36C25920Q0223-001.docx

36C25920Q0223

FedBizOpps Combined Synopsis/Solicitation Notice

CLASSIFICATION CODE

SUBJECT

CONTRACTING OFFICE'S

ZIP-CODE

SOLICITATION NUMBER

RESPONSE DATE (MM-DD-YYYY)

ARCHIVE

DAYS AFTER THE RESPONSE DATE

RECOVERY ACT FUNDS

SET-ASIDE

NAICS CODE

CONTRACTING OFFICE

ADDRESS

POINT OF CONTACT

(POC Information Automatically Filled from User Profile Unless Entered)

DESCRIPTION

See Attachment

AGENCY'S URL

URL DESCRIPTION

AGENCY CONTACT'S EMAIL

ADDRESS

EMAIL DESCRIPTION

ADDRESS

POSTAL CODE

COUNTRY

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

GENERAL INFORMATION

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

* = Required Field FedBizOpps Combined Synopsis/Solicitation Notice Rev. March 2010 R Translation & Interpretation Services 80111 36C25920Q0223 03-13-2020 N

SDVOSBC

541930 Department of Veterans Affairs Network Contracting Office 19 Rocky Mountain Acquisition Center 6162 South Willow Drive, Suite 300 Greenwood Village CO 80111 Charlie Gritzmacher charles.gritzmacher@va.gov Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Community Care (OCC) 3773 Cherry Creek North Drive Denver, CO 80209 United States

Combined Synopsis/Solicitation for Translation and Interpretation Service for Office of Community Care (OCC)

1. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items and services prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.

2. Solicitation number 36C25920Q0223 is issued as a request for quote (RFQ).

3. This acquisition is set-aside for Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Buisness (SDVOSB/VOSB). The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 541930 – Translation and Interpretation Services.

4. FAR Clauses 52.212-1, 52.212-2, 52.212-4 and 52.212-5 apply to this procurement. For the exact text and wording of clauses and provisions please see http://farsite.hill.af.mil. The Government contemplates an award of an unrestricted Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract resulting from this solicitation.

5. Description of services: In accordance with the Statement of Work (SOW) and price schedule, the Contractor shall price call-in service to assist employees with translating foreign languages into the English language during inbound and outbound telephone calls with customers for the Office of Community Care – Health Administration Center located in Denver, CO.

6. Period of Performance (POP): The POP shall be from the date of award for a 1 (one) 12 (twelve) month base-year period and four (4) twelve (12) month option year periods.

7. See Addendum to 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors on the attached RFQ document for information on what to submit with your offer.

8. Offers are due March 13, 2020 @ 2 PM MST. All questions/inquiries must be submitted to the contract officer via electronic mail (e-mail) not later than March 06, 2020 @ 2 PM MST. Inquiries submitted via telephone calls will be re-directed to an e-mail submission.

9. Submit offers or any questions to the attention of Charlie Gritzmacher via email to: charles.gritzmacher@va.gov.

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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

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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

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17a.

CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR

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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.

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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. SIGNAT

URE 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

741-20-3-9070-0028 36C25920Q0223 02-26-2020 Charlie Gritzmacher

(303) 712-5780 03-13-2020

2 PM MST

36C259 Department of Veterans Affairs Network Contracting Office 19 Rocky Mountain Acquisition Center 6162 South Willow Drive, Suite 300 Greenwood Village CO 80111 x x Y 541930 $7.5 Million x Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Community Care (OCC) 3773 Cherry Creek North Drive Denver CO 80209 36C259 Department of Veterans Affairs Network Contracting Office 19 Rocky Mountain Acquisition Center 6162 South Willow Drive, Suite 300 Greenwood Village CO 80111

Electronic Payment Requests Submit Invoice at:

http://www.fsc.va.gov/einvoice.asp

Translation & Interpretation Services Period of Performance:

Base: 04-01-2020 to 03-31-2021 Option Year 1: 04-01-2021 to 03-31-2022 Option Year 2: 04-01-2022 to 03-31-2023 Option Year 3: 04-01-2023 to 03-31-2024 Option Year 4: 04-01-2024 to 03-31-2025

LOA#: 741-3600152-9070-866300-2580 SPW0LP8A1

2237#: 741-20-3-9070-0028 x x Erica A Blake

VA-VHA-SAOW-2019-B0D0EABF

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 Erica A. Blake / erica.blake@va.gov

Department of Veterans Affairs Network Contracting Office 19 Rocky Mountain Acquisition Center 6162 South Willow Drive, Suite 300 Greenwood Village CO 80111

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.

