Federal Lands Assessments under the Impact Assessment Act

1. ADVANCE CONTRACT AWARD NOTICE (ACAN) # INFC-2022/2023-PS3876

An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier, thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities.

If no supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier.

2. DEFINITION OF THE REQUIREMENT

The Department of Infrastructure Canada (INFC) requires technical services to support in the preparation of federal land assessment reports for projects of low to medium complexity and the completion of an associated adequacy assessment memo to support conclusions. The contractor will need to assess environmental effects and interactions, proposed mitigation measures, provide supplemental mitigation measures, as required, and determine if impacts are anticipated to result in significant adverse effects for a variety of projects. This process will inform Infrastructure Canada for making its decision under section 82 of the Impact Assessment Act (IAA).

Generally, Infrastructure Canada will provide relevant project information in order for the contractor to complete the task; however, the contractor may be required to complete independent desktop reviews of various databases to support their work.

Context:

The IAA came into force on 2019-08-30. Given INFC is a federal authority under the IAA and also provides financial assistance to a high project volume, the department is experiencing a greater number of projects on federal lands. In addition, INFC is presently lacking the expertise required to assess factors under section 84 of the IAA. Therefore, this contract is specifically related to supporting INFC make a decision under section 82 of the IAA and will require the contractor to determine whether the carrying out of a project on federal lands is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects which must be based on a consideration of the following factors:

- Any adverse impact that the project may have on the rights of the Indigenous Peoples of Canada

recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982;

- Indigenous knowledge provided with respect to the project;

- Community knowledge provided with respect to the project;

- Comments received from the public under subsection 86(1) of the IAA; and

- The proposed mitigation measures are technically and economically feasible and would mitigate any

significant adverse environmental effects of the project.

The Work will involve the following:

Deliverables

The contractor will have to review information provided by INFC for various projects on federal lands and prepare a federal lands assessment report (INFC`s Environmental Effects and Mitigation Measures form) that INFC then will use to make its decision under Section 82 of the IAA. To this end, INFC anticipates two scenarios in which the contractor shall either:

Scenario 1: receive all the information necessary to complete a review of INFC’s Environmental Effects and Mitigation Measures form and prepare Sections G and H and Annex: Resources and References; or

Scenario 2: compile the necessary information required to complete INFC’s Environmental Effects and Mitigation Measures form when insufficient information has been supplied by reviewing and preparing Sections B to H and Annex: Resources and References.

In doing so, the contractor will also be required to review and analyze available project documentation such as environmental and aboriginal consultation reports and records, as well as emails, maps and drawings or other sources of information (websites).

In addition, regardless of scenario, the contractor will be required to provide an Adequacy Analysis summary of each federal lands assessment report which will present an analysis of the existing environment, environmental interactions, effects assessment, and mitigation measures. The Adequacy Analysis is expected inform INFC on its ability to make its decision under section 82 of the IAA.

Constraints

The following items must be considered:

1. This work cannot be performed by a third party or a subcontractor.
2. INFC will not provide any training and/or guidance with respect to the IAA , its process and requirements;
3. the contractor will directly communicate with INFC for any project related questions and/or follow-ups; and
4. the contractor will require the use of Google Earth.

Timelines

Scenario 1: The contractor will have up to ten (10) business days from receiving project documentation to submit a draft federal lands assessment report for INFC review. Upon receiving INFC review comments, the Contractor will have up to three (3) business days to submit a final version of the federal lands assessment report (Environmental Effects and Mitigation Measures form) along with the Adequacy Analysis.

Scenario 2: The contractor will have up to fifteen (15) business days from receiving project documentation to submit a draft federal lands assessment report for INFC review. Upon receiving INFC review comments, the Contractor will have up to three (3) business days to submit a final version of the federal lands assessment report (Environmental Effects and Mitigation Measures form) along with the Adequacy Analysis.

Client Support

INFC will provide:

1. Environmental Effects and Mitigation Measures form;
2. Information for projects on federal lands (description, location, maps, drawings, project related environmental reports and records, etc.); and
3. Liaison with proponents.

Official Languages

The contractor may use the Official Language of their choice to conduct business over the period of work. The contractor may also be required to review documentation provided in French only. Final deliverables are in English only.

3. CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT OF THE STATEMENT OF CAPABILITIES (Minimum Essential Requirements)

Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement of capabilities that it meets all the following requirements:

Security Requirements:

There are no security requirements.

Essential Service Requirements

Based on what the Work involves that was identified in section 2.0, any interested supplier must demonstrate that they:

• Experience
  • Appoint a project leader with a minimum of twenty (20) years experience working in the environmental assessment field;
  • Assemble a project team that is capable of working in both official languages of Canada (English and French) as per the advanced level of the language proficiency grid below; and

Legend

Oral

Comprehension

Written

Basic

A person speaking at this level can:

- ask and answer simple questions;

- give simple instructions; and

- give uncomplicated directions relating to routine work situations.

A person reading at this level can:

- fully understand very simple texts;

- grasp the main idea of texts about familiar topics; and

- read and understand elementary points of information such as dates, numbers, or names from relatively more complex texts to perform routine job-related tasks.

A person writing at this level can:

- write isolated words, phrases, simple statements or questions on very familiar topics using words of time, place or person.

Intermediate

A person speaking at this level can:

- sustain a conversation on concrete topics; report on actions taken;

- give straightforward instructions to employees; and

- provide factual descriptions and explanations.

A person reading at this level can:

- grasp the main idea of most work-related texts;

- identify specific details; and

- distinguish main from subsidiary ideas.

A person writing at this level can:

- deal with explicit information on work-related topics since they have sufficient mastery of grammar and vocabulary.

