A002_Appendix A_Plumas IRSC.docx

APPENDIX A – Amendment 002

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR SERVICE WORK ITEMS

SECTION I – DESCRIPTION OF WORK:

The objectives of this project are to perform mitigation treatment of standing and downed fire killed fuels along and adjacent to roads and recreation sites within the North Complex Fire of 2020 and Dixie Fire of 2021. These roadside fuels treatments are a vital step of the continued post-fire restoration activities to ensure safe access and working conditions. The project will also reduce the risk of future wildfire and insect or disease infestation and protect, restore, and enhance forest ecosystem components within the project area.

1. Mechanically remove unmerchantable trees and small diameter hazardous fuels along roadsides to landings to be later burned by FS or chipped/removed from contract area. Decking and Processing of trees is required in Mandatory Items 2 and 3, and if awarded Optional Items 2 and 3.

2. Remove product per Timber Subject to Agreement if awarded.

SECTION II – WORK ITEMS

Roadside Fuels Treatment Cut and Pile - Mandatory Item 1(a-d) and Optional Items 1(e-g)

Mandatory

Optional

Cut Specifications:

1. Dead conifers and hardwoods from 6.0” DBH and larger that can reach roadsides and recreation sites shall be felled.

2. Structurally damaged trees 6.0” DBH and larger where failure and/or tree mortality is highly likely, or designated by FS, and that can reasonably hit the road or recreation site shall be felled.

3. Live conifers and hardwoods with greater than 10% green crown remaining shall be retained as Leave Trees. Stump sprouts do not count on hardwoods as live crown. Selected leave trees shall not be damaged by the Contractor’s operations.

4. No mechanical vegetation treatment shall occur within stream course buffer strips shown on Contract Area Map or other Restricted Areas identified on the ground and shown on Contract Area Map. Trees within these areas shall be felled in accordance with #7 below. Trees that can be reached with boom length of equipment from road or from edge of stream course buffer strip shall be lifted and removed from buffer strip to be piled. If pile locations cannot meet #3 of Slash Treatment Specifications without causing unacceptable resource damage, Contractor and FS may agree to pile locations or to fall and leave. End-lining trees is not required within buffer strips.

5. All vegetative trees shall be cut with a maximum allowable stump height of 12 inches as measured from the high side of the tree. Stump heights can be higher on slopes of 35 percent or more.

6. Unless otherwise agreed, tree bole material greater than 10 feet in length from all hardwood and conifer trees required to be cut or are previously downed shall be skidded and/or yarded to landings shown on the CAM or agreed upon disposal sites to be piled or decked.

7. Areas with slopes of 35 percent or greater and areas within buffer strips that equipment cannot reach from edge of road or edge of buffer strip, trees shall be felled and bucked, but logs are not mandatory to skid or pile. Contour fall across slopes for slope stability. Avoid jack strawing material. Ensure downed logs will stay in place and not roll on to roadways. If contractor chooses to remove material, work with COR/Sale Administrator for best skid road placement and end-lining agreements. Use of high stumps may be used here to allow for holding logs in place.

Slash Treatment Specification:

Piles shall be neat, compact, and sufficiently free of dirt to allow consumption of the piled debris when burned. Piles shall be constructed by alternating the butt ends of the logs and tops to help provide fine material on either end of the pile, to achieve pile compaction and to help aid in ignition.

1. Maximum Pile height: No maximum height.

2. Minimum Pile height: Piles of vegetative material will have a minimum height of 6 feet. Vegetative material will be moved distances up to 150 feet or as necessary to attain minimum height or meet other pile location criteria stated in paragraph 3, below.

3. Piles shall be located to minimize damage to residual, live trees (at least 75 feet from the boles of live trees) when piles are burned. No mechanical piles shall be within 100 feet of ephemeral stream channels or designated meadows edge or within 100 feet of intermittent or perennial drainages or 50 feet of treatment unit boundaries with private property. No piles will be located within 100 50 feet horizontal distance of roadsides.

4. If because of unit shape, presence of live trees or terrain conditions it is not possible to attain distance limitations specified in item 3 above, Contractor and Forest Service will agree on pile locations.

5. Piling shall be accomplished with minimal disturbance to topsoil and existing Down, Large logs (See Definitions). Minimize turning of tracked equipment.

