Sol_140L3724R0005.pdf

SEE ADDENDUMIS CHECKED

CODE 18a. PAYMENT WILL BE MADE BY

CODE

FACILITYCODE

17b. CHECK IF REMITTANCE IS DIFFERENT AND PUT SUCH ADDRESS IN OFFER

OFFEROR

LFA

BOISE ID 83705

3833 S. DEVELOPMENT AVE.

BLM FA-NTL INTRAGCY FIRE CTR(FA250)

CODE 16. ADMINISTERED BYCODE

X

X

113210

SIZE STANDARD:

% FOR:SET ASIDE:UNRESTRICTED ORLFA

REQUEST FOR

PROPOSAL

(RFP)

INVITATION

FOR BID (IFB)

10. THIS ACQUISITION ISCODE

REQUEST FOR

QUOTE (RFQ)

14. METHOD OF SOLICITATION

13b. RATING

NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY

CLASSIFICATION STANDARD

(NAICS):

SMALL BUSINESS

04/05/2024 1000 MD

03/11/2024

(208) 387-5544Diane Barker (No collect calls)

INFORMATION CALL:

FOR SOLICITATION 8. OFFER DUE DATE/LOCAL TIMEb. TELEPHONE NUMBER a. NAME

4. ORDER NUMBER3. AWARD/ 6. SOLICITATION

140L3724R0005

5. SOLICITATION NUMBER

SOLICITATION/CONTRACT/ORDER FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS 1. REQUISITION NUMBER PAGE OF

1 62 OFFEROR TO COMPLETE BLOCKS 12, 17, 23, 24, & 30

TELEPHONE NO.

17a. CONTRACTOR/

15. DELIVER TO

BOISE ID 83705

3833 S. DEVELOPMENT AVE.

9. ISSUED BY

7.

2. CONTRACT NO.

EFFECTIVE DATE

$20.5

18b. SUBMIT INVOICES TO ADDRESS SHOWN IN BLOCK 18a UNLESS BLOCK BELOW

ISSUE DATE

DELIVERY FOR FREE ON BOARD

(FOB) DESTINATION UNLESS

BLOCK IS MARKED

11.

SEE SCHEDULEX

12. DISCOUNT TERMS THIS CONTRACT IS A RATED

ORDER UNDER THE DEFENSE

PRIORITIES AND ALLOCATIONS

SYSTEM - DPAS (15 CFR 700)

13a.

SERVICE-DISABLED

VETERAN-OWNED

SMALL BUSINESS

(SDVOSB)

HUBZONE SMALL

BUSINESS

8(A)

BLM FA-NTL INTRAGCY FIRE CTR(FA250)

WOMEN-OWNED SMALL

BUSINESS (WOSB)

ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED

WOMEN-OWNED SMALL

BUSINESS (EDWOSB)

24.

AMOUNT

23.

UNIT PRICE

22.

UNIT

21.

QUANTITY

20.

SCHEDULE OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES

19.

ITEM NO.

FY24-1 Spring Consolidated Seed Buy.

The Solicitation closing date is 4/5/2024 at 1000 MT (Boise local time)

The BLM National Seed Program has a requirement for the Spring Consolidated Seed Buy for various quantities and varieties of seed to be delivered to multiple locations per the attached spreadsheet (Attachment 1). Delivery schedule is April 25, 2024 through May 14, 2024. Late

(Use Reverse and/or Attach Additional Sheets as Necessary)

HEREIN, IS ACCEPTED AS TO ITEMS:

X

XX

DATED

Diane Barker

. YOUR OFFER ON SOLICITATION (BLOCK 5),

INCLUDING ANY ADDITIONS OR CHANGES WHICH ARE SET FORTH

COPIES TO ISSUING OFFICE. CONTRACTOR AGREES TO FURNISH AND DELIVER

ARE

ARE

31c. DATE SIGNED

27b. CONTRACT/PURCHASE ORDER INCORPORATES BY REFERENCE FAR 52.212-4. FAR 52.212-5 IS ATTACHED. ADDENDA

31a. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (SIGNATURE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER)

30c. DATE SIGNED 31b. NAME OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print)

ALL ITEMS SET FORTH OR OTHERWISE IDENTIFIED ABOVE AND ON ANY ADDITIONAL

SHEETS SUBJECT TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SPECIFIED.

27a. SOLICITATION INCORPORATES BY REFERENCE (FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION) FAR 52.212-1, 52.212-4. FAR 52.212-3

AND 52.212-5 ARE ATTACHED. ADDENDA

26. TOTAL AWARD AMOUNT (For Government Use Only)

OFFER

STANDARD FORM 1449 (REV. 11/2021)

Prescribed by GSA - FAR (48 CFR) 53.212

ARE NOT ATTACHED.

ARE NOT ATTACHED.

AUTHORIZED FOR LOCAL REPRODUCTION

PREVIOUS EDITION IS NOT USABLE

30b. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print)

30a. SIGNATURE OF OFFEROR/CONTRACTOR

28. CONTRACTOR IS REQUIRED TO SIGN THIS DOCUMENT AND RETURN

25. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA

29. AWARD OF CONTRACT: REFERENCE

32e. MAILING ADDRESS OF AUTHORIZED GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE

32c. DATE 32b. SIGNATURE OF AUTHORIZED GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE

ACCEPTED, AND CONFORMS TO THE CONTRACT, EXCEPT AS NOTED:

32a. QUANTITY IN COLUMN 21 HAS BEEN

RECEIVED INSPECTED

40. PAID BY39. S/R VOUCHER NUMBER38. S/R ACCOUNT NUMBER

37. CHECK NUMBER

FINALPARTIAL

36. PAYMENT

FINALPARTIAL

35. AMOUNT VERIFIED

CORRECT FOR

34. VOUCHER NUMBER33. SHIP NUMBER

COMPLETE

32g. E-MAIL OF AUTHORIZED GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE

42d. TOTAL CONTAINERS42c. DATE REC'D (YY/MM/DD)

42b. RECEIVED AT (Location)

42a. RECEIVED BY (Print)

41c. DATE41b. SIGNATURE AND TITLE OF CERTIFYING OFFICER

41a. I CERTIFY THIS ACCOUNT IS CORRECT AND PROPER FOR PAYMENT

STANDARD FORM 1449 (REV. 11/2021) BACK

24.

