[Coral-List] CNMI Bleaching/Baseline study RFP

[Steven.McKagan at noaa.gov]

Hafa Adai Coral-List,

Please pass this announcement along to anyone who would be interested in
helping us coordinate a bleaching monitoring and baseline study for CNMI
reefs this summer/fall.

-Steve


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Mariana Islands Bleaching Response, 2011
Scope of Work
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Introduction – 
According to recent NOAA NESDIS prediction models the Mariana Islands
narrowly avoided conditions that would have lead to severe and broad
scale bleaching in the summer of 2010.  In an effort to be prepared for
potential impacts in 2011 the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands (CNMI) Division of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is currently
requesting bids or price quotes from coral experts to act as Principal
Investigator (PI) and coordinate monitoring and response efforts for
2011.  Bleaching conditions are most probable between August and
October, so the PI must be available on relatively short notice to
respond when contacted by the regional coral coordinator.  In the event
that bleaching does not occur the PI will work with the regional
coordinator to establish shallow water sampling locations, test new
methods and expand Marine Monitoring Program (MMP) baselines into the
Northern Islands.

Requirements – 
•	The PI must meet all US Government procurement and contract requirements. 
•	The PI must be available with relatively short notice in August and
September and fully available for the month of October 2011.
•	Due to the taxanomic and statistical demands of this project
contracted support will have to meet the following requirements:
o	Coral taxonomic expertise 
o	Experience with described monitoring methods 
o	Knowledge of and field experience in the Marianas Archipelago
o	Publications illustrating proficiency in data management and statistics
o	Schedule flexibility 
•	Note – The local Coral Coordinator and at least one member of the CNMI
MMP will be available to help with field activities and provide support
for fish and macro invertebrate surveys, but the PI will be responsible
for all coral assessments.  Sampling approach and methods remain
somewhat flexible, pending a final agreement between the PI and Coral
Coordinator.
    
Sampling Locations - 
Key locations will be identified and sampled on Saipan, Tinian, Rota and
key locations in the Northern Islands if possible.  There are 30
sampling sites currently sampled by the MMP as well as NOAA’s CRED
program around the southern three islands and several more around each
of the Northern Islands.  The response team will be tasked with
performing detailed severity surveys at these priority sites and with
performing broadscale extent surveys at several locations near each
priority site.  For consistency, and to minimize the need for new
baselines, priority habitats and sampling methods will be set to closely
match the work currently being done by local CNMI agencies involved with
the MMP and at paired shallower sites.  The bleaching response team
would plan to target all of the sites on Saipan and Tinian and about 5
sites on Rota for a detailed examination of the nature and magnitude of
change and recovery by performing severity surveys should bleaching
occur.  These data, along with information collected from the Northern
Islands, will be used to generate statistical relationships with
existing data to approach causation of differential ecological change. 
Broadscale surveys will also be performed to provide habitat ranges,
coral cover estimates, herbivory and other information that will help us
to understand the spatial extent of future bleaching or coral loss events.

Envisioned Methods –
Coral Communities - The point quadrat method is to be used to collect
data for coral community analysis. At haphazard intervals a 0.5 m x 0.5
m quadrat is randomly tossed and every coral whose center point lay
inside the quadrat is recorded to species level and measured, with an
emphasis on bleaching and disease observations. The largest diameter,
and the diameter perpendicular to the maximum are recorded for each
colony. Percent coverage, relative abundances, population densities, and
geometric diameters are calculated from these measurements

Macroinvertebrate Abundance - Invertebrate surveys are to be completed
within belt transects along each of the three to five 50 m transect
lines at a site. All macroinvertebrates (>2 cm) observed without
disturbing the substrate within two meters of each side of the transect
line are identified and counted. The total survey area along each
transect will be 4 m x 50 m (200 m2)

Fish Abundance & Functional Groups - Fish surveys are to be completed
along each of the three to five 50 m transect lines at a site. Counts
are made of all fish at >5 cm at the species (or functional group)
level, within 2.5 m of each side of the transect line. Averaged values
are reported as abundance/100 m2.

Broadscale Surveys - The broadscale methods are yet to be completely
defined but would follow protocols outlined in recent publications and
may undergo some change as new science emerges and as we complete a
review of options and data goals.  We would expect the new and
affordable underwater GPS tools such as the Navimate ™ to be utilized
during these surveys.  Navimate ™ technology, if available, will be
provided by the MMP and should not be included into budgeting for this
proposal.

Quotation Details - 
Specifically, we request a proposal that includes:
Name
Affiliation
CV with publications and/or other justification of experience
Estimated Cost for 9 days of field activities on Saipan and Tinian 
Estimated Cost for 3 days of field activities on Rota 
Estimated Cost for 6 days of field activities in the Northern Islands
(Please note that boat and captain needs will be arranged by the
regional coordinator for all field activities and should not be factored
into field costs)
Indirect Costs
Operational Supply Costs 
Estimated Cost for 12 days of data development and report generation 
Deliverables provided by contracted researcher will include:
•	All raw data collected during the study
•	A report summarizing baseline data and trends for all sites
•	An integration of extent, severity and resiliency based on current
findings and baselines set by the existing ten year MMT data set.


