15A00018R00000040REPOST - Solicitation Amendment 0001 v20210819.docx

PSD Field Special Investigator Solicitation

ATF intends to issue, to multiple contractors, a Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) that will be available for placing orders. A BOA may be awarded to various contractors throughout the United States depending on location and ATF workload. Proposals will be accepted starting on the day this announcement is posted. All responses will be evaluated and a sufficient number of awards will be made to the most advantageous (most highly rated) contractors.

ATF's objective is to provide a sufficient number of sources, geographically distributed, to ensure prompt and efficient performance of background investigations. ATF reserves the right to retain all proposal materials for any vendor that is denied based on geographic location only. As the needs of the Contract Background Investigation Program change, vendors who were previously denied based solely on geographic location may be reconsidered for an award.

Due to the nature of the Federal Personnel Security Program, changes in policies, procedures and guidelines are subject to change without notice. Therefore, ATF and the Personnel Security Division (PSD) reserve the right to modify the Statement of Work (SOW) and Points and Payment Schedule at any time. All vendors currently contracted under a BOA and any new contractors, thereafter, agree to adhere to any new or updated requirements, policies and/or procedures.

This solicitation is also subject to change without prior notification. Therefore, any interested contractors should ensure they are in receipt of and submit a proposal following the current requirements and guidelines found in the most recent posting/modification/amendment. This solicitation will remain open during the established five-year period; however, ATF reserves the right to amend this solicitation and include proposal submission periods to incorporate opening and closing dates.

This solicitation states that any individual BOA awarded will have a period of performance for sixty (60) months from the time of award. BOAs shall be evaluated every twelve (12) months and ATF may terminate a BOA at any time without notice. At the conclusion of sixty (60) months, a contractor must re-apply through a solicitation to be evaluated and considered for issuance of a new BOA.

Contractors selected from their responses to this solicitation will be offered a BOA. A BOA is not a contract. A BOA, as defined by the Federal Acquisitions Regulations (FAR)16.703, is a "written instrument of understanding, negotiated between an agency, contracting activity, or contracting office and a contractor, that contains (1) terms and clauses applying to future contracts (orders) between the parties during its term, (2) a description, as specific as practicable, of supplies or services to be provided, and (3) methods for pricing, issuing, and delivering future orders under the basic ordering agreement." There will be no minimum or maximum guaranteed quantity. Orders may be competed among all contractors at the same time, upon the discretion of the ATF Contracting Officers Representative (COR). ATF will reimburse contractors based on the rates as outlined in the current SOW and Points and Payment Schedule.

Contractors are hereby informed that if offered a BOA, the contractor is responsible for filing his/her own state and Federal taxes. ATF will provide a 1099-Misc tax form to qualified contractors. The ATF is not required to provide a 1099-Misc form to any vendor who is incorporated and/or does not receive a minimum of $600 during any calendar year.

The following clauses are incorporated in full force: FAR Part 52.212.1 Instructions to Offeror - Commercial Items (Oct. 00) and FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial (incorporated by reference). If a contractor is awarded a BOA, he/she shall complete a copy of the provisions at FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representation and Certifications-Commercial Items and FAR 52.209-5, Certification Regarding Responsibility Matters. The contractor shall also provide a statement proving he/she has read and understands the term and conditions set forth in the FAR 52.212-4.

Evaluation and Selection Criteria:

ATF will consider awarding a BOA to a contractor, as needed, based on past performance, qualifications and experience, the contractor's acceptability (the acceptance of ATF terms and conditions including the point payment rate), and location needs.

All contractors must submit complete responses to the questions in the solicitation in order to be evaluated. Incomplete packages may not be evaluated; this will be determined at the discretion of the government. Contractors will be initially screened by location and then a review of the contractor's experience, qualifications, past performance, and capabilities will be conducted. Additionally, proposals will be reviewed on a pass/fail basis regarding the contractor's acceptability to mandatory terms and regulations. Contractors will be rated on each response given to the below questions. The rating scale is (from low to high rating): unsatisfactory, marginal, satisfactory, very good and exceptional. Contractors that reside in a necessary location, agree to the mandatory requirements and whose proposal responses receive an evaluation determination of satisfactory or higher may be considered for an interview.

