QA_NEPA_Response_Complete_(1128).pdf

Questions and Answers R8 NEPA BPA

QUESTIONS ANSWER REFERENCE

Does the Presolicitation under solicitation number

1243ZP18R0010 contain requirements similar to a current contract?

No. This a new contract for R8. There are similar requirements within the agency.

To get 8a or Hubzone preference does the Prime need to be 8a or Hubzone, or can the Prime get preference by using either as a subcontractor?

If a large business, the prime can receive preference by using 8a and/or Hubzone subcontractors pre-solicitation notice

Would you be willing to add a comma after Hubzone and throw SDVOSB in there as well?

No market research does not support this change;

however it is our intention to award many BPAs pre-solicitation notice

Is this a new requirement for the government?

No agencies have solicit similar requirments. This is a new approach to soliciting these services for the region.

Can you provide further details regarding the set aside

% at this time?

The intention is to award as many small businesses opportunities as possible and still provide the best value to the government.

pg.1

Is there an opportunity to make it a total small business set-aside?

No because market research does not support that decision.

Clarify whether the government will be prioritizing those bids that address all line items over those that only address specific line items?

The government is seeking the best value for the government.

pg. 4 .2.1.

Is it possible to classify/add to set aside as Service

Disabled Veteran.

No market research does not support this change;

however it is our intention to award many BPAs pre-solicitation notice

Also can I request an abstract on the last blanket order that was issued prior to this solicitation?

No. There isn't one

Dated 11/28/2017

Regarding information on page 1 of the solicitation, would you please clarify the statement “If a vendor would only like to be considered for specific line items they must specify as such in their proposal.”

Specifically, what is meant by “specific line items”?

Section B list many service categories that vendors may propose rates. You are not required to propose rates on every service category to be considered pg.1

In order to submit a proposal response to the solicitation, is it necessary for a firm or team to demonstrate that they have all of the listed disciplines?

No. The government reserves the right to make partial awards to more than one vendor if deemed necessary. If a vendor would only like to be considered for specific line items they must specify as such in their technical proposal.

Pg.1

Section L 52.212-2 states that “at a minimum resumes are required for all twenty-four (24) key personnel…”.

Will the USFS consider proposals from specialized subcontractors for their NEPA area of specialty, or will it only consider proposals from firms that provide the full suite of NEPA services.

You should only be providing resumes for the job categories you are seeking consideration pg.1; pg. 47 52.212.I.

Under the scenario where specific line items refers to labor categories or the types of services to be provided, i.e. Cultural Resources Surveys and Studies, would the vendor only be required to address the Heritage

Resources Specialist Report (Task 10) process and requirements in addressing the Sample Task

(Attachment F) for developing the sample Call Order

Proposal? That is, would the vendor just be required to describe the work process, sub-tasks, etc. in performing the Heritage Resources task in support of the EA process, or would the vendor be required to address all tasks (Tasks 1 – 17) in the Sample Call Order for the sample proposal purposes?

The Sample Task order is just an example, a sample.

There is a scenario where my company (a small business) will prime, but we want to bring in a team member to support us who is a large corporation. In that scenario, what is the minimum percentage of the contract we as the small business will be required to complete in order for our team to be considered a small business team on this submittal? Is it 51%?

The prime contractor must provide 50% of all services per call order.

pg. 39 52.219-14

We will be submitting a bid for the Heritage or Cultural

Resource Specialist. Are we expected to wrap all the other disciplines referenced above into that billing rate?

Or can we submit a billing rate for the individual disciplines referenced above?

You may submit a billing rate for the individual discipline you wish to be considered for. It is not expected that you provide rates for service categories you are not seeking award.

pg. 6

We will be submitting a bid for the Archaeological

Technician category. Are we expected to wrap all the other disciplines referenced above into that billing rate?

Or can we submit a billing rate for the individual disciplines referenced above?

