Technical and Scientific Environmental Health Services

Introduction: This is a Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of all qualified sources to perform a potential requirement. Background: The Division of Emergency and Environmental Health Services (DEEHS) projects and programs are often a result of internal decisions and external directives, frequently with short deadlines for implementation. This contract will fill a critical DEEHS need for a flexible external source of expertise to assist in responding to these requirements by assisting with the work of staff in achieving Division and Branch program objectives. Purpose and Objectives: This purpose of this procurement is to fill a critical DEEHS need for a flexible external source of expertise to assist in responding to these requirements by assisting with the work of staff in achieving Division and Branch program objectives. The objective of the resulting contract is to provide DEEHS with a ready source of technical and scientific expertise in the areas of epidemiologic studies, surveillance, surveys, data collection and analysis, environmental, chemical and safety engineering, industrial hygiene, sampling, program analysis and evaluation, field training, information dissemination, and response to disaster events both domestically and internationally in support of the environmental public health programs it conducts. The contractor would be responsible for furnishing all required personnel, consultants, materials, equipment and supplies to provide various work and services as specified in individual task orders. The NAICS code is 541620 -- Environmental Consulting Services. Project Requirements: 1. Technical, scientific and analytical support to state and local health departments to advance the goals and objectives of DEEHS organizational units. This includes assistance in conducting epidemiologic studies and surveys, strategic and operational planning, developing organizational capacity, strengthening programmatic and administrative data systems, analysis of data, and training of employees. 2. Analysis and recommendations related to the adequacy of organizational structures and organizational capacity to carry out new and ongoing Division responsibilities. 3. Analysis and recommendations to strengthen budget structures, accounting systems, and other administrative systems that support program activities 4. Prepare a variety of documents to assist the division in carrying out its broad extramural agenda. These include (a) the development of research studies and evaluation plans; (b) the development of guidance documents and program announcements; (c) pre-award assessments of applicant financial and program capacity; and (d) periodic assessments of recipient performance. 5. Technical assistance to public health partners to help them develop and manage programs of national and global significance. 6. Advice and assistance with conceptualizing and/or organizing and helping with the actual conduct of various public health projects and tasks in support of DEEHS programs. 7. Advice and assistance on the provision of effective and efficient training and ongoing re-training of public officials, public health personnel, emergency responders, and other health personnel professionals as may be indicated by the mission, goals, and objectives of DEEHS programs. 8. Advice and assistance in web page design and maintenance. 9. Advice and assistance in conducting Advisory Committee activities. 10. Advice and assistance in dealing with issues and roles with other federal agencies and with the management of cross-cutting responsibilities with such agencies. 11. Advice and assistance on the preparation of material about the particular CDC program for briefings, testimony, educational presentations, and responding to routine questions from within and beyond CDC. 12. Technical and analytical support to public and private non-profit and for-profit organizations, governments and their agencies, universities, colleges, research institutions, hospitals, state and local governments or their bonafide agents, and faith-based organizations to advance the domestic and international goals and objectives of a particular DEEHS organizational unit 13. Advice and assistance in developing position descriptions, staffing plans, and in establishing consistency in personnel matters within a particular CDC program. The Contractor shall not be responsible for approving position descriptions or performance standards for CDC employees; Anticipated Period of Performance: The period of performance shall be up to 60 months from the contract award date. The performance period shall consist of one year base period and four (4) 12-month option periods. Each task order will specify individual delivery requirements. Other Important Considerations: 1. Experience in project coordination a. Experience with oversight and direction of epidemiologic studies with particular emphasis on implementing studies in the field, including coordinating logistics; providing appropriate study materials; and ensuring coordination with the laboratory. 2. Expertise in scientific consultation a. Demonstrate subject matter expertise in the following disciplines: epidemiology; environmental, chemical and safety engineering, and environmental public health. 