B08_SOL_REVISED_0001.pdf

United States Department of the Interior

INTERIOR BUSINESS CENTER

Washington, DC 20240

SECTION 1 – INTRODUCTION

1. Combined Synopsis/Solicitation

1.1. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial products or commercial services prepared in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) part 12.

This announcement constitutes the only solicitation. Offers are being requested and a separate written solicitation will not be issued.

Solicitation number 140D0426Q0324 is issued as a request for quotation (RFQ) for

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chatbot Services to enhance agency Recruitment Efforts.

This acquisition is a total small business set-aside. This solicitation incorporates provisions and clauses by reference. The full text of provisions and clauses may be accessed electronically at www.acquisition.gov.

1.2. The period of performance for this Purchase Order will consist of a one-year Base

Period estimated to begin on June 1, 2026, followed by four (4) one-year Option

Periods, as outlined in the table below. If all options are exercised, the total period of performance will not exceed five (5) years. Continued performance under this

Purchase Order is contingent upon the availability of funds and the Contractor’s acceptable level of performance.

• Base Period: June 01, 2026, to May 31, 2027

• Option Period 1: June 01, 2027, to May 31, 2028

• Option Period 2: June 01, 2028, to May 31, 2029

• Option Period 3: June 01, 2029, to May 31, 2030

• Option Period 4: June 01, 2030, to May 31, 2031

1.3. The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), Interior Business Center (IBC), Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD), is issuing this RFQ on behalf of the Peace

Corps (PC), Office of Volunteer Recruitment and Service (VRS), for Artificial

Intelligence (AI) Chatbot Services to enhance agency Recruitment Efforts.

The Peace Corps seeks a FedRAMP High authorized, commercially available SaaS conversational AI solution (“Chatbot”) to enhance recruitment, outreach, and public engagement across peacecorps.gov. The solution must deliver high-quality, secure, and scalable interactions with the public while integrating seamlessly with existing systems.

Through the implementation of the integrated conversational AI chatbot service, the

Peace Corps expects to:

http://www.acquisition.gov/

Solicitation 140D0426Q0324

• Facilitate more effective and efficient interactions between potential applicants with recruiters and the marketing team.

• Generate new leads through an additional marketing channel.

• Increase the number of leads converted into applicants through better just-in-time communications.

• Decrease the time and effort Peace Corps staff spend responding to commonly asked questions and requests for guidance from the public that can be answered through thoughtfully constructed technology.

• Provide smoother and more seamless interactions between the public and

Peace Corps through escalation of AI generated conversations, when required, to the relevant Peace Corps staff.

1.4. Place of Performance

All services provided by the Contractor are to be conducted at the Contractor’s location within the Unites States of America; no on-site work at the Government facility is anticipated.

1.5. Administrative Considerations

All questions and concerns during performance of this effort shall be directed to the

Contracting Officer (CO), Contract Specialist (CS), and Contracting Officers

Representative (COR) identified below:

• The CO for this effort is as follows:

Michael McGuire

Department of the Interior

Interior Business Center

Acquisition Services Directorate

Email: mike_mcguire@ibc.doi.gov

• The CS for this effort is as follows:

Jacqueline Hernandez

Department of the Interior

Interior Business Center

Acquisition Services Directorate

Email: jacqueline_hernandez@ibc.doi.gov

• Note: The COR for this will be provided at time of award.

1.6. The provision at 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors—Commercial Products and

Commercial Services (Sep 2023), applies to this acquisition and the RFQ includes an addendum to the provision. See Section 4 of the RFQ for more information.

Additional provisions can be found in section 3 of the RFQ.

1.7. The clause at 52.212-4, Terms and Conditions—Commercial Products and

Commercial Services, applies to this acquisition. See Section 3 of the RFQ for additional clauses.

mailto:mike_mcguire@ibc.doi.gov mailto:jacqueline_hernandez@ibc.doi.gov

1.8. Submission of Questions

Questions related to this RFQ package must be received electronically via email to

CO Michael McGuire; Email: mike_mcguire@ibc.doi.gov, and CS Jacqueline

Hernandez; Email: jacqueline_hernandez@ibc.doi.gov, no later than April 10, 2026 at 12:00PM EST.

All questions must be received in writing – No oral questions will be accepted. All e-mail inquiries must have “Questions – RFQ # 140D0426Q0324” in the subject line.

The Government’s responses will be provided via email.

1.9. Submission of Quote

Quotes must be received via email to Michael McGuire (mike_mcguire@ibc.doi.gov) and Jacqueline Hernandez (jacqueline_hernandez@ibc.doi.gov) no later than 10:00

A.M. ET, May 04, 2026. Reference “Quote – 140D0426Q0324” in the subject line.