Electronic Payment Requests

Submit Invoice at:

http://www.fsc.va.gov/einvoice.asp

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

36C25920Q0223

Table of Contents

B.2 PRICE/COST SCHEDULE

BASE YEAR: 04-01-2020 to 03-31-2021

Pricing per minute for Translation and Interpretation services:

OPTION YEAR 1: 04-01-2021 to 03-31-2022

Pricing per minute for Translation and Interpretation services:

OPTION YEAR 2: 04-01-2022 to 03-31-2023

ANNUAL MINS

ANNUAL PRICE

OPTION YEAR 3: 04-01-2023 to 03-31-2024

OPTION YEAR 4: 04-01-2024 to 03-31-2025

ANNUAL MINS

ANNUAL PRICE

B.3 STATEMENT OF WORK

STATEMENT OF WORK

Translation and Interpretation Services for VHA Office of Community Care

PART 1 GENERAL

Interpretation services to translate all commonly spoken foreign languages into the English language.

1.1 SCOPE: VA Office of Community Care (OCC) contact centers require a call-in service to assist employees with translating foreign languages into the English language during inbound and outbound telephone calls with customers. Foreign languages in need of translation services and compliance requirements have been identified and further defined below.

The contractor shall provide foreign language translation services into English, during live telephone calls, for the following languages: Afrikaans, Akan, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Ashante, Assyrian, Azerbaijani, Azeri, Bajuni, Bambara, Basque, Behdini, Belorussian, Bengali, Berber, Bosnian, Bravanese, Bulgarian, Burmese, Cakchiquel, Cambodian, Cantonese, Catalan, Chaldean, Chamorro, Chao-chow, Chavacano ,Chin, Chuukese, Cree, Croatian, Czech, Dakota, Danish, Dari, Dinka, Diula, Dutch, Estonian, Ewe, Farsi, Fijian, Hindi, Finnish, Flemish, French, French, Canadian, Fukienese, Fula, Fulani, Fuzhou, Ga, Gaddang, Gaelic, Gaelic – Irish, Gaelic – Scottish, Georgian, German, Gorani, Greek, Gujarati, Haitian Creole, Hakka, Hakka – Chinese, Hassaniyya, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Hmong, Hungarian, Ibanag, Ibo, Icelandic, Igbo, locano, Indonesian, Inuktitut, Italian, Jakartanese, Japanese, Javanese, Kanjobal, Karen, Kashmiri, Kikuyu, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Korean, Kosovan, Kotokoli, Kpelle, Krio, Kurdish, Kurmanji, Lakota, Laotian, Latvian, Lingala, Lithuanian, Luganda, Luo, Lusoga, Luxembourgeois, Maay, Macedonian, Malagasy, Malay, Malayalam, Malinke, Mandarin, Mandingo, Mandinka, Marathi, Marshallese, Mien, Mina, Mirpuri, Mixteco, Moldavan, Mongolian, Montenegrin, Navajo, Neapolitan, Nepali, Nigerian Pidgin, English, Norwegian, Nuer, Oromo, Pahari, Pampangan, Pashto, Patois, Pidgin English, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese, Creole, Pothwari, Pulaar, Punjabi, Putian, Quichua, Romanian, Russian, Samoan, Sango, Serbian, Shanghainese, Shona, Sichuan, Sicilian, Sindhi, Sinhalese, Slovak, Slovenian, Somali, Soninke, Sorani, Spanish, Sudanese Arabic, Sundanese, Susu, Swahili, Swedish, Sylhetti, Tagalog, Taiwanese, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Tibetan, Tigre, Tigrinya, Toishanese, Tongan, Toucouleur, Tshiluba, Turkish, Twi, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uyghur, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Visayan, Wenzhou, Wolof, Yiddish, Yoruba and Yupik.

1.2 LOCATION: Support will be given to the following call center telephone locations within VA Office of Community Care nationwide: Denver, CO; Dublin, GA; Cheyenne, Wy; Batavia, NY; Flowood, MS; Alexandria, VA; Vancouver, WA; Salem, VA; Jackson, MS; Shepherdstown, WV; Salt Lake City, UT..

