Attachment 1 - PWS RIBITS Support Services - SATOC.docx

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

17 June 2021 Performance Work Statement RIBITS Support Services

1. BACKGROUND

RIBITS (Regulatory In-lieu fee and Bank Information Tracking System) is an Oracle-based (Oracle 12c) web application used to track mitigation bank and in-lieu fee (ILF) program operations for USACE districts and other partners including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries), Federal Highways Administration (FHwA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). RIBITS was implemented nationally as a tool to track 3rd party mitigation (mitigation banks & in-lieu fee programs) beginning in 2007. It has been in production mode since 2011.

RIBITS provides users (USACE regulators, state and federal agencies, mitigation bank and ILF program sponsors, and the general public) with comprehensive information on 3rd party mitigation operations including provider contact information, credit ledgers, credit availability (including wetland, stream, and species credits), geographic service areas, bank and ILF program documentation, reports and queries, and information on national, regional, and local compensatory mitigation policies and practices. RIBITS resides on Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) in the cloud. RIBITS provides structured data on mitigation banks and ILF programs (name, location, service area, status, credit availability, etc.) in response to real time queries from the USACE Regulatory project data management system known as ORM2 (Operations and Maintenance Business Information Link Regulatory Module 2) through a number of web services. This data enables USACE regulators to select specific mitigation banks or ILFs to be used to provide compensatory mitigation for permits and to close-out actions in ORM.

Most of the data in RIBITS is accessible to the public. Users are assigned different permission levels depending on the USACE district, state, USFWS field-office or NOAA Region: none (public access), regulator, and administrator. The ability to modify records or upload data (ledger transactions, documents, etc.) is determined by national and district/field office/region level administrators who can grant user access permissions based upon role (e.g., Bank Manager, IRT Member, Bank POC). RIBITS can be accessed through its URL at https://ribits.ops.usace.army.mil.

Much of the content of the individual district, state, field office, or region pages is shaped by local administrators in each agency) using menus and tools that are only visible to local and national administrators as well as the RIBITS contractors and USACE technical and program managers. Geospatial data is available to users through an OpenLayers API (plug-in) that does not require a user license. RIBITS uses the plug-in to provide users with data on 6- and 8- digit HUCs, jurisdictional boundaries, bank and ILF project locations and footprints, geographic service areas, credit types, bank and ILF program status, and to support user-defined geospatial queries of the system data.

Development of RIBITS has entailed information management (data modeling, database design, legacy data conversion and quality control), development of web services to share data with other applications, and geospatial processing (spatial data storage, Oracle Spatial Data Objects, Google Maps, etc.). Because RIBITS is located on Amazon RDS, coordination with cloud administrators is necessary. Close coordination with the ORM development team is required to maintain data sharing through web services.

RIBITS contains data on nearly 5,000 operational, pending, sold-out, and terminated bank and ILF project sites and 76 operational or sold-out ILF programs located across the country. It includes more than 89,000 ledger transactions, over 64,000 bank and ILF program-related documents, and over 4,500 polygons. Under Interagency Agreements with the USFWS and NOAA Fisheries, RIBITS is being used to track conservation banking activities and legacy data for 199 banks in 20 states. RIBITS has also been modified to track ILF programs that provide compensation for listed and at-risk species. Under an Interagency Agreement with USDA, RIBITS was modified to track water quality trading activities in 2 states. Under an Interagency Agreement with NOAA Fisheries, RIBITS has been modified to track Natural Resource Damage Assessment activities under the Oil Pollution Act and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. RIBITS is frequently used by the public seeking information about mitigation banks and ILFs and by prospective mitigation providers examining opportunities for future compensatory mitigation projects.

This proposed performance work statement is associated with general Operations and Maintenance of RIBITS to support use of the system by the USACE, USFWS, NOAA Fisheries, USDA and FHwA.

2. SCOPE

The contractor shall be tasked with operations, maintenance, and minor enhancements to RIBITS, as well as more substantive system modifications to facilitate use by USFWS, NOAA Fisheries, EPA, USDA, FHwA, additional agencies as approved by USACE, and the public (described in Performance Requirements Section 4 below). More substantive system modifications may include but are not limited to the following: development of more robust data query and display mechanisms; automated data registration and download for non-USACE users; more robust geospatial analysis and display capabilities; additional web services and xml data exchange capabilities for other system applications both within the USACE Civil Works Business Intelligence (CWBI) systems and outside of the USACE and Department of Defense (DOD); alternative map control mechanisms; presentation and display of other data layers (such as soils, ecoregions, HUC 10 boundaries, basic permit information, etc.).

