Translation and Interpretation Services

The vendor is required to provide translation and interpretation services for include:
•    Translation services for written materials in the languages and
•    Real time conference style verbal interpretation, which involves the following scenario:
o    A court or federally certified bilingual interpretation professional shall sit in a booth with headphones, listening to technical meeting proceedings in one language (english) and simultaneously interpret the meeting into another language, most commonly, Spanish, but other languages are needed occasionally. 
o    The interpreter shall be proficient in real-time interpretation involving technical terms as used in typical water board meetings and hearings. 
o    The interpretation is transmitted by microphone to headsets worn by non-English speaking meeting participants, so they can follow the proceedings in real time. 
o    The contractor is responsible for providing and maintaining the equipment necessary to provide this service.
•    Oral interpretation services outside of Spanish shall also be performed by court or federally certified translators in those languages (other valid and reliable certification or credentials that prove professional translation competency may be accepted for all languages on a case-by-case basis, upon evaluation).
•    The oral interpretation services shall be performed at the contractor’s place of business, at specified meeting or hearing locations throughout the state, or through a virtual platform with audio and video capabilities, such as zoom, during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PST, except for state observed holidays. 
•    The occasional need for interpretation services for meetings that take place outside normal business hours, including weekends and evenings, may occur. 
•    All staff assigned to this project do not incur overtime expenses to complete the tasks outlined in this agreement. 
•    Arrive to each meeting no later than one (1) hour prior to the scheduled start of an in-person meeting, or thirty (30) minutes prior to the scheduled start of a virtual meeting if a tech check was completed.
- Written translation of materials
•    Provide services on an as-needed basis for written translation of notices, letters, fact sheets, forms, pamphlets, leaflets, brochures, legal documents, presentations, reports, and other documents for the water board.
•    Translations must not be done using electronic means (i.e., computer-generated translation is prohibited under this contract) for the translation to be correct. 
•    Proficient in translation of technical terms commonly used in meetings, hearings, or other public outreach events.
•    Provide electronically written translation services to the water board for languages including, but not limited to, the following:
o    Arabic 
o    Armenian 
o    Bulgarian
o    Cambodian 
o    Cantonese 
o    Chinese 
o    Farsi 
o    French 
o    German 
o    Hebrew 
o    Hmong 
o    Hungarian 
o    Italian 
o    Japanese 
o    Korean
o    Laotian 
o    Mandarin 
o    Portuguese 
o    Punjabi 
o    Romanian 
o    Russian 
o    Spanish 
o    Tagalog 
o    Thai 
o    Turkish 
o    Urdu 
o    Vietnamese 
o    ASL
•    Documents to be translated shall include the following, but not limited to:
o    Fact sheets;
o    Press releases;
o    Meeting agendas;
o    Meeting handout materials;
o    Informational posters;
o    Meeting notices;
o    Website content;
o    Act documents, letters and other correspondence.
•    Provide electronic copies of translated materials in the same editable format as the english source document (typically microsoft word).
•    Utilize professional translators. 
•    Use of machine translations is strictly prohibited. 
•    All material shall be translated and proofread by a professional translator who has the ability to translate and interpret terminology including the following types: legal, water, scientific, and engineering.
- Interpretation of verbal communications
•    Provide services on an as-needed basis for verbal interpretation of meeting proceedings between english speakers and non-English speakers at public meetings and workshops, or smaller meetings between water board staff and non-English speaking stakeholders. 
•    The interpretation services shall be performed at various locations statewide, or in a virtual platform with audio and video capabilities, by a minimum of two (2) court or federally certified interpreters. 
•    If the interpretation request is three (3) hours or less, one (1) court or federally certified interpreter shall be sufficient.
•    Provide other modes of interpretation as needed, such as consecutive interpretation, sight translation of written materials, etc.
•    Provide a multi-lingual phone line which provides over-the phone interpretation services that immediately connects limited or non-English speakers with water board staff. 
•    This would be used as an interpretation tool to help limited or non-English speakers who are face-to-face with staff to have successful communication.

- Contract Period/Term: 3 years
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: September 19, 2025