36C24620Q0333.docx

36C24620Q0333

PAGE 1 OF

1. REQUISITION NO.

2. CONTRACT NO.

3. AWARD/EFFECTIVE DATE

4. ORDER NO.

5. SOLICITATION NUMBER

6. SOLICITATION ISSUE DATE

a. NAME

b. TELEPHONE NO. (No Collect Calls)

8. OFFER DUE DATE/LOCAL

TIME

9. ISSUED BY

CODE

10. THIS ACQUISITION IS

UNRESTRICTED OR

SET ASIDE:

% FOR:

SMALL BUSINESS

HUBZONE SMALL

BUSINESS

SERVICE-DISABLED

VETERAN-OWNED

SMALL BUSINESS

WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS

(WOSB) ELIGIBLE UNDER THE WOMEN-OWNED

SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAM

EDWOSB

8(A)

NAICS:

SIZE STANDARD:

11. DELIVERY FOR FOB DESTINA-

TION UNLESS BLOCK IS

MARKED

SEE SCHEDULE

12. DISCOUNT TERMS

13a. THIS CONTRACT IS A

RATED ORDER UNDER

DPAS (15 CFR 700)

13b. RATING

14. METHOD OF SOLICITATION

RFQ

IFB

RFP

15. DELIVER TO

CODE

16. ADMINISTERED BY

CODE

17a. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

CODE

FACILITY CODE

18a. PAYMENT WILL BE MADE BY

CODE

TELEPHONE NO.

DUNS:

DUNS+4:

PHONE:

FAX:

17b. CHECK IF REMITTANCE IS DIFFERENT AND PUT SUCH ADDRESS IN OFFER 18b. SUBMIT INVOICES TO ADDRESS SHOWN IN BLOCK 18a UNLESS BLOCK BELOW IS CHECKED

SEE ADDENDUM

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

ITEM NO.

SCHEDULE OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES

QUANTITY

UNIT

UNIT PRICE

AMOUNT

(Use Reverse and/or Attach Additional Sheets as Necessary)

25. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA

26. TOTAL AWARD AMOUNT (For Govt. Use Only) 27a. SOLICITATION INCORPORATES BY REFERENCE FAR 52.212-1, 52.212-4. FAR 52.212-3 AND 52.212-5 ARE ATTACHED. ADDENDA

ARE

ARE NOT ATTACHED.

27b. CONTRACT/PURCHASE ORDER INCORPORATES BY REFERENCE FAR 52.212-4. FAR 52.212-5 IS ATTACHED. ADDENDA

ARE

ARE NOT ATTACHED

28. CONTRACTOR IS REQUIRED TO SIGN THIS DOCUMENT AND RETURN _______________

29. AWARD OF CONTRACT: REF. ___________________________________ OFFER

COPIES TO ISSUING OFFICE. CONTRACTOR AGREES TO FURNISH AND

DATED ________________________________. YOUR OFFER ON SOLICITATION

DELIVER ALL ITEMS SET FORTH OR OTHERWISE IDENTIFIED ABOVE AND ON ANY

(BLOCK 5), INCLUDING ANY ADDITIONS OR CHANGES WHICH ARE

ADDITIONAL SHEETS SUBJECT TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SPECIFIED

SET FORTH HEREIN IS ACCEPTED AS TO ITEMS:

30a. SIGNATURE OF OFFEROR/CONTRACTOR 31a. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (SIGNATURE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER) 30b. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (TYPE OR PRINT) 30c. DATE SIGNED 31b. NAME OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (TYPE OR PRINT) 31c. DATE SIGNED

AUTHORIZED FOR LOCAL REPRODUCTION

(REV. 2/2012)

PREVIOUS EDITION IS NOT USABLE

Prescribed by GSA - FAR (48 CFR) 53.212

7. FOR SOLICITATION

INFORMATION CALL:

STANDARD FORM 1449

OFFEROR TO COMPLETE BLOCKS 12, 17, 23, 24, & 30

SOLICITATION/CONTRACT/ORDER FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS

565-21-1-5053-0002 36C24620Q0333 07- -2020 Stephanie M. Patterson 757-315-2510 07-24-2020

