Questions and Answers_HEPE_11.5.2024.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 15 KB Posted
- Solicitation number
- 693JJ325R000003
About this file
This document is a collection of Questions and Answers related to a federal contract opportunity for FHWA Environmental Review Implementation (ERI) Fund Technical Assistance Centers.
The key details are:
- This is a pilot program to assess the efficacy of establishing regional ERI Technical Assistance Centers across the U.S.
- The solicitation number is 693JJ325R000003 and the contract will fund 2-6 ERI Technical Assistance Centers.
- The Performance Work Statement outlines requirements for technical assistance services, training, and documentation. Offerors must demonstrate understanding of the environmental review process.
- Questions address topics such as labor categories, staffing, travel, performance measures, and potential conflicts of interest. FHWA is seeking to understand technical assistance needs and capacity requirements through contractor reporting.
- The solicitation has a deadline of November 27, 2024 and FHWA is unable to provide an extension.
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Other files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| 693JJ325R000003 - Final Rev 1 dated 11.5.24.pdf | ||
| 693JJ325R000003 - Final Rev 1 Tracked Changes.docx | DOCX document | |
| Attachment 2 - FHWA Subcontracting Plan.doc | DOC document | |
| Attachment 1- Labor Rate Schedule.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| 693JJ325R000003 - 10.24.24 FINAL.pdf | ||
| Attachment 3 - Standard Form LLL.pdf | ||
| Question Submission Spreadsheet.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet |
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General
| ERI Technical Assistance Centers - 693JJ2325R000003 | |||
| Company Name: | |||
| Solicitation reference, if applicable | Page # | Question | Answer |
| PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT | Do offerors need to have an understanding and/or State specific experience requirements in the regions we are bidding on? | Offerors must demonstrate and understanding of the environmental review process as it pertains to Federal requirements. | |
| 7 | Does the $5,000 referenced at the bottom of page 7 of 60 apply to the contractor or to the Technical Assistance Center staff or both? | The $5,000 figure applies to individual Technical Assistance Centers that receive requests for technical assistance. Where the Technical Assistance Center in receipt of a request for technical assistance engages another Center for particular expertise (e.g., Section 106), the Technical Assistance Center orginally in receipt of the request must provide additional information in a Technical Assistance Summary Document where the cost is greater than $5,000. | |
| Attachment 1 – Labor Rate Schedule | The hours for the Senior Project Manager on Attachment 1 – Labor Rate Schedule are pre-filled at 1920 (all Billing Labor Categories in Year 5 for all Regions are also pre-filled at 1920). Is this intentional or does it simply serve as an example to show the offerors how to fill in the template? | It's an example. 1,920 is viewed as a Full Time Equivalent but the Offeror has flexibility to adjust the hours for each labor category proposed. | |
| Technical Exhibit 4 & Section 5 – Proposal Content and Configuration, Part 3 – Factor 3 – Key Personnel/Staffing | 23 & 31 | Is a PMP required for the Senior Project Manager? Technical Exhibit 4 states “A professional project management certification can replace 2 years of experience listed here” while Section 5 – Proposal Content and Configuration, Part 3 – Factor 3 – Key Personnel/Staffing states “It is REQUIRED that the PM has the following qualification: b. PMP Certified”. These two areas do not seem to be consistent with regard to the requirement for a PMP. | To perform successfully in the capacity of a Senior Project Manager, an indiviual must meet one of the following combinations of education and experience: |
1.)a Master's (M.S., M.A., MBA) degree in a discipline directly related to the PWS plus at least eight (8) years of increasingly responsible professional project management experience
2.)Bachelor’s (B.A./B.S.) degree in a discipline directly related to the PWS plus at least ten (10) years of increasingly responsible professional project management experience
A professional project management certification can replace 2 years of experience listed above. The Solicitation has been updated.
PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT Task 2.1/2.2 Can the government provide an indication of the volume of work of level of effort for the technical assistance and training activities related to the environmental review and permitting process.
Task 2.1: Technical Assistance Services Intake, Menu, and Documentation/Task 2.2: Technical Assistance Services.
| - Number of environmental reviews/assistance – is there an anticipated number of CEs, EAs, and EISs and proposed actions for which these NEPA documents are being developed? Number of anticipated intakes requests? | This is a pilot program. FHWA is seeking to understand technical assistance needs across different regions and ascertain the whether the creation of technical assistance centers meets said needs. FHWA expects to ascertain the technical assistance needs and necessary capacity for operating regional Technical Assistance Centers through routine and final reporting by contractors. | |||
| PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT | Task 2.1/2.2 | Can the government provide an indication of the volume of work of level of effort for the technical assistance and training activities related to the environmental review and permitting process. | ||
| Number of trainings to be conducted and at what levels for example “ minumum of two trainings in the year: materials (one for high level leadership, one for project manager/scientist); time for training conducting would be: 1/2 day for leadership meeting and 2-day for Project Managers/Scientists? | This is a pilot program. FHWA is seeking to understand technical assistance needs across different regions and ascertain the whether the creation of technical assistance centers meets said needs. FHWA expects to ascertain the technical assistance needs and necessary capacity for operating regional Technical Assistance Centers through routine and final reporting by contractors. | |||
| Price Proposal Attachment #1 | 31 of 60 | It is unclear to us how the Contractor should estimate the number of hours in Attachment #1 to respond to TA requests in any given Region without further guidance regarding the number of requests the Contractor would be expected to receive per year. | It is recommended to use 1,920 hours which is a Full Time Equivalent, however, the Offeror should propose hours based on their experience in staffing similar acqusitions. Please also note the Government's desired total price over the life of the contract found on page 31 (Volume II - Business and Pricing). | |
| Key Personnel Requirements | 23 of 60 and | |||
| 31 of 60 | On page 23 of 60, the document identifies the labor category of a Senior Project Manager and discusses their qualification requirements. This description includes the following sentence, “A professional project management certification can replace 2 years of experience listed here.” On page 31 of 60, the document identifies a Senior Program Manager as a key personnel and states that a PMP certification is “REQUIRED”. Are these two descriptions discussing the same position? Is the PMP certification desired or required? | To perform successfully in the capacity of a Senior Project Manager, an indiviual must meet one of the following combinations of education and experience: |
1.)a Master's (M.S., M.A., MBA) degree in a discipline directly related to the PWS plus at least eight (8) years of increasingly responsible professional project management experience
2.)Bachelor’s (B.A./B.S.) degree in a discipline directly related to the PWS plus at least ten (10) years of increasingly responsible professional project management experience
A professional project management certification can replace 2 years of experience listed above. The solicitaion has been updated.
