2. Appendix A Bogard SRS IRSC.pdf

Bogard Suppression Repair Stewardship IRSC Lassen National Forest Solicitation 12363N22Q4098 Eagle Lake Ranger District

APPENDIX A

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR SERVICE WORK ITEMS

SECTION I – DESCRIPTION OF WORK:

The intent of this contract is to secure forestry related services for the performance of forest health and fuels reduction treatments on 5 forested units totaling 413 acres. Treatments have been designed to reduce fuel accumulation, restore areas of high intensity fire damaged ecosystems, address safety concerns for forest users and staff, and to recover residual value of the fire killed and damaged trees within the Dixie Fire.

Treatment activities on any one acre may include a combination of the following: knocking down berms, water-barring, spreading vegetation/slash, fuel mitigation by chipping, skidding and decking/piling, processing/skidding/decking, closures/blockades, mechanical pile; and removal of optional timber subject to agreement. Road maintenance on Forest Service roads is also a mandatory work item.

Timber products processing facilities in northern California are limited. Contractor may propose to deliver TSA products in either logs or chips to local or non-local markets.

SECTION II – WORK ITEMS

***SEE APPENIDX E FOR SUPPRESION REPAIR SPECIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS***

Mandatory Items 1-2 and Optional Items 8-10: Bogard Suppression Repair Bogard Repair Units 1-5 Refer to Appendix E, Suppression Repair Specifications for performance requirements.

Mandatory Items 3-7: Road Maintenance Bogard Roads Units 1-5 Ditch cleaning and surface blading of Forest System roads identified on Contract Area Maps. Refer to Appendix C, Road Maintenance for performance requirements.

Optional Item 11: Removal of Timber Subject to Agreement

1. All timber products are available for subsidized removal.

2. Products may be delivered by truck or rail.

3. Pine logs may be transported within ecological bug/pest zones with no required mitigation measures to prevent the transport and spread of forest pests. See Figure 1 in attachment titled “Insect and Disease Risk Potential”.

4. All logs being transferred outside of ecological bug/pest zones shall be debarked. Any number of visually separate and clearly distinct small pieces of bark may remain if they are:

a. less than 3 cm in width (regardless of the length) or

b. greater than 3 cm in width with the total surface area of an individual piece of bark less than 50 square cm and

c. no more than 2 percent of the surface of all logs per rail car load may retain bark, with no single log retaining bark on more than 5 percent of its surface.

Solicitation 12363N22Q4098 Eagle Lake Ranger District

5. Products shall be scaled prior to debarking and being loaded on rail cars.

6. Title Transfer of products will occur at time of scaling.

SECTION III – CONTROL OF WORK

The Contractor agrees to conduct its operations under this contract and other related business activities in compliance with Federal, State, and local statutes, standards, orders, permits and other regulations.

The Contractor shall meet all State and local environmental quality laws applicable to National Forest system lands.

Work may be done any time during the term of the contract, except under the following conditions:

(1) When conditions are such that operations shall be restricted or ceased due to increased fire risk.

(2) When red flag warnings are forecasted over the contract area by the national weather service, all mechanical operations shall cease regardless of the forecasted Project Activity Level (PAL). Activities shown under level “E” may continue.

(3) Mechanical equipment is prohibited within 25 feet of any swale, channel, stream course, or meadow as shown on the contract area map and/or observed on the ground. All points of crossing shall be flagged by contractor and location agreed to be COR prior to it use. Boom machines may reach into exclusion zone to complete treatments, end-lining is allowed.

(4) Mechanical equipment shall not operate within Control Areas (CA) shown on the contract area map. Service work would continue in these areas; however.

(5) When soil moisture conditions create excessive risk of damage to the soil, typically occurring after October 31th of any given year due to onset of fall rains.

(6) The government reserves the right to prioritize the order in which Units are treated.

(7) If any cultural or archeological sites are discovered during operations of this contract, work will be suspended in the immediate vicinity of the site until a reconnaissance survey is completed by the Forest Archeologist. Areas excluded from treatment shall be deleted from the contract.

SECTION IV – INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

For All Work Items:

At any point during the project, the Contractor and/or Project Manager may request (documented through email, text, or hand-written request) an in the field consultation with the Forest Service to inspect work progress, review contract specifications, or clarify issues. The Forest Service shall respond to Contractor’s request within 5 working days, excluding weekends and federal holidays.

