140G0125R0001_LST_Q_A_12-6-24_0005.pdf

US Geological Survey (USGS) Landsat Science Team Solicitation 140G0125R0001 – Q&A (12/6/2024)

# QUESTION ANSWER

1 Are Co-PIs allowed, assuming there is a clear indication who the LST member will be?

Yes. Note however that the USGS contract is issued to only the lead PI’s organization.

2 Past Performance: Is this focusing on the lead PI or the institution submitting the proposal? If there are no prior

USGS contracts should contracts with other relevant agencies be included (eg NASA)? If it is institutional performance should the CPARS site be used?

Past performance is removed as an evaluation factor. Offerors no longer need to submit past performance information. All other evaluation factors remain unchanged. Reference RFP

Sections L and M.

3 Is there any template \ clear guidelines for the proposal requirements? Number of pages? Content? Etc?

Yes, this information can be found in

Section L of the RFP.

4 I understand that government employees cannot propose to this RFP. Is it allowed to include them as non-funded

Co-I?

No. Federal Acquisition Regulation

(FAR) 3.601 prohibits knowingly awarding a contract to a Government employee. A non-funded Co-I would be considered part of the funded contract due to involvement in proposal preparation and performance. Reference

FAR 3.601 and RFP provision GS2112 for more information on involvement of current or former employees.

5 One question that came up was a clarification in Section

C on Page 9 of 48 of the RFP, Required Topical

Expertise, paragraph 3: “Landsat Science Team proposers are encouraged to group around joint and complementary objectives by science discipline, with a designated PI, supporting Co-Investigators, Post-Doctoral staff, students and/or technical support staff across multiple institutions if appropriate.”

When you say "science discipline", do you mean for example: cryopshere, and the complementary objectives could be snow albedo, SWE, snowmelt modeling, glaciers, sea ice, etc? Or do you mean for example forming teams like snow, vegetation, and fire which all interact with each other?

Under this RFP, the organization is considered the contractor. Proposing organizations are encouraged to provide a

Landsat Science Team membership structure that best suits the proposed scope work and its application. "Science discipline" may include either one broad discipline that establishes an organizational framework that links multiple sub-disciplines, or a broader level application that examines the interactions among multiple broad science disciplines (snow, vegetation, fire as noted in example).

6 For this USGS proposal, is there an IDC cap (like some other USGS award types), or is the IDC rate the full rate set by the institution?

There is no IDC rate cap set by USGS under this RFP.

7 It is known that Co-Is and Key Technical Personnel can be listed in the proposal, but are unpaid collaborators also allowed?

It is up to the offeror to propose the composition of the team. The USGS contract is issued to only the lead PI's organization. The organization is considered the contractor. Unpaid work

(labor) is not permissible under the resulting contract. Any/all allowable costs associated with the team members contributing to the government's requirements under this contract shall be accounted for and paid (reimbursed) by the government under the contract award.

As a reminder, this is not a grant solicitation (federal funding opportunity).

This is a solicitation for a contract award

(acquisition).

8 Please confirm if your office has a preferred Cost

Proposal Template for the above referenced request for proposal.

There is no preferred template beyond what's stated in Section L of the solicitation which specifies formatting and information required. Section L.8 specifically outlines cost proposal instructions.

9 I am having trouble finding “Standard Form 33 cover page”, as referenced in L.5 of the RFP- can you point me in the right direction?

This should read Standard Form 1447.

Correction made.

10 L.6 states “Each resume must indicate the applicable contract labor category under which that individual will be assigned for work performed under the contract”. As a professor, I am not sure which contract labor category I fall into, do you know this information, or do you know where I can look this up? Also, do you which categories a university Research Scientist and a university Postdoc should be listed as?

Labor category to reflect the role the individual assumes under performance of the contract. Generally, professor would be “PI”. Example as follows:

Labor

Category/Title

Fixed Burdened

Rates

PI $

Co-I $

Post-Doc $

Research Scientist $

11 I see that "past performance" has been completely removed as an evaluation factor. Related to this, should we include a "current and pending" grants document from the investigators? Most programs I have applied for require this document, but I didn't see it mentioned in the

RFP.

No, that document is not required. This

RFP not a grant solicitation (federal funding opportunity). This is a solicitation for a contract award

(acquisition). Please do note the remaining evaluation factors in Sections

L and M, which includes research team experience.

