ATT 1 Contract Specifications.pdf

12363N25Q4063

MANUAL SITE PREPARATION

ALLEGHENY NATIONAL FOREST

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DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS/STATEMENT OF WORK

DIVISION 100 - GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS

100 - SCOPE OF CONTRACT

A) The objective of this contract is to have site preparation (felling work using approved equipment such as chainsaws, brush cutters or other hand tools) and any resulting required slash disposal work accomplished in designated units on the Marienville Ranger District of the Allegheny National Forest.

The Marienville Ranger District. The Marienville Ranger District is located South of Route 666. The district is bordered by borough of Tionesta on the West, the Town of Wilcox on the East, and the Clarion River to the South.

B) This solicitation requires tree felling, slash treatment, and related work in compliance with its terms, specifications, and provisions. The work will occur in forested units that may vary in tree size and densities.

The work sometimes follows a timber harvest and may require working in logging slash. The dense stocking and/or slash can impede walking and working with chainsaw or brush cutting equipment. Contract work in some project units will result in large numbers of undesirable stems being felled. The contractor shall furnish operating supplies, tools, labor, equipment, transportation, supervision, and incidentals needed to successfully complete the units.

110 – ACCESS

Project units may be reached by Forest Roads that are accessible by standard pickup during the normal working season. There may be some units which may require foot travel for access. The Government assumes no obligation to plow snow or do special maintenance to keep roads open. (In instances of severe blowdown blocking road access, the Forest Service shall be notified.) The Contractor is responsible for any damage caused by their operations. Some project units may be on a gated road and require signing out a key with the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). Keys will be made available to successful offerors at the post award prework meeting.

111- IDENTIFICATION OF PROJECT

Unit boundaries are marked by existing painted two or three stripe. In some cases if the paint is no longer visible, “orange” ribbon/flagging marks the boundary, unless the unit is fenced in which the fence will be the boundary and protected areas will be flagged on the interior of the fence. (In some cases, fence perimeters may not be the boundary. Those units will have special instructions addressed on the unit map and in the Project Specification Table.

Units will be identified by orange cards with Project Title & Unit number(s) identified, see card example below. All cards will be read, ensured they are at the correct location and initialed by the Contractor or Contractor’s Representative (CR) prior to starting work in the unit. This is to ensure that contractor is at correct unit.

Example of Project/Unit identification card. The contractor must sign to acknowledge they are at a correct unit prior to start of project work:

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120 – SAFETY

It is the contractor’s responsibility to ensure that the work environment is safe for themselves as well as their employees. If the contractor feels that a requirement of this contract would place them or their employees in an unsafe environment, then work should stop on that unit and the contractor should contact the COR immediately. Work on other units of the contract that the contractor does not view as unsafe should continue.

The contractor is required to follow all applicable OSHA standards while working on the job site. In addition, the successful contractor and employees are required to wear and use the following personal protective safety equipment/clothing to include a hardhat, leg and foot protection, ear protection, eye protection and hand protection while working the project.

130 – NOTIFICATION

The Contractor is required to keep the COR currently informed of their work schedule and physical location of their work force to permit ready location and timely inspection of accomplished work. The contractor shall also notify the contracting officer at least weekly of the progress being attained on this project. This notification can be either e-mail, oral or written.

DIVISION 200 - TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

200 – SPECIES REQUIRING TREATMENT

201- Desirable Species: The following desirable species are to be protected: All oak species, yellow poplar, cucumber, white ash, red maple, sugar maple, black cherry, basswood, all hickory species, butternut, American chestnut, black walnut, red pine, white pine, and hemlock. Care shall be taken to not damage or cut Desirable Species, unless otherwise noted in the Project Specification table by the COR.

202- Vegetation to be cut:

1) Striped Maple (Acer pensylvanicum): All live Striped Maple of any diameter which is taller than 1foot in height shall be felled and completely severed from the stump.

2) American Beech (Fagus grandifolia): All live beech taller than 1 foot in height and less than 6.0 inches in diameter at a point 4.5 feet (breast height) above the ground shall be felled and completely severed from the stump.

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3) Pin (Fire) Cherry (Prunus pensylvanica): All live Pin Cherry of any diameter which is taller than 1 foot in height shall be felled and completely severed from the stump.

4) Black (Sweet) Birch (Betula lenta) and Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis): All live birch taller than 1 foot in height and less than 6.0 inches in diameter at a point 4.5 feet (breast height) above the ground shall be felled and completely severed from the stump. (Follow above instructions, unless otherwise informed by the COR or designated on the task order project specifications table.)

