Atch 5 - Fipronil SOW.pdf

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

PRAIRIE DOG COLONY FIPRONIL TREATMENTS

WALL RANGER DISTRICT

WALL, SOUTH DAKOTA

Table of Contents

C.1 Introduction and Background C.2 Scope of Work C.3 Definitions C.4 Government Furnished Property/Services/Materials/Items C.5 Contractor Obligations/Requirements C.6 Results/Specific Tasks C.7 Performance Requirements C.8 Payment

PWS – Prairie Dog Fipronil Treatments

Nebraska National Forest, Wall Ranger District 2

C.1 Introduction and Background

C.1.1 The contractor shall apply Kaput Flea Control Bait With Fipronil to active burrows in designated prairie dog colonies on the Buffalo Gap National Grassland and Badlands National Park for sylvatic plague abatement. For each fiscal year, baiting can start when conditions allow and in coordination with the COR, but all designated colonies must be completed by 30 September of the same fiscal year.

C.1.2 Sylvatic plague was discovered on the Wall Ranger District in May 2008. Since that time, extensive DeltaDust insecticide treatments have been used to successfully protect habitat for the endangered black-footed ferret, but after long term exposure to deltamethrin from dusting treatments over several consecutive years, flea populations develop some level of resistance to DeltaDust. Although treating prairie dog colonies with DeltaDust is still an effective way to control flea populations at this time, alternative tools are needed to address the issue of resistance to certain chemicals after longer term exposure. In 2018 a new chemical was labeled for use (Flea Control Bait with Fipronil) which appears to be just as effective at controlling flea populations as DeltaDust prior to resistance developing from long term exposure. All of the fipronil treatments which have occurred on the Buffalo Gap National Grassland through 2019 have been for experimental purposes.

C.2 Scope of Work

C.2.1 The contractor shall bait all active burrows in designated prairie dog colonies. Designation of colonies and subsequent acres to be treated will vary on a yearly basis depending on funding and plague movement in the area. A minimum of 400 acres will be designated in 2020 but could be adjusted as high as 20,000 acres depending on funding. Subsequent years could be as high as 20,000 acres or as low as zero. Most, if not all work will be conducted on the Wall Ranger District and select colonies in Badlands National Park (Exhibit 1).

C.2.2 The Contractor shall be licensed, registered and certified by the State of South Dakota, to provide pest control services in all the categories specified in this contract. All Contractor employees who apply pesticides in any form shall be certified by the South Dakota Department of Agriculture in the appropriate category of service (Category G and 9).

C.2.3 Kaput Flea Control Bait with Fipronil is applied near the entrance of an active burrow via bait spoons, measuring cups or other suitable implements to measure and distribute bait.

C.2.4 Application rate is ½ cup of Kaput Flea Control Bait with Fipronil per active burrow. All baiting equipment will be calibrated prior to bait application.

C.2.5 All active burrows are baited that are at least 2.75 inches in diameter and deep enough that the end is not visible.

C.2.6 Crews treating prairie dog colonies with grain bait generally consist of a flagger and 2 or more baiters. The flagger is responsible for setting the lane-width based on the number of baiters

– generally one baiter on an ATV covers a width of 15 feet. The flagger lays-out the pin flags

Nebraska National Forest, Wall Ranger District 3 from one side of the colony to the other, alternating colors for each lane (i.e., one row will consist of pink flags and then the next one orange flags and so forth).

C.2.7 Baiters will mount a “clicker” (counter) to their ATV and keep track of each burrow treated. At the end of the work day the baiters will fill-out the data sheet with the total number of burrows they baited.

C.2.8 At the end of the work day the total area treated with grain bait will be GPS’d and acres determined; GPS data will be saved on the device for download at the FS Office.

C.2.9 Data sheets will be filled-out daily to include acreage treated and total burrows baited per individual (Exhibit 2). These will be turned-in to the FS when verifying acres treated with fipronil grain bait through GPS/GIS data and submitting invoice.

C.2.10 Contractor will cease fipronil treatment during significant rain events. Water runoff contaminated by the fipronil bait is toxic to aquatic invertebrates, and the moisture will also reduce the efficacy of the treated bait. If the ground is muddy or wet and travel to and from the site will cause severe rutting, the contractor must wait for it to dry-out before returning to the site to continue treatments.

C.2.11 The contractor and their crew are allowed to drive off-road in order to conduct activities associated with the contract. Some of these activities would include gaining access to a prairie dog colony, conducting fipronil baiting activities on and adjacent to a colony, and the monitoring and evaluation of work conducted. Motorized travel should be restricted to existing roads and trails whenever possible.

