0096s.pdf

Program 96-S Page 1 of 54 Specifications by MRN

U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

Washington, DC

GENERAL TERMS, CONDITIONS, AND SPECIFICATIONS

For the Procurement of

EAD, YCER, BEVE, and eRPA Notices as requisitioned from the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) by the

Social Security Administration (SSA)

Single Award

TERM OF CONTRACT: The term of this contract is for the period beginning from Date of Award and ending August 31, 2021, plus up to four (4) optional 12-month extension period(s) that may be added in accordance with the “OPTION TO EXTEND THE TERM OF THE CONTRACT” clause in SECTION 1 of this contract.

Contractor interfacing with SSA’s National File Transfer Management System (FTMS) for electronic transmission of files from SSA to the production facility will take place from Date of Award through January 31, 2020. Transmission of live production files will commence on February 1, 2020.

BID OPENING: Bids shall be publicly opened at 11:00 a.m., prevailing Washington, DC time, on September 5, 2019.

BID SUBMISSION: Submit bid in pre-addressed envelope furnished with solicitation or send to: U.S.

Government Publishing Office, Bid Section, Room C-848, Stop: CSPS, 732 North Capitol Street, NW, Washington, DC 20401. Facsimile bids in response to this solicitation are permitted. Facsimile bids may be submitted directly to the GPO Bid Section, Fax No. (202) 512-1782. The program number and bid opening date must be specified with the bid. Refer to Facsimile Bids in Solicitation Provisions of GPO Contract Terms, GPO Publication 310.2, as revised January 2018. Hand delivered bids are to be taken to: GPO Bookstore, 710 North Capitol Street, NW, Washington, DC, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., prevailing Washington, DC time, Monday through Friday. Contractor is to follow the instructions in the bid submission/opening area. If further instruction or assistance is required, call (202) 512-0526.

BIDDERS, PLEASE NOTE: This program was formerly Program 104-S. Specifications have changed; all bidders are cautioned to familiarize themselves with all provisions of these specifications before bidding, with particular attention to:

“SECURITY AND SUITABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR GOVERNMENT PRINTING (NOV 2018)” and “100% ACCOUNTABILITY OF PRODUCTION AND MAILING” requirements;

The GPO 910 “BID” Form is no longer required. Bidders are to fill out, sign/initial, as applicable, all pages of

“SECTION 4. – SCHEDULE OF PRICES.”

Abstracts of contract prices are available at https://www.gpo.gov/how-to-work-with-us/vendors/contract-pricing.

For information of a technical nature, contact Jim Ballou at jballou@gpo.gov or (202) 512-0310.

https://www.gpo.gov/how-to-work-with-us/vendors/contract-pricing mailto:jballou@gpo.gov

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SECTION 1. - GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

GPO CONTRACT TERMS: Any contract which results from this Invitation for Bid will be subject to the applicable provisions, clauses, and supplemental specifications of GPO Contract Terms (GPO Publication 310.2, effective December 1, 1987 (Rev. 1-18)) and GPO Contract Terms, Quality Assurance Through Attributes Program, for Printing and Binding (GPO Publication 310.1, effective May 1979, (Rev. August, 2002)).

GPO Contract Terms (GPO Publication 310.2) – https://www.gpo.gov/docs/default-source/forms-and-standards-files-for-vendors/contractterms2018.pdf.

GPO QATAP (GPO Publication 310.1) – https://www.gpo.gov/docs/default-source/forms-and-standards-files-for-vendors/qatap.pdf.

SUBCONTRACTING: The predominant production functions are the laser/ion deposition imaging and inserting of data from electronically transmitted files and disposal/destruction of waste materials. Any bidder who cannot perform the imaging of variable data and the inserting portions of the mailing packet will be declared non-responsible.

The contractor is responsible for enforcing all contract requirements outsourced to a subcontractor.

If the presorting and mailing is subcontracted, the subcontractor must complete and pass the same security clearances as the prime contractor.

If the contractor wishes to add a subcontractor at any time after award, the subcontractor must be approved by the Government prior to production starting in that facility. If the subcontractor is not approved by the Government, then the contractor must submit a new subcontractor’s information to the Government for approval 30 calendar days prior to the start of production at that facility.

If the contractor plans to enter into a “Contractor Team Arrangement” or Joint Venture, to fulfill any requirements of this contract, they must comply with the terms and regulations as detailed in the Printing Procurement Regulation

– (GPO Publication 305.3; Rev. 2-11).

QUALITY ASSURANCE LEVELS AND STANDARDS: The following levels and standards will apply to these specifications:

Product Quality Levels:

(a) Printing (page related) Attributes – Level III.

(b) Finishing (item related) Attributes – Level III.

Inspection Levels (from ANSI/ASQC 1.4):

(a) Non-destructive Tests - General Inspection Level I.

(b) Destructive Tests - Special Inspection Level S-2.

(c) Low-gloss, transparent, poly-type window material covering the envelope window must pass a readability test with a rejection rate of less than 1/4 of 1% when run through a USPS OCR Scanner.

