RFQ for On-Call Regulatory Compliance Support Services (RFQ-25-002)

ORANGE COUNTY WATER DISTRICT
REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS
RFQ-25-002
FOR
ON-CALL REGULATORY COMPLIANCE SUPPORT SERVICES
ISSUED: Wednesday, July 22, 2026
Statement of Qualifications DUE:
Thursday, August 20, 2026 at 12:00PM PT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Section Page
1 INTRODUCTION ___________________________________________________ 1
2 SOLICITATION SCHEDULE __________________________________________ 1
2.1 MANDATORY PRE-QUALIFICATION MEETING _______________________ 1
2.2 QUESTIONS CONCERNING REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS _________ 2
2.3 DEADLINE FOR STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS __________________ 2
2.4 PRE-SUBMITTAL ACTIVITIES _____________________________________ 3
3 PROJECT BACKGROUND AND DESCRIPTION __________________________ 3
4 SCOPE OF SERVICES ______________________________________________ 3
4.1 WORK ORDER AUTHORIZATIONS ________________________________ 4
5 GENERAL INFORMATION ___________________________________________ 4
5.1 MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS ____________________________________ 5
6 ELEMENTS OF STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS ______________________5
6.1 TITLE PAGE__________________________________________________ 5
6.2 COVER LETTER ______________________________________________ 5
6.3 TABLE OF CONTENTS _________________________________________ 6
6.4 PROJECT OVERVIEW AND APPROACH __________________________ 6
6.5 PROJECT TEAM AND QUALIFICATIONS __________________________ 6
6.6 EXPERIENCE AND RECORD OF PAST PERFORMANCE. ____________ 7
6.7 ADDITIONAL SERVICES _______________________________________ 7
6.8 RATE SHEET _________________________________________________ 7
6.9 OCWD STANDARD AGREEMENT ________________________________ 8
6.9.1 STATEMENT OF INSURANCE COMPLIANCE ______________________ 8
6.10 BILLING _____________________________________________________ 8
6.11 CONFLICT OF INTEREST ______________________________________ 9
6.12 EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY AND AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
REQUIREMENTS __________________________________________________ 9
7 PROPOSAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS ____________________________ 9
7.1 SOQ FORMAT ________________________________________________ 9
7.2 SOQ PREPARATION COSTS 9
TOC - ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Section Page
8 SELECTION PROCESS ___________________________________________100
9 SPECIAL CONDITIONS ____________________________________________ 10
9.1 RESERVATIONS _____________________________________________ 10
9.2 PUBLIC RECORDS ___________________________________________ 10
9.3 RIGHT TO CANCEL __________________________________________ 10
9.4 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ___________________________________ 11
9.5 PUBLIC INFORMATION _______________________________________ 11
List of Exhibits:
Exhibit A: Rate Sheet
Exhibit B: Evaluation Criteria
Exhibit C: Services Agreement
Exhibit D: Sample Work Order Authorization
List of Attachments:
Attachment No.1: RFQ Submittal Checklist
TOC - iii

The Orange County Water District ("OCWD" or District) is seeking statement of
qualifications (SOQ) from qualified firms with experience and expertise in providing
regulatory compliance support services. OCWD is seeking SOQs from firms that are
qualified in providing professional services related to the District's requirements to comply
with mandatory regulatory compliance measures. Unless terminated earlier as set forth
in this Agreement, the services shall be for a three-year agreement with an option to
renew for two additional years.
This Request for Qualifications (RFQ) describes the anticipated scope of services,
consultant selection process, and the minimum information that must be included in the
SOQs. Respondents are encouraged to carefully review this RFQ in its entirety prior to
submitting their SOQs. Failure to submit information in accordance with these
requirements and procedures may be cause for disqualification.
1 INTRODUCTION
The OCWD is an internationally recognized leader in the water industry that was formed
in 1933 by the California State Legislature which entrusted OCWD to guard and protect
the region's groundwater basin and limited water supply. OCWD's mission is to provide
a reliable supply of high-quality water that is sourced in an environmentally responsible
manner to the more than 2.5 million residents and businesses within the 270 square mile
service area of Orange County, California that OCWD serves. OCWD manages three of
Southern California's greatest water supplies, this includes protecting rights to the Santa
Ana River, managing and replenishing the Orange County Groundwater Basin, and
operating and maintaining the Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS), the world's
largest advanced water purification system for potable water reuse. More information
regarding the OCWD can be found at www.ocwd.com.
