RFI -- Named Storm Event Model - Model Availability

Request for Information (RFI) Consumer Option for an Alternative System to Allocate Losses (COASTAL) Act Named Storm Event Database - Covered Data Availability QUESTION AND ANSWER (Q&A) CONFERENCE CALL INFORMATION: - The Q&A conference call will be held on Monday, 2 June 2014 at 12:00 EDT. -- Dial-in number: +1 (555) 000-0000 -- Participant code: 1679232 - Please submit questions directly to Mike Bilder (contact@example.gov) and courtesy copy Robert Woodruff (contact@example.gov). Mr. Bilder may also be reached at +1 (555) 000-0000. 1. Introduction The Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO), Eastern Acquisition Division (EAD) and the National Weather Service (NWS) is requesting information from industry and other organizations (e.g., non-profits, research laboratories, and universities). This Request for Information (RFI) solicits information relevant to a possible future Government investment in, or agreements to use, currently available models to generate a quantitative assessment of geophysical factors influencing tropical cyclone-related damage in the U.S. and its territories. This RFI notice is for information purposes only, it is not a request for proposals, and does not obligate the government in any way. Respondents are invited to provide comments on the content of this announcement to include suggestions for improving the scope of a possible future solicitation to ensure that every effort is made to adequately address the scientific and technical challenges described below. Responses to this request may be used to support the development of a future Government solicitation. It is not the intent of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to publicly disclose vendor proprietary information obtained during this RFI. To the full extent that it is protected pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act and other laws and regulations, information identified by a respondent as "Proprietary or Confidential" will be kept confidential. The following sections of this announcement contain details regarding the scope of technical efforts of interest, along with instructions for the submission of responses. 2. Background and Scope The Consumer Option for an Alternative System to Allocate Losses (COASTAL) Act was signed into law on July 6, 2012, as part of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012. See, Pub. L. 112-141, div. F, title II, subtitle B ( 100251-100253), 126 Stat. 969 (July 6, 2012), (33 U.S.C. - 3611 and 42 U.S.C. - 4057). The purpose of the COASTAL Act is to lower costs to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) by better discerning wind versus storm surge damages in the case of "indeterminate losses"; that is, where little tangible evidence beyond a building's foundation remains for the proper adjustment of insurance claims for homes totally destroyed by a tropical cyclone. Indeterminate losses became an issue following Hurricane Katrina, when private home insurance providers disagreed with their policyholders over the loss-allocation between flood as a cause of loss (covered by NFIP) and wind peril (covered by private home insurance). These disagreements led to backlog in the judicial system. The COASTAL Act was designed to mitigate future legal issues by requiring NOAA to produce detailed "post-storm assessments" in the aftermath of a damaging tropical cyclone that strikes the U.S. or its territories. Using output from a hindcast model (dubbed the "Named Storm Event Model" (NSEM)), the assessments will indicate the strength and timing of damaging winds and water at a given point in the area impacted by the tropical cyclone. If the assessment results for a specific indeterminate loss location can be certified by NOAA to be greater than 90% accurate, those results will be entered into a formula managed by FEMA that considers a variety of factors contributing to the structural damage of the property in question. Based on this formula, FEMA will determine the appropriate loss allocation between wind and water. The Act requires NOAA to create a "Coastal Wind and Water Event Database" (CWWED) that will permit the public to access the assessment results, as well as the observations collected during the storm. NOAA has charged the National Weather Service (NWS) with leading the development and execution of NOAA's requirements under the Act. 3. Model Details The purpose of this RFI is to identify all models that are capable of serving as the NSEM and producing the post-storm assessments (in the form of verified gridded model output). The language of the COASTAL Act is included in Attachment A. a. Model Types: NOAA/NWS is interested in models that provide analysis of wind, surface pressure, water level, wave height, precipitation and embedded convective events, riverine flooding, ponding and land surface. Additional details about the required analyses can be found in Attachment B. b. Domain and Resolution: The NSEM's domain is defined as the geographical area and temporal period relevant to indeterminate losses in the U.S. or its territories caused by a tropical cyclone. Geographically, it is expected to be an overland domain (including islands) but is nevertheless a subset of the total spatial and temporal domain necessary to generate information on water level, wave height, and riverine impacts. Additional details about the domain and resolutions can be found in Attachment B. c. Model Output: The NSEM's output (verified with observations collected in the CWWED) and appropriate metadata will serve to support a post-storm assessment. Functionally, the post-storm assessment product package should be comprised of the complete observations set over the NSEM domain, the complete set of gridded products, an accuracy evaluation, a catalog of observations and products complete with the temporal and spatial coverage of each, and a narrative event history for each of the risk factors (wind, storm surge, waves, inland flooding, etc.). Each of these items will be available through the CWWED for each storm that is assessed. Additional details about the format of the NSEM output and post-storm assessments can be found in Attachment B. d. Model Accuracy: The COASTAL Act stipulates that post-storm assessment results (gridded NSEM output) for the location of an indeterminate loss must be verified to be 90% accurate for the results to be used in the FEMA loss-allocation formula. The post-storm assessment must still be certified by the NOAA Administrator, regardless of the extent to which 90% accuracy is reached across the domain. Additional details about the model's accuracy can be found in Attachment B. e. Model Availability: Any model used for the NSEM must be able to produce a verified set of model outputs within approximately 90 days of the tropical cyclone's landfall. In the event that multiple states are impacted, NOAA/NWS may request that separate assessments be conducted for individual states, so multiple runs of the model may be necessary in that 90-day window. The same may also be the case in the event of multiple tropical cyclones that make landfall in close succession. 4. Submission Format Provide a brief description (1-3 pages) of your organization and the geophysical model your organization operates. Please include an approximate cost of operating your model, maintaining the software and any upgrades, and the approximate computational cost of executing the complete assessment for a single storm. 5. Submission Instructions All submissions should be emailed NLT June 20, 2014 as attachments to: Robert Woodruff NOAA's Acquisition and Grants Office Eastern Region Division Email: contact@example.gov Phone: +1 (555) 000-0000 Submissions should address the criteria listed in the Model Details, above and should not exceed 10MB or the NOAA email system may reject the message as too large. A Question and Answer conference call is anticipated on or about May 30 to discuss industry concerns with regard to responses to this request for information. To adequately prepare for this conference call, send questions to the above email by May 16. Details of this conference call will be added to this FedBizOps RFI. 6. Disclaimer This RFI is issued solely for information gathering purposes; this RFI does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this RFI are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. NOAA will not provide reimbursement for costs incurred in responding to this RFI. Respondents are advised that NOAA is under no obligation to provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFI. Response to this RFI is strictly voluntary and is not required to participate in any future potential solicitations on this topic. Submissions may be reviewed by the Government, including NOAA, and partner Federal Agencies and their immediate staff. The initial implementation of the NSEM is not currently funded to procure commercial models. The Federal Government may issue a follow-on Request for Proposal for commercial models as funding becomes available.