10:00AM

Stephanie M. Patterson Department of Veterans Affairs Network Contracting Office 6 100 Emancipation Drive Hampton VA 23667 X X 561990 $12 Million N/A X Fayetteville Veterans Affairs Medical Center 2300 Ramsey Street Fayetteville NC 28301 Department of Veterans Affairs Network Contracting Office 6 100 Emancipation Drive Hampton VA 23667

Department of Veterans Affairs Financial Services Center

PO BOX 149971

Austin TX 78714-9971 X See CONTINUATION Page It is the intention of Fayetteville VAMC to solicit quotes for Sensitive Document Shredding Services in accordance with the Performance Work Statement (PWS) for a base and four 1-year option periods contract.

Please note that this is 100% set-aside for Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB).

See CONTINUATION Page X X X Stephanie M. Patterson Contracting Officer Table of Contents

SECTION B - CONTINUATION OF SF 1449 BLOCKS

B.1 CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA

1. Contract Administration: All contract administration matters will be handled by the following individuals:

a. CONTRACTOR:

b. GOVERNMENT: Contracting Officer 36C246 Stephanie M. Patterson Department of Veterans Affairs Network Contracting Office 6 100 Emancipation Drive Hampton VA 23667

2. CONTRACTOR REMITTANCE ADDRESS: All payments by the Government to the contractor will be made in accordance with:

3. INVOICES: Invoices shall be submitted in arrears:

4. GOVERNMENT INVOICE ADDRESS: All Invoices from the contractor shall be submitted electronically in accordance with VAAR Clause 852.232-72 Electronic Submission of Payment Requests.

Department of Veterans Affairs Financial Services Center

PO BOX 149971

Austin TX 78714-9971

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF AMENDMENTS: The offeror acknowledges receipt of amendments to the Solicitation numbered and dated as follows:

B.2 SCHEDULE OF SERVICES

The Contractor shall furnish all labor, equipment and supplies, transportation and qualified supervision necessary to perform Shredding Services at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Fayetteville VA Medical Center and several CBOC locations in accordance with all terms and conditions herein.

Base Year October 1, 2020 – September 30, 2021

Months

TOTAL COST BASE YEAR:

Option 1 October 1, 2021 – September 30, 2022

TOTAL COST OPTION 1 (ONE):

Option 2 October 1, 2022 – September 30, 2023

TOTAL COST OPTION 2 (TWO):

Option 3 October 1, 2023 – September 30, 2024

TOTAL COST OPTION 3 (THREE):

Option 4 October 1, 2024 – September 30, 2025

TOTAL COST OPTION 4 (FOUR):

TOTAL CONTRACT COST (BASE + OPTIONS):

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B.3 PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

I REQUIREMENTS

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this contract is to furnish the Fayetteville Veterans Affairs Medical Center, including several Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOC’s) with sensitive document shredding and mixed media destruction services.

2.0 GENERAL

In accordance with the terms and conditions stated herein, the contractor shall provide all materials, personnel, equipment, tools, and supervision required to pick up and disposed of sensitive data as outlined in VA Directive 6371, Destruction of Temporary Paper Records.

3.0 SCOPE

The Contractor shall work with VA staff to properly manage the destruction of sensitive data to include paper documents, optical discs, magnetic tapes, and any other media that may contain information that is deemed sensitive by the Fayetteville VA Medical Center for the following locations:

1) Fayetteville VA Medical Center: 2300 Ramsey Street, Fayetteville NC 28301

2) Dialysis Center: 2301 Robeson St. Ste 101, Fayetteville, NC 28305

3) VA Fiscal Department: 201 Hay St., Fayetteville, NC 28301

4) Fayetteville HCC: 7300 South Raeford Rd, Fayetteville NC 28304

5) Hamlet CBOC: 100 Jefferson Street, Hamlet NC, 28345

6) Robeson County CBOC: 139 Three Hunts Drive, Pembroke, NC 28372

7) Sanford CBOC: 3112 Tramway Rd, Sanford NC, 27332

8) Goldsboro CBOC: 2610 N Hospital Rd, Goldsboro NC, 27534

9) Wilmington HCC: 1705 Gardner Dr, Wilmington NC, 28405

10) Brunswick CBOC: 18 Doctors Circle Ste 2, Supply NC, 28462

11) Jacksonville CBOC: 4006 Henderson Dr, Jacksonville, NC 28546

12) Josh Court Clinic: 4 Josh Ct, Jacksonville, NC 28546

13) Brynn Marr Clinic: 306 Brynn Marr Rd, Jacksonville, NC 28546

14) Jacksonville IV: 2580 Henderson Dr, Jacksonville, NC 28546

3.1 Contractor shall dispose of media that contains sensitive information as outlined in VA Directive 6371, Destruction of Temporary Paper records and in compliance with NISTSP 800-88, Guidelines for Media Sanitization. This shall include paper documents, optical discs, magnetic tapes, and any other media that may contain information that is deemed sensitive by the Fayetteville VA Medical Center. Sensitive data must be managed in a way that prevents release of patient information. All loads leaving the Fayetteville VA Medical Center, and its designated facilities MUST BE SECURED UNTIL THE FINAL DESTRUCTION OF THE MEDIA MEETS THE STANDARDS AS OUTLINED IN VA Directive 6371 or other applicable regulation.

3.2 The Contractor will submit in writing to the Fayetteville VA Medical Center, the process they will follow to ensure the proper destruction of the media for approval before the process is to begin. The Fayetteville VA Medical Center must be notified upon any change in the destruction process for all loads leaving the Fayetteville VA Medical Center, and its designated facilities.

3.3 The Contractor shall be responsible for cleaning up messes during the pickup and destruction process.

3.4 The contractor shall provide a certificate of destruction directly after service to include date, signature, amount collected and HIPPA disclaimer. All breaches of security will be reported to the Fayetteville VA Medical Center designated COR immediately upon discovery.

3.5 The deliverables from this project will be used to support regulatory recordkeeping requirements for Universal Waste and Hazardous Waste disposal at VAMC Fayetteville.

4.0 SPECIFIC TASKS

4.1 Progress Reports/Invoices: The Contractor shall submit certified monthly progress reports to the VA Contracting Officer Representative (COR). The monthly reports shall contain an accurate, up-to-date account of all work completed during the month, copies of any invitational travel orders, and shall normally be no longer than two typed pages in length.

4.2 Contractor Furnished Equipment, Materials, and Information: Contractor shall furnish services, equipment, and materials to properly handle, package, label, transport, and dispose of sensitive data generated at Fayetteville VAMC and designated facilities.

4.3 Government Furnished Equipment, Materials and Information: The government will provide access for the Contractor to sensitive data storage areas to support completion of work.

5.0 CONFIDENTIALITY OF MATERIALS

Personally-Identifiable Information (PII) is any information about an individual Including, but not limited to, education, financial transactions, medical history, and criminal or employment history, and information which can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, such as name, social security number, date and place of birth, mother’s maiden name, and biometric records, including any other personal information which is linked or linkable to an individual. The protection of PII and other VA sensitive information through the awareness of proper privacy, security, and records management practices is the responsibility of every member of the VA workforce. Each container will be secured with a lock. Contractor staff on pick up dates after emptying the container contractor is responsible for immediately relocking the container lid.

Computer generated labels and other person/patient information collected in designated containers in selected areas will be maintained under strict control of Contractor from collection to destruction. Contractor will destroy material by on site shredding and will provide written certification of pick up/receipt of destruction on the day of destruction.

Billing for this shredding service will be provided as a separate line item on normal monthly invoices. Contractor is to deduct the cost of this service from the monthly credit that is normally given to the VA for regular existing recycling contract or bill the VA for the difference.

Contractor is aware of and agrees that the paper which is the subject of this contract contains confidential patient, employee and other Veterans Administration information which is subject to and protected by Title 5, U.S. Code, Section 5522a, commonly known as the privacy Act of 1974, and other confidentiality statutes to which the Department of Veterans Affairs is subject, including Title 38, U.S. Code, Section 3301 and Title 38, U.S. Code, Section 4132. Contractor acknowledges that it is fully bound by these statues in its handling confidential documents in accordance with this contract and agrees that it will institute appropriate procedures to safeguard any documents and/or information received from the Medical Center. Contractor warrants that it will not sell, release or otherwise disclose or distribute such materials or information to any individual or organization other than contractors’ employees as necessary to conduct work.