1.3 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE:

Base year services are covered from: 04/01/2020 to 03/31/2021 Option Year 1 services covered from: 04/01/2021 to 03/31/2022 Option Year 2 services covered from: 04/01/2022 to 03/31/2023 Option Year 3 services covered from: 04/01/2023 to 03/31/2024 Option Year 4 services covered from: 04/01/2024 to 03/31/2025

PART 2 REQUIREMENTS

2.1 SERVICE REQUIREMENTS

1. The contractor shall be compliant with HIPAA and VA privacy standards.

2. The contractor shall provide this service 6:00AM to 9:00PM MST, Monday through Friday. Excluding the following federal holidays, unless emergency services are required for national disaster: New Year’s Day, Birthday Martin Luther King, Jr., Washington’s Birthday (President’s Day), Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas. Service hours are subject to change with 30 days written notice to contractor.

3. The contractor shall provide this telephone interpreter service for a minimum of 700 users within OCC.

4. The contractor shall provide a toll free telephone number line for the above stated users to access the Teleinterpreter services.

5. The final output of this work will be a service which will facilitate CC Contact Representatives (CR) and other front-line staff with the ability to communicate with callers through telephonic language support representatives to resolve customer issues.

6. The contractor shall provide foreign language translation services into the English language for successful facilitation and communication of translated language from the OCC employee to the caller and from the caller to the OCC employee. Effectively translating both OCC employee and their caller’s questions/answers.

7. The contractor shall not begin charging for per minute usage of services until the call has connected to the requested language translator.

8. Translation services will be charged at the same rate for all languages.

9. The contractor shall not stipulate a minimum charge amount requirement.

10. The contractor shall provide a monthly report, no later than the 5th business day of the month, to OCC contracting personnel, to include the Contracting Officer Representative (COR). Reports should include usage rates and dates, times, and durations of contacts for each OCC business line.

PART 3 SECURITY

3.1 The contractor shall ensure adequate LAN/Internet, information, and system security is in place and in accordance with VA standard operating procedures, standard contract language, conditions, laws, and regulations.

No recording, copying, or transcriptions of these calls or their interpretation will be permitted with this contract, unless expressly approved in advance by OCC Management.

No paper or electronic notes by individual interpreter may contain any Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or Personal Health Information (PHI) of the Veteran and/or caller. All paper interpreter notes will be removed from the individual interpreter’s work area no later than the end of each business day. All paper notes will be destroyed by shredding, and shall not be discarded with other office trash.

3.2 SECURITY TRAINING

All contractor employees and subcontractors under this contract or order are required to complete VA on-line training course, TMS 10176 - VA Privacy and Information Security Awareness and Rules of Behavior. Since Veteran medical information will be discussed on these calls, TMS 10203 - Privacy and HIPAA Training course is required as well. Both of these courses need to be completed prior to any contractor or subcontractor employee providing services, and annually thereafter. This training requirement may be fulfilled under additional privacy awareness training options, based on the prerogative of the Contracting Officer (CO), pending assigned VA duties of the contractor and subcontractor employees under this contract. Contractors must provide copies of the course certifications of completion for each employee on the contract to the CO and ISO, initially and during each year thereafter of the contract. This requirement is in addition to any other training that may be required of the contractor and subcontractor employees.

Contractor and subcontractor employees who have not completed the required VA training will not be permitted to provide services on this contract.

3.3 CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL SECURITY

All contractor and subcontractor employees privy to PHI and PII through telephone conversations shall be the subject of a background investigation and must receive a favorable adjudication from the VA Security and Investigations Center (07C). If the security clearance investigation is not completed prior to the start date of the contract, the employee may work on the contract while the security clearance is being processed, but the contractor will be responsible for the actions of those individuals they assign to perform work for the VA.

1. Background Investigation The position sensitivity for this effort has been designated as Low Risk and the level of background investigation is a National Agency Check with Written Inquiries.

2. Contractor Responsibilities

a. The contractor shall bear the expense of obtaining background investigations. If the investigation is conducted by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) through the VA, the contractor shall reimburse the VA within 30 days.

b. Background investigations from investigating agencies other than OPM are permitted if the agencies possess an OPM and Defense Security Service Certification. The Vendor Cage Code number must be provided to the Security and Investigations Center (07C), which will verify the information and advise the CO whether access to the computer systems can be authorized.

c. The contractor shall prescreen all personnel requiring computer system access to ensure they maintain U.S. citizenship and are able to read, write, speak and understand the English language.

d. After contract award and prior to contract performance, the contractor shall provide the following information, using Attachment B, to the CO:

(1) List of names of contractor personnel.