Submission –
Please follow the instructions outlined in the request letter below.


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REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
“Mariana Islands Bleaching Response, 2011”
RFP11-DEQ-044
-----------------------------------------------
Governor Benigno R. Fitial and Lt. Governor Eloy S. Inos, through the
Director of Division of Environmental Quality, are soliciting proposals
from qualified individuals or firms to conduct the following projects on
the island of Saipan:

Coordination of Reef Resiliency Monitoring and Baseline Setting for 2011

The scope of work may be obtained at the Division of Environmental
Quality, Gualo Rai Center, Suite 101 from Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to
4:30 p.m., except on CNMI legal holidays. All inquiries should be
directed to Frank M. Rabauliman, Director, Division of Environmental
Quality at telephone number (670) 664-8500 no later than March 28, 2011,
close of business.

Proposals for the projects, including cost estimates, must be submitted
in one (1) original and six (6) copies for each proposal to the Division
of Procurement and Supply in a sealed envelope marked RFP11-DEQ-044    
     no later than 2:00pm, local time, April 06, 2011.  Any proposals
received after the deadline will not be accepted.

Procurement of these services is made in accordance with Section 3-103
of the CNMI Procurement Regulations. Proposal for this project will be
evaluated based on the following criteria:

A.	Technical Requirements	

1.	Coral taxonomic expertise (25%)
2.	Experience with described monitoring methods (25%)
3.	Knowledge of and field experience in the Marianas Archipelago (15%)
4.	Publications illustrating proficiency in data management and
statistics (15%)
5.	Schedule flexibility (20%)

B.	Cost

Price is also a factor that will be evaluated in comparison with the
overall merit of the proposals. Technical merit is more important than
price and the Government reserves the right to award to other than the
lowest offeror. As proposals become more equal in technical merit, the
importance in price will increase.

Discussions may be conducted with responsible offerors, who submit
proposals determined to be reasonably susceptible of being selected for
award, for the purpose of clarification and ensure full understanding
of, and responsiveness to solicitation requirements.  Offerors will be
accorded fair and equal treatment with respect to opportunity for
discussion and revision of proposals, and such revisions may be
permitted after submission and prior to award for the purpose of
obtaining the best and final offer.  In conducting discussions, there
shall be no disclosure of any information derived from proposals
submitted by competing offerors. 

All responses to this RFP should take into account any and all taxes,
including excise tax, which will become the obligation of the proposer
awarded a contract. The firm selected will be subject to a
responsibility determination in conformance with the Procurement
Regulations Section 3-301 and must be able to obtain a CNMI Business
License prior to the contract award.

All wage rates for employees performing work, labor, and services on
this project shall be paid the U.S. Federal Minimum wage per Governor’s
Directive No. 241, effective July 29, 2004.

Until award of a contract is made, the content of any proposal submitted
by the proposer shall be held in strictest confidence and no details of
any proposal will be discussed outside the Evaluation Team created by
the Division of Environmental Quality and/or any CNMI Government Office
directly involved with this procurement. The award of this project is
contingent upon receipt of the necessary funding and/or required
approval to enter into legally binding agreements to complete the entire
project.

Award shall be made to the responsible offeror whose proposal is
determined in writing to be most advantageous to the government taking
into consideration price and the evaluation factors set forth in this
request for proposal. No other factors or criteria shall be used in the
evaluation.

All proposal submission must be sealed, shall be marked
“RFP11-DEQ-044-Mariana Islands Bleaching Response, 2011” and submitted
in one original and size (6) copies no later than 2:00pm, Saipan Time on
April 06, 2011 to the Office of the Director of Procurement and Supply,
Lower Base, Saipan, MP 96950.  Proposals located from outside the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands may obtain an additional
severn (7) working days for receipt of their proposals by submitting a
Notice of Intent to Propose.  Notise of Intent to Propose must be
received by the Director of Procurement and Supply no later than 2:00pm,
Saipan Time, April 06, 2011 and must be transmitted via facsimile to
(670) 664-1515 or via e-mail to procurement at pticom.com.  For proposers
located outside of the CNMI one original and size (6) copies of sealed
proposals must be postmarked by the U.S. Postal Service or the official
government postal service of a foreign country no later than April 06,
2011 AND must be received no later than April 18, 2011.

Payment Terms:

Payments shall be made only upon submission of evidence of work
performed and adherence to the contract terms and specifications. 
Generally, a one-time payment shall be made after the official with
expenditure authority has certified completion of work or delivery of
goods or services.

Advance Payments:

Advance Payments shall be processed pursuant to NMIAC section 70-30.3-401(1)

This is a Federally Funded project; as such, the local preference not
available because its use is prohibited by federal law granting funding
for this project.

The government reserves the right to reject any or all proposals and to
waive any imperfection in a proposal if in the best interest of the
CNMI.  All proposals shall become the property of the CNMI government.