Contractor further acknowledges that it is aware of certain civil and criminal penalties to which it may be subjected if it fails to comply with the above requirements, specifically:

I SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS

1.0 HOURS OF OPERATION

The services covered by this contract shall be furnished by the contractor as defined herein. The contractor shall not be required, except in case of emergency, to furnish such services on Federal Holidays or during off duty hours as described below.

Normal working hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00am – 5:00pm, excluding federal holidays which are as follows:

Any other day specifically declared by the President of the United States to be a federal holiday. When one of the holidays falls on Sunday, the following Monday shall be observed as a Federal Holiday. When a holiday falls on a Saturday, the preceding Friday shall be observed as a Federal Holiday.

2.0 BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS

A full background check is not required for this position; however, all contract employees must bring photo identification and advance notice from the requiring service to obtain a VA Badge in order to work on a VA Facility. The Fayetteville VA Police will issue an ID badge, which needs to be presented by contractor’s employee at the VA entrance security check points.

3.0 BILLING AND PAYMENT

The contractor shall submit payment requests in electronic form via VA’s Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment System http://www.fsc.va.gov/fsc/einvoice.asp.

Invoices shall be submitted monthly in arrears. The following information must be included on all submitted invoices. Invoices submitted without the following information may be rejected for payment. Invoices shall include at a minimum:

Date of Service

4.0 CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION

Notwithstanding the Contractor's responsibility for total management during the performance of this contract, the administration of the contract will require maximum coordination between the Government and the Contractor.

The Contracting Officer is the only person authorized to approve changes or modify any of the requirements of this contract. The Contractor shall communicate with the Contracting Officer on all matters pertaining to contract administration. Only the Contracting Officer is authorized to make commitments or issue changes that shall affect price, quantity or quality of performance of this contract.

In the event the contractor effects any such change at the direction of any person other than the contracting officer without authority, no adjustment shall be made in the contract price to cover an increase in costs incurred as a result thereof.

Points of Contact

Contracting Officer Stephanie Patterson 100 Emancipation Drive Building 27 Hampton, VA 23667

757-315-2510 FAX 757-728-3132

stephanie.patterson2@va.gov

Contracting Officer Representative (COR) Pedro Sanchez 2300 Ramsey Street Fayetteville, NC 28301 910-488-2120 x5880 pedro.sanchez@va.gov

B.4 VA INFORMATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEM SECURITY/PRIVACY LANGUAGE

1. GENERAL

Contractors, contractor personnel, subcontractors, and subcontractor personnel shall be subject to the same Federal laws, regulations, standards, and VA Directives and Handbooks as VA and VA personnel regarding information and information system security.

2. ACCESS TO VA INFORMATION AND VA INFORMATION SYSTEMS

a. A contractor/subcontrator shall request logical (technical) or physical access to VA information and VA information systems for their employees, subcontractors, and affiliates only to the extent necessary to perform the services specified in the contract, agreement, or task order.

b. All contractors, subcontractors, and third-party servicers and associates working with VA information are subject to the same investigative requirements as those of VA appointees or employees who have access to the same types of information. The level and process of background security investigations for contractors must be in accordance with VA Directive and Handbook 0710, Personnel Suitability and Security Program. The Office for Operations, Security, and Preparedness is responsible for these policies and procedures.

c. Contract personnel who require access to national security programs must have a valid security clearance. National Industrial Security Program (NISP) was established by Executive Order 12829 to ensure that cleared U.S. defense industry contract personnel safeguard the classified information in their possession while performing work on contracts, programs, bids, or research and development efforts. The Department of Veterans Affairs does not have a Memorandum of Agreement with Defense Security Service (DSS). Verification of a Security Clearance must be processed through the Special Security Officer located in the Planning and National Security Service within the Office of Operations, Security, and Preparedness.

d. Custom software development and outsourced operations must be located in the U.S.

to the maximum extent practical. If such services are proposed to be performed abroad and are not disallowed by other VA policy or mandates, the contractor/subcontractor must state where all non-U.S. services are provided and detail a security plan, deemed to be acceptable by VA, specifically to address mitigation of the resulting problems of communication, control, data protection, and so forth. Location within the U.S. may be an evaluation factor.

e. The contractor or subcontractor must notify the Contracting Officer immediately when an employee working on a VA system or with access to VA information is reassigned or leaves the contractor or subcontractor’s employ. The Contracting Officer must also be notified immediately by the contractor or subcontractor prior to an unfriendly termination.

