A02.12 PWS Application of Ensemble Datasets for Hydrologic Modeling.223.docx

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

Application of Ensemble Datasets for Hydrologic Modeling

Part 1: General Information

1. GENERAL: This is a non-personnel services contract to provide the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC) with documentation describing meteorologic and streamflow ensemble datasets that are typically provided for flow forecasting applications. The Government shall not exercise any supervision or control over the contract service providers performing the services herein. Such contract service providers shall be accountable solely to the Contractor who, in turn is responsible to the Government.

1.1 Description of Services/Introduction: The contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, transportation, tools, materials, supervision, and other items and non-personal services necessary to perform the investigation and documentation as defined in this Performance Work Statement (PWS) except for those items specified as government furnished property and services. The contractor shall perform to the standards in this contract.

1.2 Background:

The mission of HEC is to serve as the USACE Center of Expertise in the technical areas of surface and groundwater hydrology, river hydraulics and sediment transport, hydrologic statistics and risk analysis, reservoir system analysis, planning analysis, real-time water control management and a number of other closely associated technical subjects. HEC's primary goal is to support the nation in its water resources management responsibilities by increasing USACE’s technical capability in hydrologic engineering and water resources planning and management. In addition to supporting USACE along with Division and District Offices, the HEC provides technical support to the Corps overseas missions to include Afghanistan and Iraq. Additionally, HEC provides services to other Federal, state, local and international agencies engaged in these technical areas.

The primary way HEC accomplishes this mission is by developing state-of-the-art software tools bringing them to state-of-the practice that are reliably used by water resources engineers and planners. Since its inception in 1964, HEC has been developing and integrating software tools that support the water resources computing requirements for Corps field offices, headquarters, laboratories, and other Federal, state and international agencies. The software created by HEC has been developed with many software programing languages. Currently, much of the coding is done in the Java programming language, but portions also include Fortran, C/C++ and Visual Basic.net.

HEC software is used by the water management community to estimate possible future flood flows into reservoir systems. Typically, only one estimated future precipitation forecast has been used to simulate possible future inflow; however, the National Weather Service and other agencies have made ensemble datasets available recently. The ensemble datasets include both meteorology, precipitation and temperature, and streamflow. The ensemble datasets contain many possible scenarios of future meteorology and hydrology that take into account many different models and uncertainty in boundary conditions. These additional datasets provide additional information to aid water managers in effectively operation their projects.

1.3 Objectives:

The contractor is to investigate and document different ensemble meteorologic and streamflow datasets, as described in the PWS. The summarized information from this contract will allow staff to better understand available datasets for flood forecasting applications and design tools that seamlessly gather and utilize these ensemble datasets. These tools will be used by USACE water management staff.

1.4 Period of Performance:

The period of performance (PoP) for this contract is listed task by task. See Part 5, Specific Tasks, Deliverables and PoP Dates.

1.5 General Information

1.5.1 Quality Control: The contractor shall develop and maintain an effective quality control program to ensure services are performed in accordance with this PWS. The contractor shall develop and implement procedures to identify, prevent, and ensure non-recurrence of defective services. The contractor’s quality control program is the means by which he assures himself that his work complies with the requirement of the contract.

1.5.2 Quality Assurance: The government shall evaluate the contractor’s performance under this contract in accordance with the Performance Assessment Plan and Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan, shown in Technical Exhibit 1. This plan is primarily focused on what the Government must do to ensure that the contractor has performed in accordance with the performance standards. It defines how the performance standards will be applied, the frequency of surveillance, and the minimum acceptable defect rate(s).

1.5.3 Recognized Holidays: The contractor is not required to performance services on Federal Holidays.

1.5.4 Place of Performance: Most the work to be performed under this contract will be performed at the contractor’s facility. If needed, the contractor can periodically perform work or attend meetings virtually with HEC staff.

1.5.5 Type of Contract: The government will award a Firm Fixed-Price Task Order Contract.

1.5.6 Security Requirements When on-site at HEC the contractor and all associated sub-contractors employees (visitors) shall comply with the standards and procedures for all visitors at the facility. Visitors must sign in upon arrival, showing proper ID and sign out upon departure. All visitors will be escorted while on-site.

The Contractor must pre-screen Candidates using the E-verify Program (http://www.uscis.gov/e-verify) website to meet the established employment eligibility requirements. The Vendor must ensure that the Candidate has two valid forms of Government issued identification prior to enrollment to ensure the correct information is entered into the E-verify system.

