C06_01_Attachment_5_-_Questions_and_Answers_8_14_2026_0001.pdf

Lake Berryessa East Side Road Seeding Questions and Answers

Solicitation No. 140R2026Q0094 Amendment No. One (1)

1. Question: Section B requires submission of a current C-27 Landscaping License. Please confirm whether this requirement may be satisfied by the subcontractor performing the licensed work, or whether the prime quoter itself must hold the C-27.

Answer: The landscaping license should be held by the contractor or subcontractor who is performing the landscaping work.

2. Question: PWS Section 3.1 permits spot herbicide treatments if proposed and approved.

Please confirm whether the Government requires a California Qualified Applicator License (QAL) or Certificate (QAC) and a CDPR pest control business license for this scope, and whether a quoter proposing mechanical removal only would be evaluated less favorably.

Answer: To apply restricted-use or state restricted pesticides in California, the contractor must hold QAL if legally responsible for supervising operations and QAC if applying pesticides in a non-supervisory role, and a valid CDPR, if pesticides are applied commercially.

Evaluation of quotes will be performed as a comparative analysis which means, each quote will be compared against its competitors. As to whether or not a quoter proposing mechanical removal only would be evaluated less favorably depends on what is provided by its competitors.

3. Questions: Section B establishes separate option CLINs for Paddocks 1A (00020), 1B (00030), 4A (00060), and 4B (00070). The PWS provides combined acreage only (1A & B =

71.3 acres; 4A & B = 95 acres). Please provide the individual acreage for each of these four paddocks so that the option CLINs can be priced accurately.

Answer: Section B has been revised.

4. Question: Does the Government specify a target seeding rate in pounds of Pure Live Seed per acre, or is the rate to be proposed by the contractor in the Work Plan? If a minimum rate is required, please provide it.

Answer: We don't have a specified seeding rate. The PWS states to "Ensure even seed distribution consistent with native grassland restoration standards and industry best practices."

Therefore, the contractor must propose the seeding rate in the required Work Plan. No minimum rate has been identified.

5. Question: Does the Government require a payment or performance bond for this requirement?

Answer: No.

6. Question: PWS Section 3.0 establishes that contractor invasive species removal follows the Government's completion of two consecutive prescribed burns (fall and early spring), and PWS Section 4.3 restricts seeding to the months of October through November. The base period of performance ends September 30, 2027. Please clarify the Government's anticipated schedule for the two prescribed burns, and confirm the intended base-year seeding window, as the sequence described appears to place base-year seeding outside the stated period of performance.

Answer: There has been additional information since we originally submitted this project. We are working with the new Wildland Fire Service on obtaining proper approvals for burns with CalFire. Current estimate is that there will be a burn in Fall of 2026 and Spring of 2027. The Base Year period of performance has been revised to 10/1/2026-12/31/2028.

7. Question: What is the Government's anticipated award date? This affects mobilization planning and seed procurement lead time.

Answer: The Governments estimated award date is September 15, 2026.

8. Questions: CLIN 00010 is priced as a single Lot. Please confirm whether partial invoicing is acceptable upon Government acceptance of completed paddocks, or whether payment will be made only upon completion of the entire base CLIN.

Answer: Contractors may invoice upon completion of work for each paddock.

9. Question: This requirement is a total small business set-aside. Please confirm which limitations on subcontracting apply and the applicable percentage, as FAR 52.219-14 does not appear in the Section C clause listing.

Answer: FAR 52.219-14 has been added to Section C.

10. Question: Please confirm that the July 30 site visit is not mandatory and that nonattendance will not make an offeror ineligible.

Answer: The July 30 site visit was not mandatory. Nonattendance will not make the offeror ineligible.

11. Question: Must the current California C27 Landscaping License be issued to the prime offeror, or may a named, committed subcontractor performing the licensed landscaping work provide the required license? If permitted, what documentation must accompany the quote?

Answer: The landscaping license should be held by the contractor or subcontractor who is performing the landscaping work. The documentation required is the license.

