B12_Questions_and_Answers_02_28_2022_0002.pdf

Questions and Answers #2:

Solicitation 140L3722Q0011

February 28, 2022

Q1. Is BLM providing the photographer(s) the appropriate fireline PPE? If so, what is and is not being provided?(Section 6 of the 2/23/22 SOW)

A1. This section from the SOW covers fireline PPE: “5. The Government will temporarily supply the Contractor with personal protective equipment (PPE) and other fire gear required for access to the fireline –except NWCG-compliant firefighting leather boots, which the Contractor shall provide. The Contractor shall return all PPE checked out from an incident management team or the BLM promptly upon demobilizing from an incident.”

The details on what is considered required PPE, including specific details regarding the boot standard, are noted in Chapter 7 of the Interagency Standards for Fire and Fire

Aviation Operations (Red Book), which is linked twice in the SOW.

Q2. The SOW mentions training standards for “non-escorted” personnel. Do you want those certifications/documentation at the time of bidding due date for this solicitation or by the time of a Task Order?

A2. Regarding the "non-escorted personnel" certification, this would be determined per-project; certifications are not listed as one of the required quote submission materials in the solicitation for the BPA set up.

Q3. Can you provide clarifications to Section 6 for “escorted personnel” requirements?

Who, what, when, where and how those requirements will be met, determined, or provided?

A3. The escorted requirements are listed in the SOW and in the linked Red Book -additionally, as noted in the 02/23/2022 Q&As, A32 states that there will be pre-planning meetings prior to a project's start. A32 notes that the pre-planning meeting allows for any questions or concerns specific to the project, which would include discussion of escorted

vs. non-escorted requirements for that particular project.

Q4. Should my "photography rate" only include photography and delivery of the raw, unedited, not-finalized images?

A4. "Photography rate" means all active photography work, such as shooting stills or video, interviewing subjects, etc. Delivery of the raw, unedited files will be considered

"post-production" and thus should be included in your post-production rate.

Q5. Should my "post production rate" include what I call "post processing" effort or what was described as "finalizing"? Which includes: removing bad images (editing), adjusting levels and colors (color correcting) of all the good images, renaming, processing raw files into full-res JPG, and posting for download

A5. Yes. The "post-production rate" involves all post-production or processing work, such as organizing files, metadata/naming files, transferring files, removing bad images or video, adjusting levels and colors/color correcting, etc.

Q6. Is there any other post production you'd like beyond this "post processing/finalizing" described above? Ie. Client-requested-retouching after reviewing the deliverables, etc?

A6. Any additional post-production requests would be covered under the post-production rate.

Q7. Lastly, if I want to maintain competitiveness with folks who may not have a full commercial rate like me, can I include a rate with a minimum of 14-days per project, per the 7-14 day estimate, provided? And then if you need more pricing info later, I can provide lower minimum-time rates?

A7. The BLM cannot define photography assignments by a certain number of days per assignment, as wildland fire photography is fluid and can require more or less time depending on weather, fire activity and other factors that cannot be predicted.

Q8. Is it fine to offer availability in all regions, since I often travel worldwide on projects?

A8. If you are able to offer these services in a variety of regions while still providing the best value to the government, you are welcome to submit your quote materials indicating you can do so. As noted in the 02/23/2022 Q&A document under A17., "Before a BPA call is issued against an established BPA, each project will be competed among the established BPA contractors who indicated in their responses to this solicitation that they can work in the particular region the project will be conducted in to determine all associated costs will result in the best value to the government."