1.5.6.1 Physical Security: The contractor and all associated sub-contractor employees shall comply with all applicable HEC access and local security policies and procedures. The contractor shall be responsible for safeguarding all government equipment, information and property provided for contractor use. If the contractor or sub-contractor is conducting work at HEC, at the close of each work period, government facilities, equipment, and materials shall be secured.

1.5.6.2 Key Control: If the contractor works at HEC and requires a key, the contractor shall establish and implement methods of making sure all keys/key cards issued to the Contractor by the Government are not lost or misplaced and are not used by unauthorized persons. NOTE: All references to keys include key cards. No keys issued to the Contractor by the Government shall be duplicated. The Contractor shall develop procedures covering key control that shall be included in the Quality Control Plan. Such procedures shall include turn-in of any issued keys by personnel who no longer require access to locked areas. The Contractor shall immediately report any occurrences of lost or duplicate keys/key cards to the Contracting Officer (KO).

1.5.6.2.1. In the event keys, other than master keys, are lost or duplicated, the Contractor shall, upon direction of the KO, re-key or replace the affected lock or locks; however, the Government, at its option, may replace the affected lock or locks or perform re-keying. When the replacement of locks or re-keying is performed by the Government, the total cost of re-keying or the replacement of the lock or locks shall be deducted from the monthly payment due the Contractor. In the event a master key is lost or duplicated, all locks and keys for that system shall be replaced by the Government and the total cost deducted from the monthly payment due the Contractor.

1.5.6.2.2. The Contractor shall prohibit the use of Government issued keys/key cards by any persons other than the Contractor’s employees. The Contractor shall prohibit the opening of locked areas by Contractor employees to permit entrance of persons other than Contractor employees engaged in the performance of assigned work in those areas, or personnel authorized entrance by the KO.

1.5.7 Special Qualifications: None.

1.5.8 Post Award Conference/Periodic Progress Meetings: The Contractor agrees to attend any post award conference convened by the contracting activity or contract administration office in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation Subpart 42.5. The KO, Contracting Officers Representative (COR), and other Government personnel, as appropriate, may meet periodically with the contractor to review the contractor's performance. At these meetings the KO will apprise the contractor of how the government views the contractor's performance and the contractor will apprise the Government of problems, if any, being experienced. Appropriate action shall be taken to resolve outstanding issues. These meetings shall be IAW/the base SATOC PWS para 1.3.1.12.1.

1.5.9 Contracting Officer Representative (COR): The COR will be identified by separate letter. The COR monitors all technical aspects of the contract and assists in contract administration. The COR is authorized to perform the following functions: assure that the Contractor performs the technical requirements of the contract; perform inspections necessary in connection with contract performance; maintain written and oral communications with the Contractor concerning technical aspects of the contract; issue written interpretations of technical requirements, including Government drawings, designs, specifications; monitor Contractor's performance and notifies both the KO and Contractor of any deficiencies; coordinate availability of government furnished property, and provide site entry of Contractor personnel. A letter of designation issued to the COR, a copy of which is sent to the Contractor, states the responsibilities and limitations of the COR, especially with regard to changes in cost or price, estimates or changes in delivery dates. The COR is not authorized to change any of the terms and conditions of the resulting order.

1.5.10 Key Personnel: The following personnel are considered key personnel by the government: Senior Software Analyst/Programmers, Senior Hydrologic Engineer and the Contractor’s Principal(s). The contractor shall provide a project/program manager who shall be responsible for the performance of the contract work. The name of this person and an alternate who shall act for the contractor when the manager is absent shall be designated in writing to the COR. Qualifications for all key personnel are listed below:

1.5.10.1 Contractor Experience: The contractor must have extensive hydrologic modeling experience with an emphasis on data analysis and flood forecasting. This skill set needs to include knowledge of water resources engineering in the context of the USACE mission requirements for hydrologic simulation. Key personnel should have appropriate abilities in the following areas:

· Have a high level of knowledge and experience with hydrologic modeling and flood forecasting.

· Have a high level of knowledge and experience with numerical weather forecast models

· Knowledge of ensemble streamflow datasets and how they are created

· Knowledge of ensemble meteorologic datasets and how they are created

· Knowledge of application of ensemble meteorologic datasets to hydrologic modeling

· Possess over five years of experience in hydrologic simulation

· Technical writing

1.5.10.2 Contractor Past Performance: The contractor must have a positive record of past performance on projects that are the same or very similar to the work described in the Performance Work Statement. This includes application of large integrated software systems used for performing advanced numerical calculations. This also includes meeting project deadlines and the responsiveness to requests for information.

