Request for Qualifications Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund Support Services Submission Deadline: Deadline extended to February 12, 2014 Overview The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) invites interested not-for-profit and forprofit individuals and organizations to submit statements of qualification regarding their ability to provide engineering and technical support for NFWF s ongoing evaluation of large-scale conservation projects in and around the Gulf of Mexico. This Request for Qualifications (RFQ) will be used to help NFWF identify qualified consultants that NFWF might engage to provide assistance for the successful evaluation of projects, programs and activities necessary to implement NFWF s Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund (GEBF). Among other areas, NFWF might require support in evaluating the feasibility, regulatory compliance, schedule, costs, and benefits of proposed projects seeking funding from the GEBF. Field work to verify existing conditions and monitor project implementation might also be required. NFWF expects that it will access the type of support contemplated by this RFQ on a task order basis from time to time over the next three years. Additional RFQs and/or more specific Requests for Proposals (RFPs) might be issued by NFWF for purposes of the GEBF if and when additional needs arise. Background In early 2013, the U.S.District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana approved two plea agreements resolving criminal cases against BP Exploration and Production, Inc., and Transocean Deepwater Inc., arising out of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. The agreements direct a total of $2.544 billion to NFWF to fund projects benefitting the natural resources of the Gulf Coast. More specifically, for the States of Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and Texas, the plea agreements mandate these funds be used to conduct or fund projects to remedy harm to resources where there has been injury to, or destruction of, loss of, or loss of use of those resources resulting from the Macondo oil spill." For Louisiana, the agreements dictate the funds must be allocated to barrier island restoration projects and river diversion projects along the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers, with appropriate consideration given to Louisiana s coastal Master Plan and the Louisiana Coastal Area Mississippi River Hydrodynamic and Delta Management Study. The primary purpose of this RFQ is to identify individuals and organizations that have the expertise and experience to assist NFWF in its role as administrator of the GEBF. This role includes the review of project proposals submitted by GEBF applicants with respect to the technical, logistical, and financial merits of the proposals; the oversight and monitoring of January 10, 2014
project implementation (e.g., achievement of milestones and progress-to-completion); and the evaluation of project outputs, outcomes, deliverables, and other results, as appropriate. For more information about the Program, please visit our website at www.nfwf.org/gulf. Qualifications Sought To assist NFWF in its work through the GEBF, this RFQ seeks statements of qualifications from entities who might desire to serve as independent contractors to NFWF for the purposes described above. NFWF is seeking qualifications regarding expertise in the following areas (please note that interested parties may respond to all or a subset of these areas): 1. Engineering and Technical Support - including, but not limited to: o assistance with evaluation of proposed coastal habitat restoration and water quality improvement projects (such as large-scale river diversion; sediment management; storm water infrastructure; barrier island restoration and construction; etc.); o reviewing proposals and contracts for construction projects to verify reasonableness of budgets and timelines, engineering and ecological merits, and contracting requirements; o monitoring and evaluation of grantee financial and programmatic reporting and other submissions; o overseeing construction, as appropriate; and o other engineering and technical support needs associated with the GEBF. 2. Support of Real Estate Transactions including, but not limited to: o reviewing appraisals, easement or title language; and o assessing long-term stewardship needs. NFWF will contact selected contractors with proposed terms of engagement. Neither the issuance of this RFQ, by itself, nor the contacting by NFWF of any respondent hereto shall be deemed to obligate NFWF to issue a task order or enter into a contract for any purposes. Nothing in this RFQ constitutes an agreement, contract, award, placement of task order, or other express or implied relationship between NFWF and any party. No respondent to this RFQ shall become a contractor to NFWF unless and until a contract satisfactory in form and substance to NFWF is negotiated and executed by NFWF and the selected respondent for the applicable services and corresponding task order. Respondents are advised that any entity ultimately entering a contract with NFWF further to this RFQ might be precluded from receiving GEBF awards under other solicitations pertaining to implementation of the GEBF. In addition, respondents are advised that any entity ultimately entering a contract with NFWF further to this RFQ will be required to disclose potential conflicts of interest prior to executing individual task orders. Page 2