(2) Social Security Number of contractor personnel.

(3) Home address of contractor personnel or the contractor's address.

e. The contractor, when notified of an unfavorable determination by the Government, shall withdraw the employee from consideration from working under the contract.

f. Failure to comply with the contractor personnel security requirements may result in termination of the contract for default.

g. Further, the contractor shall be responsible for the actions of all individuals provided to work for the VA under this contract. In the event that damages arise from work performed by contractor provided personnel, under the auspices of this contract, the contractor shall be responsible for all resources necessary to remedy the incident.

h. A Business Associate Agreement will be required since the contractor will have access to PHI on telephone calls.

3. Government Responsibilities

a. The VA Security and Investigations Center (07C) will provide the necessary forms to the contractor or to the contractor's employees after receiving a list of names and addresses.

b. Upon receipt, the VA Security and Investigations Center (07C) will review the completed forms for accuracy and forward the forms to OPM to conduct the background investigation.

c. The VA facility will pay for investigations conducted by the OPM in advance. In these instances, the contractor will reimburse the VA facility within 30 days.

d. The VA Security and Investigations Center (07C) will notify the CO and contractor after adjudicating the results of the background investigations received from OPM.

e. The COR will ensure that the contractor provides evidence that investigations have been completed or are in the process of being completed.

3.4 VAAR – 852.273-75 SECURITY REQUIREMENTS FOR UNCLASSIFIED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES (INTERIM – OCT 2008)

1. The contractor and their personnel shall be subject to the same Federal laws, regulations, standards, and VA policies as VA personnel regarding information and information systems security. These include, but are not limited to, Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), Appendix III of OBM Circular A-130, and guidance standards available from the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). This also includes the use of common security configurations available from NIST’s Web site at: http://checklists.nist.gov.

2. To ensure that appropriate security controls are in place, contractors must follow the procedures set forth in “VA Information and Information System Security/Privacy Requirements for IT Contracts” located at the following Web site: http://www.iprm.oit.va.gov.

3. These provisions shall apply to all contracts in which VA sensitive information is stored, generated, transmitted, or exchanged by VA, a contractor, subcontractor or a third-party, or on behalf of any of these entities regardless of format or whether it resides on a VA system or contractor/subcontractor’s electronic information system(s) operating for or on behalf of VA.

4. Clauses 4.0, 1 and 2, shall apply to current and future contracts and acquisition vehicles including, but not limited to, job orders, task orders, letter contracts, purchase orders, and modifications. Contracts do not include grants and cooperative agreements covered by 31 U.S.C. §6301 et seq.

Records Management:

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SECTION C - CONTRACT CLAUSES

C.1 52.203-3 GRATUITIES (APR 1984)

(a) The right of the Contractor to proceed may be terminated by written notice if, after notice and hearing, the agency head or a designee determines that the Contractor, its agent, or another representative—

(1) Offered or gave a gratuity (e.g., an entertainment or gift) to an officer, official, or employee of the Government; and

(2) Intended, by the gratuity, to obtain a contract or favorable treatment under a contract.

(b) The facts supporting this determination may be reviewed by any court having lawful jurisdiction.

(c) If this contract is terminated under paragraph (a) above, the Government is entitled—

(1) To pursue the same remedies as in a breach of the contract; and

(2) In addition to any other damages provided by law, to exemplary damages of not less than 3 nor more than 10 times the cost incurred by the Contractor in giving gratuities to the person concerned, as determined by the agency head or a designee. (This subparagraph (c)(2) is applicable only if this contract uses money appropriated to the Department of Defense.)

(d) The rights and remedies of the Government provided in this clause shall not be exclusive and are in addition to any other rights and remedies provided by law or under this contract.

(End of Clause) C.2 52.203-11 CERTIFICATION AND DISCLOSURE REGARDING PAYMENTS TO INFLUENCE CERTAIN FEDERAL TRANSACTIONS (SEPT 2007)

(a) Definitions. As used in this provision—"Lobbying contact" has the meaning provided at 2 U.S.C. 1602(8). The terms "agency," "influencing or attempting to influence," "officer or employee of an agency," "person," "reasonable compensation," and "regularly employed" are defined in the FAR clause of this solicitation entitled "Limitation on Payments to Influence Certain Federal Transactions" (52.203-12).

