MT_PMC_field_support_PWS_FINAL_4-8-2018.pdf

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

Field Support Services

For the

MT Plant Materials Center (PMC)

Revision 0

03/11/2019

Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Mission

1.2 Background

1.3 Scope

2 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

2.1 Non-Personal Services

2.2 Business Relations

2.3 Contract Administration and Management

2.4 Subcontract Management

2.5 Contractor Personnel, Disciplines, and Specialties

2.6 Location and Hours of Work

2.7 Invoicing

2.8 Government Quality Assurance

3 PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES

3.1 Provide PMC Support Services for Native Seed Increase Fields and Seed Production

3.2 Deliverables

4 SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

4.1 Security and Safety

4.2 Government Furnished Property, Information, and/or Services

4.3 Applicable Directives

4.4 Restrictions against Disclosure

1. INTRODUCTION

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) requires services for establishing, managing, implementing, producing, and tracking native seed increase fields and seed production for plant community restoration and conservation plant technology development at the Montana Plant Materials Center located in Bridger, Montana.

1.1 Mission

The NRCS is committed to “helping people help the land” – our mission is to provide America’s farmers and ranchers with financial and technical assistance to voluntarily put conservation on the ground, not only helping the environment but agricultural operations, too. For more information regarding the agency and its programs visit http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/.

1.2 Background

The United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Bridger Plant Materials Center (BPMC), located at 98 South River Road in Bridger, Carbon County, Montana, is a 150-acre research facility and farm located in rural south-central Montana.

The BPMC has produced foundation grade seed for commercial seed growers and other end-users for over 50 years. Since early 2015, the BPMC staff has declined from 6.6 FTEs to 2 (current) primarily because of retirements and limitations on NRCS’ ability to rehire vacant positions over the past few years. Because of these staffing reductions, and to preserve established fields and meet seed production goals and demand, it is necessary to contract for services to meet plant growth requirements, seed production, and program deadlines.

1.3 Scope

The selected vendor shall perform all necessary services to support the following tasks associated with the installation of new, and maintenance of existing, seed increase fields for seed production, as well as required technical support, at the BPMC in Bridger, Montana. As a component of the seed increase and plant production services, the vendor is required to perform the following support tasks: coordinate staff to provide technical assistance via email or phone call regarding native plant seed production, native plant propagation, native plant community restoration; continuation of propagation of native plant seed increase; establishment and harvesting of seed; seed processing , laboratory testing, and proper storing of native seed; and delivery of propagated seed to project partners.

The selected Contractor must be licensed for all activities related to this project, be insured and bonded, and the Contractor or designated program/project manager shall have at least 10 years of individual demonstrated knowledge and experience with certified seed production and irrigated row-crop systems. Contractor employees working at the Center must have valid licenses, as required by the State of Montana and/or the federal government, including but not limited to driver and pesticide applicator licenses, if they are performing work requiring those licenses.

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/

2 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

This section describes the general requirements for this effort. The following sub-sections provide details of various considerations on this effort.

2.1 Non-Personal Services

The Government shall neither supervise Contractor employees nor control the method by which the Contractor performs the required tasks. Under no circumstances shall the Government assign tasks to, or prepare work schedules for, individual Contractor employees. It shall be the responsibility of the Contractor to manage its employees and to guard against any actions that are of the nature of personal services or give the perception of personal services. If the Contractor believes that any actions constitute, or are perceived to constitute personal services, it shall be the Contractor’s responsibility to notify the Contracting Officer (CO) immediately.

2.2 Business Relations

The Contractor shall successfully integrate and coordinate all activity needed to execute the requirement. The Contractor shall manage the timeliness, completeness, and quality of problem identification. The Contractor shall provide corrective action plans, proposal submittals, timely identification of issues, and effective management of subcontractors. The Contractor shall seek to ensure customer satisfaction and professional and ethical behavior of all Contractor personnel.

2.3 Contract Administration and Management

The following subsections specify requirements for contract, management, and personnel administration.

2.3.1 Contract Management

The Contractor shall establish clear organizational lines of authority and responsibility to ensure effective management of the resources assigned to performance of the contract. The Contractor must maintain continuity between the support operations at various locations within the NRCS and the Contractor’s corporate offices.

