Sol_140L3724R0010.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

07/22/2024 1000 MD

06/28/2024

(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

140L3724R0010

5. SOLICITATION NUMBER

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

1 65 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.

FY24-2 Fall Consolidated Seed Buy

The BLM National Interagency Fire Center has a requirement for the Fall Consolidated Seed Buy for various quantities and varieties of seed to be delivered to multiple locations per the attached spreadsheet (Attachment 1). Delivery dates is between August 15, 2024 and September 5, 2024. Freezer stored Sagebrush and Forage Kochia will deliver during Rd 2 and 3 delivery window.

New Harvest Sagebrush and Kochia has a delivery

(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.

schedule of November 1 to December 15, 2024.

Pre-bid Conference Call is scheduled for 7/8/23, see Section A for details.

It is the vendor's responsibility to ensure the offer package is complete. The Government is NOT obligated to notify or allow corrections for missing incorrect information.

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.

3. Signed and dated complete SF1449 form.

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 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

Continued ...

32f. TELEPHONE NUMBER OF AUTHORIZED GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE

32d. PRINTED NAME AND TITLE OF AUTHORIZED GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE

65 2 of

ITEM NO. SUPPLIES/SERVICES QUANTITY UNIT UNIT PRICE AMOUNT

NAME OF OFFEROR OR CONTRACTOR

3 65

CONTINUATION SHEET

REFERENCE NO. OF DOCUMENT BEING CONTINUED PAGE OF

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

140L3724R0010 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 before 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 offers.

Period of Performance: 08/15/2024 to 12/15/2024

00010 See Attachment 1 Bidsheet for requested seed 1 LS types.

Delivery locations will be Boise ID, Ely NV, and

Shoshone ID.

Product/Service Code: 8730

Product/Service Description: SEEDS AND NURSERY

STOCK

Under the authority of Option to Extend, the BLM reserves the right to purchase additional quantities of seed, via a contract or bilateral contract modification, for a period of 150 days after the bid closing. Seed purchased via the modification shall be delivered within 15 days of the modification date. The process for requesting and awarding additional seed is as follows:

Offeror's will be given the opportunity to update their bid by identifying seed that is no longer available or identify additional quantities available at the same bid price. The additional quantity will be evaluated after original bids have exceeded a fair and reasonable price. Seed pricing and PLS rate cannot change throughout the

Continued ...

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

Sponsored by GSA

FAR (48 CFR) 53.110

ITEM NO. SUPPLIES/SERVICES QUANTITY UNIT UNIT PRICE AMOUNT

NAME OF OFFEROR OR CONTRACTOR

4 65

CONTINUATION SHEET

REFERENCE NO. OF DOCUMENT BEING CONTINUED PAGE OF

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

140L3724R0010

Rounds.

If Vendor A is the evaluated low priced vendor of species X and offered 10,000 lbs of which 10,000 was purchased with the initial award the next lowest evaluated offeror, Vendor B (the second lowest PLS price with Certified/Brome Free considered) will be contacted to fill the requirement. If Vendor B no longer has the seed available, Vendor C (the next lowest PLS price with Certified/Brome Free considered) will be contacted.

If Vendor A is the evaluated low priced vendor of species X and offered 10,000 lbs, of which 8,000 was purchased with the initial award, Vendor A will be contacted to fill the additional requirement first. If Vendor A no longer has the seed available, Vendor B (the second lowest PLS price with Certified/Brome Free considered) will be contacted to fill the requirement.

This does not guarantee BLM will purchase additional quantities and vendors should not reserve seed with the expectation of receiving additional orders.

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

24-2 Fall Seed Buy

SOLICITATION # 140L3724R0010

Diane Barker, Contracting Officer Date revision 06/2024

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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:

7/08/24 at 10:30 AM MT Phone # 1 866 581-1353 Passcode # 5201433#

We will be reviewing Section A, Attachment 1 Bidsheet, and required submission documents. If you are unable to participate in the Pre-Bid meeting, you need to review the specifications.

Bid closing date: July 22, 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 8/13/2024

Delivery Schedule: 8/15/2024 - 9/5/2024. Freezer stored Sagebrush and Forage Kochia will have an October delivery date for Rd 1, New Harvest Sagebrush and Forage Kochia delivery schedule is: 11/1/24 -12/15/24

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.) FSA Germination test requirements. If you are bidding Seed types that are covered under the FSA, ensure you have a valid germination test before bidding the lot. If you won’t have a valid germination test before the delivery window, mark the line as a late delivery on your bidsheet.

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 mailto:BLM_ID_Seed_All@blm.gov

4 | P a g e seed lot contaminant. Germination test result must be dated within 6 months of the 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, Wyoming, and Indiana Crop Improvement Association.

