SOLICITATION.doc

PAGE

SOLICITATION/CONTRACT/ORDER FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS

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

1. REQUISITION NUMBER

PAGE 1 OF

2. CONTRACT NO.

3. AWARD/EFFECTIVE

DATE

4. ORDER NUMBER

5. SOLICITATION NUMBER

75D301-21-Q-74054

6. SOLICITATION

ISSUE DATE

08/18/2021

Berta Alldredge

b. TELEPHONE NUMBER (No collect calls)

(770) 488-2643

8. OFFER DUE DATE/

LOCAL TIME

12. DISCOUNT TERMS

FORMTEXT

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Office of Acquisition Services (OAS)

2900 Woodcock Blvd, MS TCU-4

Atlanta, GA 30341-4004

X SET ASIDE: 100 % FOR

X SMALL BUSINESS

SIC:

SIZE STANDARD:

X SEE SCHEDULE

UNDER DPAS (15 CFR 700)

13b. RATING

14. METHOD OF SOLICITATION

X RFQ

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Office of Acquisition Services (OAS)

2900 Woodcock Blvd, MS TCU-4

Atlanta, GA 30341-4004

CODE

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (FMO)

PO Box 15580 404-718-8100

Atlanta, GA 30333-0080

TELEPHONE NO.

18b. SUBMIT INVOICES TO ADDRESS SHOWN IN BLOCK 18a UNLESS BLOCK BELOW

19.

ITEM NO.

20.

SCHEDULE OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES

21.

QUANTITY

22.

UNIT

23.

UNIT PRICE

24.

AMOUNT

“See Continuation Page”

(Attach Additional Sheets as Necessary)

25. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA

26. TOTAL AWARD AMOUNT (For Govt. Use Only)

28.

CONTRACTOR IS REQUIRED TO SIGN THIS DOCUMENT AND RETURN

29.

AWARD OF CONTRACT: REFERENCE

DATED

30b. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print)

30c. DATE SIGNED

31b. NAME OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print)

31c. DATE SIGNED

FORMTEXT

RECEIVED

32b. SIGNATURE OF AUTHORIZED GOV’T REPRESENTATIVE 32c. DATE

41a. I CERTIFY THIS AMOUNT IS CORRECT AND PROPER FOR PAYMENT

41b. SIGNATURE AND TITLE OF CERTIFYING OFFICER 41c. DATE

38. S/R ACCOUNT NUMBER

39. S/R VOUCHER NUMBER

42a. RECEIVED BY (Print)

42b. RECEIVED AT (Location)

42c. DATE REC’D 42d. TOTAL CONTAINERS

40. PAID BY

AUTHORIZED FOR LOCAL REPRODUCTION

SEE REVERSE FOR OMB CONTROL NUMBER AND PAPERWORK BURDEN STATEMENT STANDARD FORM 1449 (10-95)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTION B - CONTINUATION OF SF1449

Base Period Items:

The contractor shall provide permits, and licenses necessary for the renewal of journal, book, and database subscriptions in online and/or print formats and for the payment of publisher invoices for orders placed on behalf of the CDC Library. (See list of titles in Section E below.)

PoP: 8/23/2021-8/22/2022

1 Job

Option 1 - Part 2 Items:

The contractor shall provide permits, and licenses necessary for the renewal of journal, book, and database subscriptions in online and/or print formats and for the payment of publisher invoices for orders placed on behalf of the CDC Library. (See list of titles in Section E below.)

PoP: 9/15/2021-9/14/2022

1 Job

Notes:

1. Award will be made on the basis of FFP. Payment will be made per title ordered and after the contractor submits evidence of payment to the publisher of the title(s) ordered for the CDC with his/her request for payment.

3. The titles listed under CLIN 0002 above (See Section D for list of titles) will be optional items that may be exercised independently IAW/ FAR 52.217-7 -- Option for Increased Quantity -- Separately Priced Line Item.

2. To ensure payment, invoice must reference the Contract No. __ ___, DUNS, and Tax ID Number.

3. Refer to Section D, item D.4 CDCA.G001 Invoice Submission. The Contractor shall submit the original contract invoice/voucher in one of the following ways: a) mail, b) facsimile, c) email as follows:

Mailing Address:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Office of Financial Resources (OFR)

P.O. Box 15580 Atlanta, GA 30333

Fax: 404-638-5324

Email: cpbapinv@cdc.gov

4. Contractor and Government Point of Contacts (POC): (to be determined)

SECTION C - STATEMENT OF WORK

CDC LIBRARY SUBSCRIPTIONS

I.

BACKGROUND

As part of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) helps protect the health of all Americans. The CDC serves to promote health and safety and protect the public from health, safety, and security threats. CDC conducts critical science and provides health information to best protect and serve the nation’s communities.