2.3.2 Contract Administration

The Contractor shall establish processes and assign appropriate resources to effectively administer the contract. The Contractor shall respond to Government requests for contractual actions in a timely fashion. The Contractor shall have a single point of contact between the Government and Contractor personnel assigned to support contracts or task orders. The Contractor shall assign work effort and maintaining proper and accurate time keeping records of personnel assigned to work on the requirement.

2.3.3 Personnel Administration

The Contractor shall provide the following management and support as required. The Contractor shall provide for employees during designated Government non-work days or other periods where Government offices are closed due to weather or security conditions. Only contracted positions related to administrative or contract oversight functions of this contract are approved for teleworking. All other contracted employees working at the Center are not approved for telework due to the nature of the work. Employees working at the Center are not allowed to work at the

Center on federal holidays or during other office closures but are to be paid for federal holidays.

The Contractor shall maintain the currency of their employees by providing initial and refresher training as required to meet the PWS requirements. The Contractor shall make necessary travel arrangements for employees. The Contractor shall provide necessary infrastructure to support contract tasks.

The Contractor shall provide administrative support to employees in a timely fashion (e.g. time keeping, leave processing, pay, emergency needs).

2.4 Subcontract Management

The Contractor shall be responsible for any subcontract management necessary to integrate work performed on this requirement and shall be responsible and accountable for subcontractor performance on this requirement. The prime Contractor will manage work distribution to ensure there are no Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) considerations.

2.5 Contractor Personnel, Disciplines, and Specialties

The Contractor shall accomplish the assigned work by employing and utilizing qualified personnel with appropriate combinations of education, training, and experience. The Contractor shall match personnel skills to the work or task with a minimum of under/over employment of resources.

The Contractor’s minimum staff qualifications must be as follows:

A. Administrative Assistant (May 1 – October 1): This position primarily performs data recording and entry, record keeping, filing, technical writing, and office administration duties. Skill writing summaries and reports, developing tables and spreadsheets, and graphing data and results.

Computer experience with word processing software and applications is needed including skill utilizing Microsoft compatible Word and Excel and sending email and attachments. Experience using printers and scanners is required. Must have a valid state issued driver’s license. Ability to process Contractor’s biological technician/field laborer personnel records and coordinate with contractors’ corporate office needed. Ability to hand record data documenting field operation activities related to specified 10 acres of production is required. Ability to transpose hand-written field data into digital format in Excel and organize digital data and results for reports and documents needed.

High school graduate and one year of professional experience or 1-year of full-time college coursework required. No specific coursework required but majors in English, office administration, and related disciplines preferred.

(640 hours)

Some aspects of performance objectives/tasks 3.1.1 and 3.1.4 may be performed off-site at the contractor’s location or virtually. It will be necessary to perform objectives/tasks 3.1.2 and 3.1.3 on-site at the Bridger PMC. Electronic files of documents, tables, data sheets, and spreadsheets are to be forwarded to NRCS designated staff with 48 hours of request from NRCS.

Contractor will provide its employee a computer and email address for completion of the duties under this award.

B. Biological Tech/Summer Field Laborer (5 positions) (May 1 – October 1): field staff, demonstrated experience and skill working outdoors weeding, hoeing, and harvesting crops is needed. Field experience removing weeds and non-target crops from agronomic target crops required. Experience and skill using hoes, shovels, rakes, scythes, clippers, pruners, loppers, or similar hand tools is needed. Experience moving and connecting irrigation lines such as gated pipe and sprinkler line required. Basic knowledge of irrigated row crop production and ability to operate farm equipment needed.

1. Seeding or re-seeding of new fields as required;

2. Inspection of seed production fields for weeds, insects, and diseases.

3. Hand removal of weeds;

4. Mechanical cultivation of fields;

5. Application of irrigation water;

6. Timely harvesting of fully ripened seed by hand or with farm equipment;

7. Proper handling, labeling, and storage of 2019 and future harvested bulk seed;

8. Proper labeling and storage of processed seed;

9. Re-cleaning of any 2018 seed lots not meeting standards;

10. Assembling and packaging seed orders for shipment back as needed;

11. Reconciling the entire partnership seed inventory by customer.

High school graduate and valid state issued Class D Driver’s License required

(640 hours per employee or 3200 hours for all 5 positions)

C. Management/Administrative Duties/Overhead (project duration) – Professional series responsible for contract over sight and management, billing, coordination, etc. This individual shall have minimum 10 years of individual demonstrated knowledge and experience with certified seed production and irrigated row-crop systems.

