[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 73 (Thursday, April 16, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18894-18895]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-10077]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Golden Field Office; Notice of Solicitation for Financial 
Assistance Applications; Clean Cities Program

AGENCY: Golden Field Office, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of Solicitation for Financial Assistance Applications 
Number DE-PS36-98GO10295.

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SUMMARY: Through this solicitation, DOE is supporting private and/or 
public sector efforts to improve the organizational and business 
practices of local Clean Cities coalitions organized to achieve the 
Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct) objectives for accelerating the use 
of alternative fuels.
    To carry the EPAct initiative forward, DOE's Clean Cities program 
has encouraged the formation of public and private sector coalitions in 
major metropolitan areas throughout the U.S. for the purposes of 
working together cooperatively to expand rapidly both production and 
utilization of AFVs and development of the necessary refueling 
infrastructure to support such vehicle use.
    The objective of this scope of work is to incorporate a collection 
of information, communication, planning and training tools in order to 
best support and assist ongoing local Clean Cities coalition efforts to 
be effective organizations in building new markets for alternative 
fuels and alternative fuel vehicles. The services provided by this 
cooperative agreement award will assist local Clean Cities in achieving 
the objectives they established through Memoranda of Understanding with 
local partners in each community and DOE.

DATES: The solicitation will be issued on or about April 17, 1998.

ADDRESSES: To obtain a copy of the Solicitation once it is issued, 
submit a written request to the U.S. Department of Energy, Golden Field 
Office, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, CO, 80401, Attention: Mr. John 
Golovach, Contract Specialist. For convenience, requests for the 
Solicitation may be faxed to Mr. Golovach at (303) 275-4753. The 
Solicitation can also be accessed via the internet at the following 
address: http://www.eren.doe.gov/golden/solicit.htm. A list of 
requestors of the solicitation will also be published and may be 
obtained electronically through the Golden Field Office Home Page at 
http://www.eren.doe.gov/golden/solicit.htm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPAct was enacted to improve energy security 
and urban air quality. The Clean Cities program was initiated by DOE 
for the purposes of fulfilling voluntary commitment provisions, Section 
505 of EPAct, in order to accelerate the public and private sector use 
of alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs). The Clean Cities program is a 
growing national network of local coalitions that are dependent upon an 
integrated information and training system to remain effective. The 
scope of the Clean Cities Program will require expertise in the 
following exemplary areas of support: (a) Alternative fuels and 
alternative fuel vehicles; (b) Alternative fuels and air quality 
legislation and regulations; (c) Knowledge of key members of industry; 
(d) Intergovernmental organizations; (e) Training and curricula 
development and materials; (f) Marketing, advertising, and public 
outreach; (g) Organizational planning; and (h) Meetings and workshop 
facilitation. Through this solicitation, the Department of Energy seeks 
to support local Clean Cities partnerships in the following three 
general areas of interest: (1) Training and Outreach to Local Clean 
Cities; (2) Public Outreach; and (3) Alternative Fuel Market 
Development.

[[Page 18895]]

1. Training and Outreach to Local Clean Cities

    Prepare training curricula, materials and conduct up to six 
educational workshops in order to strengthen organizational 
effectiveness of local Clean Cities coalitions. Provide prepared 
materials (slides and/or videos, talking points, handouts) in a fashion 
that would enable clean cities coordinators to make condensed 
presentations (during local meetings) on a particular training subject. 
In essence, this ``train the trainer approach'' would enable more 
coalition members the opportunity to participate and learn about a 
subject or idea. Training programs in the following topics are desired:

A. Financing Vehicle Purchasing, Infrastructure Development and 
Organizational Operations

    Work will focus on educating and training coalitions on techniques 
for: financing and raising funds, such as seeking funding from 
foundations and corporations; incorporating as a nonprofit; grant 
writing; event planning; applying for and participating in Congestion 
Mitigation Air Quality programs.

B. Community Organization Outreach

    Work will focus on educating and training coalitions to identify 
and develop partnerships with pertinent local, community organizations, 
such as the Lion's Club, Sierra Club, parent/teacher associations, 
American Lung Association, etc., in order to integrate alternative 
fuels' initiatives into local community agendas.

C. Public Information Outreach

    Work will improve coalitions' ability to communicate and present 
information to showcase local alternative fuel achievements. Work will 
also include assisting Coalitions to develop public information and 
outreach strategies.

D. Building Organizational Capability

    Work will include training coalitions on how to increase the 
organizational capability of local coalitions by explaining how to 
establish senior executive and intern programs and motivating 
volunteers to conduct coalition activities.

E. Strategic Market Development

    Work will be directed toward assisting local coalitions with 
establishing strategic market development plans that identify available 
resources--people, participating company affiliations, vehicles, 
refueling stations, corridors, airports, local laws and incentives; and 
then identify gaps to form action plans that will result in Alternative 
Fuel Vehicle (AFV) markets.

2. Public Outreach

    Develop and design information materials to educate the public 
about Alternative Fuels and other advanced transportation technologies. 
Work would utilize a variety of electronic and print formats to develop 
a coordinated, comprehensive public information strategy in conjunction 
with DOE regional efforts. Work guidelines would be developed in 
conjunction with the DOE Public Affairs Office in order to maximize 
benefit and avoid duplication.

A. Outreach Program

    Work would include developing and placing magazine articles to 
increase fleet operators', fleet owners', and general public interest 
in Clean Cities and alternative fuels. Work could include the 
development of case studies and general public information products.

B. Partner Awards

    Work would include developing an award and recognition process that 
would generate corporate attention to Clean Cities objectives. Awards 
and recognition would be communicated utilizing tools developed in (A) 
above.

C. Public Service Announcements

    Work would include developing appropriate themes on the societal 
benefits of driving low emission, alternative fuel, and fuel efficient 
vehicles; creating public service announcements based on these themes 
for print and broadcast media; and placing these public service 
announcements in the appropriate publications and broadcast media.

D. Middle and High School AFV Curricula

    Work will be to develop and distribute new and/or build upon 
existing educational materials on the value and benefits of alternative 
fuel utilization, current and future AFV technology, and infrastructure 
for incorporation into middle and high school curricula. Training 
teachers on how to use the materials should be part of the task.

3. Alternative Fuel Market Development

    Work would focus on developing partnerships in certain, 
concentrated market niches demonstrated to be ``critical'' in the 
development of a successful, local AFV market, such as airports, taxi 
fleets, school bus fleets, rental car, and national parks. Work would 
include developing an expertise in each niche; effectively ``tackling'' 
problem areas or issues in the market area; and identifying programs 
that can be replicated in other Clean Cities. Workshops would utilize 
the information materials developed. Up to two workshops per market 
sector will be considered.
    In response to this solicitation, DOE expects to make a single 
award. There is a potential for additional single year extensions of 
this work with additional future year funds. Additional scope of work 
could be negotiated at a later date. Solicitation number DE-PS36-
98GO10295 will include complete information on the program including 
technical aspects, funding, application preparation instructions, 
application evaluation criteria, and other factors that will be 
considered when selecting projects for funding. No pre-application 
conference is planned. Issuance of the solicitation is planned on or 
about April 17, 1998, with responses due on May 19, 1998.

    Issued in Golden, Colorado, on April 8, 1998.
John W. Meeker,
Chief, Procurement, GO.
[FR Doc. 98-10077 Filed 4-15-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P '