2 SOLICITATION SCHEDULE
The solicitation schedule is summarized in the table below. OCWD reserves the right to
modify the schedule below at its discretion. Proper notification changes will be made to
interested respondents.
RFQ Issued Wednesday, July 22, 2026
Questions Due Date Tuesday, August 4, 2026 by 12:00PM PT
Statement of Qualifications Due Thursday, August 20, 2026 at 12:00PM PT
Interviews, if necessary Week of September 7, 2026
Agreement Award Date: September - October 2026
2.1 MANDATORY PRE-QUALIFICATION MEETING
There will be no mandatory pre-qualification meeting held.
Orange County Water District
ON-CALL REGULATORY COMPLIANCE SUPPORT SERVICES
RFQ-25-002
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
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2.2 QUESTIONS CONCERNING REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS
All questions regarding the RFQ must be submitted in writing before the deadline due
date of Tuesday, August 4, 2026 by 12:00PM PT. All questions must be titled "Question
- RFQ-25-002 On-Call Regulatory Compliance Support Services". Responses to
questions received from prospective respondents will be formally documented in a
Question and Answer (Q&A) table that will be posted on the OCWD website:
https://www.ocwd.com/working-with-us/rfp-contracts/. The Q&A table will be updated
regularly as questions are received from prospective respondents. Questions received
after the questions due date will not be considered.
Attention: Marcus Villalobos, Buyer
Email: procurement@ocwd.com
2.3 DEADLINE FOR STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS
Three (3) hard copies and one (1) electronic flash drive copy of the SOQs must be
received in a sealed envelope by OCWD no later than Thursday, August 20, 2026 at
12:00PM PT or such later time that OCWD may announce by an addendum at any time
prior to the SOQ deadline. The envelope shall be plainly marked on the exterior "SOQ for
RFQ-25-002 ON-CALL REGULATORY COMPLIANCE SUPPORT SERVICES" and with
the name, company name, and address of the respondent.
SOQs must be mailed or delivered in person or via courier services at the District office
listed below. FAXED OR E-MAILED SUBMISSIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. To
deliver submittal packages in person or via courier, please notify the guard at the main
gate for qualification drop off. Sealed envelopes will be timestamped upon receipt at the
receptionist desk.
Orange County Water District
Administration Office Building
Attention: Marcus Villalobos, Buyer
Address: 18700 Ward Street
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
It is the Respondent's responsibility to ensure that SOQs are received before the
submittal deadline. SOQ packages should also include all signed Acknowledgment of
Addendum forms that may be issued by OCWD as part of this RFQ process, as further
described below. SOQs received after the deadline will not be considered under any
circumstances. The OCWD will not be responsible for the proper identification and
handling of any SOQs submitted incorrectly. Only responses properly submitted to
OCWD will be considered. OCWD reserves the right to reject any and/or all responses
received. There will be no formal opening of the SOQs.
Orange County Water District
ON-CALL REGULATORY COMPLIANCE SUPPORT SERVICES
RFQ-25-002
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
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2.4 PRE-SUBMITTAL ACTIVITIES
The District reserves the right to revise the RFQ prior to the date the SOQs are due.
Addendums to the RFQ shall be posted on the OCWD website:
https://www.ocwd.com/working-with-us/rfp-contracts/ for all interested Respondents. The
District reserves the right to extend the date by which the SOQs are due.
3 PROJECT BACKGROUND AND DESCRIPTION
OCWD maintains a number of regulatory obligations that are derived primarily from
existing permits and mitigation measures for facilities and activities located throughout
the District's service area. These regulatory compliance obligations include certain tasks
that District staff perform, such as monitoring for sensitive status wildlife species and
habitat. Other regulatory compliance obligations, such as archeological construction
monitoring, are outside of the scope of work that District staff are qualified to perform,
necessitating the need for the use of consulting firms for these work efforts. Additionally,
recent and pending changes to the regulatory environment have the potential to affect
District permit requirements in the future. Accordingly, the District has identified a need
for specialized work efforts to better understand and plan for shifting regulatory
requirements as well as to implement required activities.