The Government reserves the right to contact a Quoter regarding their quote including to request additional discounts.

Late submissions may not be considered for evaluation at the discretion of the

Contracting Officer. No faxed or hard copy quotes will be accepted.

1.10. Anticipated Award Type

The Government anticipates awarding a Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) Purchase Order as a result of this RFQ. Travel / Other Direct Costs (ODCs) are is not anticipated in performance of this order.

1.11. Codes for services or supplies:

• North American Industry Classification System (NAICS): 541519 – Other

Computer Related Services (SB size standard $34M).

• Product Service Code (PSC): DA10 – IT and Telecom – Business Application /

Application Development Software as a Service.

[THE REMAINDER OF THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK]

[END OF SECTION 1]

mailto:jacqueline_hernandez@ibc.doi.gov

SECTION 2 – PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

PLEASE SEE ATTACHMENT 1: PWS

[END OF SECTION 2]

SECTION 3 - GENERAL PURCHASE ORDER TERMS AND CONDITIONS

3.1 CLAUSES

FAR 52.252-2 Clauses Incorporated by Reference (Feb 1998)

This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at this address:

http://acquisition.gov/far/index.html;

The following clauses are hereby incorporated by reference:

Name Title Date

52.203-3 Gratuities Apr 1984

52.203-6 Restrictions on Subcontractor Sales to the Government--

Alternate I Jun 2020

52.203-17 Contractor Employee Whistleblower Rights Nov 2023

52.203-19 Prohibition on Requiring Certain Internal Confidentiality

Agreements or Statements Jan 2017

52.204-9 Personal Identity Verification of Contractor Personnel Jan 2011

52.204-13 System for Award Management—Maintenance Oct 2018

52.204-14 Service Contract Reporting Requirements Oct 2016

52.204-19 Incorporation by Reference of Representations and

Certifications Dec 2014

52.209-6 Protecting the Government’s Interest When Subcontracting with

Contractors Debarred, Suspended, or Proposed for Debarment Jan 2025

52.209-9 Updates of Publicly Available Information Regarding

Responsibility Matters Oct 2018

52.209-10 Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations Nov 2015

52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions—Commercial Products and

Commercial Services Nov 2023

52.219-6 Notice of Total Small Business Set-Aside Mar 2020

52.219-8 Utilization of Small Business Concerns Jan 2025

52.219-14 Limitations on Subcontracting Oct 2022

52.219-28 Post-Award Small Business Program Rerepresentation Jan 2025

52.222-3 Convict Labor Jan 2003

52.222-35 Equal Opportunity for Veterans Jun 2014

52.222-36 Equal Opportunity for Workers with Disabilities Jun 2020

52.222-37 Employment Reports on Veterans Jun 2020

52.222-40 Notification of Employee Rights Under the National Labor

Relations Act Dec 2010

52.222-50 Combating Trafficking in Persons Oct 2025

52.222-54 Employment Eligibility Verification Jan 2025

52.223-23 Sustainable Products and Services May 2024

52.224-3 Privacy Training with Alternate 1 Jan 2017

52.226-7 Drug-Free Workplace May 2024 http://acquisition.gov/far/index.html

52.226-8 Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging While

Driving May 2024

52.229-12 Tax on Certain Foreign Procurements Feb 2021

52.232-33 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer—System for Award

Management Oct 2018

52.232-39 Unenforceability of Unauthorized Obligations Jun 2013

52.232-40 Providing Accelerated Payments to Small Business

Subcontractors Mar 2023

52.233-3 Protest After Award Aug 1996

52.233-4 Applicable Law for Breach of Contract Claim Oct 2004

52.240-90 Security Prohibitions and Exclusions Representations and

Certifications Dec 2025

52.240-91 Security Prohibitions and Exclusions Dec 2025

52.242-13 Bankruptcy Jul 1995

(End of clause)

FAR 52.217-9 Option to Extend the Term of the Contract (Mar 2000)

(a) The Government may extend the term of this contract by written notice to the Contractor within one (1) day, provided that the Government gives the Contractor a preliminary written notice of its intent to extend at least three 3 days before the contract expires. The preliminary notice does not commit the Government to an extension.

(b) If the Government exercises this option, the extended contract shall be considered to include this option clause.

(c) The total duration of this contract, including the exercise of any options under this clause, shall not exceed five (5) years.

FAR 52.219-14 Limitations on Subcontracting (DEVIATION OCT 2022)

(a) This clause does not apply to the unrestricted portion of a partial set-aside.

(b) Definition. Similarly situated entity, as used in this clause, means a first-tier subcontractor, including an independent contractor, that—

(1) Has the same small business program status as that which qualified the prime contractor for the award (e.g., for a small business set-aside contract, any small business concern, without regard to its socioeconomic status); and

(2) Is considered small for the size standard under the North American Industry Classification

System (NAICS) code the prime contractor assigned to the subcontract.