When requested, contractors must submit to an interview. Interviews will consist of a series of questions related to the contractors past performance, experience, and qualifications. Following the interview, contractors will be required to submit a writing sample (e.g., sample report of investigation). Contractors will be provided guidance regarding the writing sample requirements during the interview and additional information via email upon the completion of the interview. The contractor will have 3 business days to provide PSD with the completed writing sample.

PSD will conduct a review of the writing sample and the results of the proposal package and interview responses. Those contractors who receive overall evaluation of satisfactory or higher will be considered for issuance of a BOA but are not guaranteed an award.

Contractors must also be able to obtain a favorably adjudicated Tier 5 background investigation (BI) and must be willing to obtain a Dun and Bradstreet number and register with the System for Award Management. These are mandatory requirements and any offeror will be eliminated that fails to comply with them.

Experience/Qualifications/Past Performance:

Experience is the opportunity to learn by doing. Typically, though not exclusively, the contractors are retired federal investigators who have at least 3 years of current experience conducting personnel security background investigations. Contractors are required to have experience of either a college degree (bachelors) or 4 years of general experience, 4 years of specialized experience within the last 5 years or 1 year of specialized Federal background investigative experience. ATF will evaluate each contractor's experience on the basis of its breath, depth, and relevance to the work that will be required under the prospective BOA. Evaluators will consider the years of experience conducting investigations in the federal environment and experience conducting personnel security investigations (including overseas experience). ATF may assess the contractor's communication and written skills, and familiarity with directives governing the conduct of background investigations through an interview. Past performance is a measure of how well a contractor satisfied its customers in the past and complied with laws and regulations. ATF may contact some of the contractor's customers to ask whether or not they believe (1) that the contractor was capable, efficient, and effective; (2) that the contractor's performance conformed to the terms and conditions of its contract; (3) that the contractor was reasonable and cooperative during the performance; and (4) that the contractor was committed to customer satisfaction. In evaluating past performance, ATF may contact some of the references provided by the contractor and other sources of information, including, but not limited to: other government agencies, better business bureaus, published media, and electronic databases.

Capabilities:

Capabilities is a method of evaluation to ensure the contractor appears to be capable of adhering to the general specifications of ATF's Contract Background Investigation Program; ability to utilize ATF owned laptop and other required equipment/programs. Capability criteria includes but is not limited to: (1) ability to accept and complete work assignments; (2) information technology proficiency; and (3) equipment requirements.

Acceptability:

ATF will determine the acceptability of each contractor offer on a "pass" or "fail" basis. A contractor's offer is acceptable when it manifests the contractor's assent, without exception, to the terms and conditions of the solicitation, including attachments and amendments (if any). If a contractor takes exception to any of the terms and conditions of the scope of work, ATF will consider its offer to be unacceptable. Contractors wishing to take exception to the terms and conditions stated are strongly encouraged to contact the Contracting Officer before doing so.

Contractors with recent ATF experience will be evaluated on the performance they provided to ATF. ATF will consider performance that contractors have previously rendered to ATF to be more influential than past performance rendered to another source.

All requests for a full copy of the SOW and/or Points and Payment Schedule should be submitted via email to SIAdministration@atf.gov.

All questions should be directed to the program office, the Personnel Security Division, by sending an email to SIAdministration@atf.gov.

Proposal Requirements:

Anyone wishing to respond to this solicitation should:

1. Submit a current, professional resume, to include references for the most recent two employments; and

2. Submit responses to the below listed questions.

Resumes shall highlight the contractor's experience and capabilities in performing background investigations. Provide examples of your qualifications and how those duties relate to the contractor's past and/or current performance. These examples will be used in evaluating the contractor's qualifications and past performance.