The contractor shall also be tasked with developing training materials, hosting training sessions, and developing and modifying user documentation for users at different permission levels.

3. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

The following sub-sections provide details of various general requirements for this effort.

3.1. Non-Personal Services

The contractor shall provide strictly non-personal services and contractor employees are not subject to direct supervision and control by the Government. The contractor shall advise and support the Government but shall not make final decisions or certifications on behalf of the Government nor perform any inherently governmental functions. The contractor and its employees shall not represent the Government nor appear to represent the Government in performance of these contract services. Contractor personnel shall clearly identify themselves as contractor employees in all interactions during contract performance.

The Government shall neither supervise contractor employees nor control the method by which the contractor performs the required tasks. Under no circumstances shall the Government assign tasks to, or prepare work schedules for, individual contractor employees. It shall be the responsibility of the contractor to manage its employees and to guard against any actions that are of the nature of personal services or give the perception of personal services. If the contractor believes that any actions constitute, or are perceived to constitute personal services, it shall be the contractor's responsibility to notify the Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO) immediately.

3.2 Business Relations

The contractor shall successfully integrate and coordinate all activity needed to execute the requirement. The contractor shall manage the timeliness, completeness, and quality of problem identification. The contractor shall provide corrective action plans, proposal submittals, timely identification of issues, and effective management of subcontractors. The contractor shall seek to ensure customer satisfaction and professional and ethical behavior of all contractor personnel.

3.3 Contract Administration and Management

This section describes the contract administration and management for this effort. The following sub-sections provide details of various considerations on this effort.

3.3.1 Contract Management

The contractor shall establish clear organizational lines of authority and responsibility to ensure effective management of the resources assigned to the requirement. The contractor must maintain continuity between the support operations at the location specified in individual Task Orders and the contractor's corporate offices.

3.3.2 Contract Administration

The contractor shall establish processes and assign appropriate resources to effectively administer the requirement. The contractor shall respond to Government requests for contractual actions in a timely fashion. The contractor shall have a single point of contact between the Government and Contractor personnel assigned to support contracts or task orders. The contractor shall assign work effort and maintaining proper and accurate time keeping records of personnel assigned to work on the requirement.

3.3.3 Personnel Administration

The contractor shall provide the following management and support as required. The contractor shall provide for employees during designated Government non-workdays or other periods where Government offices are closed due to weather or security conditions. The contractor shall maintain the technical competency of their employees by providing initial and refresher training as required to meet the task order PWS requirements. The contractor shall make necessary travel arrangements for employees. The contractor shall provide necessary infrastructure to support contract tasks.

The contractor shall provide administrative support to employees in a timely fashion (time keeping, leave processing, pay, emergency needs).

3.4 Subcontract Management

The contractor shall be responsible for any subcontract management necessary to integrate work performed on this requirement and shall be responsible and accountable for subcontractor performance on this requirement. The contractor shall also be responsible for insuring timely payment to subcontractors. The prime contractor shall manage work distribution to ensure there are no Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) considerations.

3.5 Contractor Personnel, Disciplines, and Specialties

The contractor shall accomplish the assigned work by employing and utilizing qualified personnel with appropriate combinations of education, training, and experience. The contractor shall match personnel skills to the work or task with a minimum of under/over employment of resources. The contractor shall ensure the labor categories as defined in the Labor Categories document (see Appendix A, attached), labor rates, and man-hours utilized in the performance of each task. The Contractor shall provide the necessary resources and infrastructure to manage, perform, and administer the contract.

3.6 Place of Performance

All work will be performed at the contractor’s work site.

3.7 Travel/Temporary Duty

Travel to other Government facilities or other contractor facilities may be required and will be specified in each individual PWS issued at the task order level. If authorized at the task order level, travel shall be in accordance with the limitations set forth in FAR 31.205-46, Travel Costs.

3.8 Period of Performance

The period of performance for this contract is one base year and four option years.

1 Jan 2026 – 31 Dec 2027 (Option Year 4)

3.9 Location and Hours of Work

The work required is expected to be carried out at the contractor’s location. If work is required at Government facilities, normal workdays are Monday through Friday except US Federal Holidays. Federal workers typically work eight (8) hours per day, 40 hours per week. Flextime workers start not earlier than 0600 and not later than 0900. Core hours of work are from 0900 to 1500 daily. All employees are expected to be available during core hours.