6. A fire line to mineral soil shall be constructed around each pile and shall be a minimum 36 inches width. Fire line will not contain any substantial quantities of dead, vegetative material. If multiple smaller piles are within 250 feet horizontal distance of each other, larger fire lines can encircle multiple piles.

7. Piles shall be covered in two places with 15’ by 15’ pieces of waterproof covering.

8. If Timber Subject to Agreement is awarded and majority of timber products are removed from contract area, the remaining slash to be piled shall be piled or meet the specifications of Appendix B – C6.7# for Scat 18” when slash concentrations are such that minimum pile size cannot be achieved. Scat 18” is not required unless TSA is awarded.

SLASH TREATMENT

(From To)

UNIT AND SUBDIVISION.SLASH TREATMENT SPECIFICATIONS.

SLASH TREATMENT

Roadside Fuels Treatment Cut, Skid, Deck, and Pile - Mandatory Items 2(a-c) and 3(a); and Optional Items 2(d-f) and 3(b-c)

Mandatory

Optional

Cut and Skid Specifications:

1. Dead conifers and hardwoods from 6.0” DBH and larger that can reach roadsides and recreation sites shall be felled.

1. Structurally damaged trees 6.0” DBH and larger where failure and/or tree mortality is highly likely, or designated by FS, and that can reasonably hit the road or recreation sites shall be felled.

1. Live conifers and hardwoods with greater than 10% green crown remaining shall be retained as Leave Trees. Stump sprouts do not count on hardwoods as live crown. Selected leave trees shall not be damaged by the Contractor’s operations.

1. No mechanical vegetation treatment shall occur within stream course buffer strips shown on Contract Area Map or other Restricted Areas identified on the ground and shown on Contract Area Map. Trees within these areas shall be felled in accordance with #7 below. Trees that can be reached with boom length of equipment from road or from edge of stream course buffer strip shall be lifted and removed from buffer strip to be piled. If pile locations cannot meet #3 of Slash Treatment Specifications without causing unacceptable resource damage, Contractor and FS may agree to pile locations or to fall and leave. End-lining trees is not required within buffer strips.

1. All vegetative trees shall be cut with a maximum allowable stump height of 12 inches as measured from the high side of the tree. Stump heights can be higher on slopes of 35 percent or more.

1. Unless otherwise agreed, tree bole material greater than 10 feet in length from all hardwood and conifer trees required to be cut or are previously downed shall be skid and/or yarded to landings or agreed upon disposal sites to be piled or decked.

1. Areas with slopes of 35 percent or greater and areas within buffer strips that equipment cannot reach from edge of road or edge of buffer strip, trees shall be felled and bucked, but not mandatory to skid or remove. Contour fall across slopes for slope stability. Avoid jack strawing material. Ensure downed logs will stay in place and not roll on to roadways. If contractor chooses to remove material, work with COR/Sale Administrator for best skid road placement and end-lining agreements. Use of high stumps may be used here to allow for holding logs in place.

Deck Specifications:

1. All trees larger than 20” DBH with a minimum 20’ length piece shall be decked separately from piles.

1. Trees shall be decked with required processing into standard log lengths. (see table below)

1. Decks shall be located to allow for removal of products. Where practicable, decks shall be parallel to roads and separated pine species decks from fir species/cedar decks.

1. Trees shall be bucked in various lengths to obtain the greatest utilization of material meeting Utilization Standards. Below are the minimum and maximum buck lengths unless agreed upon otherwise.

Cut when necessary: 10’ 6”, 12’ 6”, 14’ 6”, 18’ 6”, 20’ 6”, 22’ 12”, 24’ 12”, 26’ 12”, 28’ 12”, 30’ 12”.

Cut when necessary: 10’ 6”, 12’ 6”, 14’ 6”, 18’ 6”, 20’ 6”, 22’12”, 24’ 12”, 26’ 12”, 28’ 12”, 30’ 12”.

Cut when necessary: 10’ 6”, 12’ 6”, 14’ 6”, 18’ 6”, 20’ 6”, 2’ 12”, 24’ 12”, 26’ 12”, 28’ 12”, 30’ 12”.

Slash Treatment and Pile Specifications:

Dead and damaged trees under 20” DBH shall be cut and piled to the same general standards as Mandatory Item 1.