1.5.10.3 Identification of Contractor Employees: All contract personnel attending meetings, answering Government telephones, and working in other situations where their contractor status is not obvious to third parties are required to identify themselves as such to avoid creating an impression in the minds of members of the public that they are Government officials.

1.5.11 Contractor Travel: The contractor is not expected to travel as part of this contract. All meetings will be held virtually.

1.5.12 Other Direct Costs: No other direct costs are anticipated within the PWS.

1.5.13 Data Rights: The Government has unlimited rights to all documents/material produced under this contract. All documents and materials, produced under this contract shall be Government owned and are the property of the Government with all rights and privileges of ownership/copyright belonging exclusively to the Government. These documents and materials may not be used or sold by the contractor without written permission from the KO. All materials supplied to the Government shall be the sole property of the Government and may not be used for any other purpose. This right does not abrogate any other Government rights.

1.5.14 Organizational Conflict of Interest: Contractor and subcontractor personnel performing work under this contract may receive, have access to or participate in the development of proprietary or source selection information (e.g., cost or pricing information, budget information or analyses, specifications or work statements, etc.) or perform evaluation services which may create a current or subsequent Organizational Conflict of Interests (OCI) as defined in FAR Subpart 9.5. The Contractor shall notify the KO immediately whenever it becomes aware that such access or participation may result in any actual or potential OCI and shall promptly submit a plan to the KO to avoid or mitigate any such OCI. The Contractor’s mitigation plan will be determined to be acceptable solely at the discretion of the KO and in the event the KO unilaterally determines that any such OCI cannot be satisfactorily avoided or mitigated, the KO may affect other remedies as he or she deems necessary, including prohibiting the Contractor from participation in subsequent contracted requirements which may be affected by the OCI.

PART 2

DEFINITIONS & ACRONYMS

2. DEFINITIONS AND ACRONYMS:

2.1. DEFINITIONS: Terms used within the PWS that required definition are listed below.

2.1.1. CONTRACTOR. A supplier or vendor awarded a contract to provide specific supplies or service to the government. The term used in this contract refers to the prime.

2.1.2. CONTRACTING OFFICER. A person with authority to enter into, administer, and or terminate contracts, and make related determinations and findings on behalf of the government. Note: The only individual who can legally bind the government.

2.1.3. CONTRACTING OFFICER'S REPRESENTATIVE (COR). An employee of the U.S. Government appointed by the KO to administer the contract. Such appointment shall be in writing and shall state the scope of authority and limitations. This individual has authority to provide technical direction to the Contractor as long as that direction is within the scope of the contract, does not constitute a change, and has no funding implications. This individual does NOT have authority to change the terms and conditions of the contract.

2.1.4. DEFECTIVE SERVICE. A service output that does not meet the standard of performance associated with the Performance Work Statement.

2.1.5. DELIVERABLE. Anything that can be physically delivered, but may include non-manufactured things such as meeting minutes or reports.

2.1.6. KEY PERSONNEL. Contractor personnel that are evaluated proposed and accepted in the source selection negotiation process and that may be required to be used in the performance of a contract by the Key Personnel listed in the PWS. When key personnel are used as an evaluation factor in best value procurement, an offer can be rejected if it does not have a firm commitment from the persons that are listed in the proposal.

2.1.7. PHYSICAL SECURITY. Actions that prevent the loss or damage of Government property.

2.1.8. QUALITY ASSURANCE. The government procedures to verify that services being performed by the Contractor are performed according to acceptable standards.

2.1.9. QUALITY ASSURANCE Surveillance Plan (QASP). An organized written document specifying the surveillance methodology to be used for surveillance of contractor performance.

2.1.10. QUALITY CONTROL. All necessary measures taken by the Contractor to assure that the quality of an end product or service shall meet contract requirements.

2.1.11. SUBCONTRACTOR. One that enters into a contract with a prime contractor. The Government does not have privity of contract with the subcontractor.

2.1.12. WORK DAY. The number of hours per day the Contractor provides services in accordance with the contract.

2.1.12. WORK WEEK. Monday through Friday, unless specified otherwise.

2.2. ACRONYMS:

PART 3

GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY, EQUIPMENT, AND SERVICES

3. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED ITEMS AND SERVICES:

3.1 Facilities: If the contractor requires access to HEC facilities, the Government will provide the necessary workspace for contractor staff, including desk space (when available), telephones, computers and other items necessary to maintain an office environment.

