15JA0523Q00000046.pdf

Request for Quotation #15JA0523Q00000046

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for Grand Jury Court Reporting Services (commercial items) for the U.S.

Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Georgia, prepared in accordance with the format in FAR subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.

This acquisition is being conducted as a Woman-Owned Small Business Set-Aside. All offerors are required to verify their woman-owned small business status under NAICS code 561492 in their quote. Any quotes from offerors that do not meet the socioeconomic requirement and small business size standard will not be considered for award.

Specific instructions to offerors and minimum quote submission criteria are located in Section 10, Addendum to 52.212-1- Instructions, Conditions and Notices to Offerors (Mar 2023)

Questions in regard to this solicitation are due June 13, 2023 at 1:00 PM Eastern to the Contracting Officer via email at brandon.wish@usdoj.gov. Questions submitted after this deadline may not be responded to.

Quotes are due June 27, 2023 at 1:00 PM Eastern to the Contracting Officer via email at brandon.wish@usdoj.gov.

For further information regarding this solicitation, contact:

Brandon Wish Contracting Officer Executive Office for United States Attorneys brandon.wish@usdoj.gov 803-297-2111

15JA0523Q00000046

Section 1 - Supplies or Services and Prices/Costs

1.1 General

a) The Contractor shall provide Grand Jury Court Reporting Services for the United States Attorney’s Office

(USAO), Northern District of Georgia.

b) The period of performance for this contract will include a base year and four (4) one-year options as follows:

Base Year: 09/12/2023 – 09/11/2024 Option Year I: 09/12/2024 – 09/11/2025 Option Year II: 09/12/2025 – 09/11/2026 Option Year III: 09/12/2026 – 09/11/2027 Option Year IV: 09/12/2027 – 09/11/2028

Contract may be extended an additional six months pursuant to FAR 52.217-8, Option to Extend Services. In the event the contract is extended pursuant to FAR clause 52.217-8, Option to Extend Services, the prices for the most recent period shall apply.

c) The contract will be an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract. Contract type will be Time-and-Materials (T&M).

d) No Government Furnished Property shall be provided.

e) Department of Labor wage rates are applicable. Specifically, Wage Determination #2015-4471 is applicable.

See Attachment 3 – Wage Determination.

f) The Government requires the following for this effort:

• Minimum of two (2) but no more than four (4) court reporters

g) All Contractor personnel who will have access to Grand Jury material will need to be cleared.

1.2 Minimum Guarantee, Order Limits, & Ceiling

a) The USAO will order a minimum guaranteed amount of $1,000.00 during the life of this contract. The minimum amount is not re-established with each option year.

b) The minimum order limit is $100.00 and the maximum order limit is $90,000.00.

c) The contract ceiling is $450,000.00.

d) Each order ceiling is established in the individual task order and in accordance with FAR 52.212-4 Alt I (i), the

Contractor shall provide requisite notification in the event expenditures are expected to exceed 85% of current funding ceiling.

1.3 Pricing

a) All unit prices are fixed and includes, but are not limited to, labor (including supervision), material, equipment, facilities, fringe benefits, overhead, G&A, and profit necessary to provide the Grand Jury Court Reporting services required. Travel is priced separately and referenced in Section 2.

b) For planning purposes only, the following general information is provided:

i. Under normal circumstances, Grand Jury occurs four times a month, on the first four Tuesdays of the month and occasionally may go into Wednesdays. Each session generally lasts about 8 hours over 1 (but sometimes 2) day(s).

ii. Historically, the average number of Grand Jury proceedings per year has been 64.

c) When providing pricing in Attachment 2 - Pricing Schedule, of this solicitation do not include asterisks with exceptions or comments - only state the price for the Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) based on the description of work provided. Any additions to the pricing page other than the CLIN price in the space provided will not be considered. If a CLIN is no charge, state N/C (instead of stating zero) in Unit Price Column. N/A’s are not acceptable. All CLINs with an estimated quantity must have a unit price or state N/C. All pricing and costs associated to provide the requisite services stated within shall be included within the pricing proposal. No additional line items nor additional charges will be added nor considered post-award.

Section 2 - Statement of Work

2.1 Overview

a) The Contractor shall provide all labor (including supervision), material, equipment, facilities, and whatever else may be needed to record and transcribe Grand Jury testimony for the USAO specified in Section 1 in accordance with the terms, conditions, and Statement of Work set forth herein.

b) The location(s) where services may be requested and take place are listed below:

Richard B. Russell Federal Building and United States Courthouse 75 Ted Turner Drive, S.W., Suite 600 Atlanta, Georgia 30303

2.2 Grand Jury Transcripts

a) Scheduling of Grand Jury: The USAO will notify the Contractor of the requirements for attendance at a