(b) Prohibition. The prohibition and exceptions contained in the FAR clause of this solicitation entitled "Limitation on Payments to Influence Certain Federal Transactions" (52.203-12) are hereby incorporated by reference in this provision.

(c) Certification. The offeror, by signing its offer, hereby certifies to the best of its knowledge and belief that no Federal appropriated funds have been paid or will be paid to any person for influencing or attempting to influence an officer or employee of any agency, a Member of Congress, an officer or employee of Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress on its behalf in connection with the awarding of this contract.

(d) Disclosure. If any registrants under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 have made a lobbying contact on behalf of the offeror with respect to this contract, the offeror shall complete and submit, with its offer, OMB Standard Form LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities, to provide the name of the registrants. The offeror need not report regularly employed officers or employees of the offeror to whom payments of reasonable compensation were made.

(e) Penalty. Submission of this certification and disclosure is a prerequisite for making or entering into this contract imposed by 31 U.S.C. 1352. Any person who makes an expenditure prohibited under this provision or who fails to file or amend the disclosure required to be filed or amended by this provision, shall be subject to a civil penalty of not less than $10,000, and not more than $100,000, for each such failure.

(End of Provision) C.3 52.203-12 LIMITATION ON PAYMENTS TO INFLUENCE CERTAIN FEDERAL TRANSACTIONS (OCT 2010)

(a) Definitions. As used in this clause— "Agency" means executive agency as defined in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 2.101.

"Covered Federal action" means any of the following actions:

(1) Awarding any Federal contract.

(2) Making any Federal grant.

(3) Making any Federal loan.

(4) Entering into any cooperative agreement.

(5) Extending, continuing, renewing, amending, or modifying any Federal contract, grant, loan, or cooperative agreement.

"Indian tribe" and "tribal organization" have the meaning provided in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b) and include Alaskan Natives.

"Influencing or attempting to influence" means making, with the intent to influence, any communication to or appearance before an officer or employee of any agency, a Member of Congress, an officer or employee of Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress in connection with any covered Federal action.

"Local government" means a unit of government in a State and, if chartered, established, or otherwise recognized by a State for the performance of a governmental duty, including a local public authority, a special district, an intrastate district, a council of governments, a sponsor group representative organization, and any other instrumentality of a local government.

"Officer or employee of an agency" includes the following individuals who are employed by an agency:

(1) An individual who is appointed to a position in the Government under Title 5, United States Code, including a position under a temporary appointment.

(2) A member of the uniformed services, as defined in subsection 101(3), Title 37, United States Code.

(3) A special Government employee, as defined in section 202, Title 18, United States Code.

(4) An individual who is a member of a Federal advisory committee, as defined by the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Title 5, United States Code, appendix 2.

"Person" means an individual, corporation, company, association, authority, firm, partnership, society, State, and local government, regardless of whether such entity is operated for profit, or not for profit. This term excludes an Indian tribe, tribal organization, or any other Indian organization eligible to receive Federal contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, or loans from an agency, but only with respect to expenditures by such tribe or organization that are made for purposes specified in paragraph (b) of this clause and are permitted by other Federal law.

"Reasonable compensation" means, with respect to a regularly employed officer or employee of any person, compensation that is consistent with the normal compensation for such officer or employee for work that is not furnished to, not funded by, or not furnished in cooperation with the Federal Government.

"Reasonable payment" means, with respect to professional and other technical services, a payment in an amount that is consistent with the amount normally paid for such services in the private sector.

"Recipient" includes the Contractor and all subcontractors. This term excludes an Indian tribe, tribal organization, or any other Indian organization eligible to receive Federal contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, or loans from an agency, but only with respect to expenditures by such tribe or organization that are made for purposes specified in paragraph (b) of this clause and are permitted by other Federal law.

"Regularly employed" means, with respect to an officer or employee of a person requesting or receiving a Federal contract, an officer or employee who is employed by such person for at least 130 working days within 1 year immediately preceding the date of the submission that initiates agency consideration of such person for receipt of such contract. An officer or employee who is employed by such person for less than 130 working days within 1 year immediately preceding the date of the submission that initiates agency consideration of such person shall be considered to be regularly employed as soon as he or she is employed by such person for 130 working days.

"State" means a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, or an outlying area of the United States, an agency or instrumentality of a State, and multi-State, regional, or interstate entity having governmental duties and powers.