The CDC’s Office of Deputy Director for Public Health Science and Surveillance (DDPHSS), Office of Science (OS), Library Science Branch also known as the Stephen B. Thacker CDC Library (CDC Library) is well respected as an invaluable aid to delivering credible, timely information from scientific and health literature to CDC scientists by making available knowledge resources, publications, and reference and research services. To fulfill the mission as the nation’s principal disease prevention and health promotion agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) must collect, manage, and interpret data. This is accomplished by providing Library Support Services and electronic access to all CDC staff though a secure access network managed by IP authentication.

The CDC Library is seeking proposals for a five year contract for services from June 25, 2019 – June 24, 2020 from qualified vendors to act on its behalf by renewing about 40 journal, book, and database subscriptions in online format and paying publisher invoices for orders on the CDC Library’s behalf. Less than 5% of the journals are in print format. The total number of subscription orders may change from 0-5% each year. Occasionally, when publishers require signatures on license agreements, the vendor will work with CDC’s contracting office to append the license to the contract. The CDC Library supports the information needs, including access to journal literature and other electronic resources, of all CDC staff including employees, contractors, fellows, and other staff. The CDC Library consists of four (4) major sites including a network of five (5) libraries with three (3) print receiving locations: the Main Library at the Roybal Campus, and library branches located at Pittsburgh, PA and Morgantown, WV (see Attachment 2). Two Cincinnati libraries, Hamilton and Taft currently do not receive print subscriptions.

II.

PROJECT OBJECTIVE

This contract will provide for the ordering and renewal of library resources for the Stephen B. Thacker CDC Library. The CDC Library supports the information needs, including access to journal literature and other electronic resources, of all CDC staff including employees, on-site contractors, fellows, and other staff. Staff with access to the CDC Intranet can access resources via IP authentication. The objective of this contract is to consolidate orders whether for print or for electronic content from various publishers, previously purchased through other procurement methods to one all-encompassing contract.

III.

SCOPE OF WORK

The contractor shall provide any and all labor, equipment, supplies and services, permits, and licenses necessary for the renewal of approximately 40 journal, book, and database subscriptions in online and/or print format and for the payment of publisher invoices for orders placed on behalf of the CDC Library. This service shall be provided during the period August 2021 and September 2022. Title subscriptions will be ordered by individual delivery orders to be placed within a fixed-price contract.

IV.

CONTRACTOR FURNISHED CRITICAL ITEMS /SERVICES

The contractor shall provide the following intellectual and technical capabilities:

1. Subscription Management System

a. This web-based system shall contain metadata records for all biomedical journals and databases common to a large biomedical research organization.

b. The web-based system shall be available to customers 24/7 with at least a 99% average reliability.

c. The offeror should have title records for at least 85% of all titles listed in the RFP title list.

d. A user-friendly dashboard with multiple account levels (and unlimited local accounts) should be available to support subscription management and collection development needs.

e. This system shall include complete metadata on all journals considered for acquisition (if a title is not in the agent’s database, it must be added within two (2) days of order or request for quote).

Complete data includes:

· title

· publisher

· ISSN

· EISSN

· country of publication

· publication frequency

· subscription period

· subscription package name

· available formats

· volume

· price

· % increase in price from past year

· invoice-item number/date

· bill-to address

· ship-to address for print

· account number charged

· customer subscriber number (assigned by publisher)

· Restrictions or terms for institutional subscriptions clearly stated – e.g. online available only if purchased with print.

· subscription status – e.g. (irregular, discontinued, slow publication)

f. Ability for customer to generate sortable, machine readable reports (Excel spreadsheets) using any of the above fields in any combination as needed.

g. Ability to generate sortable reports of titles contained within subscription packages, including all of the information listed in 1e above.

h. Ability to capture, store and display all bibliographic and financial transactions in the customer’s account for the previous five years.

i. Ability to export and/or synchronize this information (all fields on all titles within all orders) using standard protocols into a commercial or open source electronic resources management system.

j. Title information clearly and accurately indicates customer’s order history.

k. Ability to capture and report (as an Excel spreadsheet) all titles ordered by the customer in the previous year; this report also must identify which purchase mechanism (credit card, purchase order, check) agent used to acquire the title on behalf of the customer.

l. Ability to interface with the customer’s integrated library system using standard EDI transfer, or a future standard that may be developed and adopted.

m. Ability to support transmission of purchase orders and invoices electronically.

n. Provide web-based access to all customer and payment related data

o. Provide ability for customer to generate claims online via EDI

p. Provide ability for customer to export reports in Excel format

q. Provide address fields with maximum flexibility, with at least 5 lines and 30 characters per line.