Grand Jury no later than one business day before the scheduled session. Each request will set forth the date, place and time of the session. The Contractor shall reply stating they have received the work order by returning the signed work order form or other form of written acceptable as may be agreed upon by the USAO and Contractor and communicate the name of the reporter who will be in attendance. The same individual reporter shall be available for the whole duration of the day as opposed to splitting daily services between two or more (e.g. one reporter for morning and another for afternoon) to provide continuity and consistency of services. Any change will be communicated by the Contractor to the USAO prior to the session. In the event a Grand Jury session is continued for more than one day, the Contractor will make reasonable efforts to assign the same court reporter for each continued segment of that given Grand Jury session. Should the Contractor not be able to provide the same court reporter, it will notify the USAO authorized Point of Contact before the Grand Jury session that another court reporter will be providing the court reporting services.

b) Original Transcripts. Unless otherwise stated, Grand Jury testimony shall be typed in an original and delivered within the turnaround times as set forth below. All Grand Jury transcripts shall contain (at a minimum) a title page stating the witness's name, Grand Jury date, time of the commencement of the proceeding for that particular witness, name, title and address of the attorney appearing for the Government. The title page should also include the Grand Jury number of the case, i.e., 07 GJ 999, and the name of the Federal Grand Jury that the witness is appearing before. Transcripts may be ordered by the USAO within the following timeframes. Billing rates for these turnaround times are set forth in the Pricing Schedule of this contract.

i. 10 Business Day Transcripts: Transcripts will be completed and delivered on or before the 10th business day after the Contractor receives a request from the USAO. Transcripts shall be delivered to the USAO of each witness’s testimony, only when requested by the USAO. Colloquy will not be transcribed unless requested by the USAO, in which case the transcript shall be completed and delivered on or before the 10th business day after the Contractor receives a request from USAO.

ii. 5 Business Day Transcripts: Transcripts shall be completed and delivered on or before the 5th business day after the Contractor receives a request from the USAO. This request will sometimes be made the same day as the proceedings.

iii. 3 Business Day Transcripts: Transcripts shall be completed and delivered on or before the 3rd business day after the Contractor receives a request from the USAO. This request will sometimes be made the same day as the proceedings.

iv. Next Business Day Transcripts: Transcripts shall be delivered before 9:30am of the following business day after conclusion of each day's proceedings. This may require performance after normal business hours.

The Contractor may not be notified in advance of the testimony of this requirement.

v. Same Business Day Transcripts: Transcripts shall be delivered by 9:00pm on the same day as the proceedings. The Contractor may not be notified in advance of the testimony of this requirement.

vi. Condensed Transcripts: All condensed transcripts shall include four original transcript pages in reduced format on a single 8 ½ x 11 inch page. All condensed transcripts shall be completed and delivered to the USAO, as ordered, within the same turnaround times as set forth for delivery of an original transcript.

vii. Key Word Indexing: The keyword index gives an alphabetical listing of each word within the transcript and provides a page and line reference.

viii. Additional Copies of Transcripts: The Government has the right to copy and distribute transcripts acquired under this contract, however, the Government may order additional copies of any transcript. Additional copies of transcripts shall be provided to the USAO, as ordered, within the same turnaround times as set forth above.

ix. Attendance Fee. The Contractor is entitled to an Attendance Fee as set forth in the Pricing Schedule of this contract. The fee is payable for each hour the Contractor's reporter appears at a scheduled proceeding. The minimum charge for any single day is three (3) hours total for the Contractor, not for each individual reporter. Attendance fees will be paid for each hour the Contractor's reporter appears for a scheduled proceeding. Proceedings are presently scheduled for 9:00am to 12:00pm and 1:00pm to 5:00pm with a one (1) hour lunch break in between. The Contractor is not paid during this lunch break. These hours are subject to change. The Contractor will generally be asked to report at 9:00am and be dismissed at 5:00pm. A shorter day may be scheduled. The Government guarantees payment of a minimum of three (3) hours. In the event that there are time periods during the day during which no testimony is taken, and the reporter is required to remain available for testimony later in the day, the Contractor will be paid the hourly attendance fee during those time periods. In the event that a reporter's presence is required for a whole day and no testimony is recorded, the Contractor will be paid one (1) cancellation fee or the number of attendance fee the reporter was available, whichever is higher.

x. Cancellation Fee. The Contractor may wish to charge a cancellation fee. The Government will notify the contractor by telephone of any cancellations no later than 5:00pm the day before the scheduled proceedings. If the USAO does not notify the contractor within the designated time, the contractor may request a cancellation fee.

xi. Other Requirements. As follows:

• A transcript of all witness testimony shall be produced only when the USAO makes a specific request that a transcript be produced. Some witness testimony may never be transcribed. Colloquy will not be transcribed unless the USAO requests it.

• Each witness' testimony shall be in a separate transcript.

• If the USAO does not request that a transcript be produced, charging for estimated pages shall NOT be allowed. Only the Attendance fee will be paid.

