C05-1. J37_Q&A_127EAS26R0003, v4, 20260727.pdf

Forest Service - Industry Q&A Regional Vault & Septic Pumping Services IDIQ – 127EAS26R0003

Amendment 1

Last Updated: 07/27/2026

The U.S. Forest Service issued the official solicitation 127EAS26R0003 – Regional Vault & Septic Pumping Services (Multiple Award IDIQ) on July 13, 2026.

This Q&A document is Revision 4, updated July 27, 2026. It incorporates all questions and Government responses received since the Q&A set posted to SAM.gov on July 21, 2026.

This Q&A does not amend or revise Solicitation 127EAS26R0003. It provides clarifications only; all existing solicitation terms, attachments, and Amendment 0001 remain unchanged.

All responses in this Q&A are official clarifications of the solicitation terms, Performance Work Statement (Attachment J2), Schedule of Items (Attachment J3), maps and location data (Attachments J4 & J5), and all other solicitation sections.

These clarifications are now part of the solicitation and must be considered when preparing proposals.

Nothing in this Q&A revises the solicitation unless expressly noted; where a response references specific sections (e.g., Section B, Section H, or SOI Notes), those references clarify existing requirements.

The Government appreciates industry engagement and encourages offerors to review all solicitation sections and amendments to ensure complete understanding prior to proposal submission. Any additional questions must be submitted by the deadline stated in Section L of the solicitation.

Item No. Question Government Response

1. “I only see a Presolicitation on SAM.gov and all documents are marked DRAFT.

Where can I find the actual solicitation, checklist, and the email for submitting our proposal?”

Government Response Updated 07/21/2026.

The official solicitation 127EAS26R0003 – Regional Vault & Septic Pumping Services (Multiple Award IDIQ) was posted on SAM.gov on July 13, 2026.

All applicable solicitation documents—including the SF1449, Section B–M terms, Performance Work Statement (Attachment J2), Schedule of Items (Attachment J3), Geographic Locations and Maps (Attachments J4–J5), and all other attachments—are available within the solicitation posting.

Offerors may access these documents by signing into SAM.gov, navigating to the solicitation page, and downloading the files.

Proposal submission instructions, required forms, task-order seed packages, and the official submission email address are provided in Section L of the solicitation.

Any updates or clarifications issued after July 13, including this Q&A, are provided through formal solicitation amendments.

2. “The A10+J3 SOI Excel spreadsheet doesn’t match in columns C and D between the base year and option years.

Is this intentional?”

The base year and option year worksheets reflect formatting updates that were made as the Schedule of Items evolved during draft development. The underlying pricing structure, required entries, and quantity groupings remain the same across all years. The final solicitation will include fully aligned formats for all tabs/years.

2a. 2a. “What unit of measure do you want for Travel? Hourly? Per minute? Per mile?

It’s unclear.”

Travel is compensated using the tiered roundtrip time structure described in the PWS Section Travel and reflected in Attachment J.3 SOI. The unit of measure is “Per Each (EA)” per travel time tier, not per hour or mile. Offerors will price each tiered bracket as a fixed rate per task order.

2b. 2b. “When it says ‘1 unit at site,’ does that mean one truck or one toilet?”

“1 unit” refers to one facility (vault toilet, septic tank, or USFS owned portable toilet), not the number of trucks. The SOI quantities represent individual serviced sites, as defined in Attachment J.4 (Geographic Locations) and PWS Section Scope of Work. Truck and staffing requirements are determined by the contractor.

3. I missed the virtual pre-proposal conference on 3/18/2026. Was it recorded? Can I watch it?”

The 03/18/2026 virtual industry session was not recorded, consistent with agency practice. However, content from the session has been incorporated into the updated PWS (Attachment J.2) and SOI (Attachment J.3). All offerors will have full and equal access to those materials when the final solicitation is posted.

3a. “Are previous contracts or awarded prices publicly available?”

Yes — previous USFS contracts, task orders, and award prices are publicly available through USASpending.gov or FOIA request.

No single prior contract represents the scope of this new consolidated Regional IDIQ, as many forests previously procured these services independently or via BPAs.

4. “Is this a brand new contract? If not, who is the incumbent?”

Yes—this is a new regional contracting opportunity. In the past, individual Forests procured these services through their own stand-alone contracts, purchase orders, or through the now-expired regional BPAs. Because these previous actions were awarded and administered independently, there is no single incumbent for this requirement. The upcoming IDIQ will be an additional optional tool available for Forest units when it best meets their operational needs.

5. When we get tasked with pumping a vault toilet, do we use the appropriate travel tier rate and then add the vault pumping rate separately (e.g., would a 1–2 hour trip plus pumping a 1000gallon vault be billed as two separate charges)?

Invoicing should match the Schedule of Items (SOI) to align proposed costs with actual.

