36C25918Q9943-001.docx

36C25918Q9943

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

36C25918Q9943 09-17-2018 Lance Davis 918-577-3838 09-19-2018

5:00 PM (CST)

36C259 Department of Veterans Affairs Network Contracting Office NCO 19, Services 3 1011 Honor Heights Drive Muskogee OK 74401 X X 561210 $38.5 Million X N/A X VA Eastern Oklahoma Health Care System 1011 Honor Heights Drive Muskogee OK 74401 36C259 Department of Veterans Affairs Network Contracting Office NCO 19, Services 3 1011 Honor Heights Drive Muskogee OK 74401

Department of Veterans Affairs Financial Service Center PO Box 149971 Austin TX 78714-9971 See CONTINUATION Page Respond to Solicitation: e-mail to lance.davis2@va.gov As per the Performance Work Statment below, contactor must provide Contengincy Plan.

Location of Performance:

VA Eastern Oklahoma Health Care System 1011 Honor Heights Drive Muskogee OK 74401 (Above loactioin is for the Main Facility, PWS list all Locations of Performance) See CONTINUATION Page X X Lance Davis

NCO16L2L2-5045

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 36C259 Lance Davis

Department of Veterans Affairs Network Contracting Office NCO 19, Services 3 1011 Honor Heights Drive Muskogee OK 74401

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 Service 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 Performance Work Statement

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

ON-SITE DOCUMENT DESTRUCTION

VA Medical Center

1.0 GENERAL

The Eastern Oklahoma VA Health Care System is requesting a contractor to furnish on-site, commercial, secured collection and destruction of confidential documents (to include on-site “Interim Destruction” and off-site “Final Destruction”), paper and patient privacy information for the below listed locations.

The contractor shall provide all personnel, supervision, equipment and other services deemed necessary to perform all work as defined in this Performance Work Statement (PWS). The Contractor “does not” have to be NAID (National Association for Information Destruction) certified, but all Document Destruction procedures will be followed (per VA Directive 6371) as if contractor was NAID certified. The contractor shall clean up any residual material before leaving the site. Normal business hours are 8:00a.m. to 4:30p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. The Contractor shall perform to the standards expressed in the contract and perform all tasks during these hours. All “Interim” shredding shall take place at/on the Government owned or leased facilities herein and shall be witnessed by a VA employee authorized to witness the destruction of sensitive VA material.

The ten national holidays observed by the Federal Government are:

Holidays that fall on Saturday are usually observed on the preceding Friday and holidays that fall on Sunday are usually observed on the following Monday. In addition to the days designated as holidays, the Government observes any other day designated by Federal Statute, Executive order, or by the President’s Proclamation to include any future holidays enacted by the Federal Government. Any questions pertaining to scheduling and/or Federal Holidays will be directed to the Contract Officer Representative (COR) or the Contracting Officer (CO).

The contractor shall maintain liability insurance for the duration of the contract. Insurance shall be adequate to cover all situations that could develop under this contract. The contractor shall follow all Veterans Administration, Local, State, and Federal laws and/or regulations regarding the transportation and destruction of classified medical documentation to include VA Directive 6371. Any (to include new) Laws, Regulations, and or Directives that are undated shall be followed as per the date of the update.

The contractor shall ensure that access to Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is limited to authorized personnel and shall be kept in strict confidentiality. The contractor is further informed that in accordance with provisions of the Privacy Act and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), criminal penalties may result for knowingly and willfully disclosing information of this type.

2.0 PERSONNEL

The selection, assignment, reassignment, transfer, supervision, management and control of all employees in performance of this PWS/Contract shall be the responsibility of the contractor. However, the contractor shall comply with the general intent and specific policies set forth in the performance work statement concerning conduct of employees as referenced herein. When the Government directs, the contractor shall remove from performance of the contract any person who is identified as a potential threat to Sensitive and/or Patient information, the health, safety, security, general well-being, or operation mission of the activity and its population.

