Steve Peacock's U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor

U.S. Getting Closer to Funding China Enviro Clean-Ups, Brazil Airport and Ukraine '9-1-1' Upgrades

The U.S. government yesterday took the next step towards partly financing environmental cleanup projects in China. As U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor previously reported, the U.S. Trade & Development Agency (USTDA) last month issued a Scope of Work related to a series of groundwater remediation initiatives in China—projects for which that nation intend to infuse (USD) $5.5 billion of its own money through 2020 (Monitor, March 16).

Nonetheless, USTDA awarded a $44,000 contract to Ascendant Program Services, LLC, a Bethesda, Md.-based infrastructure consulting firm, to embark upon a "definitional mission," or DM, to China. (Contract award #USTDA-CO201261140).

Despite the seemingly inconsequential price tag of the DM, it is one of several potential exploratory missions for which USTDA might fund—standard steps that the agency typically takes, such as the crafting of next-step “feasibility studies”—before arranging much larger financing of the actual remediation projects.

Ascendant now will travel to Beijing and two other cities that the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection has identified as "priority locations for groundwater and soil remediation projects."

The contract is one of a trio that the company secured from USTDA since last year. The agency awarded Ascendant a $35,000 contract, for example, to perform a feasibility study of an emergency call center project for the Government of Ukraine. 

Likewise, in 2011 it separately awarded it a $50,000 contract to carry out a definitional mission to Brazil, where it was to evaluate possible USTDA funding of airport modernization projects.

As a follow-up measure to that Ascendant mission, the agency last week agreed to give a $485,000 “technical assistance” grant to the Rio de Janeiro State Transport Secretariat toward such airport projects. The Secretariat will not use the money for actual modernization of transportation infrastructure; rather, the funds will help the Rio state authority to “update its statewide airport plan and develop a funding strategy to modernize and expand the state's airport and heliport networks,” USTDA announced.

There is an “urgent need” to fund the project, USTDA justified, as Brazil is experiencing “rapidly increasing air traffic” while also preparing for an influx of visitors due to the upcoming World Cup and Olympic Games.

FOR ADDITIONAL REPORTING ON THE U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, SEE THE MONITOR'S USAID PAGE.

FOR FURTHER TOPICAL COVERAGE, SEE THE MONITOR'S ENVIRONMENTAL PAGE.

FOR ADDITIONAL REGIONAL COVERAGE, SEE THE MONITOR'S CHINA PAGE,  BRAZIL PAGE, AND UKRAINE PAGE.

U.S. to Pay for Consultants in Rio Gov't. IT Project

U.S. taxpayers will make it possible for the Rio de Janeiro government to obtain free technical consultation for a planned data center in that Brazilian state. The U.S. Trade & Development Agency (USTDA) is soliciting bids from potential U.S. contractors to provide such consultancy to PRODERJ, Rio’s information, communications, and telecommunications agency. USTDA will pay the vendor $675,000 “to design a complete roadmap and implementation plan” as well as “provide recommendations and define necessary standards to assure all future IT systems adopted by state agencies are installed in a complementary and interoperable fashion.”

Source document: Solicitation #2011-51017A

PRODERJ website in English (courtesy Microsoft Translator)

PRODERJ website in Portuguese.

FOR ADDITIONAL REGIONAL REPORTING, PLEASE VISIT THE MONITOR'S BRAZIL PAGE.

'Intelligent Transportation' Project Seeks to Ease Rush-Hour Crush

Traffic congestion, protracted rush hour commutes, and impediments to the timely provision of emergency services has motivated the U.S. government to embark upon an “intelligent transportation” initiative to ease the crunch in many cities—cities, that is, in Brazil.

The U.S. Trade & Development Agency (USTDA) therefore is financing an initial review of what needs to be done to alleviate the problem for the 11 million residents of Sao Paulo and other Brazilian urban areas.

The agency today awarded a $50,000 contract (award # TDA-CO201151103) to H.E. Pena, Jr., Transportation Consulting of Charleston, South Carolina to conduct a feasibility study before proceeding further with the project.

“In an effort to improve traffic flow, reduce transportation costs and improve emergency response and in highly populated metropolitan areas, several of Brazil’s largest metropolises will be taking measures to mitigate traffic congestion,” USTDA says in the document. “These measures will include significant investments in the adoption of intelligent transport system technologies.”

Other articles from the Monitor about Brazil:

U.S. to Fund First Phase of Digital 'Smart Grid' Power Project