Responses to the Questions on the Request for Proposals
Questions and responses answered live during Bidders' Conference #1 are available in the Bidders' Conference #1 recording starting at minute 27
Questions and responses answered live during Bidders' Conference #2 are available in the Bidders' Conference #2 recording starting at minute 26
Question 1:
I am considering proposing that we do measurements using a mobile lab. In the past we have parked the mobile lab at the South Coast AQMD headquarters in Diamond Bar, CA and powered it there when we were not using it for measurements. Does this fall under support that would need to be requested and approved by April 2nd?
South Coast AQMD Response:
Please send an email to the project officer with the request to park and power a mobile lab and we will follow up with a letter of support.
South Coast AQMD Response:
South Coast AQMD may grant access to its existing air monitoring stations on a case-by-case basis, contingent upon factors such as access requirements, availability of power, and space constraints at the requested location. It is not possible to provide unescorted access to all PM10 air monitoring sites to locate Harvard impactors with pump boxes. The requestor should submit a request for support to South Coast AQMD by April 2nd at 2:00 PM PDT, one month before the RFP due date. Please submit as much detail as possible including a prioritized list of the station locations, equipment including power consumption, sample inlet requirements and flow rates, space requirements, and access requirements.
South Coast AQMD Response:
South Coast AQMD can help facilitate an initial connection between the bidder and school districts as well as local businesses that maintain current established relationships with our organization. However, it is incumbent upon the bidder to initiate and finalize any agreements necessary for deploying air monitoring equipment. Additionally, the South Coast AQMD may offer access to current air monitoring stations, for the installation of air monitoring equipment, pending availability of space and power resources. If requesting access to monitoring stations, the proposer should submit a request for access to monitoring stations to the project officer by April 2nd, 2024 at 2:00 PM PDT, one month before the RFP due date. Please submit as much detail as possible including a prioritized list of the station locations, equipment including power consumption, sample inlet requirements and flow rates, space requirements, and access requirements.
Can South Coast AQMD share a map indicating the exposure surface boundary for the South Coast Air Basin and Coachella Valley?
South Coast AQMD Response:
The exposure surface boundary is included in the image below. A shapefile of the boundary is available on the MATES VI website.
Can South Coast AQMD help analyze filters for metals that have been suggested as tailpipe, brake and tire wear, and road dust tracers such as Zn, Ba Pb, Mn, S, Cr, Pd, Pt, Rh, V, Ba, Cu, Sb, Sn, Al, Cs, Dy, Li, Rb, Sm?
South Coast AQMD Response:
Most of the metals referenced above could likely be included, except for Sm, S, and Si (due to analysis and matrix issues). Resources to accommodate such a request for additional South Coast AQMD sampling are limited. Any assistance requested in analyzing filters or obtaining samples should be raised when asking for a letter of support.
Can South Coast AQMD staff with expertise in land use regression collaborate with us on related modeling work?
South Coast AQMD Response:
The modeling group does not have expertise in land use regression, but staff can review and provide feedback on the approach.
In the initial stages of the project, before sampling (between months 6 and 12), can the South Coast AQMD modeling team turn off all other sources including tailpipe emissions, and only retain the brake and tire wear source in the CAMx model to provide the predictions of brake and tire wear particles? This would help us select appropriate sampling locations.
South Coast AQMD Response:
South Coast AQMD is equipped with the tools to conduct the simulation and can provide the information. However, regional photochemical modeling handles both brake and tire wear and tailpipe emissions under the same release conditions, including height and temperature. The results are expected to be similar, if not identical, to the distribution of diesel PM from on-road sources. This pertinent detail can be found within the MATES V report. Staff is open for further discussions on this information. South Coast AQMD can provide modeled on-road diesel PM data from MATES V; please submit a public records request to obtain this data. If requesting that South Coast AQMD staff perform additional simulations between months 6 and 12, the proposer should submit a request for South Coast AQMD to perform this simulation to the project officer by April 2nd, 2024 at 2:00 PM PDT, one month before the RFP due date.
Regarding the proposal, are there any specific format requirements or page limits?
South Coast AQMD Response:
There are no specific format requirements and there are no page limits. There are some specific proposal submittal requirements included in pages 19 through 22 of the request for proposals. A summary of these requirements is included here:
- Each proposal must be submitted in three separate volumes: Volume I - Technical Proposal, Volume II - Cost Proposal, and Volume III - Certifications and Representations included in Attachment B to the RFP
- A separate cover letter, including the name, address, and telephone number of the contractor
- A separate Table of Contents should be provided for Volumes I and II
- The technical proposal should include a description of what South Coast AQMD support is requested for each task of the proposal
- The South Coast AQMD support must be determined prior to submitting the proposal and the proposer must obtain letters of support from South Coast AQMD as appropriate
- Include letters of support for sampling and measurements or modeling as applicable in the technical proposal
Is there any interest in quantifying VOC emissions? Or are you only interested in primary PM emissions?
