Software Development and Maintenance Support for Open Air Community Data Portal

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District ("Air District") seeks a qualified contractor with software development experience working with other large air quality management district agencies in California, to develop, implement, deploy, and maintain a mobile application and mobile-responsive web application for the Air District's Open Air Community Data Portal ("Open Air Portal"), an interactive, public-facing portal that will enable Bay Area residents and users to search, view, and access air quality and facility-related information. The selected contractor will build on discovery, requirements, design, and user story refinement activities completed to date by the Air District to develop and launch the Open Air Portal.

Phase 1 of the project follows an established timeline anticipated to begin in January 2027 with deployment of the Open Air Portal for Facility Data by June 2027, followed by maintenance and support for a minimum of three (3) years post deployment. The specialized air monitoring data services portion of the Refinery Fenceline Monitoring PPoC is anticipated to begin in April 2027 and complete in December 2027.  Phase 2 of the project is estimated to begin in April 2028 and complete in June 2029.

Interested respondents must meet the mandatory Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) Requirement as described in Section 4 of this RFP to be deemed responsive.

Background

The Air District is the government agency responsible for protecting air quality in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Air District is tasked with regulating stationary sources of air pollution in the nine counties that surround San Francisco Bay: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, southwestern Solano, and southern Sonoma counties. It is governed by a 24-member Board of Directors composed of locally elected officials from each of the nine counties. The Air District’s mission is to improve air quality to protect public health, reduce historical and current environmental inequities, and mitigate climate change and its impacts.

The Air District aims to achieve its mission through many strategic goals, including: reducing and eliminating health problems caused by air pollution, achieving and maintaining air quality standards, leading the Bay Area’s efforts to fight global climate change, creating high-quality regulatory programs, and applying environmental best practices in all operations. To do so, the Air District regulates air pollution emissions from stationary emission sources such as factories, refineries, and power plants, and from smaller facilities like gas stations and dry cleaners. The Air District ensures that such facilities comply with air pollution laws and regulations, provides incentives to replace older, higher-emitting vehicles and equipment with cleaner alternatives, and gives grants and provides outreach to encourage healthy clean air choices by businesses and consumers. The Air District implements these efforts with an equity focus, aiming to reduce air quality disparities and promote environmental justice by targeting local air pollution in overburdened communities.

Project Details

• Reference ID: 2026-011
• Department: Enterprise Technology Solutions
• Department Head: Vacant (Director)

Important Dates

• Questions Due: 2026-08-17T23:00:00.000Z
• Answers Posted By: 2026-08-26T00:00:00.000Z

Evaluation Criteria

• Technical Approach and Solution Design (20 pts) —

  Proposal will be evaluated for understanding of the project requirements, architecture, scalability, security, integrations, and implementation methodology.  The selected contractor should demonstrate a clear understanding of the Figma clickable prototypes (mobile and web) and User Stories provided.

• Project Management, Schedule, and Delivery (20 pts) —

  Proposal will be evaluated for the ability to meet aggressive milestone and manage risks, governance, reporting, testing, and deployment activities.

• Post-Implementation Support and Service Levels (5 pts) —

  Proposal will be evaluated for operational sustainability, SLAs, incident response, warranty support, monitoring, patching, and maintenance approach.

• Security, Accessibility, and Compliance (5 pts) —

  Proposal will be evaluated for high-risk public-sector requirement area involving WCAG 2.1 AA, AB 1749, OWASP, NIST, RBAC, audit logging, and cybersecurity readiness.

• Project Team Qualifications and Staffing (10 pts) —

  Proposal will be evaluated for personnel's technical expertise, project management, and government experience in delivering successful mobile and web applications.

• Firm's Specialty Focus Area - Local Business (10 pts) —

  The Air District gives preferences to local businesses. “Local business” means that a firm’s headquarters is located within the nine counties of the Air District’s jurisdiction. Bidder must include a statement in their proposal self-certifying that the bidder qualifies as a local business to receive points for this criteria.

• Firm's Specialty Focus Area - Certified Green Business (10 pts) —

  The Air District gives preferences to businesses that are certified as green businesses by a government agency or independent private rating organization. Bidder must include a statement in their proposal self-certifying that the bidder qualifies as a certified green business to receive points for this criteria.

• Cost Proposal (20 pts) —

  Evaluation will be based on completeness, reasonableness, and overall value of the proposed costs.

• Advertising (10 pts) —

  Proposed plan to target customers. The advertising plan will be evaluated for effectiveness and the ability to reach as many prospective customers in the Bay Area as possible.

• Relevant Experience and Past Performance (20 pts) —

  Proposal will be evaluated for demonstrated success delivering similar public-facing government platforms, mobile and web applications, and complex system integrations based on the case studies or examples of work experience with large air quality authorities in California, completed within the last five (5) years.

Submission Requirements

• Project Resources Confirmation (required) —

  I hereby confirm that our firm has fully reviewed the solicitation document, including any and all addenda, documents, and supplemental project resources provided via Figma and Azure DevOps. 