GOVERNMENT QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEILLANCE PLAN

The COR, or a designated inspector (GTM), will make periodic inspections while work is in progress, usually daily at first, as needed to assure work is proceeding satisfactorily. The Contractor shall notify the COR when units are started, when problems are encountered and when contract work needs government oversight.

1. Each unit will be inspected as a separate unit. Unit will not be averaged with other units for acceptance or payment.

2. When units are completed and ready for government inspection, Contractor’s designated Project manager shall request unit inspection in writing, prior to moving out of the general area.

3. The COR, or designated inspector, will determine compliance with contract specifications through informal visual inspections. In the event visual inspection indicates work to be in non-compliance with specifications, prompt corrective action and/or rework shall be required.

Solicitation 12363N22Q4098 Eagle Lake Ranger District

Government Inspection Procedures –

1. Visual inspections will be used to verify repair completion using the minimum acceptable quality levels table below.

Table 1 – Minimum Acceptable Quality Levels (AQL) of Work

ITEM DESCRIPTION SCHEDULE UNIT Min AQL 1-2 & 8-10 Bogard Suppresion Repair

SR-1 Berm Knockdown MANDATORY ACRE 90% SR-2 Waterbars MANDATORY ACRE 100% SR-3 Spreading Vegetation MANDATORY ACRE 90% SR-4 Chipping MANDATORY ACRE 90% SR-5 Skid and Deck MANDATORY ACRE 100% SR-6 Skid, Deck and Process MANDATORY ACRE 100% SR-7 Suppression Line Closure MANDATORY EACH 100% SR-8 Culvert and Spillway Repair MANDATORY EACH 100% SR-9 Burn Piles MANDATORY ACRE 90%

SR-10 Fence Repair MANDATORY ACRE 100% SR-11 Unique Repair MANDATORY ACRE 100% SR-12 Whole Tree Removal MANDATORY ACRE 90% SR-13 Fuels Removal MANDATORY ACRE 90%

3-7 Road Maintenance MANDATORY MILE 100%

Unsatisfactory Performance

1. If the work quality falls below the minimum AQL, the COR will immediately notify the Contractor, in writing, and order him to improve the quality of subsequent tree cutting.

2. If after rework has been performed and reinspected, and work quality still falls below minimum AQL percent, payment will either be made at a reduced rate, or not at all, as determined in SECTION V below.

3. Repeated failure to produce work quality at or above the minimum acceptable standard will be considered reason for contract termination for cause.

Reinspection Upon Contractor Request

1. If Government inspection results are unacceptable to the Contractor, a reinspection may be requested, in writing, within 5 business days after receipt of notice of said inspection results. The same inspection procedure will be used; however, the inspection pattern will be shifted so that new inspection plots will not overlap previously inspected plots.

2. If reinspection results – rounded up to the nearest whole percent – indicate a variance of more than 5 percent from the first inspection, the results of the second inspection will be used to calculate work quality and payment, and the Government will bear the cost of reinspection.

3. If reinspection results – rounded up to the nearest whole percent – are within 5 percent of the first inspection, plots from the initial inspection and the reinspection will be combined and used to calculate work quality and payment, and the Contractor shall bear the cost of reinspection.

Solicitation 12363N22Q4098 Eagle Lake Ranger District

SECTION V – PAYMENT METHODS

Method of Measurement for Acreages Acreages were determined by using Global Positioning Systems (GPS). The acreage for each work item will be rounded to the nearest acre and is final unless:

a. The contract is modified or,

b. The Government makes a determination to remeasure or,

c. The Contractor exercises his/her option under the following Remeasurement provisions:

Remeasurement

1. The Contractor may request, in writing, remeasurement of any units under this contract if he/she feels that acreage stated on the project maps is incorrect. The remeasurement must be within the existing perimeter of the respective unit. No variance of the unit perimeters as laid out on the ground for this contract will be allowed. All requests for remeasurement must be made prior to payment for each completed unit.

Remeasurement will be performed by the Government.

2. If remeasurement indicates that a variance of ten percent or less exists on units of 1 to 5 acres, five percent or less exists on units of more than five but less than 20 acres, or if three percent or less exists on units of 20 acres or larger, the Contractor shall pay for the actual costs of the remeasurement. Under this condition, payment will be made on the acreage stated on the project maps. If the remeasurement indicates the actual acreage varies by more than the above factors from that stated on the project maps, the payment will be made on the remeasured acreage and the Forest Service will pay for the cost of the remeasurement.