2. Subscription Services

a. Ability to accept and pay any information provider invoices within two weeks of receipt on behalf of customer, whether or not the resource is subscribed through the agent; and invoice customer within one week of payment to publisher.

b. Traditional subscription agent services including working with publishers to obtain current prices for a list of publications, obtaining the CDC Library’s proper invoices and paying those invoices after customer approval.

c. Ability to verify payment of invoices with information provider/publisher to the correct CDC account within 48 hours of subscription agent payment.

d. Ability to handle separate ship to addresses, sending print issues to the respective library location.

e. Maintain records and provide reporting to show the amount spent, amount projected, and balance/deficit for each subscription account in the system.

f. Variety of alerts and email reports to notify customer of changes to subscription mix including, but not limited to, changes in format, publisher, price increases above a pre-defined threshold, or discontinued titles.

g. Ability to send customized messages to publishers meeting a specific selection criteria (identified by CDC Library) or to all publishers on an as needed basis.

h. Maintain a current database of publisher point of contact information that can be used for alerting and renewal correspondence.

i. Customer service agent who has the authority to resolve problems arising in the CDC Library’s account. The representative or an alternate must be available Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm EST/EDT. S/he must be available by telephone or e-mail to resolve problems and provide updates. Same day acknowledgments are expected and a resolution within 24 hours.

j. Technical support for access issues and questions related to electronic resources. This should include a same-business-day acknowledgment and resolution to most problems within 24 hours.

k. Ability to accept orders for new subscriptions at any time during the year. Publisher permitting, renewed subscriptions should be active on a calendar year (January through December) basis.

l. Use of standard currency conversion rates when processing invoices in foreign currency. If rate used on invoice to customer differs markedly from rate found using a standard online converter, a clear explanation must be provided.

3. Professional Services

a. Professional quality and technical accuracy with reports, orders, and support coordination of all facets of work covering subscription ordering, listings, computer processing and invoicing.

b. Without additional compensation, correct or revise any errors or deficiencies in workmanship or other services.

c. Notify the publisher within 5 working days when customer change of address occurs.

d. At no additional cost, place rush orders within 24 hours of receipt. If the publisher will not accept the order without prior payment, the Contractor shall send out such payment within that same 24 hour period.

e. Provide the following standard reports digitally by e-mail or via download through the online system:

· Subscription Comparison Price Index Report. In October of each year, in addition to on demand, the Contractor shall provide a price comparison index report (covering a three year period) in an Excel spreadsheet for all subscriptions, down to the individual title level (including packages). This report shall be sortable by any field listed in 1e above– e.g. Title, publisher, etc.

· Renewal Report. On a monthly basis, provide a renewal report of all subscriptions based upon actual or estimated pricing for the following year. Clearly distinguish between an actual price and an estimated price and provide rationale for calculating the estimated price. Reports should be able to be segmented or customized to show renewals for each subscription account.

· Regular Title Updates. The Contractor shall provide updates at least monthly on serial titles including data such as delayed issues, title changes, publisher changes, publication mergers, cessations, online availability status, and direct order requirements.

SPECIFIC TASKS TO BE PERFORMED

Work Breakdown Structure

Task 1 – Purchase New and Renewal Library Resources Subtask 1.1: Process new and renewal orders on CDC’s behalf for selected library resources in any of these formats: print, print plus online, or online only formats. To facilitate renewals, all licenses will be forwarded to CDC as soon as possible. Print formats will be ordered when that is the only format available, or when the publisher requires subscriptions be bundled – print and online. In addition, contractor must be able to handle delivery of print journals to multiple ship-to addresses (see Attachment 2). Most subscriptions to journals regardless of format run on the calendar year, from January to December. The majority of purchases (95%) occur in the first quarter of the fiscal year. Journal orders must be placed with publishers within 30 days after award of contract. CDC must have the ability to generate claims for missing issues online through EDI (Electronic Data Interface). All electronic subscriptions must be ordered and priced for institutional-wide access. Licenses are based on 4,500 relevant FTEs. Authorized users shall consist of (i) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its subsidiaries worldwide, (ii) scientific and support staff currently employed including fellows and researchers currently engaged in research activities, and (iii) contractors currently at CDC. All users will receive access through CDC’s secure network.

Subtask 1.2: Provide a customer representative who has the authority to resolve problems arising in the CDC account. The customer representative must be available Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST/EDT. He/she must be available by telephone or e-mail to resolve problems and provide updates.

Task 2 - Pay Publisher Invoices

The contractor shall accept and pay any publisher invoices at any time during the year within two weeks of receipt whether the resource is quoted through the publisher or the agent, and invoice CDC within one week of payment to publisher. Rush orders shall be placed within 24 hours of receipt. If the publisher will not accept the order without prior payment, the Contractor shall send out such payment within that same 24 hour period. If orders become a rush due to the contractor’s delay, the contractor shall pay for the order and shall absorb any additional fee as a result of its delay in timely and accurately processing the order. Under no circumstances shall the CDC be responsible for the extra cost of orders that become rush due to the contractor’s failure to place the order(s) timely.

