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REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS RESIDUALS MANAGEMENT CITY OF GASTONIA WASTEWATER TREATMENT DIVISION

1. Purpose

The City of Gastonia (the “City”) is soliciting proposals from qualified vendors to provide professional residuals management and land application services in support of the City’s wastewater treatment facilities. The work defined in the scope of services is for all materials, labor, personnel and equipment necessary for removal, transportation and application of Class B Biosolids residuals as directed by the City. Wastewater Treatment Division personnel will direct operations by coordinating hauling schedules and destinations, and coordinating with the application field owner/lessee. The City will act as the permittee, will designate a City employee as Operator in Responsible Charge to direct program activities, and will certify and submit all regulatory reports. Land will be permitted in the City’s name for all sites under all permits. Residuals management services provided by the vendor will be performed as directed by City staff.

The objective of this contract is to provide cost effective management of the residuals program that is protective of and beneficial to the environment, and acceptable to the public. The practices must adhere to all local, City, regional, state and federal policies and regulations related to handling, transportation, and application of residuals. The City seeks a three-year contract, with options for two one-year extensions at the discretion of the City. It is the intent of the City that implementation of this contract will take place on January 1st, 2021.

2. Submission Requirements

Proposals will be received by the City up until the time stated in this document. At that point the City will close the receipt of proposals and begin the evaluation process. Proposals must address all submittal requirements and price blanks of Section 9: Proposal Format and be signed with the firm name and by an officer or employee having the authority to bind the company or firm by his/her signature.

Proposers must specifically identify portions, if any, of their proposal deemed confidential, proprietary or trade secrets. Vendors must be prepared to justify which information should not be disclosed upon request.

The City requires the proposing contractor be familiar with the documents listed below, as the documents are an integral part of the residuals management program and further demonstrate the project scope. The documents may be provided electronically upon an emailed request to [email protected].

a. NC DEQ Biosolids Permit #WQ0001793

mailto:[email protected]

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b. SC DHEC Biosolids Permit #ND0084883 c. NC, SC and EPA Annual Reports for 2019

Proposals must be submitted electronically as a single PDF to Kevin Graves by email to [email protected] with a subject line that clearly indicates a response to this RFP. Proposals must be received by 5:00 pm on September 23, 2020.

3. Award of Contract

The City reserves the right to reject any and all proposals. The City reserves the right to request oral interviews or request additional written information from any and all vendors.

The City reserves the right to select the bidder that best demonstrates the capability to meet the needs of the City. Negotiations may be undertaken with the vendor whose proposal demonstrates them to be the most qualified, responsible and capable of providing these services. Proposals will be evaluated in terms of qualifications, experience, capabilities, technical approach, costs and compliance with proposal requirements.

The highest ranked proposal will be recommended to the City Manager for award by the City Council.

If the City is unable to negotiate a satisfactory agreement with the highest ranked proposer, negotiations with that proposer will be terminated and the City will decide whether to open negotiations with the second ranked proposer, to reject all proposals and re-advertise, or terminate further consideration of all proposals.

4. Suspension and Termination

The City reserves the right, in its best interest as determined by the City, to cancel the contract by giving written notice to the Contractor thirty (30) days prior to the effective date of such cancellation. In the event of such termination, any services completed by the Contractor under this contract to the satisfaction of the City shall be entitled to receive equitable compensation.

5. Background

The City owns and operates three (3) wastewater treatment plants and a Resource Recovery Farm. The work defined is centered around the City’s facilities in Gaston County of North Carolina. Current service areas extend to field locations in the North Carolina counties of Gaston, Cleveland and Lincoln, as well as York County, South Carolina. The geographic area covered may be expanded in the future if additional fields outside this area are permitted. The scope of work generally consists of furnishing all materials, labor and equipment necessary for the sampling, monitoring, permitting, removal, transportation, beneficial reuse by land application of Class B biosolids and/or disposal of residuals generated through the City's wastewater processes. Other residual management activities in recent years have included lagoon clean-outs, digester clean-outs, dewatering and landfill operations, lagoon maintenance

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and dewatered residuals land application. The contractor may be required to perform any of these activities.

6. Scope of Services It will be the contractor's responsibility to remove residuals from the storage facilities at each location, transport residuals to the permitted application sites and land apply utilizing agronomic rates following the guidelines and regulations of 40 CFR Part 503, NCAC 15A 02T, S.C. Regulation 61-9, and the City's land application permits from NC DEQ and SC DHEC. The contractor will also be responsible for the associated monitoring, recordkeeping and permitting functions of the residuals management program including recordkeeping of activities performed by City staff at the City’s Resource Recovery Farm. Contractor will be required to participate in the City’s environmental management system. The City of Gastonia may require the services of the contractor for other residuals management projects. These services may include transporting biosolids to other locations, storage lagoon clean-outs, digester clean-outs, dewatering, dewatered residual landfill hauling, and dewatered residuals application. The City will designate staff to direct and monitor the contractor’s management of the program.

