140G0123R0022_Q_A_Combined_10-23-23_-_RFP_Amendment_06_0006.pdf

Question

Number

RFP Reference Question Government Response

1, (a -e) N/A 1. Is there an incumbent contractor or contractors for this effort?

a. If so, what is the name of the incumbent?

b. If there is an incumbent, what is the contract number for the incumbent?

c. If there is an incumbent, has the scope of this solicitation changed significantly from that of the incumbent contract?

d. If there is no incumbent contractor(s), then is this work being done today, and if so, who is performing the work today? Government employees?

e. Since the Government has specified a 30-day transition-in period, who will be formally responsible for performance during the transition --the incumbent contractor or the new contractor?

1. Yes.

a. ASRC Federal Data Solutions, LLC

b. 140G0119C0001

c. No.

d. N/A.

e. The parties will have shared responsibilities in accordance with sections C.12 and C.14.

2, (a -b) L.7 Are resumes for key personnel required to be submitted with offeror's proposals?

(a) If so, where in the offeror's proposal are they to be placed and are they within page limitation?

(b) If so, are letters of intent/commitment required to be also submitted with offeror's proposals?

2. No.

a. N/A

b. N/A

3(a) – 3(b) L.8(d) Solicitation, L.8(d), p. 56 states, "Contractor Responsibility

Information. Provide information demonstrating that the offeror is responsible within the meaning of

FAR 9.104-1. The following specific data should be included: ... (2)

Financial resources. Provide copies of the offeror's most current certified financial statements and balance sheets and profit and loss statements from the last two years. If additional financing is expected to be required for performance of the resultant contract, describe the nature of such arrangements. ... (4) Accounting system. If offeror's accounting system has been reviewed and approved by a

Government auditor, provide the auditor's name and telephone number and date of most recent review."

3(a). Any determination of non-responsibility will be handled in accordance with the relevant regulations.

3(b). Any determination of non-responsibility will be handled in accordance with the relevant regulations.

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(a) Please confirm that under FAR

9.104-3(a), 9.104-3(d)(1), 19.602-

1(a), and 19.602-1(b), if a small business offeror is unable to provide certified financials or a Government-audited or Government-reviewed accounting system, and if the

Contracting Officer finds that due to the resulting apparent inadequacy of the accounting system, that under the criteria of an offeror's ability to perform, the offeror is therefore unable to perform, but the that offeror's offer is otherwise acceptable with regard to matters of responsibility and there are no other disqualifying factors other than this ability to perform, then such a small business offeror may affirmatively apply to the SBA for a Certificate of

Competency (COC) as conclusive determination of that offeror's responsibility.

(b) Or that, alternatively, the

Contracting Officer, in the case of the lack of such evidence, would first refer the offeror to the cognizant

Government auditor, such as DCAA, for audit or review of the adequacy of their accounting system, before any award decision is made for the solicitation.

4 L.6 6(c) The RFP states that proposals are due

10/20/2021. Will the Government please confirm the requested due date?

Due date is extended to

11/02/2023.

5 L.7(d)(3) & M.1(a)3 The L paragraph reference in the RFP refers to Corporate Experience and

Capability Information. The M paragraph reference refers to Relevant

Experience. Will the Government clarify the desired title and if any of the instructions are to be updated based on the response?

There is no desired title for use in proposals beyond what is specified in L.6 tables (page 53).

On table in section L.6 (page

53), “File Name” has been changed to “Section Name” for clarity.

6 Sample Task Order #

The PoP for this task order is

1/1/2024 -12/31/2024. But the monthly distribution of LoE shows

2023.

Will the Government confirm the PoP starts 1/1/ 2024?

The anticipated POP start date is

01/01/2024. This is subject to change, but the start date will not be any earlier that 01/01/2024.

7 L.6(c) Volume II

Business

Management and

Cost Proposal Table

– File 2

Does the Government plan to provide a fill-in of Section B or Exhibits to be referenced in Section B, in order to separately price each item?

No. L.9 outlines the cost elements required for submission. See #8 below for further details on “separately priced items”.

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L.8(a)Cost/Price

Proposal

L.9(a) Cost Proposal

& Section B –

Supplies or Services and Cost/Prices B.2

Pricing

8 L.6(c) Volume II

Business

Management and

Cost Proposal Table

Based on the voluminous amount of information required to satisfy the requirements in the Volume II

Business Management and Cost

Proposal, will the Government consider removing the 50-page limit from Volume II?

The page limit has been increased to 80. In addition, certain elements are now excluded from the page limitation. See #6 below.

9 L.6(c) Volume II

Business

Management and

Cost Proposal Table

Based on the voluminous amount of information required to satisfy the requirements in the Volume II

Business Management and Cost

Proposal, will the Government consider excluding the TPECP and

IDIQ level cost/pricing data supporting the cost (Factors 5 and 6) from the page limitation?

Yes. The TPECP and IDIQ level cost/pricing data has been excluded from the page limitation.