(d) Exception: ANSI X3.17 “Character Set for Optical Character Recognition (OCR A)” must apply to these specifications. The revisions of this standard which are effective as of the date of this contract are those which must apply.

(e) Exception: The notices (front and back) will be read by a high-speed document scanner. These notices must function properly when processed through a high-speed document scanner. A form is a reject and will be considered a major defect when its OCR print cannot be correctly deciphered on the first pass through the specified reading equipment.

https://www.gpo.gov/docs/default-source/forms-and-standards-files-for-vendors/contractterms2018.pdf https://www.gpo.gov/docs/default-source/forms-and-standards-files-for-vendors/contractterms2018.pdf https://www.gpo.gov/docs/default-source/forms-and-standards-files-for-vendors/qatap.pdf https://www.gpo.gov/docs/default-source/forms-and-standards-files-for-vendors/qatap.pdf

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(f) Exception: Data Matrix 2-D barcodes must be in accordance with ISO/IEC 16022 – “International Symbology Specification, Data Matrix”, ISO/IEC 15418:1999 – “Symbol Data Format Semantics;”

ISO/IEC 15434:1999 – “Symbol Data Format Syntax;” and ISO/IEC 15415 – “Print Quality Standard.”

(g) Exception: Code 39 (3 of 9) barcodes must be in accordance with ANSI MH 10.8M-1983.

(h) Exception: The payment portion below the micro-perforation on the “payment stub” (eRPA SSA-L732-

OP1), once detached, will be scanned and must function properly when processed through the current high-speed scanning equipment at SSA. The payment stub produced requires precision spacing, printing, and trimming. It is critical that the bottom of the OCR-A scanline be 1/2” from the bottom of the payment stub page and that, when reading from the right, the first encodable character is encountered at least 1/4” but no more than 5/16” (plus or minus 1/16”) from the right leading edge of the payment stub. A form is a reject and will be considered a major defect when its OCR print cannot be correctly deciphered on the first pass through the scanning equipment (See “PRINTING/IMAGING, eRPA SSA-L732-OP1” and “BINDING” for additional information regarding perforated payment stub.)

NOTE: Use of equipment or ink which in any way adversely affects the scannability of the payment stub will not be allowed. ANSI Standards may be obtained from the American National Standards Institute, 25 West 43rd Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10036.

Specified Standards: The specified standards for the attributes requiring them must be:

Attribute Specified Standard

P-7. Type Quality and Uniformity O.K. Press Sheets

Special Instructions: In the event that inspection of press sheets is waived by the Government, the following listed alternate standards (in order of precedence) must become the Specified Standards:

P-7. O.K. Proofs; electronic media; camera/manuscript copy.

OPTION TO EXTEND THE TERM OF THE CONTRACT: The Government has the option to extend the term of this contract for a period of 12 months by written notice to the contractor not later than 30 days before the contract expires. If the Government exercises this option, the extended contract shall be considered to include this clause, except, the total duration of the contract may not exceed five (5) years as a result of, and including, any extension(s) added under this clause. Further extension may be negotiated under the “EXTENSION OF CONTRACT TERM” clause. See also “ECONOMIC PRICE ADJUSTMENT” for authorized pricing adjustment(s).

EXTENSION OF CONTRACT TERM: At the request of the Government, the term of any contract resulting from this solicitation may be extended for such period of time as may be mutually agreeable to the GPO and the contractor.

ECONOMIC PRICE ADJUSTMENT: The pricing under this contract shall be adjusted in accordance with this clause, provided that in no event will any pricing adjustment be made that would exceed the maximum permissible under any law in effect at the time of the adjustment. There will be no adjustment for orders placed during the first period specified below. Pricing will thereafter be eligible for adjustment during the second and any succeeding performance period(s). For each performance period after the first, a percentage figure will be calculated as described below and that figure will be the economic price adjustment for that entire next period.

Pricing adjustments under this clause are not applicable to reimbursable postage or transportation costs, or to paper, if paper prices are subject to adjustment by separate clause elsewhere in this contract.

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For the purpose of this clause, performance under this contract will be divided into successive periods. The first period will extend from Date of Award to August 31, 2021, and the second and any succeeding period(s) will extend for 12 months from the end of the last preceding period, except that the length of the final period may vary. The first day of the second and any succeeding period(s) will be the effective date of the Economic Price Adjustment for that period.

Pricing adjustments in accordance with this clause will be based on changes in the seasonally adjusted “Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers - Commodities Less Food” (Index) published monthly in the CPI Detailed Report by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The economic price adjustment will be the percentage difference between Index averages as specified in this paragraph. An index called the variable index will be calculated by averaging the monthly Indexes from the 12-month interval ending three (3) months prior to the beginning of the period being considered for adjustment. This average is then compared to the average of the monthly Indexes for the 12-month interval ending May 31, 2019 called the base index. The percentage change (plus or minus) of the variable index from the base index will be the economic price adjustment for the period being considered for adjustment.