6 Do you have a sample of what the bid should look like?

No. The Government does not provide samples. The template documents provided need to be completed and submitted as outlined in Section L.2 of the solicitation by the deadline posted in the solicitation.

7 Are we supposed to provide both the J3 Schedule of Items document and any/all seed projects we wish to work in?

Yes- To be considered offers must complete the Parent IDIQ submittals and any Seed Task Orders within the geographic area they would like to be considered for award.

8 If both seeds and J3 pricing are required, what happens if the blanket J3 pricing differs from a seed project’s pricing?

For clarification reference amendment 1 of the J1, solicitation terms in sections: B.1.5, H.1.1 and additional note in J3 SOI.

Parent IDIQ SOI entries are ceiling rates only and do not restrict contractors from offering discounts or lowered rates when competing for individual TOs.

9 Are we expected to provide and use deodorizer agents in portable or vault toilets (e.g., PortaPak, PORT, Royal Flush), and do you have a list of acceptable products?

Yes- This is considered an industry standard and common practice. Reference J2 PWS: “Contractor shall furnish all equipment, supplies, water, chemicals, incidentals…” The Government does not provide a list of acceptable products.

10 Where is Attachment D mentioned in J2? Solicitation updated to include Attachment D: USFS California Regional Vault and Septic Pumping Services IDIQ: BASIC INSPECTIONS FORM in J2 PWS v5.1.

11 Is it going to be required to wash down the vault, pump out the wash down and fill 100 gallons of water?

Yes. Please reference J2_PWS v5.1: Pumping and Cleaning Procedures.

I been trying to open this file but it won’t open can you check it.

Updated 07/27/2026 Offerors are advised to log into SAM.gov; and click on the sign-in button on the upper right corner. Once signed in, click on the solicitation link to open the files. If you have issues signing in, you can instead download the files by clicking "Download All".

Solicitation Link:

https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/c21c6d37fc694acbba 39f4406ee1e4fa/view

If you're having issues downloading the documents, please try a different browser. Safari/iPad sometimes cannot handle PDF downloads properly. Make sure your browser is updated.

Here's another way to access the files instead of using the link.

1) Go to WWW.SAM.GOV

2) Click on Sign in - this will take you to https://secure.login.gov/ 3)Sign in using your account information. If you don’t have an account, you need to create one.

4) Under "Search Contract Opportunities", please enter the solicitation number: 127EAS26R0003. Make sure not to click on the one that is inactive.

5) Click on the title: USFS California State Regional Vault Toilet and Septic Pumping IDIQ

6) Scroll down to the documents. Either download all or download and save each document individually.

Links and emails are provided as a courtesy only. Offerors are responsible for accessing the solicitation via SAM.gov for the correct version of documents pertaining to this solicitation.

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13 Where can the corresponding PWS/SOI documents for the Angeles National Forest be found?

No Task Order for the Angeles National Forest are included in the initial solicitation. The Angeles National Forest falls within the Southern East geographic area - see J5 4 Geographic Locations and J5 Maps. The San Bernardino is the only Task Order included for the Southern East Geographic Area. Offerors interested in that geographic area, will need to complete: All relevant parent IDIQ submittals (Reference J1-J12) and Task Orders within the geographical area; in this case, the San Bernardino National Forest J33 TOPR BDF and J34 SOI BDF.

Contractors awarded within a geographic zone must be fully capable of servicing any site and any Task Order within that zone (Reference attachment J1, Sections B and H under amendment 1 to the solicitation). Contractors may only decline a Task Order when submitting a formal “No Response” under Section H.1.1 with a valid explanation (e.g., safety, equipment failure, regulatory restrictions). Task Orders may not be declined due to business preferences, routing, or distance. This is an IDIQ;

quantities are unknown until task orders are issued.

14 Will the government accept a past performance questionnaire template from a prior government client in lieu of the past performance questionnaire format specified in the solicitation?

No. The government will not accept documentation from other solicitations. Offers must follow the format provided.

15 For the travel time tiers, are you looking for a flat rate price, an hourly price, or a per minute price?

Travel is compensated using a flat, tiered rate structure – not a per minute or per mile rate. Per attachment J1, solicitation terms section B.2 and J2 PWS (Travel) and Attachment J.3 SOI. Pricing is based on the tiered roundtrip time brackets defined in the PWS. Offerors must price each tier as a fixed rate per task order, using the “Per Each (E)” as the unit of measure.

16 When a single task order trip services multiple sites in the same zone on the same day, is one travel charge applied per task order trip, or one travel charge per individual site visit?

When the Contractor services multiple vaults, septic tanks, or USFS-owned portable toilets under a single mobilization and can complete all work and required disposal under one round trip (RT), the Contractor shall price one (1) RT, regardless of the number of units serviced. This is consistent with the PWS Travel Requirements, which define RT pricing, and SOI Note #4, which clarifies ceiling-rate, per-each tiered travel pricing. Reference PWS (Attach J2) Travel and SOI (Attach J3) note 4.

