Services to Support Federal Climate Change Adaptation Activities

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION OBJECTIVE: GSA's Federal Acquisition Service's (FAS) Office of Acquisition Management is issuing this request for information (RFI) as a means of conducting market research to identify parties having the resources and capabilities to provide one or more of the services identified in Attachment 1. This RFI will help GSA gather information to determine what actions are needed to ensure the identified climate change adaptation services are readily available for its federal customers. Federal agencies may require support in one or more of the categories listed in Table 1. GSA believes most of these services best fit under the existing Environmental Services Schedule 899. Some of these services may also fall under Advertising and Integrated Marketing Solutions Schedule 541, Professional Engineering Services Schedule 871, or the Consolidated Schedule 00CORP. GSA is seeking comments from all interested sources capable of providing the identified climate change adaptation services. Market research results may lead to a range of possible next steps, including but not limited to, revisions to the current Schedule 899 or other schedules, a different acquisition strategy, and/or a future solicitation. The information you provide by completing Attachment 1 will assist GSA in assessing the marketplace for these services and deciding on next steps to support federal agencies in acquiring the services needed to meet their climate change adaptation plan goals. BACKGROUND: The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) plays a significant role in procuring facilities, products, and services for the Federal Government by providing workspace for over one million federal employees in over 9,600 buildings and offering more than 11 million commercial products and services. Over the past several years, GSA and its customers have experienced a variety of climate-related impacts, including extreme events (e.g., extreme weather, extreme ocean temperatures and acidification events) and gradual changes in the climate. Based on National Climate Assessments conducted over the past decade by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, which informs the Nation about already observed changes, the current status of the climate, and anticipated trends for the future, it is clear that potential changes in the climate could have significant impacts on the Federal Government, including: ability to effectively fulfill agency missions, operate facilities, meet policy and program objectives, meet existing sustainability goals (e.g., energy and water efficiency targets), and disruptions in infrastructure services that are critical to transporting employees to work and accessing online systems. In June 2012, as part of GSA's commitment and responsibilities under Executive Order (EO) 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance,[1] GSA completed a Fiscal Year 2013 (FY13) Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan. The plan outlined several actions GSA will take in FY13 and beyond to better understand and address climate change risks and opportunities, one of which is an assessment of marketplace capabilities to provide services to support federal climate change adaptation activities. During recent discussions, several GSA customer agencies indicated they would prefer to rely on GSA-established acquisition vehicles when contracting for climate change adaptation services. Recognizing that climate change impacts will be localized, federal adaptation activities may have various scope boundaries. Some efforts may require a community approach where agencies will need to work with one another, local and state governments, as well as local organizations, to most efficiently and effectively address climate impacts.