The Government will notify the contractor by contract modification specifying the percentage increase or decrease to be applied to invoices for orders placed during the period indicated. The contractor shall apply the percentage increase or decrease against the total price of the invoice less reimbursable postage or transportation costs and separately adjusted paper prices. Payment discounts shall be applied after the invoice price is adjusted.

ALL REQUIREMENTS, STARTING WITH “SECURITY REQUIREMENTS” BELOW, THROUGH

THE SECTION ENTITLED “SENDING AN ENCRYPTED ZIP FILE VIA EMAIL” MUST BE

COMPLETED AND APPROVED AT TIME OF BID SUBMISSION; IF NOT, THE BIDDER MAY BE

DECLARED NON-RESPONSIVE.

SECURITY REQUIREMENTS: Protection of Confidential Information:

(a) The contractor shall restrict access to all confidential information obtained from the Social Security

Administration in the performance of this contract to those employees and officials who need it to perform the contract. Employees and officials who need access to confidential information for performance of the contract will be determined at the postaward conference between the Contracting Officer and the responsible contractor representative.

(b) The contractor shall process all confidential information obtained from SSA in the performance of this contract under the immediate supervision and control of authorized personnel and in a manner that will protect the confidentiality of the records in such a way that unauthorized persons cannot retrieve any such records.

(c) The contractor shall inform all personnel with access to the confidential information obtained from SSA in the performance of this contract of the confidential nature of the information and the safeguards required to protect this information from improper disclosure.

(d) For knowingly disclosing information in violation of the Privacy Act, the contractor and the contractor employees may be subject to the criminal penalties as set forth in 5 U.S.C Section 552a (i)(1), which is made applicable to contractors by 5 U.S.C. 552a (m)(1) to the same extent as employees of the SSA. For knowingly disclosing confidential information as described in section 1106 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1306), the contractor and contractor’s employees may also be subject to the criminal penalties as set forth in that provision.

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(e) The contractor shall assure that each contractor employee with access to confidential information knows the prescribed rules of conduct, and that each contractor employee is aware that he/she may be subject to criminal penalties for violations of the Privacy Act and/or the Social Security Act. When the contractor employees are made aware of this information, they will be required to sign the Contractor Personnel Security Certification, Form SSA-222 (see Exhibit A). A copy of this signed certification must be forwarded to: SSA, Printing Management Branch (see Exhibit K).

(f) All confidential information obtained from SSA for use in the performance of this contract shall, at all times, be stored in an area that is physically safe from unauthorized access.

(g) Performance of this contract may involve access to tax return information as defined in 26 U.S.C. Section

6103(b) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). All such information shall be handled as confidential and may not be disclosed without the written permission of SSA. For willingly disclosing confidential tax return information in violation of the IRC, the contractor and contractor employees may be subject to the criminal penalties set forth in 26 U.S.C. Section 7213.

(h) The Government reserves the right to conduct on-site visits to review the contractor’s documentation and in-house procedures for protection of confidential information.

(i) If a subcontractor is used for the sorting and/or mailing of the notices of this contract, the subcontractor must conform to all security requirements of the contract.

SSA EXTERNAL SERVICE PROVIDER SECURITY REQUIREMENTS: This resource identifies the basic information security requirements related to the procurement of Information Technology (IT) services hosted externally to SSA’s Network.

See Exhibit L for References for External Service Providers (ESP).

All External Service Providers are subject to the following security requirements:

(a) All ESPs are subjected to SSA’s Security Authorization Process, which will entail security testing and evaluation of the in-place security controls. For more information, see NIST SP 800-37, Revision 1.

(b) ESPs must follow NIST SP 800-53 Revision 4 “Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information

Systems and Organizations” for protecting Low or Moderate impact level information as categorized by FIPS for the information system. NOTE: Systems that contain Personally Identifiable Information (PII) are considered “Moderate.”

(c) ESPs must document all deployed (applicable) and planned controls for an information system in a System

Security Plan that is in NIST-compliant format. Refer to NIST SP 800-18.

(d) ESPs classified as Cloud Service Providers (CSP) must adhere to additional FedRAMP security control requirements. Further information may be found at: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/102371. As part of these requirements, CSPs must have a security control assessment performed by a Third Party Assessment Organization (3PAO).

(e) Upon request from SSA, the ESP shall provide the following network security information and documentation for review and audit purposes:

All information security control artifacts required to support the Security Assessment and Authorization

(SA&A) process.

Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) configuration.

Network firewall configuration.

Server and network device patching schedules and compliance.

http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/102371

EAD, YCER, BEVE, and eRPA Notices Page 6 of 54

Server, network device, and security logs.

Detailed hardware inventory including servers, network devices, and storage.

NOTE: ESPs are required to adhere to NIST 800-53 Rev. 4 security control framework based on their assigned categorization. The contractor is required to complete and provide written response for all information requested in the following exhibits: Exhibit N, Exhibit O, Exhibit P, Exhibit Q, and Exhibit R and outline additional security controls and SSA organizational defined parameters for NIST 800-53, Rev 4. The security requirements in the exhibits are applicable to low and moderately categorized systems unless otherwise designated. For additional information or supplement guidance for these controls, refer Appendix F of NIST 800-53, Rev 4.

