B09_-_Amend_0003_-_Questions_with__Responses_6_9_2022_0003.pdf

QUESTION 1: The government response is that each offeror must have a certified PGS applicator at the time of technical proposal submission. However, in the SOW, all references to a certified PGS applicator indicate that the certified personnel must be submitted with RFQs to individual task orders. I did not read in the SOW where we must have a certified applicator prior to technical proposal submission.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: Successful offerors shall have a certified PGS applicator within 60 days after award of a contract. The BLM may withhold award of task orders to a contractor until they have a certified PGS applicator.

QUESTION 2: The training course at the Science and Conservation Center in Montana appears to be geared toward darting animals with a gun, not providing vaccination/contraception in a fly chute as required under this SOW.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: The Science and Conservation Center training addresses multiple items in the training. All information in their training is important for contractors to know and understand.

QUESTION 3: The amendment to the solicitation states that attachment 7 (unit pricing spreadsheet) was also updated. The spreadsheet is the same as the original solicitation, and I cannot find any updates or changes. Please clarify if the spreadsheet on the website is the correct one to use.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: The updated Attachment 7 (Unit pricing spreadsheet) was inadvertently omitted from the amendment upload. The updated attachment was included with amendment 0002 to this solicitation. The only change on the spreadsheet was to change the titles in columns C, D, E, F, and G from Base Year, Option Year One, Option Year Two, etc. to Year One, Year Two, Year 3, etc.

QUESTION 4: Criterion 2 and 3 are nearly identical. Criterion 2 is for drive trapping, and criterion 3 is for bait trapping, but the description for both states "drive trapping", and criterion 3 references wings designs. Does the BLM expect the bait traps to have wings?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: Within Criterion 3, it should state Bait Trapping. Solicitation has been revised.

QUESTION 5: Section 5 Contract Administration, e. Key Personnel, states: The following individuals shall be identified as key personnel for the Contractor:

• Contractor(s) or owner/entity principal

• Ground foreman/Trap supervisor

• Holding facility supervisor

• Transportation director

• Wranglers/Drivers

• Certified PGS Applicator*

• Any other primary personnel necessary to support your proposed drive trap capture approach.

*Individual must supply Certification from the Science and Conservation Center- ZooMontana (www.sccpzp.org/training/);

but the Evaluation Criterion 10 states we will be evaluated against a different list of key personnel with includes Primary Helicopter pilot and Backup helicopter pilot. How can we be evaluated against a different list than that which is required in the SOW? Which is the correct Key Personnel list?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: Key Personnel number 2 and 3 have been removed. Solicitation has been revised to include any other primary personnel necessary to support your proposed drive trap method.

http://www.sccpzp.org/training/

QUESTION 6: Evaluation Criterion 10 asks for Pilot resumes. What Federal Aviation Regulations is this contract operating under? What are the minimum qualifications/FAA certifications that a pilot must meet in order to be acceptable for this contract?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: This solicitation and resulting contract(s) does not fall under the Federal Aviation Regulations. This acquisition is being solicitated and awarded under the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 12 and Part 15.

QUESTION 7: Criterion 11 asks for proof of access to a helicopter suitable for herding wild horses and burros as well as a current certificate of air worthiness. What Federal Aviation Regulations is this contract operating under? What are the minimum performance specifications that the helicopter must meet in order to be considered acceptable for this contract, and suitable for herding wild horses and burros?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: This is a Service Contract in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 37, Service Contracting. BLM is interested in ensuring that the equipment being utilized is capable of safely performing the necessary work of gathering wild horses or burros from the variety of terrain and elevations that will be encountered during the performance of work under this contract. The Contractor must comply with all applicable federal, state, and local regulations applicable to their operations, including any Federal Aviation Requirements.

QUESTION 8: Under the definition of Gathering Daily Rate, there is a paragraph that refers to a BDR. Is this the same as a Gathering Daily Rate? It states that the BDR will be paid for animal handling tasks, but then later, you define a Handling Daily Rate that also describes animal handling tasks. Which rate will be paid when handling animals, GDR, BDR, or HDR?

GOVERNEMNT RESPONSE: The reference to BDR in the definition of gathering daily rate has been removed and the definition for GDR revised.

When handling animals to include things such as blood draw, collection of hair samples for genetic testing, testing for equine diseases, application of GPS collars or radio tags, no matter the capture method, the HDR will be paid.

