B09_-_RFQ_140F1S26Q0052_Q_A_(1)_0002.pdf

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

RFQ# 140F1S26Q0052

Recreation Permitting & Transaction Digital Platform

Q&A

1. Is there any incumbent/recompete or is this a brand-new project? If yes, could you please provide us with their award number or even if the customer bought similar services in the past. RecAccess, LLC, PO# 140F1S25P0013 Option period provides services through Sept 19, 2026.

2. FedRAMP authorization: The PWS and instructions require verifiable evidence of an active FedRAMP Moderate authorization for the proposed SaaS platform, such as a current Authorization to Operate (ATO) letter or a listing in the FedRAMP Marketplace, as a Go or NoGo item. Will the Government accept a FedRAMP High baseline (which exceeds the Moderate baseline in control rigor) supported by a Third Party Assessment Organization readiness package and inheritable AWS GovCloud controls, together with a defined, agency-sponsored path to ATO or an Authorization to Use, in lieu of a current Marketplace Authorized listing at the time of quote? If not, is an active Marketplace listing mandatory at quote submission, at award, or before go-live? The PWS requires an active FedRAMP Moderate authorization with the application listed in the FedRAMP Marketplace at time of quote.

3. login.gov and Entra ID: Will the Government provide the login.gov integration agreement and the Entra ID (Active Directory) tenant details and federation metadata required for SAML configuration, and at what point in the schedule will these be available? Upon award, a team from DOI Office of Chief Information Officer will provide details and support the awardee through federation.

4. Pay.gov: Will the Government sponsor the Pay.gov agency profile and provide the integration specification and a test environment? Is the contractor expected to hold the Pay.gov agreement, or to operate under the agency’s existing Pay.gov agreement? Yes, the Government will sponsor the Pay.gov agency profile and provide the integration spec and test environment. The contractor will operate under the Agency’s existing Pay.gov agreement.

5. Incumbent identity: The PWS states that more than 60 refuges currently use an approved platform. Who is the incumbent provider, what is the incumbent contract number, and when does that contract end? RecAccess, LLC, PO# 140F1S25P0013 Option period provides services through Sept 19, 2026.

6. Knowledge transfer: Is the incumbent funded and contractually obligated to provide phase-in knowledge transfer and a transition-out plan, including export of historical and active permit data, account data, and site configuration, during the phase-in period? If not, what data will the Government furnish, and in what formats? Knowledge transfer was not included in the previous iteration of the contract. We have included terms in the new iteration of the performance work statement.

7. Data migration inputs: Can the Government provide sample data extracts and a data dictionary for the affected sites so that offerors can validate the Data Migration Plan and accurately size the migration effort before award? Due to the amount of PII included in potential data exports the Government will instead provide a data dictionary to help inform the data migration plan. Full data exports will be made available to the awardee.

8. No-Cost versus Government-paid: Are the firm-fixed unit-price CLINs (Annual Account Support Services, New Product Configuration, and the add-on features) paid directly by the Government, or are they to be recovered solely through the per-transaction fee, making the contract No-Cost to the Government? Under FLREA, all fees collected must be deposited directly with the Treasury. The contractor will invoice the agency for their transaction fees based on the firm-fixed unit-price CLINs agreed upon in the contract.

9. Transaction fee basis: Is the per-transaction fee charged to the public as a convenience or processing fee in addition to permit fees, or to the Government? Does the percentage apply to gross sales or to sales net of refunds and cancellations, and how are free permits and free lotteries (zero-dollar transactions) treated for fee purposes? Under FLREA the agency can only collect user fees up to the approved amount. Transaction fees will be deducted from the overall use fee. Transaction fees cannot be added on to the approved fee. Free permits and lotteries are free to the end user. You can include a pricing strategy for these CLINs in your proposal. Transaction fees can be based on gross sales as the platform still needs to process these payments. Passes and permits are non-refundable and non-transferrable. There may be edge cases where cancellations are necessary in the event of a major weather event or natural disaster where a one-time, good faith waiving of CLIN(s) may be reasonable.

10. Add-on quantities: Should offerors price the add-on feature CLINs at the maximum quantities shown in the Technical Exhibit (for example, Free Permits up to 23 and Check- In/Check-Out up to 13)? Are those quantities one-time configuration charges or recurring annual charges? The quantity for add-on features represents the number of stations using this feature, not the number of times the feature is expected to be used. For example, approximately 13 stations will use a check-in and check-out feature, which could account for hundreds or thousands of individual check-ins. This will likely be a recurring annual charge for use of this feature, but you can include a one-time configuration pricing option in your bid.

11. Page format: The instructions limit Volume I to 25 pages but do not specify a font, font size, line spacing, or page margins. Please confirm the required or minimum font, font size, line spacing, and page margins for Volume I. Minimum 11 pt font size, single line spacing is OK with 1-inch margins.