Task 3 - Provide Access to Resources

Resources must be accessible through a web-based interface and integrate with current CDC systems and comply with security regulations. Accessibility should not require any client-installed software. Electronic access to journals, books, and databases should be activated upon payment of orders. The contractor will provide proof of payment to the publisher for subscriptions that are inaccessible.

The contractor shall provide access to a web-based serials management system with accurate, up-to-date, and complete information available 24/7. This system must be capable of providing sortable reports (as an Excel spreadsheet) to several access points such as: title, publisher, ISSN, country of publication, publication frequency, subscription period, available formats, price, bill-to address, ship-to address (see attachments) for print, account number charged, customer subscriber number (assigned by publisher), subscription status (irregular, discontinued, slow), and restrictions for institutional subscribers clearly stated.

V.

REPORTING SCHEDULE/DELIVERABLES:

The Contractor shall email monthly invoices to the Contracting Officer Representative and the Financial Management Office. Monthly invoices shall be submitted for each subscription order and for each title at the agreed upon price with evidence of prior payment to the publisher.

Furthermore, the following reports are due as follows:

V.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

The Paperwork Reduction Act The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA): Offerors should be advised that any activities involving information collection (i.e., posing similar questions or requirements via surveys, questionnaires, telephonic requests, focus groups, etc.) from 10 or more non-Federal entities/persons, including States, are subject to PRA requirements and may require CDC to coordinate an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Information Collection Request clearance prior to the start of information collection activities. This would also include information sent to or obtained by CDC via forms, applications, reports, information systems, and any other means for requesting information from 10 or more persons; asking or requiring 10 or more entities/persons to keep or retain records; or asking or requiring 10 or more entities/persons to disclose information to a third-party or the general public.

Baseline Security Requirements

1) Applicability. The requirements herein apply whether the entire contract or order (hereafter “contract”), or portion thereof, includes either or both of the following:

a. Access (Physical or Logical) to Government Information: A Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) employee will have or will be given the ability to have, routine physical (entry) or logical (electronic) access to government information.

b. Operate a Federal System Containing Information: A Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) employee will operate a federal system and information technology containing data that supports the HHS mission. In addition to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 2.1 definition of “information technology” (IT), the term as used in this section includes computers, ancillary equipment (including imaging peripherals, input, output, and storage devices necessary for security and surveillance), peripheral equipment designed to be controlled by the central processing unit of a computer, software, firmware and similar procedures, services (including support services), and related resources.

2) Safeguarding Information and Information Systems. In accordance with the Federal Information Processing Standards Publication (FIPS)199, Standards for Security Categorization of Federal Information and Information Systems, the Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) shall:

a. Protect government information and information systems in order to ensure:

· Confidentiality, which means preserving authorized restrictions on access and disclosure, based on the security terms found in this contract, including means for protecting personal privacy and proprietary information;

· Integrity, which means guarding against improper information modification or destruction, and ensuring information non-repudiation and authenticity; and

· Availability, which means ensuring timely and reliable access to and use of information.

b. Provide security for any Contractor systems, and information contained therein, connected to an HHS network or operated by the Contractor on behalf of HHS regardless of location. In addition, if new or unanticipated threats or hazards are discovered by either the agency or contractor, or if existing safeguards have ceased to function, the discoverer shall immediately, within one (1) hour or less, bring the situation to the attention of the other party.

c. Adopt and implement the policies, procedures, controls, and standards required by the HHS Information Security Program to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of government information and government information systems for which the Contractor is responsible under this contract or to which the Contractor may otherwise have access under this contract. Obtain the HHS Information Security Program security requirements, outlined in the HHS Information Security and Privacy Policy (IS2P), by contacting the CO/COR or emailing fisma@hhs.gov.

d. Comply with the Privacy Act requirements and tailor FAR clauses as needed..

3) Information Security Categorization. In accordance with FIPS 199 and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-60, Volume II: Appendices to Guide for Mapping Types of Information and Information Systems to Security Categories, Appendix C, and based on information provided by the ISSO, CISO, or other security representative, the risk level for each Security Objective and the Overall Risk Level, which is the highest watermark of the three factors (Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability) of the information or information system are the following:

Confidentiality:

[ X ] Low [ ] Moderate [ ] High

Integrity:

Availability:

Overall Risk Level:

[ X ] Low [ ] Moderate [ ] High

Based on information provided by the ISSO, Privacy Office, system/data owner, or other security or privacy representative, it has been determined that this solicitation/contract involves:

[ X ] No PII [ ] Yes PII

4) Personally Identifiable Information (PII). Per the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-130, “PII is information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual's identity, either alone or when combined with other information that is linked or linkable to a specific individual.” Examples of PII include, but are not limited to the following: social security number, date and place of birth, mother‘s maiden name, biometric records, etc.

