California Air Resources Board

Scope of Work

Pre-Proposal Requirements

Go back to the solicitation landing page to access the template, frequently asked questions, and link to the zoom meeting registration and slides.

Background

Commercial cooking is a source of air pollution in California, mainly associated with the cooking of meat and marinades on cooking equipment. Emissions from commercial cooking contribute about 11% of primary particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions statewide.[1] Commercial cooking emissions are expected to have greater air quality implications in urban metropolitan areas where restaurants are spatially more concentrated. These emissions can affect regional air quality and are important for emissions inventory development and air quality planning efforts.

The food service industry has evolved considerably over time, including the expansion of diverse cuisines, the increased use of food trucks, and adoption of newer cooking devices,  techniques, and operational practices. Existing commercial cooking datasets and emissions inventory resources may not fully capture these changes or reflect the current diversity of restaurant types, cooking equipment, business sizes, and operating patterns across the state.[2] CARB therefore seeks to update and develop a comprehensive and scalable dataset on commercial cooking activity using a consistent approach that can support current and future emission inventories and be replicated in future studies. The work will be conducted in close coordination with the local air districts, including the Bay Area, South Coast, and San Joaquin Valley Air Districts, as well as CARB divisions, to ensure methodological consistency, avoid duplication of effort, and improve statewide air quality planning resources.

Objective

This project aims to update and expand data on commercial cooking activity through the design and implementation of a multilingual survey of commercial cooking operations. The project will evaluate available research and collect information on cooking devices, cuisines, meat types, business categories, operation sizes, and operating patterns. Survey results will be integrated with external datasets to develop scalable statewide estimates of commercial cooking activity to support emission inventories, local air quality assessments, and air quality planning efforts. The project will also incorporate emerging and underrepresented restaurant categories and commercial cooking practices that have become more prominent in recent years.

Scope of Work

The Contractor shall develop activity estimates and supporting datasets suitable for direct use in emissions inventory development. The Contractor shall propose an activity data structure that supports emissions estimation that aligns with CARB’s statewide activity model. Activity estimates should characterize cooking operations based on relevant variables such as cooking equipment, cuisine, meat types, business category, and temporal variation across seasons and days of the week. Deliverables should support estimation of annual cooking activity levels and, where feasible, characterization of seasonal and temporal activity patterns.

In coordination with CARB, the Contractor will then design and conduct a multilingual, statistically valid statewide survey of commercial cooking operations, including restaurants, and, to the extent possible, cafeterias, caterers, and food trucks. The survey will collect key information by restaurant type, including a range of annual revenue and expenses[3], detailed inventories of cooking devices, quantities and types of meats cooked, emission control technologies, and hourly activity patterns by season, day of the week, and holidays. Other non-meat foods may be considered if there is a significant contribution to emissions. Survey results will be integrated with other data sources to estimate the statewide emissions based on relationships between cuisine, meat type, and equipment. All methods, sampling strategies, and analysis plans will be developed in close consultation with CARB to ensure alignment with ongoing research efforts, promote consistency, and avoid duplication of effort prior to data collection.

Task 1: Review of Existing Data and Methods

The Contractor will conduct a thorough literature review to collect existing commercial cooking activity data, methods used to survey and contact restaurants to obtain cooking activities, and a recommended approach for extrapolating the survey data statewide. This review will include, but is not limited to, previous studies such as Potepan (2001), local air district datasets, proprietary business license and sales data, public health department data, location and establishment data, and relevant information from data brokers or industry sources. The Contractor will assess the representativeness and accuracy of the data for characterizing California-specific restaurant activity based on the cuisine, cooking equipment, food throughput, meat types, business type, and control technologies. The Contractors shall then apply a metric to rank the strengths, limitations, and inconsistencies of each dataset. Based on this review, the Contractor will identify key data gaps, including missing cooking equipment, cuisine, and meat types, underrepresented business types, outdated assumptions, and opportunities to modernize activity estimation methods and data collection.

Subtask 1a: Identify and Compile Existing Data Sources

The Contractor will identify and compile existing commercial cooking activity data and related information used in California, including prior studies, local air district datasets, business license and sales data, establishment and location data, local public health department data, and relevant data from commercial or industry sources.