AMOUNT

23.

UNIT PRICE

22.

UNIT

21.

QUANTITY

20.

SCHEDULE OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES

19.

ITEM NO.

Delivery Freezer stored Sagebrush and Forage

Kochia delivery schedule is October 4th-11th, 2024.

Pre-bid Conference Call is scheduled for 3/19/24 at 1000 MT, see Section A for details.

Vendors will NOT be contacted if items are missing from their offer packages. It is the vendor's responsibility to ensure the offer package is complete.

If any of the items listed below are not in the offer package, the entire offer is considered non-responsive and will not be eligible for award.

Offer packages must include:

1. Offer spreadsheet, correctly filled out.

2. Past performance reference list with a minimum of 3 current references that are not associated with the BLM National Buy.

3. Filled out, Signed and dated SF1449.

4. Incentive paperwork

5. Sign and Acknowledge Amendments

6. Seed Dealer Licenses

Submit bids via email to dbarker@blm.gov.

The SPREADSHEET (Attachment 1) should be renamed

Continued ...

32f. TELEPHONE NUMBER OF AUTHORIZED GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE

32d. PRINTED NAME AND TITLE OF AUTHORIZED GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE

62 2 of

ITEM NO. SUPPLIES/SERVICES QUANTITY UNIT UNIT PRICE AMOUNT

NAME OF OFFEROR OR CONTRACTOR

3 62

CONTINUATION SHEET

REFERENCE NO. OF DOCUMENT BEING CONTINUED PAGE OF

(A) (B) (C) (D) (E) (F)

140L3724R0005 with the offeror's company name. Offerors should only complete Columns with yellow headers. Do NOT alter any other columns. Delete (don't hide) any rows that you are not bidding. Price per pound should be offered as 2 decimal places only. Lines where offered seed has more than 2 decimal places will rounded to 2 decimal places.

If offered seed does not meet the exact requirements of the requested seed, that seed will be disqualified from receiving award consideration.

Offerors must be registered in the System for

Award Management website www.SAM.gov and be active when bids are being evaluated.

Commercial item. FOB Destination. IPP Invoicing.

Offeror's bid lines will be evaluated based upon the criteria provided in Section M of the

Solicitation. Vendor bid lines will be ranked by lowest PLS price, then given priority to incentive seed.

Period of Performance: 04/25/2024 to 05/14/2024

00010 See Attachment 1 for Bidsheet showing Requested 1 LS

Seed Types.

Deliveries locations will be Boise, Ely, and

Shoshone.

Product/Service Code: 8730

Product/Service Description: SEEDS AND NURSERY

STOCK

For questions regarding this Solicitation contact

Diane Barker via email at dbarker@blm.gov.

NSN 7540-01-152-8067 OPTIONAL FORM 336 (4-86)

Sponsored by GSA

FAR (48 CFR) 53.110

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Bureau of Land Management—National Seed Warehouse System—Boise, Idaho

24-1 Spring Seed Buy

SOLICITATION # 140L3724R0005

Diane Barker, Contracting Officer Date revision 02/2024

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Table of Contents

Sections

SECTION A – INFORMATION TO PROSPECTIVE OFFERORS

SECTION B - SUPPLIES OR SERVICES/PRICES

SECTION C - DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS

SECTION D - PACKAGING AND MARKING

SECTION E - INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

SECTION F - DELIVERIES OR PERFORMANCE

SECTION G - CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA

SECTION H - SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS

SECTION I - CONTRACT CLAUSES

J - LIST OF DOCUMENTS, EXHIBITS AND OTHER ATTACHMENTS

K - REPRESENTATIONS, CERTIFICATIONS, AND OTHER STATEMENTS OF BIDDERS

M - EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD

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SECTION A – INFORMATION TO PROSPECTIVE OFFERORS

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING CLARIFICATIONS, CHANGES AND REMINDERS FROM PREVIOUS BUYS

IT IS STILL THE VENDOR’S RESPONSIBILITY TO READ THE ENTIRE SOLICITATION AND NOT RELY SOLELY

ON THIS LIST.

***The Master Bidsheet (Attachment 1) Award Document is the governing document and has precedence over the line item information in the contract.***

IMPORTANT: A pre-bid meeting has been scheduled for:

Pre-Bid Conference Call is scheduled for:

3/19/24 at 10:00 AM MT Phone # 1 866 581-1353 Passcode # 5201433#

We will be reviewing Section A, Attachment 1 Bidsheet, and required submission documents.

Bid closing date: April 5, 2024 at 1000 MT time

Paperwork due at bid closing: Attachment 1 Bid Offer, filled out and signed Solicitation form and Amendments if required, Incentive documentation, Past Performance references not associated with the Consolidated Seed Buy, and Seed Dealers Licenses are required prior to delivery, can be provided with bid submission.

Awards released by 4/23/2024

Delivery Schedule: 4/25/2024 - 5/14/2024. Freezer Stored Sagebrush and Forage Kochia delivery schedule is 10/4/24 – 10/11/24.

New Harvest Sagebrush and Forage Kochia delivery schedule is: NA

Deliveries will be to the Boise, Ely, and Shoshone warehouses.

Estimated quantities will not be provided due to a high level of uncertainty regarding estimated needs. BLM encourages vendors to bid the seed types and pounds they have available.