3. Experience with data analysis a. Experience in analysis of epidemiologic survey, laboratory, and other collected data using advanced statistical packages and computer models (e.g., SAS and SUDAAN), b. Expertise in the statistical theory underlying applied statistical methodology, particularly as it is used in the field of epidemiology, and ability to apply those methodologies on collected data. c. Substantial experience in modeling longitudinal cohort analyses, matched and unmatched case-control analyses, survival analyses, mixed linear models, etc. 4. Ability to analyze biologic and environmental samples for chemicals, organisms, toxins, and biomarkers in water, air, soil, dust, animal, and human tissue. 5. Experience with program/project evaluation and knowledge of CDC's framework for conducting evaluation of public health programs. 6. Knowledge of evaluation principles, concepts, and techniques to provide expertise in evaluating division programs, including cost-benefit or cost-effectiveness analyses to assess the efficiency of a program. 7. Experience performing training. 8. Ability to develop materials to support training of local public health professionals, environmental health specialists, emergency responders, aid workers, water sampling, and USPHS staff on using data collection, surveillance instruments, and interview techniques in the post-disaster setting. 9. Ability to provide publication development and assistance including experience in content editing and proofreading. a. Support for developing format and content of public health materials such as manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals, brochures, pamphlets, etc. b. Conduct background research, including a search of the peer-reviewed and popular literature. c. Translation of technical and scientific information into language for a lay audience. 10. Experience in public health message dissemination/health communication a. Development and dissemination of public health messages to prevent or mitigate the effects of exposure to environmental contaminants and to promote environmental health. Contractor Capability (Refer back to the points of work above) Capability Statement/Information Sought: As part of your response, please provide your experience, knowledge and ability to provide the following: 1. The contractor must demonstrate capacity to provide project coordination/management staff, both scientific and operational, that are capable of providing expert advice and technical assistance on a wide range of environmental health issues including, but not limited to, local and state government public and environmental health; healthy homes; land-use and healthy community design; management of environmental and public health programs; and implementing scientific studies, including studies in the field, in keeping with sound current scientific methods, and CDC policies, procedures, and regulations. The contractor must demonstrate that these services can be provided in a timely manner both domestically and internationally. 2. The contractor must demonstrate laboratory capacity or ability to access laboratories with the capacity to analyze environmental (e.g., water, soil, air, chemical, radiation) and biologic (e.g., blood, urine) samples. 3. The contractor must demonstrate capacity to priovide epidemiologic statistical analyses, and knowledge of the policies that govern data use and privacy issues, as well as their Internal Review Board (IRB) capacity and/or arrangements for conducting human subjects reviews that may be required of some task orders. 4. The contractor must demonstrate the capacity to provide publications assistance, to write scientifically at a high level, to develop presentations in accordance with CDC guidelines, and to guide the dissemination of study results to participants, communities, and study populations. Note: If the contractor does not have any of the aforementioned experience, The contractor must explain their plan to make up for that gap. Information Submission Instructions: Interested parties having the capabilities necessary to perform the stated requirements may submit capability statements via email to Michael E. Allen, Contract Specialist at MEAllen@cdc.gov. Responses must be submitted by not later than 2:30 PM, EST on May 8, 2009. Capability statements will not be returned and will not be accepted after the due date. CAPABILITY STATEMENTS MUST DEMONSTRATE THE CAPACITY TO SUCCESSFULLY PERFORM PROJECT REQUIREMENTS OUTLINED ABOVE. Please address each in order listed above. Capability Statements shall be limited to 15 pages and shall include any/all teaming arrangements. Please include the following Business Information -- a. DUNS: b. Company Name c. Company Address d. Current GSA Schedules appropriate to this Sources Sought e. Do you have a Government approved accounting system? If so, please identify the agency that approved the system. f. Type of Company (i.e., small business, 8(a), woman owned, veteran owned, etc.) as validated via the Central Contractor Registration (CCR). All offerors must register on the CCR located at http://www.ccr.gov/index.asp . g. Company Point of Contact, Phone and Email address h. Tax identification number i. Point of Contact, Phone and Email address of individuals who can verify the demonstrated capabilities identified in the responses. j. Teaming arrangements are encouraged. All teaming arrangements shall also include the above-cited information and certifications for each entity on the proposed team. Disclaimer and Important Notes. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Confidentiality. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).