Draft_Atch_J-2_-_Ordering_Instructions.docx

National Geospatial Services Ordering Instructions

1. General Information. This contract is available for use by any Forest Service office throughout the United States. Task orders may only be issued by a Forest Service Ordering Procuring Contracting Officer (OPCO) with a warrant authority covering the value of the task order to be issued. Ordering activities are invited to first contact Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) for the basic contract, Ron Carlile (rcarlile@fs.fed.us; (801) 975-3458, to obtain information on the process for placing task orders under this contract. Additionally, the GIS Services Contract website (http://fswebgstc.gsc.wo.fs.fed.us/services/applications_tools/data_service_contract/index.php) also provides procedural information. Ordering activities are allowed to contact the contractors directly to obtain information for planning purposes, rough orders of magnitude, or to perform market research. OPCOs should contact the Administrative Contracting Officer (ACO) for the basic contract, Mary Shinney (mshinney@fs.fed.us; (801) 975-3783) for contract scope determinations.

Ordering: Orders will be issued in accordance with the ordering clause (FAR 52.216-18) of this contract. OPCOs may include terms and conditions specific to their task order however, the terms and condition of the basic contract shall have precedence over the task order.

Source Selection Procedures: All proposals will be evaluated, or if applicable (e.g. in the case of one offer received), negotiated. The contractor whose offer provides the best value solution to the Government will be issued a FFP task order. Ordering agencies may use any combination of source selection procedures on the best value continuum (see FAR Part 15.101).

Competition: The National GIS is a multiple award ID/IQ therefore, the ordering activity must advertise the requirement to all of the National GIS ID/IQ contractors unless an exception applies in accordance with FAR Part 16.505.

CPARS: It is the responsibility of the AO at the contracting or requiring activity placing the order to complete a separate CPAR for each order when the individual order exceeds the threshold, as listed in Table 1“Business Sector, Dollar Threshold and Reviewing Official.” For these evaluations, the period of performance for the evaluation should be based on the effective date/award date of the individual order. The ordering office must initiate and perform past performance evaluations in the Contractor Performance Assessment Report System (CPARS) (https://www.cpars.gov/) for any task order where the value is at or above the simplified acquisition threshold.

Task Tracker: The contractor shall be required to timely enter all task information into an FSWEB application named “Task Tracker” found at http://fswebgstc.gsc.wo.fs.fed.us/services/task_tracker/search.php?deptID=1. This application helps the Forest Service track tasks and invoicing by collecting information related to task descriptions, cost, due dates, and task requesting units, among other items.

2. Procedures. The following shall be used for issuance, negotiation, and award of task orders under this contract:

(a) The OPCO will provide the contractor with a Request for Quote/Request for Proposal (RFQ/RFP) for each proposed task order that contains the information in FAR Part 16.505(a)(7) which includes:

i) The description of services and scope of the work required (e.g. Performance Work Statement, Statement of Work, Statement of Objectives, etc.), required key personnel positions, labor rate, travel requirements, quantity, unit price, accounting and appropriation data, and payment office.

ii) The period of performance, place of performance, hours of operation, delivery instructions, and any other site-specific information.

iii) Any spreadsheets, templates, standard drawings or forms the Government requires the contractor to use during the performance period.

iv) Previous data or studies that might affect the performance of the work.

v) The Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) for the task order. Performance measures for individual FS units have not been established and it is every ordering activity’s responsibility to determine and perform the appropriate level of quality assurance required for their effort.

vi) Government Point of Contact (PoC) including the OPCO, technical points of contact, and the identification of the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) for the task order.

vii) Identification of the Government Furnished Property (GFP), data, materials, and instructions to perform under the task order. (Note: It is the ordering activity’s responsibility to provide the contractor with the GFP (e.g. work stations, computer equipment with FS network access capability, office supplies, material and task related information) and building and network access (e.g. LincPass) (see Attachment 1) necessary to perform under the task order. Failure to properly identify and provide required GFP or information to the contractor may result in performance delays and increased costs.)

viii) Identification of deliverables. Requests for deliverables should include the data deliverable content, delivery location and PoC, required delivery date, Section 508 compliance statement, and any other pertinent information.

ix) Contractor access to any Natural Resource Management website applications that are required for performance under the task order.

(b) The contractor will respond with a written Firm Fixed Price (FFP) proposal, the approach to be used in performing the requirements, and any additional information deemed necessary to support the pricing rational for the order. The contractor’s proposal shall minimally include (i) a brief technical discussion describing how the work will be performed; (ii) submit a price proposal identifying the price; and (iii) identify any government property, information, or system access required for performance. The contractor shall submit their response to the OPCO according to the response time in the RFQ/RFP.

The proposal the contractor submits will be based on the number of hours required to complete the task. The hourly rates for each job category have been negotiated at the time of award, and are FFP. Additional items that may be negotiated by task order are the proposed number of hours, period of performance, innovations, methodology, technological advances or any other technical factor that the unit is seeking in obtaining the best product in meeting their needs.

Incidental Travel and Other Direct Costs, if applicable, may be proposed as Cost Reimbursable – No Fee.

(c) Upon receipt of the proposal, the OPCO will analyze the proposal and, if acceptable, issue a task order directing the contractor to commence performance, or if the proposal is not fully acceptable as offered, negotiations shall be conducted prior to issuance of any task order. In the event issues pertaining to proposed work cannot be resolved to the satisfaction of the OPCO, the OPCO reserves the right to withdraw and cancel the proposed work. In such event, the contractor shall be notified of the OPCO’s decision. This decision shall be final and conclusive and shall not be subject to appeal under the Disputes clause or the Contract Disputes Act.

