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Resilience Authority of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County
Request for Qualifications and Information
Consulting Services
Responses Due November 22, 2022
- Statement of Purpose
- The purpose of this Request for Qualifications and Information (RFQ-I) is to obtain
information from qualified companies and organizations that provide consulting services
to establish local climate resilience and mitigation action strategies that will support flood
control, ecosystem resilience, shoreline protection, structural resilience, energy
resilience, and other community-based project and programs. - This RFQ-I is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute
a Request for Proposals (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. Organizations are
hereby advised that the Authority will not pay for any information or administrative costs
incurred in response to this RFQ-I. All costs associated with responding to this RFQ-I will
be solely at the organization’s expense.
- The purpose of this Request for Qualifications and Information (RFQ-I) is to obtain
- Background
- In July 2021 Anne Arundel County and Annapolis, MD passed legislation to establish the
Country’s first multi-jurisdictional climate resilience financing authority. The Resilience
Authority of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County will finance projects that support
resilience efforts within the County and the City. The Authority’s investments and
activities will support those projects that directly mitigate climate threats including sea
level rise, storm events, and excessive heat, among others.
- In July 2021 Anne Arundel County and Annapolis, MD passed legislation to establish the
- Proposed Solutions and Approach
- The Authority is seeking innovative approaches to establishing a resilience project
portfolio and implementation decision-making process that will advance and incentivize
activities across four key themes: transportation resilience (including nature-based
solutions to road flooding); shoreline protection on public and private lands; public and
private structural resilience; and energy resilience. - The Authority is seeking information regarding specific solutions-oriented project
implementation processes including:- Establishing a process for continually assessing the risk and vulnerability of local and
regional assets to the impacts of climate hazards, including but not limited to
flooding, sea level rise, extreme temperatures, and drought. Though the Authority is
not a planning agency, it will work in direct partnership with City and County planning,
public works, and emergency management agencies to identify the most vulnerable
infrastructure assets and develop action strategies to mitigate those impacts. A
sustainable and dynamic vulnerability assessment process will be essential for guiding
long-term investments. Respondents should describe options for how the Authority,
in partnership with the City and the County, can economically, efficiently, and
sustainably evaluate community risks and vulnerabilities regarding key climate
hazards. - Creating a resilience project portfolio that protects and enhances the community’s
critical economic, environmental, and social infrastructure assets. The Authority will
prioritize action and investment within key project and asset categories, including but
not necessarily limited to:- Civic infrastructure, including roads and transportation networks. Protecting critical
assets and civic infrastructure systems will be a primary function of the Authority. This will include mitigating climate impacts on road and transportation infrastructure.
More specifically, the project portfolio should include nature-based solutions for
mitigating the impacts of systemic flooding catastrophic storm events on vulnerable
road networks. - Shoreline protection. Anne Arundel County and Annapolis contains more than 500
miles of tidal coastline, thereby making the community uniquely vulnerable to
flooding from sea level rise, storm surge, and tidal flooding. The Authority will invest
in nature-based solutions that address the most vulnerable shoreline communities
and environmental assets. - Resilience of buildings and structures. Climate change will affect virtually every aspect of human life, including the buildings where citizens live and work. Climate change will continue to fundamentally alter the environmental conditions in which buildings are designed to function, and the impacts will be acute in coastal communities like Anne Arundel County and Annapolis. The Resilience Authority will invest in projects that improve the resilience of both public and private structures to withstand key climate impacts including flooding, heat, and storm events.
- Resilient energy systems. The Authority will work in partnership with the County and
the City to accelerate the transition to renewable energy across the region. In
addition, specific focus and investment will include insuring a reliable and resilient
energy system, specifically in the most economically challenged communities. The
resilience authority will invest in projects County and City wide that effectively
incorporate energy resilience into a broader environmental and civic infrastructure
project portfolio. - Respondents should describe how a project portfolio can and should incorporate
projects within each of these asset categories. Proposed processes should include a
description of how potential projects would be identified, prioritized, and evaluated
for implementation. In addition, respondents should describe past experiences and
examples of how other jurisdictions across the region and the country have addressed similar issues. Finally, respondents should describe how it will work in partnership with the Authority to effectively engage Anne Arundel County and City of Annapolis staff in developing solutions to resilience needs in the future.
- Civic infrastructure, including roads and transportation networks. Protecting critical
- Designing and implementing a project selection decision-making process. It is
anticipated that the project portfolio development process will be implemented in
two phases. First, the Authority will work with City and County leaders to identify
high-priority projects within each of the four asset categories to be implemented in
the short-term. Second, the Authority will create a project portfolio development
process that will continually assess threats, hazards, and opportunities regarding
potential projects in the future. To that end, respondents should describe the
potential structure and components of a resilience project decision-making system
including but not limited to: project selection and prioritization based on changing
climate hazards and ongoing vulnerability analysis; the connection to City and County
planning and implementation priorities; potential funding opportunities; the
anticipated scale and impact of the project; the expedience and timing of
implementation; and, the impact on environmental justice, equity, and traditionally
disenfranchised communities.
- Establishing a process for continually assessing the risk and vulnerability of local and
- The Authority is seeking innovative approaches to establishing a resilience project
- Instructions for Responding
- Organizations that are responding to this RFQ-I are requested to email their written
responses by November 22, 2022, 2:00PM to Dan Nees, Interim Director, at dan@throweenvironmental.com. - As with any system, power outages or technology problems may arise that are outside
the Resilience Authority’s control and could impact proposal submission. The Resilience
Authority will not be held accountable for such issues that may delay transmission of any
submittal.
- Organizations that are responding to this RFQ-I are requested to email their written
- Inquiries
- All correspondence and questions related to the RFQ-I should be directed in writing to
Dan Nees, Interim Director, at dan@throwe-environmental.com. All written questions
must be submitted five working days prior to the due date of November 22, 2022 at
2:00PM.
- All correspondence and questions related to the RFQ-I should be directed in writing to