PHYSICAL SECURITY: Contractor’s facilities storing SSA assets and information are required to meet the Interagency Security Committee’s (ISC) standard for Federal facilities. This information can be found in the “Facility Security Plan: An Interagency Security Committee Guide,” dated February 2015, 1st Edition. SSA reserves the right to inspect contractor facilities to ensure compliance with the ISC guidelines. If facilities are found deficient, the contractor must implement corrective actions within 45 calendar days of notification. Requirements can include, but not be limited to, the physical security countermeasures, such as access control systems, closed circuit television systems, intrusion detection systems, and barriers.

Contractor must pass all External Service Provider Security and Physical Security requirements as specified above before the Government can award this contract. Any bidder who cannot obtain approval for any of these security requirements within 60 calendar days of approval of production plans and physical security inspection will be declared non-responsible.

SECURITY WARNING: It is the contractor’s responsibility to properly safeguard personally identifiable information (PII) from loss, theft, or inadvertent disclosure and to immediately notify the Government of any loss of personally identifiable information.

PII is “information which can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, such as their name, social security number, biometric records, etc., alone, or when combined with other personal or identifying information which is linked or linkable to a specific individual, such as date and place of birth, mother’s maiden name, etc.”

(Ref.: OMB Memorandum 07-16.) Other specific examples of PII include, but are not limited to:

(a) Personal identification number, such as passport number, driver’s license number, taxpayer identification number, or financial account or credit card number;

(b) Address information, such as street address or personal email address; and,

(c) Personal characteristics, including photographic image (especially of face or other distinguishing characteristic), fingerprints, handwriting, or other biometric image or template data (e.g., retina scans, voice signature, facial geometry).

All employees working on this contract must:

Be familiar with current information on security, privacy, and confidentiality as they relate to the requirements of this contract.

Obtain pre-screening authorization before using sensitive or critical applications pending a final suitability determination as applicable to the specifications.

Lock or logoff their workstation/terminal prior to leaving it unattended.

Act in an ethical, informed, and trustworthy manner.

Protect sensitive electronic records.

Be alert to threats and vulnerabilities to their systems.

Are prohibited from having any mobile devices or cameras in sensitive areas that contain any confidential materials. This includes areas where shredding and waste management occurs.

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Managers at the contractor’s facility working on this contract must also:

Monitor use of mainframes, PCs, LANs, and networked facilities to ensure compliance with national and local policies, as well as the Privacy Act statement.

Ensure that employee screening for sensitive positions within their department has occurred prior to any individual being authorized access to sensitive or critical applications.

Implement, maintain, and enforce the security standards and procedures as they appear in this contract and as outlined by the contractor.

Contact the security officer within 24 hours whenever a systems security violation is discovered or suspected.

Applicability:

The responsibility to protect personally identifiable information applies during the entire term of this contract and all option year terms, if exercised. All contractors must secure and retain written acknowledgement from their employees stating they understand these policy provisions and their duty to safeguard personally identifiable information. These policy provisions include, but are not limited to, the following:

Employees are required to have locking file cabinets or desk drawers for storage of confidential material, if applicable.

Material is not to be taken from the contractor’s facility without express permission from the Government.

Employees must safeguard and protect all Government records from theft and damage while being transported to and from contractor’s facility.

The following list provides examples of situations where PII is not properly safeguarded:

Leaving an unprotected computer containing Government information in a non-secure space (e.g., leaving the computer unattended in a public place, in an unlocked room, or in an unlocked vehicle).

Leaving an unattended file containing Government information in a non-secure area (e.g., leaving the file in a break-room or on an employee’s desk).

Storing electronic files containing Government information on a computer or access device (flash drive, CD, etc.) that other people have access to (not password-protected).

This list does not encompass all failures to safeguard personally identifiable information but is intended to act as an alert to the contractor’s employees to situations that must be avoided. Misfeasance occurs when an employee is authorized to access Government information that contains sensitive or personally identifiable information and, due to the employee’s failure to exercise due care, the information is lost, stolen, or inadvertently released.

Whenever the contractor’s employee has doubts about a specific situation involving their responsibilities for safeguarding PII, they should consult the Contracting Officer or the Contract Administrator.

SECURITY AND SUITABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR GOVERNMENT PRINTING (NOV 2018):

NOTE: For the purposes of this contract, the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) or Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative (COTR) is the SSA representative/Program Lead. The terms “vendor” and “contractor” are used interchangeably throughout this contract. Additionally, the terms “business days” and “workdays” are used interchangeably throughout this contract.

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(a) Suitability Process

The background investigation and adjudication processes are compliant with 5 CFR 731 or equivalent. Any new vendor personnel (i.e., those who have not previously received a suitability determination under this contract) requiring access to a SSA facility, site, information, or system, must complete and submit, through the COR-COTR, the documents listed in (a)(1) at least 30 workdays prior to the date vendor personnel are to begin work. The suitability process cannot begin until the vendor submits, and SSA receives, accurate and complete documents.