• Executive Summary (Cover Letter) (required) —
  • Provide a statement of your firm’s background and related experience in providing similar services to governmental organizations, if any.
  • Describe the technical capabilities of the firm and, in particular, the firm’s exposure with working with environmental regulations, if any.
  • Outline your understanding of the project and provide a high-level overview of your approach.
  • The cover letter must be signed by the authorized representative your firm.
• Bidder Information (required) —

  Provide the following information about the firm:

  • Address and telephone number of the office nearest to San Francisco, California, and the address and phone number of the office from which each proposed staff member will perform services, if different.
  • Name, title, email address, and phone number of the firm’s designated representative.
  • Name, title, email address, and phone number of the firm’s project manager, if different from the individual designated as the contact representative.
  • Name and title of firm's authorize signatory to execute a contract on behalf of the firm.
• Technical Approach (required) —

  Provide a detailed description of the approach and methodology to be used to deliver all the requirements of the RFP. Explain the technical architecture, frontend and backend development, mobile application and mobile-responsive web application design, application logic, APIs, middleware, system integrations, data transformation and validation, etc., to align the solution with the Air District's technology framework requirements. Explain how the proposed solution will support testing, deployment, monitoring, maintenance, and future Phase 2 expansion. Identify any assumptions, dependencies, and Air District resources necessary to perform the work.

• Service Level Commitment (required) —
  • Provide a detailed service level commitment outlining uptime commitments, response times, and resolution timelines for system issues post-deployment.
  • Provide a statement addressing your firm’s ability and willingness to commit and maintain staffing to successfully conclude the project on the proposed project schedule.
• Bug Warranty Policy (required) —

  Include a detailed policy outlining how defects will be managed post-deployment, including timelines for resolution and coverage duration.

• Delivery Timeline and Milestones (required) —
  Submit a detailed Delivery Timeline and Milestone Plan describing how services will be delivered within the anticipated project schedule. The timeline shall be consistent with the proposed technical approach, staffing plan, and cost proposal, and include key tasks, deliverables, milestones, dependencies, resource assumptions, and implementation timelines. 

  The timeline shall account for completion of the following:

  • Deployment of Phase 1 Open Air Portal for Facility Data, including MVP software development for the Refinery Fenceline Monitoring PPoC, by June 2027; 
  • Full implementation of the Refinery Fenceline Monitoring software development by December 2027.
• Team Composition (required) —
  • List all key personnel assigned to the project by role and level.
  • Provide a summary of each individual's education, qualifications, training programs provided to, or required of, specialized expertise applicable to the project, and experience dealing with governmental agencies, procedures, and environmental regulations, if any.
  • Upload resumes of all personnel assigned to this project as attachments to the RFP proposal in the "Resume/Curriculum Vitae" section. 
• Resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV) (required) —

  Upload resumes of all personnel assigned to this project here. All named personnel must have a resume or CV attached. Partial or incomplete attachment will result in reduced or zero scoring for Team Composition category of this RFP evaluation. 

• Cost Proposal (required) —

  Submit a complete Cost Proposal that clearly identifies all the costs associated with delivering the proposed solution and services required by this RFP. The Cost Proposal shall be consistent with respondent's proposed Delivery Timeline and Milestones and include the following sections:

  A. Software Development and Implementation Services: Respondents shall provide a fixed-price, milestone-based cost for software development and implementation services required for Phase 1 and the Refinery Fenceline Monitoring PPoC. These costs shall be presented separately. For each proposed milestone, identify: 

  1. 1. A description of milestone and associated deliverables;
     2. Anticipated completion date;
     3. Estimated hours for each proposed labor classification;
     4. Fully burdened hourly rate for each classification;
     5. Total cost for each classification, calculated by multiplying the estimated hours by the applicable fully burdened hourly rate;
     6. Other applicable costs; and
     7. Total fixed price for the milestone.

  The Total Software Development and Implementation Cost shall be the sum of all milestones.

  B. Project Management Services: Respondents shall provide a separate fixed-price cost for project management services supporting oversight of all implementation activities in Phase 1 and the software development of the Refinery Fenceline Monitoring PPoC. The proposed cost shall include the project management activities required by the RFP covering project planning, schedule and deliverable management, coordination with Air District staff, stakeholder and third-party vendors, management of risks and dependencies, meetings, and required reports. Respondents shall identify the estimated hours, fully burdened hourly rates by labor classifications, and total cost for project management services. 

  For Phase 2, Respondents shall provide fully burdened hourly rates by labor classifications for future project management and coordination for the Specialized Air Monitoring and Modeling Data Services for the Refinery Fenceline Monitoring PPoC and Phase 2. The scope, schedule, and level of effort for these activities will be based on the Air District's need. 

  C. Post-Implementation Maintenance and Support Services: Respondents shall provide a detailed breakdown of all post-deployment maintenance and support services proposed following production deployment of the applications. The cost proposal shall identify all services included in the annual maintenance and support offering and shall provide: 

  1. 1. a description of the maintenance and support services included;
     2. the annual cost for Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3 of the post- deployment maintenance and support period. 
     3. all recurring fees, subscription fees, hosting fees, software licensing fees, maintenance fees, support fees, and any other ongoing costs shall be clearly identified and included in the applicable annual pricing. 

