VTCMinutes_010715.pdf

VIPR VTC AGENDA/MINUTES

01/07/2015

1) REQUIRED REGISTRATIONS FOR CONDUCTING BUSINESS WITH THE GOVERNMENT

a) A valid e-mail address – All VIPR business is conducted electronically and all notifications are sent to the email address you list in VIPR. Check to be sure messages from Anne

Weiskircher and the automated VIPR system are not going to your junk mail box.

b) SAM: https://www.sam.gov –Vendors must have an active registration, which must be updated annually to remain active. SAM is tied to the financial system; you cannot do business with the government or get paid without an active SAM registration.

c) eAuthentication: http://www.fs.fed.us/business/incident/eauth.php - Sign up for an eAuthentication account using this link. You cannot even register in VIPR to submit a quote without an eAuthentication user ID and password. It is a two-step process.

Complete the online application, then visit a Local Registration Authority (LRA) with your government-issued picture ID to verify your account. LRAs are listed on the eAuth website; call first to make sure the LRA is available. The eAuth account is so you can legally sign the electronic quote.

d) Set asides and small business size standards:

https://www.sba.gov/category/navigation-structure/contracting/contracting-officials/small-business-size-standards - All FY2015 solicitations have been set aside for

HubZone small businesses, SDVOSB, and all other small businesses. HubZone and

SDVOSB get a 5% price advantage for ranking on the Dispatch Priority List (DPL).

2) HOW RESPONSES ARE EVALUATED – SECTION B.3

a) Responses must have a reasonable price, operational acceptability and past performance dependability risk of low or unknown. If you have a lot of unacceptable performance evaluations, you will be marked as a High Dependability risk preventing you from receiving an award. Every vendor should receive a Performance Evaluation, found in Exhibit E, during demob. Ideally, the government individual supervising your equipment should discuss it with you and give you an opportunity to make comments.

If not, finance will give you your copy when you demob. If you want to add comments, you can write them in and send Anne a copy of your Evaluation along with your comments.

3) VIPR VENDOR APPLICATION: http://www.fs.fed.us/business/incident/vendorapp.php https://www.sam.gov/ http://www.fs.fed.us/business/incident/eauth.php https://www.sba.gov/category/navigation-structure/contracting/contracting-officials/small-business-size-standards https://www.sba.gov/category/navigation-structure/contracting/contracting-officials/small-business-size-standards http://www.fs.fed.us/business/incident/vendorapp.php

a) Vendor Help Desk: help@dms.nwcg.gov or 1-866-224-7677

b) Overview for Using the Vendor App – Consult these helps if you have a difficult time completing the VIPR Vendor Application. Also look on the bottom of each screen within the application for an online Help link that is targeted to the page you are working on.

4) A SOLICITATION OVERVIEW – Section D – Vendors are responsible to read the entire solicitation, including the clauses, so they know what the equipment requirements are and what they are responsible to provide. They should do this before submitting a quote. If any further questions arise, please send them by email to Anne at aweiskircher@fs.fed.us so she can get clarification regarding any equipment questions.

a) For a comparison of this year’s requirements to last year’s agreements, go to the VIPR website under Solicitations http://www.fs.fed.us/business/incident/solicitations.php;

scroll down until you see Solicitation Template Modifications and read the latest mod.

Click on View Archive of Updates to see any previous updates since the last time your agreement was modified. – Most important changes were made to Potable & Gray Water and Miscellaneous Heavy Equipment. Be sure to review those changes before submitting your quote. Review Exhibit H also, which contains requirements for Region 3 only. For example, vendors with Miscellaneous Heavy Equipment are required to send Anne pictures of the equipment nameplate containing the Serial Number and HP rating.

In addition, you must submit either pictures of the manufacturer’s nameplate certifying the operator enclosure or alternative documentation that he cab meets the provisions required. You must email any pictures; you can’t include them in the VIPR vendor app.