You may submit a billing rate for the individual discipline you wish to be considered for. It is not expected that you provide rates for service categories you are not seeking award.

pg.6

In order to provide Heritage or Cultural Resource

Specialists for projects there needs to be a minimum level of tribal engagement. Who would be performing the Tribal Engagement?

Tribal engagement / consultation is an inherently governmental function. This is a government to government relationship that cannot be delegated to a contractor.

pg. 16

One page 17, it states “All work will be performed under the direction of a land surveyor licensed in the state the work is to be performed”. Is it expected that a licensed land surveyor for each State be currently employed or contracted, or is it permissible to obtain those services as needed. This question also applies to other State required certification describe on page 22.

The work in question must be performed under the direction and supervision of a land surveyor licensed in the state the work is to be performed. The licensed land surveyor can be currently employed, contracted, or sub-constracted by the lead vendor, but must be on site to direct and supervise the work and document the resulting data and reports.

pg.17 & 22

Would we be responsible for Curation services? If so, where would we wrap those costs into?

Specialty services will be addressed by call order.

Vendors will have the opportunity to price services and supplies pertaining to specific call orders with each order.

pg.28

Can we submit previous PPQ’s on this proposal? A couple of the projects we are going to include have

PPQ’s already completed by our clients.

Yes pg.49

Page 48 “Specialized Team Experience” states we are to

“Provide up to five (5) years of comparable relative projects”- should we interpret this to mean the projects must have been completed in the last 5 years, or that the firm has 5 years of experience working on these projects?

firm has 5 years of experience working on these projects pg.48

What type of task order are anticipated for award under this BPA (FFP, T&M, etc)? And will each task order be competitively competed or will some task orders be sole sourced?

Firm Fixed Prime task orders are expected after award however the Call Order Contracting Officer will decide the proper contracting vehicle for the call order. Sole sourcing is permitted if justified.

pg.6

Can we add labor classifications to the labor list if a position is not identified?

Yes you may add this items seperately as Open

Market Items. These should be listed seperately from

Bid Price Schedule pg.6 .2.5.

Also, could you please clarify on page 48 “Specialized

Team Experience” would you prefer to see projects where 60% of the proposed team worked on the project, or where 60% of the project was completed by members of the team?

60% of the project was completed by actual team members and the team prepared the actual

Environmental Assessment or Environmental Impact

Statement.

pg.48

Should the response be structured so each zone has a relevant set of projects and personnel, or is it more appropriate to simply provide one set?

Provide one set pg.48

Do to the Holidays and amount of work required to develop a proposal response, would you consider a one week extension to the current due date?

The due for quotes is being extended December 18th, 2017 2:00 PM/ET

pg. 1 & 51

1. Page 1 of the solicitation states “Quotes must be presented in two parts: (1) a written pricing proposal

(see Section B: Schedule of Items) and (2) a written technical proposal. Written technical proposals shall address, at a minimum: (1) Past Performance

(Completion of Attachment D); (2) Experience (3)

Subcontracting Plan (if applicable).” However, the document does not include an Attachment D, is this actually referring to Attachment E?

Attachment E is correct pg.3

For the past performance section (III), we are required to submit a one page introduction and the two page project descriptions that were developed for section II.

Should our one-page introduction also include block 1-4 information on page one of the past performance questionnaire? We understand that we have to fill in this information in blocks 1-4 along with the other two pages of the questionnaire and send to our client contacts for completion/submittal directly back to you, but just want to confirm if blocks 1-4 information also needs to be submitted in our response via the one page introduction?

The vendor has the choice to include information requested in block 1-4 either in the one-page introduction, or in the past performance submission.

pg.49

Section 52.21.-2 II. states under Specialized Team

Experience, “At least one of the projects needs to be either an Environmental Assessment or Environmental

Impact Statement that was prepared for a federal land management agency…” Our firm has not completed

Environmental Assessments or Environmental Impact

Statements. Does this disqualify us from bidding on specific line items (i.e. Cultural Resource Surveys and

Studies, Archaeological Resource Protection Act

Damage Assessments, Historic Structure Assessments, and Geographic Information System Spatial Analysis