Acceptance and Payment – Items 1-2 and 8-10

1. If informal visual inspection indicates acceptable work quality, the Contractor will be paid 100 percent of their bid rate.

2. In the event that formal inspections are used, the rate of payment to the Contractor will be calculated as follows:

(a) For work quality of 90 percent or higher, the Contractor will be paid 100 percent of their bid rate.

(b) For work quality from 85 to 89 percent after rework, the Contractor will be paid the total multiplied by the bid rate.

(c) For work quality 84 percent and less after rework, no payment made to the Contractor.

Acceptance and Payment – Items 3-7

1. Full payment will be made when visual or measurement inspection indicates specifications have been met.

2. Only one rework opportunity will be allowed for these items.

* Stewardship Credits will be earned first, whenever practical. Forest Service Funds will be used if the availability of Stewardship Credits is exhausted or if appropriated dollars are obligated to a specific item.

SECTION VI – DEFINITIONS

ACCEPTABLE QUALITY LEVEL (AQL): Acceptance of work will be based on compliance with all specifications corresponding to the appropriate task(s). A minimum AQL is required for all service work – hand or mechanical. The minimum AQL will receive a satisfactory performance rating.

BIOMASS TREES: Any conifer material 2 feet in height to 4.9 inches DBH.

Solicitation 12363N22Q4098 Eagle Lake Ranger District

BOLE SPACING: The horizontal distance in feet from the edge of one leave tree bole to another leave tree bole, measured from the outside bark of each tree.

CIRCULAR PLOT: A sample plot within a thinning unit that is used to determine the number of desirable trees and other contract specifications.

EXISTING DEAD & DOWN WOODY DEBRIS: Woody material that was in contact with ground prior to contractors’ operations resulting from natural means since stand initiation. This includes broken tops, branches, limb wood, whole trees, portions of trees, boles, leaning or uprooted dead trees, and branch wood of retained logs for wildlife.

CROWN RATIO: The ratio of live crown length (tip of leader to base of the crown) to total tree length/height.

CROWN SPACING: The horizontal distance in feet between the dripline of a live crown to another live crown.

CUT TREES: Trees that do not possess the characteristics of desirable leave trees and are required to be cut. As described by the contract or otherwise marked to be cut.

CUTTING UNIT: See Treatment Unit definition

DAMAGED TREES: Trees damaged beyond recovery. A tree that is larger than 2 feet in height, and has the top knocked out, is leaning more than 10 degrees, has less than one half of its original limbs, or has approximately 50% of bark removed from the circumference of the bole.

DBH: Diameter at breast height, measured at a point of 4.5 feet above the ground level on the uphill side of the tree.

DECKING: Stockpiling of trees in a designated area.

DEAD/DYING TREES: Trees with the crown foliage changing from green to red, yellow, or needleless. Any tree that has pitch tubes indicating Mountain Pine Beetle infestation.

DIB: Diameter inside bark.

HANG-UP TREE: Any cut tree suspended above ground level.

LEAVE TREE: Trees that possess desirable characteristics and that serve to create the basis for designated spacing requirements or are otherwise designated to be left.

NON-SAWTIMBER TREE: For all conifer species, minimum diameter of 5 inches DBH to minimum diameter by species identified in Appendix B, Division A.

PAYMENT UNIT: See Treatment Unit.

PILING: Material moved to an agreed upon location shall be piled for future treatment by Forest Service.

PROGRESSION OF WORK: Work conducted in a progressive, workmanlike and orderly manner by the Contractor.

SAWTIMBER TREE: Included timber meeting sawlog size specifications as defined in Appendix B, Division A.2.

SLASH: Woody material existing or created that has accumulated on the forest floor. Woody material includes logs, pieces of logs, tops, and branches.

UNIT: See Treatment Unit.

TEMPORARY ROADS: Non-permanent roads that are constructed by Contractor for the purpose of treatment unit access.

TREATMENT UNIT: An individual area on the ground in which activities will be performed and which may appear as a separate pay item in the Schedule of Items.

UNSATISFACTORY WORK: If work quality falls below the AQL, the COR will issue a work order or notice of noncompliance to the Contractor in writing. Untreated or unsatisfactory treated areas shall be reworked to obtain satisfactory work quality.

WHOLE TREE YARDING: Whole tree logging includes cutting tree and removing the entire tree, including tops and branches, to the landing.