1.) All seed offered must meet all requirements of the Federal Seed Act (FSA) (7 U.S.C. §. 1551-1610 incl.) and the seed laws of the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, as applicable.

Section D J 4 FSA Germination test requirements. Seed varieties that are listed in the Federal Seed Act (FSA) are required to have a germination result listed on the Analysis Tag for interstate shipments. The test results showed on the Analysis Tag shall be provided to the BLM and shall show germination, purity, and noxious weed examine results per the FSA. The result shall be fully readable, and all information will be reviewed to determine any discrepancies. For previous harvest seed, the test shall be supplied prior to delivery with the itemized shipping document via email to the BLM_ID_Seed_All@blm.gov address. For new harvest seed, the USDA has agreed to allow the germination test to be started prior to shipping and provided to the BLM when complete via the same email address. Acceptance of seed will not occur until germination results are received, exceptions to this may occur depending on specific circumstances. The BLM will utilize the germination result on lots that test below the offered PLS, the PLS on the vendor test and the germination test will be averaged to determine the tested PLS rate. Any noxious weeds shown on the germination test will also be considered by the BLM as a possible seed lot contaminant. Germination test result must be dated within 6 months of the mailto:BLM_ID_Seed_All@blm.gov

4 | P a g e delivery date per the FSA regulations. Germination test shall not be included on the BLM acceptance test. See Section E Seed quality, final acceptance, and Determining PLS for more information on the germination testing. Test results from NST Labs and New Mexico State lab will not be accepted.

2.) APPROVED SEED TESTING FACILITIES

i. Approved Facilities include Official State Seed Laboratories in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming.

3.) See Section C 9: Incentive Program for Annual Brome Free and 100% Weed Free seed.

If you have weed free (100%WF) seed or Annual Brome Free (100%ABF) seed to offer, identify the seed category in the Program column of the Attachment 1 - Bid Offer. With your bid submission, you shall supply current Field Inspection documents along with any documentation addressing contaminants found and how they will be dealt with or for seed purchased from another grower that you do not have access to the field Inspection reports, then 2 or more test results from different approved labs showing no contaminants were found. For SI wildland collected seed that doesn’t require a site inspection, provide two or more test results from different labs (listed as Approved Labs in this solicitation) that shows the seed has no contaminants present. The paperwork shall be scanned together in one document and tab 3 on the Attachment 1 shall be filled out. After the paperwork has been reviewed and approved and the Master Bidsheet has been sorted by PLS price, the offered price will be increased to include the publicized incentive bonus. If the seed is selected, the awarded price will be the incentivized price. After award, have the seed sampled, the same as non-incentive seed. Send one sample to your first-choice lab, the contractor is responsible for payment of the lab test. The BLM after receiving the seed will pull one or more samples (depending on delivery locations and pounds) and send to a lab of the BLM’s choice and the BLM is responsible for payment. See the sampling specification in Section D for more details. The lot must be accepted on the first delivery, reconditioning will automatically remove the incentive.

For 100%WF seed the incentive bonus is 15%. If one seed of a contaminant is found in the lab test results, the 15% incentive will be removed without negotiations. If contaminant(s) of more than 2 seeds are found in the testing, a 20% price reduction will be applied to the awarded price, without negotiations.

For 100%ABF seed the incentive bonus is 10%. The seed shall be free of any Annual Brome species per the definition in Section C, can only have common weeds found at a low rate of no more than 4 seeds per sample, no noxious weeds found including restricted noxious weeds within the allowable tolerance, and no Amaranthus found that would require DNA testing. If one seed (above the allowable) of a contaminant is found in the lab test results, the 10% incentive will be removed without negotiations. If contaminant(s) of more than 2 seeds (above the allowable) are found in the testing, a 15% price reduction will be applied to the awarded price, without negotiations.

Applies to the Fall Buy only: On new harvest crops bid/offered before harvest with a late delivery date for Round 1 and a note in the additional information column identifying the seed is pre-harvest and should be weed free, the incentive category can be added/removed BUT only during the first Bid Revision process that the seed is available. The Government prefers the seed be identified upfront as Incentive Seed, then removed if the pre-testing shows if does not meet the program requirements.

Seed offered under these programs shall be well tested seed where no contaminants have been detected.

Preference will be given to these programs during the source selection process. Multiple instances of a vendor bidding incentive seed and the seed not meeting the requirements will be documented in CPARS as a performance issue.

Documented performance issues in CPARS may affect the vendors bids being accepted on future rounds of this contract, or other future contracts.

4.) Section C 1-Additional Seed Offered: Vendors may offer additional seed not requested on the spreadsheet. There is no limit to the species nor quantities that are offered. The Government makes no guarantee to purchase seed offered in the Additional section.

Offerors may submit seed lots in the additional seed category which would not otherwise meet the specifications on a regular bid variety. For example, if a vendor has a seed lot that would normally be bid as a regular line item, but the offeror knows the seed does not meet the specification for minimum allowable PLS, that seed may be offered in the additionals category. For seed that does not meet specifications, the vendor will select the Outside of Spec option from the Program Category column, note the reason why in the comments of the bid line, and supply a test showing the issue. The Government may consider seed not meeting specifications in

5 | P a g e the additionals but is not obligated to purchase those lines over normally bid seed lines. This is an opportunity for offerors to submit seed that is known to not meet specifications, and for the government to consider it as an option for purchase. No seed with known Western States noxious weeds will be purchased by the government. NOTE: Seed specifications may be included herein for items which are not specified in the seed price schedule.