3.10 Invoicing Instructions

The contractor shall submit monthly status reports and invoices for work completed whether in progress or after completion of a specific task. The contractor shall append the final invoice with an “F” to indicate final at the end of each contract year. All task orders under the RIBITS C-Contract are firm fixed price (Labor) and the contractor shall give their concurrence to return any unused Materials and Travel funding along with Government furnished materials (GFM) when the final invoice is submitted.

Invoices should be sent to the following email addresses. Which ensures that a copy goes to the USACE finance office and a copy to the IWR budget officer:

CEFC-Q0Invoices@usace.army.mil DLL-CEIWRCONTRACT@usace.army.mil

4. PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS

The following section specifies the Performance Objectives and Performance Elements for the contract. These tasks are all associated with operations, maintenance, management, enhancement, training, or substantive modifications of RIBITS. It is anticipated that in many cases, extensive subject matter expertise and cutting-edge technologies and strategies will be required to perform these responsibilities and provide the required products and services described below.

4.1 Studies, Analyses, and Assessments

The Contractor shall conduct necessary research and studies to examine potential tools, approaches, and solutions to environmental credit tracking in RIBITS and other environmental market data to inform emerging and potential needs.

4.2 RIBITS operations and management support and associated tools

4.2.1 Operations and Maintenance - The Contractor shall assist with identification, requirements definition, prioritization, implementation, testing, and deployment of RIBITS updates. The Contractor shall implement maintenance and modifications under direction of IWR/HQ USACE, and in coordination with cloud administrators. Implementation of maintenance and enhancement measures (software upgrades, formatting changes, corrections of operational flaws, and other tasks listed below) are expected 1-2 times a month. Costs are based in part on the amount of time required by the Contractor to undertake and complete each task and the extent of system modifications required. Actions generally falling under this category will not require extensive modification of the system’s data structure or database format. Tasks are listed in order of importance:

1. Upgrades to Oracle, Apache, APEX, Java, and the OpenLayers API need to be evaluated for impact on existing site and then managed. These upgrades might result in code changes on RIBITS site.

2. Modifications to RIBITS based on modifications of ORM 2.0 or any other system that RIBITS provides information

3. Upgrades to user browsers (Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, etc.) that produce incompatibilities with website function

4. Correct operational and program flaws

5. Continued coordination with cloud administrators

6. Formatting changes, Email recipient changes

7. Monitor error-tracking reports

8. Monitor usage and response time

9. Improve efficiency of SQL queries to present faster website

10. Continue to perform intrusion detection and enhance security as new threats emerge

11. Maintain/adjust web services between RIBITS and ORM2 and between RIBITS and the Environmental Conservation Online System (ECOS)

12. Maintain and continue to develop public web services

13. Maintain automated email function

14. Continue code optimization to improve system response

15. Develop and implement minor features to improve user interface (help tools, minor enhancements, charts, etc.); requires a clear understanding of the multi-layered regulatory/policy frameworks of the USACE and other federal regulatory agencies underlying multiple data sets, and how they interact

16. Track potential future upgrades, enhancements, and issue resolution using the DoD approved Defense Intelligence Information Enterprise (DI2E) platform.

17. Undertake necessary training to oversee RIBITS operations as a part of the USACE CWBI system

4.2.2 RIBITS Help Desk Support - The Contractor shall provide technical assistance for users with permissions in RIBITS (Administrators, Bank Managers, Regulators, Interagency Review Team Members, Bank POCs) and limited technical support to other users through the Help Desk. Requests are tracked through resolution. USACE personnel shall receive the highest priority. Help requests can be entered through the RIBITS site by email or telephone. Contractor is expected to respond promptly to Help Desk requests. Since implementation of the Help Desk in October 2010, more than 2200 requests have been submitted online (through a “Help Desk” link on the RIBITS page) or by e-mail to the RIBITS Help Desk. Help Desk requests are expected to continue at a comparable rate or increase (currently RIBITS receives approximately 20-30 requests per month). Help Desk implementation has reduced time devoted by IWR and HQ USACE in support of RIBITS. Help Desk actions include:

1. Anticipating request types and appropriate responses: Providing general user directions/answers to questions (approximately 20-30 requests per month)

2. Addressing common problems (uploading files, editing service areas, access issues/security certificates, ledger transactions, developing queries) and general troubleshooting