(c) Applicability. This clause applies only to—

(1) Contracts that have been set aside for any of the small business concerns identified in

19.000(a)(3);

(2) Part or parts of a multiple-award contract that have been set aside for any of the small business concerns identified in 19.000(a)(3);

(3) Contracts that have been awarded on a sole-source basis in accordance with sections 19.105, 19.106, 19.107, and 19.108;

(4) Orders expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold and that are set aside for small business concerns under multiple-award contracts, as described in 8.4 and 16.5;

(5) Orders, regardless of dollar value, that are set aside in accordance with sections 19.105, 19.106, 19.107, and 19.108 under multiple-award contracts, as described in 8.4 and 16.5; and

(6) Contracts using the HUBZone price evaluation preference to award to a HUBZone small business concern unless the concern waived the evaluation preference.

(d) Independent contractors. An independent contractor shall be considered a subcontractor.

(e) By submission of an offer and execution of a contract, the Contractor agrees that in performance of a contract assigned a North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for—

(1) Services (except construction), it will not pay more than 50 percent of the amount paid by the

Government for contract performance to subcontractors that are not similarly situated entities.

Any work that a similarly situated entity further subcontracts will count towards the prime contractor's 50 percent subcontract amount that cannot be exceeded. When a contract includes both services and supplies, the 50 percent limitation shall apply only to the service portion of the contract;

(2) Supplies (other than procurement from a nonmanufacturer of such supplies), it will not pay more than 50 percent of the amount paid by the Government for contract performance, excluding the cost of materials, to subcontractors that are not similarly situated entities. Any work that a similarly situated entity further subcontracts will count towards the prime contractor's 50 percent subcontract amount that cannot be exceeded. When a contract includes both supplies and services, the 50 percent limitation shall apply only to the supply portion of the contract;

(3) General construction, it will not pay more than 85 percent of the amount paid by the

Government for contract performance, excluding the cost of materials, to subcontractors that are not similarly situated entities. Any work that a similarly situated entity further subcontracts will count towards the prime contractor's 85 percent subcontract amount that cannot be exceeded; or

(4) Construction by special trade contractors, it will not pay more than 75 percent of the amount paid by the Government for contract performance, excluding the cost of materials, to subcontractors that are not similarly situated entities. Any work that a similarly situated entity further subcontracts will count towards the prime contractor's 75 percent subcontract amount that cannot be exceeded.

(f) The Contractor shall comply with the limitations on subcontracting as follows:

(1) For contracts, in accordance with paragraphs (c)(1), (2), (3) and (6) of this clause—

[Contracting Officer check as appropriate.]

□ By the end of the base term of the contract and then by the end of each subsequent option period; or

□ By the end of the performance period for each order issued under the contract.

(2) For orders, in accordance with paragraphs (c)(4) and (5) of this clause, by the end of the performance period for the order.

(g) A joint venture agrees that, in the performance of the contract, the applicable percentage specified in paragraph (e) of this clause will be performed by the aggregate of the joint venture participants.

(1) In a joint venture comprised of a small business protégé and its mentor approved by the

Small Business Administration, the small business protégé shall perform at least 40 percent of the work performed by the joint venture. Work performed by the small business protégé in the joint venture must be more than administrative functions.

(2) In an 8(a) joint venture, the 8(a) participant(s) shall perform at least 40 percent of the work performed by the joint venture. Work performed by the 8(a) participants in the joint venture must be more than administrative functions.

Limitation on Subcontracting Report

In order to ensure compliance with 52.219-14 Limitations on Subcontracting (DEVIATION

OCT 2022), the contractor shall also submit a report (Attachment 2) to the Contracting Officer

60 days prior to the end of the base period and all option periods during the purchase order performance. If the Contractor’s costs* are below the minimum performance measures stipulated at FAR 52.219-14 (Deviation), the Contractor shall provide a detailed mitigation plan on how it is going to cure its failure to comply with 52.219-14 (Deviation). This mitigation plan shall be provided to both the Small Business Administration and the Contracting Officer. The

Contracting Officer will evaluate the plan to assess the adequacy. This clause does not limit the rights and remedies of the government under other contract clauses, including but not limited to the default or termination provisions of the contract.

*As stipulated in FAR 52.219-14 (DEVIATION OCT 2022)

FAR 52.252-6 Authorized Deviations in Clauses (Apr 1984)

(a) The use in this solicitation or contract of any Federal Acquisition Regulation (48 CFR Chapter 1) clause with an authorized deviation is indicated by the addition of “(DEVIATION)” after the date of the clause.