5.) SEED AND SAMPLING from Section D

Vendor Supplied Seed Test for ALL SEED LOTS - For each lot purchased (non-Incentive, Incentive, and Freezer stored), the seed offeror will pull one sample from the entire lot of seed that has been purchased, excluding any seed from that lot that was not purchased by the BLM. For example, if an offeror has a seed lot that is 20,000 pounds and the BLM purchases 10,000 pounds, the sample taken and tested will be on the 10,000 pounds sold and delivered to the BLM. The offeror will submit this sample to their first-choice seed testing laboratory. The offeror will not be required to provide the BLM with back up samples. The Attachment 3 (with copy of tags, completely filled out and signed by sampler) will need to be sent in with your sample and also provided to the BLM (with your shipment documents) via email scanned together with the FSA germination test if applicable, and SI collection permit if applicable, to the BLM_ID_Seed_All@blm.gov group email address. The offeror will be responsible for the payment of the first test.

a. The offeror shall designate two different approved seed labs (Refer to Section C for listing) in the BID schedule (Attachment 1), as their facilities of choice for a seed lot to be tested. If a lab is not designated by the offeror on the schedule, the Government will utilize any approved seed testing facility.

b. Samplers SHALL USE and sign the Seed Analysis Request Form (Attachment 3 revised) to request seed lab tests.

A copy of certification tag and vendor analysis tag shall be photocopied/scanned on bottom of Attachment 3 prior to the sampler filling out the form.

Government Spot Check Sampling from Section E The government reserves the right to conduct spot check sampling and testing for any seed lot that is purchased. Each seed lot will be sampled and tested separately. Seed sample(s) will be submitted to an approved seed testing facility per the Government’s choice. The Government is responsible for the laboratory fee on spot checks.

i. ALL INCENTIVE SEED WILL RECEIVE A GOVERNMENT SPOT CHECK.

ii. ALL FREEZER STORED SAGEBRUSH AND FREEZER STORED FORAGE KOCHIA WILL RECEIVE

A GOVERNMENT SPOT CHECK.

iii. All other seed may receive spot checks as determined by the Government.

6.) Before delivery of seed review the specification in Section D concerning:

A. Paperwork needed before shipping B. How to setup a delivery appointment C. Samples needed and how to provide to the Government D. Pallets and shipping requirements. 54” maximum height requirement, no bulging/over-hang on bottom of pallets E. Palletized seed must be delivered in a condition that can be safely unloaded with a forklift. Pallets that are not securely wrapped, tipped over, or excessively leaning or bulging may be rejected and returned to the contractor for repackaging F. In the event the Government must restack the seed bags because it was delivered not meeting the specifications, the Government will charge the Contractor the actual cost incurred by the Government in performing these services or require the contractor to remedy the issue.

7.) Expectation of seed condition.

The Government has an expectation that seed lots of previous year harvested seed will be free of noxious weeds and other issues since there has been time to test the seed and resolve any issues prior to offering and delivering the seed. Seed that is found to not meet the specifications, that will be reconditioned, it is expected that the contractor will be timely and prompt

6 | P a g e with reconditioning efforts. Reconditioning will be limited to one official test, if the seed doesn’t pass, it will be rejected and terminated.

8.) REJECTED LOTS- Section E

If the rejected lot is removed to be reconditioned and redelivered, the lot will require a new lot number-- A NEW LOT NUMBER MUST BE ASSIGNED to that seed by the Contractor. On a rejected lot being reconditioned, the lot shall be picked up within 5 work days and returned as soon as possible or no more than 25 days without CO approval.

Reconditioning of lots will be limited to one (1) retesting process. Contractor may reclean and conduct preliminary tests as many times as the contractor chooses, but only one official retest of the reconditioned lot will be allowed. Testing shall be performed prior to redelivery to ensure the quality issue has been resolved. The number of delivery, pickup, and redelivery per awarded line is capped at 3, original delivery, pickup of rejected lot, and delivery of reconditioned or replaced lot.

9.) Shipping Pallet requirement-Section D 4 c

C. Where multiple species or lot numbers are included on a single pallet, the distinction between lots and/or species, that have four (4) or more bags, shall be placed separately on its own single pallet that is securely wrapped and clearly marked to have distinct separation from the different lot and/or different species. Multiple pallets can be stacked and wrapped together BUT cannot exceed 54”. A slip-sheet shall be placed between lots and/or species that have less than 4 bags and clearly identify the separation on mixed pallets.

10.) FREEZER STORED SAGEBRUSH AND FORAGE KOCHIA REFRIGERATED SHIPPING

Prior harvest Sagebrush and Forage Kochia are required to be shipped via refrigerated shipping at a minimum of March 1st thru October 31st, but may be required outside of that window if weather is not cold enough. Refrigerated shipping shall keep the seed at 32 degrees F or below. Shipping temperature above 32 degrees F will be subject to termination by the Contracting Officer.

For freezer stored seed purchased on the Spring Buy or the Fall Buy the Attachment 1 (Requested Seed) will have two sets of bid row numbers. One set for the standard delivery dates that match the buy’s delivery window and will be sampled, processed and shipped (refer trailer) per the standard seed process. The second set of bid rows will have a delivery date of 10/4/24 – 10/11/24. The late delivery seed will be required to be tested as normal within the Buy that it is awarded in. An official sample will be pulled at the vendor facility and sent to the first choice lab. If it passes, then the seed will be held at the vendor’s facility until the delivery window approaches. Upon delivery, the BLM will pull the required freezer stored spot-check for acceptance. The storage fee for the holding period shall be included in the bulk seed price. The seed will be approved for payment after delivery and the second test result is approved.

11.) Review Section G 3 for full details that identifies the requirements for an invoice to be deemed proper and acceptable for payment approval. Invoices should be consolidated to list all approved lines for payment at the time to the best that your invoicing system will allow. Invoice approval process involves 4 levels of review. Approving 4 lines on 1 invoice takes considerably less time than 4 invoices with 1 line each. We do not expect or want you to wait to invoice until more lines are approved. We cannot issue or mix the seed until the invoice has been received and processed.

