Request for Information (RFI) - WIPP Transportation Services_8-19-20.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)/ SOURCES SOUGHT

Solicitation Number: 89303320REM000079

Title: Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Transportation Services

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. THIS IS

NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) AND SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A

COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT TO AWARD A CONTRACT AT THIS TIME.

No solicitation is available. This RFI/Sources Sought is released pursuant to FAR Part

15.201(e), Exchanges with industry before receipt of proposals, and is issued for the purpose of conducting market research.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Environmental Management (EM), is currently in the acquisition planning stage for the Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) Waste Isolation Pilot

Plant (WIPP) Transportation Services procurement for the transport of contact-handled (CH) and remote-handled (RH) transuranic (TRU) wastes and mixed hazardous constituents, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and asbestos between various DOE sites across the country and to the WIPP near Carlsbad, New Mexico.

The purpose of this RFI/Sources Sought is to solicit input via capability statements from interested parties with the specialized capabilities necessary to perform all or part of the requirements defined below in the draft Performance Work Statement (PWS). The North

American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this requirement is 484230, Specialized Freight (except used goods) Trucking, Long-Distance, and the small business size standard is $30.0M. DOE IS NOT LOOKING FOR A MOTOR CARRIER BROKERAGE OR

INTERMODAL ARRANGEMENT.

Within these capability statements, DOE is seeking feedback from interested parties regarding the requirements outlined below within the draft PWS. This market research will assist DOE with identifying interested and capable sources for developing its acquisition strategy. Key market research goals include identifying and minimizing barriers to competition, evaluating small business capabilities, identifying risks associated with successful completion of the project scope, and identifying appropriate RFP/contract terms and conditions. The final contract type, period of performance, amount of funding, and set-aside possibilities will be determined through the acquisition planning process and this market research.

DOE is also seeking to determine whether or not the full requirement or part of the requirement can be set-aside for small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, women-owned small businesses, HUBZone small businesses, veteran-owned small businesses, or service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. Small businesses, believing that they have the capability to perform all, or part of the requirements defined below in the draft PWS, are welcome to demonstrate their capabilities by submitting a capability statement in accordance with the instructions below.

The DOE EM Consolidated Business Center (EMCBC) has created a procurement website where additional information is provided at: https://www.emcbc.doe.gov/seb/WIPP_Transportation/.

This procurement will replace one existing carrier contract that is currently set to expire on May

27, 2022.

All interested parties are hereby invited to submit a capability statement of no more than 15 pages, and no smaller than Times New Roman 12 point font. Also, electronic file submissions must be less than 20 Megabytes. The Government will review each capability statement based on the interested party’s demonstrated qualifications, capabilities, expertise, experience and past performance in each of the areas included in the draft PWS. More specifically, capability statements should include the following information as appropriate and as applicable:

1. Describe your capability and experience in performing the same or similar transportation services requirements described in the draft PWS below.

a. Specifically, describe your capability and experience in providing dedicated services including qualified tractor driver teams, tractors, and associated maintenance for

Government Furnished Property (GFP), e.g. trailers. Additionally describe your capability in terms of a maximum number of tractors with the associated number of qualified driver teams, and associated maintenance for tractors and GFP, e.g. trailers.

b. Describe the minimum quantity of services (tractors, driver teams, maintenance services) deemed economically viable to sustain operations for your company and/or teaming arrangement.

c. Specifically, describe your capability and experience with operating and maintaining a full-time terminal and maintenance facilities and providing logistical and scheduling support to accommodate delivery of one or more tractor(s) and driving team(s) within a 4-hour notice.

d. Specifically, describe the ability of your company and/or teaming arrangement to undergo and pass a DOE Tier I Motor Carrier Evaluation Program (MCEP) Audit.

The MCEP Audit that is conducted by DOE is an extensive audit of all facets of a carrier’s business operations including an extensive on-site physical review of records and equipment. Further information concerning the requirements of the MCEP Audit can be found on the EMCBC WIPP Transportation Services procurement website at:

https://www.emcbc.doe.gov/seb/WIPP_Transportation/.

2. Discuss your company’s and/or teaming arrangement’s experience in managing the draft

PWS requirements under a single contact, given that, prior to the current contract being performed by a single contractor, these services were provided by two contractors.