Documentation of a National Agency Check with Inquiries (NACI) background check shall be provided to the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) on all contract employees who will provide service to the Medical Center and all other locations.

The contractor shall provide only personnel who are knowledgeable of all sites and locations of collection bins. Upon arrival, the contract employee shall check in with the COR or with Environmental Management Service to be assigned an escort. Contractor employees shall not be on any federally owned or leased property without an escort.

Contractor employees shall be subject to the provisions of Public Law 93-579, Privacy Act of 1974, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), applicable Federal and VA confidentiality and security laws and regulations, and Joint Commission Standards.

The contractor shall assign a Project Manager for the purpose of coordination, oversight, and management of this contract. All contract employees shall present a neat, clean appearance, be well groomed, and be easily recognized while working. While on the premises contract employees shall wear a company uniform with a visible identification badge which shall contain a picture of the employee.

The Contractor and/or Project Manager shall be accessible and/or available by phone Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding federally recognized holidays, for answering questions in order to assist in meeting the facility’s needs.

3.0 SAFETY AND FIRE PREVENTION

4.0 PRIVACY

All VA sensitive information that is contained in paper records under the jurisdiction of VA shall be handled by the most secure, economical, and effective means in accordance with legal requirements. Personal Identifiable Information (PII) is the most common form of sensitive information handled at the VAMC and therefore requires the use of extraordinary procedures for its protection. PII that is not properly disposed of can result in actual or potential identity theft, and can cause great personal hardship to the subject individuals. It is imperative that the appropriate means of destruction be used for all VA temporary paper records. A BAA (Business Associate Agreement) will be required (see BAA Template) of the contract awardee. VA Handbook 6371 “Destruction of Temporary Paper Records” (and/or any updated VA paper destruction regulation) will be adhered to in relation to this contract. A two-step method of destruction with “Interim Destruction” taking place on the Government Facility and “Final Destruction” allowed to be completed away from the Government Facility. VA’s preference is for a method of destruction that permits paper records to be recycled, while still meeting the requirements for “Final Destruction”.

Interim Destruction: Interim destruction of temporary paper records refers to macerating, chopping, pulverizing, or shredding of these records to a degree that does not definitively ensure that they are not readable or re-constructible to any degree, but does ensure that they are not readable or re-constructible without extraordinary effort. This destruction of temporary records is a preliminary step that will allow for secure transport of records until such time as their final destruction. All temporary paper records will go through “Interim Destruction” before leaving the Government Facility. The interim destruction of records is proper for ensuring their security when transportation is necessary for final destruction. Interim destruction of these records must take place at the VA facility and must be to the degree that the information contained on them is not readable or re-constructible without extraordinary effort. “Interim Destruction” must be carried out in accordance with VA Directive 6371 by a contractor who can provide sufficient reasonable safeguards to protect the records until final destruction has been completed. Methods of interim destruction carried out by a contractor must be witnessed by a Federal employee or, if authorized by the organization that created the records, a contractor employee may act as witness, and the written attestation shall be submitted to the organization that created the records. The contractor employee may be the vendor performing the interim destruction as long as a certification of destruction is provided to VA.

Final Destruction: The process through which temporary paper records are pulped, macerated, or shredded to a degree that definitively ensures that they are not readable or re-constructible to any degree. If this final destruction is performed away from a VA facility it must be performed by an information destruction contractor (or its subcontractor of third party) who has demonstrated that:

(1) Its destruction process constitutes final destruction as defined in VA Directive 6371; and

(2) It has implemented reasonable physical safeguards to protect VA temporary paper records during their transportation, transfer, or short-term storage prior to the completion of their final destruction. Long-term storage (more than 30 days) must be approved in advance and in writing by the VA organization that generated the temporary paper records.