A proper invoice has the following required information:

Vendor’s name Invoice date Invoice number Name of Office/Organization that purchased the seed (NOT seed delivery location) BLM-National Seed Program Contract Award Number (140L3724C00XX) Award Line Item Number (line # from contract award document) Spread Sheet ID number (SSID) Description (including, for example, seed species/variety, lot #, price, and quantity of goods rendered in bulk pounds).

Contact name (where practicable), title, and telephone number.

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Other substantiating documentation, if required by the order.

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SECTION B - SUPPLIES OR SERVICES/PRICES

B.1 BID SCHEDULE

BID SCHEDULE IS ATTACHED SEPARATELY

File name is Attachment 1 Bid Schedule

A tab has been added to the Attachment 1 document with Instructions on how to fill out the form.

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SECTION C - DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATION INDEX

1. SEED OFFERS

The Government reserves the right to award on any item offered in any category, or a combination of the categories, per the evaluation criteria specified in Section M of this solicitation, “Basis for Award,” if it is in the best interest of the public and the best value for the Government to do so. All awards are contingent upon price reasonableness and the availability of funds at the time of award.

Substitutions: Do not offer alternate species for substitution within a stated variety. For example, an offeror cannot offer Paloma Indian Ricegrass or any other variety or species of grass under the Item No. XYZ Indian Ricegrass Rimrock. The offeror will need to offer Paloma under its specific item number, or if the variety is not listed, then it can be offered in the Additionals section at the bottom of the bidsheet. Species substitutions will be the sole responsibility of the Government.

Seed bids will be competed on a lowest Pure Live Seed (PLS) price per pound. However, award amount will be for bulk price per pound, expressed with a maximum of two decimal places calculated from PLS price. If one offeror receives award of more than one item, simultaneous performance is required.

Minimum Bid Quantities: Offeror can choose to mark lines as minimum required pounds that need to be selected for award. The line needs to be marked as Minimum Bid (drop-down list in Program Category), the pounds need highlighted, and a note in the Additional information needs to indicate the minimum pounds required. By marking the line as a minimum required bid, the offeror’s bid line might be skipped if the Government requires a smaller quantity of pounds.

Transportation: All costs for shipping point(s) to destination shall be paid by the Contractor and included in the price offered for the item(s). The Contractor shall be responsible for any/all damage occurring in transit.

Additional Seed Offered: Vendors may offer additional seed not requested on the spreadsheet. There is no limit to the species nor quantities that are offered. The Government makes no guarantee to purchase seed offered in the Additional section. Offerors may submit seed lots in the additional seed category which would not otherwise meet the specifications on a regular bid variety.

For example, if a vendor has a seed lot that would normally be bid as a regular line item, but the offeror knows the seed does not meet the specification for minimum allowable PLS, that seed may be offered in the additionals category. For seed that does not meet specifications, the vendor will select the Outside of Spec option from the Program Category column, note the reason why in the comments of the bid line, and supply a test showing the issue. The Government may consider seed not meeting specifications in the additionals but is not obligated to purchase those lines over normally bid seed lines. This is an opportunity for offerors to submit seed that is known to not meet specifications, and for the government to consider it as an option for purchase. No seed with known Western States noxious weeds will be purchased by the government. NOTE: Seed specifications may be included herein for items which are not specified in the seed price schedule.

2. LICENSING REQUIREMENTS

All successful offerors shall comply with the Seed Dealers Licensing requirements of the Pure Seed Law for the State in which seed is delivered (currently Idaho and Nevada). Reference the following sites for the Pure Seed Law by State:

AZ - http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/laws/az.shtml

CA - http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/pe/Nursery/pdfs/SeedLaw2009.pdf

CO - http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/Agriculture-Main/CDAG/1167928162859

ID - http://www.agri.idaho.gov/Categories/Laboratories/Seed/seedlawsrules.php

NV - http://www.leg.state.nv.us/NAC/NAC-587.html

NM - http://nmdaweb.nmsu.edu/animal-and-plant-protection/seeds/

MT - http://agr.mt.gov/crops/seed.asp

OR - http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/CID/seed_services.shtml#Seed_licenses http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/laws/az.shtml http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/pe/Nursery/pdfs/SeedLaw2009.pdf http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/Agriculture-Main/CDAG/1167928162859 http://www.agri.idaho.gov/Categories/Laboratories/Seed/seedlawsrules.php http://www.leg.state.nv.us/NAC/NAC-587.html http://nmdaweb.nmsu.edu/animal-and-plant-protection/seeds/ http://agr.mt.gov/crops/seed.asp http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/CID/seed_services.shtml#Seed_licenses

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UT - Utah Seed Act http://le.utah.gov/~code/TITLE04/04_16.htm

UT - http://www.rules.utah.gov/publicat/code/r068/r068-008.htm

WA - http://agr.wa.gov/default.htm

WY - http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/seedlab/Seed.pdf

3. FEDERAL SEED ACT, DESTINATION STATE LAWS, NOXIOUS WEEDS - STATE LAWS

All seed offered must meet all requirements of the Federal Seed Act (7 U.S.C. §. 1551-1610 incl.) and the seed laws of the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, as applicable.

c. Seed varieties that are listed in the Federal Seed Act (FSA) are required to have a germination test listed on Analysis Tag for interstate shipments. The Germ test results shall be provided to the BLM. For previous harvest seed, the test shall be supplied prior to delivery and be dated within the 6-month timeframe the FSA requires. For new harvest seed, the USDA has agreed to allow the germ test to be started prior to shipping and provided to the BLM when complete. Germination test shall not be included on the BLM acceptance test. Acceptance of seed will not occur until germ results are received, exceptions to this may occur depending on specific circumstances.

