B08 RFP 959006-21-R-0005_Amendment 2.pdf

13 October 2021

Subject: Request for Proposal (RFP) # 959006-21-R-0005 – Amendment #2 – Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee (MRRIC) Professional services for the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation, National Center for Environmental Conflict Resolution (NCECR) in Tucson, Arizona

The following answers are provided in response to all questions received by the Government in response to RFP #959006-21-R-0005. The following documents have been revised in response to the questions received, 1) Attachment 3 – CDRL A001 Contractors Progress Status and Management Report_REVISED, revised 04 October 2021, Block 16 – Remarks. Additionally, a clause has been included into the RFP and will be included in the resulting contract.

Question #1: Is a resume required or is a description of qualifications sufficient?

Answer #1: A resume is not required. The technical approach must provide information that allows the Government the ability to completely understand the Offeror’s staffing approach to meeting the requirement. The Offeror shall determine the means of providing this information.

Question #2: If a resume is included, should be included in the Technical Proposal?

Answer #2: Staffing, experience, qualifications, etc. is required to be addressed within the Technical Approach volume.

Question #3: The following statement was included in the RFP. “*Note: No names of personnel shall be referenced in the proposal. Any resumes submitted for evaluation shall be redacted of all personal information, to include names.” What in addition to the proposed chair’s name is considered personal information that should be redacted?

Answer #3: Personal information would be any information specific to a named person, i.e.

name, address, or other personal identifying information. Items such as years of experience, types of experience, degrees obtained, etc. are not considered personal information for the purposes of this acquisition.

Question #4: What is the government’s interest in not knowing the proposed chair’s name?

Answer #4: All submitted technical proposals will be evaluated based upon the technical approach illustrating the Offeror’s ability to meet the requirement. Technical proposals will not be evaluated based upon the identification of personnel assigned.

Question #5: If I am reading the materials correctly, the government envisions a fixed price contract. The pricing template is organized by task. Will the fixed prices be per task, with a ceiling for the base and option periods? If not, what will the approach be?

Answer #5: This is correct. The pricing structure will be Firm Fixed Price (FFP) per task with a total not-to-exceed (NTE) number of instances stated for the specific task. Each performance period contains base tasks and additional optional tasks, with each task priced individually. All base tasks (for the base performance period) will be funded at time of award.

Question #6: What level of detail is required for the CDRL, particularly with respect to telephone calls? Is a list of the calls as defined in the RFP sufficient? Tracking and reporting every phone call to individuals in a team and a committee as large as this could add significantly to the government’s costs.

Answer #6: The deliverable requires the details needed to sufficiently support the requirement and submitted invoices. There is no requirement to track and report every phone call.

Question #7: Why are hours expended by task required in the CDRL, if the contract is envisioned as a fixed price contract, as this requirement could add significantly to the government’s costs?

Answer #7: The pricing structure will be Firm Fixed Price per task; therefore, hours expended per task will not be a requirement under the CDRL. CDRL A001 has been revised to remove this requirement.

Question #8: If the offeror has submitted current certifications and representations in SAM, does completing section (b) below mean reading sections (c) through (v) and identifying what is different for this solicitation? If not, please explain what is required in simpler terms than below.

(b) (1) Annual Representations and Certifications. Any changes provided by the Offeror in paragraph (b)(2) of this provision do not automatically change the representations and certifications in SAM (2) The offeror has completed the annual representations and certifications electronically in SAM accessed through http://www.sam.gov. After reviewing SAM information, the Offeror verifies by submission of this offer that the representations and certifications currently posted electronically at FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications Commercial Items, have been entered or updated in the last 12 months, are current, accurate, complete, and applicable to this http://www.sam.gov/ solicitation (including the business size standard(s) applicable to the NAICS code(s) referenced for this solicitation), at the time this offer is submitted and are incorporated in this offer by reference (see FAR 4.1201), except for paragraphs ______________.