(b) The use in this solicitation or contract of any Department of the Interior (48 CFR Chapter 14) and

Health and Human Services (48 CFR Chapter 3) clause with an authorized deviation is indicated by the addition of “(DEVIATION)” after the name of the regulation.

DOI-AAAP-0028 Electronic Invoicing and Payment Requirements – Invoice Processing

Platform (IPP) (February 2021)

Payment requests must be submitted electronically through the U. S. Department of the Treasury's

Invoice Processing Platform System (IPP).

"Payment request" means any request for contract financing payment or invoice payment by the

Contractor. To constitute a proper invoice, the payment request must comply with the requirements identified in the applicable Prompt Payment clause included in the contract, or the clause 52.212-4

Contract Terms and Conditions – Commercial Items included in commercial item contracts. The IPP website address is: https://www.ipp.gov.

Under this contract, the following documents are required to be submitted as an attachment to the IPP invoice:

➢ Invoice Contents: Invoices will be paid upon approval and acceptance by the Government COR.

Invoices must include, as a minimum, the following information:

• Contractor name https://www.ipp.gov/

• Contractor address

• Service Order No.

• Invoice date and number

• Billing Period for the services performed

• FFP Deliverable (if FFP)

• ODC Total with corresponding breakout (if applicable)

• Additional supporting documentation MAY BE REQUESTED at the discretion of the

COR.

The Contractor must use the IPP website to register, access and use IPP for submitting requests for payment. The Contractor Government Business Point of Contact (as listed in SAM) will receive enrollment instructions via email from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRBSTL) within 3 – 5 business days of the contract award date. Contractor assistance with enrollment can be obtained by contacting the IPP Production Helpdesk via email IPPCustomerSupport@fiscal.treasury.gov or phone

(866) 973-3131.

If the Contractor is unable to comply with the requirement to use IPP for submitting invoices for payment, the Contractor must submit a waiver request in writing to the Contracting Officer with its proposal or quotation.

Department of the Interior Acquisition Regulation (DIAR) 1452.201-70 Authorities and delegations. Authorities and Delegations (SEP 2011)

As prescribed in section 1401.670-1, insert the following clause:

(a) The Contracting Officer is the only individual authorized to enter into or terminate this contract, modify any term or condition of this contract, waive any requirement of this contract, or accept nonconforming work.

(b) The Contracting Officer will designate a Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) at time of award. The COR will be responsible for technical monitoring of the contractor's performance and deliveries. The COR will be appointed in writing, and a copy of the appointment will be furnished to the Contractor. Changes to this delegation will be made by written changes to the existing appointment or by issuance of a new appointment.

(c) The COR is not authorized to perform, formally or informally, any of the following actions:

(1) Promise, award, agree to award, or execute any contract, contract modification, or notice of intent that changes or may change this contract;

(2) Waive or agree to modification of the delivery schedule;

(3) Make any final decision on any contract matter subject to the Disputes Clause;

(4) Terminate, for any reason, the Contractor's right to proceed;

(5) Obligate in any way, the payment of money by the Government.

(d) The Contractor shall comply with the written or oral direction of the Contracting Officer or authorized representative(s) acting within the scope and authority of the appointment memorandum. The Contractor need not proceed with direction that it considers to have been issued without proper authority. The Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer in writing, with as much detail as possible, when the COR has taken an action or has issued direction

(written or oral) that the Contractor considers to exceed the COR's appointment, within 3 days of the occurrence. Unless otherwise provided in this contract, the Contractor assumes all costs, risks, liabilities, and consequences of performing any work it is directed to perform that falls mailto:IPPCustomerSupport@fiscal.treasury.gov within any of the categories defined in paragraph (c) prior to receipt of the Contracting Officer's response issued under paragraph (e) of this clause.

(e) The Contracting Officer shall respond in writing within 30 days to any notice made under paragraph (d) of this clause. A failure of the parties to agree upon the nature of a direction, or upon the contract action to be taken with respect thereto, shall be subject to the provisions of the

Disputes clause of this contract.

(f) The Contractor shall provide copies of all correspondence to the Contracting Officer and the

COR.

(g) Any action(s) taken by the Contractor, in response to any direction given by any person acting on behalf of the Government or any Government official other than the Contracting

Officer or the COR acting within his or her appointment, shall be at the Contractor's risk.

DOI AAAP-0050_V3 Notice to Contractors--Contractor Performance Assessment

Reporting System (December 2015)

1) FAR 42.1502 directs all Federal agencies to collect past performance information on contracts. The Department of the Interior (DOI) has implemented the Contractor

Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) to comply with this regulation.

One or more past performance evaluations will be conducted in order to record your contract performance as required by FAR 42.15.

2) The past performance evaluation process is a totally paperless process using CPARS.