However, if the records require special protection because they are national security classified or deemed confidential by statute such as the Privacy Act of 1974 and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), regulation, or VA policy, the wastepaper contractor shall be required to wet pulp, macerate, chop, shred, or otherwise definitively destroy the information contained in the records so that it is not readable or re-constructible. The destruction of the information must be witnessed either by a Federal employee or, if authorized by the organization that created the records, by a contractor employee. This witnessing may be completed by the wastepaper contractor as long as a documented certification of destruction is provided to VA that certifies complete destruction of the records.

Certification of Destruction: Written documentation by a records destruction or recycling contractor or vendor that attests to the completion of the destruction process after the destruction of VA records has taken place. Contractor to submit Final Destruction Report to COR within 30days of initial pick up from VA locations. This certification is not considered a valid certification of destruction if submitted prior to the actual destruction of the records. Certifications of destruction shall be maintained in accordance with applicable VA Records Control Schedules, and shall only be accepted from data destruction or recycle vendors after final destruction has actually taken place. VA personnel responsible for the final destruction of temporary records will develop a tracking method for ensuring that a certification of destruction is submitted for every shipment of such records released to a data destruction or recycling vendor.

5.0 SPECIFIC TASKS BY CONTRACTOR

All shredding services shall be provided on government owned or leased properties herein. Contract employees shall go to the locations of consoles, remove materials from the locked containers and transfer them to a secured location until destruction. The contractor shall destroy all paper products removed from the VA Medical Center and the CBOCs, through an acceptable process which renders the paper completely unreadable, in accordance with VA Directive 6371.

The contractor’s equipment shall produce unreadable material that cannot be reconstructed to any degree. The shredder shall be of such capacity that limited quantities of incidentals such as paper clips, staples, rubber bands, pill bottles, patient plastic armbands and other types of paper can be shredded.

The contractor shall provide secure lockable containers (consoles) with front facing/loading openings to collect and store materials to be shredded until such time that the shredding of the materials occurs. The consoles shall be approximately; 36 inches high, 20 inches wide, and 20 inches deep. The consoles shall be provided, maintained, increased, decreased and replaced at no charge to the VA. The VA reserves the right to increase or decrease the number of consoles by 10% as needed by submitting a request in writing at least 30 days in advance. Console keys shall only be given to authorized VA employees. The COR will maintain a listing of authorized employees. Consoles shall be installed in specific locations by the contractor. Changes in location of any console shall be by agreement of both the Government (CO) and the contractor. Any console movement shall be accomplished by the contractor.

During the course of the contract quantities and location of collection consoles may be required to facilitate new construction and/or departmental moves. The CO, COR, and contractor will work jointly to ensure a current list of console locations and numbers is maintained by the VA and the contractor. Any new consoles or console placement, existing location console moves, or console removals will be added, or deleted, to the existing contract by contract modification at no further cost to the Government. A Modification will be completed to fund/pay for servicing of any consoles added to the contract.

The contractor shall perform shredding/pick-up on days scheduled and/or as agreeable to both the VA facilities and the contractor. The VA facilities will provide an escort for the contractor on days scheduled and/or as agreeable to both the VA facilities and the contractor. The contractor shall perform their best effort to ensure service for all consoles on every scheduled visit. Any changes to the schedule shall be approved in advance of the contractor visiting the facilities.

A clear certificate of destruction shall be provided to the COR (or Alternate COR (ACOR) when the COR is unavailable) upon the completion of service at every location. Shredded paper shall to be recycled (if applicable) and the contractor shall provide a chain of custody letter showing each step of the recycle process and final disposition of destroyed materials, to include pounds and/or bags. The contractor shall provide an environmental certificate on an annual basis showing total estimated pounds of paper products disposed of.

The contractor shall provide documentation of a contingency plan in the event of equipment failure or unexpected events to include the primary and alternate site for final destruction. This shall be provided with your quote and evaluated by the Contracting Officer.