2.6 Location and Hours of Work

Accomplishment of the work contained in this PWS requires work at the Bridger PMC. Normal NRCS workdays are Monday through Friday except US Federal Holidays. NRCS employees typically work eight (8) hours per day, 40 hours per week. Flextime workers start not earlier than 6:00 AM and not later than 9:00 AM. Core hours of work are from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM daily.

Business hours for the Bridger PMC are 7:00am – 4:00pm, Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays.

The Contractor shall be responsible for establishing their work hours under this contract based on the BPMC hours stated above. No work is to be performed outside of the business hours stated for the BPMC. However, Contractor employees in possession of a valid HPDS-12 PIV-II Compliant Credential (e.g., LincPass) can work unaccompanied at government locations upon Government approval. See Section 4.1 for additional information.

Weather and security closures by their nature usually arise without advance notice. As such, the Government will notify the Contractor as soon as possible once any closures have been announced.

At times the Contractor’s employees may need to work in excess of 40 hours per week to support surge requirements. The Contractor must ensure this contingency can be met.

2.7 Invoicing

Invoices shall be submitted each month for the previous months work. Invoices must be submitted electronically through the Invoice Processing Platform (IPP) system. In addition to the information required by FAR 32.905(b) each invoice must contain a breakdown of the total amount. The amount must be broken down into the individual labor category and rate identified in this contract and the quantity of hours expended. No other amounts shall be listed on an invoice.

Invoices shall be submitted in accordance with paragraph (i) of clause 52.212-4. The Contractor shall submit with each invoice the information required by paragraph (g) of clause 52.212-4.

2.8 Government Quality Assurance

The CO or Contracting Officer Representative (COR) reserves the right to review all work products required under the contract for acceptability as needed. The Government shall notify the Contractor whenever revisions to reports/deliverables are required in order for the deliverables to be deemed acceptable. The COR will inspect and ensure all work is completed in accordance with this PWS.

The COR will perform final inspection of services and provide recommendation for acceptance upon project completion to the CO.

3 PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES

This section describes the desired outcomes and specific performance objectives that must be performed.

The vendor shall provide all supervision, labor, tools, equipment, transportation, supplies, and materials necessary to perform the work. All activities shall be in accordance with U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations.

The following section specifies the performance objectives for the contract and the associated performance standards and acceptable quality levels that must be met in order for the service to be acceptable. Contractor performance not meeting the standards and acceptable quality levels is considered nonconforming. At its discretion, the Government may require reperformance of nonconforming services at no increase in contract price. If reperformance will not correct the defects or is not possible, the Government may seek an equitable price reduction or adequate consideration for acceptance of nonconforming supplies or services.

The base period of performance for this contract is JuneMay 1, 2019 to October 1, 2019 with up to four (4) option periods (May 1 – October 1 each option).

The selected vendor must have demonstrable working knowledge of all aspects of seed production, seeding rate calculations based on laboratory results, irrigated row-crop production, seed processing;

proper protocols for cataloging, sampling, accessioning seed lots; data entry into an ACCESS database, and producing seed to AOSA standards. A variety of farm equipment is required including 70 to 100 horsepower tractors with tire spacing to accommodate 30-inch between-row spacing, 4-unit multivators for 30-inch between-row spacing, 4-foot wide rototiller, sweeps, corrugators, land leveler, single-row or double-row cultivator, rear blades for ditching, plot combines, swathers, and more.

Application of any agri-chemicals including but not limited to herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, and fertilizers, if required, will be done after notification to, and with the guidance of, NRCS staff licensed in the State of Montana. Applicators must wear required protective clothing.

The needed services include all cultural (agronomic), technical, and office administration related to the maintenance of approximately 10 acres of existing or planned seed production. The services include, but are not limited to, multi-step site preparation, planting (including seeding rate and drill calibration calculations), mechanical cultivation, hand weeding, corrugating, ditching, irrigating (flood and sprinkler), determining seed ripeness, harvesting (hand, combine, swather) and plowing.