5) EXHIBITS

a) VENDOR FIRE TRAINING D.3.1, Exhibit F, Exhibit I – Everyone should review Exhibit F. No special fire training is required for the Potable & Gray Water truck & trailer-mounted handwashing station operators, but the Miscellaneous Heavy Equipment operators are required to have RT-130, Fire Refresher with Fire Shelter. Find sources of required training now. Most fire training occurs in late Winter to early Spring. Consult Exhibit I.

b) US DEPARTMENT OF LABOR (DOL) WAGE DETERMINATION (Exhibit D) and new FAR clause 52.222-99: http://www.dol.gov/compliance/laws/comp-sca.htm - A notice is posted to https://www.fbo.gov explaining the new minimum wage effective January 1 based on an Executive Order signed by President Obama in early 2014. We were expecting to have a new DOL Wage Determination to add to the solicitations during the maintenance cycle scheduled for the end of January; however, DOL has not yet issued a new Wage Determination. However, clause 52.212-5 will be updated to include the new minimum wage clause, which was renumbered 52.222-55, Minimum Wages Under mailto:help@dms.nwcg.gov mailto:aweiskircher@fs.fed.us http://www.fs.fed.us/business/incident/solicitations.php http://www.dol.gov/compliance/laws/comp-sca.htm https://www.fbo.gov/

Executive Order 13658, requiring federal contractors to pay a minimum wage of $10.10 to their employees unless the Wage Determination specifies a higher minimum wage.

By the way, VIPR is scheduled to be down for approximately 1.5 days beginning January

26, 2015, which is why these solicitations don’t close until February 4.

6) VIPR EXTERNAL WEBSITE DEMONSTRATION (if time allows) http://www.fs.fed.us/business/incident/vipr.php - No demo; technical problems late in the meeting.

7) QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS—If vendors have further questions about specific contract requirements, they should submit them via e-mail to Anne Weiskircher for Miscellaneous

HE; Potable & Gray Water Trucks & TMHW; and Mobile Laundry Units at aweiskircher@fs.fed.us. Questions may need to be elevated to equipment specialists or

VIPR team.

Q – Are we required to haul kitchen waste in our gray water truck? According to Arizona DEQ, kitchen waste isn’t considered gray water. I’ve seen it with grease, blood, and meat particles in it before. That isn’t gray water. Will they hire black water trucks to pump it?

A – Usually the incident team will request a gray water truck specifically for kitchens. The ADEQ regulations for gray water are really not written for hauling gray water but for water systems.

As long as the kitchen waste is disposed of in a proper facility, there shouldn’t be any problem with using your truck for showers or handwashing stations the next time. However, if any vendor doesn’t want to contaminate their truck by hauling kitchen waste, they can turn down the assignment with no repercussions.

Q – The changes to the gray water solicitation say that a black water truck can be used if it’s been cleaned. What procedures do we follow so we know we’re doing it right and will be accepted? Are there or will there be written procedures and certification by a third party for cleaning a black water truck to use for gray water?

A – No written procedures, but tank must be sanitary and odor free. So if you don’t clean it properly and an inspector smells a four odor, you risk getting demobed from the incident. You must also have completely different hoses and fittings used for gray water only. NOTE: Seemed to be differing interpretations about using black water trucks for gray water after being cleaned.

Anne will elevate this question to the Contract Equipment Task Team for clarification.

Q – Can we get a definitive answer whether kitchen waste is considered black water or gray water?

http://www.fs.fed.us/business/incident/vipr.php mailto:aweiskircher@fs.fed.us

A – That depends on what the facilities people request for the incident. For disposal purposes, kitchen wastes must be disposed of in a proper facility, not sprayed on the ground like gray water sometimes is.

Q – Why are advantage points given for sink units to rank them when the incidents just request a trailer-mounted sink unit?

A – More sinks have been determined to be more advantageous by fire personnel, so they are given more points to determine ranking. In addition, incident personnel may order a sink unit with “a minimum of 12 sinks” or however many they want. This would provide justification for passing up a higher ranked unit because it doesn’t meet what the incident needs.

Q – I sent a question a few weeks ago asking about the chlorine residual being between 0.2 – 1.

Solicitation says to dump the load if the residual goes over 1. The EPA allows a chlorine level up to 4.0.