3. VA INFORMATION CUSTODIAL LANGUAGE

a. Information made available to the contractor or subcontractor by VA for the performance or administration of this contract or information developed by the contractor/subcontractor in performance or administration of the contract shall be used only for those purposes and shall not be used in any other way without the prior written agreement of the VA. This clause expressly limits the contractor/subcontractor's rights to use data as described in Rights in Data

- General, FAR 52.227-14(d) (1).

b. VA information should not be co-mingled, if possible, with any other data on the contractors/subcontractor’s information systems or media storage systems in order to ensure VA requirements related to data protection and media sanitization can be met. If co-mingling must be allowed to meet the requirements of the business need, the contractor must ensure that VA’s information is returned to the VA or destroyed in accordance with VA’s sanitization requirements. VA reserves the right to conduct onsite inspections of contractor and subcontractor IT resources to ensure data security controls, separation of data and job duties, and destruction/media sanitization procedures are in compliance with VA directive requirements.

c. Prior to termination or completion of this contract, contractor/subcontractor must not destroy information received from VA, or gathered/created by the contractor in the course of performing this contract without prior written approval by the VA. Any data destruction done on behalf of VA by a contractor/subcontractor must be done in accordance with National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) requirements as outlined in VA Directive 6300, Records and Information Management and its Handbook 6300.1 Records Management Procedures, applicable VA Records Control Schedules, and VA Handbook 6500.1, Electronic Media Sanitization. Self-certification by the contractor that the data destruction requirements above have been met must be sent to the VA Contracting Officer within 30 days of termination of the contract.

d. The contractor/subcontractor must receive, gather, store, back up, maintain, use, disclose and dispose of VA information only in compliance with the terms of the contract and applicable Federal and VA information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies. If Federal or VA information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies become applicable to the VA information or information systems after execution of the contract, or if NIST issues or updates applicable FIPS or Special Publications (SP) after execution of this contract, the parties agree to negotiate in good faith to implement the information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies in this contract.

e. The contractor/subcontractor shall not make copies of VA information except as authorized and necessary to perform the terms of the agreement or to preserve electronic information stored on contractor/subcontractor electronic storage media for restoration in case any electronic equipment or data used by the contractor/subcontractor needs to be restored to an operating state. If copies are made for restoration purposes, after the restoration is complete, the copies must be appropriately destroyed.

f. If VA determines that the contractor has violated any of the information confidentiality, privacy, and security provisions of the contract, it shall be sufficient grounds for VA to withhold payment to the contractor or third party or terminate the contract for default or terminate for cause under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 12.

g. If a VHA contract is terminated for cause, the associated BAA must also be terminated and appropriate actions taken in accordance with VHA Handbook 1600.01, Business Associate Agreements. Absent an agreement to use or disclose protected health information, there is no business associate relationship.

h. The contractor/subcontractor must store, transport, or transmit VA sensitive information in an encrypted form, using VA-approved encryption tools that are, at a minimum, FIPS 140-2 validated.

i. The contractor/subcontractor’s firewall and Web services security controls, if applicable, shall meet or exceed VA’s minimum requirements. VA Configuration Guidelines are available upon request.

j. Except for uses and disclosures of VA information authorized by this contract for performance of the contract, the contractor/subcontractor may use and disclose VA information only in two other situations: (i) in response to a qualifying order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or (ii) with VA’s prior written approval. The contractor/subcontractor must refer all requests for, demands for production of, or inquiries about, VA information and information systems to the VA contracting officer for response.