Complete Scope of Services in Attachment A

7. Insurance Requirements

The City will require the will require the contractor to hold professional liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 for each claim.

The certificate must also include commercial general liability insurance covering bodily injury and property damage with limits of not less than $2,000,000 per occurrence, and at least $2,000,000 aggregate; or the equivalents utilizing excess or umbrella coverage.

In addition, the certificate must include employer’s liability insurance (workers compensation) in accordance with statutory requirements with limits of not less than $100,000 for each accident.

Further, projects requiring the contractor to drive onto City property or to use the contractor’s vehicles on City property will require auto liability insurance, which must cover bodily injury and property damage liability on all owned, non-owned, and hired vehicles for a limit of not less than $2,000,000 per occurrence, or the equivalent utilizing excess or umbrella coverage.

When the contractor and/or its employees have access to monies or properties of the City, the contractor will provide a fidelity bond at a limit of not less than $50,000 (depending on where the contractor will be working).

The City must be named as additionally insured on the insurance certificate for all coverage, except professional liability.

In addition, the contractor must indemnify and save harmless the City of Gastonia, its officers, agents, and employees from any claims arising out of any work performed for the City or on City

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property.

8. Facility Information

The City produces Class B biosolids at three wastewater treatment plants. Short term storage is available at each location to accommodate anticipated application schedules. The City currently has 2,085 acres in NC and 283.5 acres in SC permitted to receive Class B biosolids.

The following is a brief description of the wastewater treatment facilities:

Crowders Creek WWTP

Location:

5642 S York Highway Gastonia, NC 28052 Approximate Production: 10,500,000 gals per year @ approximately 1.5% solids

The Crowders Creek WWTP uses anaerobic digesters to produce a liquid Class B product. This facility is equipped with a City owned loading stand that utilizes City-owned pumps for loading tanker trucks.

Long Creek WWTP

Location:

3000 Old Spencer Mountain Road Dallas, NC 28034

Approximate Production: 20,000,000 gals per year @ approximately 2.5% solids

The Long Creek WWTP uses anaerobic digesters to produce a liquid class B residuals product. Long Creek utilizes 4 primary digesters and two holding digesters. The Long Creek WWTP also has two storage lagoons with a combined capacity of 3 million gallons. Land application typically occurs from one of the lagoons, and contractor must provide mixing and pumping equipment. The facility is equipped with a City-owned loading stand at the lagoon for loading of trucks. City pumps will be used to load directly from the holding digesters if warranted.

Eagle Road WWTP

Location:

661 Eagle Road Belmont, NC 28012

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Approximate Production: 600,000 gals per year @ approximately 3.0 % solids

The Eagle Road WWTP uses an aerobic digestion process to produce liquid class B residuals. The digester lagoon uses two surface aerators and has a capacity of 1.5 million gallons. Contractor must provide mixing/pumping capabilities and a loading stand for trucks when removing residuals.

Resource Recovery Farm

Location:

208 Goldmine Road Bessemer City, NC 28016 The Resource Recovery Farm (RRF) is owned by the City of Gastonia for use as land application acreage and as a storage location for biosolids. The site contains both 182 acres permitted for land application of residuals and a storage facility with a total storage capacity of eight (8) million gallons. The agricultural operations are managed by the contractor or a mutually agreed upon subcontractor to provide timely and efficient crop production and harvesting operations. The storage facility is used to receive transfers from the treatment plants when inclement weather prohibits application of residuals.

The RRF storage facility is equipped with the following:

• 2 unloading stations (1 per basin). • Two 4-million gallon storage basins. • Decant capabilities including a separate decant storage basin and irrigation

equipment. Irrigation will be performed solely by City staff. • Residuals mixing capabilities including an air mixing system and recirculation. • Two loading bays utilizing two centrifugal pumps for loading.

9. Proposal Format

A. Introduction

Vendor shall submit a brief introduction to their firm. This information must address the company’s experience in residuals management, interest for this project, availability of resources for this project, the location from which services would be based and key personnel to be assigned to this project. Any pending litigation that may have a material impact to the company’s financial standing and/or performance on this project, any judicially determined defaults, bankruptcies, and liens in the last 10 years must also be included.

B. Qualifications

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Vendor shall provide a general overview of the company including: • Brief history of the company including mission and structure • Date established • Ownership (public, partnership, subsidiary, etc.) • An organizational chart by name and job title as it relates to the project that

includes years of experience, education, tenure with the company and related certifications.