(1) Suitability Document Submission

a. Immediately upon award, the Company Point of Contact (CPOC) must provide to the Center for

Suitability and Personnel Security (CSPS) and a copy to the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) for all vendor personnel requesting a suitability determination using a secured/encrypted email* with a password sent separately to DCHR.OPE.Suitability@ssa.gov:

(i) An e-QIP applicant listing including the names of all vendor personnel requesting suitability;

(ii) Completed Optional Form (OF) 306, Declaration for Federal Employment (see Exhibit E);

(iii) Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) Authorization Form (see Exhibit F);

(iv) Additional Questions for Public Trust Positions Branching (see Exhibit C); and,

(v) Work authorization for non-United States (U.S.) born applicants, if applicable.

b. The e-QIP applicant listing must include the vendors name, the Social Security Administration vendor number, the CPOC’s name, the CPOC’s contact information, the COR’s name, the COR’s contact information, and the full name, Social Security Number, date of birth, place of birth (must show city and state if born in the U.S. OR city and country if born outside of the U.S.), and a valid email address for all vendor personnel requesting suitability. All spelling of names, email addresses, places, and numbers must be accurate and legible.

(2) e-QIP Application

a. Once SSA receives all completed documents, listed in (a)(1), the Center for Suitability and Personnel Security (CSPS) will initiate the e-QIP process using the e-QIP applicant listing. CSPS will email the e-QIP notification to the CPOC and COR inviting vendor personnel to the e-QIP website to electronically complete the background investigation form (Standard Form (SF) 85P, Questionnaire for Public Trust Positions.

b. Vendor personnel will have up to 10 business days to complete the e-QIP application. The 10-day timeframe begins the day CSPS sends the invitation to the CPOC and COR. Vendor personnel must electronically sign the signature pages before releasing the application in e-QIP. Signature pages include the Certification, Release, and Medical Release pages for the SF 85P.

Find information about the e-QIP process in the e-QIP Quick Reference Guide for e-QIP Applicants at https://nbib.opm.gov/e-qip-background-investigations/.

c. If vendor personnel need assistance with e-QIP logon and navigation, they can call the eQIP Hotline at

1-844-874-9940.

mailto:DCHR.OPE.Suitability@ssa.gov https://www.ssa.gov/oag/acq/ASC_2352_204-1_Security_and_Suit_Reqrmts_Post_10012017/e-QIP%20Applicant%20Listing.xlsx https://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/OF0306.pdf https://www.ssa.gov/oag/acq/ASC_2352_204-1_Security_and_Suit_Reqrmts_Post_10012017/Fair%20Credit%20Reporting%20Act%20Authorization%20Form.pdf https://www.ssa.gov/oag/acq/ASC_2352_204-1_Security_and_Suit_Reqrmts_Post_10012017/Additional%20Questions%20for%20Public%20Trust%20Positions%20-%20Branching.pdf https://nbib.opm.gov/e-qip-background-investigations/

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(3) Fingerprinting

a. The e-QIP notification email also provides vendor personnel with instructions to obtain electronic fingerprinting services. Vendor personnel must report for fingerprint services immediately upon completion and release of the e-QIP application and within 10 business days from the day CSPS sends the invitation.

b. If vendor personnel cannot report to the designated fingerprint locations (in the notification email), CSPS will accept completed Field Division (FD) 258 fingerprint cards. The COR can provide the FD 258, if required. Vendor personnel must complete all fields on the FD 258. Incomplete fields may delay suitability processing.

c. If the vendor needs to mail completed FD 258 fingerprint cards, the vendor can send them, via certified mail along with a completed Vendor Personnel Suitability Cover Sheet to: Social Security Administration, Center for Suitability and Personnel Security, Attn: Suitability Program Officer, 6401 Security Boulevard, 2246 Annex Building, Baltimore, MD 21235.

(4) Status Check

If vendor personnel have completed each of the steps in (e) in their entirety and do not receive a suitability determination within 15 business days of their last submission, call 1-844-874-9940 to determine suitability status.

(b) Suitability Determination

(1) CSPS uses a Federal Bureau of Investigation fingerprint check as part of the basis for making a suitability determination.

This determination is final unless information obtained during the remainder of the full background investigation, conducted by the Office of Personnel Management, is such that SSA would find the vendor personnel unsuitable to continue performing under this contract. CSPS will notify the CPOC and the COR of the results of these determinations.

(2) SSA will not allow vendor personnel access to a facility, site, information, or system until CSPS issues a favorable suitability determination. A suitability determination letter issued by CSPS is valid only for performance on the vendor specified in the letter.

(3) If personnel has been cleared at a previous contractor’s facility and are to perform work under a new vendor, the CPOC must submit a fully completed, legible Contractor Personnel Rollover Request Form to the COR.

CSPS will notify the CPOC, COR, and Contract Officer (CO) of suitability to work under the new vendor.

