Distribution and Bioaccessibility of Chemical Management Plan (CMP) Priority Metals in Road Dust.

HEALTH CANADA ADVANCE CONTRACT AWARD NOTICE

TITLE: Distribution and Bioaccessibility of Chemical Management Plan (CMP) Priority Metals in Road Dust.

SOLICITATION NUMBER: 1000175455

1. The Purpose and Explanation of an ACAN

An Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) allows Health Canada contracting authorities to post a notice on the Government Electronic Tendering System (GETS), for no less than fifteen (15) calendar days, indicating to the supplier community that a good, service or construction contract will be awarded to a pre-identified contractor. If no other supplier submits, on or before the closing date, a Statement of Capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, the contracting authority may then proceed with the award. However, should a Statement of Capabilities be found to meet the requirements set out in the ACAN, then the contracting authority will proceed to a full tendering process.

2. Rights of Suppliers

Suppliers who believe that they are fully qualified and available to provide the services or goods described in this ACAN may submit a Statement of Capabilities clearly demonstrating how they meet the advertised requirement. This Statement of Capabilities must be provided via e-mail only to the contact person identified in Section 12 of the Notice on or before the closing date and time of the Notice. If there is a reasonable level of evidence regarding capability, the requirements will be opened to electronic or traditional bidding processes.

3. Proposed Contractor

University of Toronto

Innovations & Partnerships Office

Banting Institute

100 College Street, Suite 413

Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1L5

4. Definition of Requirements or Expected Results

To address information needs under the Chemical Management Plan (CMP) and Clean Air Regulatory Agenda, Health Canada (HC) is proposing a three-year collaborative study with University of Toronto to provide new information on CMP priority metals in environmental media with focus on road dust particles which may enter the home environment by penetration through openings and by tracking in soil and dirt. The project will also investigate the speciation of metals in particles introduced to indoor and ambient air during resuspension (available for inhalation exposures). The speciation component will include both physical speciation (through examination of metal distribution across different size fractions) and chemical speciation (using in vitro bioaccessibility extractions that simulate human lung and gastrointestinal environments).

The purpose of this contract is to support Health Canada research under the Federal Chemical Management Plan (CMP), and to address the requirement for information on metals in urban road dust.

The specific objectives are to:

1. Provide a study design for collection and chemical analysis of a set of road dust samples dust from one or more typical major urban centres in Canada . The total number of samples will be determined as part of the study design to provide adequate representation of a range of traffic volumes, speed limits and vehicular types,
2. Complete the sample collection and submission for chemical analysis by Health Canada. Provide a statistical summary (including 25th, 50th 75th, and 95th percentiles, geomean, average and standard deviation) of concentrations of CMP3 metals in road dust.
3. Characterize metal bioaccessibility in a representative subset of the samples (chemical speciation component) in collaboration with Health Canada.
4. Determine particle size distribution and metal contents in different size fractions (down to the nanoscale) in resuspended road dust (physical speciation component) in collaboration with Health Canada.
5. Interpret the metal concentrations and speciation in the context of the road network represented in the study design.
   

5. Minimum Requirements

Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a Statement of Capabilities that it meets the following minimum requirements:

1) expertise in the analytical chemistry techniques for characterizing metal speciation in environmental samples, with focus on platinum group elements, and the experience in road dust sampling and interpretation of metal speciation results.

2) ability to demonstrate through authored and co-authored publications in peer-reviewed scientific literature the following experience:

1. a minimum of 10 years recent experience investigating the concentrations, fate and behaviour of a large range of metals and metalloids in roadside and urban environments;
   
2. a minimum of 10 years recent experience in the development and application of analytical methods for the reliable measurement of metals (including platinum group elements) in environmental media; and
   
3. a minimum of 5 years recent experience in the development and application of methods to assess metal and metalloid bioaccessibility in the human lung.
   

3) able to conduct the study in a major Canadian city; and

4) the lead investigator must hold a faculty position in a university. This is necessary to demonstrate that the candidate will have access to the facilities and expertise needed to complete the requirements of this contract in the stated timeframe.

6. Reason for Non-competitive Award

Section 6 of the Government Contracts Regulations contains four exceptions that permit the contracting authority to set aside the requirement to solicit bids. For the proposed procurement, the following exception applies:

(d) Only One Person or Firm is capable of performing the contract.

University of Toronto is the only service provider that meets all of the minimum requirements and complies with the specified tight deadlines and budgets.

7. Applicable Trade Agreements and Justification for Limited Tendering or the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business

This requirement is subject to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT). However, this requirement also meets the conditions for limiting the tendering procedures in accordance with:

I. AIT, Article 506.12 (b).

II. NAFTA, Article 1016.2 (b)

which allow for contracts to be directed to a particular firm when the products or services can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no reasonable alternative or substitute exists.

This requirement is not subject to the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business.

8. Ownership of Intellectual Property

Copyright shall vest with the Contractor, although the Contractor shall grant the Crown a license to exercise all Intellectual Property Rights in the Materiel for any public purpose.

9. Period of the Proposed Contract

The contract period shall be from the date of contract award until March 16, 2018.

10. Estimated Value of the Proposed Contract

The estimated value of the proposed contract is $135,000.00, including all applicable taxes (Fiscal Year 2015-16 = $35,000; FY2016-17 = $50,000; FY2017-18 = $50,000).

11. Closing Date and Time

The closing date and time for accepting Statements of Capabilities is the 3rd of December 2015, 2 p.m. EST.

12. Contact Person

All inquiries with regard to this Notice must be addressed by e-mail to:

Name: Robert Merrick

E-Mail: Robert.Merrick@hc-sc.gc.ca