17 How is “round-trip time” measured for pricing — from the contractor’s home yard, from a designated zone reference point, or from the contractor’s nearest disposal facility?

RT shall be priced using the IDIQ travel tiers and represents one round trip from the Contractor’s established place of business to the service location(s), then to the disposal facility, and returning to the Contractor’s place of business. Reference PWS (Attach J2) Travel and Terms (Attach J1) Section B.2.

18 Who is responsible for providing the 25 gallons of recharge water — the contractor, or is potable water available at each site? If contractor-supplied, is this priced into the per-facility unit price or as a separate line item?

The Contractor provides all potable water needed to perform recharge. After pumping, vaults must be recharged with a minimum of 100 gallons (flat-bottom vaults must maintain 10 inches of water). Potable water is included in the per-unit price in the parent Schedule of Items. Reference the PWS (Attach J2) Pumping & Cleaning Procedures; General Conditions)

19 Septage disposal within the Lahontan RWQCB Region 6 jurisdiction (Lake Tahoe Basin) is more restrictive than surrounding counties. Will the Government specify acceptable disposal facilities for Tahoe Basin work, or is facility selection at contractor discretion provided regulatory compliance is documented?

No. The Contractor shall dispose of all sewage and debris off National Forest lands at authorized facilities in compliance with Federal, State, and local laws. Facility selection must meet all regulatory requirements; the Contractor is responsible for all arrangements and fees.

20 When a task order spans multiple counties with different WDs, should offerors price using a blended rate, the highest-cost WD county, or are county-specific unit prices expected?

For any Task Order covering multiple counties, Contractor labor rates must comply with the highest applicable SCLS wage determination. Blended or county-specific rates are not permitted at the Task Order level.

21 Will past performance from current and prior USFS BPAs and stand-alone forest contracts held by the offeror count as “relevant past performance” for task order evaluation under this IDIQ?

Yes. Past performance on current or prior USFS contracts is considered relevant when evaluating task orders under this

IDIQ.

22 Can the Government clarify which seed projects are “seed-for-award” and which are “seed-eval-only”? Will offerors bidding only one or two zones be required to respond to seed projects outside the zones they are bidding?

Offerors submit seed projects only for the geographic zones they propose. The solicitation contains the final seed projects (Attachments J13–J36). “Seed-for-award” projects award initial TOs; “seed-eval-only” projects support technical evaluation.

23 When are questions and proposals due?

The email you sent on July 13th has dates that are different from what is listed on Sam.gov.

Amendment 0001 updated all dates on SAM.gov. Questions are due 08/05/2026 no later than 2359 PT, proposals are due 08/09/2026, 2359 PST, and all updated attachments appear on the July 21 posting. Offerors must acknowledge Amendment 0001. Reference Terms, SF 1449 and SF 30 (Attachments labeled J1).

24 Can the contractor draft water from nearby creeks, streams or bodies of water into a freshwater tank?

No. All water used must be potable. Reference the PWS (Attach J2), General Conditions.

25 I am not seeing a Seed Task Order for Shasta Trinity National Forest? Is this not part of the contract? I am a local pumper in this geographical area and would like to just bid on this section if possible?

Shasta-Trinity has no seed TO in the initial solicitation. It falls within the Northern East zone; therefore, offerors must respond to the Modoc and Lassen seed TOs for that zone. Upon award, Contractors must be capable of servicing any site within the zone. Reference Terms (Attachment J1), Sections B.1.6 and H.1.1.3

26 When TOPR 5.7.1.2 mentions completing all work within a single RT, does ‘disposal’ include multiple trips to the wastewater facility if the truck must offload between sites?

Disposal requirements must be met within a single RT only when feasible under the Contractor’s proposed CTR Round Trip Frequency. If tank capacity requires interim offloading, the Contractor shall propose a higher RT frequency in the Task Order SOI. The Government will not dictate routing or disposal frequency. Reference the PWS (Attach J2) Travel section.

27 If potable water must be supplied by the contractor, may the contractor store water onsite or leave equipment overnight?

No. Contractor personnel and equipment may not remain onsite overnight. Camping or staging on National Forest lands is prohibited for contract work. Water must be hauled in during each mobilization consistent with PWS General Conditions and Travel restrictions. Reference the PWS (Attach J2) Travel section.

28 I went back to SAM to open the new links attached but received an error message, is there a way you can send me the documents?

Issue addressed under Item 12.

Some users experience browser-specific problems when opening PDF or Excel files directly in the workspace viewer.

Please use Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, or Firefox for reliable downloads. To ensure access, please download documents using “Download All” after signing in. Reference Item 12 for additional guidance.

29 Hi – I am also not seeing the actual schedule of items. Will that be coming out at a later time?

Issue addressed under Item 7.