3. Receive and forward reports of operational problems and suggested enhancements

4. Refer process/policy issues/misunderstandings to IWR or district administrator

5. Identify possible future modifications or enhancements of the system

6. Expect continued or increasing rates of usage from USACE, USFWS, NMFS, EPA, FHwA, USDA and the public during this period

4.2.3 RIBITS Minor Updates and Enhancements - The Contractor shall identify, track, develop and implement minor updates and enhancements to the RIBITS web application including:

1. Assist with identification, requirements definition, and prioritization of RIBITS updates

2. Maintain current data and allow for additional bank and ILF program data entry by USACE, USFWS, NOAA, and other users

3. Allow USACE Districts, USFWS Field Offices, and NOAA Regional Offices to continue to customize their RIBITS pages to reflect their bank and ILF practices

4. Maintain public access to RIBITS data including data queries, downloading of ledgers, documents, and geospatial data

5. Maintain communication with ORM2

6. Maintain existing security protocols

7. Improve system response and processing and correct operational problems

8. Upgrade system applications

9. Improve data sharing with other systems

10. Develop and implement features to improve user access

4.3 Develop and implement methodologies and tools

The Contractor shall conduct research and analysis (including data collection as appropriate) in support of testing and developing specific analytic methodologies and tools for analysis, display, use, and exchange of RIBITS data and shall implement applications, software coding, and substantive system upgrades for RIBITS.

4.4 Environmental market data collection and entry

The Contractor shall work with stakeholders (USACE, FWS, NMFS, USDA, states, mitigation providers, etc.) to collect, compile, and enter into RIBITS environmental market data including geospatial and transactional data and associated documentation.

4.5 Training and Educational Services

The Contractor shall develop and deliver user support, training, and system help documentation for RIBITS. This includes planning and delivering RIBITS training materials including electronic and multi-media products and/or exhibits for professional conferences, exhibitions, training environments, workshops, sessions in courses or conferences, web-based training and public outreach and education.

5. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

This section describes the special requirements for this effort. The following sub-sections provide details of various considerations on this effort.

5.1 Security and Safety

5.1.1 Security

a. In compliance with DoDI 8500.01 (2014) section 3.c.2, DoDI 8510.01 (2016) section 3.d, and USACE ER 25-1-112 (2014) section 7.1.3; all information systems (IS) and platform information technology (PIT) systems developed and/or supported under this contract shall comply with all DoD, DISA, Army, and USACE cybersecurity and architectural requirements. This includes IS/PIT compliance with DISA security technical implementation guides (STIG) and being categorized IAW CNSSI 1253 using security controls developed IAW the risk management framework (NIST SP 800-53). STIG compliance includes but is not limited to most current version of the DISA published Application Security and Development STIG and the internet access point (IAP) demilitarized zone (DMZ) STIG.

b. The contractor shall provide personnel who can obtain a Common Access Card (CAC) on the date of contract award and must immediately provide replacement employees, with the same capability. The COR is the liaison between the security office and the contractor.

c. The work will be UNCLASSIFIED.

d. A National Agency Check (NAC), INFOSEC certificate, and U-PASS userid are required to support OMBIL Plus. NAC. All contractors must have the minimum investigation, a NAC or Questionnaire of public Trust, before accessing a DoD (Department of Defense) computer or working off-site on ORM programs and data.

e. INFOSEC certificate. Annual INFOSEC training for all those contractors accessing a DoD (Department of Defense) computer or working off-site on ORM2 programs and data is required. This training is available on-line at the DISA website, http://iase.disa.mil/eta/index.html, DoD Information Assurance Awareness, version 2, or by completing Computer Security Training for Users on the Fort Gordon website, https://ia.gordon.army.mil/iss/default.htm

f. All contractor employees, to include subcontractor employees, requiring network access, shall complete AT Level I awareness training within 30 calendar days after contract start date or effective date of incorporation of this requirement into the contract, whichever is applicable. Upon request, the contractor shall submit certificates of completion for each affected contractor employee and subcontractor employee, to the COR or to the contracting officer (if a COR is not assigned), within 5 calendar days after completion of training by all employees and subcontractor personnel. AT Level I awareness training is available at the following website: https://jkodirect.jten.mil; or it can be provided by the RA ATO in presentation form which will be documented via memorandum.

g. All new contractor employees will complete Level I OPSEC Training within 30 calendar days of their reporting for duty. Additionally, all contractor employees must complete annual OPSEC awareness training. The contractor shall submit certificates of completion for each affected contractor and subcontractor employee, to the COR or to the contracting officer (if a COR is not assigned), within 5 calendar days after completion of training. OPSEC awareness training is available at the following websites: https://www.iad.gov/ioss/ or http://www.cdse.edu/catalog/operations-security.html; or it can be provided by the RA OPSEC Officer in presentation form which will be documented via memorandum.