• Grand Jury transcripts shall not be sold nor provided to anyone other than the Government under any circumstances.

xii. Delivery. See Section "EOUSA AI-10-1E Federal Grand Jury Court Reporter Security Requirements (December 2015)." The Government will request that deliverables be sent electronically through the DOJ platform USAFx. USAFx is the Department of Justice's file exchange system provided for internal and external users.

c) Grand Jury Travel and Per Diem Reimbursement Restrictions:

The Contractor(s), when Grand Jury sessions are located within a 50-mile radius of the locations identified in Section 2.1(b), shall not be entitled to travel reimbursements. Travel required outside the 50-mile radius is allowable and shall be pre-approved in writing by the Contracting Officer’s Representative or Contracting

Officer prior to traveling. Travel expenses shall be reimbursed in accordance with the Federal Travel Regulations (FTR). The FTR can be found at this address: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-41/subtitle-F.

d) Certification. Each reporter shall attach his/her official certification to the original transcript so recorded as follows:

CERTIFICATE

(I, We) hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and accurate transcript, to the best of (my, our) skill and ability, from my stenographic notes of this proceeding.

Date Court Reporter

There shall be no charge for either this certification page or any index page if used.

2.3 Recording Requisites

a) Recording hereunder shall be taken by reporters qualified in the operation of Steno-type equipment, Real Time recording, Computer Aided Transcription (CAT), Shorthand and/or monitored Multi-Microphone recording systems, and when permitted by the Presiding Official, by Steno mask. At the request of the USAO, recording shall also be taken by videotape. Regardless of the type of equipment used, it is mandatory that there be an accurate read back capability and that a back-up system be utilized. It is also mandatory that tape recording devices shall have a separate monitor head which shall allow the reporter to monitor the recorded tape.

i. Monitored Multi-microphone Recording Systems. The mandatory requirements follow:

• The Contractor's personnel shall operate and monitor the recording equipment at all times.

• The operating personnel shall provide to the USAO, prior to the commencement of each proceeding, a certification that the equipment is turned on and operating.

• The recording equipment utilized shall provide for the instant playback of testimony.

• The equipment shall be capable of recording as many as twenty-three grand jurors together in one room with the prosecutor and the witness.

• The system utilized shall have a back-up system to allow continuous recording of speakers. The Grand

Jury hearings shall not be stopped for any reason such as the changing of a tape.

• The media shall be of such quality that there shall be no instances of inaudibility because of accents or words used by the speakers.

• The system shall be portable to allow for transportation of media to another location when an immediate decision is required by a Federal District Court Judge.

• The recording monitor shall be able to identify speakers.

• A back-up system shall be available so as not to delay the proceedings.

• The equipment utilized shall not pose any safety hazards due to exposed wires, cords, or for any other reason.

ii. Real Time Recording. The steno machine is attached to the computer. As the steno types the strikes/words are translated into English onto the screen.

iii. Computer Aided Transcription (CAT). With this type of system, the steno strikes a key which is written onto a disk. The disk is inserted into an attachment to the computer and the information is brought up on the computer screen. Also, a back-up voice tape is made so that a re-verification can be made of the transcript.

iv. Video Recording. Video recordings shall be submitted digitally via USAFx or E-mail.

b) All notes, records, documentary exhibits, and any other material which is a part of, or relates to, any action recorded by the Contractor shall be the property of the United States and shall be delivered to the ordering office, together with furnished transcript, if requested.

c) Right to Remove Individual Reporter - It shall be an absolute right of the USAO to inform the Contractor through the Contracting Officer of the unacceptability of specific court reporters for Grand Jury work. The failure of the Contractor to provide a court reporter other than one designated unacceptable by the USAO shall provide a basis for the USAO's decision to obtain court reporting services from another source.

2.4 Transcript Format

a) All transcripts shall be provided to the USAO utilizing USAFx or paper. USAFx is the USAO’s proprietary and secure, cloud-based file-sharing platform.

b) A separate transcript shall be provided for each witness. The title page shall show the name of the witness, Grand Jury date, time of the commencement of the proceeding for that particular witness, docket number, the date of proceedings, the name, title and address of the attorney appearing for the Government, caption of matter, etc. and shall be followed by a page of distinctive color indexing the exhibits where applicable.

c) The paging of the transcripts shall be in a single series by consecutive numbers regardless of the number of days consumed in the hearings, proceeding, etc., and the paging of the transcript in a hearing shall follow consecutively the paging of the last previous hearing in the same case.

d) Each copy of the transcript furnished to the USAO shall be bound with covers of good quality, white or colored

140 pound index paper, #1 sulphite paper, heavy weight transparent plastic, or similar material approved by the ordering office. Transcripts shall be punched with three holes at the left side; the upper and lower holes to be two inches from top and bottom of the page, third hole in the center of the resulting interval, and shall be secured with a suitable fastener of permanent nature.