6.0 LOCATIONS

Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center 1011 Honor Heights Drive Muskogee, OK 74401 Number of lockable consoles: 150 Pick-up: Every Wednesday, or as mutually agreed (excluding federal holidays)

Ernest Childers VA Outpatient Clinic (Tulsa) 9322 East 41st St Tulsa, OK 74145 Number of lockable consoles: 30 Pick-up: Every Thursday, or as mutually agreed (excluding federal holidays)

Vinita Outpatient Clinic 269 S 7th St Vinita, OK 74301 Number of lockable consoles: 4 Pick-up: Once a month as mutually agreed (excluding federal holidays)

Tulsa Behavioral Medicine Service 10159 E 11th Street Tulsa, OK 74128 Number of lockable consoles: 16 Pick-up: Once a month as mutually agreed (excluding federal holidays)

VA Administration Building 2410 Shawnee Rd Muskogee, OK 74403 Number of lockable consoles: 8 Pick-up: Once a month as mutually agreed (excluding federal holidays)

VA Jack Montgomery Eastside 2414 E Shawnee Rd Muskogee, OK 74403 Number of lockable consoles: 2 Pick-up: Once a month as mutually agreed (excluding federal holidays)

Tulsa Dental Clinic 5110 S. Yale Ave, Tulsa Oklahoma, 74135 Number of lockable consoles: 4 Pick-up: Twice a month as mutually agreed (excluding federal holidays)

McAlester CBOC (New Activation = estimated open date is 10/01/2018) 2e Clark Bass Blvd McAlester, Oklahoma 74501-4209 Number of lockable consoles: 7 Pick-up: Twice a month as mutually agreed (excluding federal holidays)

TOTAL ESTIMATED CONSOLES: 221

B.3 IT CONTRACT SECURITY

VA INFORMATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEM SECURITY/PRIVACY

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/subcontractor 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 on site 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 COR.

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 COR, and approved by the VA Privacy Service in accordance with Directive 6507, VA Privacy Impact Assessment.

b. The contractor/subcontractor shall certify to the COR 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;

(1) 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

(2) 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 10 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 10 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 vulnerablity 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 COR 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. This may require reviewing and updating all of the documentation (PIA, System Security Plan, Contingency Plan). The Certification Program Office can provide guidance on whether a new C&A would be necessary.

e. The contractor/subcontractor must conduct an annual self assessment on all systems and outsourced services as required. Both hard copy and electronic copies of the assessment must be provided to the COR. The government reserves the right to conduct such an assessment using government personnel or another contractor/subcontractor. The contractor/subcontractor must take appropriate and timely action (this can be specified in the contract) to correct or mitigate any weaknesses discovered during such testing, generally at no additional cost.

f. VA prohibits the installation and use of personally-owned or contractor/ subcontractor-owned equipment or software on VA's network. If non-VA owned equipment must be used to fulfill the requirements of a contract, it must be stated in the service agreement, SOW or contract. All of the security controls required for government furnished equipment (GFE) must be utilized in approved other equipment (OE) and must be funded by the owner of the equipment. All remote systems must be equipped with, and use, a VA-approved antivirus (AV) software and a personal (host-based or enclave based) firewall that is configured with a VA-approved configuration. Software must be kept current, including all critical updates and patches. Owners of approved OE are responsible for providing and maintaining the anti-viral software and the firewall on the non-VA owned OE.

g. All electronic storage media used on non-VA leased or non-VA owned IT equipment that is used to store, process, or access VA information must be handled in adherence with VA Handbook 6500.1, Electronic Media Sanitization upon: (i) completion or termination of the contract or (ii) disposal or return of the IT equipment by the contractor/subcontractor or any person acting on behalf of the contractor/subcontractor, whichever is earlier. Media (hard drives, optical disks, CDs, back-up tapes, etc.) used by the contractors/ subcontractors that contain VA information must be returned to the VA for sanitization or destruction or the contractor/subcontractor must self-certify that the media has been disposed of per 6500.1 requirements. This must be completed within 30 days of termination of the contract.

h. Bio-Medical devices and other equipment or systems containing media (hard drives, optical disks, etc.) with VA sensitive information must not be returned to the vendor at the end of lease, for trade-in, or other purposes. The options are:

(1) Vendor must accept the system without the drive;

(2) VA's initial medical device purchase includes a spare drive which must be installed in place of the original drive at time of turn-in; or

(3) VA must reimburse the company for media at a reasonable open market replacement cost at time of purchase.

