Solicitation Questions and Answers.pdf

Hazmat BPA Solicita�on Ques�ons & Answers from Industry

1. Question: The scope requires 40-hour Hazwoper training for all onsite personnel. I would like to double-check that requirement.

Answer: Good question. This requirement is for personnel working on a CERCLA or other hazardous Forest Service sites. On page 20 of 52 under Safety Precautions, the following statement:

“Personnel for Activities who will physically work on a site shall be certified as having received the 40-Hour Hazardous Waste Site Operations (Hazwoper) training.”

Should be changed to read:

“Personnel for Activities who will physically work on a CERCLA or hazardous material spill site shall be certified as having received the 40-Hour Hazardous Waste Site Operations (Hazwoper) training.”

2. Question: Activity V, Environmental Compliance Audits, requires use of the CERL Team Guide. Is the USFS a member of CERL?

Answer: The USFS pays for USA CERL membership every other year. When Activity V call orders are awarded, the USFS will provide the appropriate federal, state supplement, and FS supplement Team Guide files to the contractor, in both MS Word and MS Access formats.

3. Question: Can you clarify what you are requiring for submittals? Requirement xv on page 2 of the solicitation appears to differ from what is in Section L. Also, will you pull the past performance statements required under xv, or do we need to provide them?

Answer: For a complete proposal, please submit:

1. Technical Response

a. Include the table on Page 3, Section A – Schedule of Items, completed to indicate the activities and geographic areas for which you are applying.

This does not count toward your 10 front-and-back page limit

b. See Section L for instructions

2. Relevant Past Performance

a. See Section L for instructions

3. Representations and Certifications

a. Include the Representations and Certifications on pages 33-37 of the solicitation

4. Question: Will the USFS be awarding this all-or-nothing, or can the USFS pick and choose the Activities and Geographic Areas they wish to award each contractor, based on past performance and technical capability? For example, my firm is interested in performing environmental compliance audits. However, we have not performed this work in the past and therefore may not score as well for technical capability of key personnel. If I check the box for environmental compliance audits, will it hurt my chances of being awarded the contract for other Activities, for which I am confident we will score well?

Answer: The USFS will only award Activities and geographic areas for which you are highly rated, based on the evaluation factors in Section M. Checking additional boxes will not hurt your chances for overall award.

5. Question: Section A – Schedule of Items has 5 geographic areas. They are:

a. Western Washington

b. Eastern Washington

c. Western Oregon

d. Eastern & Central Oregon

e. Alaksa

However, the following page of Section A at the top states:

The Geographic Areas are: (see Section C for more specific locations Western Washington Eastern Washington Southwest Oregon Northwest Oregon Central & Eastern Oregon Alaska

The highlighted areas on the second page differ from the Geographic Areas on the first page.

Can we please get this clarified?

Answer: The text the below the table in Section A, under the heading “Multiple Awards,” contains an error. The table at the top of Section A, as well as the activities and locations listed in Section B are correct. There are 7 total activities and 5 total geographic areas.

6. Question: The USFS has requested a business quote be developed for the work descripted in Section C which does not refer to any specific activity, items, quantities, etc. Will the USFS be providing this information for Contractors to supply a like-for-like business quote?

And if so, when will that occur?

Answer: The Forest Service does not require prices or a business quote, as stated on page 3 under “Schedule of Items.” Please refer to Sections K & L for guidance on responding to this solicitation.

7. Question: Page 3 “Section A – Schedule of Items” includes 7 activities (Activity I Emergency & Incident Response, Activity II Non-Emergency Clean-Up & Removal, Activity III Hazardous Materials Surveys, Assessment/Testing/Abatement, Activity IV Reports, Guidance, & General Environmental Consulting Services, Activity V Environmental Compliance Audits, Activity VI Tank Related Services, and Activity VII CERCLA Site Work), however Page 3 “Multiple Awards” includes 5 activities (ACTIVITY I - Emergency and Incident Response, ACTIVITY II – Non-Emergency Clean-up & Removal, ACTIVITY III - Hazardous Materials Surveys, Assessment/Testing/Abatement, ACTIVITY IV- Tank Related Services, ACTIVITY V – Time Critical and Non-Time Critical CERCLA Removal Actions). These two lists of Activities conflict. Which list of Activities should Offerors prepare offers on?

Answer: These are the Activities: (Activity I Emergency & Incident Response, Activity II Non- Emergency Clean-Up & Removal, Activity III Hazardous Materials Surveys, Assessment/Testing/Abatement, Activity IV Reports, Guidance, & General Environmental Consulting Services, Activity V Environmental Compliance Audits, Activity VI Tank Related Services, and Activity VII CERCLA Site Work). Activities VI and VII under the Multiple Awards section were on included on page 4 in error.

8. Question: Page 49, Section L, Technical Quote reads “Format must be at least 10pt font size and, and information in this section may not exceed 10 pages (double-sided pages may be used).”

Since the proposal will be submitted in electronic format, does “double-sided pages may be used” mean that the technical proposal can be 20 pages in total?

Answer: Yes, the total length of the proposal can be up to 20 pages.

9. Question: Is the Past Performance Statements volume page-counted?

Answer: No.

10. Question: Are the Representations and Certifications page-counted?

Answer: No.

11. Question: Are resumes included in the page count limitation?

Answer: Yes

12. Question: What volume should the schedule of items be included? We assume this should include labor rates for personnel positions, equipment, and other rates anticipated to be used under this agreement. Are there any specific labor rates and/or equipment, other than those discussed in individual activities in Section B, that are required?

Answer: No pricing is required. Pricing will be requested on individual call orders.