3.2 Equipment: If government property is needed to perform the specific tasks, the Government will provide computers or any other necessary equipment required to support the work outlined in the PWS.

3.3 Materials: The Government will provide any necessary software code required to perform tasks described in the PWS.

PART 4

CONTRACTOR FURNISHED ITEMS AND SERVICES

4. CONTRACTOR FURNISHED ITEMS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

4.1 General: The Contractor shall furnish all supplies, equipment, facilities and services required to perform work under this contract that are not listed under Section 3 of this PWS.

4.2. Equipment: The Contractor is not expected to purchase software licenses as part of this contract.

PART 5

SPECIFIC TASKS

5. Specific Tasks:

The following tasks need to be completed to as part of the PWS.

Task 1: Meetings. Meetings will be held prior to tasks beginning to review planned work and discuss deliverables. Meetings will also be held after deliverables are submitted for review to discuss relevant findings and questions from HEC. Each meeting will last approximately two hours and will be held by webinar. The meetings will be attended by one senior and one mid-level engineer associated with the contractor’s office. The contractor will take meeting notes and will provide them to HEC within 10 days of the meeting. The following table identifies each meeting.

Task 1 Deliverables: The contractor will provide notes for each meeting to the USACE technical lead within 10 days of the meeting. The meeting notes will document main discussion points and actions items. HEC staff will review the submitted meetings notes and provide comments to the contractor within 7 days of receipt of the draft deliverables. The contractor will correct any inaccuracies or inconsistencies noted by HEC staff and submit revised meeting notes for final acceptance within 7 days of receiving comments from HEC staff.

The period of performance for Task 1 is 198 days from award.

Task 2: Document the Hydrologic Ensemble Forecasting System (HEFS) Dataset Developed by the National Weather Service. Research and document the Hydrologic Ensemble Forecasting System (HEFS) dataset. Document findings in a report that is no more than 50 pages in length and develop a PowerPoint presentation for a 30-minute presentation to be delivered during the Task 2 review meeting. Address the following topics in the report and presentation material.

· Define an ensemble and an ensemble dataset both flow and precipitation ensembles

· Describe why the NWS and others have moved to the use of ensembles

· Describe how the HEFS dataset is developed

· Describe the difference in HEFS dataset and the legacy Ensemble Streamflow Prediction (ESP) dataset that HEFS is replacing

· Describe the meteorologic model and boundary conditions used in HEFS

· Describe how the meteorologic model results are bias corrected

· Describe the hydrologic modeling used to transform meteorologic boundary conditions to flow hydrographs

· Describe how the flow hydrographs are bias corrected

· Describe how uncertainty in meteorology boundary conditions and hydrologic model is incorporated into the ensemble flow dataset

· Describe how the “best” forecast is computed and whether all ensemble members have an equal chance of occurrence

· Describe other HEFS products such as Snow Water Equivalent and temperature

· Document basic information about the HEFS dataset

· What is the time window and time step of the flow hydrographs?

· What locations are flow hydrographs and other products available?

· How often are the HEFS dataset updated?

· Are the meteorologic boundary conditions available, including non-bias corrected datasets?

Task 2 is not expected to exceed 80 hours of effort performed by a senior civil engineer and 60 hours of effort performed by a mid-level civil engineer.

Task 2 Deliverables: Via email, the contractor shall submit the draft report (using Microsoft Word) 60 days after the contract award date. HEC will review the submitted report and provide comments to the contractor within 7 days of receipt of the draft report. The contractor will address comments and questions noted by HEC staff and submit a revised report for final acceptance within 7 days of receiving comments from HEC staff. The contractor will submit PowerPoint slides highlighting important findings included in the final report and present the slides in a 30-minute presentation during the Task 2 review meeting. The PowerPoint slides and presentation with the revised report.

The period of performance for Task 2 is 74 days from award.

Task 3: Document Deterministic Meteorologic Forecast Datasets. There are many deterministic (single best estimate) meteorologic forecast datasets available to the public. In this task, the contractor will research and document readily available meteorologic forecast datasets. These datasets should be publicly available, updated daily, have a temporal time step of six hours or less, and be grid based. Document no more than ten models/datasets, examples could include:

· Global Forecast System (GFS)

· European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)

· NOAA WPC

· National Blend of Models

· Global Ensemble Forecast System (GEFS) Ensemble Mean

· ECMWF Ensemble Mean

· North America Mesoscale Forecast System (NAM)

· High Resolution Ensemble Forecast (HREF)

· HiRes Window

· High-Resolution Rapid Refresh Document findings in a report that is no more than 50 pages in length and develop a PowerPoint presentation for a 30-minute presentation to be delivered during the Task 3 review meeting. Address the following topics in the report and presentation material.