The BPMC is actively working on developing needed conservation plant materials and methods for the propagation, use, and conservation application on private and public lands to help meet the mission of NRCS. The USDA-NRCS BPMC is equipped to propagate and clean quantities of seeds and plants sufficient to meet conservation land use applications for private and public lands within the required time frame and conduct evaluations on plant species to determine adaptation and cultural requirements for establishment. The purpose of this contract is to provide services and administrative support for the BPMC activities specific to the timely and thorough field maintenance, culture, harvesting, and seed processing required to support the propagation and seed increase of genetic stock specific to public lands currently in production at the BPMC. The intent of this contract is to accomplish all cultural duties related to the administration, seed field planting, maintenance, and harvesting, and seed processing as described herein and as previously described, for the following planned or existing seed production fields including but not limited to:

Field/Species Common Name Acres

FIELD 1 3.9ac Bromus marginatus mountain brome 0.87

FIELD 4 North/w-e Symphyotrichum laeve blue aster 0.03

Eurybia conspicua showy aster 0.025

Potentilla hippiana woolly cinquefoil 0.025

Potentilla arguta tall cinquefoil 0.025

FIELD 5

Bromus marginatus mountain brome 0.54

Leymus cinereus basin wildrye 0.33

Elymus glaucus blue wildrye 0.12

Bromus carinatus California brome 0.03

Pseudoroegneria spicata bluebunch wheatgrass 0.84

Bromus anomalus nodding brome 0.24

FIELD 10 (10/11_8.7ac)

Achnatherum hymenoides Indian ricegrass 0.32

Festuca idahoensis Idaho fescue

Bromus marginatus mountain brome 0.33

FIELD 11

Festuca idahoensis Idaho fescue 0.33

Pseudoroegneria spicata bluebunch wheatgrass 0.05

FIELD 21 4.1ac Pseudoroegneria spicata bluebunch wheatgrass 0.97

Festuca idahoensis Idaho fescue 0.96

Elymus trachycaulus slender wheatgrass 0.48

Leymus cinereus basin wildrye 0.48

FIELD 24 6.5ac Elymus trachycaulus slender wheatgrass 0.53

Pseudorogneria spicata bluebunch wheatgrass 0.95

Poa secunda Sandberg bluegrass 0.45

Elymus trachycaulus slender wheatgrass 1.00

NEW - 2019

Festuca idahoensis Idaho fescue 1

Bromus marginatus mt. brome 1

Elymus trachycaulus slender wheatgrass 1

Elymus glaucus blue wildrye 1 forb I YTBD 0.2 forb II YTBD 0.2

3.1 Provide PMC Support Services for Native Seed Increase Fields and Seed

Production All work in this PWS shall adhere to NRCS quality standards in accordance with the National Plant Materials Program Manual, the Montana Seed Growers Association, AOSA seed certification standards, seed industry standard commercial practices for native species, and as described in this statement of work.

The specific performance objectives required include the following:

Performance Objectives/Tasks Performance Standards and Acceptable Quality Levels

3.1.1 The Contractor shall provide administrative

support for the processing of all employee personnel documents including but not limited to hiring forms, employment forms, accident reports, timesheets, and tax documents required by county, state, and federal law and to meet the requirements of this contract. Makes any needed phone calls and coordinates with corporate office as needed.

Information on forms and timesheets have no more than 3 technical or data errors on any one document at any time.

Forms and reports are timely and submitted within the required timeframe 95% of the time.

3.1.2 The Contractor shall provide administrative

support for hand written recording of field operation activities including a data pertaining to fields planted (if any), fields in production, fields removed from production (if any), seed harvest dates, and bulk seed harvest amounts.

Hand recorded data sheets have accurate data with no more than 5 data entry errors per document.

3.1.3 The Contractor shall provide administrative

support for entering all field activities data into Excel spreadsheets or Access databases as required by NRCS including data pertaining to fields planted (if any), fields in production, fields removed from production (if any), seed harvest dates, bulk seed harvest amounts.

Digital data in electronic spreadsheets, tables, and databases have accurate data with no more than 5 data entry errors per document.

Data for each specified cultural treatment is to be electronically recorded within 5 business days of accomplishment with no more than 2 data entry errors per subject.

All summary records must be in digital form and submitted to NRCS by October 1, 2019.