CPARS is a web-based system that allows for electronic processing of the performance evaluation report. Once the report is processed, it is available in CPARS for Government use in evaluating past performance as part of a source selection action.

3) We request that you furnish the Contracting Officer (CO) with the name, position title, phone number, and email address for each person designated to have access to your firm's past performance evaluation(s) for the contract no later than 30 days after award. Each person granted access will have the ability to provide comments in the Contractor portion of the report and state whether or not the Contractor agrees with the evaluation, before returning the report to the Assessing Official (AO). Information in the report must be protected as source selection sensitive information not releasable to the public.

4) When your Contractor Representative(s) are registered in CPARS, they will receive an automatically generated email with detailed login instructions. Further details, systems requirements, and training information for CPARS is available at https://www.cpars.gov/.

5) Within 60 days after the end of a performance period, the AO will complete an interim or final past performance evaluation, and the report will be accessible at https://www.cpars.gov/.

a) Contractor Representatives may then provide comments in response to the evaluation, or return the evaluation without comment.

b) Your comments should focus on objective facts in the AO's narrative and should provide your views on the causes and ramifications of the assessed performance.

c) All information provided should be reviewed for accuracy prior to submission.

d) If you elect not to provide comments, please acknowledge receipt of the evaluation by indicating "No comment" in the space provided, and then selecting

“Accept the Ratings and Close the Evaluation”.

https://www.acquisition.gov/far/part-42#FAR_42_1502 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/part-42#FAR_42_1502 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/subpart-42.15 https://www.cpars.gov/ https://www.cpars.csd.disa.mil/ https://www.cpars.csd.disa.mil/ https://www.cpars.gov/

e) Your response is due within 60 calendar days after receipt of the CPAR. On day

15, the evaluation will become available in CPARS marked as “Pending” with or without comments and whether or not it has been closed.

f) If you do not sign and submit the CPAR within 60 days, it will automatically be returned to the Government and will be annotated: "The report was delivered/received by the contractor on (date). The contractor neither signed nor offered comment in response to this assessment."

6) The following guidelines apply concerning your use of the past performance evaluation:

a) Protect the evaluation as source selection information. After review, transmit the evaluation by completing and submitting the form through CPARS. If for some reason you are unable to view and/or submit the form through CPARS, contact the CO for instructions.

b) Strictly control access to the evaluation within your organization. Ensure the evaluation is never released to persons or entities outside of your control.

c) Prohibit the use of or reference to evaluation data for advertising, promotional material, pre-award surveys, responsibility determinations, production readiness reviews, or other similar purposes.

7) If you wish to discuss a past performance evaluation, you should request a meeting in writing to the CO no later than seven days following your receipt of the evaluation. The meeting will be held in person or via telephone or other means during your 60-day review period.

8) A copy of the completed past performance evaluation will be available in CPARS for your viewing and for Government use supporting source selection actions after it has been finalized.

3.2 PROVISIONS

FAR 52.252-1 Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference. (Feb 1998)

This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. The offeror is cautioned that the listed provisions may include blocks that must be completed by the offeror and submitted with its quotation or offer. In lieu of submitting the full text of those provisions, the offeror may identify the provision by paragraph identifier and provide the appropriate information with its quotation or offer. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at this/these address(es):

https://www.acquisition.gov

The following Provisions are hereby incorporated by reference:

Provision Title Date

52.203-11 Certification and Disclosure Regarding Payments to Influence

Certain Federal Transactions Sep 2024

52.203-18 Prohibition on Contracting with Entities that Require Certain

Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Statements-Representation Jan 2017

52.204-7 System for Award Management—Registration Nov 2024 https://www.acquisition.gov/

52.209-2 Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations—

Representation Nov 2015

52.209-5 Certification Regarding Responsibility Matters Aug 2020

52.209-7 Information Regarding Responsibility Matters Oct 2018

52.209-11 Representation by Corporations Regarding Delinquent Tax Liability or a Felony Conviction under any Federal Law Feb 2016

52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors—Commercial Products and Commercial

Services Sep 2023

52.217-5 Evaluations of Options July 1990

52.229-11 Tax on Certain Foreign Procurements—Notice and Representation Jun 2020

52.204-92 Security Requirements Dec 2025

52.240-93 Basic Safeguarding of Covered Contractor Information Systems Dec 2025

(End of provision)

FAR 52.252-5 Authorized Deviations in Provisions (Nov 2020)

(a) The use in this solicitation of any Federal Acquisition Regulation (48 CFR Chapter 1) provision with an authorized deviation is indicated by the addition of "(DEVIATION)" after the date of the provision.

(b) The use in this solicitation of any Department of the Interior Acquisition Regulation (48

CFR Chapter 14) provision with an authorized deviation is indicated by the addition of

"(DEVIATION)" after the name of the regulation.

