UNDP Jobs - 72883- Technical Advisor for the Project Comprehensive En

Technical Advisor for the Project Comprehensive Environmentally Sound Management of PCBs in Montenegro

Location :

Home based and Podgorica, MONTENEGRO

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

17-Jul-2017

Application Deadline :

22-Jun-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

12 months, with possibility for extension

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

4 years

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

The project Comprehensive Environmentally Sound Management of PCBs in Montenegro intends to support the country with the necessary technical and financial assistance to ensure that all the remaining PCBs in the country (estimated in not less than 900 t of PCB contaminated equipment, waste and soil) are identified and disposed of. The project will be implemented side by side with the relevant institutional and industrial stakeholders, i.e. the Ministry for Sustainable Development and Tourism, private and state owned companies, holders of PCB containing equipment. Although the project expects to solve all remaining PCBs issues in the country, it will also ensure that enough capacity for the sound management of PCBs would have been built for the management of any further such hazardous waste identified in time after project’s closure. The project consists of the following four components:

Component 1. Capacity strengthening on PCB management;
Component 2. PCB Inventory, planning and establishment of public-private partnership;
Component 3. Environmentally Sound Management (ESM) of PCBs, and
Component 4. Monitoring, Learning, Adaptive Feedback and Evaluation

The disposal or decontamination of PCBs in Montenegro presents a number of issues and risks. First of all, the reliability of initial PCB inventory is very low and mostly limited to phased out equipment that needs to be disposed of. In Montenegro where most of information on PCBs from NIP inventory comes from disconnected equipment. This is due to the fact that electrical equipment (transformers, capacitors) when in good operating condition are usually not inspected for PCB content. The reasons are that:

the cost of replacing transformer and capacitor is capital intense (very high), and
the sampling and analysis of in-use equipment is a complex task requiring a significant coordination effort (for instance, coordination with maintenance schedule of electric equipment).

A second feature is that, being not immediately perceived as a hazard by the common public, the issue of PCBs is very often given a low priority from the authorities. Therefore, the existing legislation on PCB is not effectively enforced. As explained in the chapter above, although the Montenegrin legislation is well advanced and generally compliant with the Stockholm convention and the EU directive on PCBs management, and the government updated the inventory of PCB waste, the requirements related to the PCB management plans, and PCB “logbooks” are almost completely disregarded. In the absence of a sound level of enforcement of current legislation, even the industry’s commitment to address the issue of PCBs – given the high costs related to the decontamination or disposal (with subsequent replacement) of contaminated equipment – is low. For this reason, the national PCB management situation can be effectively addressed only if the government’s commitment and capacity are high.

A third feature is the lacking of PCB treatment technologies at local level. This is a common feature in many countries supported by UN/GEF projects in PCBs management. This usually results in industries undertaking substantial investment for shipping PCB contaminated equipment for abroad, typically EU, for disposal. In the case of Montenegro, there are no technologies for treatment of low PCB-contaminated equipment or disposal facilities available for high PCB contaminated equipment or waste, therefore until now only the highly PCB contaminated equipment has been to date treated by shipping and disposal abroad. The project strategy is therefore designed to address simultaneously all these important aspects as outlined below.

Increasing national PCB management capacities and the enforcement of the legislation. This will require working side by side with the control authorities (mainly the Ministry for Sustainable Development and Tourism) and the key stakeholders (the electric power industry and other potential owners of PCB containing equipment) to:

develop and implement a practical guidance on PCB environmentally sound management (ESM);
provide assistance in fulfillment of legal obligations towards recording and reporting PCB related information;
conduct inspections at sites where electrical equipment (transformers, capacitors) operates;
train operators and officers on both sides – the governmental authorities and PCB equipment/waste owners.

Increasing the industry and general awareness. PCBs are very often a not very well known environmental issue. Except for extremely high pollution levels, resulting in acute and immediate health impacts, the toxic effect of PCBs (increase of cancer probability) is delayed in time and not associated to any “visible” pollution like black smoke from open burning or factories’ stacks or turbidity in water. Therefore, the PCB hazard is usually not perceived as an immediate threat by many. However, an unsafe disposal of PCBs results in the contamination of food chain and other environmental media (like, for instance, sediments and soil) which may last for years. PCBs have been recently (March 2013) re-assessed by the IARC and are now classified as “known human carcinogens (class 1)” compared to the previous “probable human carcinogens (class 2)” category. There is therefore the need to inform the main stakeholders and the public at large on the benefit brought by the project so that the government and the industry are encouraged in undertaking necessary actions.