Specifically, discuss employment of driver teams, registration of tractors, and Department of

Transportation operational authority per 49 CFR 365. Separately, describe your experience in managing and integrating the work of subcontractors who would perform specialty functions. Further, provide input regarding ways to identify meaningful work to be accomplished by small businesses.

3. Describe your experience and capability in performing the required transportation services in a complex regulatory environment in respect to problem-solving and working with stakeholders, tribal governments, Citizens Advisory Boards, and regulatory agencies at the state and federal level.

4. Describe your experience and capability in providing transportation services that were NOT through a motor carrier brokerage or intermodal arrangement. Include a description of the work scope, contract value, period of performance and lessons learned.

5. Discuss your experience and capability in preparing and implementing environmental, safety, health, quality assurance, and security plans and programs as required per the draft PWS.

6. Describe your approach to ensuring that at least 50% of the personnel cost to perform the services described in the PWS are incurred by your firm’s employees. In accordance with

Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.219-14 (b)(2), Limitations on Subcontracting, at least

50% of the cost of the contract incurred for personnel shall be expended for employees of the concern when any portion of the requirement is to be set aside for small business.

7. Describe your experience in the transport of shipments requiring Commercial Vehicle Safety

Alliance (CVSA) Level VI inspections.

8. Identify potential areas, including rationale, within the draft PWS that may be appropriate for a fixed price contract structure along with any associated pricing challenges and risks.

Provide specific feedback for type of information required from DOE to support the development of a fixed price proposal for any element of scope. Include examples of previous experience, if any, performing similar work within in a fixed price environment and any actions taken in response to challenges or risk of performing in that environment.

9. Provide input and rationale to DOE on the optimal base period of performance for the prospective procurement. Highlight any factors that would make competing for these requirements desirable or undesirable for your firm, including input on proposal evaluation criteria. Discuss any issues the Contracting Officer should consider when developing the solicitation for this requirement.

DOE reserves the right to use any and all information submitted by, or obtained from, an interested party in any manner DOE determines is appropriate, including, but not limited to, the creation of a competitive solicitation. An interested party should avoid including any business confidential and/or proprietary information in its response. However, if an interested party must submit such information, the information must be clearly marked accordingly, and the interested party must provide sufficient justification as to why such information is business confidential and/or proprietary. DOE will review said information and safeguard it appropriately.

The Government will not pay for any information that is provided in response to this announcement nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information.

All capability statements shall be submitted electronically to the e-mail address at wipptransportation@emcbc.doe.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on September 3, 2020. All questions pertaining to the announcement should be directed to the DOE EMCBC

Contracting Officer, Mr. Michael McCreanor, at the same e-mail address. DOE personnel may contact firms responding to this announcement to clarify a responder’s capabilities and other matters as part of this market research process.

Contracting Officer:

Mr. Michael McCreanor

DOE EMCBC

513-246-0038 mailto:wipptransportation@emcbc.doe.gov

DRAFT PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

WIPP TRANSPORTATION SERVICES

The Contractor shall provide transportation services necessary to support the DOE Waste

Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), including: transportation of mixed and non-mixed Transuranic

(TRU) waste, asbestos, and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contaminated TRU waste from generator sites to WIPP; transportation of TRU waste between generator sites as listed in

Appendix 1 (TRU Waste Storage Sites, Locations and Mileage); transportation of training units or empty shipping packages to training/exercises; public awareness events; and maintenance of

Government Furnished Trailers.

The Contractor must comply with all applicable US Department of Transportation (DOT) and

Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) requirements for the transport of mixed and non-mixed TRU Waste contaminated with hazardous constituents, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and asbestos; have the applicable state permits; and, the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) and DOT registration and identification numbers. The contract effort requires providing facilities, personnel, equipment and a local terminal with transportation and maintenance services. Contractor-provided equipment will include tractors and necessary support equipment.

Waste destined for WIPP will originate from DOE sites across the United States. The waste at some sites may be shipped to another site designated by DOE (inter-site shipments) or shipped directly to WIPP. Although the majority of the shipments to WIPP will not fall within the definition of a Highway Route-Controlled Quantity (HRCQ) [49 CFR Part 173.403(1)], DOE, in conjunction with the states, has determined that all TRU waste shipments will use the “preferred highway” system required for shipments meeting the definition of HRCQ and will be subject to

Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) Level VI inspection.

