Brownfields Qualified Environmental Professional Services Request for QualificationsBrownfields Qualified Environmental Professional Services
Request for Qualifications
November 20, 2016
City of Kalispell, Community and Economic Development Department
1.0 Introduction
The City of Kalispell is soliciting responses for Qualified Environmental Professionals (QEP's) to
conduct and certify Phase I and Phase II Environmental Site Assessments and, as requested,
create site specific clean-up plans and cost estimates for both petroleum and hazardous
substances sites within the city limits of Kalispell per the community -wide assessment grant
parameters with additional duties to include providing information for reporting to ACRES. The
goal of the Kalispell Brownfield Program is to support redevelopment and investment in critical
and mainly commercial and light industrial areas by conducting up to five (5) Phase I and up to
five (5) Phase II's as appropriate will be conducted under this 2016 EPA Brownfields Assessment
Grant award.
2.0 Background and Site Description
The City of Kalispell was awarded EPA Assessment grant funds for any eligible site within the
City limits with particular emphasis on the Core Area of Kalispell as that area denoted by
Washington Street on the north, First Street on the south, and city limits east and west. The
Core Area is also the focal point of the City's recently awarded US Department of
Transportation, Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant. Thus,
key sites have been identified where one phase I and four phase II environmental site
assessments are to be conducted under this grant award. Other sites will be pursued as
appropriate through the grant period expected to be up to four additional phase I's and one
additional phase II.
3.0 Project Objectives and Scope
The City of Kalispell seeks to retain two to three qualified environmental professional (QEP)
firms complete specific site assessments.
The City of Kalispell has maintained EPA Brownfield funded programs since 2009. These grant
projects have included a 2009 Assessment Grant award of $400,000; 2010 Area Wide Planning
Pilot Grant award of $175,000; 2011 Revolving Loan Fund Grant award of $1,000,000 (extended
to 2018); and the current Assessment Grant award of $400,000.
The City has had a Brownfields Advisory Committee which will be resurrected for the purposes
of this grant and may be blended with the membership of an existing City committee due to
similarity of focus and efficiency of volunteer resources. The Committee will participate in the
prioritization of sites for assessment and identification of City-wide program goals. Each site
proposed for brownfield assessment will be reviewed through the brownfield eligibility
processes currently in place through the EPA or MDEQ as appropriate with attention to
potential participation in the City's RLF Cleanup program and/or Montana PetroFund as
appropriate. The City of Kalispell program outreach includes developers, commercial lending
community, property owners and prospective purchasers seeking to redevelop brownfield sites.
This Assessment grant of $400,000 is expected to fund up to five (5) phase I and up to five (5)
phase 11 environmental site assessments. These phase I assessments will be conducted by the
QEPs in accordance with ASTM E1527-13. Phase 11 assessments will be completed in
accordance with MDEQ and/or EPA applicable rules and regulations. The scope of work may
also include potential cleanup plans (Phase 111) and cost estimates on a limited number of sites
as appropriate.
All project deliverables will be submitted to the City of Kalispell in an electronic format with two
hard copies. At a minimum, the following deliverables will also be required:
• Overall Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP)
• Health and Safety Plan (HSP) per site as appropriate
• Sampling and Analysis Plan (SAP) per site as appropriate
• Progress reports/invoice submittals monthly with short summaries of the progress of all
work components, data and findings including, but not limited to: any deviations from
the QAPP/SAP with explanations; any health or safety incidents; information necessary
for ACRES reporting per site
• Cleanup plans and cleanup cost estimates per site as requested
4.0 Overall Project Guidance
Consultants who choose to submit under this Request for Proposals must be able to provide
any of the following tasks:
Task 1: QAPP
Preparation of an umbrella Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) as required for
approval by EPA Region 8 appropriate to all potential QEP firms that may
conduct work on any specific site.