PII Confidentiality Impact Level has been determined to be: [ ] Low [ ] Moderate [ ] High

5) Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). CUI is defined as “information that laws, regulations, or Government-wide policies require to have safeguarding or dissemination controls, excluding classified information.” The Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) must comply with Executive Order 13556, Controlled Unclassified Information, (implemented at 3 CFR, part 2002) when handling CUI. 32 C.F.R. 2002.4(aa) As implemented the term “handling” refers to “…any use of CUI, including but not limited to marking, safeguarding, transporting, disseminating, re-using, and disposing of the information.” 81 Fed. Reg. 63323. All sensitive information that has been identified as CUI by a regulation or statute, handled by this solicitation/contract, shall be:

a. marked appropriately;

b. disclosed to authorized personnel on a Need-To-Know basis;

c. protected in accordance with NIST SP 800-53, Security and Privacy Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations applicable baseline if handled by a Contractor system operated on behalf of the agency, or NIST SP 800-171, Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Information Systems and Organizations if handled by internal Contractor system; and

d. returned to HHS control, destroyed when no longer needed, or held until otherwise directed. Destruction of information and/or data shall be accomplished in accordance with NIST SP 800-88, Guidelines for Media Sanitization.

6) Protection of Sensitive Information. For security purposes, information is or may be sensitive because it requires security to protect its confidentiality, integrity, and/or availability. The Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) shall protect all government information that is or may be sensitive in accordance with OMB Memorandum M-06-16, Protection of Sensitive Agency Information by securing it with a FIPS 140-2 validated solution.

7) Confidentiality and Nondisclosure of Information. Any information provided to the contractor (and/or any subcontractor) by HHS or collected by the contractor on behalf of HHS shall be used only for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this contract and shall not be disclosed or made known in any manner to any persons except as may be necessary in the performance of the contract. The Contractor assumes responsibility for protection of the confidentiality of Government records and shall ensure that all work performed by its employees and subcontractors shall be under the supervision of the Contractor. Each Contractor employee or any of its subcontractors to whom any HHS records may be made available or disclosed shall be notified in writing by the Contractor that information disclosed to such employee or subcontractor can be used only for that purpose and to the extent authorized herein.

The confidentiality, integrity, and availability of such information shall be protected in accordance with HHS and CDC policies. Unauthorized disclosure of information will be subject to the HHS/CDC sanction policies and/or governed by the following laws and regulations:

a. 18 U.S.C. 641 (Criminal Code: Public Money, Property or Records);

b. 18 U.S.C. 1905 (Criminal Code: Disclosure of Confidential Information); and

c. 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, Subchapter I (Paperwork Reduction Act).

8) Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6). All procurements using Internet Protocol shall comply with OMB Memorandum M-05-22, Transition Planning for Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6). .

9) Government Websites. All new and existing public-facing government websites must be securely configured with Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) using the most recent version of Transport Layer Security (TLS). In addition, HTTPS shall enable HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) to instruct compliant browsers to assume HTTPS at all times to reduce the number of insecure redirects and protect against attacks that attempt to downgrade connections to plain HTTP. For internal-facing websites, the HTTPS is not required, but it is highly recommended.

10) Contract Documentation. The Contractor shall use provided templates, policies, forms and other agency documents to comply with contract deliverables as appropriate.

11) Standard for Encryption. The Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) shall:

a. Comply with the HHS Standard for Encryption of Computing Devices and Information to prevent unauthorized access to government information.

b. Encrypt all sensitive federal data and information (i.e., PII, protected health information [PHI], proprietary information, etc.) in transit (i.e., email, network connections, etc.) and at rest (i.e., servers, storage devices, mobile devices, backup media, etc.) with FIPS 140-2 validated encryption solution.

c. Secure all devices (i.e.: desktops, laptops, mobile devices, etc.) that store and process government information and ensure devices meet HHS and CDC-specific encryption standard requirements. Maintain a complete and current inventory of all laptop computers, desktop computers, and other mobile devices and portable media that store or process sensitive government information (including PII).

d. Verify that the encryption solutions in use have been validated under the Cryptographic Module Validation Program to confirm compliance with FIPS 140-2. The Contractor shall provide a written copy of the validation documentation to the COR [CDC-provided delivery date].

e. Use the Key Management system on the HHS personal identification verification (PIV) card or establish and use a key recovery mechanism to ensure the ability for authorized personnel to encrypt/decrypt information and recover encryption keys. Encryption keys shall be provided to CDC Office of Chief Information Security Officer (OCISO).