Subtask 1b: Review Activity Data Collection Methods and Assumptions

The Contractor will review and evaluate methods used to estimate commercial cooking activity, including how data sources characterize cooking device types, food throughput, operating patterns, and control technologies such as HEPA filters and catalytic oxidizers. While control technologies will be part of the survey, this project will not directly estimate emissions or conduct source testing.

Subtask 1c: Assess Strengths, Limitations, and Consistency

The Contractor will assess the strengths, limitations, uncertainties, and inconsistencies across data sources and methods, including differences in coverage, definitions, assumptions, and temporal relevance.

Subtask 1d: Identify Gaps and Opportunities for Improvement

The Contractor will identify key data gaps, including missing or underrepresented device types, cuisine, meat types, business categories, operating patterns, and any outdated assumptions, and will describe opportunities to modernize activity estimation and data collection approaches.

Interim Deliverable:

The Contractor will deliver to CARB a document that reviews data sources and methods, identifies data gaps, limitations, and implications for survey and modeling design. CARB will share such interim deliverables with respective districts and receive feedback for the Contractor.

Task 2: Develop Survey and Data Analysis Plans

The Contractor will develop a detailed survey plan and data analysis plan in close coordination with CARB before administering any surveys or collecting data. The plans will specify the proposed methodology, including a statistically valid, reproducible, and responsive survey approach. The Contractor is expected to use multiple media, including phone, web-based, and email surveys conducted with a translator, as needed. An enumerator will be used to validate survey completion and accuracy, in addition to quality assuring and auditing the survey process. Non-enumerated surveys may be included to increase the sample size, so long as the survey is tested for ease of use before being launched. The survey may also be conducted in-person at select locations, depending on costs, locality, response rates, and feasibility. The Contractor will consider the relative merits and financial costs of different survey formats and discuss with CARB a strategy to best utilize the budget.

The Contractor shall develop proposed classifications for cooking devices, cuisine types, and business categories in consultation with CARB. Classifications shall be designed to support emissions inventory applications and future emissions factor development. The level of detail should be sufficient to distinguish major cooking processes and technologies while allowing aggregation to categories for inventory use. The Contractor will aim to include data that is routinely updated and accessible to CARB and, as applicable, explore parameters reported in existing data sources to support future updates to activity estimates.

The Contractor will develop a data management plan that delivers data and data-processing code (e.g., R, Python) to CARB, using agreed-upon file formats and languages, enabling CARB to reproduce the final results from the raw data. The Contractor will describe how the survey will capture key activity information identified as gaps in Task 1 and will outline strategies for a multilingual survey that can reach a broad range of commercial cooking operations, including hard-to-survey groups. The data analysis plan will describe how the Contractor will process and analyze survey responses and how these results will be integrated with other datasets reviewed in Task 1 to produce statewide estimates based on the relationship between food establishment, cuisine, meat type, and equipment.

Subtask 2a: Develop Survey Design and Sampling Approach

The Contractor will develop a detailed survey design, including a statistically valid sampling approach informed by findings from Task 1. Development will include outreach to a small sample of restaurants to confirm the phrasing and other aspects of the survey in a real-world setting, potentially including restaurants identified through personal relationships.

Subtask 2b: Develop Survey Instrument and Outreach Strategy

The Contractor will develop a detailed survey instrument outline and describe a multilingual outreach strategy designed to reach a broad range of commercial cooking operations, including hard-to-survey groups and small, independent businesses. The Contractor will also describe how businesses will be contacted, how surveys will be conducted and scheduled, the level of staff that can represent the company or establishment, and how enumerators will be trained. The Contractor will budget for survey-related costs, including outreach, incentive payments, and translation. The Contractor will identify which language options are appropriate and which restaurant staff are appropriate responders.

Subtask 2c: Develop Data Analysis Plan

The Contractor will develop a data analysis plan describing how survey data will be processed, analyzed, and integrated with other datasets to produce statewide estimates of commercial cooking activity. CARB staff will be consulted prior each major action related to data integration. Dataset choice should be communicated with CARB with a discussion of the rationale for the choice, including quality, cost, and ability to update information.