Task 2: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment
Task 3: Phase II Environmental Site Assessment
Task 4: Cleanup Planning
Task 5: Cleanup Cost Estimating
Task 6: Community Education
The consultant will provide environmental clean-up expertise to the City of
Kalispell to support a community awareness and education effort throughout the
project. Explanation and results of assessments, Health & Safety Plans, QAPP,
SAP, reports of findings and other environmental information will be presented
by the consultant in either oral, electronic or hardcopy format at public meetings
and to the Brownfields Advisory Committee as requested per site.
Task 7: Site Selection
In addition to sites named here, additional sites may be recommended to the
City of Kalispell by the QEP's for assessment consideration.
Programmatic, Reporting & Records, Financial & Community Outreach will be performed by the
City of Kalispell with site specific information provided by QEP as appropriate. Preparation of
education fact sheets and presentation materials, contact with regional developers and local
affected property owners and facilitating public meetings will also be performed by City of
Kalispell with consultant input as appropriate.
Consultants who choose to submit qualifications will be selected on a rotation basis for:
• Completion of approximately 5 Phase I site assessments & reports
• Preparation of approximately 5 site specific Health & Safety Plans
• Preparation of approximately 5 site -specific Sampling & Analysis Plans (SAP)
• Completion of approximately 5 Phase II site assessments & reports
• Comparisons of site data with cleanup standards
• Interpretations of site data to identify redevelopment options
• Providing input to City of Kalispell on developing cleanup plan based on proposed reuse
The City of Kalispell will be responsible for the following tasks:
• Identifying potential sites
• Identifying redevelopment options based on site data prepared by QEP
• Working with developers and owners to identify proposed uses
• Working with QEP to receive input on cleanup plan
5.0 MBE/WBE Utilization Requirements
Contractor will make efforts to encourage the use of minority and women owned business
enterprises in connection with agreement activities in accordance with EPA's MBE/WBE
requirements located at 2 CFR 200 subpart 33 which describes the actions to ensure that
minority and women owned business enterprises are used when possible in the procurement of
property and services.
Required Good Faith Efforts for contractors and subcontractor(s) are located
at: http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-
idx?SI D=2430238b52f4e1cdb028ca24f5069385&mc=true&node=Dt40.1.33&ren=div5.
6.0 Community Outreach
The City of Kalispell has developed a program of public outreach for its Brownfields and TIGER
grant programs that relies on stakeholder meetings, community presentations, newsletters and
media coverage. The City will continue with these methods at its own direction requesting
support from the appropriate QEP based on specific projects.
7.0 Deliverables
The City of Kalispell will retain the services of 2 to 3 QEP firms to perform tasks on a rotation
basis. Once selected for retention, the City will implement a rotation plan for the available
work. This rotation will be selected randomly, though in the event of a conflict of interest for a
particular firm, the project will go to the next firm in the rotation. The deliverables include:
• Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP): this will be a programmatic document to serve
as an umbrella for all site specific work to be carried out under this grant funding;
• Site specific Sampling and Analysis Plan, Phase II Environmental Site Assessment,
pending EPA Region VIII eligibility approval; Cleanup Plan (if appropriate) and Cleanup
Cost estimate (if appropriate) of:
o CHS Agronomy Center property located at 55 4t" Avenue East, Kalispell,
Montana;
o CHS Country Store property located at 150 1st Ave WN, Kalispell, Montana;
o CHS Grain Elevator property located at 505 West Center Street, Kalispell,
Montana;
• Phase I, Site specific Sampling and Analysis Plan, Phase II, Cleanup Plan (if appropriate)
and Cleanup Cost estimate (if appropriate) of BNSF rail line running through the City of
Kalispell, Montana;
• Up to four additional Phase I Environmental Site Assessments on properties to be
determined;
• Up to one additional Phase II Environmental Site Assessment (with site specific Sampling
and Analysis Plan) on property to be determined.