4. APPROVED SEED TESTING FACILITIES

i. Approved Facilities include Official State Seed Laboratories in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming.

ii. Approved Private Seed Laboratories include the following: NONE

iii. Additional laboratories will be considered if found to be beneficial or required. Any new labs that want to be considered as an approved seed testing facility will have to apply with the following criteria required:

1. Hold an Accredited Seed Lab (ASL) certification from the USDA or be accredited with ISTA.

2. Provide resumes, qualifications, and certifications

3. Perform testing on 4-6 Government supplied samples

iv. Seed Laboratories may be removed from the approved list at any time, at the discretion of the Government.

v. Contractors with close business connections to an approved seed lab will not be allowed to use their services for seed lot testing. Offerors are cautioned that they must not include any testing laboratories that are associated with the offerors firm in any fashion such as having a financial interest, controlling interest, or associated interests. Inclusion of any associated laboratories may pose either an actual or potential conflict of interest and may prove detrimental to the evaluation of the offer and subsequent possible awards.

5. DETERMINING PURE LIVE SEED CONTENT

Offerors shall insert, in the space provided in the attachment 1 Bid Schedule, the Pure Live Seed (PLS) rate which is a calculation of the percent of purity and germination/TZ of the seed offered under each item. Failure to furnish this data for an item on which an offer is made, will result in rejection of that item. The following calculations shall be utilized to determine pure live seed percent (% PLS) and the pure live seed price ($ PLS), the following formula shall be used:

(% Purity) x (% Germination (TZ))

100 = % PLS

http://le.utah.gov/~code/TITLE04/04_16.htm http://www.rules.utah.gov/publicat/code/r068/r068-008.htm http://agr.wa.gov/default.htm http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/seedlab/Seed.pdf

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Offered Price $

PLS = $ PLS

The PLS rating and PLS price shall be stated to a maximum of 4 decimal places, rounding the 4th place up if the 5 decimal place is 5 and above. In case of mathematical discrepancies between purity, germination, % PLS, and $ PLS, purity and germination will govern along with bulk price.

7. INCENTIVE PROGRAM FOR 100% ANNUAL BROME FREE AND 100% WEED FREE SEED

If you have Weed Free (100%WF) seed or Annual Brome Free (100%ABF) seed to offer, identify the seed category in the Program column of the Attachment 1 - Bid Offer. With your bid submission, you shall supply current Field Inspection documents along with any documentation addressing contaminants found and how they will be dealt with or for seed purchased from another grower that you do not have access to the field Inspection reports, then two or more test results from different approved labs showing no contaminants were found will suffice For SI wildland collected seed that doesn’t require a site inspection, provide two or more test results from different labs (listed as Approved Labs in this solicitation) that shows the seed has no contaminants present. The paperwork shall be scanned together in one document and tab 3 on the Attachment 1 shall be filled out. After the paperwork has been reviewed and approved and the Master Bidsheet has been sorted by PLS price, the offered price will be increased to include the publicized incentive bonus. If the seed is selected, the awarded price will be the incentivized price. After award, have the seed sampled, the same as non-incentive seed. Send one sample to your first-choice lab. The BLM after receiving the seed will pull one or more samples (depending on delivery locations and pounds) and send to a lab of the BLM’s choice and the BLM is responsible for payment. See the sampling specification in Section D and E for more details. The lot must be accepted on the first delivery, reconditioning will automatically remove the incentive.

For 100%WF seed the incentive bonus is 15%. If one seed of a contaminant is found in the lab test results, the 15% incentive will be removed without negotiations. If contaminant(s) of more than 2 seeds are found in the testing, a 20% price reduction will be applied to the awarded price, without negotiations.

For 100%ABF seed the incentive bonus is 10%. The seed shall be free of any Annual Brome species per the definition in Section C, can only have common weeds found at a low rate of no more than 4 seeds per sample, no noxious weeds found including restricted noxious weeds within the allowable tolerance, and no Amaranthus found that would require DNA testing. If one seed (above the allowable) of a contaminant is found in the lab test results, the 10% incentive will be removed without negotiations. If contaminant(s) of more than 2 seeds (above the allowable) are found in the testing, a 15% price reduction will be applied to the awarded price, without negotiations.

Seed offered under these programs shall be well tested seed where no contaminants have been detected.

Preference will be given to these programs during the source selection process. Multiple instances of a vendor bidding incentive seed and the seed not meeting the requirements will be documented in CPARS as a performance issue.

Documented performance issues in CPARS may affect the vendors bids being accepted on future rounds of this contract, or other future contracts.

Only applies to the Fall Buy: On new harvest crops bid/offered before harvest with a late delivery date for Round 1 and a note in the additional information column identifying the seed is pre-harvest and should be weed free, the incentive category can be added/removed BUT only during the first Bid Revision process that the seed is available. The Government prefers the seed be identified upfront as Incentive Seed, then removed if the pre-testing shows if does not meet the program requirements.

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SECTION C - 10. BID REVISION (used on multi-round Buys only)

The bid revision process is in place for use in multi-round buys with an extended timeframe required to hold the offered price firm (refer to Section F.1). The bid revision process helps to mitigate some of the risk associated with the extended timeframe regarding the number of pounds offered, not the pricing. The pounds can be reduced due to the crop not performing as expected, quality issues found, or selling the seed outside of the Consolidated Seed Buy; or additional pounds can be added due to the crop performing better than expected. The integrity of the seed buy has to remain intact; the pricing cannot be manipulated.

All offerors will be given the opportunity, between rounds, to update their offer to show the pounds available for the next round. Instructions and examples will be provided regarding bid revisions. The pounds can be reduced, terminated (offer removed due to seed no longer available), or additional pounds added. The pounds cannot be shuffled from low priced lines to high priced lines or the opposite, as that could cause integrity issues when pounds are being shifted from different price points.