Only written requests received directly from the requestor are acceptable, i.e., each individual contractor (person) must submit his/her own proposal. Contractors will be notified of their proposal evaluation results in writing. (No phone calls will be accepted).

Solicitation Questions:

Past Performance/Experience

For the following eight (8) questions, respond in no more than 3-5 sentences. Failure to respond to any of the listed questions will result in an automatic failed evaluation.

1. Do you have a four-year college degree (bachelors)? If so, provide specifics (i.e., type of degree(s), when obtained, what school).

2. Select the most appropriate response from the below list and provide specifics regarding your experience:

a. I have at least one year of Federal background investigative experience.

b. I have four years within the last five years of experience conducting investigations (i.e., criminal, law enforcement, etc.).

c. I have at least four years of general experience with skills applicable to the investigative field.

3. Have you ever attended training for Federal background investigations and/or suitability or security adjudication training, to include on-the-job training? If so, provide brief details of the training (dates, vendor who provided training, etc.).

4. What purpose do you believe Federal background investigations serve?

5. Explain your understanding and knowledge of the current Tiered Investigations?

6. Identify and describe at least four investigative coverage requirements for a Tier 5 background investigation.

7. List at least two differences in coverage requirements between a Tier 2 and a Tier 5.

8. Briefly define personal identifiable information and identify the investigators responsibility for safeguarding this type of information.

Capabilities

For the following four (4) questions, describe your abilities for each category and provide at least one example.

1. Describe your ability to read and implement written directions pertaining to changes in policies and procedures. Provide at least one example.

2. Describe your ability to switch priorities while maintaining organization and steady flow of processing. Provide at least one example.

3. Describe how you would assess your written communication skills. Provide at least one example.

4. Describe your ability to effectively communicate with clear and concise thoughts. Provide at least one example.

Acceptability For the following nine (9) questions, provide either a yes or no. These questions are evaluated on a pass/fail basis. Failure to respond to any of the listed questions will result in an automatic failed evaluation.

1. Do you have the knowledge of and experience to meet the information technology requirements outline in the SOW?

2. Do you believe you are able to obtain and maintain a favorably adjudicated Tier 5 investigation (Top Secret eligibility)?

3. Do you understand that if you were offered a position as a contract background investigator you must obtain and Dun and Bradstreet number and register with the System for Award Management?

4. Are you willing to sign and adhere to the terms of the Contractor Certification?

5. You must complete all assigned ATF training courses at your own expense, are you willing to comply with this requirement? Are you willing to acknowledge and adhere to the terms and conditions of the "Non-Disclosure Agreement for Access to Unclassified Sensitive Information?"

6. Are you willing to maintain and safeguard an ATF owned laptop, PIV card and other materials?

7. Are you willing to prepare and submit thorough Reports of Investigation adhering to ATF reporting standards and utilizing ATF reporting systems?

8. Are you willing to read and implement all changes in policies and procedures?

9. Are you able to accept assignments requiring travel up to and beyond a 200-mile radius?

Priority Cities:

A list of priority cities for this requirement is listed below. However, any interested parties outside of these priority cities will not be precluded from responding to this announcement.

Alabama – Montgomery, Huntsville Alaska – Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau Arizona – Yuma California – Bakersfield, Redding Connecticut – Hartford Guam – Any location Iowa – Cedar Rapids Kentucky – Knoxville Louisiana – Lafayette, New Orleans, Shreveport Maine – Any location Massachusetts – Springfield Michigan – Lansing Mississippi – Jackson Montana – Helena Nebraska – Omaha New Jersey – New Brunswick, Trenton, Northern NJ (Ramsey area).

New York – Syracuse/Rochester North Dakota – Any Location Ohio – Dayton, Toledo.

Oregon – Eugene Pennsylvania – Harrisburg, Scranton, State College, Williamsport Rhode Island – Any location South Dakota – Any location Tennessee – Knoxville, Memphis Texas – Corpus Christi, Eagle Pass, Laredo, Houston Utah – Salt Lake City Washington – Yakima, Spokane Wyoming – Any Location