(c) Vendor Personnel Previously Cleared by SSA or Another Federal Agency

If vendor personnel previously received a suitability determination from SSA or another Federal agency, the CPOC should include this information next to the vendor personnel’s name on the initial applicant listing (see paragraph (a)(1)b.) along with the OF306. CSPS will review the information. If CSPS determines another suitability determination is not required, it will provide a letter to the CPOC and the COR indicating the vendor personnel was previously cleared under another Federal contract and does not need to go through the suitability determination process again.

https://www.ssa.gov/oag/acq/ASC_2352_204-1_Security_and_Suit_Reqrmts_Post_10012017/Contractor%20Rollover%20Request%20Form.docx

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(d) Unsuitable Determinations

(1) The vendor must notify the contractor personnel of any unsuitable determinations as soon as possible after receipt of such a determination.

(2) The vendor must submit requests for clarification for unsuitable determinations in writing within 30 calendar days of the date of the unsuitable determination to the email mailbox or address listed below.

Vendor personnel must file their own requests; vendor may not file requests on behalf of vendor personnel.

dchr.ope.suitclarify@ssa.gov

OR

Social Security Administration, Center for Suitability and Personnel Security, Attn: Suitability Program Officer, 6401 Security Boulevard, 2246 Annex Building, Baltimore, MD 21235

(e) Vendor Notification to Government

The vendor shall notify the COR and CSPS within one (1) business day if any vendor personnel is arrested or charged with a crime, or if there is any other change in the status of vendor personnel (e.g., leaves the company, no longer works under the vendor, the alien status changes, etc.) that could affect their suitability determination.

The vendor must provide in the notification as much detail as possible, including, but not limited to: name(s) of vendor personnel whose status has changed, SSA vendor number, the type of charge(s), if applicable, date of arrest, the court date, jurisdiction, and, if available, the disposition of the charge(s).

*Email Procedures:

For the contractor’s convenience, SSA has included the following instructions to send emails with sensitive documentation or messages containing personally identifiable information (e.g., SSNs, etc.) securely to an SSA email address. Contractor is to consult their local information technology staff for assistance. If the contractor utilizes an alternate secure method of transmission, it is recommend that the contractor contact the recipient to confirm receipt.

To Encrypt a File using WinZip:

i. Save the file to contractor’s hard drive

ii. Open Windows Explorer and locate the file

iii. Right click on the file

iv. Select “WinZip”

v. Select “Add to Zip File”

vi. An Add box pops up. Near the bottom of the box is an “Options” area

vii. Click the “Encrypt added files” checkbox

viii. Click the “Add” button

ix. Check the “Hide Password” checkbox if not already checked

a. Enter a string of characters as a password composed of letters, numbers, and special characters (minimum 8 characters – maximum 64)

b. Select the 256-Bit AES encryption radio button

c. Click “OK”

x. The file has been successfully encrypted, and the new Zip file can now be attached to an email.

mailto:dchr.ope.suitclarify@ssa.gov

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Providing the Recipient with the Password:

Send the password to the intended recipient in a separate email message prior to sending the encrypted file or after sending the encrypted file. Do not send the password in the same email message to which the encrypted file is attached.

If possible, it is recommended to provide the password to the COR-COTR by telephone or establish a predetermined password between the contractor and the COR-COTR.

The COR-COTR should also submit the password in a separate email from the documentation when submitting to ^DCHR OPE Suitability. Due to the large volume of submissions, the COR-COTR must always provide the password to ^DCHR OPE Suitability in a separate email, even if it is a pre-established password for a contract.

Sending an encrypted Zip File via email:

1. Compose a new message

2. Attach the Zip File

3. Send message

SUITABILITY DETERMINATION: A Federal Bureau of Investigation fingerprint check is part of the Basis used for making a suitability determination. This determination is final unless information obtained during the remainder of the full background investigation, conducted by the Office of Personnel Management, is such that SSA would find the contactor personnel unsuitable to continue performing under this contract. CPSPM will notify the CPOC, SSA COTR, and Contracting Officer of the result of these determinations.

PREAWARD SURVEY: In order to determine the responsibility of the prime contractor or any subcontractor, the Government reserves the right to conduct an on-site preaward survey at the contractor’s/subcontractor’s facility or to require other evidence of technical, production, managerial, financial, and similar abilities to perform, prior to the award of a contract. As part of the financial determination, the contractor in line for award may be required to provide one or more of the following financial documents:

1) Most recent profit and loss statement

2) Most recent balance sheet

3) Statement of cash flows

4) Current official bank statement

5) Current lines of credit (with amounts available)

6) Letter of commitment from paper supplier(s)

7) Letter of commitment from any subcontractor

The documents will be reviewed to validate that adequate financial resources are available to perform the contract requirements. Documents submitted will be kept confidential and used only for the determination of responsibility by the Government. Failure to provide the requested information in the time specified by the Government may result in the Contracting Officer not having adequate information to reach an affirmative determination of responsibility.

The contractor must demonstrate the capability to perform the requirements of the contract at time of award. If award is predicated on the purchase of production and/or systems equipment, the contractor must provide purchase order(s) with delivery date(s) of equipment to arrive at least 90 calendar days prior to the start of live production, on February 1, 2020.

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PREAWARD PRODUCTION PLANS: As part of the preaward survey, the contractor shall present, in writing, to the Contracting Officer within five (5) workdays of being notified to do so by the Contracting Officer or his/her representative, detailed plans for each of the following activities. The workday after notification to submit will be the first day of the schedule. If the Government requests additional information after review of plans, the contractor must submit updated plans within two (2) workdays of request.

Five (5) additional workdays will be permitted to provide a Security Assessment Package as required. The contractor, at SSA’s discretion, may be granted five (5) additional workdays if additional information is required for the Security Assessment Package. The workday after notification to submit will be the first day of the schedule.

If the preaward survey is waived, the below referenced plans must be submitted to the Contracting Officer within five (5) workdays of being notified to do so by the Contracting Officer or his/her representative. The workday after notification to submit will be the first day of the schedule.

Option Years: For each option year that may be exercised, the contractor will be required to review their production plans and re-submit in writing the above plans detailing any changes and/or revisions that may have occurred. The revised plans are subject to Government approval. The revised plans must be submitted to the Contracting Officer or his/her representative within five (5) workdays of notification of the option year being exercised.

NOTE: If there are no changes/revisions, the contractor will be required to submit to the Contracting Officer or his/her representative a statement confirming that the current plans are still in effect.

THESE PROPOSED PLANS ARE SUBJECT TO REVIEW AND APPROVAL BY THE GOVERNMENT AND

AWARD WILL NOT BE MADE PRIOR TO APPROVAL OF SAME. THE GOVERNMENT RESERVES THE

RIGHT TO WAIVE SOME OR ALL OF THESE PLANS.

PLEASE NOTE: The specifications in this contract cover the workloads of this contract transmitted daily and weekly. As such, the four (4) workloads of this contract must not be produced at multiple facilities, and therefore, cannot be transferred interchangeably between multiple plant locations. Any mention in this contract of multiple locations/facilities refers to the primary location and the backup facility only.

If the Government, during the preaward survey, concludes that the contractor does not or cannot meet all of the requirements as described in this contract, the contractor will be declared non-responsive.

Due to PII issues, the Government cannot award the contract until all security requirements are met. If the contractor fails to meet these requirements within 60 workdays of start of live production, the contractor will be declared nonresponsive.

Information Sheet – If the contractor is currently producing on other GPO contracts, they must submit an information sheet specifying how the workload(s) on this contract will fit into the pre-existing Government production without hampering the production/delivery schedules for all the contracts. (NOTE: This is a requirement of this program due to the legislated nature of certain GPO contracts.)

At a minimum, the information sheet must include a list of the contracts currently held and the production/delivery schedules for each of those contracts. The sheet must also specify which of those contracts would run concurrently with the projected schedule for this contract.

Backup Facility – The failure to deliver the products required under this specification in a timely manner would have an impact on the daily operations of SSA. Therefore, if for any reason(s) (act of God, labor disagreements, etc.) the contractor is unable to perform at said locations for a period longer than five (5) workdays, contractor must have a backup facility with the capability of producing the products required under this specification.

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Plans for their contingency production must be prepared and submitted to the Contracting Officer as part of the preaward survey. These plans must include the location of the facility to be used, equipment available at the facility, and a timetable for the start of production at that facility.

Part of the plan must also include the transportation of Government materials from one facility to another. SSA has the option to install a data connection into the contractor’s backup facility.

NOTE: All terms and conditions of this contract will apply to the backup facility. Due to the time sensitive nature of the notices produced on this contract, the contractor must maintain the original schedule set forth in this contract.

Quality Control Plan – The contractor shall provide and maintain, within their own organization, an independent quality assurance organization of sufficient size and expertise to monitor the operations performed and inspect the products of each operation to a degree and extent that will ensure the Government’s quality assurance, inspection, and acceptance provisions specified herein are met. The contractor shall perform, or have performed, the process controls, inspections, and tests required to substantiate that the products provided under this contract conform to the specifications and contract requirements. The contractor shall describe in detail their quality control/quality assurance and recovery plans describing how, when, and by whom the plans will be performed.

The quality control plan must also include examples and a detailed description of all quality control samples and their corresponding inspection reports or logs the contractor will keep to document the quality control inspections performed on each run. Furthermore, the plan must include the names of all quality assurance officials and describe their duties in relationship to the quality control plan.

The quality control plan must account for the number of pieces mailed daily and must also cover the security over the postage meters as well as the controls for the setting of the meters (if meters will be used).

Quality Control Sample Plan – The plan must provide a description of how the contractor will create quality control samples for periodic samplings to be taken during the production run, provide for backup and re-running in the event of an unsatisfactory sample, and contain control systems that will detect defective, missing, or mutilated pieces.