The 0.2 – 1 ppm levels referenced in the solicitation are a minimum free chlorine level that needs to be maintained. The intent of maintaining a free chlorine level is to have some chlorine left over in the tanks that is available to inactivate disease-causing organisms; it is used as a measure of potability of water. If levels drop below the 0.2 the load has to be dumped. It may contain as much as 4.0 ppm, but the chlorine levels are not usually that high.

Q – Where do we need to test our potable water? I usually take mine to Holbrook but that might not work when on a fire. If it’s tested before going to a fire, is that good enough?

A – You can find a lab where you can overnight your water samples and get a result while at an incident. We want you to travel to an incident with your tank empty. The government will provide the source of the potable water, but it needs to be tested so we can ensure that your tank doesn’t contain anything that would contaminate the water. Vendors need to read the section on Potable Water thoroughly to learn about bacterial testing and other requirements for their equipment.

Q – Solicitation says we need to carry one complete copy of our agreement instead of two like in the past. Do we also need to carry two finance copies?

A – The solicitation only specifies one complete copy of the agreement. It’s a good idea to carry a couple finance copies in case the finance unit needs one with your resources and prices to include in your finance package. The complete copy helps prevent misunderstandings from occurring. Vendors should be thoroughly familiar with the terms of their agreement so they can show incident personnel exactly what they are expected to do and to have on their resource. Incident personnel work other jobs throughout the year or come from other agencies, so they are not always familiar with what is in the VIPR agreements. In the case of a dispute, ask incident personnel to call the Contracting Officer so the dispute can be resolved.

Q – You said you wanted us to notify you if we or our equipment isn’t available? Isn’t that what

ROSS is for? If we make ourselves unavailable in ROSS, do you still want a phone call or email?

A – Usually only tactical resources are listed in ROSS. Others are “Fill with Agreement.”

According to the Southwest Area Standard Operating Procedures the following are listed in

ROSS besides the water handling equipment and heavy equipment: Mobile Laundry Units, Potable & Gray Water trucks and all of the Miscellaneous Heavy Equipment resources and

Transports. If you are statusing yourself in ROSS, there is no need to notify the CO if you are unavailable. Trailer-mounted Handwashing Stations are not in ROSS but are “Fill with

Agreement.”

Q – I have a national shower unit and don’t know why they allow the gray water trucks with the centrifugal pumps. Those pumps can’t empty my gray water bladders completely like the vacuum trucks can. My contract says I can’t travel until my bladders are completely empty. So do I just sit around and wait until they get someone else who can empty them before I leave?

Do I get paid for sitting around and waiting?

A – The CETT determined that centrifugal and vacuum pumps are acceptable; I can’t change that. As far as your payment goes, you need to contact your Contracting Officer to ask that question. I don’t know the terms that are in your contract.

Q – You said that there are no Double Shifts for potable & gray water trucks, but the trailer-mounted handwashing stations must operate 24 hours a day. Do I have to have a 2nd operator for the night shift? If not, then when does the operator get to sleep?

A – The handwashing stations must be available so they are available for personnel late in the day, but an operator doesn’t need to stay with the unit 24 hours a day. The operator should ensure that everything is stocked and working correctly before retiring for the night. But the owner should know that his daily rate covers a 24-hour period.

Q – Will our equipment be inspected? It’s too expensive for us to haul our heavy equipment to

Albuquerque or Tucson for those big inspections.

A – Preseason inspections will be done depending upon the availability of inspection personnel.

If available before the fires start burning, they’ll call you and make arrangements to come to your place of business to inspect your equipment. We mostly look at those who hold the top few places on the DPL. Most vendors like the inspections so they know their resources are ready for fire. But everything gets inspected once it is on an incident, too. There will be a mechanical inspection and a contract compliance inspection.

Q – Are inspections required for Initial Attack (IA)? I’ve been on fires in the past where nothing was inspected.

A – For IA the intent is to get the necessary resources there as quickly as possible so they may not get inspected, at least during IA. We’ll try to catch up with them in a few days if the incident is still ongoing. Some Type 3 fires in particular don’t have the manpower to conduct inspections other than cursory mechanical inspections, but we almost always have inspectors on Type 1 and 2 fires. We are planning another ICPI inspector training this Spring so hopefully we’ll have more people available to inspect your resources.