Subtask 2d: Develop Data Management and Reproducibility Plan

The Contractor will develop a data management plan describing how data and data processing code will be delivered to CARB to enable reproduction of results from raw data.

Interim Deliverables:

The Contractor will submit to CARB a survey plan, including sampling design, survey instrument outline, and multilingual outreach strategy. The Contractor will also submit to CARB a data analysis and data management plan that describes analytical methods, integration with external datasets, and procedures for delivering reproducible data and data processing code to CARB. CARB will share such interim deliverables with respective districts and receive feedback for the Contractor.

Task 3: Survey Implementation

The Contractor will implement the approved survey plan and conduct all activities necessary for statewide data collection. This includes administering the survey, distributing materials, conducting outreach to commercial cooking operations, managing incoming responses, and performing quality assurance checks to ensure data completeness and accuracy. The Contractor will engage a diverse set of establishments consistent with the sampling methodology developed in Task 2 and will work to obtain a sample that is sufficient to support statistically valid estimates. Throughout the data collection period, the Contractor will provide regular updates to CARB and contact CARB if they deviate from the agreed-upon procedures outlined in the survey and data analysis plans. The Contractor will consider bias from selection into survey participation, potentially adding weights, adjusting the sampling procedure, or taking other actions to improve representativeness and accuracy.

Subtask 3a: Implement Survey and Conduct Outreach

The Contractor shall conduct a pilot survey to test the survey instrument, outreach procedures, and data collection methods before full deployment. The pilot survey shall evaluate response rates, data completeness, and respondent understanding of key questions. The Contractor shall summarize pilot results and recommend any necessary revisions to the survey instrument or data collection procedures for CARB approval before statewide implementation.

The Contractor will administer the approved survey, distribute materials, and conduct outreach to commercial cooking operations in accordance with the survey plan.

Subtask 3b: Manage Responses and Perform Quality Assurance

The Contractor will manage incoming survey responses and perform quality assurance checks to ensure data completeness, accuracy, and internal consistency.

Subtask 3c: Prepare Final Survey Dataset

The Contractor will clean and finalize the survey dataset and prepare accompanying documentation and code required to reproduce the cleaned dataset from raw data.

Interim Deliverables:

The Contractor will deliver to CARB a cleaned and quality-checked survey dataset, including the original raw data and the accompanying code needed to reproduce the cleaned dataset, as well as a detailed document summarizing the data collection process, statistics, and quality assurance steps. The contractor will also provide CARB and the districts the QA procedures for auditing purposes.

Task 4: Obtain Additional Data Sources and Create a Model of Commercial Cooking Activity

The Contractor will identify, obtain, and use external datasets to develop a modeling approach that can be combined with the survey results and information on commercial cooking operations to estimate statewide cooking activity levels by device type and cuisine. Potential external data sources may include business licenses, sales data, food-service establishment databases, data-broker products, and any additional datasets that can improve coverage and representativeness. Building on the findings from Tasks 1, 2, and 3, the Contractor will develop and document a transparent modeling framework that uses these data to scale observed survey activity to statewide estimates. The Contractor will work in close consultation with CARB to ensure that the choices of external data sources, modeling assumptions, and estimation methods are appropriate and suitable for statewide emissions inventory applications and are consistent with practices followed for other area source categories.

Subtask 4a: Identify and Obtain External Data Sources

The Contractor will identify and obtain external datasets to supplement survey data, including business licenses, sales data, establishment databases, and data broker products.

Subtask 4b: Develop Statewide Activity Modeling Framework

The Contractor will develop a transparent modeling framework(s) that integrates survey data and external datasets to estimate statewide cooking activity by device type and cuisine. This subtask will build on Task 1 and contribute to survey design. The pre-analysis plan should discuss how the literature review, parameters to be estimated, and the modeling framework are related and potential biases or uncertainties with the approach.