12 Will the science team receive any funds to conduct research, or just travel reimbursements? If I understand correctly, the target annual cost (budget) for each contract award is $150,000.00 to $250,000.00. Does this include proposals from international people?

The resulting awards (contracts) from the

RFP will be cost reimbursement contracts. No profit or fee to be included.

The science team member contractors

(awardees) under this RFP will receive funding for reimbursement of allowable costs. That includes direct labor, direct travel, and other allowable costs as specified under RFP and contract clause

FAR 52.216-7.

Yes, the target annual cost per contract award is $150,000.00 to $250,000.00.

International organizations are eligible to submit a proposal under this RFP.

13 Could USGS please confirm that the "Supporting and

Other Information" section is not included in the page count?

"Supporting and Other Information" is included in the page count. For "reprints of any published papers" hyperlinks are preferred to keep file sizes and page counts to a minimum.

14 Is it possible to include Letters of Support in the submitted documents for the complete proposal? Are letters of any kinds allowable?

In addition to the information/documentation required for submission (as specified in Section L of the solicitation), supporting documentation/information may be submitted as well. Unless expressly prohibited in the solicitation, the proposing organization may submit any supporting information/documentation it deems relevant and appropriate to address the evaluation factors specified in the solicitation.

15 From Item 7 in the most recent Q&A document, I understand the following: “Unpaid work (labor) is not permissible under the resulting contract. Any/all allowable costs associated with the team members contributing to the government's requirements under this contract shall be accounted for and paid (reimbursed) by the government under the contract award.” Can you please confirm that unpaid technical assistance is not allowed?

The government cannot accept unpaid services that directly support (e.g. direct labor) its requirements under this funded acquisition. Unpaid technical assistance that is not considered direct labor is acceptable.

16 For item 6, I’m not sure what does “it should also demonstrate the relationship of this program to overall company structure” mean. Could you please clarify here? For organizational chart, do you mean a chart on schools and departments (or just the proposal team, such as PI, Co-I, Postdoc, and student)? Shall I put this in the technical proposal and does this also counted as the 25 pages?

Information (organizational chart) submitted for item 6 should include information on the team itself and any relevant information on the firm/organization (institution

(schools/departments)) that aligns with

(or supports) the team’s activities. This information should be included in the technical proposal and is included in the page count.

17 For item 7, is this asking for information on what resources we have (e.g., HPC) and what are our team expertise are?

Yes. Information submitted for item 7 should include information on the team itself, and any relevant information on the firm/organization (institution) that supports and/or aligns with the team’s activities. Information to include experience, expertise, capabilities, and resources.

18 In the RFP document, it was mentioned (Topical

Expertise section) that Academic, industry, and non-governmental organization scientists and engineers are eligible to serve on the Landsat Science Team. It didn’t mention that federal employees are not eligible but I would like to know if there is any restriction for federal employees to submit a proposal to this solicitation. Also wonder if USGS employees can be primary investigator/co-investigator. Please provide this information.

No, federal government employees cannot be awarded a contract under this solicitation. Federal Acquisition

Regulation (FAR) 3.601 prohibits knowingly awarding a contract to a government employee. Please reference FAR 3.601 and RFP provision

GS2112 for more information on involvement of current or former employees.

19 I would like to confirm whether it is permissible to have a professor from a foreign university serve as a Co-PI.

Additionally, I would like to ask if government employees from other countries are eligible to serve as

Co-PIs.

The Federal Acquisition Regulation

(FAR) 3.601* prohibition on government employees receiving government contracts only applies to US federal government employees. Please reference FAR 25.7** for prohibited international sources. Aside from the prohibited sources listed in FAR 25.7, there are no restrictions on proposing international Co-PI's or government employees of other countries. As a reminder, please note that the USGS contract is issued to only the lead PI's organization (offeror). The organization is considered the contractor.

*https://www.acquisition.gov/far/3.601

**https://www.acquisition.gov/far/part-

25#FAR_Subpart_25_7

20 Is it allowed to include yet-to-be-hire personnel such as research scientists or postdoctoral researchers? In this case, the individuals for these roles have not been identified, and we would plan to recruit them if searched if the contract is awarded. As such, would not be able to provide resumes for these yet-to-be-hired personnel.

