organizations and others to develop a comprehensive report on toxic
pollution from shipyards and pollution prevention opportunities
available to improve and protect worker, public and environmental
health. The contractor must be able to come to San Diego for onsite
research, consultation, and meetings.

BACKGROUND

The most persistent threat to the communities surrounding the shipyards
comes from frequent exposure of residents to toxic chemicals emitted
into the air. As part of the California Air Toxics "Hot Spots Law,"
significant polluters are required to assess their carcinogenic and
other chronic and acute health risks to the surrounding communities.
According to the 1996 Air Toxics Report (issued in October, 1997) of 26
companies evaluated throughout the county, NASSCO ranks 3rd for cancer
risk and 2nd in acute in health risks; Southwest Marine ranks 8th in
cancer risk and 4th in acute health risk; the 32nd Street Naval Station
ranks 6th in cancer risk. Cancer and chronic non-cancer risks are
driven primarily by hexavalent chromium emissions from welding
operations; copper is the primary driver of acute health risks.

Further, San Diego Bay exhibits serious water quality problems as a
result of historic activities and ongoing waste loadings. The shipyards
and military bases have been implicated as the source of much of this
pollution by several studies. The San Diego Regional Water Quality
Control Board (RWQCB) concluded that the commercial and Naval shipyards
are NPDES "major" dischargers because they require a high level of
regulatory effort, toxic wastes are present in their discharge, and they
have numerous discharge points. Studies by the RWQCB and the State
Mussel Watch Program revealed high levels of zinc, copper, and
tributyltin in the sediments adjacent to Southwest Marine, NASSCO and
Campbell shipyards and in resident and planted mussels. Finally, the
most recent data again confirms the role of the shipyards in serious
contamination of San Diego Bay. The Final Report on Chemistry,
Toxicity, and Benthic Community Conditions in Sediments of the San Diego
Region released in March 1997 concluded that Bay sediments have
significant contamination of copper, mercury, PAHs, PCBs, and
chlordane. These chemicals were found primarily in the industrial
shipyard areas of the Bay.

SCOPE OF WORK

The project consists of the following tasks:

1. Identify highly polluting processes associated with the shipbuilding
and repair industry, identify those for which pollution prevention
opportunities are currently available and/or under development, and
assess known and perceived obstacles to pollution prevention for the
others. Pollution prevention options must eliminate contaminants "at the
source" through reuse of a raw material, equipment modification, process
modification, product modification or material substitution. These
efforts do not include using traditional "end-of-the-pipe" waste
management collection and treatments or "waste minimization" strategies,
or pollution control strategies.

2. Evaluate the known pollution prevention opportunities including
advantages, disadvantages, pollution prevention benefits, case studies
for industrial application and economic evaluations comparing the
technology to less environmentally friendly alternatives.

3. Identify an acceptable "per unit" measure for the pollutants of
greatest concern, such as the number of welds made, the square footage
of surfaces painted or sandblasted, or the number of employee hours
worked. Any identified pollution prevention opportunities must include
a reliable way of measuring pollution reductions that includes both per
unit reductions and overall reductions.

4. Identify military specifications or other relevant regulations that
hinder pollution prevention and identify the process required for
modifying these specifications.

5. Develop recommendations to implement pollution prevention at the
shipyards and larger boatyards. These recommendations would include not
only the pollution prevention opportunities but regulatory activities
that can support pollution prevention efforts. These recommendations
should be prepared and submitted in a written report, including data,
analyses, computations and executive summaries describing the results of
work done under each task.

6. Meet with shipyards, regulators and community members to present
findings and recommendations.

SUBMITTALS

Applicants will be required to submit the following, in two separate
envelopes:

 Qualifications

 One envelope must contain a statement of qualifications. The statement
of qualifications should be in sufficient detail to enable the evaluators to
determine
if the applicant is qualified to do the required work. The statement of 
qualifications
should include the names of all individuals to be involved with the project, 
their
qualifications and their responsibilities.

 Each applicant should also submit letters of reference.

 THE STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS MUST CONSIST OF FIVE PAGES OR
 LESS AND MUST BE IN 12 POINT FONT WITH 1-INCH MARGINS

 Technical Proposal

 The second envelope must contain the technical proposal. Qualified
applicants must submit separate proposals, including costs, for each of the 
tasks.

 Each technical proposal must clearly indicate the approach that will be
used and must identify proposed data sources. The format for the final report
and a workplan (with a time line for completion) must also be included.
The proposal should also incorporate benchmarks to assess progress. All
written work for this project must be completed by March 31, 1999 and
total costs are not to exceed $20,000. A line-item budget is required.

 THE TECHNICAL PROPOSAL MUST CONSIST OF TEN PAGES OF LESS AND BE
 IN FONT SIZE 12 WITH 1-INCH MARGINS.

 The technical proposal envelope will be opened only after a
determination that the bidder is qualified.

The complete bid package, consisting of the statement of qualifications
envelope and the technical proposal envelope must be mailed or hand
delivered to the office of the Environmental Health Coalition, 1717
Kettner Boulevard, Suite 100, San Diego, CA 92101, Attention Ms. Nicole
Capretz by 5:00 pm on October 31, 1998. No late submittals will be
accepted.

Applicants may be interviewed by Environmental Health Coalition.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Statements of qualifications will be evaluated based on the following:

1. Technical qualifications.

 Previous experience with pollution prevention, industrial hygiene, and
environmental engineering is required. Experience with shipbuilding and
repair industry processes such as surface preparation, surface coating,
welding and cleaning is desirable.

2. Ability to Perform the Work Within an Agreed Upon Schedule.

 All written tasks for this project are to be completed by February 28,
1999. Upon mutual agreement of all parties, this deadline may be
extended. A time schedule is required to be submitted for each task A
proposed. Meetings and presentations are expected to occur for 1-3
months after written work is completed, although this timeline may be
modified.

Technical proposals will be evaluated based on the following:

 Approach. The approach of each task, the workplan, and the benchmarks
of progress will be evaluated. Innovative approaches are encouraged.

 During the project, telephone and/or face-to-face meetings with
Environmental Health Coalition are required. In addition, at least two
presentations of the final report and recommendations will be required.
Each presentation is anticipated to last up to four hours. Travel costs
will be reimbursed at the most economical rate. Additional meetings
and/or presentations will be scheduled solely at the discretion of the
Environmental Health Coalition.

 A payment schedule will be developed during contract negotiations.

 Environmental Health Coalition reserves the right to not award this bid
to any respondent.

 While we encourage respondents to be economical, the lowest bidder will
not automatically be awarded the bid.

 Environmental Health Coalition encourages qualified small business
enterprises, minority business enterprises and women business
enterprises to submit a bid.

Karina Amaya
Office Manager
Environmental Health Coalition
<karina@environmentalhealth.org>
1717 Kettner Blvd., Ste. 100
San Diego, CA 92101
Work: (619) 235-0281
Fax: (619) 232-3670