Engagement of stakeholders. As in other environmental programmes, only in case of key stakeholder’s buy-in, the project’s goals can be satisfactorily achieved. No major change in current practices can be achieved if there is little or no awareness of the risks posed by PCBs, and if stakeholders do not feel the need to address the PCB management issue once and for all. As previously described in more detail, the project had identified at PIF stage a number of important stakeholders which will be involved in all project activities during its implementation. Besides MoSDT, which will be the national implementing institution, key PCB holders, like EPCG (both for electricity generation and distribution) and KAP were informed on the project’s related benefits and on the expected and required level of commitment towards it. As a result, they participated proactively in all the project development activities, including providing lists of their power equipment and facilitating oil sampling and analysis for PCB content. More stakeholder engagement, by involving other line Ministries, academic institutions and NGO sector is planned during the project implementation which will too include civil society associations, trade unions, and other beneficiaries.

Strengthening the reliability of information through updating of the PCB inventory. At PIF stage, the only available information was related to the list of phased-out PCB equipment and waste, a few pure PCB transformers, online or stored at KAP, oil tanks and contaminated material (sawdust, soil, waste) potentially contaminated by PCBs. Due to the low enforcement of the legislation, there was very little information available on the concentration of PCB online equipment. The information concerning the number, age and level of contamination of PCB equipment is indeed essential for both management purposes and identification of the proper treatment / disposal technologies. This situation was already evident at the PIF formulation stage, and therefore the main focus in the preliminary inventory carried out during preparation of the FSP project document concerned existing offline and online equipment at EPCG company. At same time, only limited PCB content in transformers stored or online at KAP was re-confirmed, including that data on PCB contaminated soil. The project will continue consolidating the PCB inventory by undertaking dielectric oil sampling and analytical determination of PCBs in 3,000 pieces of equipment during the first two years of its implementation.

Provide know-how and financial support on the technologies for the disposal of PCB equipment. Clearly, one of the central issues on the side of PCB ESM concerns the availability of technical and financial resources for PCB disposal. In the absence of a sound know-how related to disposal operations of PCB contaminated equipment, the cost / benefit ratio is always very high, for the following reasons:

the options allowing the chemical destruction of the PCBs in the dielectric oil without destroying the oil itself are usually not considered, so that the dielectric oil, which is usually a very expensive asset, is lost;
the planning of PCB equipment phasing out is not aligned with their residual value, so that very often a strategy aimed at minimizing the cost of disposal of PCB contaminated equipment is not pursued; and
the legal aspects related to the storage of PCB containing equipment under maintenance versus PCB phased out equipment (to be considered waste) are usually neglected, exposing therefore owners of PCB equipment to a severe liability risk.

Objective of the assignment

The overall objectives of this consultancy are to provide clear and timely technical advice, guidance and technical backstopping to PCB’s project team within the framework of Stockholm Conventions, country obligations and project outputs and outcomes, build the capacity of the local experts working for the project to successfully implement the project activities, ensuring that they comply with the agreed benchmarks and success indicators of the project, as well as international best practices and lessons learnt.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the guidance and direct supervision of UNDP Montenegro and UNDP Programme Manager, the Technical Advisor’s general responsibilities, among others, will be:

To provide technical guidance and backstopping relevant to PCBs handling to the project team when required;
Undertake project missions to provide specific assistance to national project implementing counterparts and partners as required;
To provide technical guidance in the formulation of workplans, and workshops as required;
To provide technical guidance in the preparation of the project workshops (Agenda, Material to be presented…..) as required;
To prepare technical materials, as required, in support of specific project activities;
To review, as required, technical documents and reports prepared by the project’s team and prepare recommendations for improvement;
To oversee the technical content of the project documents and deliverables (and ensure these are suitable for national application);
To help build the technical capacity of the project staff and involved project partners;
To assist the Project Advisory Committee with monitoring and evaluating the impact of project activities;
To participate in the external mid-term and terminal evaluations of the project;
If some additional advisory support is required during 4 years of work, that can be discussed to be added to the TOR.