e) All transcripts shall be typed with black ribbon or reproduced by regular office type duplicating machines on white linen unglazed paper of good quality, #30 white bond paper or similar stock, to be approved by the ordering office. Transcripts shall be typed on paper 8 ½ inches x 11 inches in size, with a ruled margin of 1 3/4 inches at the left side and 3/8 inch at the right side. Typing shall be 10 spaces to the inch, double spaced, and shall not be less than 25 lines to the page exclusive of the line containing the witness name, date of testimony, and page number. The lines of testimony are to be numbered on each page beginning with #1. These numbers will appear just to the left of the left ruled margin. Whenever testimony is continuous, requiring more than one line, the typing shall begin one blank space after the left hand ruled margin and shall continue to the right hand ruled margin, with no blank spaces. The distance between the left hand ruled margin and the right hand ruled margin will be 6 3/8 inches. Therefore, there will be no less than 60 characters per line available. No word should wrap to the next line that would properly fit within the 60 count. Pages necessarily containing less than 25 lines shall be charged and paid for at the full-page rate. No payment will be made for lines in excess of 25 lines to the page. The first line of Q and A's will be indented 5 spaces, then followed by a period and 3 blank spaces. The second line will return to one blank space after the left hand ruled margin. The first line of colloquy will be indented 10 spaces, followed by a period and 3 blank spaces. The second line will return to one blank space after the left hand ruled margin. No extraneous words should be used on the title page or at the beginning of a witness' testimony. No statement that can properly fit on a line should be extended to an additional line. There should be no unnecessary blank lines unless absolutely necessary for readability. The USAO will be the sole judge of this format.

Reduced page transcripts (Condensed Transcripts) shall include four transcript pages in reduced format on a single 8 ½ x 11 inch page.

f) Exhibits admitted in evidence, identified in Grand Jury proceedings, when requested by the Government attorney shall be stamped, marked, numbered by the Contractor, and arranged in numerical order, as directed by the individual Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) and shall be annexed to the transcript. The marking shall indicate clearly whether the exhibit is offered by the complainant, protestant, intervener, defendant, respondent, applicant, the ordering office, or other party of record. The numbering of exhibits shall be in a single series of consecutive numbers, regardless of the number of days consumed in the hearing, unless otherwise directed by the Presiding Official. The number of exhibits introduced at a hearing or in a reopened case shall follow consecutively the number on the last previous exhibit introduced by such party. Exhibits shall not be copied into the record nor shall photo static copies of exhibits for inclusion in the record be made by the reporter unless the Presiding Official so directs.

2.5 Availability/Sale of Transcripts

a) Recording of proceedings shall be transcribed by the Contractor only when directed by the USAO. In the handling of transcripts, the Contractor shall observe and comply with security requirements stipulated herein. Transcripts will not be made available to the public by the Contractor.

b) Pursuant to Public Law 92-463, the Government reserves the right to make Grand Jury transcripts available to the public at the actual cost of duplication.

2.6 Reports

The Contractor shall submit immediately, in writing, to the Contracting Officer and the USAO the following reports:

• Unauthorized Entry. A report on any information coming to his attention concerning unauthorized entry (actual, attempted, or threatened) at his facilities where work for the USAO is performed.

• Loss, Compromise or Suspected Compromise. A report on any loss, compromise or suspected compromise of transcripts, notes or other related material.

• Any change of ownership, including stock transfers that affect the control of the corporation.

• Change of operating or address of the facility.

• A report of any change during the performance of the contract in location of closed or restricted areas as established, including the creation of any new areas requiring approval of the United States Attorney

(USA).

• A report of any change in the storage capability which would affect the information which the Contractor is required to safeguard.

The Contractor shall also maintain and keep available for review by the USAO a master index of the Grand Jury sessions, including the date, name of Grand Jury, name of case, name of AUSA(s), case number, name of witnesses and pages from those witnesses, and the name of the court reporter.

2.7 Orders

a) The Contracting Officer will provide funding at the Task Order level on Optional Form 347, which will state the amount of funding available for each ordering period. Services to be furnished will subsequently be ordered by the issuance of work orders (see Attachment 1) signed by the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) or Authorized Individual(s) of the USAO (see Attachment 1).

b) All work orders issued hereunder are subject to the terms and conditions of this contract which shall take precedence in the event of conflict with any work order.

c) All work orders placed under this contract must contain the following information:

i. Date of Order

ii. Order Number

iii. Description of Service

iv. Place of Performance

v. Primary Point of Contact of the work order

A sample Court Reporting Ordering Form is located in Attachment 1.

d) In accordance with FAR 52.212-4 Alt I (i), the Contractor shall provide requisite notification in the event expenditures are expected to exceed 85% of current funding ceiling.

2.8 Key Personnel

a) The key personnel whom the Contractor shall furnish for the performance of this contract are as follows:

Name: TBD Title: Court Reporter

b) The personnel specified above is/are considered to be essential to the work being performed hereunder. Prior to replacing any of the specified individuals, the Contractor shall immediately notify both the Contracting Officer and COR reasonably in advance and shall submit written justification (including proposed substitutions) in sufficient detail to permit evaluation of the impact on the program. No replacement of personnel shall be made by the Contractor without the written consent of the Contracting Officer.

