8G
Date: April 7, 2026
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Aram Chaparyan, City Manager
By: Carlos Huizar, Management Associate | [email protected] Subject: City Manager – Approve Third Amendment to Consulting Services Agreement for Torrance Regional Transit Center Soil Management Plan. Expenditure:
Not-to-Exceed $357,500 (General Fund).
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation of the City Manager that City Council:
1. Approve a third amendment to the consulting services agreement with GSI Environmental, Inc. of Houston, Texas (C2023-023), in the amount of $325,000, plus a 10% contingency in the amount of $32,500, for total amount of $357,500 and a new total not-to-exceed contract amount of $816,200 for the Torrance Regional Transit Center Soil Management Plan and extend the contract term by one (1) additional year through February 28, 2027; and
2. Appropriate $341,000 to the Remediate Soil at RTC Site project (OP41-4030-OP0001).
FUNDING
Funding is available from the ‘Remediate Soil at RTC Site’ project (OP41-4030-OP0001).
DISCUSSION
The 13.3-acre site located at 465 Crenshaw Boulevard was formerly occupied by PPG Industries between 1950 and 2000 for the manufacture of paint coatings and resins. Following the demolition of all on-site structures in 2000, environmental remediation efforts overseen by the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) led to the 2010 recording of a Land Use Covenant (LUC) that restricted the property to industrial and commercial use due to residual soil contaminants.
Although the site was subsequently developed as the Mary K. Giordano Regional Transit Center (RTC), the City seeks to remove these environmental deed restrictions to facilitate broader future development. To achieve this, the City entered into a Consulting Services Agreement with GSI Environmental, Inc. on March 1, 2023, to coordinate with DTSC and prepare a Soil Management Plan (SMP).
The project has advanced through several stages of regulatory review. Following the DTSC's approval of the SMP in January 2025, a First Amendment was authorized to support expanded soil and vapor sampling. A Second Amendment was later approved to fund a Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA) and a second phase of vapor sampling to evaluate the site’s suitability for sensitive land uses, such as residential or mixed-use development. GSI and the City submitted the results of these investigations and the HHRA to DTSC on December 18, 2025. 1 City Council
March 24, 2026
The necessity for this Third Amendment is driven by a formal DTSC response received on February 18, 2026, which identified several corrections to the Report that require clarification and modification. DTSC's review confirmed that cobalt, hexavalent chromium, and aroclor-1248 remain in the soil above applicable regulatory screening levels. Additionally, soil vapor concentrations for volatile organic compounds, including tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene, were found to exceed residential screening levels.
To move forward with the removal of environmental restrictions, GSI must now perform additional technical work to address DTSC’s corrections. These requirements include revising the HHRA to use maximum contaminant concentrations as the exposure point concentration rather than site- wide averages. Furthermore, GSI must update the Conceptual Site Model (CSM) to include soil vapor as a secondary source and trench air as an exposure medium for construction workers.
Most importantly, DTSC has concurred that soil removal is required to address elevated dioxin concentrations at specific locations and that vapor intrusion mitigation systems must be installed for future residential buildings. This amendment provides the necessary funding and time to finalize these remediation strategies, secure regulatory approval and implement the Soil Management Plan.
Conclusion
The proposed amendment to the agreement with GSI Environmental, Inc. provides the essential technical support and regulatory guidance needed to advance the City's efforts to address environmental deed restrictions at the Regional Transit Center. The additional funding allows the City to address the complex safety requirements mandated by DTSC and facilitates the next phase of site development planning.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Third Amendment to Consulting Services Agreement (C2023-23)
2. Consulting Services Agreement and Prior Amendments (C2023-23) 2 1
THIRD AMENDMENT TO CONSULTING SERVICES AGREEMENT (C2023-023)
This Third Amendment to Consulting Services Agreement C2023-023 (the “First Amendment”) is made and entered into as of April 7, 2026 (the “Effective Date”), by and between the CITY OF TORRANCE (“CITY”), a municipal corporation, and GSI Environmental, Inc., a Texas Corporation (“CONSULTANT”).
RECITALS:
A. CITY previously wished to retain the services of an experienced and qualified consultant to prepare and implement a Soil Management Plan (SMP) for the former PPG Industries site located at 465 Crenshaw Boulevard, Torrance, CA and assist the City in coordinating with the Department of Toxic Substance and Control (DTSC) in revoking a Land Use Covenant (LUC) in support of unrestricted land development.
B. In order to obtain the desired services, on or about March 2, 2023, CITY and CONSULTANT entered into Consulting Services Agreement C2023-023 (the “Agreement”), whereby CONTRACTOR agreed to provide the sought after Soil Management and LUC revocation services, with a term running through February 28, 2025, and for an amount not to exceed $90,000 (the “Agreement Sum”).
C. On or about April 8, 2025, the CITY and CONSULTANT entered into a First Amendment to Consulting Services Agreement C2023-023 to extend the term for one (1) year through February 28, 2026, to allow sufficient time for CONSULTANT to conduct necessary additional investigative work on the impacted areas for the subject property and adding $227,000 to CONSULTANT’s compensation in order to fund the additional work.