  The Cost Proposal shall separately include the cost summary for:

  • • Total Software Development and Implementation Cost,
    • Total Three-Year Post-Implementation Maintenance and Support Cost,
    • Project Management, and
    • Total Proposed Cost.

  Respondents are responsible for including all costs necessary to perform the services described in this RFP including all taxes, travel expenses, and all other charges, and is the maximum cost the Air District will pay for the implementation services and three-year term post-deployment maintenance and support services of any contract that is a result of this RFP.

• Please provide at minimum two (2) case studies or examples of relevant experiences and past performance demonstrating success delivery of similar projects for large air quality authorities in California within the last five (5) years. (required)
• References (required) —

  Provide a minimum of three (3) references of other, similar projects including company name or government entity, contact name, title, phone number and e-mail address for all references listed. For each reference, include a description of services provided and dates the services were provided.

• Retention of Working Papers (required) —

  All working papers are the property of the Air District. Respondent hereby acknowledges that if Respondent's firm is awarded the contract, firm will retain project related papers and related reports for a minimum of five (5) years.

• Subcontractors (required) —

  List any subcontractors that will be used and be sure to provide the following for each subcontractor:

  • Subcontractor Name
  • Work to be performed by Subcontractor
  • Total number of hours or percentage of time subcontractor will spend on the contract.
• Conflict of Interest (required) —

  Address possible conflicts of interest with other clients affected by contractors’ actions performed by the firm on behalf of the Air District. The Air District recognizes that prospective respondents may have contracts to perform similar services for other clients. Include a complete list of such clients for the past three (3) years with the type of work performed and the total number of years performing such tasks for each client. The Air District reserves the right to consider the nature and extent of such work in evaluating the proposal.

• GenAI Use and Reporting (required) —

  “Generative AI (GenAI)” means an artificial intelligence system that can generate derived synthetic content, including text, images, video, and audio that emulates the structure and characteristics of the system's training data (Gov. Code § 11549.64.). Proposers must include a statement disclosing:

  • Whether GenAI was used in the preparation of the proposal submission; and
  • Whether GenAI is anticipated to be used in the performance of any work under the resulting contract.

  If GenAI will be used during contract performance, the proposal must include a brief description of its use.

  If awarded a contract, all work performed must comply with applicable state, federal, and local laws and regulations, including any restrictions or disclosure requirements related to the use of GenAI.

• Self-Certification for Local Business or Green Business —

  If applicable, include a statement self-certifying that your firm qualifies as a local business and/or certified green business. “Local business” means that a firm’s headquarters is located within the nine counties of the Air District’s jurisdiction. A green business must be certified by a government agency or independent private rating organization.

• Additional Information (if needed) —

  For any additional information requested or required by any of your previously provided answers or as stated within this RFP please upload the additional documentation here.

  This includes any other essential data that may assist in the evaluation of your proposal.

  NOTE: DO NOT INCLUDE ANY COST INFORMATION HERE

• Submittal Confirmation (required) —

  Respondent hereby certifies that all information provided within this proposal is accurate to the best of their knowledge. Respondent acknowledges that they have examined and carefully studied all Contract Documents and any Addenda and that they have provided any necessary proof of their authority to submit a proposal on behalf of the Company Name stated on the proposal thereby committing the Company to the information contained within.

• Brief Description of Services (required) —

  Briefly describe the services within which you are looking for qualified service providers.

  Provide your response in a format as if filling in the highlighted blank of the statement below:

  The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (“Air District”) seeks proposals from qualified firms to provide _____________________.

• Budget? (required) —

  Has the Air District established a budget for this project?

• Budget Amount (required) —

  What is the established budget amount for this project?

  NOTE: Please input just the number. Do not type the "$"

• Local/Green Business (required) —

  Is local/green business criteria applicable to this RFP?

• Technical Proposal Format (required) —

  Select all pieces of the technical proposal that you wish to require. You will be given the ability to modify existing requirements and add any additional requirements as necessary for this individual RFP by updating the Proposal Format, Content, and Submittal (Vendor Questionnaire) section.

• Cost Proposal Format (required) —

  Do you wish to utilize the electronic pricing table available within OpenGov Procurement? Do you wish to obtain a full breakdown of fees and other costs submitted by Proposers within the Vendor Questionnaire? You may choose to use both if you wish.

  An example of when you may wish to use both is to obtain consistent pricing for a project through the electronic pricing table for an easier evaluation process but you may also wish to receive a more in depth breakdown via an uploaded file as well.

• Evaluation Criteria (required) —

  Select the evaluation criteria that you will be applying to the review and scoring of the proposals received in response to this RFP. The evaluation committee will be scoring all criteria that you select here and any additional criteria you add to this individual RFP. You may add additional criteria and modify the options for these later in the creation process.

• Applicable Contract? (required) —

  Which contract type is the applicable type that will be awarded as a result of this RFP?