(d) The OPCO shall provide the ACO with an electronic copy of the awarded task order within three (3) business days of task order issuance.

(e) In addition, the OPCO shall be required to provide an annual contracting status to the ACO. Failure to comply with this reporting submission may result in suspension of the OPCO’s authority to issue orders against this contract. This report is due annually on 01 October and shall include the following items for each resultant award:

i. Contract number

ii. Contract award date

iii. Contracting Officer name and telephone number

iv. Number of task orders placed to date by the OPCO, by base and option period (if applicable)

v. Amount of all task orders placed to date by the OPCO, by base and option period (if applicable)

Attachment 1 Instructions for Non-Forest Service Personnel Access to Forest Service Facilities and Information Technology Systems

1. Federal Facility Access Without LincPass

If a LincPass is not required for contractor personnel under a task order, the PCO/COR may request/coordinate the issuance of a building/area access card via their local process.

2. Forest Service Email

New FS email account requests must be submitted by the PCO/COR through an ID Admin Profile Request to the Chief Information Officer (CIO) via the CHD Portal at https://usda-servicedesk.fed.onbmc.com/arsys/forms/onbmc-s/SRS%3AServiceRequestConsole/Default+Administrator+View/?cacheid=87af3c4b. Alternatively, the PCO/COR may also contact the CIO by sending an e-mail to: chd@fs.fed.us, or by calling the Help Desk at 1-866-945-1354.

3. Person Model and LincPass

In order to access to Forest Service (FS) facilities and FS Information Technology (IT) systems, non-Forest Service personnel must undergo a background check and screening process in order to receive the Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card, LincPass. A LincPass is required for contractor personnel if that person:

· Uses a USDA computer or has access to other protected IT resources or

· Has or will have access to sensitive information as defined in DR 3440-002 and Privacy Act documents or

· Requires unescorted access to federal facilities or areas, as determined by the agency.

To begin this process, the contractor personnel must have an identity record input into the Person Model database. This is accomplished by a Forest Service employee, generally the Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO) or Contracting Officer Representative (COR) of the task order, who acts as a “sponsor” of the contractor employee. The sponsor must be an individual who can substantiate the need for FS facility/system access. (If the PCO/COR does not have an account in Person Model, they must complete the required sponsor training and the Person Model Login Request Form. Information on this process can be located at http://fsweb.asc.fs.fed.us/HRM/hcms/pmodel.php and http://fsweb.asc.fs.fed.us/HRM/hcms/PersonModelQSG_updated.doc.)

The sponsor must create a record for the contractor personnel within Person Model and provide the applicant’s biographical data including name, street address, date of birth, social security number, employment status, and work email address (all Personally Identifiable Information (PII) must be protect in accordance with 5 U.S.C. § 552a, which includes encryption of PII submitted/received via email). For applicants that do not have a FS email account, the LincPass will not contain all of the certificates required to perform their duties, therefore the applicant should have their email account created prior to this step. The sponsor is responsible for updating these records as the applicant’s information changes. The contractor applicant must be linked to an active, awarded contract/task order.

The record is reviewed, adjudicated, and supplemented by information requested by several other administrative roles within Person Model. The record initiation will spur a background investigation on the applicant, if the applicant does not have a NACI or higher background investigation on file. As the record is going through the adjudication process, the applicant may be requested by a Security Specialist (FS-HRM, Charlotte Rowley: charlotterowley@fs.fed.us or (505) 944-4791 and Gary Sinning: gsinning@fs.fed.us or (505) 944-4783) to submit additional information for their background check or provide fingerprints.

The process cost for the LincPass and background check typically costs $135-$165 per applicant and is a direct cost to the task order therefore ordering activities must plan for this cost accordingly.

Once an individual is sponsored in Person Model, they will receive an email inviting them to register for their eAuthentication account. Do not attempt to register for an eAuthentication account before receiving this invitation.

Questions regarding this process may be directed to the FS agency contacts located at https://lincpass.usda.gov/non-employee_poc.html.

Contractors may find additional information pertaining to this process at https://lincpass.usda.gov/non-employeesApplicantSteps.html and https://www.fs.fed.us/servicefirst/rt-technology.shtml.

The process to get a non-FS person access to FS facilities and FS systems generally takes 4-6 weeks if the applicant has a NACI or higher background investigation on file but can take several months if the applicant does not have a current acceptable background investigation. Because of this, PCOs/CORs should begin preparing for this process as soon as practicable. Ideally, the PCO/COR will complete training and request sponsor roles in Person Model as soon as it is known that they will be placing orders under this contract. Information on new contractor personnel requiring access should be collected as soon as the task order is awarded. Task order schedules should be developed with this information in mind.

4. eAuthentication

New contractor personnel will receive an email inviting them to register for an eAuthentication account once they are sponsored in Person Model. Level 2 eAuthentication is requested at https://identitymanager.eems.usda.gov/registration/selfRegistrationForm.aspx?level=2. An eAuthentication account is required in order to interact with many FS websites.

5. AgLearn

After the eAuthentication account has been created, the new contractor personnel must provide a link to AgLearn (https://www.aglearn.usda.gov/) and directions for taking the Information Security Awareness Training. The new personnel will complete the training and must test with a score greater than 70%. The contractor personnel must also ensure that they change their supervisor in AgLearn to their FS sponsor.

If the contractor personnel does not yet have an AgLearn account, they may download a paper-version of the Information Security Awareness Training from http://www.dm.usda.gov/OBP/training.htm.

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