• Number of personnel, full and part-time, to be assigned to this project by function and job title.

• Vendor shall provide documentation demonstrating their capability and experience in the management of projects of similar size, volumes and scope.

• Vendor shall describe any subcontractors needed to fulfill the Scope of Services in Attachment A.

• Vendor shall describe their additional resources/capabilities that may be committed to the support the project.

• Documentation showing the vendor meets the City’s insurance requirements. • Vendor should describe their experience with ISO 14001 certified Environmental

Management System (EMS) programs. • Vendor shall demonstrate their training program and written procedures. • Vendor shall demonstrate their safety program and safety history. Submit

completed Pre-Qualification Form included as Attachment B.

C. Loading, Transport and Application Approach Vendor shall describe the equipment and methods to be used for mixing/loading, transportation and application of biosolids to ensure each source of biosolids can be appropriately managed.

D. Monitoring

Vendor shall describe how the Permitting, Planning and Compliance Requirements section in Attachment A will be met. Provide samples of the documents to be used.

E. References

Vendor shall provide three (3) municipal references to projects similar in scope and size. The references shall list the name of the organization, contact person’s name, title, telephone number and email address.

F. Pricing Information

Vendor shall be compensated in the manner listed below. Monthly invoices are to be generated as defined by the pricing structure below. No additional fees or charges are to be included in invoices unless prior agreement between vendor and City as described in Item 7 below. Vendors shall organize the price information as follows:

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i. Price for Land Application

Price for mileage increments based on the distance from source to application site: a. 0 – 10 miles - $ / gallon b. 10.1 – 20 miles - $ / gallon c. 20.1 – 30 miles - $ / gallon d. 30.1 – 40 miles - $ / gallon e. 40.1 – 50 miles - $ / gallon f. On-site Application at RRF - $ / gallon

Price for facility transfers (Plant to RRF, RRF Decant to plant, etc.) a. Facility transfer - $ /gallon

ii. Sampling and analysis of residuals and soils

a. Analysis Cost + __ %

iii. Agricultural Lime Application a. Lime application Cost + __ %

iv. Fuel Surcharges

List and define any applicable fuel surcharges.

v. Permitting Fees charged for permitting of additional land.

a. Permitting cost in $ / acre

vi. Other Fees or Charges List and define any routine or expected monitoring, administrative or maintenance fees to be invoiced.

vii. Additional as Needed Services (digester cleaning, lagoon cleaning and

maintenance). Such services will be negotiated and agreed upon prior to City’s authorization to perform work. Quote or proposal to be provided at the time of request.

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Attachment A - Scope of Services 1. General Requirements

1.1. The Contractor shall at all times have a competent project manager or other representative on the work site who shall have full authority to act for the Contractor and who shall see that the work under the contract is executed in accordance with the agreement documents, permit requirements and City of Gastonia policies and procedures. All City communications with the on-site project manager and/or on-site supervisor shall be binding. The Contractor's Project Manager and on-site representative (supervisor of daily operations) shall possess certification as a Land Application of Residuals Operator through the State of North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality.

1.2. Without approval and training by the City, the contractor or subcontractors shall not operate equipment owned by the City or conduct any handling of residuals management activities.

1.3. All representatives of the Contractor, including any subcontractors, shall be well versed in and shall follow all regulations and requirements stipulated in the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) (40 CFR Part 503) regulations, NCAC 15A 02T, S.C. Regulation 61-9, the City's land application permits from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality WQ0001793 and South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control ND0084883, and the City's Environmental Management System (EMS) policy and procedures.

1.4. Contractor shall provide individuals who are capable of and can maintain good relations with the program participants and landowners. Failure to do so shall be grounds for the immediate suspension of work and the possibility of the revocation of the contract.

1.5. Contractor shall assist the City with handling of complaints and/or questions regarding residuals management activities. All biosolids transportation vehicles shall be marked with identification and a legible telephone number that the public can call. The contractor shall maintain and share written records of complaints, compliments and inquiries regarding the City’s land application program.

1.6. Contractor shall host a program participant meeting, including a meal, at a minimum of once per year. At least one member of the contractor’s staff shall attend this meeting.

1.7. Any fines or penalties issued to the City due to the actions of the contractor shall be the responsibility of the contractor, and it shall reimburse the City for the same.

2. Removal, Transportation and Application 2.1. The total percent solids of the residuals produced by the City's facilities may vary from <1% to

9%. The contractor must provide equipment that can function properly in this range. Contractor will also provide the necessary equipment for properly handling and disposing of dewatered residuals at the City’s request.