10 L.9(a)(5) Does the Government plan to provide a plug number to cover ODCs (Travel and Printing)?

Yes. $50K annually. $250K total over five years.

11 L.9(a) Section States: “Certified cost or pricing data are not required for this procurement; however, the

Contracting Officer is required to determine the offeror's proposed price(s)/costs to be reasonable. To make this determination, the offeror shall submit the cost data requested below in support of each separately priced item in Section B.”

The current section B does not currently identify any items to be separately priced, can the Government clarify to which elements in section B this statement is referring?

The language in the RFP (L.9) has been updated to clarify. The reference to “separately priced item in Section B” has been removed.

12 L.7 Technical proposal instructions

(d)(4)

“Past performance information.

Provide past performance information on above listed projects/ contracts, plus all Government contracts performed by offeror's business segment currently or completed or terminated within the past 3 years.”

Will the Government consider limiting the list to only those contract where the Offeror was the Prime as a

Yes, an offeror can choose to limit this submission to prime contracts. However, an offeror can also choose to provide the

Government past performance information as a first-tier subcontractor. RFP language updated.

Yes, the past performance information will not be included

140G0123R0022 Amendment 05 - Q&A Document 10-20-2023 Page 3 of 8 subcontractor there is no privy of contracting to the government?

Additionally, will the Government remove the past performance information for all the contracts of the business sector from the page count of the technical proposal.

in the page count. RFP language updated to reflect.

13 L.7(d)(4) and

Attachment C-PPQ

L.7.(d)(4) states, “If past performance information is not in

CPARS, offerors shall contact their references and request that each reference complete the “Past

Performance Questionnaire (PPQ)” and email the completed survey form directly to the Contracting Officer, at ckuhn@usgs.gov at least 3 days before the solicitation’s close date.”

However Attachment C-PPQ states, “In order for a complete evaluation to take place, we request that you complete the attached form and email it, and any other pertinent information, by the solicitation’s close date and time to the USGS Contract Specialist at ckuhn@usgs.gov.”

Would the Government revise

L.7(d)(3) to state that the PPQ must be sent by the solicitation’s close date so the Section L instructions are consistent with the PPQ instructions?

Yes. This has been revised.

14 Section L Format Can we use Times New Roman 9-point font for header/footers, tables, and graphics?

No. However, 10-point is acceptable. RFP revised to reflect.

15 Section L Format Are landscape pages allowed? Yes.

16 Section L.6(4) Where is Paragraph L.16. Section L only goes through L.9

RFP corrected.

17 Section L.6(5) Where is Paragraph L.17. Section L only goes through L.9

RFP corrected.

18 Section L.6 L.6(c) 3rd paragraph. Proposal

Organization: Proposals shall be submitted in two volumes, one volume containing the

“Technical” and the other volume containing the “Business Management and Cost.” And then in L.6 Table states to put them in individual files.

Are these files to have individual page numbers or are the volumes to be numbered consecutively? For example, if File 1 contains pp. 1-30, should File 2 start as p. 31 or restart numbering?

The files should have individual page numbers. RFP language updated.

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19 L.6(c) Volume I:

Technical Proposal and Volume II

Business

Management and

Cost Proposal Table

Will the Government exclude the

Table of Contents, List of Figures, List of Tables and Acronym List from each of the separately submitted files for Volumes I and II?

No. However, the page limits have been updated.

20 L.7(d)(4) The instructions request past performance information of projects listed in Factor 3, Past Experience, “plus all Government contracts performed by the offeror’s business segment currently or complete or terminated within the past 3 years.”

Considering this section is page limited, would the Government consider limiting this to all relevant contracts?

Yes. RFP language updated.

21 SOL. L.6 Please clarify the submission instructions. Is the Technical Proposal to be submitted as one document in four separate files or one document in one file?

RFP language updated. Each volume shall be submitted as separate compressed (zip) folder containing the required sections as separate documents within the folder. The word “file” has been replaced with “section” to avoid confusion.

22 SOL. L.6 Reference the above question, if the

Business Management and Cost

Proposal is to be submitted as separate files, please identify where all required items such as the SF-1447 or the required Organizational data belong.

See above answer. SF-1447 and organization data should be included in Volume II, Section

(Document) 3.

23 SOL. L.8(d) (2) For an unpopulated JV, are the managing member’s financial resources sufficient to meet the requirement?

Yes.

24 SOL. L.7(d)(1) Does the Government envision responses within the Technical

Proposal (the IDIQ-level response, as well as all three Sample Task Order

Responses) to encompass any specific technical information as it relates to the IDIQ-level SOW or the specific

Sample Task Order SOWs as it relates specifically to Section L.7(d)(1)? Or, are these 4 response areas (File 1, File

1.1, File 1.2, and File 1.3) strictly focused on management capabilities, processes, and structure, as the technical expertise will be presented via the Corporate/Relevant

Information and Past Performance sections?

All required technical information is outlined in L.7

(Instructions). File (section) 1 should address all technical evaluation factors. Files

(sections) 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3

(sample task orders) need not address factors 3 and 4 (relevant experience and past performance).