If a vendor terminates or reduces the pounds on a seed type, that vendor cannot add additional pounds to the same variety of seed at a different price point for the remainder of the Seed Buy. If a vendor terminates an awarded line, then all offered lines of the same species must be removed during the bid revision process. If a seed type required a modification for any quality issue and the same lot is being offered on a later round, the vendor shall change the price to match the modification and provide a comment on the line.

When adding additional pounds, a vendor may add the pounds to any line that was originally offered.

11. ORIGIN AND SOURCE REQUIREMENTS

A. CERTIFIED SEED: For a definition of the various certified classes refer to the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agency (AOSCA) website at www.aosca.org. Once you enter the site click on programs, then “seed certification”. Also, click on “Pre-Variety Germplasm” to download the publication entitled ”How AOSCA Tracks Wildland Sourced Seed”.

This publication explains the certified pre-variety germplasm (PVG) program specified in the next section.

i. RELEASED VARIETIES: Certified Seed of released varieties (Letter designator (A) in the schedule) is field cultivated seed of native or introduced species produced according to rules established by AOSCA and official state seed certification programs.

1. Wild collected (e.g. released varieties such as Lassen Antelope Bitterbrush or Hobble Creek Sagebrush, can be classified as certified when specific collection areas have been established).

2. Classes of certified seed are foundation (white tag), registered (purple tag), and certified (blue tag).

ii. All blue, white and purple tag certified seed shall meet the AOSCA quality standards and/or State standards, whichever is stricter, for the State in which the seed was certified or of seed origin. Visit the website at http://aosca.org.

iii. Seed varieties which have plant variety protection (PVP) shall be tagged with official tags from the company which owns the rights to the variety showing authorization for use of the plant materials.

B. PRE-VARIETY GERMPLASM (SEED LETTER DESIGNATED PVG IN THE SEED PRICE SCHEDULE): Certified Pre-Variety Germplasm (PVG) seed is either wild collected or field cultivated seed of native or naturalized species produced according to rules established by AOSCA and official state seed certification programs. PVG seed tags include verified source information of county, state and elevation of both the site or original collection and the site of field production, if applicable. Three categories of certified PVG may be accepted:

i. Tested Class (light blue tag) is designated as germplasm for which progeny testing has proven desirable traits to be heritable.

ii. Selected Category (S) (green tag) (Letter designator (S) in the schedule), seed is designated as germplasm showing promise of desirable traits, having been selected either within an accession or plant population or as a common site comparison among accessions or populations of the same species.

http://aosca.org/

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iii. Source Identified (SI) Category (yellow tag) (Letter designator (SI) in the schedule), is seed designated as unevaluated germplasm identified only as to species and location of the wild growing parents. The majority of certified PVG wildland collected seed offered is tagged Source Identified.

PVG certification tags shall include the scientific and common species’ names: specific germplasm identification (information applicable); Eco-Region and Provisional Seed Transfer Zones; (latitude may be included if customer requests from certifying agency of the seed germplasm source site and whether or not it is indigenous on that site; the G0 location and generation of a seed increase field from which the seed was harvested (if applicable); and whether the tagged seed is natural –track or manipulated track in status (meaning whether or not the seed germplasm has been altered or manipulated during the original collection or during subsequent cultivated production. The G0 information- Eco-region and Seed Transfer Zone must be included on the Attachment 1 bidsheet and it will be utilized as the source location information to select the best material to match the project location. The seed increase field collection site shall be noted in the additional information column on the Attachment 1.

Offeror must indicate one (1) Omernik Level III Eco-Region and one (1) Provisional Seed Transfer Zone per offer on the bid sheet.

Link to TRM Seed Zone Applications:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/wwetac/threat-map/TRMSeedZoneMapper.php

Link to Provisional Seed Transfer Zones https://usfs.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=229eb45b7cc2456db6d1ad866145d397

C. NON-CERTIFIED SEED - ONLY IN OTHER OFFERED CATEGORY (Letter designator (B) on the schedule):

i. All other seed that is not certified.

ii. Seed purchased as non-certified will be labeled with an analysis tag. Refer to Packaging and Marking for Analysis tag requirements in Section D 3.)

D. AREA OF ORIGIN CLAIMED SEED - ONLY IN OTHER OFFERED CATEGORY (Letter designator (AOC) on the schedule):

i. Wildland collected seed that is not certified as Source Identified or another category of PVG seed. Area of Origin Claimed seed shall be delivered with an analysis tag and a signed area of origin and species statement (Attachment 2

- AOC statement). The offeror, by submission of this statement, is claiming that seed meets area of origin location requirements.

ii. Along with Area of Origin and Species Statement, AOC seed shall be delivered with analysis tags Refer to Packaging and Marking for Analysis tag requirements in Section D.

12. DEBEARDING AND CLEANING REQUIREMENTS

All seed shall be cleaned so that no stems or debris longer than ¾ inch remain unless stated otherwise in these specifications. Awns removed from seeds shall be cleaned out of the seed.

a. Bottlebrush Squirreltail: Debearding – seed shall be processed and cleaned so that a minimum of 90% of the individual seeds have less than 1/8” in length of the awn remaining. The remaining 10% of the seeds shall have awns less than ½” in length.

b. Needle and Threadgrass: Debearding – Needle and Thread seed shall be processed, and awns cleaned so that a minimum of 90% of the individual seeds have less than 1/8” in length of the awn remaining. The remaining 10% of the seeds shall have awns less than ¼” in length.

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c. Fourwing Saltbush: Cleaning - Fourwing seed shall be dewinged and cleaned.

d. Winterfat: Cleaning: Winterfat seed shall be cleaned of all stems and other debris to pass through a 5/16-inch mesh screen.