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2.2. At a minimum, the contractor shall supply enough equipment to run a full application crew for application from any of the City’s residual sources at all times. An application crew will consist of a project manager, and the staff and equipment to continuously run two application vehicles (i.e. tractor and pull tank/spreader) and five transport tankers. The contractor shall maintain the required quantities of staff and equipment in a manner that does not impact application schedules during equipment breakdowns and staffing schedule changes. Transport and application vehicles in excess of the minimum may be utilized on the project, and are encouraged to ensure contractor can maintain the minimum application crew specified in this contract.

2.3. Contractor shall have available a land application vehicle for the Resource Recovery Farm, so as to quickly and timely land-apply residuals stored at the residuals storage facility. When requested, the vehicle and operator shall be available within 5 working days.

2.4. The City will not be responsible for downtime of biosolids mixing, loading or transportation equipment. The contractor’s equipment dedicated to the City’s management program shall be given the appropriate priority to the extent that application requirements and schedules can be met in an expedient and timely manner. Should temporary or rental equipment be necessary to meet these requirements, the contractor is expected to supply the equipment to mediate downtime at no additional cost to the City.

2.5. When requested by the City, the contractor shall provide a secondary crew of application vehicles and transport vehicles within 10 working days to expedite application during periods of favorable weather. This secondary crew must at minimum consist of staff and equipment to run one application vehicle and two transport tankers.

2.6. The contractor shall be responsible for all fuel and power needed for operation of loading and mixing equipment. The City agrees to provide an electrical power source at the Long Creek and Eagle Road lagoons; however, it shall be the contractor's responsibility to provide the necessary cable, etc., from the power source to the equipment.

2.7. Liquid residuals shall be transported in sealed tank bodies. The capacity of all tankers and/or any other containers used to calculate the volume of residuals hauled for payment shall be certified by an independent agency capable of performing such certification. The certified capacity of each tanker must not exceed DOT weight limits. This certification information shall be supplied in writing to the Wastewater Treatment Division Manager before residuals are hauled for payment and this certified volume shall be used for the purposes of billing and regulatory record-keeping.

2.8. The Contractor shall be required to ensure that all relevant DOT certifications, permits, and licenses for all vehicles and operators are in good standing. The contractor shall verify these requirements are met for all vehicles, operators and subcontractors prior to allowing their work on this project.

2.9. All application and transportation vehicles shall be cleaned in a manner that promotes a positive public image. If residuals are spilled onto vehicles, contractor shall see that the vehicles

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are cleaned by the next working day. Regular cleaning of the application vehicles and tankers should occur no less than monthly. All vehicles shall be free of leaking fluids.

2.10. The contractor shall perform and document inspections of their equipment as well as any equipment supplied through a subcontractor. The contractor shall conduct pre-application inspections of permitted sites. Contractor shall maintain documentation of all inspections and shall inform the designated City contact in writing of any problems or changes required with site maps.

2.11. No biosolids shall be applied to any land not properly permitted or approved by authorized permitting agency. It shall be the sole responsibility of the contractor to ensure that operators are aware of the boundaries of application sites and the proper procedures and practices for land application. Field boundaries and buffer areas shall be appropriately flagged by the contractor twenty-four (24) hours prior to beginning application.

2.12. At the completion of a land application event, the contractor shall promptly remove all unused materials, tools, equipment and machinery, waste materials, flags, refuse and other debris from loading areas and land application sites. Contractor shall ensure that the site is returned to a condition similar to before application began including collecting all trash, leveling any significant ruts, and cleaning any mud tracked onto pavement at the end of each day. The contractor shall be responsible, at no additional cost to the City, for the reasonable repair/replacement of all pavements, driveways, fences, shrubs, lawns, trees and any other public or private property damaged as result of work performed under agreement with the City. City shall have final approval as to all repair/replacement work carried out by Contractor under this agreement.

2.13. Contractor shall make every effort to provide residuals application to all program participants.

3. Monitoring Requirements 3.1. Contractor shall be responsible for all monitoring as required by the City's NC and SC Land

Application permits and the EPA 40 CFR Part 503 regulations. The only exceptions are the vector attraction reduction monitoring, groundwater monitoring at the City's RRF, and volume of irrigation from the RRF decant basin, for which the City shall be responsible.

3.2. Contractor is responsible for coordinating sampling with, and transporting samples to the required labs. Contractor shall ensure all analysis occurs in a laboratory certified for the approved method. All analysis shall be consistent with regulations from the EPA and state for which analysis will occur. The contractor shall provide certification information to the City prior to the using a laboratory. The contractor will submit the required information to the City and must receive approval from the City prior to the contract lab receiving any samples.