Some specific responsibilities under each project component:

Component / Outcome 1. Capacity strengthening on PCB management

Output 1.1. Operators of the electric sector and of the environmental control authority are trained on the ESM of PCBs.
Output 1.2. Enforcement of the Montenegro law on PCB management strengthened

With the assistance of Project Team the Guidance documentation for sampling of online and offline equipment, handling storage and disposal of PCB containing waste and equipment need to be drafted and discussed in one dedicated workshop; two training sessions covering comprehensively 20 power equipment operators (engineers and technicians) from the electric utility sector will be carried out;
Procedural and guidance documents for environmental authorities on the Stockholm and Basel conventions, EU regulation on POPs and PCBs, BAT and BEP for PCB treatment and disposal operation, standardized procedures for collecting the PCB equipment and waste, as well as draining PCB contaminated oils will be drafted and discussed in a dedicated workshop. Two training sessions covering at least 20 officers from the relevant line Ministries and research institutions to be conducted;
As part of the training activities special methodology for labeling of PCB containing equipment, according the relevant international guidelines, need to be provided to the PCB equipment holders;
The relevant control authority to be provided with proper training and technical support on the specific, Stockholm and Basel conventions and related EU regulation’s requirements concerning PCB equipment and waste, including waste classification, shipment and disposal requirements, tailored inspections in specific industrial installations, prevention of improper maintenance and handling operation, accident prevention at sites containing PCB equipment.

Component / Outcome 2. PCB Inventory, planning and establishment of a public-private partnership.

Output 2.1. PCB inventory updated and completed with sampling and analysis of phased out and in-use equipment
Provide technical and capacity building support for the organization of sampling, testing and quantitative lab analysis in order to determine the PCBs concentration in the suspected PCBs contaminated equipment, waste and soil.

Output 2.2. PCB national management plan drafted and approved. With the support and inputs of Project Team develop the national PCB management plan, that will be subsequently revised and improved on a yearly basis until project’s closure. The plan will contain the following key elements:

Regulatory and institutional framework governing the sound management of PCBs;
Preliminary results of the PCB inventory, arranged by equipment age and PCB concentration;
Based on the previous element, guiding information on selection of suitable disposal / decontamination technologies and the timing of PCB equipment phase out, including definition of technical, environmental and economic criteria for decontamination and disposal of PCB contaminated equipment and waste in compliance with the Stockholm Convention BAT and BEP and the country’s technical legislation;
Preliminary costing estimates (budgets) for the storage, decontamination and disposal activities required under the action plan, including revenues coming from the recycling of metal scraps (steel, aluminium, copper) after decontamination;
Identification of further PCB inventory related activities;
Workplan timeframes for PCB equipment to be decontaminated or disposed of, based on the outcome of the inventory, established following the criteria of risk priority, residual lifetime of the equipment, PCB concentration etc;
Alignment of the project’s PCB equipment inventory processes and cleaning/disposal activities to company specific equipment maintenance and replacement plans;
Listing of PCB contaminated sites; their assessment, priority action related description, including sampling criteria and methodologies for the determination of PCB quantification in environmental media (soil, water, sediment);
Additional plan for sampling and analysis of equipment potentially contaminated by PCB;
Review of existing maximum allowable concentrations (MACs) for PCBs in environmental media consistent with international standards;
Community participation, education and training.

Component / Outcome 3. Environmentally Sound Management (ESM) of PCBs
Output 3.1. Selected storage facilities upgraded for the safe storage of PCB equipment pending disposal or decontamination.
Assess the safety aspects of the PCBs temporary storages and formulate specifications for PCB storage facilities infrastructure, required equipment and tools to meet international safety standards to ensure safe storage of such materials (oil, transformers, equipment, and other materials);

Output 3.2 Identification, assessment and procurement of environmentally sound PCBs disposal technologies or services.
Outcome 3.3. Equipment and waste containing or contaminated by PCB disposed or treated in an environmentally sound way.