k. Notwithstanding the provision above, the contractor/subcontractor shall not release VA records protected by Title 38 U.S.C. 5705, confidentiality of medical quality assurance records and/or Title 38 U.S.C. 7332, confidentiality of certain health records pertaining to drug addiction, sickle cell anemia, alcoholism or alcohol abuse, or infection with human immunodeficiency virus. If the contractor/subcontractor is in receipt of a court order or other requests for the above-mentioned information, that contractor/subcontractor shall immediately refer such court orders or other requests to the VA contracting officer for response.

l. For service that involves the storage, generating, transmitting, or exchanging of VA sensitive information but does not require C&A or an MOU-ISA for system interconnection, the contractor/subcontractor must complete a Contractor Security Control Assessment (CSCA) on a yearly basis and provide it to the COTR.

4. INFORMATION SYSTEM DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

a. Information systems that are designed or developed for or on behalf of VA at non-VA facilities shall comply with all VA directives developed in accordance with FISMA, HIPAA, NIST, and related VA security and privacy control requirements for Federal information systems. This includes standards for the protection of electronic PHI, outlined in 45 C.F.R.

Part 164, Subpart C, information and system security categorization level designations in accordance with FIPS 199 and FIPS 200 with implementation of all baseline security controls commensurate with the FIPS 199 system security categorization (reference Appendix D of VA Handbook 6500, VA Information Security Program). During the development cycle a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) must be completed, provided to the COTR, and approved by the VA Privacy Service in accordance with Directive 6507, VA Privacy Impact Assessment.

b. The contractor/subcontractor shall certify to the COTR that applications are fully functional and operate correctly as intended on systems using the VA Federal Desktop Core Configuration (FDCC), and the common security configuration guidelines provided by NIST or the VA. This includes Internet Explorer 7 configured to operate on Windows XP and Vista (in Protected Mode on Vista) and future versions, as required.

c. The standard installation, operation, maintenance, updating, and patching of software shall not alter the configuration settings from the VA approved and FDCC configuration.

Information technology staff must also use the Windows Installer Service for installation to the default “program files” directory and silently install and uninstall.

d. Applications designed for normal end users shall run in the standard user context without elevated system administration privileges.

e. The security controls must be designed, developed, approved by VA, and implemented in accordance with the provisions of VA security system development life cycle as outlined in NIST Special Publication 800-37, Guide for Applying the Risk Management Framework to Federal Information Systems, VA Handbook 6500, Information Security Program and VA Handbook 6500.5, Incorporating Security and Privacy in System Development Lifecycle.

f. The contractor/subcontractor is required to design, develop, or operate a System of Records Notice (SOR) on individuals to accomplish an agency function subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, (as amended), Public Law 93-579, December 31, 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a) and applicable agency regulations. Violation of the Privacy Act may involve the imposition of criminal and civil penalties.

g. The contractor/subcontractor agrees to:

(1) Comply with the Privacy Act of 1974 (the Act) and the agency rules and regulations issued under the Act in the design, development, or operation of any system of records on individuals to accomplish an agency function when the contract specifically identifies:

(a) The Systems of Records (SOR); and

(b) The design, development, or operation work that the contractor/subcontractor is to perform;

(2) Include the Privacy Act notification contained in this contract in every solicitation and resulting subcontract and in every subcontract awarded without a solicitation, when the work statement in the proposed subcontract requires the redesign, development, or operation of a SOR on individuals that is subject to the Privacy Act; and

(3) Include this Privacy Act clause, including this subparagraph (3), in all subcontracts awarded under this contract which requires the design, development, or operation of such a

SOR.

h. In the event of violations of the Act, a civil action may be brought against the agency involved when the violation concerns the design, development, or operation of a SOR on individuals to accomplish an agency function, and criminal penalties may be imposed upon the officers or employees of the agency when the violation concerns the operation of a SOR on individuals to accomplish an agency function. For purposes of the Act, when the contract is for the operation of a SOR on individuals to accomplish an agency function, the contractor/subcontractor is considered to be an employee of the agency.

(1) “Operation of a System of Records” means performance of any of the activities associated with maintaining the SOR, including the collection, use, maintenance, and dissemination of records.

