SOP - 22. Environmental Forensic Site Investigation and Other Technical Support Services Contract

The Division of Waste Management has executed the Forensic Site Investigation and Other Technical Support Services Contract to provide environmental forensic site investigations, verification assessments, special case studies, tank abandonment and/or tank removal services (hereinafter referred to as Technical Support Services).

Services Provided Under Technical Support Services Contract

Forensic Site Investigation

Environmental forensics techniques will be utilized to identify when the discharge(s) occurred, how the discharges occurred, from where those discharges originate, and to allocate remediation costs. These considerations may become important in the Department’s analysis of liability for remediation, or when allocating how much contamination originates from different discharges. The results of these investigations may be used to finalize the Department’s review or may be used to support the Department’s position in court of law or other form of litigation. While a contractor may be asked to provide its professional opinion, the contractor shall not provide legal opinions in any document presented to the Department under this Contract.

The Department may ask the Technical Support Services contractor to conduct a Forensic Site Investigation as needed by using existing site assessment data and historical information and/or using new data that will be collected from the site in accordance with Chapters 62-160 and 62-780, F.A.C., and other applicable rules or per Department guidance.   

Per the May 17, 2018 Memo - Spending Category Policy for Forensic and other Technical Support Services  (F&TSS) Work, the work authorized under the F&TSS Contracts do not count toward the individual site's cleanup CAP. 

Baseline Information and Verification Assessment

The Department reserves the right to independently confirm the results of any and all work performed by the contractor at any time.

The contractor may be tasked with:

• Evaluating site risk;
• Verifying assessment data collected by others;
• Gathering and interpreting baseline information on the extent and degree of contamination;
• Conducting general studies of technical efficiencies, and;
• Performing special projects including but not limited to special case studies, statistics, expert evaluation.

Tank Removal/Abandonment

Performing tank abandonment and/or tank removal activities for inactive sites or sites in which the owner is indigent.

Related and Supporting Tasks

Related tasks may include but are not limited to:

• Acquiring all federal, state and local permits, authorizations and inspections necessary to complete the contractor’s work;
• Securing on-site and off-site access from the correct property owners and tenants of the land;
• Leasing or recording pre-existing leases using a Department template;
• Ensuring compliance with all additional environmental regulations;
• Responding to public records requests in a timely and complete manner, and;
• Providing community relations support to the Department.

Technical Support Services will be provided on a task assignment basis by utilizing its approved rates and templates. Contractor selection for these services is authorized by ss. 376.307, 376.3071, 287.057, and 287.055, F.S. Activities associated with the Technical Support Services will be performed in accordance with the provisions of ss. 376.307 and 376.3071, F.S., and Chapter 62-780, F.A.C., and other departmental guidance and procedures.

As work becomes available, the contract manager of Technical Support Services will assign a contractor from a pool of Technical Support Services contractors based on contractor logistics, geographical considerations, contractor specialties, convenience or other criteria at the Department’s discretion.

The Technical Support Services team will generate a task assignment (TA) and purchase order. The team will oversee the management of the TA issued. Note that the Technical Support Services team will not take over the site management, but it can run parallel to the site manager’s regular work. 

Based on the scope of work, the contractor assigned will submit a final report. The department will not co-author a Forensic Site Investigation report; deliverable reports and their contents will be solely the contractor's responsibility. The deliverable reports for the other services provided under this contract may be co-authored by the Department, at its sole discretion. A draft copy of each deliverable report will be provided to the Department for review and comments prior to submitting the final version. Comments from the site manager and technical staff are welcome for this type of work and reports.

The Department reserves the right to task the selected contractor with other services that are not specified above, but are deemed necessary by the Department, and which are related to the general scope of services outlined herein.

Justification and approval for Technical Support Services shall be handled on a case-by-case basis. DEP and contracted local program staff should direct a written request for forensic technical analysis or other technical support services together with supporting justification through their supervisor and section leader to the following first points of contact within the Division of Waste Management:

• SRFA Cost Share Agreement Coordinator for sites involved in SRFA negotiations
• Chief Geologist for sites involved in a request to rescind a previously issued NFA or SRC Order or Verification Sampling or Confirmatory Assessment
• Assistant Chief Engineer for sites at which a new discharge is suspected but not confirmed

If the first point of contact concurs with the justification, the request for Technical Support Services will be referred to the state contract manager for assignment and implementation. Upon completion, a report will be provided to the original requestor who should discuss the results with the section geologist and the first point-of-contact reviewer.

The package requesting Technical Support Services will include:

• Memo through the section leader and Technical Staff listed above
• Site information (Facility Identification Number, Site Address, Discharge[s] date, Programs[s])
• Owner/RP information (name, address, phone number, email address)
• Site Access Agreement
• Justification for the task
• Clear work description needed, scope for the non-forensic type work, plume map showing well/soil boring locations, related tables
• Any other site-specific details

Return to: PRP Site Manager Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) webpage.

Return to: SOP - 8. Contractor Assignment and Selection Process webpage.