12. Question: May the prime use that committed subcontractor’s projects and past performance under Evaluation Factors 4 and 5? If so, what attribution, commitment, reference, or past-performance documentation is required?

Answer: The prime may use the subcontractor projects and past performance under Evaluation Factors 4 and 5. The required information is included in the solicitation under FAR 52.212-2, Evaluation – Commercial Products and Commercial Services.

The Government reserves the right to incorporate some or all of the contractors technical quote into the final award. Therefore, if a contractor identifies a subcontractor in their quote the Government may incorporate that subcontractor into the final award requiring the contractor to request a modification to change that subcontractor. In essence, if a contract is awarded as a result of the subcontractors projects and past performance, the Government may ensure that the subcontractor is made part of the resulting contract award.

13. Question: Please confirm the total required seeding area and final acreage for each paddock.

Is the stated 383.8 acres the gross mapped area or the actual seedable area after exclusions?

Answer: This is the gross mapped area, actual seedable area will depend on what the landscape looks like after the two prescribed burns take place.

14. Question: Can the Government provide electronic paddock boundaries, such as GIS or KML files, showing access points, staging areas, and excluded or inaccessible areas?

Answer: Yes, GIS or KML files will be available before the project is scheduled to start. They are not currently available.

15. Question: If field measurements differ from the stated acreage, how will the required work and firm-fixed price be handled?

Answer: A change in the specified acreage may be addressed via modification.

16. Question: What seed mixture and application rate, in pounds per acre, are required for each paddock? Please also confirm which party supplies the seed and performs site preparation.

Answer: Page 13 Table 2: Potential Annual and Perennial Grasses in the EA. Final species selection may vary based on pre-implementation of vegetation surveys and seed availability. The Governments intent is that the selection would be determined by both the contractor and Reclamation through the plan that would be submitted by the contractor.

The PWS states that it should be a 100% native grass and wildflower seed mix and include no few than five species from the Government provided species list.

Reclamation will perform required ground preparation (e.g., controlled burns). Any further ground preparation would be the Contractor's responsibility.

All equipment, seed, and supplies shall be provided by the Contractor.

17. Question: What days and daily working hours are permitted? May the contractor work weekends or extended hours to recover from delays?

Answer: All work must occur during daylight hours, defined as 30 minutes before sunrise through 30 minutes after sunset.

No work during or within 24 hours following a rain event.

Workdays are Monday - Friday, excluding federal holidays. No weekend work permitted unless the Government issues written approval.

18. Question: Please confirm the required fieldwork starting and completion dates for each paddock.

Answer: In accordance with Section 4.3, Seeding Application, of the PWS, conduct seeding only during the months of October - November unless otherwise approved in writing by the Government.

The required fieldwork starting and completion dates for each paddock should be proposed and included in the Work Plan provided by the Contractor. See Section 5.0, Work Plan Requirements of the PWS.

19. Question: What rain, wind, fire-danger, or ground-condition thresholds will stop work? Will qualifying weather delays extend the performance schedule?

Answer: No work during or within 24 hours following a rain event. (≥ ¼ inch in 24 hours)

Red Flag conditions could limit some equipment use - if there is a potential for ignition.

Yes, qualifying weather delays may extend the performance schedule.

20. Question: What advance notice is required before crews enter the site? Who provides gate access, and may equipment and seed remain overnight at the designated staging area?

Answer: Gate keys would be issued at a pre-construction meeting.

Environmental awareness information must be provided to all project personnel before work can begin.

A biological survey must take place by Reclamation staff within 14 days prior work beginning.

The staging area is at Eticuera Day Use area parking lot. Security is the contractor's responsibility.

21. Question: What monitoring or performance standard will determine whether an option-year paddock requires reseeding, and may the Government exercise individual paddock options separately?

Answer: Reclamation determines reseeding needs based on native grassland establishment.

Monitoring would use the vegetation transects with relative native cover metrics.

Reseeding decisions would be made paddock-by-paddock.