(2) “Record” means any item, collection, or grouping of information about an individual that is maintained by an agency, including, but not limited to, education, financial transactions, medical history, and criminal or employment history and contains the person’s name, or identifying number, symbol, or any other identifying particular assigned to the individual, such as a fingerprint or voiceprint, or a photograph.

(3) “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.

i. The vendor shall ensure the security of all procured or developed systems and technologies, including their subcomponents (hereinafter referred to as “Systems”), throughout the life of this contract and any extension, warranty, or maintenance periods. This includes, but is not limited to workarounds, patches, hotfixes, upgrades, and any physical components (hereafter referred to as Security Fixes) which may be necessary to fix all security vulnerabilities published or known to the vendor anywhere in the Systems, including Operating Systems and firmware. The vendor shall ensure that Security Fixes shall not negatively impact the Systems.

j. The vendor shall notify VA within 24 hours of the discovery or disclosure of successful exploits of the vulnerability which can compromise the security of the Systems (including the confidentiality or integrity of its data and operations, or the availability of the system). Such issues shall be remediated as quickly as is practical, but in no event longer than 14 days.

k. When the Security Fixes involve installing third party patches (such as Microsoft OS patches or Adobe Acrobat), the vendor will provide written notice to the VA that the patch has been validated as not affecting the Systems within 10 working days. When the vendor is responsible for operations or maintenance of the Systems, they shall apply the Security Fixes within 30 days.

l. All other vulnerabilities shall be remediated as specified in this paragraph in a timely manner based on risk, but within 60 days of discovery or disclosure. Exceptions to this paragraph (e.g. for the convenience of VA) shall only be granted with approval of the contracting officer and the VA Assistant Secretary for Office of Information and Technology.

5. INFORMATION SYSTEM HOSTING, OPERATION, MAINTENANCE, OR USE

a. For information systems that are hosted, operated, maintained, or used on behalf of VA at non-VA facilities, contractors/subcontractors are fully responsible and accountable for ensuring compliance with all HIPAA, Privacy Act, FISMA, NIST, FIPS, and VA security and privacy directives and handbooks. This includes conducting compliant risk assessments, routine vulnerability scanning, system patching and change management procedures, and the completion of an acceptable contingency plan for each system. The contractor’s security control procedures must be equivalent, to those procedures used to secure VA systems. A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) must also be provided to the COTR and approved by VA Privacy Service prior to operational approval. All external Internet connections to VA’s network involving VA information must be reviewed and approved by VA prior to implementation.

b. Adequate security controls for collecting, processing, transmitting, and storing of Personally Identifiable Information (PII), as determined by the VA Privacy Service, must be in place, tested, and approved by VA prior to hosting, operation, maintenance, or use of the information system, or systems by or on behalf of VA. These security controls are to be assessed and stated within the PIA and if these controls are determined not to be in place, or inadequate, a Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M) must be submitted and approved prior to the collection of PII.

c. Outsourcing (contractor facility, contractor equipment or contractor staff) of systems or network operations, telecommunications services, or other managed services requires certification and accreditation (authorization) (C&A) of the contractor’s systems in accordance with VA Handbook 6500.3, Certification and Accreditation and/or the VA OCS Certification Program Office. Government-owned (government facility or government equipment) contractor-operated systems, third party or business partner networks require memorandums of understanding and interconnection agreements (MOU-ISA) which detail what data types are shared, who has access, and the appropriate level of security controls for all systems connected to VA networks.

d. The contractor/subcontractor’s system must adhere to all FISMA, FIPS, and NIST standards related to the annual FISMA security controls assessment and review and update the PIA. Any deficiencies noted during this assessment must be provided to the VA contracting officer and the ISO for entry into VA’s POA&M management process. The contractor/subcontractor must use VA’s POA&M process to document planned remedial actions to address any deficiencies in information security policies, procedures, and practices, and the completion of those activities. Security deficiencies must be corrected within the timeframes approved by the government. Contractor/subcontractor procedures are subject to periodic, unannounced assessments by VA officials, including the VA Office of Inspector General. The physical security aspects associated with contractor/subcontractor activities must also be subject to such assessments. If major changes to the system occur that may affect the privacy or security of the data or the system, the C&A of the system may need to be reviewed, retested and re-authorized per VA Handbook 6500.3.