2.9 Notice to Proceed

Within ten (10) calendar days after the contract award, the USAO will furnish the Contractor with personnel security application forms. The Contractor shall complete and return to the COR all personnel security application forms within seven (7) calendar days after receipt. After a sufficient number of Contractor Personnel are cleared by the Government, a notice to proceed will be issued by the Contracting Officer or the Contracting Officer’s Representative specifying a performance start date.

Section 3 - Packaging and Marking

All information and submittals, including receipts, forms, reports, and other materials provided to the CO or the COR shall be clearly marked with the IDIQ contract number and applicable task order number:

EOUSA IDIQ CONTRACT NUMBER: TBD

Section 4 - Inspection and Acceptance

Final inspection and acceptance of work performed, reports, and other deliverables shall be performed by the COR.

Section 5 - Deliveries or Performance

5.1 Period of Performance:

See Section 1

5.2 Place of Performance:

See Section 2

5.3 Performance Standards

Evaluation of the Contractor's overall performance in accordance with the performance standards set forth in this Statement of Work shall be conducted jointly by the COR and the Contracting Officer and shall form the basis of the Contractor's permanent performance record with regard to this contract.

Section 6 - Contract Administration Data

6.1 Contracting Officer

The Contracting Officer for this contract is:

Brandon Wish Executive Office for US Attorneys 1600 Hampton St, Rm. 203 Columbia, SC 29208

Written communications shall make reference to the contract number and shall be emailed to brandon.wish@usdoj.gov or mailed to the above address.

6.2 Payment/Invoice Requirements

Payment for actual work and services rendered under this contract will be made in accordance with the Prompt Payment Act. Invoices are preferred to be submitted the 1st Monday of the month for services performed the previous month. Invoices shall be submitted monthly at a minimum. To constitute a proper invoice, the invoice must be submitted in accordance with FAR 52.212-4(g). In addition, the following information must appear on the invoice:

• Date service was performed

• Location service was performed

• Attorney’s Name

• Grand Jury Number

• Name of witness

• Number of pages

• Cost per page

• Associated CLIN Numbers

• Rates (matching task order CLINs)

• IDIQ Number

• Task Order Number

• Work Order Number

Invoices shall be submitted to: USAGAN-Procurement@usa.doj.gov. All follow-up invoices shall be marked “Duplicate of Original.”

6.3 Accounting and Appropriation Data

Accounting and Appropriation Data is assigned with each task order mailto:USAGAN-Procurement@usa.doj.gov

Section 7 – Local Provisions & Clauses

OBD-01 Electronic Signatures (May 2019)

(a) The Department of Justice is committed to doing business in the most efficient and effective way possible, and to facilitate paperless processes. In furtherance of this goal, the Contracting Officer may apply their digital signature to procurement documents in the Portable Document Format (PDF) through the use of their government issued Personal Identity Verification (PIV) Card with a valid public key certificate. A digital signature made with these certificates is evidence that a specific individual signed the electronic record and that it was not altered. The recipient of a signed document can rely on the digital signature as evidence for a third party that the signature was generated by the claimed signer.

(b) For procurement documents that require a signature from a representative of the Contractor, the Contractor may utilize manual or electronic signature. Should the Contractor utilize an electronic signature, by returning the document with an electronic symbol affixed to the appropriate signature block, the Contractor representative signing on behalf of the Contractor certifies that:

Electronic Form of Signature: The Contractor representative has knowingly adopted, applied or affixed an electronic symbol to the document;

(2) Intent to Sign: The Contractor representative has applied an electronic symbol with the intent to legally bind the Contractor;

(3) Association of Signature to Record: the Contractor representative’s signature is attached to the electronic record being signed;

(4) Identification and Authentication of Signer: The Contractor has a means to identify and authenticate a particular person as the signer; and

(5) Integrity of Signed Record: The Contractor can attest to the integrity of the signed record between the time of signature and the returned record to the government.

(c) This clause applies to this document and any subsequent documents (e.g., modifications, task/delivery orders) associated with this action.

(end of clause)

DOJ-01 - Whistleblower Information Distribution (October 2021)

Within 30 days of contract award, the contractor and its subcontractors must distribute the “Whistleblower Information for Employees of DOJ Contractors, Subcontractors, Grantees, or Sub-Grantees or Personal Services Contractors” (“Whistleblower Information”) document to their employees performing work in support of the products and services delivered under this contract (https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/2020-04/NDAA-brochure.pdf). By agreeing to the terms and conditions of this contract, the prime contractor acknowledges receipt of this requirement, in accordance with 41 U.S.C. § 4712 and FAR 3.908 & 52.203-17, and commits to distribution.

Within 45 days of award, the contractor must provide confirmation to the contracting officer verifying that it has distributed the whistleblower information as required.