5) Blue Beech (Carpinus caroliniana) and Ironwood (Ostrya virginiana): All live Blue beech and Ironwood of any diameter which is taller than 1 foot in height shall be felled and completely severed from the stump. (Follow above instructions, unless otherwise informed by the COR or designated on the task order project specifications table.)

6) Other Competing Tree Species: Other live tree species may be identified in an individual Task Order to be cut.

7) Non Native Invasive Species (NNIS): All NNIS greater than 1 foot in height encountered inside the contract area boundary must be completely severed from the stump within 6 inches of the ground. NNIS species include: Amur honeysuckle, Autumn olive, Bell’s honeysuckle, Marrow’s honeysuckle, Tartarian honeysuckle, Oriental bittersweet, Tree of Heaven, Multiflora rose, Border privet, Common barberry, Japanese barberry, Common buckthorn, Common privet, European privet, Glossy buckthorn, Japanese Barberry, and Winged euonymus.

Note: 1) There may be minor changes to these species in certain units (ie: no birch cut in a particular unit or red maple to be cut in a unit). Any changes that apply to specific units will be identified in the Project Specification Table. 2) There may be units where we cut competing vegetation only if it is 5 foot or higher (as opposed to 1 foot or higher). These units will be identified by their task number which is detailed in the project specifications table.

210 - STUMP HEIGHTS

Stump heights shall be a maximum of 6 inches, unless designated in writing by the COR. Stump sprouts (multiple stems) will be cut as close to the ground as possible. Stumps will be cut in a manner which results in a flat (parallel with the ground) surface. Angular stump cuts will not be allowed.

220 - BOUNDARY TREES

Boundary trees are not to be felled unless specified by the COR. Unit boundary trees are usually marked with an orange painted 3 stripe on the trees. Flagging may also be utilized to indicate the boundary of the project unit.

The flagging will usually be orange; however, in some cases the flagging may be a different color. If a different color is used it will be addressed by the COR in the project specification table.

Trees attached to fences and any stems on a red blazed FS property boundary line are not to be felled.

230 – SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

231 - Other trees marked with marking paint, unit boundary flagging, enclosed in tree shelters, or attached to fencing shall not be felled unless otherwise indicated by the COR.

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232- Only live trees will be cut; all snags encountered will be retained unless they are a hazard to contractor safety.

233 - Lodged (hung up trees) shall be pulled or cut down to meet slash disposal requirements as discussed in section 240, 241 & 242.

240 - SLASH DISPOSAL

All units will be treated without lopping unless indicated with the appropriate Task Number on the project specification table. Felled slash shall be removed from recreational trail and private land. Felled slash shall be removed from pipelines, powerlines, well openings, ditch lines, ditch banks, maintenance trails, fence maintenance trails, fences, stream courses, seep, forest roads, oil/gas roads and historic railroad grades unless otherwise approved by the COR.

There may be units in the contract where the slash disposal may be a specified distance from an improvement (trail, road, pipeline, etc.). All of these units will be identified in the project specification table.

241 – Slash disposal without lopping –

Slash shall be placed on or near the ground surface, so that it will not lean against or be suspended by an uncut tree or deer fencing. Do not pile cut trees or brush on top of desirable trees.

All preferred species trees will be released from all slash so they are standing straight up on their own.

242 – Slash disposal with Lopping –

All slash will be lopped/cut down to three feet from the ground surface.

All preferred species will be released from all slash so they are standing straight up on their own.

No slash shall be left hanging in trees and will be laid horizontal to the ground to within three feet of the ground.

250 - PROTECTION, USE, AND MAINTENANCE OF IMPROVEMENTS

Cut trees shall be felled and pulled away from pipelines, oil, gas and mineral development, wells, power lines, trails, fences, survey monuments, roads, streams, and any other improvements that may be designated by the COR. If such improvements are damaged by Contractor's Operations, Contractor shall restore them to conditions existing prior to damage.

260 – MEASUREMENT

261 - Measurement - The acreages have been measured on a horizontal plane within the established boundaries. All unit boundaries have been established using GPS technology.

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262 - Remeasurement – If the Contractor feels there may be an error in measurement, they may at any time after award request remeasurement of any treatment unit. The request shall be made in writing.

Remeasurement will be made on the established unit boundaries. If remeasurement indicates a variance of 10 percent or less, the Contractor shall bear the cost of remeasurement and payment will be based on the original acreage. If remeasurement indicates a variance greater than 10 percent, payment will be based on the remeasured acreage and the Government will incur the cost of remeasurement.

270 – RESERVE AREAS

Reserve Areas are exclusions within the unit boundaries that are uncut. These areas are generally designated with white three-striped paint. No trees shall be cut within these reserve areas unless they are an invasive species. Any invasive species found within the reserve area boundary shall be cut! In rare instances a COR may require additional stems to be cut in a reserve area. Those instances will be addressed on the project specification table. All reserve areas shall be included in the total unit acreage unless otherwise noted.