Due to funding constraints, the Government intends to include reseeding CLINS as part of the award as opposed to using options. To accommodate this, the Government included separate CLINs for each paddock identified. Paddocks not requiring reseeding will be descoped via modification once it is determined reseeding will not be required for a particular paddock.

22. Question: Can you confirm the License requirements for this work?

Answer: The landscaping license should be held by the contractor or subcontractor who is performing the landscaping work.

23. Question: What is the dollar size limits of the contractor for this small business set-aside bid?

Answer: North American Industry Classification Code (NAICS), 561730. Size Standard, $9.5 Million.

24. Question: Does the government have a project budget for this project?

Answer: Yes. However, we typically do not release that information beyond what can be found on the GSA Acquisition Gateway.

25. Question: Is there a chance there will not be (2) burns before our work starts? If so, how will the contractor deal with that as far as the pricing? We assume this would lead to extra invasive weed management.

Answer: Current estimate is that there will be a burn in Fall of 2026 and Spring of 2027.

26. Question: We think the Period of Performance for the Base Year work has to be changed.

Specifications state to drill seed in October/November, but period of performance ends on 9/30/27 for the base year?

Answer: The Period of Performance has been revised to 10/1/2026-12/31/2028.

27. Question: How many acres is each Paddock?

Answer: See Table Below.

28. Question: Can we assume the two burns will be Fall of 26’ and Spring of 27’?

Answer: Yes.

29. Question: Can we subcontract the drill seeding work, or does that have to be performed by the Prime contractor?

Answer: It is the Contractors responsibility to determine what work will be subcontracted or self-performed. Contractors must comply with FAR 52.219-14.

30. Question: Will there be another site visit or was that the only one? I also wanted to see if it was a mandatory site visit.

Answer: The Government is offering additional site visits by contacting Kristin Edwards via email at kedwards@usbr.gov. Date and time will be coordinated with her. Please be advised that while the Government will make every effort to accommodate requests, it cannot guarantee that all requests will be fulfilled.

31. Question: Can we get a confirmation on the labeling of the PDF map for the Paddocks? It’s labeled 1 – 7 but the bid list contains 1A, 1B and a 4A/4B. Are we to assume it’s actually 1A – 5 from North to South?

Answer: A revised map has been included. Paddocks 6 & 7 are not part of this requirement.

32. Question: Can we get acreage for all bid requested items? Same as above 1A, 1B, etc. The Bid form asks from them to be broken out but the acreage table combines several of them.

Answer: Section B has been revised.

33. Question: The project references no-till drilling but also authorizes government approved low impact methods; what are those methods for this project? Are we able to propose what methods we believe best match the site for your review or is there an actual list of approved methods?

Answer: The PWS has been revised for only no-till drilling only. Contractors may propose alternate methods in the Value Added section of the proposal.

34. Question: Our subcontractor is C-27 licensed, BC Schmidt is Certified Small Business (Woman Owned and HUBZone). Does this qualify us to propose on this project?

Answer: The landscaping license should be held by the contractor or subcontractor who is performing the landscaping work. The company submitting the offer must be a Certified Small Business.

35. Question: The PWS describes five paddocks, but the supplied map displays Paddocks 1–7.

Answer: A revised map has been included. Paddocks 6 & 7 are not part of this requirement.

36. Question: Separate acreages are not provided for 1A versus 1B or 4A versus 4B, although each has its own option-year CLIN.

Answer: Section B has been revised.

37. Question: Our primary concern is the timing of the project. The Performance Work Statement document indicates that invasive species removal and seeding is to follow "two consecutive prescribed burns (fall and early spring)". The wording of the PWS has me concluding that seeding will occur outside of the required October - November window, and may potentially miss the 2026 rainy season entirely. This would leave the Contractor on the hook for watering all 383.8 acres to achieve the Performance Requirements by the stated project end date of September 30th, 2027. I am hopeful that others have submitted similar questions.

Answer: The period of performance has been revised along with the PWS.

38: Question: The documents require a copy of current C27 Landscaping License. Would a California Class A license qualify in lieu of a C27 License?

Answer: No.