Questions_and_Answers_from_Industry_Day_Participation.docx
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- Solicitation number
- 75A50119R00029
About this file
This document summarizes questions and answers from an industry day meeting for the Emergency Response Support Services (ERSS) contract held by the Department of Health and Human Services. Key details include:
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The ERSS contract will provide comprehensive emergency response support for all-hazards domestic and international incidents, including establishing field sites.
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Attendees included potential contractors who agreed they can meet the statement of work requirements. Only contractors with at least 50% demonstrated capability for the work are suitable.
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Task orders will specify detailed requirements. Contractors must be able to respond immediately to diverse locations.
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Activation occurs when states request federal assistance due to overwhelmed local response. Contractors will work through HHS/ASPR and provide resources including medical tent support.
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Risk is an awardee's inability to respond quickly to incidents. The objective is effective response to domestic and international incidents through a single resourcing point.
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Questions and answers covered topics including locations, security requirements, communications alternatives, quantities guidance, aviation coordination, pricing differences, and situational awareness access.
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HHS / ASPR / ORM INDUSTRY DAY MEETING
EMERGENCY RESPONSE SUPPORT SERVICES (ERSS) CONTRACT
SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION/QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Date of Industry Day: Friday, May 3, 2019
Time: 0900 – 1030 EDT
Industry Participants
OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE (ASPR)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (HHS)
HHS / ASPR / OFFICE OF RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (ORM) INDUSTRY DAY MEETING
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
· Apprio, Inc.
· Black Fox, LLC
· Comprehensive Health Services, LLC
· D’s Ventures, LLC dba LogMet Solutions
· DynCorp International, LLC
· Emergency Management Services International, Inc.
· KBRwyle, Inc.
· Lipsey Logistics Worldwide
· P3S Corporation
· Tenosar
Purpose:
· Review the ERSS Statement of Work
· Gather input from industry leaders on the ERSS Requirement
· Resolve remaining ERSS Contract questions or concerns from industry leaders
Key Discussion Points:
Strategic Objectives of the ERSS Contract
· HHS / ASPR / ORM / Logistics provided an overview of the ERSS Contract, which will provide a comprehensive support mechanism to deliver field service requirements for all-hazards emergency responses and other events during steady-state operations.
· Competing industry vendors will find detailed requirements at the task order level of the ERSS Contract Request for Proposal (RFP) documentation after award for each task order.
· Industry vendors should be aware that their organization might be required to establish field sites for emergency response support, depending on the all-hazards incident and response requirements.
ERSS Industry Day Questions & Answers (Submitted Prior to the Industry Day Meeting)
| Questions |
| Answers |
| 1 |
| Please confirm if Iran is a potential outside the continental United States (OCONUS) location as indicated in section 2.0 Purpose and Objectives paragraph on page 3 of the draft Statement of Work (SOW). |
| “Foreign countries” referenced on page 3 of the draft SOW would be defined at the Task Order level and could be anywhere in OCONUS. |
| 2 |
| What constitutes “IAW HHS Policy” in section 13.0 and 14.0 of the SOW? Is that policy the requirement as stated in section 13.0 of this SOW? |
| Specific HHS Policy on security clearances, operational security and vetting/badging would be defined at the time of the task order. |
| 3 |
| Re: section 19.18 of the SOW, the SOW specifies AT&T and Verizon-these service providers may or may not offer services in areas specified as potential response locations. Will appropriate alternatives be acceptable? |
| The offer should propose appropriate acceptable alternatives at the Task order level. |
| 4 |
| Re: section 19.18 of the SOW, depending on the nature of the response event, cellular capabilities may not be available at all. Will the government relieve the contractor from the obligation if services are not available? |
| The offer should propose appropriate acceptable alternatives such as iridium phones, satellite communications, or other means may need to be provided IAW 19.18 and will be Task Order dependent. |
| 5 |
| Re: section 19.18 of the SOW, When considering the quantities of equipment required would the government provide guidance, such as the Incident Typing Guidelines included in the Incident Command System? |
| At the Task Order level, the Contractor will be given information requirements and would propose quantities or equipment required, for government approval. Need more clarification to properly answer the question. |
| 6 |
| Will ASPR through the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), State Department and Department of Defense (DOD) coordinate aviation requirements for entry into foreign countries for OCONUS responses? |
| Yes. |
| 7 |
| Given the size and complexity of this contract, would the government be better served with a 10-year contract? |
| No, this requirement will be a 5-year contract, since it is a service contract. |
| 8 |
| Would the government consider awards to multiple vendors for different geographic regions (i.e., USA West, USA East, and OCONUS)? |
| No, due to the unknown of future requirements. It has just been determined this will be a single award instead of a multiple award contract. |
| 9 |
| Will the government allow for continental United States (CONUS) versus OCONUS pricing given the greater costs and logistical issues with OCONUS transportation of resources? |
| Yes, two separate price lists will be required, one for CONUS and one for OCONUS. |
| 10 |
| Will the contractor be provided seats within the Secretary’s Operations Center (SOC) in order to provide earlier situational awareness of possible incidents, thereby being better informed of potential responses? |
