Attachment 2 Pre-Proposal Questions and Responses.docx

89243320RFE000032

Amendment 0001 Questions and Responses Attachment 2

QUESTIONS and RESPONSES

Q1. I have some novel chemistry for extracting REEs from raw material. The technologies have been demonstrated at bench level scale (10 to 100g) by Los Alamos National Laboratory. A proposal to this call would be looking for funding to design and demonstrate the first pilot-plant scale production - 10s to 100s of Kg. Of course ultimate production can be envisioned at the quantities targeted levels. Is this technology too early stage for this FOA's objectives?

R1. Yes. The Design Criteria in the PWS call for conventional technologies (including technologies that may have been commercially deployed for another application) or technologies that will be ready for deployment in an engineering-scale prototype with only limited design development activities.

Q2. I downloaded the attached Zip file from FedConnect regarding solicitation, 89243320RFE000032. I cannot find the Form SF33 MS Word Document file referenced on Page 171/File 2, SF33 form.

R2. The form was left off the initial posting in error and is now attached as part of this Amendment 0001

Q4. On page 141 of the subject solicitation, a publicly available report is listed as a deliverable. Because we are unsure how much information the public report might contain, and because the nature of the public report will be of high interest to foreign researchers, we ask as follows: Tables beginning on pages 136 and 141 list the required content of the conceptual and feasibility studies respectively. Please provide guidance regarding the extent to which proprietary and/or patent pending intellectual property can be identified by the recipient and protected from disclosure to third parties outside the Department of Energy.

R4. DOE-NETL will allow the ability to redact proprietary and/or patent pending intellectual property from the final report prior to public release. Such information would be anything developed at the contractor’s expense prior to the contract which is not publicly available. Likewise, such proprietary and/or patent pending information that may be generated during performance of the contract may also be redacted from the public final report. It should be noted that the public final report must allow the work completed to be discernable. In other words, redactions cannot be done to an extent that the public report does not naturally flow and is unreadable.

Q5. The solicitation states that “Teams shall include at least one member with industry experience related to extraction and/or separation of minerals or metals, purification of minerals or metals, and/or marketing and sales of minerals or metals”. We would like to partner with a coal mining company that has several mines and has been involved with coal beneficiation work in the past. Would the coal mining company qualify?

R5. The coal mining company would qualify if it has demonstrated industry experience related to extraction and/or separation of minerals or metals, purification of minerals or metals, and/or marketing and sales of minerals or metals.

Q6. Past Performance Questionnaires. Our sub for this RFP will be referencing the same projects that we are using as the prime. For our sub, is the reference point of contact the government entity the work was completed for (i.e NETL) or is the reference point of contact us as the prime on those previous completed projects?

R6. The reference point should be the government entity. The subcontractor should make sure that the past performance questionnaire indicates their role in those referenced projects.

Q7. We are looking for the model performance guarantee agreement that says it is provided in Part III, Section J of the solicitation. There does not appear to be a Part III, Section J. Where can we find this model performance agreement or the executed performance guarantee form?

(4) if the Offeror is a limited liability corporation or other partnership entity (including joint ventures) then a performance guarantee agreement is required for each individual entity making up the teaming arrangement. The performance guarantee shall be executed by a financially responsible guarantor, guaranteeing that all contractual obligations of the Offeror will be met. The performance guarantee(s) are required in order to determine financial responsibility. A model performance guarantee agreement is provided in Part III, Section J of this solicitation. The executed performance guarantee(s) shall replace the model agreement in the executed contract.

R7. The form was left off the initial posting in error and is now attached as part of this Amendment 0001

Q8. Section I.31, FAR 52.219-9, page 54: A Small Business Subcontracting Plan will be required for the awarded contract, but it does not appear that a Small Business Subcontracting Plan is a required in our proposal. Will the government please clarify whether or not a Small Business Subcontracting Plan is required for our proposal?

R8. FAR 52.219-9 Small Business Subcontracting Plan does not apply to small business concerns. This clause only applies to other than small business concerns in solicitations and contracts that offer subcontracting possibilities which are expected to exceed $700,000. Due to the structure of this solicitation and resulting contract, a Small Business Subcontracting Plan is not required to be provided as part of the initial proposal. However, a Small Business Subcontracting Plan may be required if the Government elects to exercise the optional line item (Feasibility Case Study) and a determination is made that subcontracting possibilities exceeding $700,000 exist.

OTHER

1. Our company would be best suited to assist in after process help by purifying and further refining the rare materials that are recovered as a product of this chemical cleaning once they are ready to be melted or refined in heat and/or vacuum.

RETECH Systems LLC Buffalo, NY 716-626-6945