The Contractor shall perform the work in a quality manner to ensure compliance with all requirements of the contract and all applicable regulations and DOE orders. The Applicable regulations include those issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) at title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), those issued by the Occupational Safety and Health

Administration (OSHA) at title 29 of the CFR, those applicable to hazardous waste transportation at 40 CFR part 263 and any applicable regulations promulgated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The applicable DOE orders (latest revision applies) include DOE

O 460.1, “Packaging and Transportation Safety.” and DOE O 460.2 “Departmental Materials

Transportation and Packaging Management”. Work not covered by the contract terms and conditions, and DOT, or other applicable regulations, shall be performed using methods and techniques that are recognized by the trucking industry as good commercial practices. All records required to show compliance shall be maintained at the contractor’s terminal office.

All movement of loaded shipping packages shall be tracked by TRANSCOM. The Carlsbad

Field Office (CBFO) shall furnish the TRANSCOM signal and software. The Contractor shall furnish and install the TRANSCOM hardware and all the supporting equipment. TRANSCOM provides the driving team with a digital message capability to communicate with the WIPP

Central Monitoring Room (CMR). The TRANSCOM system is operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The Contractor shall verify that proper marking, labeling and placards are displayed on the vehicle by the generator site personnel at the site of origin. The Contractor shall also inspect and maintain the proper labels, markings, and place cards enroute between site of origin and destination in accordance with DOT regulations.

In case of an incident/accident during contract performance, drivers shall follow emergency procedures contained in the TRU Waste Transportation Plan DOE/CBFO 98-3103. Drivers shall be capable of operating emergency response radiological equipment in the event of an incident/accident. The Contractor shall be responsible for the restoration of the incident or accident site in the event of a radiological or hazardous waste incident/accident that occurred during the contractor’s performance of the transportation services under this contract.

TERMINAL SERVICES

The Contractor shall operate and maintain a terminal and maintenance facility within the

Greater Carlsbad, NM area (10 mile perimeter of Carlsbad) and provide and maintain a minimum of (number TBD) tractors with two qualified drivers (equates to one driver team) per tractor to support waste shipments over the designated routes. The Contractor shall retain capabilities to ship utilizing the specified number of dedicated tractor driving teams at all times. The Contractor shall retain sufficient driver tractor teams to account for equipment failure, sickness, vacations and other leaves of absences. The drivers shall be expected to drive up to the DOT maximum driver hour availability specified in 49

CFR 395.

The terminal facility must have access control.

The Contractor shall provide, as part of operating and maintaining the terminal, a support staff for logistical, maintenance and scheduling support of the WIPP site to accommodate delivery of one or more tractor(s) and driving team(s) within a 4-hour notice as scheduled by the Department. The Contractor shall provide logistical and scheduling support 24-hours a day, seven days per week.

The support staff shall interact on a daily basis with CBFO and the WIPP Shipping

Coordination Office to coordinate and schedule shipments and other transportation activities.

The Contractor shall provide the capability to add up to (number TBD) tractors with

(number TBD) qualified drivers and associated maintenance facilities and staff for additional tractors and up to (number TBD) additional GFP trailers at the request of

CBFO.

TRACTOR SERVICES

The Contractor shall furnish the equipment necessary to transport CH- and RH-TRU waste shipments according to the following specifications.

Length and weight of tractor, trailer, and payload shall meet all applicable DOT requirements for normal single-trailer shipments.

Normally gross weight will not exceed the DOT weight limitation of 80,000 pounds

(exception could be TRUPACT III).

The Contractor shall use a tractor that has sufficient horsepower to maintain speed limit on a 3% upgrade with a maximum load and governed to a maximum speed limit of 65-

MPH.

The Contractor shall furnish and equip all tractors with safety equipment (including fire extinguishers, first aid kit, emergency triangles, etc.), tire chains (cables), and any other equipment deemed necessary by Federal or State laws.

The Contractor shall furnish and equip all tractors with a satellite telephone, cellular telephone, TRANSCOM system, and a 40-channel two-way citizens band radio.

The Contractor shall furnish and equip all tractors with radiation detection instruments.

The survey meter and detectors calibrations are the responsibility of the Contractor.

The Contractor shall equip each tractor with a mounted, digital, continuous loop, on-board, tamper-proof, closed-circuit video system.