The vendor does qualify for bidding if the studies, inventories, data acquisition or reports, etc. were used to support the development of an environmental impact statement or environmental assessment.

pg.48

The Sample Task in Attachment F appears to be copied directly from the Intermountain Region’s 2015 NEPA

RFQ. Developing a call order proposal will involve costs for traveling to meetings in Idaho, inventorying archaeological resources on 5,000 acres in Idaho, providing technical expertise for analyzing species of the Intermountain Region, and adhering to Region 4’s standards for Project File Management, among other problematic issues. Will the Forest Service please re-issue a substantively different Sample Task with issues, scope, and resources specific to the Southern Region?

The Sample Task order is just an example, a sample.

All work will be performed in the area of consideration as outlined in Section C, 2. Location and

Description of this BPA, that is the Southern Region of the United States Forest Serviceand adhere to the

Southern Region's protocols. No work, meetings or other activities associated with this BPA will take place outside of the Southern Region.

pg. 49; section IV. Is removed

Item 2.3, list of items, requests rates. Each labor category begins with “0001” which we assume refers to year 1. Are the requested rates only for the base year, or should the proposer include rates for the option years?

There are no option years included in the base agreement. The period of performance is the full ordering period.

pg. 5

Would you confirm that a SF-1449 does not need to be completed by the proposer?

No you do not need to complete SF-1449 pg.50

The RFQ states, “The government reserves the right to make partial awards to more than one vendor if deemed necessary. If a vendor would only like to be considered for specific line items they must specify as such in their technical proposal.” Can a vendor propose on a subset of the 24 Key Personnel positions or are all

24 Key Personnel positions mandatory?

you do not have to propose on all 24 Key Personnel positions.

pg.1

The RFQ includes three different lists of personnel and related requirements/responsibilities (see Section 2.3, Sections 5.2 through 5.24, and Section 7). Some, such as 5.21 (Travel Management), and 5.22 (Climate

Change) have no immediately apparent equivalent in the other lists. Should we include resumes for travel management and climate change specialists, or should these responsibilities be folded into other labor categories?

Can the Forest Service please clarify what is meant in

Section M 1.1 by the evaluation factor which begins, “Has sufficient experience with trails”?

Can the Forest Service please explain the difference between the ID Team/Manager and the NEPA/Forest

Planning Specialist roles? The RFQ does not describe the role and responsibilities of the latter.

If they have staff with meteorology or climatology expertise, then please include. Otherwise, show climate change competencies as they relate to the other labor categories.

This is an administrative error and will be removed.

Generally speaking, in terms of responsibility and authority, any ID Team Member reports to the IDT

Manager or Leader. The IDT Manager or Leader then reports to the NEPA/Forest Planning Specialist. Also, the ID Team Members and the IDT Manager or Leader focus on tactical work associated with the project, where the NEPA/Forest Planning Specialist focuses on strategic program management assocaited with the project.

pg.6

pg. 52

Page 38 states that the RFQ will be a total small business set-aside. Is this an error?

Past Performance Questionnaire: The first section states that the questionnaire should be sent to

Christopher Ford directly, but the footer on Page 1 says that the offeror should submit the questionnaire with their proposal. Can you clarify whether the questionnaire is to be included in our proposal or sent by the client directly to Christopher Ford?

I am a vendor that would like to be considered for a specific line item, the writer/editor position. Given that, do I still need to have two other writers as described in

52.212-2 Evaluation - Commercial Items section?

In cases of preparing Forest Service NEPA documents for third-party applicants, can the past performance questionnaire be filled out by the Forest Service (who is directing our work and who will publish the NEPA document we are preparing)?

The requirement for Geologist includes certification in the state of Idaho. Is this an error? If so, what state(s) are required and does our geologist need to be currently certified in more than one state in the

Southern Region?

Do the completed Past Performance Questionnaires count against the 11-page limit for our response to “III.

Past Performance”?

This is an administrative error and will be removed.

This is a partial small business set-aside.