(b) Prohibition. 31 U.S.C. 1352 prohibits a recipient of a Federal contract, grant, loan, or cooperative agreement from using appropriated funds to pay any person for influencing or attempting to influence an officer or employee of any agency, a Member of Congress, an officer or employee of Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress in connection with any covered Federal actions. In accordance with 31 U.S.C. 1352, the Contractor shall not use appropriated funds to pay any person for influencing or attempting to influence an officer or employee of any agency, a Member of Congress, an officer or employee of Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress in connection with the award of this contractor the extension, continuation, renewal, amendment, or modification of this contract.

(1) The term appropriated funds does not include profit or fee from a covered Federal action.

(2) To the extent the Contractor can demonstrate that the Contractor has sufficient monies, other than Federal appropriated funds, the Government will assume that these other monies were spent for any influencing activities that would be unallowable if paid for with Federal appropriated funds.

(c) Exceptions. The prohibition in paragraph (b) of this clause does not apply under the following conditions:

(1) Agency and legislative liaison by Contractor employees.

(i) Payment of reasonable compensation made to an officer or employee of the Contractor if the payment is for agency and legislative liaison activities not directly related to this contract. For purposes of this paragraph, providing any information specifically requested by an agency or Congress is permitted at any time.

(ii) Participating with an agency in discussions that are not related to a specific solicitation for any covered Federal action, but that concern—

(A) The qualities and characteristics (including individual demonstrations) of the person's products or services, conditions or terms of sale, and service capabilities; or

(B) The application or adaptation of the person's products or services for an agency's use.

(iii) Providing prior to formal solicitation of any covered Federal action any information not specifically requested but necessary for an agency to make an informed decision about initiation of a covered Federal action;

(iv) Participating in technical discussions regarding the preparation of an unsolicited proposal prior to its official submission; and

(v) Making capability presentations prior to formal solicitation of any covered Federal action by persons seeking awards from an agency pursuant to the provisions of the Small Business Act, as amended by Pub.L. 95-507, and subsequent amendments.

(2) Professional and technical services.

(i) A payment of reasonable compensation made to an officer or employee of a person requesting or receiving a covered Federal action or an extension, continuation, renewal, amendment, or modification of a covered Federal action, if payment is for professional or technical services rendered directly in the preparation, submission, or negotiation of any bid, proposal, or application for that Federal action or for meeting requirements imposed by or pursuant to law as a condition for receiving that Federal action.

(ii) Any reasonable payment to a person, other than an officer or employee of a person requesting or receiving a covered Federal action or an extension, continuation, renewal, amendment, or modification of a covered Federal action if the payment is for professional or technical services rendered directly in the preparation, submission, or negotiation of any bid, proposal, or application for that Federal action or for meeting requirements imposed by or pursuant to law as a condition for receiving that Federal action. Persons other than officers or employees of a person requesting or receiving a covered Federal action include consultants and trade associations.

(iii) As used in paragraph (c)(2) of this clause, "professional and technical services" are limited to advice and analysis directly applying any professional or technical discipline (for examples, see FAR 3.803(a)(2)(iii)).

(iv) Requirements imposed by or pursuant to law as a condition for receiving a covered Federal award include those required by law or regulation and any other requirements in the actual award documents.

(3) Only those communications and services expressly authorized by paragraphs (c)(1) and (2) of this clause are permitted.

(d) Disclosure.

(1) If the Contractor did not submit OMB Standard Form LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities, with its offer, but registrants under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 have subsequently made a lobbying contact on behalf of the Contractor with respect to this contract, the Contractor shall complete and submit OMB Standard Form LLL to provide the name of the lobbying registrants, including the individuals performing the services.

(2) If the Contractor did submit OMB Standard Form LLL disclosure pursuant to paragraph (d) of the provision at FAR 52.203-11, Certification and Disclosure Regarding Payments to Influence Certain Federal Transactions, and a change occurs that affects Block 10 of the OMB Standard Form LLL (name and address of lobbying registrant or individuals performing services), the Contractor shall, at the end of the calendar quarter in which the change occurs, submit to the Contracting Officer within 30 days an updated disclosure using OMB Standard Form LLL.

(e) Penalties.

(1) Any person who makes an expenditure prohibited under paragraph (b) of this clause or who fails to file or amend the disclosure to be filed or amended by paragraph (d) of this clause shall be subject to civil penalties as provided for by 31 U.S.C.1352. An imposition of a civil penalty does not prevent the Government from seeking any other remedy that may be applicable.