QUESTION 9: Section h. Appropriation Data states that an initial task order in the amount of $25,000.00 will be issued after contract award, but Section 2 states that the minimum guarantee is $50,000.00. Which figure is correct?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: The guaranteed minimum for this contract is specified in Section 2. The reference to a minimum guarantee amount in the “Appropriation Data” section has been removed.

QUESTION 10: The Solicitation Point of Contact lists your email as elasrson@blm.gov. Is this correct?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: The correct solicitation points of contact are David Slade dslade@blm.gov and Jennifer Gartzke jgartzke@blm.gov. This information was updated on amendment 0002 to the solicitation.

QUESTION 11: Items 0020, 0030, 0040, and 0050 that are being removed from the solicitation are for additional years of this contract. Does removing them mean that this is just a contract for one year even though the period of performance is still listed a 09/01/2022 to 08/31/2027.

mailto:elasrson@blm.gov mailto:dslade@blm.gov mailto:jgartzke@blm.gov

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: The BLM feels it is in the best interest of the government to award contracts with a five year ordering period and not use option periods. Therefore, the optional Contract Line Item Numbers (CLINs) need to be removed.

QUESTION 12: Does the contractor also have to have a person trained to administer GonaGon and a person trained to do the microchips or would BLM do that training for the contractor in the field?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: Please refer to Attachments 3 (microchipping) and 4 (SOPs for Fertility Control Vaccines).

QUESTION 13: We have a question about Post Gather cost per day. This cost per day is just one line for no matter how many animals you are feeding for a day. Can we break it down and submit a price for the number of captured animals? For example one price for 1 to 24 animals and another price for 1001+ animals. There is a lot of difference in the cost of feeding 24 animals for 30 days versus feeding 1001+ animals for 30 days.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: No. The Post Gather Feeds will not be broken down into additional lines.

QUESTION 14: With regard to section g. Task Order Performance, paragraph 4, is the government taking the position that under a fixed price task order, the contractor cannot remove personnel it determines are not necessary to performance without BLM approval? If so, will BLM provide an equitable adjustment for additional personnel it determines should be onsite even though they are not necessary to meet contractual performance requirements?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: BLM must approve all personnel removal from a gather. The BLM will not provide equitable adjustments as the personnel on the gather already are figured into the “per head” cost to perform the gather with the personnel listing that would be a part of your task order quote submission.

QUESTION 15: With regard to section g. Task Order Performance, paragraph 4, is the government taking the position that the contractor cannot substitute qualified personnel on a task order to account for personnel absences, including sick time, vacation, etc without BLM approval? If so, will BLM be able to provide same-day approvals (or denials) to account for personnel issues as discussed above?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: The BLM will make every effort to provide timely approval of substitute personnel.

QUESTION 16: With regard to section g. Task Order Performance, paragraph 5, there is no provision for CO/COR approval for personnel to move from task order to task order, is this intentional? Can a contractor assign key personnel with additional back up key personnel to more than one task order at a time? As long as task order needs and requirements are being addressed why does the BLM need to control where the contractor utilizes their approved and experienced personnel even between gathers?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: Personnel are one of the evaluation factors when making a sourcing selection for task orders. Task orders shall be completed with the personnel that were submitted with the contractor’s quote. If a contractor submits both primary and backup personnel with their quote the backup personnel shall only be used when the primary is unable to perform their duties due to illness or other unforeseen events.

QUESTION 17: When evaluating requests for substitution of personnel, what criteria will the COR/Contracting Officer apply?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: The government will evaluate the qualifications of the proposed substitute to ensure that they have the necessary skills/experience to perform the duties of the position they will be assigned to. The SOW has been updated to reflect that resume shall include a minimum of two years’ experience with emphasis on animal capture, feeding and care, loading, and transportation.

QUESTION 18: Would a federal agency be allowed to perform some services for a small company that gets a contract as long as the small company does at least 51% of the work?

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: The federal agency needs to contact its contract office to determine allowability of a federal agency becoming a sub-contractor to a private company.

QUESTION 19: Does a company bid for all of the contract or can they specify state, area, and/or horse numbers, etc.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: The BLM intends to award contracts to the offerors that can provide services in all of the states identified in Attachment 7 – Offeror Unit Pricing Spreadsheet