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. Sampling of incentive seed will follow the same process as non-incentive seed with the exception that incentive seed will receive an automatic spot check by the BLM at the BLM’s laboratory of choice. BLM will pay for the cost of the incentive seed spot check. 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. Outside of Spec option within the Additional Seed offered section: 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

5 | P a g e 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.

5.) DEBEARDING AND CLEANING REQUIREMENTS from Section C 12

Bitterbrush: Seed must be cleaned of all pericarp material (leathery or paper covering over the seed/achene) to the point that the seed coat is fully exposed.

6.) SEED AND SAMPLING see Section D for full specification

VENDORS RESPONSIBILITY IN ADVANCE OF DELIVERY:

1 ) SEED AND TESTING

A.) The vendor shall provide an Attachment 3 filled out (except sampler, sampling, and lab information) and signed prior to delivery for each seed lot, at each delivery location. The vendor shall send the Attachment 3, shipping documents, FSA germination test if applicable, and SI/AOC collection permit(s) if applicable, to the BLM_ID_Seed_All@blm.gov group email address prior to delivery.

B.) 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 preference. The government will pull an official AASCO certified seed sample at the government facility upon delivery of the seed lot, and the sample will be sent to one of the two labs listed as preferred by the vendor. The offeror will be responsible for the payment of the first test. Additional samples and testing may be conducted at the discretion of the BLM, those samples/tests will be sent to the BLM lab of choice and paid for by the BLM. If a lab is not designated by the offeror on the schedule, the Government will utilize any approved seed testing facility. See Section E for seed sampling and testing procedures.

E.) For replacement or reconditioned seed, the same procedures apply.

F.) Copies of the seed analysis test results will be sent to blm_id_seed_all@blm.gov and the offeror. The BLM will NOT accept any tests that are forwarded by the vendor. BLM must receive the test results directly from the laboratory issuing the test results for the test to be valid.

Government Sampling, Inspection, and Testing see Section E for entire specification

1) SEED SAMPLING AND TESTING PROCEDURES

a. All awarded seed lots will be sampled and tested before acceptance. Lots that receive multiple tests will be averaged for the final PLS. Weeds found or percentages of weeds will not be averaged. Any test showing common weeds above 0.25%, annual brome above 400 seeds/lb, or any western states prohibited or restricted (found above the allowed limit) noxious weeds will be sufficient to reject the entire seed lot.

The seed delivered under the contract(s) shall be subject to such inspection and tests as may be determined by the Contracting Officer, Contracting Officer Representative or Project Inspector to be necessary to ascertain conformance with the specifications stated herein. Acceptance of, or the waiving of the inspection and tests of any seed will in no way relieve the Contractor of the responsibility for furnishing seed meeting the requirements of the contract(s).

Each lot shall be purchased on the basis of a laboratory report(s) of analysis on which the testing for purity, viability, and noxious weeds conducted in accordance with the most current version of the AOSA rules for testing seeds when such rules exist for that species.

b. Government Sampling and Testing

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i. All seed will be sampled and tested prior to acceptance to ensure the seed lot meets the specifications for seed quality. The BLM will sample all seed lots after being delivered to the BLM’s delivery location. The BLM will pull 2 samples from each seed lot and mail one sample to one of the vendor’s preferred seed laboratories which they identified on the bid schedule. The costs of the first test will be the responsibility of the vendor and will be authorized using attachment 3. The second sample will be held in reserve, used for a BLM spot check, or used for additional testing as necessary. ALL INCENTIVE SEED WILL RECEIVE A GOVERNMENT SPOT CHECK. The second sample pulled by the BLM at the time of delivery will be sent to the BLM’s lab of choice. This test will be paid for by the BLM.

ii. All seed may receive spot checks as determined by the Government. Spot checks will be sent to the BLM lab of choice and paid for by the BLM.

iii. BLM may utilize a variety of options to pull samples of seed lots at the BLM’s location after seed delivery.

Options for pulling samples may include a mix of BLM personnel, other agency personnel, contractors, or agreement holders. All personnel pulling samples will be certified samplers as prescribed by AASCO.

iv. Samples will be pulled at the earliest possible time after delivery and generally will be within 2-5 business days depending on overall delivery quantities. All samples will be mailed to the respective laboratory within 2 days of being pulled. Samples pulled from freezer stored seed will be held in cooler/freezer until mailing and will be mailed with ice packs or other means or transported in freezer/cooler conditions to ensure the seed remains chilled during transport.

v. For lots that are delivered to multiple warehouses, the sample will be pulled from one or more of the warehouses receiving the seed lot at the Government’s discretion.

vi. Seed test analysis will include purity (inert, other crop, weed seed), TZ, noxious weed exam for all western states, and annual brome species check.

vii. Seed will be subject to visual inspections. The Government may reject a seed lot based on the visual inspection of cleaning specification standards.

viii. Copies of the initial seed analysis test results must be sent directly to the BLM from the laboratory at blm_id_seed_all@blm.gov and the offeror. The BLM will NOT accept any seed test results that are not sent directly to the BLM from the issuing seed laboratory. Seed test results that are forwarded by the vendor to the BLM will not be accepted.