3.3. Soil samples shall be collected by the contractor in accordance with land application permit requirements and submitted in a timely manner to ensure results are obtained prior to completion of the annual reports.

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3.4. No land application shall occur from any residuals generating source between the beginning date of the required sampling period and the time that sample results have been received, reviewed by the contractor to ensure regulatory compliance, and records forwarded to the City.

3.5. All information shall be accurate and kept on file with the contractor and the City. City requires that the contractor have a database management system for the storage of data for residuals management activities performed for the City. The City requires that a copy of all applicable records used be provided to the City.

3.6. The contractor shall keep daily logs indicating tanker loading, transportation, and application volumes. These logs shall be totaled daily and a copy submitted to the Biosolids ORC or their designee no later than 5:00 p.m. on the first working day of the following week. The contractor shall use the daily logs for invoicing at the end of each month. Daily logs shall clearly indicate the source, volume and destination of each load.

3.7. Monthly reports shall be provided to the City indicating volume of residuals land applied, nutrient and metals analysis, and land application site information. This information shall include all information as required by the land application permit and 40 CFR Part 503 regulations. These records shall be submitted to the City by the 15th day of the following month.

3.8. A sample from each load transported to permitted sites for land application shall be composited over each day. The contractor shall be responsible for collection of an aliquot from each tanker load. At the end of the day, the City will collect the sample and submit it to its lab for percent solids analysis.

3.9. The City will provide lime for permitted fields used for application. The contractor will be responsible for monitoring soil reports to determine amounts required, and will coordinate the purchase and application of lime. Lime shall be applied within eight (8) months of receiving the soil report indicating lime is warranted. The lime load tickets and invoices shall be provided as documentation and for billing purposes.

4. Schedule of Work 4.1. Residual management shall routinely occur from Monday – Saturday of each week. No

residuals management operations shall occur on Sundays or legal holidays without the approval of the Wastewater Treatment Division Manager. Loading, transportation and application of residuals shall only be allowed in daylight hours as coordinated with the City.

4.2. Residuals management activities will be coordinated with the contractor as plant inventory and weather conditions require. When feasible, activities will be planned with the contractor in advance. Due to changing weather and inventories, day-to-day decisions must be changed and timely same-day response is required to maintain requirements. The City has the right to restrict application at any time based operational needs, site conditions or weather forecast.

4.3. Sampling events will be planned and coordinated with the contractor at least two weeks in advance of the sample date and may be subject to change based on plant operations and

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maintenance. Contractor will supply personnel, supplies and equipment to perform the sampling. Any unscheduled or special sampling projects will be performed in a timely manner as needs arise.

4.4. The schedule of any special projects will follow the timeline agreed upon in the project proposal.

4.5. A contractor management representative shall visit the project at least once per month to inspect the operations and discuss the status of the project with the City.

5. Permitting, Planning and Compliance Requirements 5.1. The contractor will be required to conduct short-term and long-term planning and monitoring

efforts in conjunction with the City to ensure there will be reliable methods and resources available for residuals management. This work is expected to include monitoring application sites, residuals sources and evaluating local, regional, state and federal rules and policy changes in relation to the program, and utilizing innovative means of maintaining a quality and cost effective management program.

5.2. The contractor shall be responsible for the procurement of additional sites suitable for land application and shall be responsible for obtaining and compiling the information necessary for generation of permit applications and renewals. At least every permit cycle, and more often if requested, sufficient acreage must be permitted to compensate for the number of acres lost and any increase in biosolids production.

5.3. The permitting process for land application sites shall be conducted by following procedures established by the City with all sites meeting the approval of the City prior to inclusion in a permit application or renewal. The City reserves the right to prohibit permitting of any site.

5.4. A copy of Land Application Permits WQ0001793 and ND0084883 along with current copies of all site maps and the Operations and Maintenance Plan shall be maintained with each application vehicle at all times when residuals are being applied.

5.5. The contractor shall receive City approval prior to any correspondence with regulatory agencies regarding regulatory issues concerning the City. All such correspondence shall be copied to the City.

5.6. The contractor shall be responsible for obtaining new forms and providing updated maps to the City and its staff with every permitting event or whenever site development or other issues require changes to the buffers, maps or variance forms. The project manager shall evaluate each site prior to each application event for possible adjustments to maps/buffers. Any changes made regarding land application maps shall be forwarded to the designated City contact for inclusion into the site maps maintained by the City.

5.7. At the request and discretion of the City, the contractor shall pursue the permitting of additional land in areas inside and outside of the current service areas. With expected land use changes, it is anticipated that the service area needed to maintain sufficient land base will increase.

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5.8. The contractor shall prepare and submit monthly SC Non-Discharge DMR information to the designated City staff member for each monthly report prior to the 15th of the following month.

