BCLBC Environmental
Services RFP
A summary of technical procurement for Broome County environmental testing, consulting, and abatement services for the Affordable Homes Program.
- The Broome County Land Bank Corporation (BCLBC): Acting as the primary awarding body and definitive client for this Request for Proposals, the Broome County Land Bank Corporation (often referred to simply as the "Land Bank") represents a critical institutional entity tasked with the profound responsibility of managing distressed properties throughout the region. Operating out of their headquarters situated at 60 Hawley Street, 5th Floor, Binghamton, New York 13901, the BCLBC is actively soliciting professional environmental testing and consulting services. The overarching mission of the Land Bank is structurally aligned with the revitalization of the local housing market and the elimination of neighborhood blight. To achieve these expansive goals, the BCLBC leverages a highly complex operational framework that requires the expertise of specialized environmental consultants to ensure that all property interventions are conducted safely and within the strict bounds of the law.
- The Affordable Homes Program: A central pillar of the Land Bank's operational strategy, and the primary driver for this environmental services solicitation, is the Affordable Homes Program. This initiative is designed to fundamentally transform distressed real estate assets into viable, safe, and affordable housing units. The properties targeted under this program are explicitly intended to be either fully rehabilitated for future residential use or entirely demolished and subsequently replaced. However, before any structural intervention can commence, these properties must undergo exhaustive environmental evaluations. The Land Bank's solicitation makes it unequivocally clear that environmental testing for hazardous materials is an absolute prerequisite for advancing any property through the Affordable Homes Program pipeline.
- County-Wide Demolition Program Integration: Beyond the specific scope of the Affordable Homes Program, the Land Bank's Request for Proposals explicitly states that they are soliciting these environmental testing and consulting services for their broader, county-wide demolition program as well. This program addresses structures that have deteriorated beyond the point of feasible rehabilitation and pose a direct threat to public safety and neighborhood stability. The inclusion of the county-wide demolition program significantly broadens the potential volume of work for the selected consultants, requiring them to possess the scalability and logistical capacity to deploy testing and monitoring personnel across multiple municipalities within Broome County.
- Complex Grant Funding Matrices: The financial architecture supporting the Broome County Land Bank's initiatives is heavily reliant on a sophisticated variety of local, State, and Federal grant programs. The utilization of these diverse funding streams imposes an overlapping matrix of compliance requirements onto the environmental consulting contract. Consultants selected through this RFP must not only possess the technical acumen to perform the required testing but must also generate documentation that satisfies the disparate reporting standards of various local, state, and federal funding agencies.
- Contractual Longevity and Multi-Award Potential: The structure of the professional service contract reflects a strategic approach to risk management and operational continuity on the part of the Land Bank. The RFP specifies that the baseline duration for the agreement is a two-year contract. Recognizing the potential for ongoing, multi-phased projects within both the Affordable Homes Program and the county-wide demolition program, the Land Bank has also embedded the possibility of a one-year extension into the contract terms. Furthermore, the Land Bank explicitly reserves the sovereign right to award multiple contracts as a direct result of this solicitation, ensuring that the Land Bank is not beholden to a single vendor.
The foundational requirement of the Scope of Services mandates that the consulting firm possess profound, specific testing expertise across a comprehensive spectrum of environmental hazards. The Land Bank explicitly identifies the following primary targets for identification, while also maintaining a broad requirement for the detection of "other hazardous materials":
- Asbestos
- Radon
- Lead-based paint
- Mold
- Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB)
This requirement dictates that the consultant must deploy highly trained personnel equipped with advanced diagnostic tools capable of isolating and quantifying these exact contaminants within the degraded structural environments typical of Land Bank properties.
Think of this as a "building health checkup." Before anyone can safely fix or tear down an old building, experts need to go in and find hidden dangers like asbestos or lead so that workers and neighbors don't get sick during construction.
Beyond the physical sampling of building materials, the scope expands to encompass rigorous air quality testing and monitoring executed in absolute accordance with Federal, State, and local guidelines. This mandate requires the consultant to:
- Establish precise air monitoring perimeters around the site.
- Utilize calibrated high-volume and low-volume air sampling pumps.
- Maintain an unbroken, legally defensible chain of custody for all captured particulate filters.
The consultant must continuously evaluate the ambient air conditions to ensure that airborne hazards, particularly aerosolized asbestos fibers or mold spores generated during abatement activities, do not breach regulatory exposure limits or pose a threat to adjacent communities.
When tearing out hazardous materials, invisible toxic dust can float into the air. This step ensures continuous "air vacuum" tests are running so that no dangerous dust escapes the containment area and harms the surrounding neighborhood.
The BCLBC requires the environmental consultant to transcend the role of a passive tester and assume an active posture in project design and daily project management.
- Project Design: This involves the intellectual formulation of comprehensive abatement strategies tailored to the unique hazard profile of each property, specifying engineering controls, containment barrier configurations, and decontamination facility layouts.
- Daily Management: The consultant is tasked with requiring a consistent, authoritative presence on-site to oversee the implementation of their design, immediately rectify any deviations by the abatement contractors, and ensure the project progresses efficiently without compromising safety.
The consultant doesn't just test the building; they write the strict "how-to" manual for safely removing the hazards. Then, they stand on-site every day acting like a referee to ensure the cleanup crew actually follows the rules.
Section 1.4 encapsulates the core, ongoing field activities required throughout the lifecycle of a Land Bank project:
- Initial Surveys: Conduct exhaustive environmental surveys to map the extent of contamination.