DIAR 1452.215-71 Use and Disclosure of Proposal Information—Department of the

Interior (APR 1984)

(a) Definitions. For the purposes of this provision and the Freedom of Information Act (5

U.S.C. 552), the following terms shall have the meaning set forth below:

(1) “Trade Secret” means an unpatented, secret, commercially valuable plan, appliance, formula, or process, which is used for making, preparing, compounding, treating or processing articles or materials which are trade commodities.

(2) “Confidential commercial or financial information” means any business information

(other than trade secrets) which is exempt from the mandatory disclosure requirement of the

Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552. Exemptions from mandatory disclosure which may be applicable to business information contained in proposals include exemption (4), which covers “commercial and financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential,” and exemption (9), which covers “geological and geophysical information, including maps, concerning wells.”

(b) If the offeror, or its subcontractor(s), believes that the proposal contains trade secrets or confidential commercial or financial information exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of

Information Act, (5 U.S.C. 552), the cover page of each copy of the proposal shall be marked with the following legend:

“The information specifically identified on pages ____________ of this proposal constitutes trade secrets or confidential commercial and financial information which the offeror believes to be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. The offeror requests that this information not be disclosed to the public, except as may be required by law. The offeror also requests that this information not be used in whole or part by the government for any purpose other than to evaluate the proposal, except that if a contract is awarded to the offeror as a result of or in connection with the submission of the proposal, the Government shall have the right to use the information to the extent provided in the contract.”

(c) The offeror shall also specifically identify trade secret information and confidential commercial and financial information on the pages of the proposal on which it appears and shall mark each such page with the following legend:

“This page contains trade secrets or confidential commercial and financial information which the offeror believes to be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act and which is subject to the legend contained on the cover page of this proposal.”

(d) Information in a proposal identified by an offeror as trade secret information or confidential commercial and financial information shall be used by the Government only for the purpose of evaluating the proposal, except that (i) if a contract is awarded to the offeror as a result of or in connection with submission of the proposal, the Government shall have the right to use the information as provided in the contract, and (ii) if the same information is obtained from another source without restriction it may be used without restriction.

(e) If a request under the Freedom of Information Act seeks access to information in a proposal identified as trade secret information or confidential commercial and financial information, full consideration will be given to the offeror's view that the information constitutes trade secrets or confidential commercial or financial information. The offeror will also be promptly notified of the request and given an opportunity to provide additional evidence and argument in support of its position, unless administratively unfeasible to do so. If it is determined that information claimed by the offeror to be trade secret information or confidential commercial or financial information is not exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, the offeror will be notified of this determination prior to disclosure of the information.

(f) The Government assumes no liability for the disclosure or use of information contained in a proposal if not marked in accordance with paragraphs (b) and (c) of this provision. If a request under the Freedom of Information Act is made for information in a proposal not marked in accordance with paragraphs (b) and (c) of this provision, the offeror concerned shall be promptly notified of the request and given an opportunity to provide its position to the Government.

However, failure of an offeror to mark information contained in a proposal as trade secret information or confidential commercial or financial information will be treated by the

Government as evidence that the information is not exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, absent a showing that the failure to mark was due to unusual or extenuating circumstances, such as a showing that the offeror had intended to mark, but that markings were omitted from the offeror's proposal due to clerical error.

FAR 52.233-2 Service of Protest Department of the Interior (JUL 1996) (Deviation)

(a) Protests, as defined in section 33.101 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, that are filed directly with an agency, and copies of any protests that are filed with the Government

Accountability Office (GAO), shall be served on the Contracting Officer (Michael McGuire, 381 Elden Street, Suite 2000A, Herndon, VA 20170; mike_mcguire@ibc.doi.gov) by obtaining written and dated acknowledgment of receipt from the Contracting Officer.

(b) The copy of any protest shall be received in the office designated above within one day of filing a protest with the GAO.

(c) A copy of the protest served on the Contracting Officer shall be simultaneously furnished by the protester to the Department of the Interior Assistant Solicitor for Procurement and

Patents, 1849 C Street, NW, Room 6511, Washington, D.C. 20240."

(End of Provision)

[END OF SECTION 3]

SECTION 4 – QUOTATION PREPARATION & SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

4.1 General Instructions

The following instructions are included in addition to FAR provision 52.212-1. This acquisition will be conducted in accordance with FAR Part 12 for the purpose of entering into a Purchase Order.

Quoters shall submit a Technical and Price quote. Each must be submitted as a separate volume. Quoters shall not include pricing information in their Technical Volume.