3.1.4 The Contractor shall provide administrative

support for organizing and summarizing all data into tables or summary reports including summaries of fields planted (if any), fields in production, fields removed from production (if any), seed harvest dates, bulk seed harvest amounts, and 4 summary reports.

All summarized tables and reports have no more than 5 entry or technical errors per document.

Summarized tables for data reports and documents are submitted by NRCS established deadlines, or if no established deadline, within 10 working days of written request from NRCS. All summary records must be in digital form and submitted to NRCS by October 1, 2019.

3.1.5 The Contractor shall provide field labor

for the inspection of seed production fields for weeds, insects, and diseases.

Fields are to be inspected weekly for weeds 90% of the time. Corrective strategies for Contractor- or NRCS-identified weed issues are communicated to NRCS within 5 business days of a problem being identified 90% of the time, within 7 business days 100% of the time.

Weekly inspection of seed production fields for insects and disease occurs 95% of the time. Corrective strategies for Contractor- or NRCS-identified insect or disease issues are communicated to NRCS within 5 business days of a problem being identified.

3.1.6 The Contractor shall provide field labor for

seeding new fields.

Fields are planted at the proper seeding depth, seeding rate, and row spacing as per NRCS guidance, and rows are straight and parallel to established field borders.

Fields are seeded within 5 business days of written request by NRCS.

3.1.7 The Contractor shall provide field labor for

the hand removal of weeds in seed production fields.

Fields are to be maintained free of Montana and federally listed noxious weeds. Noxious weeds are to be removed from fields and are to be disposed of in NRCS approved locations the same day as they are pulled out.

All non-noxious weeds are to be removed from the fields and disposed of in NRCS approved locations the same day as removal from the field.

3.1.8 The Contractor shall provide field labor

for the mechanical cultivation of fields.

Fields are cultivated prior to seed set of weeds 90% of the time.

Fields are properly cultivated and prepared prior to seeding as per NRCS seeding specifications.

3.1.9 The Contractor shall provide field labor for

the application of irrigation water including the setting out, connecting, and rinsing of irrigation pipe systems.

Irrigation systems components will be undamaged and fully functional or replaced with fully operational and safe parts prior to operation.

Irrigation systems will have clear gates, unplugged sprinkler nozzles, and sealed gasket connections. Leaks and plugged orifices will be corrected by COB the day they are observed plugged or leaking 90% of the time.

3.1.10 The Contractor shall provide field labor for

the timely harvesting of fully ripened seed by hand or with farm equipment.

Fields are harvested with 24 hours of the time NRCS verifies the field is fully ripened.

3.1.11 The Contractor shall provide field labor for

the proper handling, labeling, and storage of 2019 and future harvested bulk seed.

Handling, transport, and storage of harvested seed shall be to maximize seed retention and minimize contamination of the lot. Prevent deterioration of the lot from heat and/or humidity.

The species, accession number, field location, and date of harvest shall be physically recorded on each seed lot (paper tag marked with permanent marker) with no errors 95% of the time.

3.1.12 The Contractor shall provide field labor for

the proper labeling and storage of processed seed.

The species name, accession number, field location, and date of harvest shall be physically recorded on each seed lot with no errors 95% of the time.

3.1.13 The Contractor shall provide field labor for

the re-cleaning of any 2018 seed lots not meeting standards.

Recleaned seed lots must meet Montana Seed Growers Association standards for Foundation seed.

3.1.14 The Contractor shall provide field labor for

the assembling and packaging seed orders for shipment as needed.

Seed lots packaged for shipping are accurate as to species, accession number, and amount.

3.1.15 The Contractor shall provide field labor for

reconciling the entire partnership seed inventory by customer.

Each partnership inventory reconciliation shall have no more than 5 errors for species, lot or balance.

3.2 Deliverables

The selected vendor shall provide the following deliverables:

1) Appropriate staffing for, and technical and project oversight of, approximately 10 acres of grass and forb seed production fields to be maintained in a relatively weed-, disease-, and insect pest-free condition and cultured to maintain maximum plant health, productivity, and seed production.

2) Coordination and oversight of staff to ensure the maintenance and culture of at least 25 to 30 individual seed production fields across approximately 10 total acres of seed production as previously described.

3) The development and production of four annual summary reports for each project following the format, templates, and guidelines required by NRCS.

