The Houston Health Department (HHD) requests City Council approval of an ordinance authorizing an agreement between the City of Houston and The University of Houston (UH) to provide services for the City’s Community Scale Air Toxic project. The performance period of the Agreement is from date of Countersignature by the City Controller and will continue for one year with four one-year annual no cost extensions. All funding will be expended Fiscal Year 2019. The total amount of the Agreement will not exceed $102,576.00.
The City’s Community Scale Air Toxic project is a collaborative with formaldehyde air scientists at UH. Under the agreement, UH will: 1) address community-scale monitoring; 2) “characterize near-source concentrations” from industry sectors; and 3) obtain information regarding substantially elevated ambient concentrations of toxics.
The intent of the collaboration is to leverage resources to better understand substantially elevated formaldehyde concentration levels in select Houston locations. This information will assist regulators in assessing the impact of emission reduction measures and provide insight into effective modifications, if necessary.
In the high-risk census tracts, identified by EPA’s National Air Task Assessment in Houston, formaldehyde is the largest risk driver. It is followed by acetaldehyde, benzene and 1, 3 butadiene, also previously identified as posing “definite health risk” to Houstonians by the Mayor’s Health Effects of Air Pollution Task Force.
Fiscal Note:
Funding for this item is included in the FY2019 Adopted Budget. Therefore, no Fiscal note is required as stated in the Financial Policy Ord. 2018-0390.
MWBE Goal:
M/WBE Zero Percentage Goal Document approved by the Office of Business Opportunity.
Pay or Play:
This procurement is exempt from the City's Pay or Play Program because the department is utilizing a sole source for this purchase.
Hire Houston First:
Hire Houston First does not apply to this expenditure, because it involves the use of federal funds and is subject to specific procurement rules of the federal government.
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Stephen L. Williams, M.ED., M.P.A.
Director, Houston Health Department