Subtask 4c: Generate Statewide Commercial Cooking Activity Estimates

The Contractor will apply the modeling framework to produce statewide estimates at the individual restaurant level and document key assumptions, limitations, and sources of uncertainty. The Contractor must provide information about the spatial granularity of commercial cooking activity data (e.g., zip code, city, county). Stronger considerations will be given to pre-proposals that provide a more robust, finer spatial information.

Interim Deliverables:

The Contractor will deliver to CARB a modeling framework describing data sources, assumptions, and methods used to estimate statewide cooking activity, along with the final datasets used to generate statewide estimates of cooking activity and the code used to produce them.

Task 5: Meetings, Final Report, and Public Seminar

The Contractor will prepare a comprehensive Final Report that documents the data sources, methods, and results developed under Tasks 1 through 4. The report will be written as a technical document suitable for refining emissions inventory and modeling applications and will include a plain-language executive summary. The Contractor will summarize statewide cooking activity estimates by device type and cuisine and describe how survey data and external datasets were integrated. The report will evaluate key assumptions, data limitations, and sources of uncertainty, and will assess the implications of these factors for emissions estimation. The Contractor will also provide recommendations for maintaining and periodically updating commercial cooking activity data in the future, including potential data sources and opportunities for methodological improvements.

Subtask 5a: Update Meetings

The Contractor will meet with CARB staff on a quarterly basis and at other times as determined necessary by the CARB Contract Manager to discuss project progress. The Contractor will participate in consultation calls with CARB staff and key stakeholders, including researchers from another contract estimating emission factors from commercial cooking, when requested by the CARB Contract Manager. The Contractor will submit quarterly progress reports using the CARB-designated template. An invoice covering the same reporting period shall accompany each quarterly progress report.

Subtask 5b: Prepare Draft Final Report

The Contractor will prepare a Draft Final Report documenting data sources, methods, results, and preliminary findings.

Subtask 5c: Revise and Finalize Report

The Contractor will revise the Draft Final Report based on CARB feedback and produce an ADA-compliant Final Report. The Contractor shall meet with CARB and local air districts to discuss the details of the report as needed.

Subtask 5d: Prepare Research Seminar Presentation

The Contractor will prepare ADA-compliant presentation slides summarizing the project methods and findings.

Interim Deliverables:

The Contractor will deliver to CARB a Draft Final Report, an ADA-compliant Final Report, and an ADA-compliant research seminar presentation slides. The report should include technical documentation, a plain-language executive summary, an evaluation of uncertainty and limitations, and recommendations for future updates. The Contractor will develop and submit quarterly progress reports and invoices.

Project Deliverables

The project proposal shall include, but not be limited to, the following deliverables:

At the Pre-Proposal Stage

• Cultural competency statement in the pre-proposal.

At the Beginning of the Contract

• All researchers must undergo cultural competency training (e.g., implicit bias training and racial equity training). Training should be completed or scheduled within 30 days of contract execution.

During the Active Contract Period

• The Contractor must submit Quarterly Progress Reports. These reports shall include plain-language summaries that can be posted publicly. CARB will provide the progress report template.
• The Contractor shall engage in monthly consultation calls with CARB and key stakeholders.
• The Contractor shall provide deliverables for tasks, as indicated above. Deliverables must be received at the completion of the task to indicate progress is being made.

Prior to Contract Close

• The Contractor shall submit all data, analyses, and analytical tools generated during this project.
• The Contractor shall produce plain-language fact sheets, including recommendations for preventative actions (if available). The fact sheets will be translated into Spanish.
• The Contractor shall satisfy the following requirements of the Draft Final Report (DFR):
  • DFR will be copy-edited, reviewed, and approved by the Principal Investigator.
  • Include a plain language summary in DFR
  • Include an equity implications section in DFR
  • If applicable, have the DFR reviewed by community representatives.
• The Contractor must work with CARB to create plain-language outreach deliverables for the public, summarizing the results and impact of the project.
• The Final Report submitted to CARB must be ADA-compliant.
• The Contractor will participate in a virtual or in-person seminar to present the project findings.
• Peer-reviewed publications should be publicly available (please budget for this expense; submission-ready publications shall be reviewed by CARB staff).
• Additional deliverables shall be determined in consultation with CARB staff.