The questionnaires should be included with your technical proposals

No, a vendor may bid as an individual for any line item in the BPA.

No, past performance should be documented by the vendor, but should reference the nature of the NEPA project and document that was prepared (i.e.third-party or USFS initiated).

This is a typographical error. The professional geologist much be licensed and credentialed in the state they are working in.

No pg.38 pg.3 pg.21 pg.47

Also, do I need to complete a sample project if I am submitting a bid for the writer/editor position? If so, what aspects would pertain to me?

I understand that the quote must be presented in two parts: the pricing proposal and the technical proposal, and they are due on December 11th. What I am unsure of is if my email to you should also include the administrative information form on pg. 2, section L on

pg. 46, section 2.4 on pg. 6, and section M.1.2.4. the socio economic classification.

Also, it states that Attachment D should be part of the technical proposal, but I don't know what form that is.

The list of attachments on pg. 45 does not include an attachment D. Where do I find it?

Should the following requested information on page 47 be included in the resume or on another page?

Name of Proposed Person

Labor Category proposed person will fill

Education

Relevant Experience/Qualifications: Each resume shall set forth and provide the proposed person’s relevant experience.

Relevant licenses, awards, publications

A sample of the vendor's work should be included which provides an example of the vendor writing and editing work.

Yes all of the information you listed should be part of your technical proposal

Disregard the requirement to complete Attachment

D.

Should be included on the resume pg.48 pg.2 pg.47

Section L 52.212-2 states that “at a minimum resumes are required for all twenty-four (24) key personnel…”.

Will the USFS consider proposals from specialized subcontractors for their NEPA area of specialty, or will it only consider proposals from firms that provide the full suite of NEPA services.

If a vendor is only responding for specific line items, how should they approach completing Attachment F –

Sample Task? May they just respond with how their particular NEPA area of specialty contributes to the tasks?

Are the minimum page numbers not applicable if the vendor is only responding for specific line items?

Are five (5) Past Performance questionnaires required for vendors only responding for specific line items?

If the vendor is only responding to a specific line item, such as 0001R – Heritage or Cultural Resource

Specialist, do they need to still provide a project example of either an Environmental Assessment or

Environmental Impact Statement as indicated in Section

L 52.212-2, II Specialized Team Experience?

Yes, the USFS will consider proposals, an encourages proposals from specialized vendors and sub-contractors who offer specialised expertise for individual scopes of work and that do not offer the full suite of NEPA services.

You do not need to include any response to

Attachment F. The sample task order is simply there for reference.

Yes

Yes

The vendor does qualify for bidding if the studies, inventories, data acquisition or reports, etc. were used to support the development of an environmental impact statement or environmental assessment.

pg.1 pg.1 pg.48

Will you consider changing the bid packages from

Regional Units or Zones to individual National Forests so bidders can bid on packages of Forests where they are qualified? We work in Ga, Al, SC and Fl but your zone for Ga is lumped with states where we have no experience like WV and Va. Why not let us bid on neighboring Forests where we are qualified?

How will this BPA effect individual National Forest IDIQs in effect now?

Will individual National Forests still use IDIQs or will this

BPA replace them?

Under Tab 2 Specialized Team Experience Maximum page count is 15 pages. Please confirm if this total is single sided or double sided for this section.

Tab 3. Past Performance states maximum page count—11 pages. Please confirm if this total is single sided or double sided for this section.

Vendors are encouraged to bid on zones where they have experience on one or more National Forests.

Individual task orders provided by National Forests will determine whether the vendor's skills and expertise are appropriate for their unit and the tasks to be performed.

These are two completely different instruments.

While the individual IDIQs are in place they should be given priority usage.

These are two completely different instruments.

While the individual IDIQs are in place they should be given priority usage. Presently we are not planning to replace the existing IDIQs.

All submission page length is considered Single Sided.

Printing on one side of the page counts as a single page in terms of the page limit. Printing on both sides of the page is considered two pages in terms of the page limit.

All submission page length is considered Single Sided.