Optional Item 1(h), 2(g) and 3(d): Removal of Timber Subject to Agreement

1. All timber products are available for subsidized removal by truck or rail.

1. Title Transfer of products will occur prior to debarking and being loaded on rail cars.

1. Pine logs may be transported within ecological bug/pest zones with no required mitigation measures to prevent the transport and spread of forest pests. See Figure 1 in attachment titled “Insect and Disease Risk Potential”.

1. All logs being transferred outside of ecological bug/pest zones shall be debarked. Any number of visually separate and clearly distinct small pieces of bark may remain if they are:

3. less than 3 cm in width (regardless of the length) or

3. greater than 3 cm in width with the total surface area of an individual piece of bark less than 50 square cm and

3. no more than 2 percent of the surface of all logs per railcar load may retain bark, with no single log retaining bark on more than 5 percent of its surface.

SECTION III – CONTROL OF WORK

The Contractor agrees to conduct its operations under this contract and other related business activities in compliance with Federal, State, and local statutes, standards, orders, permits and other regulations.

The Contractor shall meet all State and local environmental quality laws applicable to National Forest system lands.

Work may be done any time during the term of the contract, except under the following conditions:

(1) When conditions are such that operations shall be restricted or ceased due to increased fire risk.

(2) When seasonal operating restrictions for active raptor nests are in effect. All active nest sites and areas of restriction are shown on CAM and listed in the solicitation under Protection Measures Needed for Plants Animals, Cultural Resources, and Cave Resources. Restrictions would apply:

(3) If new nests are discovered

(4) When soil moisture conditions create excessive risk of damage to the soil

(5) When snow depth creates a situation where requirements cannot be met and/or work cannot be inspected, as determined by the COR

(6) The government reserves the right to prioritize the order in which Units are treated.

(7) If any cultural or archeological sites are discovered during operations of this contract, work will be suspended in the immediate vicinity of the site until a reconnaissance survey is completed by the Forest Archeologist. Areas excluded from treatment shall be deleted from the contract.

(8) See the following table:

Willow habitat is when any willow tree/bush is present.

Willow Fly Catcher

Portions of Unit 16 and Unit 17 Unit 18- 25N05 road from termini with PC111 to termini with 28N01 Road

SECTION IV – INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

For All Work Items:

At any point during the project, the Contractor and/or Project Manager may request (documented through email, text, or hand-written request) an in the field consultation with the Forest Service to inspect work progress, review contract specifications, or clarify issues. The Forest Service shall respond to Contractor’s request within 5 working days, excluding weekends and federal holidays.

GOVERNMENT QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEILLANCE PLAN

The COR, or a designated inspector (GTM), will make periodic inspections while work is in progress, usually daily at first, as needed to assure work is proceeding satisfactorily. The Contractor shall notify the COR when units are started, when problems are encountered and when contract work needs government oversight.

1. Each unit will be inspected as a separate unit. Unit will not be averaged with other units for acceptance or payment. Contractor may propose to invoice for partially completed larger units when all work for the section/area of unit has been fully completed, accepted by FS, the acres are measured by contractor and agreed to with COR prior to invoicing.

2. When units are completed and ready for government inspection, Contractor’s designated Project manager shall request unit inspection in writing, prior to moving out of the general area.

3. The COR, or designated inspector, will determine compliance with contract specifications through informal visual inspections. In the event visual inspection indicates work to be in non-compliance with specifications, prompt corrective action and/or rework shall be required.

Government Inspection Procedures – Items 1(a-g), 2(a-f) and 3(a-c)

1. In the event visual inspection indicates work and/or rework to be in non-compliance with contract specifications, a series of verification plots shall be installed by the Government to determine compliance with specifications and percent of satisfactory work for treatment of each unit not meeting specification as observed with visual inspection.

2. Government verification plots will consist of a series of fixed area plots that will have 4 quadrants of pass or fail.

3. Plots and grid will be distributed so that a representative sample is obtained. Pile locations including landings may be sampled in plots to determine overall quality.

4. The COR or designated inspector will mark the center of each plot on the ground using flagging, stakes, or pin flags. Additional flagging will be hung near the plot center so that it may be seen from a distance. The inspector will include the plot number, their initials and date on the flagging.

5. Plots will be numbered to correlate with the inspection form and transects on a unit map.

6. The minimum number of verification plots, per treatment unit, shall be as follows:

Unit Acreage Minimum No. of Plots

7. Determination of acceptability of the work performed will be based on Government verification inspections and will be considered conclusive.