Provide quality technical support in tendering the disposal of PCB containing equipment, materials and wastes, develop tender documentation;
Provide advice to project team in the required official documents for exporting PCBs materials for sound disposal and applicable international standards in this area;
Advise on the best applicable elimination and disposal method for pure PCBs and cross-contaminated PCBs oil, and equipment and decontamination of contaminated soil, by providing information on existing global practices, Stockholm and Basel conventions’ guidance;
In parallel to the initial tender preparations for the pure PCB export, prepare strategic and management plan for decontamination and disposal scenarios for the oils and equipment cross-contaminated with PCBs and discuss those with the project partners for appropriate decision-making process whereas the scenarios may include a rental of a decontamination/de-chlorination unit in case the inventory of such contaminated mineral oil is sufficient, or simply oil draining and re-filling with new oil with the subsequent waste material disposal via export to qualified High Temperature Incineration (HTI) hazardous waste facilities;
Provide technical support in the procurement evaluation during the review of the received tender bids and provision of further guidance to the local team in coordination with the MPU Chemicals RTA in Istanbul;
Support in contract management of the contracted company to undertake elimination and disposal of pure PCBs, cross-contaminated PCBs oil, soil and equipment.

Time duration: This is a four-year engagement. The Technical Advisor will be engaged under the Individual Contract, immediately after the completion of the selection process. The initial contract will be issued for a period of twelve months, starting in July 2017. The further contract extensions will be subject to the overall performance of the Technical Advisor as evaluated by supervisor, results and impacts of the activities s/he implemented/facilitated, supported and/or conducted, the relationship s/he developed with the Project Team and the beneficiaries of the Project, including the overall dynamics in the realization of the Project. The expected level of involvement will be up to 120 days (including up to ten 5-day missions) for the period of four years (July 2017 – July 2021). In the first year, it is expected to have 35 days of engagement and 3 missions to Montenegro. The number of days per year will gradually decrease towards the end of project implementation depending on how the project proceeds.

Travel: The Technical Advisor will be expected to provide long-distance advice and in-country consultations and trainings. Therefore, the Technical Advisor is expected to be able to travel to Podgorica or elsewhere in Montenegro, pursuant to the work plan of project’s activities. It is envisaged to have three 5 days missions in the first year of engagement, and up to ten 5 days missions to Montenegro during the period of 4 years, in total.

Competencies

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the EU and UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of EU and UN;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Demonstrates excellent oral and written communication skills;
Demonstrates ability to manage complexities and work under pressure, as well as conflict resolution skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced University degree (MSc, MA or PhD) in Environmental or Electrical engineering, Chemical and Industrial engineering, hazardous waste management, and other relevant fields.

Experience:

At least 10 years of experience in hazardous chemicals/waste management and disposal, chemical laboratory (including PCBs) analysis, contaminated sites assessment and management, etc;
At least 5 years in a supervisory role of technical experts and consultants in hazardous waste management activities with GEF funded projects in particular;
Thorough knowledge of the international benchmarks in legislation and management of hazardous waste, and specifically POPs;
International experience and good knowledge of principles of chemicals management (as related to the Stockholm Convention in particular) is an asset;
Knowledge of UNDP and GEF procedures and guidelines is an advantage.

Language:

Fluency in English with exceptional writing, presentation and communication skills;
Knowledge of Montenegrin language would be considered as an advantage.

Other:

Computer literacy.

Criteria for selection:

Combined Scoring method will be used. When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the inidividual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: (i) responsive, compliant, acceptable, and (ii) having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical criteria weight - 70% (Background and education 10%; Relevant previous experience 20%; Substantial knowledge/Required competencies 30%; Required language 10%);
Financial criteria weight - 30%.

Only offerors obtaining a minimum 490 points for technical criteria will be considered for the financial evaluation.

For more information on procurement methodology for Individual Contractors, please refer to Procurement Notice.

Application procedure:

Interested applicants are requested to submit their applications by June 22, 2017 by using the Apply now button. The application should contain a duly completed Personal History Form (P11) that can be downloaded from http://www.me.undp.org/content/montenegro/en/home/operations/jobs.html. Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file.

Only the short-listed applicants will be contacted and requested to submit a letter of interest including a price quotation indicating the lump sum (in EUR) requested for the work and travel envisaged in the section "Description of Responsibilities".