(End of clause)

DOJ-02 - Contractor Privacy Requirements (January 2022)

A. Limiting Access to Privacy Act and Other Sensitive Information

(1) Privacy Act Information

In accordance with FAR 52.224-1 Privacy Act Notification (APR 1984) and FAR 52.224-2 Privacy Act (APR 1984), if this contract requires Contractor personnel to have access to information protected by the Privacy Act of

1974, the contractor is advised that the relevant DOJ system of records notices (SORNs) applicable to this Privacy Act information may be found at https://www.justice.gov/opcl/doj-systems-records.[1] Applicable SORNs published by other agencies may be accessed through those agencies’ websites or by searching the Federal Digital System (FDsys) available at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/. SORNs may be updated at any time.

(2) Prohibition on Performing Work Outside a Government Facility/Network/Equipment

Except where use of Contractor networks, IT, other equipment, or Workplace as a Service (WaaS) is specifically authorized within this contract, the Contractor shall perform all tasks on authorized Government networks, using Government-furnished IT and other equipment and/or WaaS and Government information shall remain within the confines of authorized Government networks at all times. Any handling of Government information on Contractor networks or IT must be approved by the Senior Component Official for Privacy of the component entering into this contract. Except where remote work is specifically authorized within this contract, the Contractor shall perform all tasks described in this document at authorized Government facilities; the Contractor is prohibited from performing these tasks at or removing Government-furnished information to any other facility; and Government information shall remain within the confines of authorized Government facilities at all times. Contractors may only access classified materials on government furnished equipment in authorized government owned facilities regardless of remote work authorizations.

(3) Prior Approval Required to Hire Subcontractors

The Contractor is required to obtain the Contracting Officer's approval prior to engaging in any contractual relationship (Subcontractor) in support of this contract requiring the disclosure of information, documentary material and/or records generated under or relating to this contract. The Contractor (and any Subcontractor) is required to abide by Government and Agency guidance for protecting sensitive and proprietary information.

(4) Separation Checklist for Contractor Employees

The Contractor shall complete and submit an appropriate separation checklist to the Contracting Officer before any employee or Subcontractor employee terminates working on the contract. The Contractor must submit the separation checklist on or before the last day of employment or work on the contract. The separation checklist must verify: (1) return of any Government-furnished equipment; (2) return or proper disposition of personally identifiable information (PII)[2], in paper or electronic form, in the custody of the employee or Subcontractor employee including the sanitization of data on any computer systems or media as appropriate; and (3) termination of any technological access to the Contractor’s facilities or systems that would permit the terminated employee’s access to PII or other sensitive information.

In the event of adverse job actions resulting in the dismissal of a Contractor or Subcontractor employee before the separation checklist can be completed, the Prime Contractor must notify the Contracting Officer within 24 hours and confirm receipt of the notification. In the case the Contractor is unable to notify the Contracting Officer, then the Contractor should notify the Contract Officer’s Representative (COR).

Contractors must complete the separation checklist with the Contracting Officer or COR by returning all Government-furnished property including, but not limited to, computer equipment, media, credentials and passports, smart cards, mobile devices, Personal Identity Verification (PIV) cards, calling cards, and keys and terminating access to all user accounts and systems. Unless the Contracting Officer requests otherwise, the relevant Program Manager or other Key Personnel designated by the Contracting Officer or COR may facilitate the return of equipment.

B. Privacy Training, Safeguarding, and Remediation

(1) Required Security and Privacy Training for Contractors

The Contractor must ensure that all employees take appropriate privacy training, including Subcontractors who have access to PII as well as the creation, use, dissemination and/or destruction of PII at the outset of the employee’s work on the contract and every year thereafter. Training must include procedures on how to properly handle PII, including heightened security requirements for the transporting or transmission of sensitive PII, and reporting requirements for a suspected breach or loss of PII. These courses, along with more information about DOJ security and training requirements for Contractors, are available at https://www.justice.gov/jmd/learndoj. The Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA) requires all individuals accessing DOJ information to complete training on records management, cybersecurity awareness, and information system privacy awareness.

Contractor employees are required to sign the “Privacy Rules of Behavior,” acknowledging and agreeing to abide by privacy law, policy, and certain privacy safeguards, prior to accessing DOJ information. These Rules of Behavior are made available to all new users of DOJ’s computer network and to trainees at the conclusion of DOJ-OPCL-CS- 0005.

The Contractor should maintain copies of certificates as a record of compliance and must submit an email notification annually to the COR verifying that all employees working under this contract have completed the required privacy and cybersecurity training.

(2) Safeguarding PII Requirements

Contractor employees must comply with DOJ Order 0904 and other guidance published to the publicly-available Office of Privacy and Civil Liberties (OPCL) Resources page[3] relating to the safeguarding of PII, including the use of additional controls to safeguard sensitive PII (e.g., the encryption of sensitive PII). This requirement flows down from the Prime Contractor to all Subcontractors and lower tiered subcontracts.