5.9. The contractor shall prepare and submit draft annual reports to the designated City staff member at least thirty days prior to the submittal deadline to allow adequate time for review.

5.10. The contractor shall provide completed renewal applications for permit renewals/modifications to the City at least thirty days prior to the submittal deadline of any such permit renewal/modification so as to allow adequate time for review.

6. Emergency Response / Spills 6.1. The City maintains a spill control plan that will be provided to the contractor. The contractor

and all subcontractors shall follow this plan. The plan will be updated as needed, and provided to the contractor.

6.2. A copy of this plan shall be maintained in each transport and application vehicle used by the contractor.

6.3. Any spill involved with loading, transportation or application of residuals shall be deemed the responsibility of the contractor and shall be cleaned up immediately according to the spill control plan requirements and to the satisfaction of the City, NC DEQ and/or SC DHEC, and/or any authority or landowner that may be involved. Any occurrence shall be immediately reported to a representative of the City’s Wastewater Treatment Division Management.

7. Resource Recovery Farm 7.1. Contractor shall provide all agricultural operations, agricultural planning and RRF crop

management oversight. Farming operations may be conducted by sub-contractors of the contractor, with the contractor agreeing to hold said subcontractors to the City’s rules and requirements for the contractor.

7.2. Contractor shall provide a land application vehicle when needed at the Resource Recovery Farm, so as to quickly and timely land-apply residuals stored at the residuals storage facility.

7.3. Contractor shall be familiar with the Operations Manual prior to the operation of the RRF Storage Facility. All procedures for operation shall be followed as outlined in the manual.

7.4. When removing residuals from basins, the contractor shall provide at least one employee to assist with the removal utilizing the hydrant system to wash the solids towards the intake structure.

8. Environmental Management System (EMS)

8.1. The City maintains an Environmental Management System Certification to the ISO 14001 Standard. This program establishes the groundwork for the City to ensure compliance with all laws and regulations, pollution prevention, continual improvement, improved product quality, and increased public acceptance of biosolids activities. As participants in this program, the Contractor, its employees, agents, and subcontractors are required to be good environmental stewards.

8.2. The contractor shall follow all relevant procedures utilized within the program. The contractor shall be an active part of the EMS, participate in both internal and external

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audits, develop and maintain adequate procedures and train its employees and subcontractors in accordance with the program. The City will review the program requirements with the contractor; however, it shall be the contractor's responsibility to ensure familiarity with the program, and understand and adhere to the requirements.

8.3. Contractor shall develop and maintain operating procedures for all biosolids activities conducted by the contractor. All procedures shall be provided to the City for review, and made available to employees and subcontractors of the contractor.

8.4. Contractor shall be responsible for documented training of employees and subcontractors on all procedures developed/maintained by the contractor and all relevant procedures of the City's EMS. It shall also be the responsibility of the contractor to ensure that employees and subcontractors are following any and all relevant procedures. Training records shall be made available to the City.

8.5. The Contractor shall be required to attend and participate in EMS meetings, upon invitation, regarding biosolids/residuals management issues.

8.6. Contractor shall participate in the City’s Corrective Action Report Program. Contractor shall be required to respond in a timely fashion to all issues identified by inspections, internal and external audits or any others items identified and handled through the Corrective Action Report program.

9. Additional Services: 9.1. The contractor agrees to provide additional services as necessary for the removal,

transportation and application from the City’s facilities. Prior to the start of any project requiring additional services, the City and Contractor shall agree on a price for any work that does not have a price specified in the contract.

9.2. The City has the right to refuse any price not collectively agreed upon by both parties, and may elect to have other companies bid on these services. If the City determines that a need exists, the City may contract with additional companies for residuals management services.

10. Risk Management Program 10.1. A copy of the Contractor Safety Program of the Risk Management Program is attached

as Appendix B for review. Included in this attachment is a Pre-Qualification form that shall be submitted with the proposal.

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Attachment B- Risk Management Program Documents Contractor Safety Program Contractor Pre-Qualification Form

Document #: WLC-0100.008 Page 1 of 3 Revision Date: 10/16/19 Revision #: 11

***THIS IS AN UNCONTROLLED COPY OF A CONTROLLED DOCUMENT PRINTED 8/21/20 AT 3:15 PM***

Section 8 Contractor Safety Program

As part of its effort to prevent catastrophic releases of extremely hazardous substances at the Wastewater Treatment Plants, the City of Gastonia requires any contractor who will work with or near extremely hazardous substances to demonstrate their ability to work safely. Using this procedure, the City of Gastonia will identify contractors that can perform site activities without compromising the safety or health of City of Gastonia personnel. Contractors with assignments that do not influence process safety are not subject to this procedure and will be excluded from all chlorine-containing areas. This exemption applies to contractors providing incidental services, such as janitorial work, food and drink services, laundry, delivery or other supply services. The City of Gastonia will tell those contractors: 1) about the hazards of chlorine, 2) which locations they must avoid, and 3) how they should react when the chlorine alarm sounds.