Timeline

This project is anticipated to be completed in 36 months from the start date. Cost shall not exceed $600,000.

Scoring Criteria

Responsiveness to the goals and objectives outlined in the proposal solicitation(15 points)

Proposers should demonstrate a clear understanding of the policy objectives and research needs that CARB aims to address with this project while highlighting their expertise on the subject. The proposal should present a clear research question or testable hypothesis, consider various aspects of the research need, and identify or acknowledge any potential biases. It should outline, in sufficient detail, the proposed approach to meeting the requirements of the Solicitation. The draft proposal must detail work that aligns with the objectives outlined in the Research Solicitation:

The project objective is to collect data on commercial cooking activity in California to support the state’s emissions inventory methods. The work includes reviewing existing data and methods, developing and implementing a survey and analysis plan, and integrating survey and external data to produce a statewide modeling framework. Equity-related components include multilingual outreach, improved representation of historically underrepresented business types and diverse cuisine categories, and coordination with CARB community engagement staff where appropriate.

Policy relevance/benefits to the state(10 points)

Does the proposal describe how the project will provide data, information, and/or products to support CARB in achieving its mission?

This project will support CARB’s emissions inventory development and State Implementation Plan (SIP) planning through estimates of commercial cooking activity data.

Previous work (15 points)

Do the researchers have relevant experience in this area? Is the team composed of a multi-disciplinary team of experts appropriate to carry out this work? Do they discuss how they will build on previous relevant work funded by CARB, other state agencies, and any other appropriate organizations? Does the relevant research partner describe prior experience in conducting large-scale outreach? Five points will be reserved for project teams that meet at least one of the following criteria:

1. The project team is multi-disciplinary.
2. The project team includes members from various universities, non-academic institutions, or community-based organizations.
3. The project team includes one or more members who will contribute significantly to the project (e.g., a principal investigator, co-principal investigator, or co-investigator, contributing 25% or more of their time) who have not worked with CARB in the past 5 years.

Technical merit (25 points)

Describe the technical strengths and/or weaknesses of the pre-proposal. Proposers should demonstrate the logic and feasibility of the methodology and technical approach, outline the sequence and relationships of major tasks, and explain how the work will be carried out. The proposal should also explain how the proposed methods are robust and how the results will be validated. Consider how well the draft proposal addresses these areas:

1. Is the proposed measurement approach appropriate? Are the technologies being considered suitable, and will the proposed analysis yield relevant results?
2. Does the proposed work address all the deliverables outlined in the “Deliverables” section? If not, the proposal should not be considered for funding.
3. The review team will select only one draft proposal for development into a full proposal. If this draft proposal shows potential, what areas or topics should be prioritized or further explained in the full proposal?

Level and quality of effort to be provided(15 points)

Does the proposal allocate time and resources effectively to ensure the study objectives are met? Is the supervision and oversight sufficient to keep the project on schedule? Is the distribution appropriate for activities such as research, evaluation, analysis, survey administration, translation, report preparation, meetings, and travel?

Cost effectiveness (20 points)

Is the cost appropriate for the proposed work? Does the proposed work appear feasible within the requested budget? Projects that include co-funding should be evaluated more favorably.

Scoring Criteria Scoring Guidance

91-100 points. Exceptionally strong. The submission is technically strong, meets stated research objectives, is cost-effective, and has a high potential to be successfully completed.

81-90 points. Strong. The submission is technically sound.

71-80 points. Mixed. The submission has either strong technical merit or strong policy significance, but not both.

61-70 points. Weak. The submission is not sufficiently linked to the needs of the Board and offers limited technical merit.

60 points or below. Unacceptable. The submission is not linked to the interests or needs of the Board and lacks technical merit.

[1]CARB PM2.5 Emissions Inventory Updates 2025

[2]Potepan, M. 2001. Charbroiling Activity Estimation. CARB Contract Number 98-721.

[3] This will be collected taking into account potential sensitivities of restaurants. Formatting such as sales ranges may be used. Sales should be aligned with other available sources, being careful to specify differences such as gross receipts versus profit.