13. Question: Sec�on K, Representa�ons, Cer�fica�ons, and Other Statements of Offerors or Respondents, Representa�ons and Cer�fica�ons requests that Offerors “fill in the check boxes for provisions 52.204-24, 52.204-29, 52.212-3 found in this solicita�on and include a copy with your offer.” The solicita�on does not include provision 52.204-29 which is listed below. Does USFS want the offeror to represent that a�er conduc�ng a reasonable inquiry that we do not propose to provide or use a FASCA covered ar�cle, product or service produced or provided by a source, if it is prohibited by an applicable FASCA order?

Answer: Yes

FEDERAL ACQUISITION SUPPLY CHAIN SECURITY ACT ORDERS—REPRESENTATION AND DISCLOSURES (DEC 2023)

(a) Definitions. As used in this provision, Covered article, FASCSA order, Intelligence community, National security system, Reasonable inquiry, Sensitive compartmented information, Sensitive compartmented information system, and Source have the meaning provided in the clause 52.204-30, Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act Orders—Prohibition.

https://www.acquisition.gov/far/52.204-30#FAR_52_204_30

(b) Prohibition. Contractors are prohibited from providing or using as part of the performance of the contract any covered article, or any products or services produced or provided by a source, if the prohibition is set out in an applicable Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act (FASCSA) order, as described in paragraph (b)(1) of FAR 52.204-30, Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act Orders—Prohibition.

(c) Procedures.

(1) The Offeror shall search for the phrase “FASCSA order” in the System for Award Management (SAM)( https://www.sam.gov) for any covered article, or any products or services produced or provided by a source, if there is an applicable FASCSA order described in paragraph (b)(1) of FAR 52.204-30, Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act Orders—Prohibition.

(2) The Offeror shall review the solicitation for any FASCSA orders that are not in SAM, but are effective and do apply to the solicitation and resultant contract (see FAR 4.2303(c)(2)).

(3) FASCSA orders issued after the date of solicitation do not apply unless added by an amendment to the solicitation.

(d) Representation. By submission of this offer, the offeror represents that it has conducted a reasonable inquiry, and that the offeror does not propose to provide or use in response to this solicitation any covered article, or any products or services produced or provided by a source, if the covered article or the source is prohibited by an applicable FASCSA order in effect on the date the solicitation was issued, except as waived by the solicitation, or as disclosed in paragraph (e).

(e) Disclosures. The purpose for this disclosure is so the Government may decide whether to issue a waiver. For any covered article, or any products or services produced or provided by a source, if the covered article or the source is subject to an applicable FASCSA order, and the Offeror is unable to represent compliance, then the Offeror shall provide the following information as part of the offer:

(1) Name of the product or service provided to the Government;

(2) Name of the covered article or source subject to a FASCSA order;

(3) If applicable, name of the vendor, including the Commercial and Government Entity code and unique entity identifier (if known), that supplied the covered article or the product or service to the Offeror;

(4) Brand;

(5) Model number (original equipment manufacturer number, manufacturer part number, or wholesaler number);

(6) Item description;

(7) Reason why the applicable covered article or the product or service is being provided or used;

(f) Executive agency review of disclosures. The contracting officer will review disclosures provided in paragraph (e) to determine if any waiver may be sought. A contracting officer may choose not to pursue a waiver for covered articles or sources otherwise subject to a FASCSA order and may instead make an award to an offeror that does not require a waiver.

(End of provision) https://www.sam.gov/ https://www.acquisition.gov/far/4.2303#FAR_4_2303

14. Question: AGAR 452.237-74 Key Personnel indicates that the following key personnel should be assigned to this contract 1. Overall Project Manager; 2. Qualified Operator; and 3.

Individual Sub-Managers. Does the government want to see resumes for each of these positions?

If so, are there specific qualifications that meet the requirements of each of these key personnel?

Answer: We do not need resumes for operators or submanagers listed in the AGAR clause below. Those will be assigned at the call order level.

15. Question: “Awardees under Activities II through VI will generally be allowed 5 working days to prepare and submit quotes. However, more or less time may be necessary based on the requirements. If an awardee is unable to perform a requirement, the awardee may submit “NO QUOTE” to the call order request.” An on-site response time of 2 to 8 hours is indicated for Activity I (Page 11). Please define “Response Time” and what constitutes a response for Activities II through VI in considerations of the language below regarding notification and response procedures.

Answer: A “response” is a submitted basic description of work and a cost estimate. Based on the scope and level of complexity the solicitation may include a longer response period. Please see the note ** below.

**Please note the qualifier regarding this time frame: “Awardees under Activities II through VI will generally be allowed 5 working days to prepare and submit quotes. However, more or less time may be necessary based on the requirements.”

16. Question: “Awardees under Activities II through VI will generally be allowed 5 working days to prepare and submit quotes. However, more or less time may be necessary based on the requirements. If an awardee is unable to perform a requirement, the awardee may submit “NO QUOTE” to the call order request.” Does the highlighted language above refer to Activities II through VII or is there a different response time requirement for Activity VII?

Answer: The same 5 working days as noted above, also please see note below.

17. Question: The Scope of Work for Activity VII says, among other things: “For ALL tasks performed under this activity, onsite personnel will maintain current 40-hour HAZMAT certification…”. Is the Government referring OSHA 40-hour HAZWOPR training with current refreshers?

Answer: Correct – the Government is referring to OSHA HAZWOPR training with up-to-date refreshers.

18. Question: Could the government please clarify whether the role of the “Individual Sub- Managers” listed under Key Personnel on page 47 of the RFP PDF is intended to be for contract management or technical oversight of specific subcontractors or varieties of subcontractors.

Answer: The Sub-Managers referenced in the documents refer to sub-contractors of the selected contractor.