Technical proposals will be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation factors in Section

M. Section L.7 (instructions) provides a complete overview of the information required in the technical proposal. Section M states how this information will be evaluated. Although the

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Could you please clarify how these

L.7 instruction quotes will be evaluated.

words used in the evaluation factors in Section M don't mirror the L.7 language word for word, everything asked for in L.7 is directly related to the Section M evaluation factors. The information provided in L.7 will allow the Government to evaluate technical proposals in accordance with the factors outlined in Section M.

25 General Will a list of desired key personnel, along with areas of expertise and responsibility descriptions, be provided by the government?

Nothing beyond what is already stated in RFP document.

26 I.1 and H.8 GS1352 52.219-14 (e)(1) of the FAR states:

Services (except construction), [the offeror] 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;

GS1352 of the RFP on this solicitation states: Except as specifically approved in writing, in advance, by the

Contracting Officer, the contractor shall not subcontract any work to be performed hereunder. It is contemplated that approval will be given for subcontracting certain phases of the work when, in the opinion of the COR and the

Contracting Officer, such subcontracting will not adversely affect the quality or delivery of the final product nor the difficulty or cost of inspection and testing. Requests for approval to subcontract shall be submitted, in writing, to the

Contracting Officer.

Can the government confirm which of these subcontracting restrictions takes precedence in filling task orders issued for this IDIQ?

Clause GS1352 (section H.8) has been removed.

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27 L.9(a)(3) To establish consistency between offerors, will the Government confirm offerors are to propose labor categories and hours necessary to satisfy all PWS elements provided in the RFP?

Offerors shall propose labor categories and rates at the IDIQ level. No hours are to be proposed at the IDIQ level.

Hours are to be proposed at the task order (see sample task orders) level. Section L.9(a)(3) updated to clarify.

28 L.9 The RFP does not specify a cost data format for offerors to utilize to submit their Volume II Business Management and Cost Proposals. Will the

Government confirm there is no standard format and offerors should utilize their own separate MS Excel format for the Cost Proposal portion of the submission

Confirmed.

29 Sec C.8; Sec. F.2;

Sec L.7(d)(3)

What type of facilities and equipment would be required of the vendors?

Can you confirm that the place of performance is the government facility, and what government equipment is provided.

The Government shall provide all equipment to perform tasks of this contract (reference section

C.8). The primary place of performance (duty location) is the Government facility

(reference section F.2). Off-site telework may be permissible

(reference section C.9).

30 Sec C.5 What types of task orders would be released related to the wildfire knowledge capability, for example, “wildland fire impacts in shrubland and forest ecosystems”?

Anticipated Task Order type is

Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF).

31 Which of the following seven EROS scientific focus areas will be supported by the SSSC contract: Land

Cover Mapping and Monitoring;

National and Regional Land Change

Assessment; Early Warning for Food

Security; Fire Science; Shrub/Range

Land Mapping (vegetation);

WaterSmart: Climate and Water

Dynamics; Landsat Science Team

Support?

Sec C.2. Overview, ISAB identifies six focus areas within scope of this contract.

32 Does the customer anticipate task orders in Food Security? Do the requirements/capabilities in the SOW apply to Food Security-focused research?

Sec C.2, Human Health and

Food Security, is an identified focus area.

33 Can the Government confirm that

Factor 6 is only requesting information at the IDIQ level and the offeror does not need to include information on the sample task orders?

Confirmed.

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34 Can the Government confirm that pricing information is not being requested for the sample task orders?

Cost/price submissions for sample task orders shall be provided. The anticipated level of effort (LOE) identified in the sample task orders are the required LOE to be priced.

35 Can the Government confirm that

Factor 5 (Total Compensation Plan) is looking for general company pricing practices versus specific buildups for the proposed IDIQ labor categories?

Factor 5 will be evaluated in accordance with FAR 52.222-46.

Offerors shall submit a total compensation plan setting forth salaries and fringe benefits proposed for the professional employees who will work under the contract. Reference www.acquisition.gov/far/52.222-

46 for complete details.

36 L.9(3) Will the government confirm that the anticipated level of effort identified in the sample task orders are the required level of effort to be priced?

Confirmed. RFP has been updated for clarity.

37 Clarification on prior Q&A:

Will the government clarify how the evaluated price or cost as referenced in section M.2 (b) will be calculated?

The anticipated LOE identified in the sample task orders are the required LOE to be priced.

Total evaluated cost/price as referenced in section M.2 will be calculated by adding the total proposed cost on each sample task order.

Q&A #s 34 and 36 have been updated/clarified. Relevant section(s) of RFP (L.6, L.7, L.9, and M.2) have been updated/clarified.

38 Clarification on prior Q&A:

Did the government intend to leave the request for hours in this reference;

given answers to Amendment 5 questions; or should this be removed?

RFP L.8(b) sections 1-4 removed for clarity. Since this is a regulatory requirement, all necessary information/requirements are contained in FAR 52.222-46.

This section of RFP is updated to reference 52.222-46 for requirements.

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