(2) Contractors may rely without liability on the representation made by their subcontractors in the certification and disclosure form.

(f) Cost allowability. Nothing in this clause makes allowable or reasonable any costs which would otherwise be unallowable or unreasonable. Conversely, costs made specifically unallowable by the requirements in this clause will not be made allowable under any other provision.

(g) Subcontracts.

(1) The Contractor shall obtain a declaration, including the certification and disclosure in paragraphs (c) and (d) of the provision at FAR 52.203-11, Certification and Disclosure Regarding Payments to Influence Certain Federal Transactions, from each person requesting or receiving a subcontract exceeding $150,000 under this contract. The Contractor or subcontractor that awards the subcontract shall retain the declaration.

(2) A copy of each subcontractor disclosure form (but not certifications) shall be forwarded from tier to tier until received by the prime Contractor. The prime Contractor shall, at the end of the calendar quarter in which the disclosure form is submitted by the subcontractor, submit to the Contracting Officer within 30 days a copy of all disclosures. Each subcontractor certification shall be retained in the subcontract file of the awarding Contractor.

(3) The Contractor shall include the substance of this clause, including this paragraph (g), in any subcontract exceeding $150,000.

(End of Clause) C.4 52.203-17 CONTRACTOR EMPLOYEE WHISTLEBLOWER RIGHTS AND REQUIREMENT TO INFORM EMPLOYEES OF WHISTLEBLOWER RIGHTS (APR 2014)

(a) This contract and employees working on this contract will be subject to the whistleblower rights and remedies in the pilot program on Contractor employee whistleblower protections established at 41 U.S.C. 4712 by section 828 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (Pub. L. 112–239) and FAR 3.908.

(b) The Contractor shall inform its employees in writing, in the predominant language of the workforce, of employee whistleblower rights and protections under 41 U.S.C. 4712, as described in section 3.908 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

(c) The Contractor shall insert the substance of this clause, including this paragraph (c), in all subcontracts over the simplified acquisition threshold.

(End of Clause)

C.5 52.204-9 PERSONAL IDENTITY VERIFICATION OF CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL (JAN 2011)

(a) The Contractor shall comply with agency personal identity verification procedures identified in the contract that implement Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 (HSPD-12), Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance M-05-24, and Federal Information Processing Standards Publication (FIPS PUB) Number 201.

(b) The Contractor shall account for all forms of Government-provided identification issued to the Contractor employees in connection with performance under this contract. The Contractor shall return such identification to the issuing agency at the earliest of any of the following, unless otherwise determined by the Government:

(1) When no longer needed for contract performance.

(2) Upon completion of the Contractor employee's employment.

(3) Upon contract completion or termination.

(c) The Contracting Officer may delay final payment under a contract if the Contractor fails to comply with these requirements.

(d) The Contractor shall insert the substance of this clause, including this paragraph (d), in all subcontracts when the subcontractor's employees are required to have routine physical access to a Federally-controlled facility and/or routine access to a Federally-controlled information system. It shall be the responsibility of the prime Contractor to return such identification to the issuing agency in accordance with the terms set forth in paragraph (b) of this section, unless otherwise approved in writing by the Contracting Officer.

(End of Clause) C.6 52.209-9 UPDATES OF PUBLICLY AVAILABLE INFORMATION REGARDING RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS (JUL 2013)

(a) The Contractor shall update the information in the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) on a semi-annual basis, throughout the life of the contract, by posting the required information in the System for Award Management database via https://www.acquisition.gov.

(b) As required by section 3010 of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2010 (Pub. L. 111-212), all information posted in FAPIIS on or after April 15, 2011, except past performance reviews, will be publicly available. FAPIIS consists of two segments—

(1) The non-public segment, into which Government officials and the Contractor post information, which can only be viewed by—

(i) Government personnel and authorized users performing business on behalf of the Government; or

(ii) The Contractor, when viewing data on itself; and

(2) The publicly-available segment, to which all data in the non-public segment of FAPIS is automatically transferred after a waiting period of 14 calendar days, except for—

(i) Past performance reviews required by subpart 42.15;

(ii) Information that was entered prior to April 15, 2011; or

(iii) Information that is withdrawn during the 14-calendar-day waiting period by the Government official who posted it in accordance with paragraph (c)(1) of this clause.

(c) The Contractor will receive notification when the Government posts new information to the Contractor's record.