8.1 Contractor Pre-Qualification 8.1.1 Pre-Qualification Form Any contractor seeking to perform work at any portion of a City of Gastonia facility at which extremely hazardous substances are present must complete the Contractor Pre-Qualification Form (WLC-0101.008L). Contractors who have not completed and submitted this form will be considered non-responsive for any work they propose. The information contained on this form will be evaluated with and considered as a part of any individual overall selection process.

8.1.2 Normal Interpretation of Pre-Qualification Form The City of Gastonia will not award any contract for work on, near, or with extremely hazardous substances at the City of Gastonia Long Creek WWTP to any contractor who: Fails to complete and submit the Contractor Pre-Qualification Form, Reports a workers' compensation experience modification ratio (EMR) greater than 1.25, Reports an injury or illness rate (on the OSHA 200 table) more than 25% higher than the

average for its industry (the US Department of Labor publishes the average rates on the Internet at http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/osh.t01.htm),

Cannot verify that its employees have adequate training for working with the extremely hazardous substances at the site, or

Has experienced a workplace fatality in the last three years, unless The City of Gastonia concludes that the factors that caused the fatality were outside the contractor's control.

8.1.3 Special Exceptions With the approval of the Division Manager, the City of Gastonia may award a contract to a contractor, who would otherwise be excluded by the discriminators described above, under the following circumstance: When no other appropriate contractor can be found,

http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/osh.t01.htm)




The contractor agrees to implement any special safety that the City of Gastonia establishes for the contract.

8.2 Contractor's Role in the Program Contract employees must perform their work safely. The contractor shall guarantee to the City of Gastonia, that each of contractor's employees will follow the safety rules of the City's facility including the safe work practices (for example, hot work permits) that apply to its work. The contractor must keep the City of Gastonia informed of its activities, including unique hazards the contractor's work may create, and hazards observed by the contractor's employees. Contractors are required to inform the City of Gastonia of every contractor employee injury and illness that occurs on City property. Contractor will check in with plant staff upon arrival and sign in on visitor log. Contractor will also identify number of employees working and have operations staff survey area and provide necessary safety precautions (ie. lockout/tagout permits) prior to commencing work. Any deviations from these actions will need the approval of the Division Manager.

8.3 Contractor Oversight When contractors perform tasks that may disturb the controls that prevent a chlorine/SO2 release, the City of Gastonia will monitor their activities when they work on or near a covered process. The City of Gastonia will maintain a log that shows which contractors it expects to work in process areas, and when. This log will also show the name or title of the City of Gastonia representative assigned to monitor safety issues during the work. The purpose of this oversight is to protect City employees from releases caused by the contractor. The Consulting Engineer will oversee the work of contractors that hold contracts with it (for example, contractors performing a system upgrade). The same City of Gastonia representative that oversees the contractor's quality of work may also check their observation of the PSM procedures in this program. The Consulting Engineer representative will maintain a contract employee injury and illness log onsite for work in the chlorine area but will generate a written record of this oversight effort only when problems are observed. The City of Gastonia Wastewater Division will oversee the work of contractors that hold contracts with it (for example, contractors delivering chlorine). The Division Manager or his designee may instruct an operator to check on the contractor's safety procedures. This plant representative will generate a written record of this oversight effort only when problems are observed.

8.4 Contractor Employee Training Every contract for work on or near the chlorine facility will require the contractor to certify to the City of Gastonia, in writing, with documentation attached, verifying that their employees have appropriate training on the following subjects: The hazards of chlorine exposure, Basic health and safety issues, The contractor's health and safety programs, The methods and techniques the contractor will use at the plant,




Applicable provisions of the emergency response plan in Section 9 of this document, Procedures for contractor entrance into and exit from the area of work, and Notice of any unique hazards presented by the contractor's work or found as a result of the

contractor's work. Although the City of Gastonia will not ask the contractor to submit training documentation for each employee, it requires that this documentation be available within an hour of request. The City of Gastonia will apply this procedure more stringently to contractors who have greater opportunity to disturb the chlorine management systems than to those who provide incidental services, such as janitorial work, food and drink services, laundry, delivery, or other supply services. The City of Gastonia may, with the approval of the Division Manager, provide some of this training to such incidental service contractors. The City of Gastonia will advise every contractor employee (either directly or through the contractor) about the emergency alarm(s) and evacuation procedure at the Wastewater Treatment Plants.