D. On or about July 8, 2025, the CITY and CONSULTANT entered into a Second Amendment to Consulting Services Agreement C2023-023 to update Scope of Work for this Project that includes additional soil vapor sampling and a Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA) to identify areas within the subject area that exceed risk levels. Furthermore, the Second Amendment added $100,000 to CONSULTANT’s compensation in order to fund the additional scope of work and added a 10-percent contingency budget of $41,700 to cover unforeseen costs.
E. On December 18, 2025, CITY and CONSULTANT submitted Site-Wide Investigation Results and Human Risk Health Assessment Report to DTSC for review. Following the submission, DTSC identified discrepancies requiring additional technical clarification and/or modifications to the HHRA. Furthermore, the CONSULTANT has provided updated cost figures for the implementation of the Soil Management Plan as outlined under Task 5 of Exhibit A-2.
F. The CITY and CONSULTANT now desire to enter into this Third Amendment to Consulting Services Agreement C2023-023 to increase the Agreement Sum by $325,000 to complete additional technical work to address DTSC’s requirements and implement the Soil Management Plan, bringing the total not-to-exceed amount to $742,000 (plus a revised 10% contingency of $74,200), and to extend the term through February 28, 2027. 3 ATTACHMENT 1
2 AGREEMENT:
1. Paragraph 1, entitled “SERVICES TO BE PERFORMED BY CONSULTANT”, is hereby amended to read as follows:
“1. SERVICES TO BE PERFORMED BY CONSULTANT
CONSULTNAT will provide services listed in the Scope of Services attached herein as Exhibit A, as well as the Updated Scope of Services attached herein as Exhibit A-2. CONSULTANT warrants that all work and services set forth in the Scope of Services and in the Updated Scope of Services will be performed in a competent, professional and satisfactory manner.”
2. Paragraph 2, entitled “TERM”, is hereby amended to read in its entirety as follows:
“2. TERM
Unless earlier terminated in accordance with Paragraph 4 below, this Agreement will continue in full force and effect from the Effective Date through February 28, 2027.”
3. Paragraph 3, entitled “COMPENSATION”, subsection A, entitled “CONSULTANT’s Fee”, is hereby amended to read in its entirety as follows:
“3. COMPENSATION
5. CONSULTANT’s FEE
For services rendered pursuant to this Agreement, CONSULTANT will be paid in accordance with the Compensation Schedule attached herein as Exhibit B, as well as the Updated Scope of Services attached herein as Exhibit A-2; provided, however that in no event will the total amount of money paid the CONSULTANT, for services initially contemplated by this Agreement, exceed the sum of $742,000 (the ”Agreement Sum”), plus a revised contingency of $74,200, unless otherwise first approved in writing by the City.”
4. The Updated Scope of Services (a true and correct copy of which is attached herein as Exhibit A-2) is hereby attached to, incorporated into, and made a part of the Agreement, which it shall be referenced as “Exhibit A-2”.
5. In all other respects, the Agreement, as amended by this Third Amendment, is ratified and reaffirmed and remains in full force and effect.
[SIGNATURES ON FOLLOWING PAGE]
4 3
CITY OF TORRANCE, GSI Environmental, Inc.
a municipal corporation a Texas Corporation
By: ______________________________ By: _________________________ George K. Chen Farid Achour, Ph.D PG Mayor Principal Hydrogeologist
ATTEST:
By: _________________________________
Rebecca Poirier, MMC
City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
PATRICK Q. SULLIVAN
City Attorney
By: ______________________________
Tatia Y. Strader
Assistant City Attorney
5 TABLE 1
Update of Exhibit A-1 of the April 8, 2025 First Amendment to Consulting Services Agreement (C2023-023) between the City of Torrance and GSI Environmental Inc.
Task 5 - Surgical Removal of Targeted Areas/Excavations GSI Project No. 6609
Third Amendment - (GSI Revision: March 3, 2026)
Second Amendment - July 8, 2025 (GSI Revision: July 2, 2025) First Amendment - April 28, 2026 (GSI Revision: February 6, 2025) Consulting Services Agreement - March 2, 2023 (GSI Proposal April 22, 2022) Task No.
Rough Order of
Magnitude (ROM)
Cost Range ($K)
Amount Agreement and
Amendments Duration Notes
1 $15K
$15,000
Consulting Services
Agreement
(3/2/2023)
Completed
Based on initial discussions with the DTSC, the presence of a Land Use Covenant (LUC) limiting Site usage to commercial/industrial, and the City's intention to convert portions of the property to non-restricted usage, DTSC suggested to fine stream the redevelopment process by implementing a comprehensive Soil Management Plan (SMP) during Site grading and earth work. As portions of the Site are currently under construction for the Transit Center (commercial use), GSI proposes to prepare a database and generate figures depicting areas with soils impact above current residential screening levels. If the database reveals areas with elevated concentrations, an investigation will be performed to delineate the areas to be surgically excavated/removed prior to site-wide grading operations (procedures to be outlined in the SMP).