[Offeror to identify the applicable paragraphs at (c) through (v) of this provision that the offeror has completed for the purposes of this solicitation only, if any. These amended representation(s) and/or certification(s) are also incorporated in this offer and are current, accurate, and complete as of the date of this offer. Any changes provided by the offeror are applicable to this solicitation only, and do not result in an update to the representations and certifications posted electronically on SAM.]

Answer #8: Yes. If the Offeror has submitted current certifications and representations in SAM, reviewed SAM data, and verifies that all SAM data posted for FAR 52.212-3 is correct and current, the proposal may contain a statement that certifies the SAM information is correct and current. Any differences between the Offeror’s current representations and certifications and that which is contained in SAM will require completion of the information required in FAR 52.212-3(b)(2).

Question #9: If an offeror is a sole practitioner with a commercial billing rate, do the SCA wage determinations apply and, if so, how do they apply?

Answer #9: The Service Contract Labor Standards (formerly known as the Service Contract Act of 1965) is applicable to this requirement. All personnel performing under this requirement are subject to the provisions of this statute. The wage determinations have been provided to illustrate the required minimum wages and/or fringe benefits made under 41 U.S.C. 6703 or 6707(c) applicable to the employment in a given locality of one or more classes of service employees.

The following clause is hereby incorporated in full text to the Request for Proposal (RFP), pursuant to Executive Order 14042, Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors, signed September 09, 2021.

FAR-Council-Guidance-on-Agency-Issuance-of-Deviations-to-Implement-EO-14042.pdf (whitehouse.gov)

FAR Deviation Clause

Executive Order 14042 Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors

Baseline is FAC 2021-07, published in the Federal Register on August 11, 2021.

September 24, 2021 https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/FAR-Council-Guidance-on-Agency-Issuance-of-Deviations-to-Implement-EO-14042.pdf https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/FAR-Council-Guidance-on-Agency-Issuance-of-Deviations-to-Implement-EO-14042.pdf

PART 52—SOLICITATION PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT CLAUSES

Subpart 52.2—Text of Provisions and Clauses

[52.223-99 Ensuring Adequate COVID-19 Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors.

ENSURING ADEQUATE COVID-19 SAFETY PROTOCOLS FOR FEDERAL

CONTRACTORS (OCT 2021) (DEVIATION)

(a) Definition. As used in this clause –

United States or its outlying areas means—

(1) The fifty States;

(2) The District of Columbia;

(3) The commonwealths of Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands;

(4) The territories of American Samoa, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands;

and

(5) The minor outlying islands of Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Navassa Island, Palmyra Atoll, and Wake Atoll.

(b) Authority. This clause implements Executive Order 14042, Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors, dated September 9, 2021 (published in the Federal Register on September 14, 2021, 86 FR 50985).

(c) Compliance. The Contractor shall comply with all guidance, including guidance conveyed through Frequently Asked Questions, as amended during the performance of this contract, for contractor or subcontractor workplace locations published by the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force (Task Force Guidance) at For Federal Contractors | Safer Federal Workforce.

(d) Subcontracts. The Contractor shall include the substance of this clause, including this paragraph (d), in subcontracts at any tier that exceed the simplified acquisition threshold, as defined in Federal Acquisition Regulation 2.101 on the date of subcontract award, and are for services, including construction, performed in whole or in part within the United States or its outlying areas.

(End of clause)] https://www.saferfederalworkforce.gov/contractors/ https://www.saferfederalworkforce.gov/contractors/

The clause will be incorporated into the resulting contract. The proposal due date is extended, and proposals are due (via email) no later than Thursday, 21 October 2021, by 2:00 p.m. AZ time. Note: Arizona remains on Mountain Standard Time (MST) throughout the year. There is no Daylight Savings Time in Arizona. Please e-mail your proposal response to harrison@udall.gov.

If you have additional questions regarding the provided answers, please feel free to contact me at harrison@udall.gov.

Very Respectfully, Terri L. Harrison Contracting Officer

Encl.

Attachment 3 – CDRL A001 Contractors Progress Status and Management Report_REVISED, revised 04 October 2021 mailto:harrison@udall.gov