· Describe the atmospheric model used to generate the forecast and include the following:

· Grid spacing

· Simulation time step

· Owner of the dataset

· Provide a link to the dataset

· List available meteorologic variables for coupling to hydrologic models

· Define the time step of dataset

· Describe the data format

· Describe how often the dataset is updated Task 3 is not expected to exceed 40 hours of effort performed by a senior civil engineer and 80 hours of effort performed by a mid-level civil engineer.

Task 3 Deliverables: Via email, the contractor shall submit the draft report (using Microsoft Word) 90 days after the contract award date. HEC will review the submitted report and provide comments to the contractor within 7 days of receipt of the draft report. The contractor will address comments and questions noted by HEC staff and submit a revised report for final acceptance within 7 days of receiving comments from HEC staff. The contractor will submit PowerPoint slides highlighting important findings included in the final report and present the slides in a 30-minute presentation during the Task 3 review meeting. The PowerPoint slides and presentation with the revised report.

The period of performance for Task 3 is 104 days from award.

Task 4: Document Ensemble Meteorologic Forecast Datasets. There are many ensemble meteorologic forecast datasets available to the public. In this task, the contractor will research and document available ensemble meteorologic forecast datasets. These datasets should be publicly available, updated daily, have a temporal time step of six hours or less, and be grid based. Document no more than four models/datasets, examples could include:

· Global Ensemble Forecast System (GEFS)

· Global Forecast System (GFS) Ensemble

· European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)

· National Blend of Models Document findings in a report that is no more than 50 pages in length and develop a PowerPoint presentation for a 30-minute presentation to be delivered during the Task 4 review meeting. Address the following topics in the report and presentation material.

· Describe the atmospheric model used to generate the forecast and include the following:

· Grid spacing

· Simulation time step

· Owner of the dataset

· Describe how the ensemble is created, through boundary conditions perturbations or other techniques

· Provide a link to the dataset

· Describe the distribution mechanisms, e.g. NOMADS, THREDDS, OPeNDAP, etc.

· List available meteorologic variables for coupling to hydrologic models

· Define the time step of dataset

· Describe the data format

· Describe how often the dataset is updated

· Describe summary information (grids) that area available

· Indicate whether data is available for all ensemble members or only the mean

· Qualify the dataset as for fee or for free

· Qualify the authentication required to access the dataset Task 4 is not expected to exceed 40 hours of effort performed by a senior civil engineer and 40 hours of effort performed by a mid-level civil engineer.

Task 4 Deliverables: Via email, the contractor shall submit the draft report (using Microsoft Word) 120 days after the contract award date. HEC will review the submitted report and provide comments to the contractor within 7 days of receipt of the draft report. The contractor will address comments and questions noted by HEC staff and submit a revised report for final acceptance within 7 days of receiving comments from HEC staff. The contractor will submit PowerPoint slides highlighting important findings included in the final report and present the slides in a 30-minute presentation during the Task 4 review meeting. The PowerPoint slides and presentation with the revised report.

The period of performance for Task 4 is 134 days from award Task 5 Make a Recommendation for Application of Forecast Datasets, both Ensemble and Deterministic, to Hydrologic Modeling. In this task, the contractor will document a workflow showing how both deterministic and ensemble forecast datasets can be used in hydrologic modeling by USACE water management staff using the Corps Water Management System (CWMS) to generate an ensemble of flow forecasts. The processes need to consider inflow to a reservoir as well as local flows downstream of the reservoir. Build into the workflow multiple pathways for bias correcting either the meteorologic data, computed flow results, or both. One possible application of ensemble forecasting is to use gridded forecasts from multiple deterministic forecast datasets (including the mean forecast from an ensemble dataset). Another possible application of ensemble forecasting is to use one of the gridded ensemble forecast datasets, like the GEFS dataset, and apply all ensemble members to a calibrated hydrologic model. In addition to multiple meteorologic options, incorporating uncertainty in hydrologic model parameters would add more members to the ensemble dataset.

Include application of ensemble forecasts into planning studies as well, where scenarios of possible reservoir operation alternatives are evaluated prior to implementation in daily reservoir operations. In this case, scenarios need to be simulated using ensemble datasets that reflect the skill and performance of the ensemble dataset as would be applied to flood forecasting.