The test results shall determine final acceptance, rejection and/or payment terms.

d. Testing of replacement or reconditioned seed lots

Seed that is required to be replaced or reconditioned will follow the same sampling process as identified for the original delivery. Seed shall be shipped to the BLM and the sampling of the replacement/reconditioned lot will be conducted by the BLM. Sample will be sent to one of the vendors’ originally identified two preferred seed laboratories and will be paid for by the vendor utilizing the attachment 3. Replacement/reconditioned lots are subject to additional spot testing at the BLM’s discretion.

e. Additional testing that may be conducted by the Government

All seed lots may be subject to additional testing by the government to ascertain the species or variety of the seed lot at the discretion of the government. Due to the length of time required for species and varietal testing, seed may be accepted through the regular testing process, but later rejected if the seed is found to be of a different species or variety than stated by the vendor.

7. SEED COLLECTION PERMITS

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a. The BLM must ensure that seed purchased under this contract was legally collected with proper permission.

b. The contractor shall provide all permits or agreements that authorized the collection of wildland collected species.

This applies to wildland collected seed that is either Source Identified or Area of Collection. Permits, in their entirety, must be provided for any collections on federal or state lands. For collections on private lands, a permit or signed agreement from the private landowner must be provided. Authorization paperwork must be included in their entirety, show species and amount (pounds) authorized to collect, and must include a map or sufficient locational information (e.g., Township, Range, Section, Lat/Lon, UTM, etc.) of the collection area, and any attachments. The Government will only use this information to verify the legitimacy of the collection.

c. A seed lot may be partially accepted or rejected based on provided seed collection documentation. For seed lots that exceed the amount of seed allowed to collect on the provided seed collection permits/agreements, the government may reject the entire seed lot, or may reject the portion of seed that exceeds the permitted pounds allowed under the permit/agreement.

(For example, if the vendor sells the government 3,000 pounds of a seed lot but can only provide permits/agreements documentation for 1,000 pounds of collection, the BLM may choose to accept 1,000 pounds or reject the entire seed lot.)

8. SEED PROVENANCE OF SI AND AOC SEED

The BLM may reject a seed lot that does not have clearly identified and trackable seed provenance. Information on seed vendor analysis tags and state issued tags must match. Seed tag information must be the same ecoregion and seed transfer zone the contractor provided on the bid sheet upon which the award was made. Site inspection reports from the seed certifying agency and seed collection permits/agreements must validate the claimed ecoregion and seed transfer zone. Failure to properly document or identify the correct ecoregion and/or seed transfer zone will result in non-compliance with the terms of the contract.

9. 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.

Freezer stored Sagebrush and Forage Kochia offers shall supply a current (within a month of the solicitation closing date) lab test that includes all required examines (purity, TZ, and western states noxious) from an approved lab with the bid submission to verify the seed meets our specifications due to a high rate of rejected lines on each Buy.

Freezer stored seed will have the first delivery window that will match the Round 2 delivery schedule. If any freezer stored seed is picked up on Rd 1, it will have a Rd 2 delivery date of October 15th.

10. From Section E 8 Moisture

Delivery of a seed lot for seed with a high fluctuating moisture content must take into account differences in bag weight due to moisture changes. The contractor shall ensure all bags meet the required bag weight and shall account for potential weight loss due to moisture loss. A 2% variance will be allowed to account for moisture loss, meaning that a bag weight shall not be less than 2% of the purchased bag weight. (example: a 50 pound bag may be acceptable at weights between 49 - 51 pounds.)

This allowable variance only pertains to the high moisture content species listed above.

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

A. Paperwork needed before shipping B. How to setup a delivery appointment

The delivery appointments will be scheduled on a first come first serve basis to each government delivery location. The contractor shall schedule with the receiving warehouse the delivery date and identify either morning or afternoon delivery window. The BLM may choose to not unload deliveries that show up outside of the scheduled delivery day, scheduled appointment window, or deliveries that show up without a prior arranged appointment.

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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.

12.) 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 with reconditioning efforts. Reconditioning will be limited to one official test, if the seed doesn’t pass, it will be rejected and terminated.

13.) 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.

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.

Outside of Spec option within the Additional Seed offered section: 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.

a. 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, Wyoming, and Indiana Crop Improvement Association.

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.

6.) 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. Sampling of incentive seed will follow the same process as non-incentive seed with the exception that incentive seed will receive an automatic spot check by the BLM at the BLM’s laboratory of choice.

BLM will pay for the cost of the incentive seed spot check. 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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7.) 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.

8.) 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…