4 SCOPE OF SERVICES
The District desires to enter into three-year term agreements with up to five consulting
firms possessing the necessary expertise. At the end of the three-year period, the
District's Board of Directors may consider extending the contracts for two additional one-
year extensions. This RFQ allows the District to seek competitive SOQs for individual
work efforts as they arise. When a particular project arises that requires environmental
analysis support, District staff may send a detailed scope of work to consultants and
receive proposals and proposed fees from the firms. This would allow the District to
receive competitive proposals over the period of the proposed agreements.
The District utilizes in-house expertise to manage certain aspects of regulatory
compliance. The scope of work for this RFQ relates to regulatory compliance services
that the District needs assistance with due factors such as the need for specialized
technical expertise or mandatory professional requirements. Actual services may or may
not occur depending upon if and when the projects or activities are ready.
In general terms, the types of services that could be requested, but are not limited to the
following:
1. Regulatory permitting and agency coordination
2. Biological, cultural, paleontological, and tribal resource monitoring
Orange County Water District
ON-CALL REGULATORY COMPLIANCE SUPPORT SERVICES
RFQ-25-002
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
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3. Wetland and stream assessments
4. Habitat restoration and mitigation planning
5. Construction compliance monitoring and reporting (biological and archeological,
etc)
6. Water quality and environmental technical studies
7. Environmental data collection (including emergency monitoring), GIS support,
mapping, and analysis
8. Watershed, climate resiliency, and natural resources planning support
9. Environmental review and technical support for recharge, flood control, sediment
management, and infrastructure projects
10. Environmental compliance support associated with District operations and
maintenance activities
4.1 WORK ORDER AUTHORIZATIONS
For each project task that arises a work order request will be solicited by the District
representative indicating the services required for the project task. Each project task will
be initiated by a District work order authorization, Exhibit D, Sample Work Order
Authorization, which shall be itemized to include the selected firm's proposals, any or all
labor rate(s) and service(s) in accordance with the rates that are provided in Exhibit A,
Rate Sheet.
The proposal for each work order authorization request shall include a description of the
anticipated method of billing for services performed, with provisions for monthly billing
that will include itemized accounting of hours of authorized personnel, hourly rates, and
percent completion for each project task identified. A project schedule shall also be
included to track project costs on a resource loaded schedule.
5 GENERAL INFORMATION
The District expects the selected firm to provide quality service in accordance with
industry standards. The firm must demonstrate experience with the type of anticipated
work and must have the ability to perform all services in a timely manner upon the
request(s) from the District or the District's authorized representative. All work shall
comply with the requirements of federal, state, and local laws, and District requirements.
Acceptable performance standards include, but are not limited to, dependability,
contractor safety, demonstrated experience with anticipated work with the ability to
perform all anticipated services in a timely manner upon receipt of request, expertise in
Orange County Water District
ON-CALL REGULATORY COMPLIANCE SUPPORT SERVICES
RFQ-25-002
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
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preparing documents and analyses related to the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA) and the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA).
5.1 MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
The selected firm is required to have at minimum the following qualifications:
* Firm must employ qualified staff with expertise in regulatory support services in at
least one of the services identified in Section 4.
* Experience with projects involving at least one of the following components:
groundwater recharge, remediation, water distribution, and/or water treatment.
* Firm must have a strong understanding of local, state, and federal environmental
regulations related to environmental compliance;
6 ELEMENTS OF STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS
To provide a degree of consistency in the review of the written SOQs, firms are requested
to include the following content in their SOQs. The information requested below will be
used to evaluate each SOQ based on the evaluation criteria outlined in this RFQ. SOQs
may be deemed nonresponsive if they do not respond to all areas specified below.
SOQs shall be prepared simply and economically, providing a straightforward and
concise description of how the SOQ has satisfied all the requirements of this RFQ.
Emphasis shall be on completeness and clarity of content with sufficient detail to allow
for accurate evaluation and comparative analysis. Excessive or irrelevant materials will
not be favorably received.
The following subsections describe the contents required in the SOQs. The SOQs shall
be of such scope and depth to sufficiently describe and demonstrate the respondent's
understanding of and approach to the projects.
Please include the following in your SOQs:
6.1 TITLE PAGE
The respondent should identify the RFQ title, name and title of the firm's contact person,
address, telephone number, email address, and date of SOQs submission.