| No, the contractors will not have access to the SOC or the Incident Management Team (IMT). Information will be filtered down from the government contracting officer/Contracting Officers Representative (COR) to the contractor. |
| 11 |
| Re: SOW page 5 - What type of credentialing is required for each labor category? Are the costs of acquiring/maintaining credentials to be included in the fixed price per labor category? |
| The contractor will assure all labor categories requiring licenses and renewals for credentials are maintain consistent with the Federal laws/regulations specific to each discipline. Labor category pricing will be fully burdened rates. The Contractor may use a licensed employee holding required licenses and certifications from any US State or Territory (being they do not need licensure in the State/Territory where the work will be occurring). It is incumbent on the Contractor to verify the licenses and certifications are current. This applies to any worker on the contract. |
| 12 |
| Re: SOW page 6 - Are the costs of acquiring / maintaining security clearances to be included in the fixed price per labor category? |
| Top Secret, Secret, etc. security clearances are not required. The contractor will conduct a basic background check (e.g. criminal history, credit check, fingerprints, public trust, etc.) on all prospective candidates for the government’s consideration for acceptance in conducting task orders. |
| 13 |
| Re: SOW page 6 - What requirements will the contractor have for the Safety & Health Plan? Will personal protective equipment (PPE) be included within our fixed price cost structure or as other direct costs (ODC)? |
| The Contractor shall submit to the COR a Safety and Health Plan for tasks identified in the task order level SOW. This is an Occupational Health for Contractor Personnel consistent with Federal Regulation. PPE can be included in proposals that is reasonable and will be reimbursable under the Other Direct Cost Line Items (ODC CLIN). |
| 14 |
| Does the government anticipate that a task order will be issued to allow the contractor to maintain preparedness outside of emergency response events (given the amount of specialized equipment, which may have to be pre-acquired, sequestered, maintained and staged in support of this contract)? |
| This is a cost of doing business. Contractors should be ready to perform on the contract. It is understood that items may need to be acquired at the task order level under the ODC CLIN. |
ERSS Industry Day Questions & Answers & Discussions (At the Industry Day Meeting)
ERSS Contractor Requirements and Necessary Capacity
· Industry meeting participants agreed that they possess the ability to adhere to the statement of work for the ERSS Contract.
· HHS / ASPR / ORM / Contracting and Grants noted that the ERSS Contract is not appropriate for businesses newly entering the emergency response support field. Moreover, interested small businesses must be able to show that they have the capability and capacity to execute at least 50% of the work required by the ERSS Contract. The response capability of the awarded contractor must be immediate and able to operate in diverse locations.
· HHS / ASPR /ORM / Contracting and Grants will coordinate with small businesses on the “HHS Small Business Plan” when completed to address any concerns from the Small Business Administration.
· Based on industry participant concerns on the variety of state requirements for contractors on licenses, certifications, and trainings, HHS / ASPR / ORM / Logistics informed industry participants that the ERSS Contractor(s) would be federalized in the event of a domestic all-hazards incident requiring federal response; negating any state compliance needs. However, HHS / ASPR / ORM / Logistics highlighted that further research may be needed to confirm whether HHS should develop federal-level authorizations to adhere or bypass state, county, and local requirements. Additional information after research: The Contractor may use a licensed employee holding required licenses and certifications from any US State or Territory (being they do not need licensure in the State/Territory where the work will be occurring). It is incumbent on the Contractor to verify the licenses and certifications are current. This applies to any worker on the contract.
ERSS Contract Activation, Response, and Logistics Process
· HHS / ASPR / ORM / Logistics stated that the activation of the ERSS Contract task orders are contingent on requests from states for federal support in an all-hazards incident that overwhelms state and local response capabilities.
· Contractors will primarily work through HHS / ASPR as the primary client during response incidents. HHS / ASPR will coordinate internally with HHS Federal Health Coordinating Officers (FCHOs) and the state public health departments to develop resource requirements needed from ERSS contractors.
· The ERSS task order will communicate all resource requirements, logistical information, and deployment locale to the awarded contractors. This will mitigate any miscommunication and redundancy of action. Industry partners must show that they can assist with lifesaving activities in field sites (i.e., medical tents), and such capabilities should be included in ERSS Contract task order proposals.
· HHS / ASPR / ORM / Logistics assured industry participants that the level of detail for the resource requirements needed to travel and respond to an all-hazards incident will be included in the ERSS Contract task order as well.
ERSS Contract Risks and HHS End State Objectives for Industry
· Based on inquiries from the industry participants, HHS / ORM / Contracting and Grants noted that the greatest risk to HHS during the ERSS Contract awarding process is the possibility that the awardee finds itself not ready or able to respond to an all-hazards incident.
· HHS / ASPR / ORM / Contracting and Grants noted that HHS’s end-state objective for the ERSS Contract awardee is the ability to respond quickly and effectively to a range of domestic and potentially international incidents.
· HHS / ASPR / ORM / Contracting and Grants emphasized that the purpose of the ERSS Contract is focused towards international all-hazards incident responses and providing a single point of resourcing that HHS can rely on for emergency medical response missions.
Action Items and Next Steps
· HHS / ASPR / ORM will post all previous and new questions from today’s meeting as Q&A’s on FedBizOpps.
· HHS will finalize the SOW and post a RFP on FBO in the near future.
· No further questions or correspondence will be accepted at this time.
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