The California Air Resources Board (CARB) issued a request for information on Tuesday looking for “information and best practices from the vendor community” for a new Cargo Tank Data Management System (DMS), including what’s now available in the marketplace; cost estimates; and possible changes and improvements to the project scope and requirements that could help it better meet the goals. Among the takeaways:
- CARB’S Cargo Tank Vapor Recovery Program oversees the certification process of vapor recovery systems for cargo tanks, a process that was amended in 2013 with required steps, including 48 hours' notice around testing, fee payments and applications for certification — enabling staff to watch or monitor testing. However, the current data management system — founded on an IT database developed in 2013 — has inefficiencies including the fact that it has no way to filter data by times and locations; and enforcement activity is “logged and tracked in external Excel documents.” Additionally, since the original IT database was developed, its source code has been lost — and without it, “there is no way to enhance the existing database, warranting the development of an entirely new DMS."
- The program now uses a Web-based app that is “solely a data entry tool” that allows staff to collect and review certification data, but no way to automate or validate that data. The app also doesn’t offer a way to do simple administrative chores, which means staff must manually collect documents and fix mistakes. This shortfall in functionality means staffers spend more time to “work around” issues and track down data that can’t be housed in the existing system. Attempts to update the system, however, have led to lost data and functionality, determined to have been caused by “broken or incomplete source code.”
“Cargo Tank operations are at risk due to the program’s out-of-date IT platform, and the out-of-date technology is a serious security concern. To avoid potential security threats, there is a significant need to modernize the program's underlying technologies and architecture to meet current, CARB, and industry security standards,” according to the RFI. - CARB expects its new DMS to be a fully modern system, with new functionality to meet record-keeping and reporting requirements. The board needs a reliable and more efficient record-keeping and reporting system that’s automated and is moved off paper. Among the contractor's tasks are development of a new Cargo Tank Data Management System; management and operation of the database system; implementation of a Web-based app to replace the existing system; and of security to safeguard confidential information. The contractor will also be responsible for enabling the app to automatically acknowledge payments received for “respective Cargo Tanks”; for standing up an automated notification function for users; and for creating data validation to help automate the process of approving applications for certification. Among the security parameters, the system should comply with (NIST) 800-53 requirements; app components should be segregated and only “specified protocols allowed to communicate between them”; and there should be no security constraints on the amount of data that can be downloaded, “as long as the system remains available.”
- A contract term and value are not specified. The tentative development timeline calls for design activities from July 15 - Aug. 5; development from Aug. 5 - Nov. 10, 2022; user acceptance training from Nov. 11 - Dec. 7; and deployment from Dec. 8, 2022 - Jan. 6, 2023. Intents to respond — optional but encouraged — are due via email by 10 a.m. Feb. 9. Questions are due by 10 a.m. Feb. 26; and answers or addenda will come on March 12. Responses are due by 10 a.m. March 26.