12) Contractor Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). Each Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) employee having access to non-public government information under this contract shall complete the CDC non-disclosure agreement, as applicable. A copy of each signed and witnessed NDA shall be submitted to the Contracting Officer (CO) and/or CO Representative (COR) prior to performing any work under this acquisition.

13) Privacy Threshold Analysis (PTA)/Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) – The Contractor shall assist the CDC Senior Official for Privacy (SOP) or designee with conducting a PTA for the information system and/or information handled under this contract in accordance with HHS policy and OMB M-03-22, Guidance for Implementing the Privacy Provisions of the E-Government Act of 2002.

a. The Contractor shall assist the CDC SOP or designee in reviewing the PIA at least every three years throughout the system development lifecycle (SDLC)/information lifecycle, or when determined by the CDC SOP that a review is required based on a major change to the system (e.g., new uses of information collected, changes to the way information is shared or disclosed and for what purpose, or when new types of PII are collected that could introduce new or increased privacy risks), whichever comes first.

A. Training

1) Mandatory Training for All Contractor Staff. All Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) employees assigned to work on this contract shall complete the applicable HHS/CDC Contractor Information Security Awareness, Privacy, and Records Management training (provided upon contract award) before performing any work under this contract. Thereafter, the employees shall complete CDC Security Awareness Training (SAT) and Records Management training at least annually, during the life of this contract. All provided training shall be compliant with HHS training policies.

2) Role-based Training. All Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) employees with significant security responsibilities (as determined by the program manager) must complete role-based training (RBT) within 60 days of assuming their new responsibilities. Thereafter, they shall complete RBT at least annually in accordance with HHS policy and the HHS Role-Based Training (RBT) of Personnel with Significant Security Responsibilities Memorandum.

All HHS employees and contractors with SSR who have not completed the required training within the mandated timeframes shall have their user accounts disabled until they have met their RBT requirement.

3) Training Records. The Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) shall maintain training records for all its employees working under this contract in accordance with HHS policy. A copy of the training records shall be provided to the CO and/or COR within 30 days after contract award and annually thereafter or upon request.

B. Rules of Behavior

1) The Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) shall ensure that all employees performing on the contract comply with the HHS Information Technology General Rules of Behavior.

2) All Contractor employees performing on the contract must read and adhere to the Rules of Behavior before accessing Department data or other information, systems, and/or networks that store/process government information, initially at the beginning of the contract and at least annually thereafter, which may be done as part of annual CDC Security Awareness Training. If the training is provided by the contractor, the signed ROB must be provided as a separate deliverable to the CO and/or COR per defined timelines above.

C. Incident Response

FISMA defines an incident as “an occurrence that (1) actually or imminently jeopardizes, without lawful authority, the integrity, confidentiality, or availability of information or an information system; or (2) constitutes a violation or imminent threat of violation of law, security policies, security procedures, or acceptable use policies. The HHS Policy for IT Security and Privacy Incident Reporting and Response further defines incidents as events involving cybersecurity and privacy threats, such as viruses, malicious user activity, loss of, unauthorized disclosure or destruction of data, and so on.

A privacy breach is a type of incident and is defined by Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) as the loss of control, compromise, unauthorized disclosure, unauthorized acquisition, or any similar occurrence where (1) a person other than an authorized user accesses or potentially accesses personally identifiable information or (2) an authorized user accesses or potentially accesses personally identifiable information for an other than authorized purpose.

OMB Memorandum M-17-12, “Preparing for and Responding to a Breach of Personally Identifiable Information” (03 January 2017) states:

Definition of an Incident:

An occurrence that (1) actually or imminently jeopardizes, without lawful authority, the integrity, confidentiality, or availability of information or an information system; or (2) constitutes a violation or imminent threat of violation of law, security policies, security procedures, or acceptable use policies.

Definition of a Breach:

The loss of control, compromise, unauthorized disclosure, unauthorized acquisition, or any similar occurrence where (1) a person other than an authorized user accesses or potentially accesses personally identifiable information or (2) an authorized user accesses or potentially accesses personally identifiable information for an other than authorized purpose.

It further adds:

A breach is not limited to an occurrence where a person other than an authorized user potentially accesses PU by means of a network intrusion, a targeted attack that exploits website vulnerabilities, or an attack executed through an email message or attachment. A breach may also include the loss or theft of physical documents that include PU and portable electronic storage media that store PU, the inadvertent disclosure of PU on a public website, or an oral disclosure of PII to a person who is not authorized to receive that information. It may also include an authorized user accessing PU for an other than authorized purpose.

The HHS Policy for IT Security and Privacy Incident Reporting and Response further defines a breach as “a suspected or confirmed incident involving PII” .

Contracts with entities that collect, maintain, use, or operate Federal information or information systems on behalf of CDC shall include the following requirements:

1) The contractor shall cooperate with and exchange information with CDC officials, as deemed necessary by the CDC Breach Response Team, to report and manage a suspected or confirmed breach.