South Coast AQMD Response:
This RFP primarily seeks to determine exposure to primary PM10 emissions and to resuspended PM10. In general, South Coast AQMD is interested in VOC emissions from brakes and tires so it would be useful if those emissions are determined as a byproduct of the proposed work. But the proposal should focus on determining the exposure to primary PM and resuspended PM.
The RFP mentioned “CARB has used and is currently conducting studies of BWP and TRWP emissions based on brake dynamometer and on-road instrument vehicles through research contracts 17RD016, 65A0703, and 22RD002. This study should not replicate the work conducted by those studies; rather this study should use ambient or near-road measurements to develop top-down emission estimates, and then use these emissions with regional modeling to estimate exposure concentrations.”
Unlike 17RD016 and 65A0703 that have generated brake wear emission factors for different types of vehicles (ZEV and ICE, light-duty and heavy-duty), my understanding is that the purpose of 22RD002 is to develop an on-road testing methodology and will only test a couple vehicles. I thought that it’d be great if MATES could fund the testing of a variety of vehicles, which can inform the development of emissions inventory that will be used for air quality modeling. So I just wanted to double check if the testing of on-road instrument vehicles is definitely not of interest to this contract.
South Coast AQMD Response:
Testing of on-road instrumented vehicles is a method that can be used to address the objectives of the RFP so long as the emission testing method can produce data that improves our ability to determine exposure to on-road vehicle/roadway directly emitted and resuspended PM10 and if the method is combined with other methods. The on-road measurements should be made in the South Coast AQMD jurisdiction and should be representative of conditions throughout South Coast Air basin and Coachella Valley. Finally, the testing method should be combined with modeling to determine exposures across the South Coast Air Basin and South Coast AQMD part of the Salton Sea Air Basin.
One challenge of instrumented vehicle testing is that the method may not be able to determine the emissions of resuspended PM10 from the road. It may be useful to think of the combination of vehicles and roadway as the system from which emissions are generated, rather than single vehicles which are traditionally tested for emission measurements. An instrumented vehicle approach would need to consider how to determine representative samples and how to estimate emissions from the data that is collected, accounting for collection efficiency, sampling bias, and other factors. The system would likely require characterization studies and calibration. It would be useful to explain how this method improves emission estimates (in terms of accuracy, representativeness, fitness for use with modeling to estimate exposure concentrations) beyond the testing that CARB has and is performing.
Question 11:
Can an application be made as a consortium, or can it only be as a single entity?
South Coast AQMD Response:
South Coast AQMD plans to enter a contract and provide payments to a single entity. It is possible for proposers to collaborate with other researchers on the proposed work. However, assignment of responsibilities for the proposed work and payments should be managed internally by the proposer. The technical proposal should list any subcontractors that will be used, identifying functions to be performed by them, their related qualifications and experience and the total number of hours or percentage of time they will spend on the project. The cost proposal should list subcontractor costs and identify subcontractors by name and should itemize subcontractor charges per hour or per day.
Question 12:
As Task 3 involves developing the test method, what level of detail about a test method is expected in this RFP?
South Coast AQMD Response:
The technical proposal must discuss the proposed methods with sufficient detail for the proposal reviewers to evaluate whether the methods can be used to meet objective 1 of the RFP, to estimate outdoor concentrations due to BWP and TRWP emissions from on-road vehicles and roadways at a 2 km grid over the South Coast Air Basin and the Coachella Valley during MATES VI, and whether the methods are compatible with the MATES VI campaign plan and timeline. The proposal should discuss the overall approach and provide details of the proposed work; task 3 is intended for developing specific details of the work that will be conducted on a day-to-day basis for the project.
The proposal should include a description of what measurements will be made including but not limited to instrumentation that will be used, approximate measurement schedule or number of measurements, preliminary proposed sampling locations, and description of how the measurements will be analyzed. If the proposer plans to rely on South Coast AQMD resources or measurements during MATES VI then the proposer should obtain a letter of support from South Coast AQMD that specifies the support and the proposal should describe how this support will be used. The proposal should also describe what calculations will be performed with the data, and how the data will be used to estimate exposure concentrations. If the proposer plans to rely on modeling work that South Coast AQMD will conduct for MATES VI then the proposer should obtain a letter of support from South Coast AQMD specifying this support.
Task 3 is intended for development of specific measurement and modeling project plans which include precise sampling schedules, quality assurance procedures, and other considerations for implementation of the proposed work in preparation for sampling, measurements, and modeling such as obtaining permissions for sampling locations.
Question 13:
What field tests will South Coast AQMD already be running during the test period, e.g. canisters for gaseous sampling? Would it be an option to request that certain target chemicals be analyzed by South Coast AQMD from their own samples? Or could access to the samples be requested for us to performing testing?