(3) Non-Disclosure Agreement Requirement

Prior to commencing work, all Contractor personnel that may have access to PII or other sensitive information shall be required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) and the DOJ IT Rules of Behavior. The Non-Disclosure Agreement:

(a) prohibits the Contractor from retaining or divulging any PII or other sensitive information, or derivatives therefrom, furnished by the Government or to which they may otherwise come in contact as a result of their performance of work under the contract/task order that is otherwise not publicly available, whether or not such information has been reduced to writing; and

(b) requires the Contractor to report any loss of control, compromise, unauthorized disclosure, or unauthorized acquisition of PII or other sensitive information to the component-level or headquarters Security Operations Center within one (1) hour of discovery.

The Contractor should maintain signed copies of the NDA for all employees as a record of compliance. The Contractor should also provide copies of each employee’s signed NDA to the Contracting Officer before the employee may commence work under the contract/task order.

(4) Prohibition on Use of PII in Vendor Billing and Administrative Records

The Contractor’s invoicing, billing, and other financial or administrative records or databases is not authorized to regularly store or include any sensitive PII or other confidential government information that is created, obtained, or provided during the performance of the contract without the written permission of the Senior Component Official for Privacy (SCOP). It is acceptable to list the names, titles and contact information for the Contracting Officer, COR, or other personnel associated with the administration of the contract in the invoices as needed.

(5) Reporting Actual or Suspected Data Breach

Contractors must report any actual or suspected breach of PII within one hour of discovery.[4] A “breach” is an incident or occurrence that involves the loss of control, compromise, unauthorized disclosure, unauthorized acquisition, or any similar occurrence where: (1) a person other than an authorized user accesses or potentially accesses PII or (2) an authorized user accesses or potentially accesses PII for an other than authorized purpose. The report of a breach must be made to DOJ. The Contractor must cooperate with DOJ’s inquiry into the incident and efforts to minimize risks to DOJ or individuals, including remediating any harm to potential victims.

(a) The Contractor must develop and maintain an internal process by which its employees and Subcontractors are trained to identify and report the breach, consistent with DOJ Instruction 0900.00.01[5], Reporting and Response Procedures for a Breach of Personally Identifiable Information.

(b) The Contractor must report any such breach by its employees or Subcontractors to the DOJ Security Operations Center (dojcert@usdoj.gov, 202-357-7000); Component-level Security Operations Center and Component-level Management Team, where appropriate; the COR; and the Contracting Officer within one (1) hour of the initial discovery.

(c) The Contractor must provide a written report to the DOJ Security Operations Center (dojcert@usdoj.gov, 202- 357-7000) within 24 hours of discovery of the breach by its employees or Subcontractors. The report must contain the following information:

(i) Narrative or detailed description of the events surrounding the suspected loss or compromise of information.[6] Date, time, and location of the incident.

(ii) Amount, type, and sensitivity of information that may have been lost or compromised, accessed without authorization, etc.

(iii) Contractor’s assessment of the likelihood that the information was compromised or lost and the reasons behind the assessment.[7]

(iv) Names and classification of person(s) involved, including victim, Contractor employee/Subcontractor and any witnesses.

(v) Cause of the incident and whether the company’s security plan was followed and, if not, which specific provisions were not followed.[8]

(vi) Actions that have been or will be taken to minimize damage and/or mitigate further compromise.

(vii) Recommendations to prevent similar situations in the future, including whether the security plan needs to be modified in any way and whether additional training may be required.

(d) The Contractor shall provide full access and cooperation for all activities determined by the Government to be required to ensure an effective incident response, including providing all requested images, log files, and event information to facilitate rapid resolution of sensitive information incidents.

(e) At the Government’s discretion, Contractor employees or Subcontractor employees may be identified as no longer eligible to access PII or to work on that contract based on their actions related to the loss or compromise of

PII.

(6) Victim Remediation

At DOJ’s request, the Contractor is responsible for notifying victims and providing victim remediation services in the event of a breach of PII held by the Contractor, its agents, or its Subcontractors, under this contract. Victim remediation services shall include at least 18 months of credit monitoring and, for serious or large incidents as determined by the Government, call center help desk services for the individuals whose PII was lost or compromised. When DOJ requests notification, the Department Chief Privacy and Civil Liberties Officer and SCOP will direct the Contractor on the method and content of such notification to be sent to individuals whose PII was breached. By performing this work, the Contractor agrees to full cooperation in the event of a breach. The Contractor should be self-insured to the extent necessary to handle any reasonably foreseeable breach, with another source of income, to fully cover the costs of breach response, including but not limited to victim remediation.

C. Government Records Training, Ownership, and Management

(1) Records Management Training and Compliance

(a) The Contractor must ensure that all employees and Subcontractors that have access to PII as well as to those involved in the creation, use, dissemination and/or destruction of PII take the DOJ Records and Information Training for New Employees (RIM) training course or another training approved by the Contracting Officer or COR.

This training will be provided at the outset of the Subcontractor’s/employee’s work on the contract and every year thereafter. The Contractor shall maintain copies of certificates as a record of compliance and must submit an email notification annually to the COR verifying that all employees working under this contract have completed the required records management training.