2) All contractors and subcontractors shall properly encrypt PII in accordance with OMB Circular A-130 and other applicable policies, including CDC-specific policies, and comply with HHS-specific policies for protecting PII. To this end, all contractors and subcontractors shall protect all sensitive information, including any PII created, stored, or transmitted in the performance of this contract so as to avoid a secondary sensitive information incident with FIPS 140-2 validated encryption.

3) All contractors and subcontractors shall participate in regular training on how to identify and report a breach.

4) All contractors and subcontractors shall report a suspected or confirmed breach in any medium as soon as possible and without unreasonable delay, consistent with applicable CDC IT acquisitions guidance, HHS/CDC and incident management policy, and United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) notification guidelines. To this end, the Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) shall respond to all alerts/Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) provided by HHS Computer Security Incident Response Center (CSIRC) or CDC Computer Incident Response Team (CSIRT) within 24 hours via email at cdc@csirt.gov or telephone at 866-655-2245, whether the response is positive or negative.

5) All contractors and subcontractors shall be able to determine what Federal information was or could have been accessed and by whom, construct a timeline of user activity, determine methods and techniques used to access Federal information, and identify the initial attack vector.

6) All contractors and subcontractors shall allow for an inspection, investigation, forensic analysis, and any other action necessary to ensure compliance with HHS/CDC Policy and the HHS/CDC Breach Response Plan and to assist with responding to a breach.

7) Cloud service providers shall use guidance provided in the FedRAMP Incident Communications Procedures when deciding when to report directly to US-CERT first or notify CDC first.

8) Identify roles and responsibilities, in accordance with HHS/CDC Breach Response Policy and the HHS/CDC Breach Response Plan. To this end, the Contractor shall NOT notify affected individuals unless and until so instructed by the Contracting Officer or designated representative. If so instructed by the Contracting Officer or representative, all notifications must be pre-approved by the appropriate CDC officials, consistent with HHS/CDC Breach Response Plan, and the Contractor shall then send CDC- approved notifications to affected individuals; and,

9) Acknowledge that CDC will not interpret report of a breach, by itself, as conclusive evidence that the contractor or its subcontractor failed to provide adequate safeguards for PII.

D. Position Sensitivity Designations

All Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) employees must obtain a background investigation commensurate with their position sensitivity designation that complies with Parts 1400 and 731 of Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

E. Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD)-12

The Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) and its employees shall comply with Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD)-12, Policy for a Common Identification Standard for Federal Employees and Contractors; OMB M-05-24; FIPS 201, Personal Identity Verification (PIV) of Federal Employees and Contractors; HHS HSPD-12 policy; and Executive Order 13467, Part 1 §1.2.

Roster. The Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) shall submit a roster by name, position, e-mail address, phone number and responsibility, of all staff working under this acquisition where the Contractor will develop, have the ability to access, or host and/or maintain a government information system(s). The roster shall be submitted to the COR and/or CO by the effective date of this contract. Any revisions to the roster as a result of staffing changes shall be submitted immediately upon change. The COR will notify the Contractor of the appropriate level of investigation required for each staff member.

If the employee is filling a new position, the Contractor shall provide a position description and the Government will determine the appropriate suitability level.

F. Contract Initiation and Expiration

1) General Security Requirements. The Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) shall comply with information security and privacy requirements, Enterprise Performance Life Cycle (EPLC) processes, HHS Enterprise Architecture requirements to ensure information is appropriately protected from initiation to expiration of the contract. All information systems development or enhancement tasks supported by the contractor shall follow the HHS EPLC framework and methodology and in accordance with the HHS Contract Closeout Guide (2012).

2) System Documentation. Contractors (and/or any subcontractors) must follow and adhere to NIST SP 800-64, Security Considerations in the System Development Life Cycle, at a minimum, for system development and provide system documentation at designated intervals (specifically, at the expiration of the contract) within the EPLC that require artifact review and approval.

3) Sanitization of Government Files and Information. As part of contract closeout and at expiration of the contract, the Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) shall provide all required documentation to the CO and/or COR to certify that, at the government’s direction, all electronic and paper records are appropriately disposed of and all devices and media are sanitized in accordance with NIST SP 800-88, Guidelines for Media Sanitization.

4) Notification. The Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) shall notify the CO and/or COR and system ISSO before an employee stops working under this contract.

5) Contractor Responsibilities Upon Physical Completion of the Contract. The contractor (and/or any subcontractors) shall return all government information and IT resources (i.e., government information in non-government-owned systems, media, and backup systems) acquired during the term of this contract to the CO and/or COR. Additionally, the Contractor shall provide a certification that all government information has been properly sanitized and purged from Contractor-owned systems, including backup systems and media used during contract performance, in accordance with HHS and/or CDC policies.