(4) Due to the highly specialized and sometimes proprietary hardware and software associated with medical equipment/systems, if it is not possible for the VA to retain the hard drive, then;

(a) The equipment vendor must have an existing BAA if the device being traded in has sensitive information stored on it and hard drive(s) from the system are being returned physically intact; and

(b) Any fixed hard drive on the device must be non-destructively sanitized to the greatest extent possible without negatively impacting system operation. Selective clearing down to patient data folder level is recommended using VA approved and validated overwriting technologies/methods/tools. Applicable media sanitization specifications need to be pre-approved and described in the purchase order or contract.

(c) A statement needs to be signed by the Director (System Owner) that states that the drive could not be removed and that (a) and (b) controls above are in place and completed. The ISO needs to maintain the documentation.

6. SECURITY INCIDENT INVESTIGATION

a. The term "security incident" means an event that has, or could have, resulted in unauthorized access to, loss or damage to VA assets, or sensitive information, or an action that breaches VA security procedures. The contractor/ subcontractor shall immediately notify the COR and simultaneously, the designated ISO and Privacy Officer for the contract of any known or suspected security/privacy incidents, or any unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, including that contained in system(s) to which the contractor/ subcontractor has access.

b. To the extent known by the contractor/subcontractor, the contractor/ subcontractor's notice to VA shall identify the information involved, the circumstances surrounding the incident (including to whom, how, when, and where the VA information or assets were placed at risk or compromised), and any other information that the contractor/subcontractor considers relevant.

c. With respect to unsecured protected health information, the business associate is deemed to have discovered a data breach when the business associate knew or should have known of a breach of such information. Upon discovery, the business associate must notify the covered entity of the breach. Notifications need to be made in accordance with the executed business associate agreement.

d. In instances of theft or break-in or other criminal activity, the contractor/subcontractor must concurrently report the incident to the appropriate law enforcement entity (or entities) of jurisdiction, including the VA OIG and Security and Law Enforcement. The contractor, its employees, and its subcontractors and their employees shall cooperate with VA and any law enforcement authority responsible for the investigation and prosecution of any possible criminal law violation(s) associated with any incident. The contractor/subcontractor shall cooperate with VA in any civil litigation to recover VA information, obtain monetary or other compensation from a third party for damages arising from any incident, or obtain injunctive relief against any third party arising from, or related to, the incident.

7. LIQUIDATED DAMAGES FOR DATA BREACH

a. Consistent with the requirements of 38 U.S.C. 5725, a contract may require access to sensitive personal information. If so, the contractor is liable to VA for liquidated damages in the event of a data breach or privacy incident involving any SPI the contractor/subcontractor processes or maintains under this contract.

b. The contractor/subcontractor shall provide notice to VA of a "security incident" as set forth in the Security Incident Investigation section above. Upon such notification, VA must secure from a non-Department entity or the VA Office of Inspector General an independent risk analysis of the data breach to determine the level of risk associated with the data breach for the potential misuse of any sensitive personal information involved in the data breach. The term 'data breach' means the loss, theft, or other unauthorized access, or any access other than that incidental to the scope of employment, to data containing sensitive personal information, in electronic or printed form, that results in the potential compromise of the confidentiality or integrity of the data. Contractor shall fully cooperate with the entity performing the risk analysis. Failure to cooperate may be deemed a material breach and grounds for contract termination.

c. Each risk analysis shall address all relevant information concerning the data breach, including the following:

(1) Nature of the event (loss, theft, unauthorized access);

(2) Description of the event, including:

(a) date of occurrence;

(b) data elements involved, including…