Tractors shall be equipped with anti-lock brakes, power steering, a sleeper, air-ride suspension, parking brakes on both rear axles, mud-flaps on both front and rear wheels, auxiliary braking system (e.g. compression release braking system), and a low profile heavy duty sliding fifth wheel.

Tractors shall be equipped with electronic data logging that complies with DOT regulations for tracking driver hours of service, subject to approval of the CBFO.

MAINTENANCE SERVICES

The Contractor shall provide all required tractor and trailer maintenance in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommended maintenance or Contractor approved written procedures (CBFO approves trailer maintenance procedures), and CVSA level VI standards.

A specific maintenance procedure shall be developed for each trailer type and tractor model, and a specific maintenance schedule for each tractor and each trailer. The trailer maintenance shall, as a minimum, meet the requirements of the trailer Operations and

Maintenance (O&M) Manual.

The Contractor shall maintain verifiable maintenance records and verifiable inspection records on each tractor and trailer. Maintenance records shall detail all maintenance actions taken on each unit. Inspection records shall include Contractor and state inspection results before, after, and, if applicable, during each shipment.

The Contractor shall be capable of replacing disabled tractors within eight hours while enroute with a loaded shipment.

Procedures for preventing enroute maintenance breakdowns shall be developed to maintain a one percent (1%) or less monthly tractor-trailer set downtime rate.

DRIVER SERVICES

The Contractor shall provide drivers that are U.S. citizens. Drivers shall meet all the

DOT driver licensing, security, training and physical qualification requirements for drivers who will be hauling radioactive/hazardous shipments.

The Contractor shall demonstrate to the Contracting Officer, in writing, how each driver meets DOT requirements and the following additional CBFO qualifications:

Drivers shall have logged a minimum of 100,000 miles per year in two of the last five years in a commercial semi-tractor trailer combination over-the-road operation or a minimum of 325,000 in five years.

Drivers shall not have received a chargeable incident or be convicted of a moving violation in a commercial motor vehicle within the last five years. The Contractor shall consider the driving history of potential drivers for the past five years in their private vehicles and document the review. Drivers shall not have repeated chargeable incidents, repeated convicted moving violations in their private vehicles, or a single Driving While

Intoxicated (DWI) or Driving Under the Influence (DUI) conviction in the last 10 years.

Drivers shall not have been convicted of a felony.

Drivers shall be fingerprinted in accordance with DOT regulations and DOE Security.

Drivers shall undergo a Drug/Alcohol screening immediately following any accident.

The Contractor shall retain sufficient driver tractor teams to account for equipment failure, sickness, vacations and other leaves of absences. The drivers shall be expected to drive up to the DOT maximum driver hour availability specified in 49 CFR 395.

For the duration of this contract, the Contractor shall maintain a strict driver penalty system for moving violations and deviations from routes.

The Contractor shall maintain a driver training program. Each driver, prior to performing transportation services under this contract, must successfully complete all DOT and

CBFO WIPP required training.

TRU WASTE STORAGE SITES, LOCATIONS AND MILEAGE

(Inclusive of but not limited to the following locations)

Direct Shipments to WIPP Locations

Location

Distance to

WIPP (Miles)

Hanford Reservation (Hanford) Richland, WA 1,806

Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Idaho Falls, ID 1,393

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Los Alamos, NM 355

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Oak Ridge, TN 1,440

Office of River Protection (ORP) Richland, WA 1,806

Savannah River Site (SRS) Aiken, SC 1,566

Sandia National Labs (SNL) Albuquerque, NM 320

Argonne National Lab Argon, IL 1,729

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Livermore, CA 2,114

Bettis Atomic Power Lab (BAPL) West Mifflin, PA 2,191

Inter-site Shipping Locations

Location

Distance

Between Sites

(Miles)

Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) Argon, IL ~1,500

Babcock & Wilcox – NES (B&W Lynchburg) Lynchburg, VA

Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory (BAPL) West Mifflin, PA

Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (KAPL) Niskayuna, NY

Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory (LBNL) Berkley, CA

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Livermore, CA

Nevada Nuclear Security Site (NNSS) Mercury, NV

Paducah Gaseous diffusion Plant (PGDP) Paducah, KY

Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) Albuquerque, NM

West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP) West Valley, NY

NOTE: Inter-site shipments are defined as shipments from Inter-site Shipping Locations to locations identified within the Direct Shipments to WIPP locations Column.