6) The Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) shall perform and document the actions identified in the CDC Out-Processing Checklist (http://intranet.cdc.gov/od/hcrmo/pdfs/hr/Out_Processing_Checklist.pdf) when an employee terminates work under this contract. All documentation shall be made available to the CO and/or COR upon request.

G. Records Management and Retention

The Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) shall maintain all information in accordance with Executive Order 13556 -- Controlled Unclassified Information, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) records retention policies and schedules and HHS policies and shall not dispose of any records unless authorized by HHS.

In the event that a contractor (and/or any subcontractor) accidentally disposes of or destroys a record without proper authorization, it shall be documented and reported as an incident in accordance with HHS policies.

A. Security Requirements for GOCO and COCO Resources

1) Federal Policies. The Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) shall comply with applicable federal directives that include, but are not limited to, the HHS Information Security and Privacy Policy (IS2P), the CDC Protection of Information Resources policy; Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) of 2014, (44 U.S.C. 101); National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-53, Security and Privacy Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations; Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-130, Managing Information as a Strategic Resource; and other applicable federal laws, regulations, NIST guidance, and Departmental policies.

2) Security Assessment and Authorization (SA&A). A valid authority to operate (ATO) certifies that the Contractor’s information system meets the contract’s requirements to protect the agency data. If the system under this contract does not have a valid ATO, the Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) shall work with the agency and supply the deliverables required to complete the ATO prior to any use of the system in a production capacity, i.e., its intended users able to collect, store, process or transmit data to fulfill the system’s function. The Contractor shall conduct the SA&A requirements in accordance with HHS IS2P/ CDC Protection of Information Resources; the CDC IT Security Program Implementation Standards; the CDC Security Assessment and Authorization (SA&A) Standard Operating Procedure; and NIST SP 800-37, Guide for Applying the Risk Management Framework to Federal Information Systems: A Security Life Cycle Approach (latest revision).

CDC acceptance of the ATO does not alleviate the Contractor’s responsibility to ensure the system security and privacy controls are implemented and operating effectively.

SA&A Package Deliverables - The Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) shall provide an SA&A package to the CO and/or COR in accordance with the timeline, process and formats proscribed for a Full system authorization in the CDC Security Assessment and Authorization Standard Operating Procedure (CDC SA&A SOP). The following SA&A deliverables are required to complete the SA&A package:

· Baseline System Information (BSI) – The Contractor will document a system overview, in accordance with the timeline, process and formats described in the CDC SA&A SOP. The BSI includes information concerning: system identification and ownership; system data, information types, impact levels and system categorization; system functional description / general purpose; system authorization boundary and environment; system user descriptions; and system interconnections and dependencies. The Contractor shall update the BSI at least annually thereafter.

· Privacy Threshold Analysis / Privacy Impact Analysis – The Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) shall provide a PTA/PIA (as appropriate), in accordance with the timeline, process and formats described in the CDC SA&A SOP. Also see the sections of this contract concerning “Privacy Threshold Analysis (PTA)/Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA)” and “Requirements for Procurements Involving Privacy Act Records.”

NOTE: If social security numbers (SSN) are expected to be handled by the system, the program and Contractor must include an SSN Elimination or Usage Approval Request along with the PTA/PIA. That request will be processed in accordance with the OCISO Standard for Limiting the Use of Social Security Numbers in CDC Information Systems.

· System Security Plan (SSP) – The SSP must be provided in a digital format supporting copy or export of all content into the HHS/CDC automated SA&A tool. The SSP shall comply with the NIST SP 800-18, Guide for Developing Security Plans for Federal Information Systems, the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 200, Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information Systems, and NIST SP 800-53, Security and Privacy Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations applicable baseline requirements, and other applicable NIST guidance as well as HHS and CDC policies and other guidance. The SSP shall be consistent with and detail the approach to IT security contained in the Contractor’s bid or proposal that resulted in the award of this contract. The SSP shall provide an overview of the system environment (including an inventory of all devices and software contained within the system boundary) and security requirements to protect the information system as well as describe all applicable security controls in place or planned for meeting those requirements. It should provide a structured process for planning adequate, cost-effective security protection for a system. The Contractor shall update the SSP at least annually thereafter.

· Risk Assessment Report (RAR) The initial security assessment shall be conducted by the Contractor in conjunction with the program’s Information System Security Officer, consistent with NIST SP 800-53A, NIST SP 800-30, and HHS and CDC policies. The assessor will document and submit the assessment results in the RAR, in accordance with the process and formats described in the CDC SA&A SOP. The Contractor shall address all “High” deficiencies before submitting the package to the Government for acceptance. All remaining deficiencies must be documented in a system Plan of Actions and Milestones (POA&M) for CDC OCISO approval in accordance with the CDC SA&A SOP.