C.3 Definitions.

C.3.1. Acceptable Quality Level. The allowable leeway or variance from a standard before the government will reject the specific service. An AQL does not say that the contractor may knowingly offer defective service. It implies that the government recognizes that defective performance sometimes happens unintentionally. As long as the percent of defective performance does not exceed the AQL, the service will not be rejected by the government. The contractor, however, must re-perform the defective service when possible.

C.3.2. Quality Assurance. Those actions taken by the government to check goods or services to determine that they meet the requirements of the SOW.

C.3.3. Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan. An organized written document used for quality assurance surveillance. The document contains information about how the government will assess performance, checklists, and may contain decision tables.

C.3.4. Quality Control. Those actions taken by a contractor to control the production of goods or services so that they will meet the requirements of the SOW.

Nebraska National Forest, Wall Ranger District 4

C.3.5. Random Sampling. A method of looking at a few individual items in a lot to determine the quality of that lot against a standard.

C.3.6. (Acceptable) Service. A job performed to the standard and within the acceptable quality level. The contractor must do the specific job, and meet the standard, and meet the acceptable quality level before one can say that performance has been acceptable and that he/she should be paid.

C.3.7. Standard. An acknowledged measure of comparison.

C.4 Government Furnished Property/Services/Materials/Items

C.4.1 Items/Property

C.4.1.1 Kaput Flea Control Bait With Fipronil

C.4.1.2 Clickers

C.4.1.3 Data Sheets

C.4.1.4 GPS Unit

C.4.2 Services

C.4.2.1 FS will provide one day of training on fipronil treatment operations if requested.

C.4.2.2 FS will provide training on operation of GPS if requested.

C.4.2.3 Ensure contractor has government items/property on first day of grain bait treatment.

C.4.2.4 FS will provide maps of each prairie dog colony to be treated.

C.5 Contractor Requirements

C.5.1 Bait all active burrows in designated colonies in safe and timely manner.

C.5.1.1 For each fiscal year, fipronil grain baiting must be completed by 30 September for all designated colonies.

C.5.1.2 Provide FS Rep with copies of Pesticide Licenses for each individual that applies Kaput Flea Control Bait With Fipronil.

C.5.1.3 Maintain daily records (data sheets provided) and turn-in to FS Rep when submitting invoice.

Nebraska National Forest, Wall Ranger District 5

C.5.1.4 Maintain GPS data and coordinate with FS Rep for download of data and deletion of files.

C.5.1.5 Maintain gov’t furnished equipment and perform minor repairs as needed. At completion of project turn-in equipment to FS Rep in working condition.

C.5.1.6 Coordinate with FS Rep for major repairs on equipment, bait resupply and any other issues.

C.5.1.7 Coordinate with FS Rep on work schedule.

C.5.1.8 Provide pin flags for flagging. Ensure all flags are picked-up after treating a colony.

C.5.1.9 Dispose of empty chemical containers as is allowed by product label (Exhibits 3 and 4).

C.5.1.10 Develop Quality Control Plan - A quality control plan is a plan developed by the contractor for its internal use to ensure that it performs and delivers high-quality service. The QCP will be incorporated into the resultant contract.

C.5.1.11 Ensure individuals that are actively engaged in baiting have required Personal Protective Equipment for Kaput Flea Control Bait With Fipronil application according to label standards (Exhibits 3 and 4).

C.6 Required Results/Specific Tasks Requirements

C.6.1 The contractor shall bait all active burrows in designated prairie dog colonies. Detailed maps of each colony will be provided by FS Rep. Estimated acres for each colony are based on the most recent prairie dog inventory GPS data. Prairie dog colonies can expand and contract on a yearly basis, thus it is likely that the actual acreage covered will vary from that data.

C.6.2 It is important that the contractor bait every active burrow in the colony. The colony is usually easily identified on the ground but may be confusing on the edges where burrows become less dense and vegetation taller. The contractor shall bait all active burrows towards the edge of the colony until burrow density is less than 2 per acre.

C.6.3 When GPSing the treated areas, the contractor shall follow the outer boundary of baited burrows to determine acres treated for the day. Upon completion of a colony, the acres treated per day will be compiled for a total acreage for the colony. Payment will be based-on the contractor’s GPS acres treated with fipronil grain bait.

C.7 Performance Requirements

C.7.1 The contractor is expected to ensure performance to standard through the Contractor’s Quality Control Plan.