Printing on one side of the page counts as a single page in terms of the page limit. Printing on both sides of the page is considered two pages in terms of the page limit.

pg. 6

Section L.

Section L.

Please confirm that the projects presented in

Specialized Experience section should be the same presented in for Past performance section, or if different projects can be presented in these sections.

Different projects may be submitted, but are not required.

pg.48

The additional information is not included in the stated page limits.

No time restrictions are provided, but vendors are encouraged to submit their most recent experiences.

Other experiences where the work may be more detailed or complicated should also be considered for inclusion.

The sample project is only for reference. There is no required action pertaining to the Sample Task Order.

All submission page length is considered Single Sided.

Printing on one side of the page counts as a single page in terms of the page limit. Printing on both sides of the page is considered two pages in terms of the page limit.

The Past Performance section also requires a lot of additional information regarding all our contracts over the past 5 years. Please confirm that these descriptions are not included in the 11-page limit for the Past

Performance Section, as the five 2-page project descriptions and 1-page introduction would result in 11 pages.

Solicitation mentions PPQs must be completed, but does not specify where those PPQs should be included, if previous PPQs can be used, or time restrictions in which the projects were completed (e.g., in the past 10 or 5 years).

Under tab 4 Sample project. This cost estimate is part of the Technical Volume; however, page 50 under

Submission Requirements states: Price shall not be included in the technical proposal and shall be a separate document. As these are contradictory, please confirm where the cost estimate for the Sample Project should be incorporated.

Under Tab 5. Knowledge Of Geographic Area.

Maximum page count—2 pages. Please confirm if this total is single sided or double sided for this section.

52.212-2 Evaluation - Commercial Items (pages 48 – 50 of 53): Please clarify if the page counts for Specialized

Team Experience, Past Performance, and Knowledge of

Geographic Area are single sided or double sided.

All submission page length is considered Single Sided.

Printing on one side of the page counts as a single page in terms of the page limit. Printing on both sides of the page is considered two pages in terms of the page limit.

pg.48

52.212-2 Evaluation - Commercial Items (page 49 of

53): Please confirm that completed Past Performance

Questionnaires (PPQ) are to be returned directly to

USFS by reviewers. PPQs are not included as part of the proposal package and the two (2) pages for (5) projects referenced under Past Performance are additional write-ups to the PPQs and two (2) page narratives provided in the Specialized Team Experience section.

PPQs shall be submitted with the quoter's technical proposal. Please do not have reviewers submit PPQs directly to USFS CO

pg. 49 pg.4

It can be placed in either the price proposal or the technical proposal

These fixed rates shall include all overhead and G&A.

Specific pricing for costs specific to a particular call order shall be requested by order. No your rate should not include specialty equipment.

Under price volume Tab 1. Administrative Information.

Please confirm where this information needs to be placed in proposal?

Section B - Schedule of Items (page 4 of 53): It is understood that the fixed rates provided shall apply for the duration of the agreement. Will there be COLA, though? Does a fully loaded rate include equipment, e.g., if a mussel survey is needed, does fully loaded labor rate include vehicles, boats, GPS unit, etc.?

Page 51 – Please confirm submission of two PDF files

(technical and price proposals) emailed to Christopher

Ford is acceptable. If hard copies are required, how many originals and copies of each volume should be submitted and to whose attention at what address?

Yes please email the two PDFs to Christopher Ford cjford@fs.fed.us. Hard copies of your proposal shall not be submitted.

Pg.51

Attachment F – Sample Task, Task 10 (pages 8 and 11 of

16): It states in the Vegetation/Silviculture section, “The government will provide all of the stand data necessary to complete this report. Site visits may be required to review the data but no new stand data or surveys will be required for this project.” No similar statement occurs under the Biological Resources section. Please confirm that the government will also provide all biological survey data to support the proposed action.

This is a sample task order only. Actual task orders will vary from what is provided in this sample. Actual task orders in the Southern Region will more often adhere to the statements of work described in the

BPA. The USFS may provide stand and survey data for some task orders, but more often the vendor will requested to acquire the raw data.