8. At each plot, the Government will examine the plot area and record findings on the items listed below:

a. Plot number

b. Number of satisfactory trees.

c. Number of excess trees.

d. Number of unacceptable and/or acceptable piles.

· Cut trees which are still attached at the stump or not severed below the lowest live limb, except when prevented by obstacles (e.g. rocks, boulders) will be counted as excess trees

· Trees meeting cut specifications will be counted as excess trees

· Trees in excess of trees to be left will be counted as excess

· Live limbs below the cutting point not removed at the bole will be counted as excess

· Trees and brush felled into leave-trees, unit boundaries, streams, roads, established trails (recreation, game, stock, etc.) cultural resource sites, and other improvements (e.g. fences, established land corners, buildings, ditches, etc.) will be unacceptable.

Government Inspection Procedures – Item 1(h), 2(g) and 3(d)

The COR, or a designated inspector (GTM), will make periodic inspections of loads in transit per standard utilization inspection procedures, log storage and transfer locations prior to re-loading and transporting via rail if applicable. Government reserves the right to inspect product end-delivery locations to ensure domestic processing of products transported via rail. Scale certifications or Load Count tickets of surplus products will be compared to rail transport invoiced quantities.

Table 1 – Minimum Acceptable Quality Levels (AQL) of Work

Unsatisfactory Performance

1. If the work quality falls below the minimum AQL, the COR will immediately notify the Contractor, in writing, and order him to improve the quality of subsequent tree cutting.

2. If after rework has been performed and reinspected, and work quality still falls below minimum AQL percent, payment will either be made at a reduced rate, or not at all, as determined in SECTION V below.

3. Repeated failure to produce work quality at or above the minimum acceptable standard will be considered reason for contract termination for cause.

Reinspection Upon Contractor Request

1. If Government inspection results are unacceptable to the Contractor, a reinspection may be requested, in writing, within 5 business days after receipt of notice of said inspection results. The same inspection procedure will be used; however, the inspection pattern will be shifted so that new inspection plots will not overlap previously inspected plots.

2. If reinspection results – rounded up to the nearest whole percent – indicate a variance of more than 5 percent from the first inspection, the results of the second inspection will be used to calculate work quality and payment, and the Government will bear the cost of reinspection.

3. If reinspection results – rounded up to the nearest whole percent – are within 5 percent of the first inspection, plots from the initial inspection and the reinspection will be combined and used to calculate work quality and payment, and the Contractor shall bear the cost of reinspection.

SECTION V – PAYMENT METHODS

Method of Measurement for Acreages

The acreage for each work item will be rounded to the nearest acre and is final unless:

a. The contract is modified or,

b. The Government makes a determination to remeasure or,

c. The Contractor exercises his/her option under the following Re-measurement provisions:

Re-measurement

1. The Contractor may request, in writing, remeasurement of any units under this contract if he/she feels that acreage stated on the project maps is incorrect. The remeasurement must be within the existing perimeter of the respective unit. No variance of the unit perimeters as laid out on the ground for this contract will be allowed. All requests for remeasurement must be made prior to payment for each completed unit. Remeasurement will be performed by the Government.

2. If re-measurement indicates that a variance of ten percent or less exists on units of 1 to 5 acres, five percent or less exists on units of more than five but less than 20 acres, or if three percent or less exists on units of 20 acres or larger, the Contractor shall pay for the actual costs of the re-measurement. Under this condition, payment will be made on the acreage stated on the project maps. If the re-measurement indicates the actual acreage varies by more than the above factors from that stated on the project maps, the payment will be made on the re-measured acreage and the Forest Service will pay for the cost of the re-measurement.

Acceptance and Payment –Items 1(a-g), 2(a-f) and 3(a-c)

1. If informal visual inspection indicates acceptable work quality, the Contractor will be paid 100 percent of their bid rate.

2. In the event that formal inspections are used, the rate of payment to the Contractor will be calculated as follows:

(a) For work quality of 90 percent or higher, the Contractor will be paid 100 percent of their bid rate.

(b) For work quality from 85 to 89 percent after rework, the Contractor will be paid the total multiplied by the bid rate.

(c) For work quality 84 percent and less after rework, no payment made to the Contractor.