C.7.2 Standard Performance

Nebraska National Forest, Wall Ranger District 6

C.7.2.1 Application rate: the contractor shall apply ½ cup of Kaput Flea Control Bait With Fipronil per active burrow.

C.7.2.2 Burrow fipronil grain bait treatment: although the goal is to bait 100% of all active burrows the standard is 95% per lane through the majority of the prairie dog colony and 90% on the edges where the predominant vegetative group is 18 inches or taller. The lower standard is allowed in these areas because of the difficulty in locating sparse burrows in tall, dense vegetation.

C.7.2.3 Completion date: all designated colonies 100% baited no later than 30 September.

C.7.2.4 Daily data sheets: 100% of all entries correctly filled-out.

C.7.3 Acceptable Quality Level (AQL)

C.7.3.1 Application rate: no deviation, must apply ½ cup of Kaput Flea Control Bait With Fipronil per active burrow. Anything other than ½ cup may result in a price reduction.

C.7.3.2 Burrow fipronil grain bait treatment: no deviation, less than 95% (main part of colony) or 90% (on the edge where vegetation is >18 inches) per lane may result in a price reduction.

C.7.3.3 Completion date: Payment will be made as colonies are completed. If the final colony is not completed by 30 September, then the contractor may incur a price reduction or no payment for that particular colony.

C.7.3.4 Daily data sheets: Daily sheets will be filled-out correctly prior to payment.

C.7.4. Assessment Methods

C.7.4.1 Application rate: The COR/Inspector will randomly select individuals and use a measuring cup to determine how much fipronil grain bait they are applying per burrow.

C.7.4.2 Burrow fipronil grain bait treatment: The COR/Inspector will randomly select a location in each lane that has been baited and start counting active burrows up to 100.

C.7.4.3 Daily data sheets: The COR/Inspector will analyze the daily data sheets for completion.

C.7.5 Deductions

C.7.5.1 Application rate: Three verbal warnings will be given for not meeting the ½ cup requirement per prairie dog colony. If there are 4 or more incidents of not meeting the standard then a 1 dollar per acre deduction per incident will be assessed upon final payment for that particular prairie dog colony. For example, the contractor bids the job at $12.00 per acre and if there are three verbal warnings and a fourth check shows that an individual is not applying ½ cup of fipronil grain bait and the entire colony is 500 acres then at completion the contractor will be

Nebraska National Forest, Wall Ranger District 7 paid $11.00 per acre ($6,000 vs. $5,500) for a $500 dollar deduction. If there were two incidents above the three warnings then that would be a $1,000 dollar deduction and so forth.

C.7.5.2 Burrow fipronil grain bait treatment: Anything less than 95% (main) / 90% (edge) and the contractor will have the opportunity to re-do that particular lane or upon completion of the colony the average percent baited will be used for payment. For example, on a 500-acre colony bid at $12.00 per acre if the contractor meets the AQL of greater than 95% of the burrows baited then they will be paid 100% for the acres treated ($6,000). In the same example, if there were one or more lanes where less than 95% of the burrows are baited and the contractor chooses not to re-do them, leaving the final average at 93% covered then the contractor will be paid $5,580 (0.93 x $6,000).

C.7.5.3 Completion date: If the contractor does not finish baiting all designated colonies by 30 September for that fiscal year, then the contractor will be given the opportunity to complete the left-over acres at a $0.25 dollar/acre reduction per day until complete. For example, the contractor is on the last colony, which is 500 acres in size and bid at $12.00 per acre. They complete 200 acres by 30 September but still have 300 acres to go. It takes them 8 days (- $2.00/acre) beyond 30 September to finish baiting. Thus the contractor gets paid $10.00/acre for all 500 acres; a $1000 decrease in what would have been the payment had they completed all colonies by the deadline.

If the contractor is not able to complete the fipronil grain baiting by 30 September because of delays caused by weather (i.e., rain and wet ground conditions) then the contractor will work with the CO/COR on a new completion date with no reduction in pay.

C.7.5.4 Daily data sheets: Upon completion of fipronil grain bait treatment on a colony the contractor will submit the daily sheets as part of the payment process. Any sheets not filled-out correctly will be given back to the contractor to correct. Once all sheets are 100% correct then the contractor will be paid for that particular colony.

C.8 Payment

C.8.1 Payment will be made upon completion of each prairie dog colony or a combination of colonies and meeting or exceeding the AQL. Upon acceptance, the Government will pay the per-acre rate for the amount of acres treated according to the sum of the daily GPS acres treated.

Payment will be determined on the service less any deductions for any nonconforming or unacceptable performance.

C.2 Scope of Work