Attachment F.

Attachment F – Sample Task, Task 12 (pages 13 of 16):

The task indicates the GPO will print the EA, and then goes on to state that Contractor is responsible for producing up to 25 hardcopies for the mailing list, 15

CDs, and 10 additional hardcopies. Please clarify if the contractor should produce up to 35 hard copies and be responsible for mailing the EA to interested parties.

This is only a sample task order. Actual task orders will vary by National Forest and may or may not include duplication, printing or mailing requirements.

Attachment F.

Assuming email submission (thus nulling RFP requests for double sided sections), is the page limit for Section I.

Key Personnel/Professional Qualifications 36 pages or

72 pages (and are the resumes 1 or 2 pages?); is the page limit for Section IV. Sample Project 13 pages or 26 pages? Please confirm the other sections’ page counts are as follows: Section II is 15 pages; Section III is 11 pages; and Section V is 2 pages.

All submission page length is considered Single Sided.

Printing on one side of the page counts as a single page in terms of the page limit. Printing on both sides of the page is considered two pages in terms of the page limit.

Page 19-20 – Please provide the minimum education, degree, and experience requirements for the GS Levels

07, 11, and 12.

Education, degree and experience requirements for all professional positions are established by the Office of Personnel Management and can be found searching for the specific position and grade level at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/

Pg.19

Page 49 – Can CPARS be provided in lieu of Past

Performance Questionnaires?

Yes pg.53

Section M – Is there a page limit for the Subcontracting

Plan?

No

Section M – Please clarify; if the prime is a large business, please confirm that the subcontracting plan must include a minimum of 21% of the contract value to small businesses, as apportioned in the USDA Final

FY2017 Goals table among the different small business types.

It is not required that your subcontracting plan include a minimum of 21% of the contract value be allocated to small businesses; however it is encouraged. The subcontracting plan is evaluated as a pass/fail if provided.

pg.53

Section F and Page 21 – Please clarify if our geologist resume needs to be a professional geologist in Idaho?

This is a typographical error. The professional geologist much be licensed and credentialed in the state they are working in.

pg. 21

Attachment F Sample Task – the sample project is located in Idaho; however, the RFQ does not include that region. Is experience in Idaho needed for the sample project

The Sample Task order is just an example, a sample.

All work will be performed in the area of consideration as outlined in Section C, 2. Location and

Description of this BPA, that is the Southern Region of the United States Forest Serviceand adhere to the

Southern Region's protocols. No work, meetings or other activities associated with this BPA will take place outside of the Southern Region.

pg. 49, remove section IV.

Page 2 – Is the Administrative Information form to be submitted; if so, in what volume/section?

The administrative information shall be included in the pricing proposal.

pg. 2

Section M – Please clarify how the Sample Project is evaluated and scored in relationship to the sections listed in Section M.

The sample project is only for reference. There is no required action pertaining to the Sample Task Order.

pg. 49, remove section IV.

How important is the HUBZone preference? How will it be included in the scoring criteria?

This is not a HUBZone set-aside. There is a preference for award to HUBZones and 8a small businesses based off of market research and agency socio-economic goals.

pre-solicitation notice

How many projects do you anticipating releasing per year?

The Forest Service does not offer this BPA for bid with an expected number of projects to be offered. It has limited the contracts up to $10 million over a five year period.

pre-solicitation notice

We have previous similar reference questionnaires filled out by Forest Service project leads. In order not to bother people again, is it permissible to use those questionnaires?

Vendors may use documentation used to bid on past contracts, but must ensure that those documents adhere specifically to this specific solicitation.

Submissions that do not meet the requirements outlined in this solicitation will be removed from consideration.

May we use a project experience table to be included in an addendum?

Yes Section L.

On page 10 , 5.3 B under what is the procedure or level of effort expected in validating best available science?

Document summarizing the science (i.e., synthesis of peer reviewed literature with citations) supporting the data collection as accurate, relevant, and reliable for answering question that the data is collected to answer.

pg. 10

Would any of the positions for job descriptions expected to be stationed locally? If so, where?