NOTE: Phase I Environmental Site Assessments must comply with the EPA All Appropriate
Inquiries (AAI) Final Rule (40 CFR 312), ASTM E1527-13 does comply with AAI.
Phase II Environmental Site Assessments must follow ASTM Phase II standard E1903-11 along
with following EPA and state rules and regulations.
For each approved grant action, the assigned QEP will provide the City of Kalispell sufficient
information for entry into the EPA ACRES site.
8.0 Qualifications
The selected QEPs shall be an environmental consulting firms(s) with knowledge of the EPA
Brownfields program and Brownfields investigation and remediation experience, or the
equivalent. Proposals shall include descriptions of roles for key personnel expected to work on
this project, their resumes, work location indicated, education/certifications, and experience in
the following areas:
• Managing and performing Phase I, II and III Environmental Site Assessments
• Experience with environmental education, community outreach and other regulatory
agencies including the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, Montana
Petroleum Compensation Board, US Environmental Protection Agency, Region VIII, and
others
• Brownfields or equivalent projects should be described, giving described, giving
examples of recent projects
• Performing site remediation and closure feasibility assessments (to include estimating
associated risks and costs)
• Experience on the uses of alternative or innovative technologies.
In addition, the proposal will describe institutional qualifications (including certifications or
licenses, if applicable) for:
• Boring and monitoring well installations (attach typical log diagram) and abandonment
• Analytical laboratory results, including results of participation in performance evaluation
programs.
Because our project goal is to spur successful redevelopment projects, consultants are advised
to demonstrate their proven expertise in working on successful brownfield redevelopment
projects, detailing how the consultant's services contributed to redevelopment success.
9.0 Project Contact
Katharine Thompson
Assistant Director
Community and Economic Development
City of Kalispell
201 First Avenue East
Kalispell, MT 59901
kthompson@kalispell.com
10.0 Submittal Procedures
Written response proposals to this RFQ must be received by 5 pm December 9, 2016. Proposals
received after this time/date will not be considered. Please deliver 5 copies of the proposal,
not to exceed 10 pages, excluding curriculum vitae (C.V.) to:
Katharine Thompson
Assistant Director
Community and Economic Development
City of Kalispell
201 First Avenue East
Kalispell, MT 59901
To address questions regarding this project and the RFP the City of Kalispell will offer a pre -
submittal meeting at 11 am in the Main Floor Conference Room of City Hall located at 201 First
Avenue East, Kalispell, Montana, on Wednesday, November 30, 2016.
The recipient must supply a statement that the consulting firm presently has no interest and
shall not have any interest, direct or indirect, which would conflict in any manner with the
performance of the services contemplated by the agreement with the project. No person
having such interest shall be employed by or associated with consultant during the term of this
agreement.
The recipient must also state whether they are on the list of contractors that have been
debarred from receiving federal funding.
Questions and answers about the project will be handled by Katharine Thompson via email at
kthompson(@kalispell.com.
11.0 Selection Process
An evaluation committee comprised of City of Kalispell staff will review each proposal. The City
of Kalispell reserves the right to reject any or all proposals or portions thereof. The cost of
preparing responses to this RFP shall be borne by the respondents and shall not be reimburse
by the City of Kalispell. Criteria for rating firms will include the following, weighted as shown:
• Firm Experience
o The firm's ability to provide required services and perform the required tasks,
reputation for professional integrity and competence, knowledge and ability to
work with and comply with Federal, State and local government agencies,
experience with EPA Brownfield Assessment and RLF grant programs. Firms that
have developed EPA or State approved QAPPS and Health and Safety Plans will
receive a minimum of 10 percentage points. (30%)
o Demonstrated success in Brownfields assessment and redevelopment projects.
(30%)
• Key Personnel Experience
o Professional, educational, Brownfields specific program experience and
availability of key personnel to be assigned to the project. This should also
include the key personnel from any subcontractors. (20%)
• Timely Provision of Services
o Proposed time to complete specific tasks as listed. (20%)