There is no prohibition on including yet-to-be-hired personnel, however, key personnel must be identified. If offered key personnel are not currently employed by your firm/institution, a written statement signed by the individual must accompany the resume indicating the https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.acquisition.gov%2Ffar%2F3.601&data=05%7C02%7Cckuhn%40usgs.gov%7Cafd4b181fb684f336d9508dd0d7d7d9a%7C0693b5ba4b184d7b9341f32f400a5494%7C0%7C0%7C638681555300423659%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=tggKgxKF60F%2BnWkX51DWAIzCW82JDZD0t77El0LYUOk%3D&reserved=0 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/3.601 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/part-25#FAR_Subpart_25_7 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/3.601 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/part-25#FAR_Subpart_25_7 https://www.acquisition.gov/far/part-25#FAR_Subpart_25_7 individual's commitment to join your firm/institution in the event of a contract award. Offerors are cautioned to verify the continued availability of individuals proposed prior to submission of their offer. Please reference section H.1

(clause GS1330) and L.6 (provision

GS2162) for more information.

Further clarification: Key personnel assigned for significant direct work on the project must be identified with resumes included. Individuals providing technical assistance/support are generally not considered key personnel. PI and any

Co-I(s) should be considered and identified as key personnel. Post-docs and/or researchers providing technical assistance/support do not need to be identified as key personnel. In addition, CO-I(s) do not need to be employed by the institution of the PI. They can join via a sub-contract (sub-award) arrangement. Please note though, the PI's firm/institution is considered the prime contractor and the USGS contract award is issued to only the lead PI’s organization.

21 I can see that in L.6 it is written “Proposal length must not exceed 25 pages, not including the title page and key personnel.”, however, there is no mention on the references used. Is the space reserved for references also included in the 25 page limit?

Yes, any references an offeror chooses to include (outside of resumes) are included in the 25-page limit. Please note though, past performance has been removed as an evaluation factor. Past performance information is no longer a required submission.

22 In preparing our proposal, I wanted to just verify that we are to include travel funds to EROS 2X per year for each year of the grant for the PI or a Co-I to attend the Landsat

NEXT team meetings. Is that correct?

Yes, that is correct. Estimated travel costs should be included in the cost proposal.

Also, one clarification to add. The resulting funded award will be a contract, not a grant.

23 I have a question about the page limit of the proposal. In the RFP L6 section, it mentions that proposal length is 25 pages, not including the title page, resume of key personnel, and past performance. Does this mean all the others are included? Even for the Project Organization, corporate experience and capability information, and

Yes, all other information, including any references letters/papers, are included in the page limit. Please note, reference letters/papers are not required under the

RFP, but may be submitted at the offeror's discretion to aid in the evaluation.

supporting data? How about the reference papers? I currently have almost 10 pages’ reference.

24 In Q&A 10 and Section C of the RFP, the labor categories mentioned include PI, Co-I, Post-Doc, Research Scientist, students, and technical support staff.

Are we allowed to use different terms such as Co-PI or collaborators, only 'consultants'?

Yes, different terms may be used.

25 I have a senior collaborator on the team who will commit

0.5 months of effort to provide guidance and complementary expertise. Should their role be as a Co-I or as a Collaborator in the proposal?

Either one works.

26 The Landsat Science Team members are required to participate in in-person meetings twice per year. Should the travel costs for these meetings be included in our budget?

Yes.

27 If selected, will Co-Is participate as a member of the

Landsat Science Team, and are they required to attend the full-team in-person meetings twice per year?

No.

28 a) I understand that government employees are not eligible to propose to this RFP. Is an individual whose institution (non-federal) has awards (e.g. grant, cooperative agreement, contract) with the government eligible to participate in the proposal as a funded Co-I?

b) If so, how would the contract be structured? I have been collaborating with a colleague who will serve as the

PI. Based on my understanding of typical arrangements, the PI’s institution would have a contract with USGS, while the Co-Is' institutions would subcontract with the

PI’s institution. Are there any specific considerations we should be aware of?

a) Yes.

b) Your understanding of the contract structure is correct. The lead PI's organization/institution would receive the contract from USGS and serve as the prime contractor. All USGS funding would go to the prime contractor institution. It is up to the prime contractor institution how to set up any subawards (subcontracts) to other organizations/institutions that employ Co-Is or other contributors. Note, the lead PI's organization (prime contractor) will need to include the subaward

(subcontract) details and budget

(estimated costs) within their overall cost proposal.