4) Coordination and oversight of staff to ensure the production of at least 400 pounds of seed over approximately 10 total acres of seed production.

5) The production and processing of all seed production so as to meet Montana seed certification standards for certified class seed.

Native seed shall be produced, labeled, scalped, and stored by September 1, 2019. The collection and organization of data for reports for native seed production shall be assembled and compiled by September 1, 2019

4 SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

This section describes the special requirements that apply to this contract. The following sub-sections provide additional detail for each requirement.

4.1 Security and Safety

FAR Subpart 4.13, Personal Identification Verification of Contractor Personnel, establishes the policy and use requirements for FAR Clause 52.204.9, Personal Identification Verification of Contractor Personnel, which is hereby incorporated into this order by reference. It requires Contractor compliance with Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 (HSPD-12), Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance M-05-24, and Federal Information Processing Standards Publication (FIPS PUB) Number 201.

USDA policy implementing referred to in paragraph (a) of the clause is at USDA Department Manual 4620-002, USDA Departmental Regulation 4620-002. This policy applies to Contractor employees who require routine access to federally controlled facilities and information systems. All such Contractor employees must have been successfully identity proofed (FBI fingerprint check), and have a successfully adjudicated National Agency Check with (Written) Inquiries (NACI) or Office of Personnel Management (OPM)/National Security (NS) community background investigation to serve on the contract. USDA agencies may grant access to USDA information systems after successful adjudication of the FBI fingerprint check. Completion and successful adjudication of the final NACI results or OPM/NS BI are still required to continue work under this contract. If the fingerprint or background investigation result is unsatisfactory the Contractor employee shall be removed from the contract immediately and replaced immediately. Unless a Contractor employee already has successfully completed these requirements and the investigation is current, the employee will be required to complete an online version of the SF-85, Questionnaire for Non-sensitive Position, two FD-258, Fingerprint Charts (can be provided by the NRCS if the law enforcement agency does not have them), and other required forms. Contractor employees’ fingerprints shall be taken to a Federal, State, municipal, or local law enforcement agency. The Contractor is responsible for any cost of obtaining the fingerprints. The Government is responsible for the cost of the FBI finger print check and background investigation. The NRCS does not have any control over the timeliness of the background check or that it will be completed within the performance period of this contract, but it is estimated to be completed approximately 30 calendar days once the Contractor provides all of the required documentation and the NRCS submits it to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Fingerprint check results are estimated to be received within 10 calendar days once the Contractor provides all of the required documentation and the NRCS submits it to the OPM

Upon award of the contract, and once the NRCS has provided the Contractor with the required documentation and instructions, the Contractor must complete and submit the required documentation promptly.

4.2 Government Furnished Property, Information, and/or Services

The Government will make available the following:

1. Irrigation water and delivery to each field via underground piping system. NRCS will provide all starters, valves, gated pipe, and sprinkler pipe needed to irrigate seed production fields.

2. NRCS will provide access to bathrooms, parking space, tap water for washing and drinking, and break rooms.

3. NRCS will not provide any other supplies or equipment unless by existing agreement or contract.

4.3 Applicable Directives

The Contractor shall comply with all documents listed below as mandatory and referenced under paragraph 3.0, Performance Requirements. Compliance with documents listed as non-mandatory is at the Contractors' discretion.

Mandatory

• Montana Seed Growers Association Seed Certification Standards

• ASOA Rules for Testing Seeds

• Federal Seed Law

Non-Mandatory

• National Plant Materials Manual

4.4 Restrictions against Disclosure

The Contractor agrees, in the performance of this contract, to keep all information contained in source documents or other media furnished by the Government in the strictest confidence. The Contractor also agrees not to publish or otherwise divulge such information in whole or in part, in any manner or form, nor to authorize or permit others to do so, taking such reasonable measures as are necessary to restrict access to such information while in the Contractor’s possession, to those employees needing such information to perform the work provided herein, i.e., on a "need to know" basis. The Contractor agrees to immediately notify the Contracting Officer, in writing, in the event that the Contractor determines or has reason to suspect a breach of this requirement.

The Contractor agrees not to disclose any information concerning work under this contract to any persons or individual unless prior written approval is obtained from the Contracting Officer.

The Contractor agrees to insert the substance of this clause in any consultant agreement or subcontract hereunder.