No positions are required to be stationed locally for any task order associated with this solititation.

Does the USFS have an estimate what proportion of the contract would be Plan Revision, versus Project-level, versus Plan Amendment, etc.?

No. No such estimates were developed for this solicitation. The USFS can expect its program of work to shift over the life of this solicitation.

Will local firms (prime) have selection preference? No

First, are you looking for a one company that can do all the service categories and subject areas within one firm, or will you allow subcontractor/partnered teams?

We will permit subcontractor and partnered teams.

The RFP states that physical packages are due at 2:00 pm but that e-mailed packages are acceptable. Does the government have a preference?

We will not accept hard copies packages. All proposals shall be submitted electronically through email.

pg. 50

In Section L, first and second page, the RFP includes an

Addendum to FAR Clause 52.212-1. Is this required in the submittal if the proposer has completed representation and certifications on SAM (note: it is not listed later in this section under Qualification

Submission Requirements”)

No you do not need to complete Representation and certifications as long as your SAM profile is up to date.

Section L.

Second, we are a firm that has many of the qualification/specialty areas but we also have sub-contractors with whom we regularly work for certain specialties. For our proposal, do you need (a) details on a complete team of specialists covering all subject areas listed in the solicitation or (b) details on how subcontractors/additional specialties would be pulled in under our company, should we be selected, to meet individual project needs?

We only need to know about your team of specialist and/or subcontractors pertaining to the service categories you are seeking consideration.

Given the holiday schedules would like to request an extension of the due date to January 5, 2018.

The due for quotes is being extended December 18th, 2017 2:00 PM/ET pg.1 & 51

91 Correction to Geologist service category description.

Geologist: The term Geologist refers to individuals who are registered as a Registered Professional

Geologist (RPG or PG). Individuals conducting

Groundwater resource evaluations, studies or monitoring may also require specific state Geology specialty certification as a Hydrogeologist. A RPG or

PG certification may be required of individuals conducting geologic work that involves characterizing geologic materials (soil and rock) and processes

(geomorphology) for geologic hazard evaluations, and other purposes where human health and safety, structures, and/or resources many be at risk. A

Geologist must have at least five (5) years of demonstrated experience.

“Professional geologist” is a person who is a graduate of an institution of higher education which is accredited by a regional or national accrediting agency, with a minimum of thirty semester (forty-five quarter) hours of undergraduate or graduate work in a field of geology and whose post baccalaureate training has been in the field of geology with a specific record of an additional five years of geological experience to include no more than two years of graduate work.

pg. 21

Under the GSA schedule there are specific labor classifications and rates by year which do not match the labor classifications of the RFP. Does USFS want rates developed for the RFP classifications identified and a rate schedule for each of the 5 years? Or is USFS looking for a single rate schedule for the base year with proposed escalation?

It is not the intention of this solicitation to award against a GSA schedule. The solicitation was purposely solicited on Federal Business Opportunities because many of the positions are not prepriced on existing

GSA schedules.

The RFP indicates its Firm Fixed Price in one place however elsewhere it states to provide the labor rates for invoice purposes. Can you confirm that if the work is priced FFP it would be invoiced at a percent complete vs priced T&M and invoiced at contract labor rates plus materials (expenses and travel).

The method and frequency of payments shall be determined by call order. The intended usage of the

BPAs is to result in FFP call orders however other contract types may be permited with proper justification by the call order CO.

Does USFS want rates developed for the RFP classifications identified and a rate schedule for each of the 5 years? Or is USFS looking for a single rate schedule for the base year with proposed escalation?

NO. A proper response to Section B shal be fully burden rates considerate of risk for the entire ordering period of 5 years. These are ceiling rates included in the master BPA. The awardee may always lower their rates during the tenure of the agreement but my never exceed the hourly rate. The service category rate shall not include cost such as mobilization, specialty equipment, or other costs that would pertain to a specific call order.

Pg.4 2.1. ; pg. 6