12. Counting toward the page limit: Do tables, charts, graphics, and a compliance matrix count toward the 25-page Volume I limit, or are they, like the cover page and appendix, excluded? Is there a page or content limit on the appendix? Tables, charts, graphics, and a compliance matrix are included in the page limit if they form part of your technical proposal. However, items used solely as supporting documentation may be placed in an appendix. There is no page limit for the appendix, as this section is intended exclusively for supplementary information.

13. Past performance burden: For Factor 2, may offerors submit recent Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) evaluations directly in lieu of a past-performance questionnaire, to reduce the burden on Government reference points of contact? If a questionnaire is required, please provide the form and its due date. Past performance will be assessed in accordance with the guidelines outlined under Volume I, Factor II. The vendor shall demonstrate prior experience as it relates to cases of similar size, scope, and complexity to this requirement within the past 3-5 years. A minimum of 2 examples.

14. Data rights: The PWS states the Government owns all materials produced under the contract, including source code. For a commercial, proprietary SaaS platform

(Enablement, a registered trademark), will the Government accept Government Purpose Rights or a license to the underlying platform, with unlimited rights limited to Government data and contract-specific configurations and deliverables, rather than assignment of the contractor's pre-existing commercial source code? The Government will accept a Government Purpose Rights or a license to the underlying platform with unlimited rights to the Government data and contract-specific configurations and deliverables.

15. Service levels: Beyond the 99 percent uptime standard in the Performance Requirements Summary, does the Government require defined support response and resolution times, a service-credit or corrective-action remedy structure, and specific scheduled-maintenance windows? Please confirm the uptime measurement method and any exclusions for scheduled maintenance. Please see the attachment, “See the updated Service Performance, Corrective Action.”

16. Set-aside and NAICS: The RFQ states that it is not a small business set-aside, while the SAM.gov notice lists an original Total Small Business Set-Aside and NAICS code 541511. Please confirm the applicable set-aside status and NAICS code for this acquisition. This requirement is being solicited with a small business set-aside.

17. Section 508: Will the Government accept a current VPAT 2.4 Rev 508 at the time of quote, with DHS Trusted Tester results for the as-configured platform delivered during transition, or are DHS Trusted Tester results required at the time of quote? Yes, this is acceptable.

18. Given the Firm-Fixed Price / No-Cost structure, is there an established budget or independent government cost estimate for this effort, or an expected annual transaction volume we should use to model the transaction-fee pricing? Please use the “Est. volume of permit sales” column of the table provided at the end of the performance work statement to model transaction-fee pricing.

19. Is there an incumbent platform currently providing these services, and if so, will historical transaction volumes and site configuration data be made available to support pricing and transition planning? The transaction volume estimates provided at the end of the performance work statement are based on historical transaction data.

20. The period of performance begins 09/20/2026, which leaves a tight window between anticipated award and go-live across 60+ sites. Could you share the Government's expectations for the transition and implementation timeline, and whether there is flexibility on the go-live date to ensure a smooth, low-risk onboarding? Field stations may need to fall back on manual processes while a new offeror onboards. It’s imperative we onboard the next contractor as quickly as possible and focus development on the features used by the most stations to minimize impacts on both field users and our recreational users.

21. Referring to block 10 - "Any representations and/or certifications attached to this Request for Quotation must be completed by the quoter": Please clarify what has to be completed with regards to representations or certifications. All certifications specified as mandatory in the performance work statement must be incorporated within your proposal.

22. In addition to Volume I and II, are there any other documents or forms that need to submitted with the response? Responses must include all supporting documents that address the factors for Volume I and II.

23. In order to receive more offers from qualified vendors in the outdoor recreation software industry, would the government consider responses from vendors who would be willing to receive FedRAMP moderate authorization prior to system launch, but would not have it at the time of RFQ response submittal? No, this is a Go NoGo.

24. Please clarify the format to follow for pricing breakdown for Volume II – Pricing. Is the expectation that Sol_140F1S26Q0052.PDF will be completed and returned as part of volume II? Use the CLIN breakdown on pages 1–6 and refer to the summary on page 28 for a concise list of line items.

25. Please provide examples of the challenges experienced and/or improvements sought relating to the current recreation and permit management system from a customer staff and administrative perspective that you are looking to address with this RFQ. Customer support with creating and managing accounts, especially for citizens who do not have their own email address or easy access to the internet. Security requirements like Zero Trust MFA and the requirement to use Login.gov (another account) for authentication make things more difficult on users. The more you can abstract away the complexity of complying with these security requirements, so citizens find the process easier, and field staff aren’t having to provide as much customer support, the better.

26. What is the anticipated go-live date of the system? September 20, 2026.

27. Please provide the fee(s) paid to/retained by the current vendor/vendors per transaction in the most recent fiscal year for transactions processed in each channel. This information is considered confidential and cannot be provided. Please use the estimated number of passes/permits of each type provided at the end of the performance work statement to determine your transaction fees.

28. Please provide the annual cost to the Agency across the different sales channels. The government will not be sharing/providing this information. Please base your bid on the details provided in the solicitation, not past pricing.

29. Can the Agency provide guidance on any budget you have established for this project?

The agency does not use appropriated funds for this project. The contractor is paid using a portion of the FLREA fee collected by users of the system.