| NEPA Assignment States | N/A | There are currently eight States (AK, AZ, CA, FL, NE, OH, TX, and UT) spread across the county that participate in the NEPA Assignment Program. Does the FHWA expect a need for any variation in approach for the ERI Technical Assistance Centers in these States where the FHWA has no project-specific NEPA approval role? | Yes. This is a pilot program and FHWA expects contractors to cater to the unique needs of eligible entities seeking technical assistance. Contractors should develop unique capacity building tools and resources for eligible entities. |
| 693JJ325R000003 | 4 | How many "Elgibile Entities" are the regional ERI Technical Assistance Centers expected to support? | This is a pilot program. FHWA is seeking to understand technical assistance needs across different regions and ascertain the whether the creation of technical assistance centers meets said needs. FHWA expects to ascertain the technical assistance needs and necessary capacity for operating regional Technical Assistance Centers through routine and final reporting by contractors. |
| 693JJ325R000003 | 23 | Are the labor categories and descriptions listed required to support each regional ERI Technical Assistance Center individually, or may the positions be used to support multiple regions? | Positions may support multiple regions. |
| 693JJ325R000003 | 23 | How many hours per year are expected for each labor category to fulfill the needs of each regional ERI Technical Assistance Center? | It is recommended to use 1,920 hours which is a Full Time Equivalent, however, the Offeror should propose hours based on their experience in staffing similar acqusitions. |
| 30 | Do the requirements for the Subject Matter Expert Key Personnel apply to all personnel at the Subject Matter Expert Labor Category? In other words, is FHWA seeking a single Subject Matter Expert that can cover all of the topics identified in the PWS? | FHWA expects that contractors will utilize different subject matter experts based on expertise in one or more areas. | |
| 14 | Would you further define evaluation services? | Removed OCI Lanaguage | |
| 1 | May we receive a deadline extension of 2 weeks from the proposed end date of 11/27/2024? | We are on a tight deadline to award and we cannot extend the due date. | |
| 14 | Would you please confirm that if work doesn’t include selection, work statements or evaluation services that the selected consultant can compete for subsequent projects with a State DOT (e.g. PEL, NEPA, design work, etc.)? Would such efforts as delivering general capacity building training and providing technical report reviews be considered non-conflicting work? | Removed OCI Lanaguage | |
| 5 | What are the measures of effectiveness that the government will use to assess the models implemented through the pilot? | FHWA will assess the effectiveness of the Technical Assistance Centers in providing technical assistance to eligible entities through routine reporting, regular meetings with FHWA, and a final report at the end of the pilot program. FHWA expects that contracors will work with FHWA to develop questions for a customer satisfaction survey or equivalent to determine if the technical assistance needs of the recipient were met. FHWA will finalize one or more surveys for all selected Contractors to use. The Contractor shall administer the customer satisfaction survey to the technical assistance recipient within 2 weeks of completing technical assistance activities. The Contractor may also develop other ways to evaluate customer satisfaction, upon approval from FHWA. | |
| 14 | Will this contract preclude teams from being able to perform work with agencies that take part in some form of technical assistance through the pilot? In other words, would FHWA see that as a conflict of interest? | OCIs will be evaluated on a case by case basis. | |
| 7 | Is there an established travel budget? It reads like most of the assistance will be virtual but that travel is possible. | Contractors may propose travel as part of the delivery of technical assistance where it is deemed beneficial to the delivery of quality technical assistance or training to eligible entities. | |
| 5 | Over the period of performance, will there be FHWA coordinated opportunities for teams to share with each other the methods and tools in use for delivering technical assistance to project sponsors? | FHWA will explore whether this is beneficial to the efficient and quality delivery of techncial assistance to eligible entities. | |
| 9 | Does the two-week intake period, before providing assistance, include FHWA approval? | No, there is no requirement for FHWA to approve requests for technical assistance. However, FHWA expects that contractors will advise FHWA on any technical assistance provided through routine reporting. | |
| 23 | Can only one SME be proposed from the prime contractor or can additional SMEs be proposed from a subcontractor? | Additional SMEs may be proposed. Offerors should proposed staffing based on their experience and expertise in staffing similar requirements. |
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