Advanced

A person speaking at this level can:

- support opinions; and understand and express hypothetical and conditional ideas

A person reading at this level can:

- understand most complex details, inferences and fine points of meaning; and

- have a good comprehension of specialized or less familiar material.

A person writing at this level can:

- write texts where ideas are developed and presented in a coherent manner.

• Have delivered federal land assessment reports for at least seven (7) Indigenous proponent led projects on federal lands within the last three (3) years under the Impact Assessment Act in the provinces of Ontario, British Columbia, and Prince Edward Island which considered Section 84 of the Impact Assessment Act:
  • Any adverse impact that the project may have on the rights of the Indigenous peoples of Canada recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982;
  • Indigenous knowledge provided with respect to the project;
  • Community knowledge provided with respect to the project;
  • Comments received from the public under subsection 86(1) of the IAA; and
  • The mitigation measures that are technically and economically feasible and that would mitigate any significant adverse environmental effects of the project.

• Knowledge and understanding of:
  • File sharing repositories (ex. Central Collab);
  • Google Earth software; and
  • Federal requirements under the Impact Assessment Act and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012.
• Academic qualifications
  • Each member of the project team must have a minimum education level of a bachelor’s degree in the environmental field
  • In addition to the bachelor’s degree requirement, the project leader must have a master’s degree
• Professional designation, accreditation, and/or certification
  • The project leader must hold a Project Management Professional (PMP) certificate

4. APPLICABILITY OF THE TRADE AGREEMENTS TO THE PROCUREMENT

This procurement is subject to the following trade agreements:

• Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA),
• Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA),
• Canada-Columbia Free Trade Agreement (CColFTA),
• Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement (CHFTA),
• Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement (CKFTA),
• Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement (CPanFTA),
• Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA),
• Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA),
• Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA),
• Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement (C-UKTCA);
• Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and
• World Trade Organization Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP)
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5. SET-ASIDE UNDER THE PROCUREMENT STRATEGY FOR ABORIGINAL BUSINESS

This procurement is not subject to any set-asides for Indigenous/Aboriginal suppliers.

6. COMPREHENSIVE LAND CLAIMS AGREEMENT(S)

This procurement is not subject to any Comprehensive Land Claims Agreements.

7. JUSTIFICATION FOR THE PRE-IDENTIFIED SUPPLIER

The pre-identified supplier meets all of the minimum essential requirements and has already completed a contract of similar working scope and has established a successful working relationship with INFC. The previous contract was solicited to thirteen (13) potential qualified suppliers in 2020 (Solicitation No. INFC-2020/2021 – PS2863) with only two (2) bids received. The low response rate leads INFC to believe that it is not in the public interest to re-solicit bids.

8. Government Contracts Regulations Exception:

The following exception to the Government Contracts Regulations (https://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-87-402/FullText.html) is invoked for the procurement under subsection 6(c) ‘the nature of the work to be contracted for is such that it would not be in the public interest to solicit bids.

9. EXCLUSIONS AND/OR LIMITED TENDERING REASONS

The following exclusions and/or limited tendering reasons are invoked under the:

• Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) – Article 513.b.iii: Due to an absence of competition for technical reasons

• Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) – Article Kbis-09.1.c: For additional deliveries by the original supplier that are intended either as replacement parts, extensions, or continuing services for existing equipment, software, services or installations, where a change of supplier would compel the entity to procure goods or services not meeting requirements of interchangeability with existing equipment, software, services, or installations;
  • Canada-Columbia Free Trade Agreement (CColFTA) – Article 1409.1.b.iii: Due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;

• Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement (CHFTA) – Article 17.11.2.b.iii: There is an absence of competition for technical reasons;

• Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement (CKFTA) – Article 22.1.3.b: To ensure compliance with laws and regulations that are not inconsistent with this Agreement;
  • Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement (CPanFTA) – Article 16.10.1.b.iii: Of the absence of competition for technical reasons;
  • Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA) – Article 1409.1.b.iii: Due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
  • Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA) – Article 10.13.1.b.iii: Due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
  • Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) – Article 19.12.b.iii: Due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
  • Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement (C-UKTCA) – CETA Article 19.12.b.iii (same as CETA): Due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
  • Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) – Article 15.10.2.b.iii: Due to an absence of competition for technical reasons; and
  • World Trade Organization Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP) – Article XIII.1.b.iii: Due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;

10. OWNERSHIP OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Canada intends to retain ownership of any Foreground Intellectual Property arising out of the proposed contract on the basis that the main purpose of the contract is to generate knowledge and information for public dissemination

11.  PERIOD OF THE PROPOSED CONTRACT

The proposed contract is for a period of one (1) year from date of contract, with an option to extend the contract for two (2) additional periods of one (1) year each.

12. COST ESTIMATE OF THE PROPOSED CONTRACT

The estimated maximum value of the contract, including options, is $ 150,000 - $300,000 CAD (Applicable Taxes included).

13. NAME AND ADDRESS OF THE PRE-IDENTIFIED SUPPLIER

Golder Associates Ltd.

1931 Robertson Rd.

Ottawa, ON K2H 5B7

Canada

14. SUPPLIERS’ RIGHT TO SUBMIT A STATEMENT OF CAPABILITIES

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the services/goods described herein may submit a Statement of Capabilities by e-mail, to the contact person identified in section 16 of this Notice on or before the closing date and time of this Notice (see section 15). The Statement of Capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

15. CLOSING DATE AND TIME

The closing date for a submission of a Statement of Capabilities is May 4, 2022 at 2 PM (14:00) Eastern Standard Time (EST).

16. Inquiries and SUBMISSION OF statementS of capabilities

Inquiries and statements of capabilities are to be directed to:

Jennifer Hendrick

Manager – Procurement Services

Infrastructure Canada

Email: procurement-approvisionnement@infc.gc.ca