290 - PROGRESSION OF WORK

A contractor will only work on one unit at a time unless they have multiple complete crews then they can work on other units after informing COR. Work has to be completed in one unit before leaving to work on another.

There may be instances when some units may be identified by the COR to be worked and completed during a specific time or in a specific order. Those units will be designated on the project specification table, or at the prework conference.

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PERFORMANCE BASED SERVICE CONTRACTING

INSPECTION RECORDS

Contractor shall not be required to maintain an inspection system as stated in Paragraph (b) of Clause 52.246-4, Inspection of Services.

INSPECTION METHODS

In accordance with the Inspection Clause the Government is able to inspect the entire work the Contractor performs, and the Contractor shall be required to rework any units that are not in conformance to the requirements of this contract.

PERFORMANCE-BASED SERVICE CONTRACT (PBSC) REQUIREMENTS

Performance based disincentives apply to the Government’s inspections for contract noncompliance.

Inspection will be in accordance with the standards indicated in Specification Section 200 and will be accomplished by either the COR or Government Technical Monitor (GTM).

Disincentive

If the contractor requests a final inspection on a unit and it fails the initial inspection, there will be no disincentive. If failing an initial inspection becomes repetitive (more than 3 instances) and units consistently fail the initial final inspection, the COR may request a 10% reduction to the total payment of the units that fail initial inspection.

If a Contractor has to be sent back a third time to fix or correct issues on a specific unit. The contractor shall incur a 25% reduction in the payment for the unit. Each subsequent failure will result in an additional 10% reduction in payment.

If a unit has between 10% and 50% of preferred species cut down, there will be a 25% reduction in the total payment for that unit. If one unit has greater than 50% of preferred species cut down, there will be a 90% reduction in the unit payment.

If the period of performance laid out in AGAR 452.211-74 Period of Performance. (Feb 1988) are not met, a disincentive of 5% of the total contract award price will be deducted at each timeline missed. A total disincentive of 15% of the total contract award price can be applied if timelines are not met.

QUALITY ASSURANCE PLAN

Areas to be Inspected

Each Project Area will be inspected as a separately. Areas will not be averaged with other areas for acceptance and payment. Each area inspection will consist of a well-distributed series of plots sufficient to yield at least a 1%-sample for each unit. Plot centers will be marked and numbered.

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Throughout the contract period, the COR/Inspector will also be accomplishing non-PBSC inspections of work performed; however, this will not be considered in regards to PBSC-evaluation.

Inspection Procedures

The COR/Inspector will inspect each of the project acres, in accordance with specification Division 200.

Definitions

Desirables: tree species that should not be felled as described in Sections 201-Desireable Species, 220-Boundary Trees, and 231-Other Marked Trees.

Undesirables: tree species as indicated in specifications section 202-Vegetation to be cut, as well as stumps indicated in specification section 210-Stump Heights.

Inspection Criteria

Each plot will be examined to record findings on the following items:

1) Total number of Desirable trees that should remain.

2) Number of Desirable trees that were cut.

3) Number of Undesirable trees remaining.

4) Total percentage of Desirable trees cut.

Total Quality Percentage and Total Percentage of Desirables Cut shall be calculated for the sub-item as follows:

1) Quality Percentage Calculation:

((# of cut desirables) + (# of remaining undesirables))

1.00 - (Total # of desirable trees that should remain) X 100 = Quality %

2) Total % of Desirables Cut:

(Total # of cut desirables) (Tot. # desirables to remain) = % of Desirables Cut

Overall Inspection Calculation

The minimum acceptable Quality Inspection percentage is 90% per area. See disincentives above for performance that falls below acceptable percentages.

The total % of Desirables cut should be less than 10% over the entire unit.

Additional Information

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Corrective Actions for Poor or Late Performance: Regardless of any anticipated disincentive that may be issued at the end of, or during the contract period, the Contractor still has the responsibility to remedy all poor and/or late contract performance issues.

Termination for Default: Government issuance of a disincentive for poor contract performance is neither a settlement, nor alternative to a termination for contract default. During the contract period, and prior to any final PBSC determination, the Government may consider the Contractor’s poor or late performance as a contract default, and as such, grounds for a contract termination.

Final PBSC Determination: The final PBSC determination is made solely by the Government.

Conformance to Contract Requirements: If any of the work does not conform to contract requirements, the Government can require the Contractor to re-perform the work, at no increase in contract amount.

PBSC Payment/Contract Reduction: Any payment or reduction will be applied to the contract prior to final payment.

End of PBSC Section