Request for Information Chemical Intelligence Program at Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment

Description. This Request for Information (RFI) is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation. All information received in response to this RFI marked Proprietary will be handled accordingly.

Responses to the RFI will not be returned. Responses to this RFI are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. A response to this RFI is necessary to assist the Government in determining the potential levels of interest, adequate competition, market maturity and technical capabilities within the Large and Small Business Communities to provide the required capabilities.

The Government does not intend to award a contract based on this RFI or reimburse any costs associated with the preparation of responses to this RFI. It will also not consider any solutions that are proprietary. 

Background. This RFI is issued to support requirements development for the pending Chemical Intelligence Program (CIP) implementation under the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment (OASD (EI&E)) Chemical and Material Risk Management Program (CMRMP). The CIP supports the mission of the CMRMP which is to protect readiness, people and the environment by identifying and managing risks associated with the chemicals and materials DoD uses in accordance with Section 334 of reference (a) and Section 4.6.3 of reference (b). The CMRMP does this by enabling more effective management of current and future risks from chemicals and, in so doing, encourages sustainable chemical practices, lowers lifecycle costs, drives innovation, and avoids the need for future crisis-driven retooling to comply with new regulations. An essential function of the CMRMP is early identification of chemicals with relevance to DoD.  To improve identification of chemical ingredients, the DoD’s Emerging Chemicals Governance Council (ECGC) endorsed two Risk Management Actions (RMAs) in March 2022. The first RMA directed the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (USD[A&S]) to establish policy to expand DoD supplier chemical content disclosure by leveraging existing DoD standards, industry standards, and regulations.  The second RMA directed the USD(A&S) to establish policy to develop a process to identify for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) content, to the extent feasible, in DoD products and weapon systems to ensure continued availability in mission-critical applications; inform management of use, disposal, and reutilization; and seek development of PFAS-free alternatives when feasible.

Currently, the primary source of chemical ingredient data used by the DoD originates from Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) submitted by industry who sell hazardous materials to the DoD in accordance with reference (c). However, SDSs only list chemical constituents classified as health or physical hazards in accordance with reference (d), thus limiting the capture, and sharing of chemical ingredients. Currently, reference (d) authorizes SDS submission in a variety of formats including Portable Document Formats (PDFs) and physical copies. The lack of a standardized format results in manual data entry into DoD systems and decentralization of information.

As a result, the DoD (1) seeks to standardize chemical ingredient disclosure by developing one or more Extensible Markup Language (XML) standards and (2) seeks current DoD vendor participation in a proof of concept program which will support CIP requirements development for full chemical ingredient disclosure. The standardization and expansion of chemical disclosure data will allow the DoD to better manage chemicals critical to the national defense.

Response Instructions

RFI responses can be submitted online via an excel sheet or by written responses which conform to the format below and provide the following information.

Section 1 - Cover Letter.  The cover letter must include the following information:

1. Company name
2. Company business size with socioeconomic classification based on North American Industry Classification Code.
3. Company point of contact and contact information (name, address, phone number, email address, and fax number)
4. Date submitted.
5. Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code

Section 2 - Market Research Questions.  The purpose of this section is to obtain information that will assist in understanding current DoD vendor and manufacturer technical capabilities in exporting SDS data and data availability.  Responses will be used in the development of technical requirements for digital disclosure of SDS data.

1. How do you generate your hazardous material SDSs? If using a commercially available SDS authoring product, which one?
2. Please describe your SDS data export capabilities (e.g., XML, CSV, XLS, PDF, etc.) including those offered by your authoring solution, if applicable.
3. Do you track, or have the capability to track, ingredients and origins (i.e., supplier contact information and country of origin) used in your product’s formulation?
4. Do you track all pre- and post-ingredient formulations (i.e., proprietary ingredients or ingredients not required for SDS reporting) in your SDS authoring tool or internal process?
5. Of the hazardous materials sold to the DoD, do any of the SDSs provided disclose all chemical ingredients found in the end product?
6. Is your product qualified to a label such as the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Safer Choice Criteria, previously known as the Design for the Environment (DfE), which requires full chemical ingredient disclosure?
7. Do you use a commercial solution to track or manage risks to your supply chain? If so, which one? Please describe your supply chain risk management process.
8. Do you work with any industry groups that are developing a standard digital SDS (XML or other programming language) format? Please provide the names and level of engagement for these groups.

Section 3 – CIP Proof of Concept Program. The purpose of this section is to request DoD vendor participation in the CIP’s proof of concept program which will assist in the development of requirements for the standardization of chemical ingredient disclosure and technology development in accordance with references (a) through (c). Participation is sought by manufactures and vendors who currently sell hazardous materials, as defined by reference (d), to the DoD. An overview of participation in the proof of concept is outlined below. Please indicate whether your company is interested in participating.

1. Participants will attend or view a webinar recording which provides a detailed explanation of the CIP proof of concept program and interaction with the DoD implementation team.
2. Participants will receive a draft copy of the CIP SDS XML standard.
3. Within 90 days of receipt of the XML standard, participants are requested to develop and submit an XML file of test data representative of their current contract deliverables.
4. Participants will provide feedback and/or questions to the DoD implementation team related to the CIP proof of concept process that will help inform the requirements definition process for production implementation of the CIP program.

Submission Instructions

Responses to this RFI must total no more than 3 pages, with text no smaller than 10 point; however, text included in graphics, tables, and figures can be no smaller than 9 point.  The cover page and cover letter are not included in the total page count.  Any material submitted in excess of the 3-page limit and the page limitation exclusions will not be considered.  The submissions must be in sufficient detail and clarity to provide the information needed to assess your company’s ability to provide a solution.

Written comments and information are requested on or before January 30, 2024. Late-filed comments will be considered to the extent practicable.

Submit your company’s written response to:

Patricia Underwood

osd.pentagon.ousd-atl.mbx.cmrmp@mail.mil

Primary Point to Contact:

Patricia Underwood

osd.pentagon.ousd-atl.mbx.cmrmp@mail.mil

Questions

Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted in writing by e-mail osd.pentagon.ousd-atl.mbx.cmrmp@mail.mil .  Verbal questions will NOT be accepted.  The Government does not guarantee that questions received after January 24, 2024 will be answered.