6.2 COVER LETTER
A principal of the firm authorized to commit the firm to the requirements of the RFQ must
sign the cover letter. The letter should identify a contact person (name, e-mail address,
and phone number) for future communication during the selection process. And shall also
discuss the Respondent's commitment to providing high quality services, describe the
firm's understanding and approach to the services, and its ability to perform the
Orange County Water District
ON-CALL REGULATORY COMPLIANCE SUPPORT SERVICES
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Wednesday, July 22, 2026
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requirements of this RFQ. Include a brief background of the firm including history, types
of services provided, number of employees, number of offices and locations with staff
size and disciplines, and any other relevant information that may be useful in determining
the firm's SOQs to provide the services described in this RFQ.
6.3 TABLE OF CONTENTS
The table of contents should include a clear and complete identification by section and
page number of the submitted materials.
6.4 PROJECT OVERVIEW AND APPROACH
Present a narrative overview of the Respondent's understanding of the RFQ requirements
and the overall approach and technical plan for accomplishing the work assignments.
Also discuss at a minimum the following:
* Approach to assignment of work within the firm and how team members will
conduct tasks and prepare anticipated deliverables,
* Describe the Respondent's approach to quality assurance and control, as well as
any performance guarantees,
* Identify current and reasonably foreseeable actual and possible constraints,
problems, and/or issues that could hinder the execution of services under the
contract, and suggest approaches to resolving or managing these constraints,
problems, and/or issues.
* Capability under current workload to perform the work specified herein. Factors to
be considered include, but may not be limited to, number of qualified staff allocated
to assigned projects, availability of key personnel and support staff;
* Anticipated response times after notification of work assignments by OCWD.
6.5 PROJECT TEAM AND QUALIFICATIONS
Provide an organizational chart that describes the structure of the project team,
including any subconsultants. The project team description shall identify the following:
(i) The Project Manager,
(ii) Project team description (with resumes);
(iii) The names of key personnel that will be available to provide regulatory
support services,
(iv) The role and expertise of each key personnel, and
Orange County Water District
ON-CALL REGULATORY COMPLIANCE SUPPORT SERVICES
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Wednesday, July 22, 2026
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Provide a description of the experience, SOQs including required licenses and
certifications, area of expertise or specialization, and availability (including current
workload) of the project team members, including subconsultants/subcontractors, if any.
Describe other project commitments by project team members and the anticipated level
of involvement of each team member based on the abilities and expertise required for the
type of work desired.
Provide the resumes of all members of the project team, including subconsultants/
subcontractors, as an appendix. Each resume shall not exceed three (3) pages and shall
include name and title, education, years with the company, licenses and certifications
(issue and expiration dates), home office location, relevant experience within at least the
last five (5) years, and other required SOQs discussed in this RFQ.
The identified Project Manager will be OCWD's main point of contact for all assigned
projects for the duration of the Agreement. The SOQs shall include the Project Manager's
contact information, including phone and e-mail address.
Once an Agreement has been executed, the Consultant must request approval of the
District in advance of any new personnel being assigned to the project. The District
reserves the right to reject or remove personnel performing services at any time for the
duration of the Agreement.
6.6 EXPERIENCE AND RECORD OF PAST PERFORMANCE.
Provide a minimum of three (3) references from other municipal, city, or county
governmental agencies for which the company is currently providing ON-CALL
REGULATORY COMPLIANCE SUPPORT SERVICES. Indicate the scope of work, date,
and the name, email address, and telephone number of the client contact. Ongoing
projects currently being performed by the respondent also may be submitted for
consideration. The District at its discretion may contact the references for additional
information. Failure to provide accurate contact information may be cause for rejection
of the SOQ as being nonresponsive.
6.7 ADDITIONAL SERVICES
Include any comments, suggestions, or additions the Respondent may have regarding
the scope of work or any other aspects of the work that the Respondent feels would be
helpful to OCWD in selecting a firm for the services described in the RFQ. Identify the
potential impact(s) or benefit(s) that these recommendations would have if accepted by
OCWD. Tasks above the minimum to complete the work described herein shall be clearly
identified as "optional" in the SOQs.
6.8 RATE SHEET
The rate sheet shall indicate hourly rates that will remain in effect for the duration of the
entire Agreement unless otherwise specified and approved by OCWD. The rate sheet
Orange County Water District
ON-CALL REGULATORY COMPLIANCE SUPPORT SERVICES
RFQ-25-002
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
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