(1) If the Contractor asserts in writing within 7 calendar days, to the Government official who posted the information, that some of the information posted to the nonpublic segment of FAPIIS is covered by a disclosure exemption under the Freedom of Information Act, the Government official who posted the information must within 7 calendar days remove the posting from FAPIIS and resolve the issue in accordance with agency Freedom of Information procedures, prior to reposting the releasable information. The contractor must cite 52.209-9 and request removal within 7 calendar days of the posting to FAPIIS.

(2) The Contractor will also have an opportunity to post comments regarding information that has been posted by the Government. The comments will be retained as long as the associated information is retained, i.e., for a total period of 6 years. Contractor comments will remain a part of the record unless the Contractor revises them.

(3) As required by section 3010 of Pub. L. 111-212, all information posted in FAPIIS on or after April 15, 2011, except past performance reviews, will be publicly available.

(d) Public requests for system information posted prior to April 15, 2011, will be handled under Freedom of Information Act procedures, including, where appropriate, procedures promulgated under E.O. 12600.

(End of Clause)

C.7 EVALUATION—COMMERCIAL ITEMS

52.212-2 Evaluation of Quotes:

(a) Basis of Award: This procurement is being conducted pursuant to FAR Part 13 procedures. The Government intends to award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose quote, conforming to the solicitation, quotes the lowest price, whose quoted price does not exceed the amount of funding available for the procurement, and whose quoted price is found to be reasonable. Price alone is the sole evaluation factor.

(b) Evaluation Process: Quotes will be evaluated in the following manner. The lowest-priced quote will be identified. The lowest-priced quote will be evaluated to determine if the quoted price exceeds the amount of funding available for the procurement. If the quoted price does not exceed the amount of funding available for the procurement, the quoted price will be evaluated to determine if it is reasonable. If the quoted price is found to be reasonable, the offeror who submitted this quote will be identified as the “successful offeror.” The contracting officer will then determine if the successful offeror is responsible using the general standards of responsibility. If contract award cannot be made to the successful offeror, the contracting officer will evaluate the next lowest-priced quote following the procedures described above. This process will continue until a contract award can be made, or the contracting officer determines that no contract award can be made. The contracting officer may find all quotes not acceptable and cancel the solicitation if the lowest-priced quote exceeds the amount of funding available for the procurement. The contracting officer may likewise find a quote under evaluation, as well as all remaining quotes, not acceptable and cancel the solicitation if the quote currently under evaluation exceeds the amount of funding available for the procurement. The Government intends to evaluate quotes and award a contract without discussions with offerors. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions at any time if determined by the contracting officer to be in the Government’s interest.

(c) Options: The Government will evaluate quotes for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that a quote is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced or if the quoted price for the basic requirement or any option exceeds the amount of funding available for any of those requirements. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).

(d) Acceptance of Offer: A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer’s specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.

(End Clause)

C.8 52.212-4 CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS—COMMERCIAL ITEMS (JAN 2017)

(a) Inspection/Acceptance. The Contractor shall only tender for acceptance those items that conform to the requirements of this contract. The Government reserves the right to inspect or test any supplies or services that have been tendered for acceptance. The Government may require repair or replacement of nonconforming supplies or reperformance of nonconforming services at no increase in contract price. If repair/replacement or reperformance will not correct the defects or is not possible, the Government may seek an equitable price reduction or adequate consideration for acceptance of nonconforming supplies or services. The Government must exercise its post-acceptance rights—

(1) Within a reasonable time after the defect was discovered or should have been discovered; and

(2) Before any substantial change occurs in the condition of the item, unless the change is due to the defect in the item.

(b) Assignment. The Contractor or its assignee may assign its rights to receive payment due as a result of performance of this contract to a bank, trust company, or other financing institution, including any Federal lending agency in accordance with the Assignment of Claims Act (31 U.S.C. 3727). However, when a third party makes payment (e.g., use of the Governmentwide commercial purchase card), the Contractor may not assign its rights to receive payment under this contract.

(c) Changes. Changes in the terms and conditions of this contract may be made only by written agreement of the parties.

(d) Disputes. This contract is subject to 41 U.S.C. chapter 71, Contract Disputes. Failure of the parties to this contract to reach agreement on any request for equitable adjustment, claim, appeal or action arising under or relating to this contract shall be a dispute to be resolved in accordance with the clause at FAR 52.233-1, Disputes, which is incorporated herein by reference.