4.2 Submission Requirements

Contractors are required to submit the following documents: a written Technical quote, Past Performance, Assumptions, Conditions, or Exceptions, draft Quality Assurance

Surveillance Plan and a Price quote to Government officials for the purposes of assuring that the prospective contractor is fully cognizant of the scope of this purchase order and has the capability to complete all requirements of the Performance of Work Statement.

4.2.1 FORMAT FOR QUOTES

The contractor shall submit an electronic copy of their quote containing the following:

• Volume I –Technical (20-page limit)

• Volume II – Past Performance (no page limit)

• Volume III – Assumptions, Conditions or Exceptions (no page limit)

• Volume IV – Draft Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (no page limit)

• Volume V – Price (no page limit)

The cover page must cite the following:

• Company Name

• Mailing Address

• System for Award Management (SAM) Unique Entity Identifier (UEI)

• Complete business mailing address as it appears in SAM

• Contact name, phone number, and e-mail address

• RFQ Number

• Date submitted and Quote Expiration Date

Quoters are required to be registered in SAM at www.sam.gov as of the date the quotation is submitted. The quoter’s SAM registration shall be in “active” status.

Quotations that do not meet all the requirements specified in this RFQ may not be considered.

http://www.sam.gov/

4.3 Volume I – Technical Submission

Page Limit: Limited to twenty (20) pages, cover letter, and table of contents. Pages in excess of 20 will not be evaluated.

Format: 12-point font, single-spaced, 8.5x11 paper. Graphics/tables may use 8-point font.

Technical: The technical quote should define in detail the contractor’s technical approach to meeting the requirements defined in the Performance Work Statement. The narrative with the contractor’s quote must be written in a clear, concise fashion describing precisely what the contractor proposes to do to meet those requirements. The technical quote should include, but is not limited to the following information:

1. General technical approach to meeting the requirements of the Performance Work

Statement including potential problems and proposed solutions.

In addition to the topics specified herein, the technical submission may address any other topics considered to be pertinent to demonstration of the knowledge, competence, and capability to complete the tasks identified in the Performance Work Statement. The quote package should be in the form of a detailed written quote describing how the work will be performed and who will perform the work.

Past Performance: Contractors shall identify three (3) contracts/task orders with the Federal

Government and/or commercial customers that demonstrate recent and relevant past performance. Recent is defined as within the last three years. Relevant is defined as work similar in complexity and magnitude of the work described in this Performance Work

Statement. Please provide three references of similar efforts performed by your organization for the last three years. Include a description of the project, project title, contract number, contract amount, client identification including agency or company name, contracting and technical reviewing official, address, telephone number, and email address.

The Government shall also consider information obtained through other sources. Past performance information will be utilized to determine the quality of the contractor’s past performance as it relates to the probability of success of the required effort.

Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan: The Offeror shall provide a draft QASP that includes requirements that define the work in measurable terms, measure performance standards tied to the requirements, a plan and methodology for measuring performance against standards, and a detailed process used to evaluate contractor performance against standards.

The Offeror shall effectively demonstrate a successful Quality Assurance Plan (QAP) which aligns with the draft Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP), training and orientation program, and effective approach to provide timely and accurate records and reports. A final QAP will be due within 30 days after the Government acceptance of the

QASP.

Please see refer to Section 5.0, Performance Requirements Summary of the PWS.

Price Submittal

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS: Your price portion shall be a separate volume from the technical portion.

SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS: The Contractor shall propose a pricing structure in accordance with their proposed technical solution. Contractors should provide the labor categories and labor hours appropriate for their proposed solution to meet the requirements of this effort, and any other proposed associated costs that the basis for calculating the proposed price of this effort. The price submission must have a total estimate for the entire period of performance.

The price quote breakdown should include:

1. Implementation (Includes ‘training’ of the RAG).

2. Training and training materials for administrators and users.

3. Year over year reoccurring costs—usage rate, hosting, subscription, tier 3 support, etc.

You are encouraged to discount your offer. If a discount is provided please indicate the non-discounted rates, the proposed percentage of discount and the discounted rate. In the spirit of cost transparency, cost savings to the taxpayer, and to the Federal Government, please consider voluntarily waiving or reducing labor rate escalation within your price submission for this project. Also, please summarize the savings you are providing to the government through this additional discounting effort.

Assumptions, Conditions, OR Exceptions: The contractor must submit, under separate cover, all (if any) assumptions, conditions, or exceptions with any of the contractual, technical, and/or cost/price terms and conditions of this RFQ. These assumption, conditions or exceptions do not count toward the page limit of the technical proposal. If not noted in this volume of your quote, it will be assumed that the contractor proposes no assumptions for award and agrees to comply with all of the terms and conditions as set forth herein. It is not the responsibility of the Government to seek out and identify assumptions, conditions, or exceptions buried within the contractor’s submission.

Assumptions, conditions or exceptions which an offeror sets forth may affect the acceptability of its quote.

