BOARD MEETING DATE: January 8, 2010
AGENDA NO. 11

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 and funding for continued measurements was approved on June 5, 2009. This new amendment will incorporate additional funding in FY 2009-10 to continue aircraft, balloon and surface measurements to study variability of AQMP model boundary conditions and to allow for validation of the AQMD measurements during the 2010 CalNex measurement study. Based on the availability of budgeted funds and the contractor’s performance, staff recommends extending this contract in an amount not to exceed $110,000. $60,000 is budgeted in FY 2009-10 in the Planning, Rule Development and Area Sources Contracts and Special Services account. The remaining $50,000 is allocated in the EPA 18^th Year Section 105 Grant for the PAMS program, bringing the contract total to $370,000.

COMMITTEE:

Administrative, December 11, 2009, Recommended for Approval 

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Authorize the Executive Officer to amend the existing contract with Technical and Business Systems, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $110,000 to provide continued measurements and analyses. 
 

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 have 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, as well as continuous ozone measurements on Catalina Island.

On April 4, 2008, RFP #P2008-17 was released to solicit proposals from qualified consultants to perform air pollutant measurements aloft. On July 11, 2008, the Board awarded this contract to Technical and Business Systems, Inc. in the amount of $105,000 for the initial pilot study to evaluate the measurement platforms. On June 5, 2009, the Board authorized additional funds for this contract in the amount of $155,000 to continue measurements through a full year of twice-monthly measurements. The new amendment will utilize the measurement platforms to conduct focused studies of critical periods and evaluate effects of changes in ship routes offshore. This effort will extend our understanding of the variability of offshore conditions and allow validation of the AQMD measurements during the CalNex field measurement study in the summer of 2010. Furthermore, this amendment will fund additional data analyses and documentation summarizing the data collected from the start of the project.

Proposal

Based on the availability funding for this purpose in FY 2009-10, the success of the project to date, and the responsiveness and satisfactory performance of Technical and Business Systems, Inc., staff recommends exercising the option in the contract to increase funding by $110,000. 

Resource Impacts

The Board allocated $60,000 for this contract amendment in the Planning, Rule Development and Area Sources FY 2009-10 Budget, Professional and Special Services account (26445-67450) – Aircraft Measurement Pilot Study for AQ Model ($30,000) and Ozonesonde Measurements for AQ Model ($30,000). The remaining $50,000 for this contract amendment has been earmarked from the U.S. EPA Section 105 Grant for the PAMS 18^th Year program, allocated for this purpose by the Board on October 2, 2009 (Agenda No. 5) to Planning, Rule Development and Area Sources under Contracts – Pilot Upper Air Ozone/Precursor Measurements (26530-67450).