South Coast AQMD Response:
South Coast AQMD will be conducting an US EPA TO-15 equivalent method on canisters for gaseous air toxics. Resources to accommodate such a request for additional South Coast AQMD sampling and analysis beyond the MATES VI core project are limited. Analysis requests are limited by methods that South Coast AQMD laboratory already operates. Any assistance requested in analyzing canisters, having access to samples, or obtaining samples should be raised when asking for a letter of support. Information to consider including in the request would be the chemicals to be analyzed; the number of samples for access, collection or analysis; measurement quality objectives; and turnaround times for finalized results. A complete list of all analytes and target chemicals have been provided in the TAG meeting presentation (please see slides 15 through 22; https://www.aqmd.gov/docs/default-source/planning/mates-vi/mates-tag-1-presentations.pdf?sfvrsn=8). The gaseous samples will be collected at all 10 fixed monitoring stations.
Question 14:
If we were to ask to use the South Coast AQMD’s air quality model, how exactly would the interface work? To what level of execution detail does that need to be set out in the RFP?
South Coast AQMD Response:
The interface would depend on how the proposed work will use the model data. One possible approach is for the proposed work to estimate emission data used in the modeling of BWP and TRWP. Then South Coast AQMD can conduct CMAQ/CAMx modeling using the emission data determined through the proposed work. The proposal should describe the approach that will be used. The proposer should obtain a letter of support from South Coast AQMD describing the modeling work that South Coast AQMD will conduct in parallel with the proposed work for MATES VI. The proposal should include this letter of support. The emissions the contractor provides is expected to be in the format compatible to CMAQ and/or CAMx.
Question 15:
Does South Coast AQMD have a preferred model of vehicle fleet, traffic and driving conditions to use? Are these elements included in South Coast AQMD’s model, or are they modelled separately?
South Coast AQMD Response:
We plan to utilize the emissions information from this contract to develop the next SIP. For that purpose, we are bound to use traffic information from California Air Resources Board (CARB) EMFAC model (https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/msei/on-road-emfac) and Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)’s vehicular activity data including vehicle categories defined in EMFAC and/or SCAG, traffic volume, and location. We use CalTrans Performance Measurement System (PeMS) data to allocate emissions to a specific day and hour of a year. South Coast AQMD will be able to provide this information as was used in the 2022 AQMP.
Question 16:
Is there any provision for charging overheads in the cost proposal?
South Coast AQMD Response:
Overheads can be charged in the cost proposal. The total funding for the work contemplated by this RFP will be a maximum of $850,000. Overhead costs should be described in the cost proposal “Other Direct Costs” section.
Question 17:
What sort of policy rules might you want to develop using the results of this modelling?
South Coast AQMD Response:
It is too early to tell what policies will be informed from this work. The primary purpose of the BWP/TRWP component of MATES and this request for proposals are to better characterize exposure to BWP and TRWP and to inform the public about the exposures.
How should South Coast AQMD performing work be included in the proposed budget? Is the South Coast AQMD support for modeling work part of the total budget for the campaign (should it be considered a subcontract) or do we propose the work we intend to do and leave the South Coast AQMD support out of the proposal?
South Coast AQMD Response:
The measurements and modeling that South Coast AQMD will conduct for MATES VI is separate from the proposed work for this RFP and South Coast AQMD work should not be considered a subcontract. Contractors should propose the work that they intend to do and include the cost of the proposed work in the cost proposal. The submitted proposal must also describe specifically what South Coast AQMD support is required for each proposed task, and this support should be consistent with the letter of support. Please also check the responses to questions on the request for proposals question #14 and #15 since this is related to how the modeling could work.
Question 19:
Does South Coast AQMD have a policy or agreements to limit indirect costs or indirect cost rates with any organization? Is it possible for South Coast AQMD to set limits on indirect costs or indirect cost rates for selected proposals or for subcontracted portions of proposals? Can South Coast AQMD require limits on indirect costs by a statement or letter from South Coast AQMD?
South Coast AQMD Response:
South Coast AQMD does not have a policy that limits indirect costs or indirect cost rates. Further, RFP P2024-09 is not subject to any indirect cost agreements nor is the funding subject to restrictions on indirect costs. Therefore, South Coast AQMD will not provide a statement or letter specifying limits on indirect costs.
Question 20:
Can we propose additional tasks that are not outlined in the RFP or would this disqualify the proposal? The additional tasks would investigate cellular ROS, cell health, and lung function upon exposure to near-highway particles.
South Coast AQMD Response:
Specifying additional tasks not outlined in the RFP will not disqualify the proposal. However, proposal reviews will be based on the scoring criteria and tasks specified in the RFP and no additional points will be awarded for other proposed tasks.