4.4 Due Date and Time

Quotes must be received via email to Michael McGuire (mike_mcguire@ibc.doi.gov) and Jacqueline Hernandez (jacqueline_hernandez@ibc.doi.gov) no later than 10:00 A.M.

ET, May 04, 2026. Reference “Quote – 140D0426Q0324” in the subject line.

The Government reserves the right to contact a Quoter regarding their quote including to request additional discounts.

Late submissions may not be considered for evaluation at the discretion of the

Contracting Officer. No faxed or hard copy quotes will be accepted.

[END OF SECTION 4]

SECTION 5 - EVALUATION OF QUOTATIONS

5.1 Basis for Award

The first two technical factors, Technical Approach, Solution, Capabilities and Understanding and Past Performance, are of equal importance and when combined are more important than

Price. Price is the least important factor.

Quotes will be reviewed and evaluated in accordance with the evaluation criteria identified below:

Technical Approach, Solution, Capabilities and Understanding

• Past Performance

• Price

Evaluation of Non-Price Factor A and B

VOLUME I: TECHNICAL SUBMISSION

Factor A: Technical Approach, Solution, Capabilities and Understanding

The Government will evaluate the following items:

o Understanding of the Requirement:

▪ Outline the use rate of the AI Chatbot solution, based on historic traffic patterns for peacecorps.gov.

▪ The responder shall describe their methodology for optimizing the solution's efficiency, balancing response quality with computational cost

▪ Clarity and thoroughness in demonstrating understanding of the objectives of the PWS and specific tasks, including integration with the Peace Corps website, RAG dataset implementation, multilingual functionality, and

NLP capabilities.

▪ Creativity and feasibility of proposed solutions to meet operational goals, including lead generation, applicant conversion, and reduced staff workload.

▪ Ability to address potential anticipated problem areas and future needs, and feasibility of solutions to evolve and work with new processes and technology enhancements (e.g., advanced AI features, enhanced user experience, or streamlined administrative workflows).

o System Architecture and Technical Implementation:

▪ Quality of the proposed solution’s technical design, including FedRAMP

High authorization, uptime and SLA adherence, scalability, and optimization strategies.

▪ Ability to integrate with Peace Corps workflows, content management systems, and live agent escalation.

o Security, Privacy, and Compliance:

▪ Demonstrated ability to meet FedRAMP High standards, CUI and PII protection, HIPAA handling, and adherence to federal AI, privacy, and accessibility standards.

▪ Proposed methods for risk management, emergency response, and human oversight of AI operations.

VOLUME II: PAST PERFORMANCE

The Government will evaluate the following items:

Factor B: Past Performance

• The organization’s history of successful completion of projects; history of producing high-quality reports and other deliverables; history of staying on schedule and within budget within the past 3 years will be accepted.

• The organization’s specific past performance on prior similar efforts specified within the PWS.

VOLUME V: PRICE

Factor C: Price

The Contractor is expected to quote a reasonable price. An evaluation of each

Contractor’s price quote will be made to determine if it is reasonable for the work to be performed, reflects a clear understanding of the requirements, and is consistent with the proposed technical solution.

Each price quote will be assessed to identify potential risk. Price risk refers to any aspect of a Contractor’s quote which could have significant negative price consequences for the Government. Where risk is assessed it may be described in qualitative terms or used as a best-value discriminator.

BASIS FOR AWARD:

The Government will place an order using the procedures in FAR Part 12. Award will be made to the responsible vendor whose quotation, conforming to this solicitation, is judged to provide the “Best

Value” to the Government, all factors considered. Technical Approach, Solution, Capabilities and

Understanding and Past Performance, are of equal importance and when combined are more important than Price. Price is the least important factor. As submissions become technically equal in quality, price will become a major consideration in selecting the successful contractor.

The Government may reject any quote that is evaluated to be significantly non-compliant with the solicitation requirements or reflects a failure to comprehend the complexity and risks of the work to be performed.

Trade Offs:

The Government reserves the right to make an award to other than the low priced Contractor if the superior technical submission, or the submission indicating a reduced performance risk, warrants paying a premium. The Government's objective is to obtain the highest technical quality considered necessary to achieve the project objectives, with a reasonable price.

Submission of a quote implies the Quoter agrees to the terms and conditions in this document.

The Government reserves the right to not issue an award from this RFQ. This is an RFQ only and in no way obligates the Government to award a Purchase Order or to reimburse the Quoter for any costs incurred in preparing the response to this RFQ.

[END OF SECTION 5]

SECTION 6 – SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS, EXHIBITS, AND ATTACHMENTS

Attachment 1 PWS

Attachment 2 Limitations on Subcontracting Report

[END OF SECTION 6]