Submission Instructions 1. Address each item in the Submission Outline below. 2. Limit your submission to a maximum of twenty (20) pages (not including resumes). Please limit supplementary materials to only those requested below. (NFWF may contact respondents as necessary for any additional information.) 3. E-mail a Word version of your submission to jayme.ohlhaver@nfwf.org. In the subject line, please indicate Response to RFQ for GEBF Support [name of respondent]. Submissions will not be accepted in hard copy form or alternate electronic form. 4. Submissions must be e-mailed no later than 5:00 p.m. EST on February 12, 2014 (Deadline extended). Questions Concerning this RFQ: Please send questions and inquiries regarding this RFQ to jayme.ohlhaver@nfwf.org by January 24, 2014. Responses to all questions will be posted as a single response at http://www.nfwf.org/gulf/pages/gulfrfq-questions.aspx by close of business on January 29, 2014. Questions will not be accepted, nor answers provided, by any other means of communication. Submission Outline Your description (in no more than twenty (20) pages (not including title page or required attachments)) of your and/or your organization s qualifications should include the following elements: Page 3 1. Contact information. Please provide a Primary Contact Person, Entity Name, Address, Phone, E-mail, and Website. 2. Organizational mission and profile. Please describe your and/or your organization s mission, expertise and experience. Please include geographic service area, number of clients, how long you have been in business, and your annual revenue. If your application includes team members or sub-consultants, please provide the requested profile information for all team members, and indicate the lead entity responsible for contract management and quality of deliverables. 3. Your Expertise. Please list the type(s) of work you, your organization, and/or your team provides relating to the specified qualifications and explain what makes you particularly successful in this/these area(s). Describe your expertise in meeting the needs of clients similar to NFWF and/or programs similar to the GEBF. You are not expected to be able to provide assistance in all topic areas listed above. 4. Key staff. Please provide names and brief biographies of key staff. You may attach resumes of key staff as appropriate. Please limit attached resumes to no more than 25
one-page resumes, each a single-sided page. Licenses and certifications should be noted as part of your submission, but copies are not required at this time. 5. Past experience. Please detail your experience in providing contractual services similar to those required by the GEBF and for which you have expressed interest. List recent (last two-five years) projects and previous services related to the expertise you are describing. 6. Team management and quality assurance/ quality control. Describe how the lead entity will manage the team (if applicable). Please describe quality assurance and control procedures that will be used to ensure your team s work meets professional standards and how invoicing will be performed to ensure contract compliance. 7. Fee structure. Please provide a fee schedule for your proposed services, including hourly rates for proposed job classifications and, if available, audited overhead rates. Please highlight any non-profit discounts on the services you provide. NFWF will not allow any markups for sub-contracts or other direct costs, although project management costs for staff to perform sub-contract management are allowable. 8. References. Please include contact information of three references (clients or partners) who have benefited from your services as described above. 9. Contract terms and conditions. Please include a copy of your standard terms and conditions and/or contract as an attachment. Selection Process and Criteria Failure to include all materials outlined above may cause a submission to be deemed nonresponsive. At this time, NFWF does not anticipate conducting interviews as part of the selection process. NFWF will give priority consideration to respondents that demonstrate the following in a fully responsive submission: 1. Knowledge and track record. Preference will be given to submitters demonstrating significant expertise and experience, as exhibited by multiple directly relevant projects over time in those areas described in the RFQ for which they have indicated interest. 2. Experience in Gulf Coast region. Preference will be given to providers who have considerable experience working in a variety of Gulf of Mexico coastal environmental settings. 3. Cost Effectiveness. Preference will be given to providers who can provide high quality services at an affordable cost. Page 4
4. Capacity and flexibility to deliver services. Providers must demonstrate they have sufficient staff and other resources, a degree of flexibility in how and where services are delivered, and an ability to tailor content and delivery methods to meet the specific needs of the GEBF. 5. Location. Consultants with established offices in the states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas will be given preference. RFQ Schedule RFQ Released January 10, 2014 Deadline for Written Questions January 24, 2014 NFWF Posts Response to Written Questions January 29, 2014 RFQ Due no later than 5:00 p.m. EST February 12, 2014 Notifications March 2014 Page 5