Acceptance and Payment – Optional Items 1(h), 2(g) and 3(d)

Full payment shall be made for the actual quantity of product removed upon receipt of acceptable proof of removal/transport for quantities invoiced. The number of tons awarded represents the ceiling amount for which a contractor could be paid without modification but is not a guarantee. Funds not utilized to pay for removal shall be de-obligated at the end of the contract or utilized for other supplemental agreement(s) if it is in the best interest of the government.

SECTION VI – DEFINITIONS

ACCEPTABLE QUALITY LEVEL (AQL): Acceptance of work will be based on compliance with all specifications corresponding to the appropriate task(s); refer to the Performance Requirements Summary in Section E.4 of the contract. A minimum AQL is required for all service work – hand or mechanical. The minimum AQL will receive a satisfactory performance rating.

BIOMASS TREES: Any conifer material 6 feet in height to 3.0 to 9.9 inches DBH.

BOLE SPACING: The horizontal distance in feet from the edge of one leave tree bole to another leave tree bole, measured from the outside bark of each tree.

CIRCULAR PLOT: A sample plot within a thinning unit that is used to determine the number of desirable trees and other contract specifications.

COARSE WOODY DEBRIS: Woody material left on the ground to meet wildlife habitat requirements.

CROWN RATIO: The ratio of live crown length (tip of leader to base of the crown) to total tree length/height.

CROWN SPACING: The horizontal distance in feet between the dripline of a live crown to another live crown.

CLEARCUT: A cutting prescription in which all trees within a boundary are designated to be cut.

CROWN RATIO: The ratio of live crown length (tip of leader to base of the crown) to total tree length/height.

CROWN SPACING: The horizontal distance in feet between the dripline of a live crown to another live crown.

CUT TREES: Trees that do not possess the characteristics of desirable leave trees and are required to be cut. As described by the contract or otherwise marked to be cut.

CUTTING UNIT: See Treatment Unit definition DAMAGED TREES: Trees damaged beyond recovery. A tree that is larger than 2 feet in height, and has the top knocked out, is leaning more than 10 degrees, has less than one half of its original limbs, or has approximately 50% of bark removed from the circumference of the bole.

DBH: Diameter at breast height, measured at a point of 4.5 feet above the ground level on the uphill side of the tree.

DECKING: Stockpiling of trees in a designated area.

DEAD/DYING TREES: Trees with the crown foliage changing from green to red, yellow, or needleless. Any tree that has pitch tubes indicating Mountain Pine Beetle infestation.

DESIGNATION BY SPECIES AND DIAMETER (DXSD): A cutting prescription in which species and diameter are used to determine which trees will be left and which will be cut.

DIB: Diameter inside bark.

HANG-UP TREE: Any cut tree suspended above ground level.

HEALTHY REGENERATION: Young, healthy, dwarf mistletoe free conifers, less than 4.9 inches in diameter, free of defect or characteristics listed in Section II, 2.2.2.

LEAVE TREE: Trees that possess desirable characteristics and that serve to create the basis for designated spacing requirements or are otherwise designated to be left.

NON-SAWTIMBER TREE: For all conifer species, minimum diameter of 5 inches DBH to minimum diameter by species identified in Appendix B, Division A.

OVERSTORY REMOVAL: A cutting prescription where all trees greater than a specified size are cut. Trees less than the specified size are protected.

PAYMENT UNIT: See Treatment Unit.

PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY (PRS): Identifies the key service outputs of the contract that will be evaluated by the Government to assure contract performance standards are met by the Contractor.

PILING: Material moved to an agreed upon location shall be piled for future treatment by Forest Service.

PROGRESSION OF WORK: Work conducted in a progressive, workmanlike and orderly manner by the Contractor.

RESERVE CLUMPS: Groups of trees within a treatment area that are protected from cutting, may also include Individual Reserve trees.

SAWTIMBER TREE: Included timber meeting sawlog size specifications as defined in Appendix B, Division A.2.

SLASH: Woody material existing or created that has accumulated on the forest floor. Woody material includes logs, pieces of logs, tops, and branches.

UNIT: See Treatment Unit.

TEMPORARY ROADS: Non-permanent roads that are constructed by Contractor for the purpose of treatment unit access.

TREATMENT UNIT: An individual area on the ground in which activities will be performed and which may appear as a separate pay item in the Schedule of Items.