Form #: WLC-0101.008L Revision Date: 06/04/2020 Revision #: 3 Page 1 of 4

Exhibit A to Section 8 of the RMP - PSM Plan

THE CITY OF GASTONIA UTILITIES DEPARTMENT

CONTRACTOR PRE-QUALIFICATION FORM The City of Gastonia, as part of its effort to prevent catastrophic releases of extremely hazardous substances at the City of Gastonia, requires any contractor who will work with or near extremely hazardous substances to demonstrate its ability to work safely. This procedure allows the City of Gastonia to identify contractors that can perform site activities without compromising the safety or health of City personnel. Any contractor wishing to perform work at any City of Gastonia facility at which extremely hazardous substances are present must complete this form and return it to the Division Manager with responsibility for that facility: Wastewater Treatment Division: Contractor Qualification Wastewater Treatment Division Attn: Division Manager P.O. Box 1748 Gastonia, NC 28053 Phone: (704) 866-6726 Fax: (704) 922-0619 The information contained on this form will be evaluated and considered as a part of the overall selection process. Contractors who do not complete and submit this form will be considered non-responsive regarding any work proposed. As part of this process Contractors must certify that their employees have appropriate training on the following subjects: The hazards of chlorine exposure, Basic health and safety issues, The Contractor’s health and safety programs, and The methods and techniques the Contractor will use at the plant. Applicable provisions of the emergency response plan in Section 9 of this document, Procedures for contractor entrance into and exit from the area of work, and Notice of any unique hazards presented by the contractor’s work or found as a result of the

contractor’s work.

Although the City of Gastonia will not ask for training documentation on each employee, it requests that this documentation be available within an hour of request.

(Authority) CONTRACTOR PRE-QUALIFICATION FORM

Form #: WLC-0101.008L Revision Date: 06/04/2020 Revision #: 3

Page 2 of 4

1.0 Company Name:

Address of Principal Place of Business: Street: City, State, Zip: Telephone Number: FAX Number:

2.0 Other Company Names Used: 3.0 Name(s) and Relationships of Parent Company, Affiliates, Subsidiaries, Partners.

Company: Address: City, State, Zip: Relationship: Company: Address: City, State, Zip: Relationship:

4.0 Has the ownership in your company changed within the last three years?

Yes No _____ 5.0 Extent of Insurance Coverage.

5.1 Please attach certificates showing the extent of coverage, exclusions and deductibles

for the following:

General Business Liability Insurance Coverage Contractors Pollution Liability Insurance Coverage Professional Liability Insurance (limits and exclusions) Workers’ Compensation Insurance Coverage

5.2 How long have you been covered by your current provider of Worker Compensation

Insurance?

5.3 List Experience Modification Rate (EMR) that has applied to your company’s workers’ compensation insurance policy for the three most recent years.

Year Intrastate Interstate 20 20 20

5.4 List the name, address and telephone number of an insurer or insurance broker who

can verify your EMR's.


Page 3 of 4

5.5 If you do not have an EMR, please explain.

6.0 Please transfer the numbers and rates of injuries and illnesses from your firm's OSHA No.

200 Logs to the table below:

Injuries & Illnesses in Year:

20____

20____

20____ Type of Injury Statistic

#

Rate

#

Rate

#

Rate

Lost Workday Cases

Restricted Workday Cases

Medical Treatment (not First Aid) Cases

Total Illness Cases

Total Recordable Cases

Employee Hours Worked in Year:

6.1 List any fatalities your company has had in the last three years. Include location, cause,

and corrective action.

7.0 Do you require that documented safety meetings be held for:

a. Field Supervisor? Yes No Frequency ___________ b. Employees? Yes No Frequency ___________ c. New Hires? Yes No Frequency ___________ d. Subcontractors? Yes No Frequency ___________

8.0 Will a corporate representative audit safety practices on this job? Yes No _____

8.1 Name Title _____________________________

8.2 How frequently will the representative visit the project? _______________________

8.3 Does the representative have authority to take corrective action? Yes No _____


Page 4 of 4

8.4 To whom does the representative report? Name Title _____________________________

9.0 Does the company have a health and safety plan? If yes, please give details. 10.0 Training for Contractor employees who will work on or near containers of extremely

hazardous substances 10.1 Describe the type and extent of training these employees will have.

10.2 What percentage of those employees will have this training? _________________ 11.0 Please give the name of the company's health and safety officer, if any. 12.0 Attach a list of any State or Federal Health and Safety citations received in the past three

years. 13.0 Signature of Company Officer: ______________________________ Title: ______________________________ Date: ______________________________