Technical Health Physics 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 capability and availability of all qualified sources to perform a potential requirement. The proposed NAICS code for this requirement is 541620, Environmental Consulting Services, $7.0M. Background: The Radiation Studies Branch (RSB) is located in the Division of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects (EHHE), National Center for Envorinmental Health (NCEH) within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)under Health and Human Services (HHS). The roles and responsibilities of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in a nuclear/radiological emergency are described in the National Response Framework (NRF), Nuclear/Radiological Incident Annex. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is an Operating Division of HHS with responsibilities for response to disasters involving nuclear/radiological incidents. Additionally, CDC's RSB, has the specific responsibility for research related to radiation exposures to members of the general public. CDC provides technical assistance and scientific guidance to international, federal, state, local, tribal government agencies, community groups and not for profit organizations in the event of a radiological/nuclear emergency. The RSB works to strengthen the role of state, local, and national radiation programs and professionals to better anticipate, identify, and respond to radiological/nuclear events or incidents, and the consequences of these exposures to public health. This is accomplished by providing radiation professionals access to topical, relevant, scientific information, consultation, and technical assistance. Purpose and Objective: Provide technical expertise in the area of radiological public health and a range of specialized public health and related health physics services as required to assess radiation exposure from both environmental and medical radiation sources. Project Requirements: 1: Provide guidance to CDC in interpreting the human health risks associated with radiation and chemical exposure, to include both environmental and medical exposures. This assistance may include a thorough review of and analysis of the scientific literature, development of estimates of health risks based on dose reconstruction results and assistance to CDC in communicating risk. 2: Conduct a review and analysis of parameters contributing to uncertainty in the assessment of internal dose after a radiation emergency. 3: Technical review of available data on the use of hospital based instruments and handheld radiation instruments for assessing internal dose. Develop easy to use instructions for first responders that can apply to a wide range of instruments. 4: Provide technical assistance to CDC in planning and conducting technical and scientific workshops. Review and analyze scientific literature related to radiological/nuclear preparedness and response and the subject of public health exposure to ionizing radiation. 5: Assist CDC in evaluating and developing population monitoring procedures including but not limited to community reception center operations, supporting public shelter operations, screening for external/internal contamination, development of registries, long term monitoring of health, and management of scarce resources. Provide technical assistance to CDC in updating and expanding the population monitoring guidance. Provide technical assistance to CDC in the development of guidance and resource materials related to public health response to a radiation emergency. 6: Prepare training materials for specific public health groups such as health care providers/emergency responders/volunteers, members of the public, and government officials. 7: With assistance and guidance from CDC, develop operating guidelines and procedures for the Advisory Team for Environment, Food and Health (the Advisory Team). The Advisory Team is a national security asset specifically mentioned in the Nuclear/Radiological Incident Annex of the National Response Framework. It is composed of members from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other Federal agencies as needed. The Advisory Team is tasked with developing recommendations and providing guidance to federal agencies and state/local governments during a radiation/nuclear incident. Input from all Advisory Team member agencies and other appropriate Federal, state and local agencies (as determined by CDC) must be obtained and considered for inclusion during development of the operating guidelines and procedures. With assistance and guidance from CDC, develop and maintain a compendium of resource and training materials for use by members of the Advisory Team. Anticipated Period of Performance: It is anticipated that an indefinite-quantity contract will be awarded. The period of performance shall be up to 60 months from the contract award date. The performance period shall consist of a one (1) year base period and four (4) 12-month option periods. Each task order will specify individual delivery requirements. Capability statement /information sought. Please explain, in detail, your experience, knowledge and ability to provide the following: a.) What opinion(s) do you have about the difficulty and/or feasibility of contracting for the requirements stated under Project Requirements provided above? Consider the difficulty of contracting for this requirement. Identify any information regarding innovative ideas or concepts you have to meet these requirements. Also, include your opinions about the selection of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code of 541620, Environmental Consulting Services. b.) Provide your capability to meet this requirement in terms of the following: I. Staff expertise, including their availability, experience, and formal or other training; II. Current in-house capability and capacity to perform the work; III. Prior completed projects of similar nature; IV. Corporate experience and management capability; and V. Examples of prior completed Government contracts, references and other related information. Information Submission Instructions: Please include a cover page with the following business information: a.) DUNS b.) Organization name and address c.) Do you have a Government approved accounting system? If so, please identify the agency that approved the system. d.) Business size classification, (e. g., small business, 8(a), woman owned, veteran owned, etc.) pursuant to the applicable NAICS code 541620 size standards which is $7M. e.) Point of Contact, phone, fax and email address of individuals who can verify the demonstrated capabilities identified in the response. Page Limitation: The capability statement shall be limited to 6 single-spaced pages including cover page. Pages shall be formatted as follows: MS Word, 8 - x 11, 12 pitch, Times New Roman font with one (1) inch margins. Response Due Date: Capability statements will only be accepted electronically. Email Lynn Walling, Contract Specialist at lqw5@cdc.gov. Should you have any questions concerning this sources sought, please direct your questions directly to the Contract Specialist. Responses must be submitted by email not later than 2:30 pm, Eastern Standard Time (EST) by January 5, 2011. Capability statements will NOT be accepted after the due date. Ensure that the subject line of the email reads: Solicitation No. 2011-N-13050SS, Technical Health Physics Service-Capability Statement. The Government will not return any capability statements received. "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)."