Document findings in a report that is no more than 50 pages in length and develop a PowerPoint presentation for a 30-minute presentation to be delivered during the Task 5 review meeting.

Task 5 is not expected to exceed 40 hours of effort performed by a senior civil engineer and 60 hours of effort performed by a mid-level civil engineer.

Task 5 Deliverables: Via email, the contractor shall submit the draft report (using Microsoft Word) 150 days after the contract award date. HEC will review the submitted report and provide comments to the contractor within 7 days of receipt of the draft report. The contractor will address comments and questions noted by HEC staff and submit a revised report for final acceptance within 7 days of receiving comments from HEC staff. The contractor will submit PowerPoint slides highlighting important findings included in the final report and present the slides in a 30-minute presentation during the Task 5 review meeting. The PowerPoint slides and presentation with the revised report.

The period of performance for Task 5 is 164 days from award.

PART 6

APPLICABLE PUBLICATIONS

6. APPLICABLE PUBLICATIONS (CURRENT EDITIONS)

6.1. The Contractor must abide by all applicable regulations, publications, manuals, and local policies and procedures.

PART 7

ATTACHMENT/TECHNICAL EXHIBIT LISTING

7. Attachment/Technical Exhibit List:

7.1. Attachment 1/Technical Exhibit 1 – Performance Requirements Summary

7.2. Attachment 2/Technical Exhibit 2 – Deliverables Schedule

TECHNICAL EXHIBIT 1

Performance Requirements Summary The contractor service requirements are summarized into performance objectives that relate directly to mission essential items. The performance threshold briefly describes the minimum acceptable levels of service required for each requirement, e.g. “95% of the time.” These thresholds are critical to mission success.

QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEILLANCE PLAN (QASP)

Contractor shall comply with assuring the required log contains all required information that has been requested.

a. Timeliness - 100% Completion and submittal of log monthly if work has been requested

b. Quality All work is performed to industry standard 95% of the time

Periodic Surveillance

Inspection by the Government

100% Completion and submittal requested work.

b. Quality All work is performed to industry standard 95% of the time 100% Surveillance

Inspection by the Government

Performance Assessment Plan:

1. Monitoring Performance. During the course of the evaluation period, the COR will track Contractor performance. Interim (mid-term) evaluations may be provided to identify strengths and weaknesses in the Contractor's performance during the period being evaluated. At the end of the period, the COR will assess the Contractor's performance in accordance with the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) and report to the KO.

1. Contractor Self-Assessment. Following each evaluation period, the Contractor may provide a written self-assessment of its performance to the COR to be considered in its report to the KO. The self-assessment may be submitted not later than 5 working days after the end of each evaluation period. The self-evaluation should not exceed 1 page per PRS element. The self-assessment should address both the strengths and weaknesses of the Contractor's performance during the evaluation period. Where deficiencies in performance are noted, the Contractor shall describe the actions planned or taken to correct such deficiencies and avoid their recurrence. The self-assessment itself will NOT be the basis for the payment re-calculation determination.

1. COR Recommendation. The COR will consider all evaluations and any other pertinent information, including Contractor self-assessment, and will prepare a report to the KO with findings and recommendations. The Contractor will be provided a copy of the draft findings and recommendations of the COR and will be afforded the opportunity to identify factual errors. The COR's draft recommendation is not subject to negotiation and the COR will not engage in discussions with the Contractor. Any errors identified by the Contractor will be addressed by the COR in its final report. The Contractor will be provided a copy of the final COR report at the same time the report is submitted to the KO.

1. Payment Determination. The KO may meet with the COR to discuss the COR's report. The KO will make a final determination in writing as to the percentage of work successfully completed, and the resulting payment to be made. A copy of the determination will be provided to the Contractor no later than 45 calendar days after the end of the period being evaluated. All KO decisions regarding payment re-calculations are unilateral decisions made solely at the discretion of the Government.

1. Payment Re-Calculations. Notwithstanding any other clause of this contract, payment re-calculations will be made within the later of 60 days after the end of the evaluation period or 30 days after receipt of an approved invoice.

1. The Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan is one evaluation method the government uses to surveillance performance to determine whether the Contractor meets the standards of performance as defined in the PWS. The absence of a QASP for any contract requirement, however, shall not detract from its enforceability or limit the rights or remedies of the government under any other provision of the contract in determining the quality of the Contractor performance.

TECHNICAL EXHIBIT 2

DELIVERABLES SCHEDULE

Deliverable