Lane County is requesting statements of qualifications from qualified environmental consulting firms for National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Environmental Assessments in McKenzie River Valley. As projects are developed, the County will seek proposals from among the qualified firms on a site-by-site basis to provide environmental review services for CDBG-DR funded activities. This Request for Qualifications will not directly result in a contract award. In September 2020, multiple fires burned across Western Oregon. One of them, the Holiday Farm Fire, burned over 170,000 acres in the McKenzie River Valley, taking one human life and destroying 517 homes and dozens of other structures. The State of Oregon has received Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds, a portion of which have been suballocated to Lane County to develop affordable housing and to support planning, infrastructure and economic revitalization projects within the McKenzie River Valley. All projects funded under the CDBG-DR grant are subject to NEPA and related environmental statutes under 24 CFR Part 58. Lane County is preparing to support projects at more than a dozen infrastructure and residential sites in the McKenzie River Valley. The environmental consulting firms will be asked to conduct environmental reviews for these projects, in compliance with the requirements of the (CDBG-DR) program. Such services must comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) environmental review requirements under 24 CFR Part 58.