(b) The Contractor agrees to comply with Federal and Agency records management policies, including those policies associated with the safeguarding of records containing PII and those covered by the Privacy Act of 1974.

These policies include the preservation of all records created or received regardless of format, mode of transmission, or state of completion.

(2) Records Creation, Ownership, and Disposition

(a) The Contractor shall not create or maintain any records not specifically tied to or authorized by the contract using Government IT equipment and/or Government records or that contain Government Agency information. The Contractor shall certify, in writing, the appropriate disposition or return of all Government information at the conclusion of the contract or at a time otherwise specified in the contract. In accordance with 36 CFR 1222.32, the Contractor shall maintain and manage all Federal records created in the course of performing the contract in accordance with Federal law. Records may not be removed from the legal custody of DOJ or destroyed except in accordance with the provisions of the agency records schedules.

(b) Except as stated in the Performance Work Statement and, where applicable, the Contractor’s Commercial License Agreement, the Government Agency owns the rights to all electronic information (electronic data, electronic information systems or electronic databases and all supporting documentation and associated metadata created as part of this contract. All deliverables (including all data and records) under the contract are the property of the U.S. Government and may be considered federal records, for which the Agency shall have unlimited rights to use, dispose of, or disclose such data contained therein. The Contractor must deliver sufficient technical documentation with all data deliverables to permit the agency to use the data.

(c) The Contractor shall not retain, use, sell, disseminate, or dispose of any government data/records or deliverables without the express written permission of the Contracting Officer or Contracting Officer’s Representative. The Agency and its contractors are responsible for preventing the alienation or unauthorized destruction of records, including all forms of mutilation. Willful and unlawful destruction, damage or alienation of Federal records is subject to the fines and penalties imposed by 18 U.S.C. § 2701. Records may not be removed from the legal custody of the Agency or destroyed without regard to the provisions of the Agency records schedules.

D. Data Privacy and Oversight

(1) Restrictions on Testing or Training Using Real Data Containing PII

The use of real data containing PII from any source for testing or training purposes is generally prohibited. The Contractor shall use synthetic or de-identified real data for testing or training whenever feasible.

(2) Requirements for Contractor IT Systems Hosting Government Data

The Contractor is required to obtain an Authority To Operate (ATO) for any IT environment owned or controlled by the Contractor or any Subcontractor on which Government data shall reside for the purposes of IT system development, design, data migration, testing, training, maintenance, use, or disposal.

(3) Requirement to Support Privacy Compliance

(a) If this contract requires the development, maintenance or administration of information technology[9], the Contractor shall support the completion of the Initial Privacy Assessment (IPA) document, if requested by Department personnel. An IPA is the first step in a process to identify potential privacy issues and mitigate privacy risks. The IPA asks basic questions to help components assess whether additional privacy protections may be needed in designing or implementing a project[10] to mitigate privacy risks, and whether compliance work may be needed.

Upon review of the IPA, the OPCL determines whether a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) document and/or SORN, or modifications thereto, are required. The Contractor shall provide adequate support to complete the applicable risk assessment and PIA document in a timely manner, and shall ensure that project management plans and schedules include the IPA, PIA, and SORN (to the extent required) as milestones. Additional information on the privacy compliance process at DOJ, including IPAs, PIAs, and SORNs, is located on the DOJ OPCL website (https://dojnet.doj.gov/privacy/), including DOJ Order 0601, Privacy and Civil Liberties. The Privacy Impact Assessment Guidance and Template outline the requirements and format for the PIA.

(b) If the contract involves an IT system build or substantial development or changes to an IT system that may require privacy risk assessment and documentation, the Contractor shall provide adequate support to DOJ to ensure DOJ can complete any required assessment, and IPA, PIA, SORN, or other supporting documentation to support privacy compliance. The Contractor shall work with personnel from the program office, OPCL, the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), and the Office of Records Management and Policy to ensure that the privacy assessments and documentation are kept on schedule, that the answers to questions in the documents are thorough and complete, and that questions asked by the OPCL and other offices are answered in a timely fashion. The Contractor must ensure the completion of required PIAs and documentation of privacy controls consistent with federal law and standards, e.g. NIST 800-53, Rev. 5; and compliance with the Privacy Act of 1974, E-Government Act of 2002, Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014, and key OMB guidelines, e.g., OMB Circular A-130.

[1] “[T]he term ‘record’ means any item, collection, or grouping of information about an individual that is maintained by an agency, including, but not limited to, his education, financial transactions, medical history, and criminal or employment history and that contains his name, or the identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual, such as a finger or voice print or a photograph.” 5 U.S.C. § 552a(a)(4). “[T]he term ‘system of records’ means a group of any records under the control of any agency from which information is retrieved by the name of the individual or by some identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual.” 5 U.S.C. § 552a(a)(5).

[2] As stated in FAR 52.224-3 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-130, Managing Federal Information as a Strategic Resource (2016), “’personally identifiable information’ means information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual's identity, either alone or when combined with other information…