- Continuous Monitoring & Inspection: Rigorous inspections during the active abatement phase to verify hazardous materials are being removed correctly.
- Sampling & Lab Analysis: Physical sampling of materials and subsequent laboratory analysis to translate raw environmental data into actionable intelligence.
This is the ongoing detective work. The consultants are constantly taking samples and sending them to the lab while the cleanup happens, double-checking that nothing was missed and everything is handled legally.
Section 1.5 incorporates a vital clause requiring the consultant to provide miscellaneous technical support as necessary. This open-ended requirement acts as a catch-all provision for unforeseen complications, such as:
- The sudden discovery of an undocumented underground storage tank.
- The emergence of an unidentified chemical substance onsite.
- The need to interpret complex, newly issued regulatory directives.
Old buildings are full of nasty surprises. This is the "expect the unexpected" clause. It guarantees the Land Bank has an expert on speed dial if workers suddenly dig up something dangerous that wasn't on the original maps.
Section 1.6 mandates that the consultant possess the demonstrated ability to coordinate review and approval processes with all involved agencies and municipal code enforcement entities, including:
- The New York State Department of Labor.
- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
- Local Broome County building departments.
The consultant must prepare and submit all necessary variance requests, abatement notifications, and compliance reports, acting as the Land Bank's technical liaison to ensure governmental authorizations proceed without legal encumbrance.
Section 1.7 introduces a profound engineering requirement: the structural evaluation and analysis of buildings for stability. The consultant must possess the engineering expertise to assess:
- Load-bearing walls.
- Foundation integrity.
- Roof system stability.
This analysis is crucial for determining whether a building can safely support the ingress of abatement crews or if specialized shoring and bracing are required before hazardous material removal can be attempted.
Before sending people inside to clean up hazards, a structural engineer must verify the dilapidated building won't literally collapse on them. It's the ultimate safety green-light.
Section 1.8 tasks the consultant with the highly technical responsibility of preparing the environmental documents necessary for rehabilitation and demolition. The consultant must draft:
- Precise, legally binding bid documents.
- Detailed technical specifications.
- Comprehensive remediation blueprints.
This is the paperwork phase. The consultants write the highly specific legal and technical contracts that tell the cleanup crews exactly what to do. If it's not in these documents, it won't get done.
Section 1.11 mandates comprehensive post-construction services. The most critical component is clearance testing:
- Visual Inspections: Re-entering the containment area to perform rigorous physical checks.
- Aggressive Air Clearance: Conducting final air sampling to ensure no residual contaminants remain.
- Final Authorization: Providing the final sign-off only if the air quality meets extremely stringent regulatory thresholds.
This is the final exam. After the cleanup crew finishes, the consultant comes back to do a white-glove inspection and an air test. If it fails, the crew has to clean it all over again. If it passes, the building is officially declared hazard-free.
Underpinning every element of the Scope of Services is the absolute mandate that all work must be completed in strict accordance with all applicable Federal, State, and local rules. Furthermore, the Land Bank explicitly requires that all work must be performed under the direct direction and supervision of a:
- Professional Engineer (PE), or
- Registered Architect (or other licensed professional as specifically required by law).
These professionals must be formally registered to practice within the State of New York, guaranteeing that the highest echelons of professional accountability and ethical standards are applied to the Land Bank's environmental initiatives.
Rate-Based Valuation Matrix
Unlike standard fixed-fee contracts, the BCLBC has structured the valuation of this professional service agreement around a highly specific, task-based and hourly rate schedule. Proposals will be technically evaluated based on the competitiveness and comprehensiveness of the submitted rates across several critical service categories. The evaluation framework is strictly anchored to the following service line items detailed in the RFP:
- Mold Sample Analysis and Turnaround Time (TAT) Metrics: The BCLBC requires precise analytical rates for mold identification. Consultants must provide pricing for Spore Trap Air Sample Analysis, operating under a mandatory 48-Hour Turnaround Time (TAT). Additionally, the rate schedule must include Bulk/Tape/Swab Sample Analysis for Mold, specifically requiring Identification (ID) and Semi-Quantitative Enumeration of Spores, also strictly bound to a 48-Hour TAT.
- Asbestos Project Monitoring and Air Sampling Technician Rates: Bidders are evaluated on their proposed hourly rates for Asbestos Project Monitoring, Air Monitoring, and Monitoring Report Preparation Services. Crucially, the BCLBC requires these rates to be bifurcated into two distinct categories: Straight Time (up to 8 hours on-site during a standard weekday work shift) and Overtime (any onsite time greater than 8 hours during a weekday shift, and all hours worked during weekend or holiday work shifts).
- NYS Certified Mold Assessor Valuations: Bidders must provide their pricing structure for conducting comprehensive Mold Assessments and for the subsequent drafting of the Remediation Work Plan, utilizing fully certified personnel as required by New York State law.
- Administrative, Design, and Support Service Hourly Rates: Bidders must supply per-hour rates for Preparation of Documents, Construction Administration (CA) Phase non-Monitoring Services, and Project Closeout Support Services.
- Professional Licensure and Technical Compliance Validations: Regardless of the competitiveness of a bidder's rate schedule, the proposal must conclusively demonstrate that all work will fall under the direct supervision of a Professional Engineer or Architect registered in New York State.
4.0 Proposal Evaluation Criteria (100 Point Scale)
The Land Bank reserves the right to weigh its evaluation criteria in any manner it deems appropriate. Once firms are evaluated on the below criteria, a committee of the Land Bank's Board of Directors may invite firms to interview. Criteria are not necessarily listed in order of importance: