1_01 Product Description BVA CALR Recompete 20260115.docx

BVA| Computer-Assisted Legal Research Follow-onTAC Number: VA-26-00027185

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION (PD) TEMPLATE

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Office of Information & Technology Board of Veterans’ Appeals BVA|Computer-Assisted Legal Research Follow-on (VA-26-00027185)

Date: 01/15/2025

VA-26-00027185

PD Version Number: 1.1 Disclaimer: The TAC accepts no liability for the completeness or correctness concerning the Information Technology content of this template. This template is a means to simply assist the requiring activity in developing their requirements. It is the Requiring Activity’s responsibility to ensure the correctness of all requirements within their final Product Description.

Contents

1. SaaS EFFORTS:

In addition, Requiring Activities should note that for Software as a Service (SaaS) acquisitions, Digital Transformation Center (DTC) has developed standardized PWS/PD Language for several scenarios regarding FedRAMP, etc., to be added to your PWS/PD requirements document, as appropriate. Please see the document “SaaS Contract Language and Price Schedule – FY24” in the “SaaS” folder for the latest language and example price schedule, located in the “OIT Acquisition Guides” folder within the “OPAL Acquisition Requirements Package (ARP) Templates” area: OIT Acquisition Guides. Please also see the VA Digital Marketplace at DigitalVA Product Marketplace for existing VA-approved software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and low-code no-code (LCNC) products to consider reusing an existing, proven solution in the catalog that may satisfy your requirements. However, the Digital VA Product Marketplace is not intended to direct procurements.) Comment by Jansen, Meredith A.: Uploaded all SaaS approval documentation to FORCE and BTT-need to staff 6500 Checklist when PD complete

PRODUCT REQUIREMENTS

GSA

NASA SEWP

Answer legal questions quickly with the case law collection, editorial analysis, and data visualization.

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The Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is the final adjudication authority as delegated by the VA Secretary to render final decisions on appeal and is directly responsible to the VA Secretary. Veterans and associated claimants submit appeals to the Board where Veteran Law Judges (VLJs) then review benefit claim determinations made by the various VA administrations and issue final decisions. Staff attorneys review the documentation and facts of each appeal and assist VLJs in drafting and issuing these decisions. The legal research services sought in this procurement are utilized to assist Board judges and attorneys in researching adjudication of prior appeals, associated higher court decisions and for other relevant legal research purposes.

The Board requires contracted legal research capabilities that are separated into two services:

1. General Legal Research (SaaS)

2. Internal Board Specific Decision/Document Research General legal research should be provided by the vendors commercial legal research website. Board specific decision research is conducted using an internally managed/hosted database of past Board decisions with detailed metadata along with an integrated web-based vendor search and display capability. The user interface to access both services is currently integrated within the existing vendors website.

The General Legal Research service must provide an ability to search, save and review decisions from all U.S. Federal and State courts along with associated regulations and statues. There are approximately 1,250 unique VA users who conduct more than 400,000 searches per month via these systems.

The Internal Board specific decision/document research system is comprised of a database that stores text-based decision documents (and metadata files) along with PDF based regulation and statute documents. The decision database stores five libraries of decisions that contain over 1.5 million Board decisions in text format and are organized chronologically: 1970’s, 1987-1991, 1992-1994, 1995-1999 and 2000-Current. The Board and VA’s Office of Information Technology (OI&T) manage and maintain the implementation of the internal server/s. The existing system is hosted on a Widows Server Virtual Machine (VM) along with an SQL document database at a VA facility and uses vendor provided/supported software to enable web-based searches of the documents from within the vendors integrated interface.

Decisions documents within the last 25 years have metadata files associated with them that allow users to quickly search for specific aspects of a decision such as Attorney, Judge, Issue Categories, Docket number, etc. All Board decisions go through an internal (VA managed) redaction and metadata file creation process before being uploaded and crawled to make them searchable through the vendor application. While the decisions themselves are redacted (all Veteran/appellant identifying information is removed) and are publicly available, the metadata files associated with each decision provide a unique ability for Board users to execute detailed searches within key areas of each document.

PERFORMANCE PERIOD

The Period of Performance (PoP) shall be a 12-month base period with four 12-month option periods. The Contractor’s solution shall be fully functional, tested, and available to transition users by August 31, 2026. Any work at the Government site shall not take place on Federal holidays or weekends unless directed by the Contracting Officer (CO).

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

Tasks under this PD shall be performed at Contractor facilities, with the exception of training sessions to be provided virtually or at the Government site. While the internal Board decision document search/database capability will be hosted within the VA network, the Contractor will be able to remotely access the servers and will not be required to visit VA facilities for this purpose. The Contractor shall identify the Contractor’s place of performance in their proposal submission. The Government does not anticipate travel being required under this effort.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall provide two separate, but complimentary CALR services for the Board:

A. The first service consists of a fully vendor provided, managed and supported web accessible service for Board General CALR (requirements outlined in para 1.4) B. The second service requires customizable, vendor provided, legal document search software and database application that will be hosted within the VA intranet, on VA provided Virtual Machines or within a VA controlled cloud environment that specifically enables refined searches of the Boards historical decision documents, associated regulations and statutes (requirements outlined para 1.5)

i. In November 2018, VA issued the Cloud First Policy mandating that all new and existing IT solutions be assessed to determine suitability to be offered as an enterprise cloud computing service. The VA Enterprise Cloud (VAEC) was established by the Enterprise Cloud Solutions Office (ECSO) in 2017, to host cloud computing solutions. The Internal “Board Specific Decision/Document Research System” shall be implemented and hosted in the VA Enterprise Cloud.

ii. Government Furnished Equipment:

· Cloud capacity in and connectivity to the VA Enterprise Cloud (VAEC) environments.

· VA Enterprise Cloud Operational Tools (VAECOT) comprised of a suite of COTS cloud management tools as identified in the VAEC Technical Reference Guide

· Enterprise Development Environment (EDE) and Tools as identified in the VAEC Technical Reference Guide (VA Enterprise Cloud Technical Reference Guide, Version 1.3 July 2018)

GENERAL LEGAL RESEARCH

Fully vendor provided, managed and supported web accessible service for Board General CALR (considered SaaS) as outlined below:

A. The contractors system shall:

1) Be capable of uninterrupted operation.

2) Uninterrupted operation is defined as:

a. System availability shall be 24 hours per day, 7 days per week (24/7) with any planned outages scheduled at least one week in advance. The system is primarily used during Monday to Friday business hours of 6AM to 6PM Eastern Standard Time (EST), but requires limited use during extended work hours and on weekends.

b. The system shall be available after regular business hours and on the weekends;

3) Provide Board users web-based access to the Contractor’s General Legal Research system from Government owned and provided Personal Computer (PC) workstations and laptops, without the need to install software;

4) Provide access to Veterans Benefits and Veterans Law research information to include historical regulations, laws and Congressional history related; but not limited to, medical, housing, disability, benefits and compensation. Includes ability to search for Board of Veterans’ Appeals decisions, Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims rulings, Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and United States Supreme Court Veterans Claim rulings and decisions.

5) Provide a general legal research capability that includes federal and state cases, statutes, codes, administrative materials (federal and state agency decisions, Federal Register, CFR, etc.) law reviews, treatises, and other primary and secondary legal materials. Includes ability to search Federal statutes and regulations, current and past, with an ability to track changes in both from earliest date available to present.

6) Provide document full text search and retrieval functionality that is appropriate for accessing court decisions, statutes, regulations, and other types of documents to include the following minimum set of database search facilities:

a. The search function should be able to operate both in natural language and using Boolean type search operators equivalent to AND, OR, and AND_NOT.

b. Proximity search operators that express the nearness of two search terms.

c. The ability to restrict a search to a specified document segment/field (e.g., court, judge, opinion date, case name, or opinion in a database of court opinion documents).

d. The ability to recall to the screen the previous search expression entered by the user, modify the search, and execute the modified search expression, or base a search on the result of a prior search.

7) Provide a citator/case history capability for displayed court decisions. When a citator/case history is displayed, the system shall be capable of presenting the full text of a referencing document included on the display, if that document is available in a database provided by the Contractor.

8) Provide a capability for user customizable alerts delivered to a user’s email that monitor topics of interest, federal or state code sections and other analysis that could affect Board stakeholders or the Boards mission.

9) Provide access and/or annual users licenses for 1,250 users in the base period;

10) The system shall provide users with an ability to save, organize, index, and retrieve documents for easy research management and the ability to print, download, and email documents;

B. SaaS FedRAMP Requirements

1) The information system solution selected by the Contractor shall comply with the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA).

2) The Contractor shall comply with FedRAMP requirements Low as mandated by Federal laws and policies, including making available any documentation, physical access, and logical access needed to support this requirement.

3) The Contractor shall provide a SaaS product as defined by the following criteria: Software as a Service (SaaS) is an application delivery model in which the application is hosted on a cloud infrastructure outside the security boundary of VA and is provided to the Cloud Service Customer (CSC) over the internet. The CSC uses the SaaS offering via a thin-client interface, such as a web-browser or a program interface. The CSC subscribes to the SaaS offering and is only responsible for minor in-app customizations. The Cloud Service Provider (CSP) offering the application is responsible for management of the application, safeguarding of data stored or processed by the application, and all elements of the underlying infrastructure. Additionally, the CSP is responsible for all on-going compliance. In order to qualify as SaaS for use at VA, and to align with Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) requirements, the hosting for the offering must conform to the NIST 800-145 definition of Cloud Computing and thus contain following key characteristics:

a. On-Demand Self-Service: The CSP fully automates the provisioning of both the customer interface and the underlying cloud components of the SaaS offering. In some cases, to the CSP may provision internal resources manually, while providing the CSC an automated interface to request and track the service.

b. Broad Network Access: The SaaS capabilities are available over the internet or over a network that is available from all access points the CSC requires. The SaaS offering is accessible through common platforms (e.g., mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and workstations).

c. Resource Pooling: The computing infrastructure supporting the SaaS offering is shared among more than one CSC using a multi-tenant model, and resources are dynamically assigned depending on customer demand.

d. Rapid Elasticity: Computing capabilities are automatically provisioned and released in a manner that scales with customer demand. In some cases, the scaling of resources may not be fully automated, but it should be fast enough to support the needs of the CSC, which the CSC would have to define.

e. Measured Service: Resource usage, such as storage, processing, bandwidth, and user activity are measured and reported on in a manner that is relevant to the SaaS offering.

4) Following guidance from the Federal CIO, VA will utilize existing JAB ATO or agency ATO issued by another agency as a starting point for FedRAMP requirements. If neither of those exist, VA will sponsor The Cloud Service Provider for a FedRAMP Authorization. VA will be using the FedRAMP baselines as a starting point, since they are specifically tailored for cloud services.

5) The Contractor shall, where applicable, assist with the VA ATO Process to help achieve agency authorization of the cloud service or migrated application at the impact level required by VA to utilize the product. For this solution the required impact level is: Low.

6) The Contractor shall comply with FedRAMP requirements surrounding data location within the Continental United States. FedRAMP specifies data location requirements in the High Baseline as part of control SA-9 (5); however, FedRAMP does not provide or specify data location requirements for other baselines.

7) The Contractor shall complete a FedRAMP System Security Plan (SSP) and supporting documentation including required attachments within 75 calendar days after contract award. (If Data Security Categorization is High Impact, this will be due 94 calendar days after contract award.)

8) The Contractor shall work with a VA DTC Subject Matter Expert to develop a specific system boundary diagram including any integration and connectivity components for VA use. This will be known as the VA Implementation Diagram (VAID) and will demonstrate the proposed implementation of this system at VA. The Contractor shall complete this deliverable with VA within 10 calendar days of contract award.

9) The Contractor shall complete a Third-Party Assessment Organization (3PAO) Security Assessment Plan (SAP) within 90 calendar days after contract award. (If Data Security Categorization is High Impact, this will be due after 113 calendar days after contract award.)

10) The Contractor shall complete a 3PAO Security Assessment Report (SAR) within 90 calendar days after the SSP is accepted by VA. (If Data Security Categorization is High Impact, this will be due 113 calendar days after the SSP is accepted by VA.)

11) The Contractor shall work with VA Subject Matter Experts to test the validity of the Incident Response Plan (IRP) and ensure proper troubleshooting of issues that may arise. This should be completed within 30 calendar days of the SSP being delivered.

12) The Contractor shall afford VA access to the Contractor’s and Cloud Service Provider’s (CSP) facilities, installations, technical capabilities, operations, documentation, records, and databases.

13) If new or unanticipated vulnerabilities are discovered by either VA or the Contractor, or if existing safeguards have ceased to function, the discoverer shall immediately bring the situation to the attention of the other party in accordance with Addendum B, VA Information, and Information System Security/Privacy Language.

14) The Contractor shall comply with data management requirements.

15) Successful issuance of a VA ATO will be required before live VA data can be used in the system.

16) The Contractor shall participate in FedRAMP Continuous Monitoring activities as outlined by FedRAMP’s Continuous Monitoring Strategy Guide found on the FedRAMP website.

17) The Contractor shall participate in monthly Agency and FedRAMP Sustainment meetings following the granting of a VA ATO.

18) The Contractor shall provide continuous monitoring activities including, but not limited to scans, security artifacts, and monthly Plan of Action and Milestones (POAM) reports as outlined by VA and FedRAMP requirements.

19) The Contractor shall provide a monthly inventory report of VA sites currently utilizing the cloud product post ATO award. The inventory report will include the number of licenses being utilized and the specific VA site.

a. Deliverables:

I. FedRAMP System Security Plan (SSP) and required Attachments II. VA Implementation Diagram III. 3PAO Security Assessment Plan (SAP) IV. 3PAO Security Assessment Report (SAR) V. Plan of Action and Milestones Monthly Reports VI. Monthly Inventory Report

1.1 INTERNAL BOARD SPECIFIC DECISION/DOCUMENT RESEARCH

A. The contractors system shall:

1) Provide document search/database management software that will be hosted within the VA intranet, on VA provided Virtual Machines or within a VA controlled cloud environment in accordance with the VA Enterprise Cloud (VAEC) Technical Reference Guide, to enable web-based search of historical Board decisions text documents and PDF based Regulation and Statute documents.

a. The system shall be web based and accessible only by users within the VA intranet.

b. The system shall allow users to access Board decision text documents and PDF based regulation documents with specified search criteria derived from associated metadata files paired to each decision/ regulation.

c. The system shall provide document full text search and retrieval functionality that is appropriate for accessing court decisions, statutes, regulations, and other types of documents to include the following minimum set of database search functions:

I. The search function should be able to operate both in natural language and using Boolean type search operators equivalent to AND, OR, and AND_NOT.

II. Proximity or quotation search operators that express the nearness of two search terms.

III. The ability to restrict a search to a specified document segment/field (e.g., attorney, judge, docket number, issue, etc. in a database of decision documents.

IV. The ability to recall to the screen the previous search expression entered by the user, modify the search, and execute the modified search expression, or base a search on the result of a prior search.

d. The specific search criteria related to the Decision meta data include:

I. Attorney II. Judge III. Board Of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA) Citation IV. Program Area V. Level VI. Year VII. Docket Number VIII. Issue IX. Issue Disposition

2) The system shall support ingesting/indexing existing PDF based Historical Code of Federal Regulations (CFR’s) and Statute Citator document libraries along with meta-data files making them searchable within the Contractor’s interface. The Board’s Regulation and Statute PDF documents are image scan PDFs. Each document has an associated XML meta-data file that is used to make them searchable via a web interface.

3) Provide a citator/case history capability for Board decisions that inserts links to cited regulations and statutes within Board decisions displayed to a user. When a citator/case history link is displayed, the system shall be capable of presenting the full text of a referencing document included on the display and may be directed to the Contractors commercial website, a Government website or an internal database.

4) Provide users with an ability to save, organize, index, and retrieve documents for easy research management and the ability to print, download, and email documents.

5) Be capable of uninterrupted operation.

a. Uninterrupted operation is defined as:

I. System availability shall be 24 hours per day, 7 days per week (24/7) with any planned outages scheduled at least one week in advance. The system is primarily used during Monday to Friday business hours of 6AM to 6PM Eastern Standard Time (EST), but requires limited use during extended work hours and on weekends.

II. The system shall be available after regular business hours and on the weekends.

III. The system will be hosted on VA hardware, within the VA intranet, the Contractor shall work with VA the Office of Information Technology (OIT) as needed/required to troubleshoot any issues affecting availability and the normal operation of the system.

6) Provide on-going maintenance/upgrade support for the vendor installed application/s aimed at maintaining or upgrading application performance and installing patches to address system security vulnerabilities as determined by VA OIT.

7) Perform the following functions for ingesting the initial and follow-on monthly updates to the Board’s document database:

a. Ingest and make available for search all existing Board decision text documents/meta-data along with regulation and statute PDF documents/meta-data. The contractor shall provide a Subject Matter Expert (SME) to work closely with designated VA technical representatives to determine the most efficient way of initially ingesting the existing document repository.

b. Provide ability to process/ingest, on a monthly basis, meta-data XML files and text-based decision document updates that will be provided to the Contractor by the Board.

c. Provide support to Board Information Technology (IT) personnel who perform the monthly decision and meta-data updates. The purpose of the updates is to associate metadata with Board decisions allowing the search software to perform field and full text searches. As part of the update process, the Contractor shall inform the Board Project Manager via email of any issues ingesting the updates or association of meta-data.

d. Ensure that only designated VA users have access to the search interface using an Active Directory method or via site username/password to this Internal repository of Board decisions and documents.

8) The Internal “Board Specific Decision/Document Research System” shall be implemented and hosted in the VA Enterprise Cloud.

a. This solution shall be hosted in a to-be decided VAEC environment and be fully functional no later than 03 August, 2026. In the event that a VAEC cloud service provider (CSP) has not yet been selected by VA, the Contractor shall recommend a CSP for the solution.

b. The Contractor shall not be responsible for providing or acquiring cloud capacity or server hosting infrastructure for this contract. VA will furnish VAEC capacity as GFE.

B. Board Internal Decision/Document Capability Phase-In

1) Specific Phase-In Transition activities with respect to Board Internal CALR (VA hosted) include, but are not limited to the following:

a. The contractor shall work with the VA/Board technical team to outline the specific computing resource requirements to host the contractor’s full Internal CALR solution

b. The contractor shall satisfy VA requirements for gaining network access to the system server and install the contractor’s software on the server/s while also maintaining the vendor installed software to ensure alignment with VA system security requirements.

c. The contractor shall work with the VA/Board technical team to outline a specific process for ingesting the Boards existing decisions document repository, regulation and statute PDF’s and associated meta-data files

d. Install and configure vendor Internal CALR solution software components on provided VA computing resources and work with VA technical representatives to troubleshoot any issues

e. Assist VA/Board technical team in creating a test plan to validate the proper functionality of the Board Internal CALR capability prior to Go Live

1.2 HELPDESK SUPPORT

A. The Contractor shall provide helpdesk technical support to address database issues, user access issues and other Board requests. This includes a support option for user questions (either live voice, email or via chat service). The average number of requests shall be proposed by the Contractor based on their knowledge of their proposed system. For any maintenance on the system, the Contractor shall coordinate with the Board Project Manager (PM) for required downtime to perform changes or upgrades.

B. The Contractor shall respond to a received request within 4 business hours. Resolution scheduled within 8 business hours. Resolution complete within 2 business days.

1.3 SYSTEM TRAINING

A. The Contractor shall provide an online training program available to all Board users in the use and capabilities of the vendor research solution. The training shall provide an overview of the vendors system, an outline of general and advanced search capabilities and a Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) section.

1.4 PHASE-IN/PHASE-OUT TRANSITION PLANS

A. The Contractor shall provide the Project Manager/COR with a Phase-In transition plan that includes a detailed plan for transitioning the existing Board decision and citator databases to the Contractor’s system with no interruption to service availability. The Phase-In transition plan will include an outline of the online user training program, detailed process for ingesting the existing Board decision/citator databases to include associated metadata; enabling the refined search criteria for Board decisions as listed in section 1.5; the Contractor shall work with the VA to develop and provide a test plan with User Acceptance Criteria to validate the system performs as accurately and quickly as the current system and is ready for transition; and provide user account management and activations to the new service for identified users.

B. The Contractor shall also provide a Phase-Out Transition Plan. This plan shall include a detailed summary of the proposed system and all pertinent information to assist the transition to a new Contractor’s system with no interruption to service availability. The Plan shall also include the User Acceptance Criteria that were specified in the Test Plan.

Deliverable:

a. Test Plan

b. Phase-In Transition Plan

c. Phase-Out Transition Plan

NOTICE OF THE FEDERAL ACCESSIBILITY LAW AFFECTING ALL INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) PROCUREMENTS (SECTION 508)

(Three standards listed in Section 2.1 below [E205 Electronic Content – (Accessibility Standard -WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA Guidelines), E204 Functional Performance Criteria, and E208 Support Documentation and Services] always apply to the evaluation of ICT and should remain marked as “x”. The requiring activity should un-mark any of the other remaining standards below [E206 and/or E207] that do not apply to this effort. The Accessibility Requirements Tool (ART) is a web-based application that will help the requiring activity determine the Section 508 standards that apply to their specific acquisition. The ART tool is located at Accessibility Requirements Tool (ART).)

On January 18, 2017, the Access Board issued a final rule that updated accessibility requirements covered by Section 508 and refreshed guidelines for telecommunications equipment subject to Section 255 of the Communications Act. The final rule went into effect on January 18, 2018. The revisions and updates to the Section 508-based standards and Section 255-based guidelines are intended to ensure that information and communication technology (ICT) covered by the respective statutes is accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities.

SECTION 508 – INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) STANDARDS

The Section 508 standards established by the Access Board are incorporated into, and made part of all VA orders, solicitations and purchase orders developed to procure ICT. These standards are found in their entirety at: Revised 508 Standards and 255 Guidelines (access-board.gov). A single PDF file version of the Revised Section 508 Standards and 255 Guidelines will be supplied upon request, or can be obtained from the Access Board website. Federal agencies must comply with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.

The Contractor shall comply with “508 Chapter 2: Scoping Requirements” for all electronic ICT and content delivered under this contract. Specifically, as appropriate for the technology and its functionality, the Contractor shall comply with the technical standards marked here:

COMPATABILITY WITH ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY

The standards do not require installation of specific accessibility-related software or attachment of an assistive technology device. Section 508 requires that ICT be compatible with such software and devices so that ICT can be accessible to and usable by individuals using assistive technology, including but not limited to screen readers, screen magnifiers, and speech recognition software.

ACCEPTANCE AND ACCEPTANCE TESTING

Deliverables resulting from this solicitation will be accepted based in part on satisfaction of the Section 508 Chapter 2: Scoping Requirements standards identified above.

The Government reserves the right to test for Section 508 Compliance before delivery. The Contractor shall be able to demonstrate Section 508 Compliance upon delivery.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY USING SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

(Reference: 52.223-23, Sustainable Products and Services. If the requiring activity is procuring the following types of Information Technology Products delivered or furnished for Government use or for Contractor use at a Federally controlled facility (applicable to the work being performed and/or the solution requires) the requiring activity must include the products that fall into the categories of EPEAT, Energy Star, and FEMP within the requirements specifications for the products within this PD that fall into the respective categories to indicate applicability to this contract. Please see the GSA Sustainable Facilities Tool website, and the categories within it for guidance and applicability determination of the products/services being acquired.

If the products/services do not involve the acquisition of products that fall into the EPEAT, Energy Star, or FEMP categories at all, this entire section can be indicated as “Not Applicable” and any references to ecolabels can be removed from the product requirement specifications within the PD, If after consulting with the Contracting Officer and Contract Specialist, the requiring activity determines there is no EPEAT, Energy Star, or FEMP products that meet VA requirements and a written justification, or an exception, or an exemption has been provided, this entire section can be indicated as “Not Applicable” and any references to ecolabels can be indicated as N/A within the product requirement specifications within the PD.

Overarching Website:

The Green Procurement Compilation (GPC) website, Green Procurement Compilation - GSA Sustainable Facilities Tool (sftool.gov), provides a comprehensive list of sustainable Products and Services by Category, to include sustainable acquisition guidance. The Requiring Activity should review the GPC website to help determine which purchasing programs apply to a specific product or service (e.g., within the GPC website, find the “Office Equipment and Electronics” category, for instance, then drill down within the various Product Types in that category (e.g. Combination Units/Multi-Function Devices, Computers, Data Center Storage, etc.,) to determine the related Certification, Designation, and/or Ecolabel requirements for them, and then can also drill down to find various brand and model numbers of products that meet them, as necessary) The Contractor shall comply with Sections 524 and Sections 525 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007; Section 104 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005; Executive Order 13221, “Energy-Efficient Standby Power Devices,” dated August 2, 2001; and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to provide ENERGY STAR®, Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) designated, and products and services that meet EPA Recommendations of Specifications, Standards, and Ecolabels in effect as of October 2023 (e.g. Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) registered products) in providing information technology products and/or services. The Green Procurement Compilation (GPC) website available at Green Procurement Compilation - GSA Sustainable Facilities Tool (sftool.gov) provides a comprehensive list of sustainable products and services and sustainable acquisition guidance.

The Contractor shall provide products that meet the definition of sustainable products and services if the products are delivered to the Government; furnished by the Contractor for use by the Government, incorporated into the construction of a public building or public work, or acquired by the Contractor for use in performing services under a Government contract where the cost of the products is a direct cost to a Government contract (versus costs which are normally applied to a contractor's general and administrative expenses or indirect costs).

Specifically, the Contractor shall provide sustainable products under this contract in accordance with FAR 52.223-23. The applicable products with their associated certification, designation, and/or ecolabel (e.g. Energy Star, FEMP, and/or EPEAT) are identified within the product specifications in this PD. The Contractor shall ensure proposed products meet the certification(s) / designation(s) / ecolabel(s) specified at the time of submission of proposals and at the time of award.

SHIPMENT OF HARDWARE OR EQUIPMENT

(State the acceptance criteria and provide Shipping Address / Mark For requirements. For National Acquisitions, see below.)

(For items requiring System Acceptance (Pre-Production) Testing described in section 4.0, include the Pre-Production Testing Facility address here.)

Inspection: Destination Acceptance: Destination Free on Board (FOB): Destination

Ship To and Mark For:

Primary

Alternate

Name:

Name:

Address:

Address:

Voice:

Voice:

Email:

Email:

SPECIAL SHIPPING INSTRUCTIONS

Prior to shipping, Contractor shall notify Site POCs, by phone followed by email, of all incoming deliveries including line-by-line details for review of requirements. The Contractor shall not make any changes to the delivery schedule at the request of Site POC.

Contractors shall coordinate deliveries with Site POCs before shipment of <hardware> hardware to ensure sites have adequate storage space.

All shipments, either single or multiple container deliveries, shall bear the VA IFCAP Purchase Order number (if applicable) on external shipping labels and associated manifests or packing lists. In the case of multiple container deliveries, a statement readable near the VA IFCAP PO or Contract number shall indicate total number of containers for the complete shipment (e.g. “Package 1 of 2”), clearly readable on manifests and external shipping labels.

Packing Slips/Labels and Lists shall also include the following:

IFCAP PO # or Contract No.: ____________ (e.g., 166-E11234 (the IFCAP PO number is located in block #20 of the SF 1449)) Project Description: (e.g. Tier I Lifecycle Refresh)

Total number of Containers: Package ___ of ___. (e.g., Package 1 of 3)

NATIONAL ACQUISITIONS

(If this requirement is for a National acquisition, replace paragraphs 5.0 and 5.1 above with the below information, change the text to black and convert the text to “No Spacing” style. (Please note this Master Delivery Schedule may be used for non-National Acquisitions, but must be used for National Acquisitions). In accordance with the IT Asset Management (ITAM) PAL Process ITAM-02.01.01 Notify Logistics of Pending Shipment, for National Acquisitions, the “Master Delivery Schedule” must be completed by the VA PM (the Government portion as indicated within the Master Delivery Schedule Instructions) as it will become an attachment within the PD.

The PM must also add the contract deliverables specified in the below text to the Schedule for Deliverables table in the “Notes to the Contractor” section below. This Master Delivery Schedule will be updated by the Contractor and provided at delivery. See the Master Delivery Schedule Template within the PAL ITAM Process at http://vaww.oed.wss.va.gov/process/Library/master_delivery_schedule_template.xlsx.

All questions related to these instructions and the Master Delivery Schedule template/process shall be directed to the VA ITAAG and VA ITAAG RILOS distribution list in the Global Address List (GAL). For all equipment buys, ensure that this group is consulted to ensure proper cataloging of equipment early on in the planning stages of the procurement.)

The Contractor shall complete the Master Delivery Schedule in accordance with the Instructions, and shall coordinate with the COR for specifics. The Master Delivery Schedule shall be provided after award and updated prior to and after each delivery timeframe.

Shipment/Delivery Kick-off Meeting

The Contractor shall conduct a Shipment/Delivery Kick-off Meeting with the VA Program Manager (PM), COR, Delivery Date Coordinator, Implementation Manager, and Facility CIOs (or designee) to discuss delivery schedule requirements and facilitate delivery of equipment. This meeting may be held in conjunction with the post award conference or identified technical kickoff meeting, if applicable. The Contractor shall also present the Shipment/Delivery Weekly Progress Report format for review and approval by the Government. This meeting, if held independently, shall be conducted telephonically within ten days after award and shall incorporate any delivery schedule changes to the draft Delivery Schedule identified by the Government.

Shipment/Delivery Weekly Progress Report

The Contractor shall provide a Shipment/Delivery Weekly Progress Report which shall identify the items shipped, the serial number associated with each piece of equipment; the date of each shipment; the status of each shipment, tracking information, and information relative to Government-receipt of the equipment items at each delivery site. In addition, the Shipment/Delivery Weekly Progress Report shall identify any problems and provide a description of how the problems were resolved/addressed. If problems have not been completely resolved, the Contractor shall provide an explanation and status of resolution. Shipment/Delivery Weekly Progress Reports shall be submitted in Microsoft Excel Format and shall clearly identify each serial number of the equipment being delivered with one (1) serial number per cell.

Inspection: Destination Acceptance: Destination Free on Board (FOB): Destination

Packing Slips/Labels and Lists shall also include the following:

IFCAP PO #: ____________ (e.g., 166-E11234 (the IFCAP PO number is located in block #20 of the SF 1449)) Project Description: (e.g. Tier 1 Lifecycle Refresh)

Total number of Containers: Package ___ of ___. (e.g., Package 1 of 3)

Deliverables:

A. Master Delivery Schedule B. Shipment/Delivery Weekly Progress Report

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

VA TECHNICAL REFERENCE MODEL

The Contractor shall comply with the VA OIT Technical Reference Model (VA TRM). Compliance with the VA TRM is achieved by using only technologies and standards that are listed as approved for use in the VA TRM. The Contractor shall provide all necessary information requested by VA to ensure TRM approval is obtained prior to use on VA’s network.

ZERO TRUST – VA CRITICAL SECURITY CONTROLS

VA has established minimum mandatory security requirements and requires that any network connected software system or service must meet the VA Critical Security Controls as outlined in the VA Memorandum, “VA Security Controls”, https://www.voa.va.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DocumentID=5010. VA Critical Security Controls identify the minimum mandatory requirements that must be implemented across all VA enterprise infrastructure, cloud computing environments, information systems, networks, and specialized devices (medical devices/systems, special-purpose systems, and research scientific computing devices) that process, store, and/or transmit VA data. Effective July 1, 2025, the Contractor shall implement these VA Critical Security Controls, within any network connected software system or service prior to being authorized for use in the VA. This functional requirement is not negotiable, and Plan of Action & Milestones (POAM) will not be accepted in the event these controls cannot be implemented for new systems. Critical Security Controls are intended to increase VA’s security posture and provide security and privacy risk visibility into the VA network and is not a new requirement. The Contractor’s failure to maintain these VA Critical Controls after implementation will result in VA discontinuing the use of the system.

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER (SSN) REDUCTION

The Contractor solution shall support the Social Security Number (SSN) Fraud Prevention Act (FPA) of 2017 which prohibits the inclusion of SSNs on any document sent by mail. The Contractor support shall also be performed in accordance with Section 240 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) 2018, enacted March 23, 2018, which mandates VA to discontinue using SSNs to identify individuals in all VA information systems as the Primary Identifier. The Contractor shall ensure that any new IT solution discontinues the use of SSN as the Primary Identifier to replace the SSN with the Integrated Control Number (ICN) in all VA information systems for all individuals. The Contractor shall ensure that all Contractor delivered applications and systems integrate with the VA Master Person Index (MPI) for identity traits to include the use of the ICN as the Primary Identifier. The Contractor solution may only use a Social Security Number to identify an individual in an information system if and only if the use of such number is required to obtain information VA requires from an information system that is not under the jurisdiction of VA.

INTERNET PROTOCOL VERSION 6 (IPV6)

The Contractor solution shall support IPv6-Only based upon the memo issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on November 19, 2020 (https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/M-21-07.pdf). Which defines IPv6-only as the state of an operational system or service when IPv4 protocol functions (addressing, packet forwarding) are not in use. The NIST USGv6 profile defines technical requirements for a product to be capable of operating in IPv6-Only environments. IPv6-Only technology, in accordance with the USGv6 Program (https://www.nist.gov/programs-projects/usgv6-program/usgv6-revision-1), NIST Special Publication (SP) 500-267B Revision 1 “USGv6 Profile” (https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.500-267Br1), and NIST SP 800-119 “Guidelines for the Secure Deployment of IPv6” (https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-119), compliance shall be included in all IT infrastructures, application designs, application development, operational systems and sub-systems, and their integration. In addition to the above requirements, all devices, applications, and systems shall support all applicable functionality on native IPv6-Only as well as dual stack (IPv6 / IPv4) connectivity without additional memory or other resources being provided by the Government, so that they can function in a mixed environment. All public/external facing servers and services (e.g., web, email, DNS, ISP services, etc.) shall support native IPv6-Only and dual stack (IPv6 / IPv4) users and all internal infrastructure and applications shall support using native IPv6-Only and dual stack (IPv6 / IPv4) for all functionality and operations.

SOFTWARE AND LICENSING REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall be responsible for the provision of all software licenses and any associated licensing maintenance required for any development, delivery, integration, operation, and/or maintenance associated with its proposed application(s), software products, software solution, and/or system including, but not limited to, any and all application(s), software and/or software products that comprise, are a part of, or integrate with the Contractor’s proposed application(s), software products, software solution, and/or system for the life of any resulting contract.

TRUSTED INTERNET CONNECTION (TIC)

The Contractor solution shall meet the requirements outlined in Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M-19-26, “Update to the Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) Initiative“ (https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/M-19-26.pdf), VA Directive 6513 “Secure External Connections”, and shall comply with the TIC 3.0 Core Guidance Documents, including all Volumes and TIC Use Cases, found at the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) (https://www.cisa.gov/publication/tic-30-core-guidance-documents.)

POSITION/TASK RISK DESIGNATION LEVEL(S)

(For procurements which include continuous/full-time/on-site technical support being acquired with the hardware/software, additional security requirements may apply. Refer to the Security Checklist, Appendix A in the 6500.6 Handbook, especially response to question 4 to determine if risk designation determinations are required. If not, this section may be deleted.)

(All positions subject to investigation must be designated with a risk and sensitivity level based on the documented duties and responsibilities in accordance with VA Handbook 0710. Using the results of the Position Designation Automated Tool (PDT) (also known as PDAT) performed for each applicable service being procured, complete the table below. This “Service Task” Position Risk Designation correlates to individual Contractor personnel background investigation levels, depending upon which particular service task the contractor individual is working.

The PDT Tool is located at the following US Office of Personnel Management Website: Position Designation Tool (opm.gov))

(If it is determined that position risk designations are required, include the below information, change the text to black and convert the text to “No Spacing” style.)

In accordance with VA Handbook 0710, Personnel Security and Suitability Program, the position sensitivity and the level of background investigation commensurate with the required level of access for the following tasks within the PWS are:

(List PD Item Numbers which contain the service(s) for this effort in the…