BOARD MEETING DATE: June 5, 2009
AGENDA NO. 13
PROPOSAL:
Amend Contract with Technical and Business Systems, Inc. for Air Pollutant Measurements Aloft
SYNOPSIS:
On July 11, 2008, the Board awarded a contract with Technical and Business Systems Inc. to conduct air pollutant measurements aloft for AQMD. This amendment exercises a contract option for a modification to incorporate additional funding in FY 2008-09 to continue the monthly aircraft and balloon measurements through a full year in support of the evaluation of model boundary conditions. Based on the availability of budgeted funds and the contractor’s performance, this action is to amend the contract this action is to amend the contract to increase the funding by $155,000. Funding in the amount of $45,000 is included in the FY 2008-09 Budget. The remaining $110,000 is allocated in the EPA 17th Year Section 105 Grant for the PAMS program, bringing the contract total to $260,000.
COMMITTEE:
Administrative, May 8, 2009, Recommended for Approval
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Authorize the Executive Officer to amend the existing contract with Technical and Business Systems, Inc. and approve an amount not to exceed $155,000 to provide continued measurements.
Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer
Background
The performance of regional air quality models used by AQMD for Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP) preparations has proved to be highly sensitive to initial and boundary conditions of air pollutants. This reflects the complex physical processes of recirculation of pollutants within Southern California and the transport of pollutants within the air basin and from one air basin to another. Data inputs to the regional models include air quality information at the lateral and top boundaries of the model. To date, these have been measured with expensive, highly instrumented aircraft or estimated using larger-scale models. The current study is utilizing cost-effective, unmodified light aircraft and balloon-based measurements platforms for aloft pollutant measurements.
On April 4, 2008, RFP #P2008-17 was released to solicit proposals from qualified consultants to perform aloft air pollutant measurements for the AQMD. On July 11, 2008, the Board awarded this contract to Technical and Business Systems, Inc. in the amount of $105,000, with the ability to add funds for additional measurements in FY2008-09 based upon availability of funds and satisfactory contractor performance. This contract effort provides current snapshots of key model boundary parameters to help evaluate the boundary conditions used in the modeling efforts. The measurements began in the winter of 2008-09 and will continue for a full year to provide a measure of the seasonal variability of ozone and precursor species, with increased measurement frequency during the summer ozone season. The requested additional funding from FY2008-09 was anticipated to accomplish all the desired measurement goals in the summer, fall and winter of 2009. Additional instrumentation will be added to the aircraft for the measurement of sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and humidity. Continuous ground-level ozone monitoring will be added to one or more of the offshore islands to provide a more complete understanding of the offshore conditions and transport of ozone. Additional data analyses and documentation will also be provided.
Proposal
Based on the availability of funding for this purpose in FY2008-09, the success of the pilot project to date, and the responsiveness and satisfactory performance of Technical and Business Systems, Inc., staff recommends amending this contract to increase funding by $155,000, for a contract total of $260,000, and extending the term of the contract by one year, to July 31, 2010, to allow completion of the project.
Resource Impacts
The Board allocated $45,000 for this contract amendment in the Planning, Rule Development and Area Sources FY 2008-09 Budget, Contracts and Special Services account – Ozonesonde Measurements for Air Quality Model Evaluation (26445-67450). The remaining $110,000 for this contract amendment has been earmarked from the U.S. EPA Section 105 Grant for the PAMS 17th Year program. Of this, $50,000 was allocated for this purpose by the Board on November 7, 2008 (Agenda No. 8) to Planning, Rule Development and Area Sources under Professional and Special Services – Pilot Upper Air Measurement Study (26530-67450). The final $60,000 was allocated on November 7, 2008 for an amendment to continue funding the ongoing PAMS Meteorology Program Audits, that will not be needed until FY 2009-10. This funding will be re-allocated for the Air Pollution Measurements Aloft contract. This change has been discussed with U.S. EPA and authorized.