The plan should include the sampling interval the contractor intends to utilize. The contractor will be required to create two (2) control samples every 4,000 notices. The samples to be drawn from the production stream at the same time:

One (1) sample will be drawn, inspected, and retained as part of the contractor’s quality assurance records.

One (1) sample will be drawn for the Social Security Administration and packed with the remaining samples associated with each task order and shipped to SSA, Printing Management Branch (see Exhibit K).

NOTE: Mailers with low volumes (less than 4,000) will require at least one (1) set of samples to be produced.

The plan shall detail the actions to be taken by the contractor when defects, missing, or mutilated items are discovered. These actions must be consistent with the requirements found in GPO Contract Terms (GPO Publication 310.2, effective December 1, 1987 (Rev. 1-18)).

The plan shall monitor all aspects of the job, including material handling and mail flow, to assure that the production and delivery of these notices meet specifications and Government requirements. This includes maintaining 100% accountability in the accuracy of imaging and mailing of all pieces throughout each run. The contractor must ensure that there are no missing or duplicate pieces.

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The contractor must maintain quality control samples, inspection reports, and records for a period of no less than 210 calendar days subsequent to the date of the check tendered for final payment by the Government Publishing Office. The Government will periodically verify that the contractor is complying with the approved quality control plan through on-site examinations and/or requesting copies of the contractor’s quality assurance records and quality assurance random copies.

Computer System Plan – This plan must include a detailed listing of the contractor’s operating software platform and file transfer system necessary to interface with SSA’s National File Transfer Management System (FTMS) for electronic transmission of notice files from SSA. The plan must also include the media type on which files from SSA will be received to the extent that operator intervention (e.g., a tape mount) is not required at SSA or the contractor’s production facility.

The system plan shall demonstrate the contractor’s ability to provide complete hardware and software compatibility with SSA’s existing network (see “PREPRODUCTION TEST, Transmission Test” for additional information).

The contractor must complete a System Plan (see Exhibit G).

Included with the Computer System Plan shall be a resume for each employee responsible for the monitoring and the programming of the contractor’s computer system and file transmissions. If the contractor plans to use a consultant, a resume must still be included. This plan must show that the programmer(s) is skilled in the handling and programming of Advanced Function Presentation (AFP) (Fully Composed or Mixed Mode) printing platform.

Mail Plan – This plan should include sufficient detail as to how the contractor will comply with all applicable U.S. Postal Service (USPS) mailing requirements as listed in the USPS Domestic and International Mail Manuals in effect at the time of the mailing and other USPS instructional material such as the Postal Bulletin.

The contractor must also disclose how they will achieve multi-level USPS presort postal discounts as outlined in the contract.

Material Handling and Inventory Control – This plan should explain in detail how the following materials will be handled: incoming raw materials; work-in-progress materials; quality control inspection materials; USPS inspection materials; and all outgoing materials cleared for USPS pickup/delivery.

Personnel Plan – This plan should include a listing of all personnel who will be involved with this contract. For any new employees, the plan should include the source of these employees and a description of the training programs the employees will be given to familiarize them with the requirements of this program.

Production Plan – The contractor is to provide a detailed plan of the following:

(1) list of all production equipment and equipment capacities to be utilized on this contract;

(2) the production capacity currently being utilized on this equipment;

(3) capacity that is available for these workloads; and,

(4) if new equipment is to be utilized, documentation of the purchase order, source, delivery schedule, and installation dates are required.

The last leaf of the SSA-L732-OP1 notice within the eRPA data files contains a micro-perforated payment stub.

(For Bilingual (Spanish/English) notices, the payment stub will be on the last leaf of both the Spanish and the English notices. However, the payment stub/micro-perforation will not be on the same page for every notice because these notices have variable page counts.) The contractor will be required to identify the payment stub page(s) (English or Spanish/English) requiring perforation. Regarding the “select-a-perf” requirement, the contractor’s production plan must explain how they will handle imaging and collating the required micro-perforated sheet into the proper sequence of leaves. The plan must also detail how the contractor intends to meet the critical margins associated with the scanline. (See “PRINTING/IMAGING.”)

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The contractor must disclose in their production plan their intentions for the use of any subcontractors. If a subcontractor will be handling SSA notices, the plan must include the same information required from the contractor for all items contained under “SECURITY REQUIREMENTS” and “PREAWARD SURVEY.” If a subcontractor for any operation is added at any time after award, the contractor must submit the subcontractor’s proposed plans which are subject to review and approval by the Government.

The subcontractor must be approved by the Government prior to production starting in that facility. If the subcontractor is not approved by the Government, then the contractor has 30 calendar days prior to production to submit to the Government the new subcontractor’s information.

Security Control Plan – The contractor shall maintain in operation, an effective security system where items by these specifications are manufactured and/or stored (awaiting distribution or disposal) to assure against theft and/or the product ordered falling into unauthorized hands.

Contractor is cautioned that no Government provided information shall be used for non-Government business.

Specifically, no Government information shall be used for the benefit of a third party.

The Government retains the right to…