13. SEED INOCULATION AND SEED TREATMENT

a. All alfalfa seed shall be inoculated with an inoculant specifically manufactured for alfalfa and shall be applied as specified by the manufacturer. Shelf life of the inoculant shall be a minimum of 12 months from delivery of inoculated seed. All seed bags shall be tagged with the name of manufacturer and expiration date of inoculant.

b. A Safety Data Sheet (SDS) is required upon delivery of any seed which has been treated with an inoculant or any type of coating.

c. If seed other than alfalfa and other legume seed is inoculated or coated with treatments of other kinds, that seed can be offered, but the inoculant must be identified and a SDS or a product data sheet must be submitted with the bid. This inoculant or seed treatment must be identified in the offer and can be a factor in the selection.

14. IMPORTED SEED

i. All seed imported from outside the United States shall comply with the importation laws of the Federal Seed Act and be cleared for admittance by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prior to delivery. Imported seed shall be labeled according to the Federal Seed Act and proper USDA documentation shall be submitted to the COR prior to delivery. For seed offered under this solicitation ORIGIN (where the seed is grown in a cultivated field) shall be from a country or state of North America only.

15. DEFINITIONS

ANNUAL BROME FREE is any ANNUAL BROME SPECIES OF SEED which have characteristics that are non-native, invasive and weedy which include the following varieties Bromus secalinus, Bromus tectorum, Bromus rubens, and Bromus japonicas, however the list may not be all inclusive.

CULTIVATED PRODUCTION: Seed harvested from land (Public and private) that is intentionally planted or seeded for the production of crops. Does not include areas seeded for rehabilitation, stabilization or restoration.

F.O.B: (freight on board) destination

GENERATION 0 (G0): Seed from the original wildland collection site or a germplasm which has gone through genetic manipulation and is now defined as a new G0 manipulated germplasm.

GENERATION 1 (G1): The first generation harvested from a seed production field planted with G0 seed or germplasm which has gone through genetic manipulation and is now defined as a new G1 manipulated germplasm.

GENERATION 2 (G2): Fields planted from G1 seed or plants.

GENERATION 3 (G3): Harvested from fields planted with G2 plants or seed.

INTRODUCED (Seed bid items designated with the letter (I)) (synonyms: non-native, exotic, naturalized or foreign): A species, subspecies, or varieties not part of the indigenous plant community on a site prior to 1800.

INCENTIVE SEED: Seed that is well tested with no contaminants found that is offered either 100% weed free or 100% annual brome free, which will receive an incentive addition to the bid price, pending the seed meeting the requirements.

NATIVE (Seed bid items designated with the letter (N)): A species or subspecies with natural occurrence (indigenous) on a site of defined geographic area prior to 1800. The site may be described by floristic books and documented information from USDA-NRCS ecological site data, PLANTS database, etc. A native species may be described by the States, counties, ecoregions, and major land resource areas of natural occurrence.

OFFER: The FAR definition of offer is- An offer is a response to a Solicitation that, if accepted, would bind the offeror to perform the resultant contract. Responses from solicitations for requests for proposals are offers called proposals.

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ORIGIN (Definition according to the Federal Seed Act): The State, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or possession of the United States, or the foreign country, or designated portion thereof, where the seed was grown (Federal Seed Act).

PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION (PVP): A variety may receive Federal PVP status which means the germplasm is protected against unauthorized propagation. A variety protected under Title 5 of the PVP Act must be sold by variety name and as a class of certified seed.

REHABILITATED SITE: Public or private land which has been planted with seed of known and/or unknown seed source and origin.

SOURCE: The location or site where the seed was collected from a natural stand or naturalized area, or rehabilitation site where no selection or testing of the parent population has occurred (G0). Production location may also be identified (G1, G2, G3...). (AOSCA).

For Government, the Source information is to include Eco-Region and Provisional Seed Transfer Zone of the collection location and the species name.

VARIETY/ CULTIVAR: A cultivated variety of any species or subspecies. A subdivision of a species or subspecies which is characterized and selected for by growth, plant, fruit, seed or other characteristics by which it can be differentiated from other sorts of the same species or subspecies (Federal Seed Act). For example: ‘Hycrest’ Crested Wheatgrass, ‘Luna’ Pubescent Wheatgrass, and so forth.

VARIETY NOT STATED (VNS): Seed trade term used to indicate that the seed in question maybe a variety, or mixture of varieties, but the variety identify is not officially verified by a seed certifying agency. VNS is always uncertified. The Government relies on the integrity of the offeror when providing a variety name on a non-certified named variety.

WILDLAND COLLECTED: Seed collected from Wildlands, i.e. Public or private land that is non-cultivated (areas of plant growth not intentionally planted or seeded for the production of crops).

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SECTION D - PACKAGING AND MARKING

VENDORS RESPONSIBILITY IN AVDVANCE OF DELIVERY:

SEED AND SAMPLING

1) Vendor Supplied Seed Test for ALL SEED LOTS - For each lot purchased (non-Incentive, Incentive, and Freezer stored), the seed offeror will pull one sample from the entire lot of seed that has been purchased, excluding any seed from that lot that was not purchased by the BLM. For example, if an offeror has a seed lot that is 20,000 pounds and the BLM purchases 10,000 pounds, the sample taken and tested will be on the 10,000 pounds sold and delivered to the BLM. The offeror will submit this sample to their first-choice seed testing laboratory. The offeror will not be required to provide the BLM with back up samples. The Attachment 3 (with scanned tags, completely filled out and signed by sampler) will need to be sent in with your sample and also provided to the BLM (with your shipment documents) via email scanned together with the FSA germination test if applicable, and SI collection permit if applicable, to the BLM_ID_Seed_All@blm.gov group email address. The offeror will be responsible for the payment of the first test.

a. The offeror shall designate two different approved seed labs (Refer to Section C for listing) in the BID schedule (Attachment…