2 $35K $35,000
Consulting Services
Agreement
(3/2/2023)
Completed
GSI assumes that the City will provide the redevelopment plans in CAD. 3 $327K $327,000
First Amendment
(2/28/2026 - $227,000)
Second Amendment
(7/8/2025 - $100,000)
9 months
If areas are identified with contaminant concentrations above residential screening levels where the City plans to redevelop for non-restricted use, additional investigation will be performed to estimate hot spot removal/volumes/costs.
See Table 2, dated February 6, 2025, for additional details (First Amendment).
See Table 2, dated July 2 2025, for additional details (Second Amendment). 4 $40K $40,000
Consulting Services
Agreement
(3/2/2023)
Completed
SMP preparation completed (12/06/2024) and approval obtained from the DTSC (01/14/2025).
5 $250-325K $325,000
Third
Amendment
(March 2025)
2026
Based on results of the Task 3, Additional Investigation, soil and soil vapor results and an HHRA report was submitted to the DTSC (12/18/2025). The DTSC provided comments on 1/21/2026. GSI will address the DTSC's comments, revise the HHRA, interact with DTSC for approval of the proposed excavation areas, excavate impacted soil, conduct confirmation soil sampling, as outlined in the SMP, and prepare a report. 6 $20-25K $0 - - 4 to 8 weeks GSI staff will coordinate with client and counsel to revoke LUC. (Prepare documents, conduct meetings, etc.)
TOTAL $687-767K $742,000 - -
CONTINGENCY
- -
$41,700
Second
Amendment
(7/8/2025)
TOTAL - - $783,700 - -
- -
- -
Document Review, Preparation of Database, and CAD/GIS Figures The available files are in PDF, a database will be manually created from the existing reports. Additionally, the CAD figures from the City's redevelopment plan will be superimposed on CAD figures (prepared by GSI) showing areas with contaminant concentrations above current regulatory threshold screening levels for commercial/residential.
Once the database and the CAD figures are prepared, the data will be evaluated to delineate areas that will require remediation to meet residential screening levels (hot spot removal).
SCOPE, COST ESTIMATE, AND SCHEDULE
Transit Center Redevelopment
Former PPG Industries, 465 Crenshaw Boulevard, Torrance, California NOTES:
April 22, 2022: GSI Environmental Inc, (GSI) has prepared this proposal in support of redevelopment of City of Torrance's property, located at 465 Crenshaw Boulevard in Torrance, California (Site, the former PPG Industries). The Site has been closed in 2009 with a Land Use Covenant (LUC) limiting Site usage to Commercial/Industrial. The City of Torrance has requested revoking of the LUC in support of unrestricted Site closure. For preparation of this proposal, GSI has reviewed the documents provided by the City and the publicly available documents on Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) website (EnviroStor) and Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board) website (GeoTracker) pertaining to the Site. Additionally, in advance of preparing this proposal, GSI contacted DTSC (Shahir Haddad, Supervisor for the former PPG Industries) and confirmed GSI's proposed approach for the redevelopment of the Site and revoking the LUC. Consulting Services Agreement dated Mach 2, 2023.
February 6, 2025: Task 3 - Additional Investigation - cost and duration updated. First Amendment to Consulting Agreement (C2023-023) dated April 8, 2025.
July 2, 2025: ROM Cost Range and Duration columns updated. Task 3 - Additional Investigation: updated for additional investigation; the second round of soil vapor sampling and reporting, and preparation of a Human Health Rik Assessment (HHRA).
March 3, 2026: Added cost for Task 5 - Surgical Removal of Targeted Areas.
Support for Transit Center Redevelopment and Revoking the LUC Scope of Work, Cost Estimate, and Schedule
Former PPG Industries, 465 Crenshaw Boulevard, Torrance, California Description
Interaction with the DTSC, Client, and Counsel
Additional Investigation
Delineation of impacted areas to be excavated.
Preparation of a Soil Management Plan (SMP) and DTSC Approval A SMP will be prepared for the Site and implemented during initial grading and soil handling at the Site.
Implementation of the SMP, Surgical Removal of Targeted Areas with contaminant concentrations higher than residential standards prior/during grading operations.
Interact with DTSC for excavation work approval.
Up to 12 areas will be excavated and confirmation soil sampling conducted. Soil will be disposed of appropriately. Excavation details, confirmation soil sampling results, and recommendations for next steps, expecting to include closure of the Site with a deed restriction/land use convenant (vapor intrusion mitigation systems [VIMS] beneath building designed for human occupancy) will be submitted in a report to the DTSC.
Revoke existing LUC and obtain unrestricted Site use from the DTSC - -
$74,200
Revised
Contingency
$816,200
Revised Contingency
EXHIBIT A-2
6 ATTACHMENT 2
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