h. 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. An initial list of verified/eligible Candidates must be provided to the COR no later than 5 business days after the initial contract award.

l. All contractor employees with access to a government info system must be registered in the Army Training Certification Tracking System (ATCTS) at commencement of services, and must successfully complete the DOD Information Assurance Awareness prior to access to the information systems and then annually thereafter in accordance with personnel security standards listed in AR 25-2 (Information Assurance), an appropriate background investigation will be conducted prior to accessing the government information systems.

m. All contractor employees and associated sub-contractor employees must complete the DoD IA awareness training before issuance of network access and annually thereafter. All contractor employees working IA/IT functions must comply with DoD and Army training requirements in DoDD 8570.01, DoD 8570.01-M and AR 25-2 within six months of employment to IA/IT functions.

n. The contractor shall be responsible for safeguarding all government equipment, information and property provided for contractor use.

5.1.2 Safety

Contractor Compliance: The contractor and its subcontractors shall comply with Public Law 91-596 (Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)) and the Environmental, Safety, and Occupational Health (ESOH) (DODD 4715.1E). These requirements shall be incorporated into the contractor’s safety and health program. The Department of Defense (DoD) participates in the OSHA Voluntary Protection Program (VPP). Contractor personnel performing services on a DoD installation shall participate in the local VPP. Information on the VPP is available at http://www.osha.gov/dcsp/vpp/index.html.

Mishap Notification and Investigation: The contractor and its subcontractors (if applicable) shall promptly report pertinent facts regarding mishaps involving Government property damage or injury to Government personnel and to cooperate in any resulting safety investigation. The contractor shall notify (via telephone) the cognizant contracting officer, the contracting officer’s representative, and/or other applicable members within four (4) hours of all mishaps or incidents. The Government person notified by the contractor will in-turn notify the Safety office. Contractor notifications made after duty hours shall be reported to the appropriate installation Command Post. If requested by the cognizant contracting officer, the contracting officer’s representative, and/or the cognizant program manager, the contractor shall immediately secure the mishap scene/damaged property and impound pertinent maintenance and training records until released by the investigating safety office. If the Government investigates the mishap, the contractor and the subcontractors shall cooperate fully and assist the Government personnel until the investigation is completed.

5.2 Government Furnished Materials

It is not anticipated that the contractor will be working at Government facilities. In cases where the Government provides equipment or materials, it will be specified in the individual task order PWS.

The government will provide a copy of the RIBITS data set if required for use in establishment of a development environment for use in future system upgrades and enhancements.

The contractor shall not use Government furnished materials (GFM) for any work outside the scope of this PWS. The contractor is responsible for all GFM during the performance of this PWS and upon termination the contractor shall return all GFM to the Government.

5.3 Quality

This section describes the Quality Control components for this effort. The following sub-sections provide details of various considerations on this effort.

5.3.1 Quality Control

The Contractor shall develop a Task/Delivery Order Quality Control Plan (QCP) and maintain an effective quality control program to ensure services are performed in accordance with the IDIQ contract and this PWS. The Contractor shall develop and implement procedures to identify, prevent, and ensure non-recurrence of defective services. The Contractors QCP is how he assures himself that his work complies with the requirement of the contract.

The finalized QCP will be accepted by the Government at the time of the award of the Task/Delivery Order. The Contracting Officer may notify the Contractor of required modifications to the plan during the period of performance. The Contractor then shall coordinate suggested modifications and obtain acceptance of the plan by the Contracting Officer. Any modifications to the program during the period of performance shall be provided to the Contracting Officer for review no later than 10 working days prior to effective date of the change. The QCP shall be subject to the Governments review and approval. The Government may find the QCP "unacceptable" whenever the Contractors procedures do not accomplish quality control objective(s). The Contractor shall revise the QCP within 10 working days from receipt of notice that QCP is found "unacceptable."

5.3.2 Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP)

The Government shall monitor the Contractors performance under this Task/Delivery Order in accordance with the Government’s QASP.

6. DELIVERABLES

The contractor shall provide deliverables as described in subsequent Task Orders. All deliverables, including software, shall be provided to the Government with unlimited rights. Format and delivery schedule for deliverables shall be outlined in Contract Data Requirements List and/or in the applicable section of the PWS. The table below identifies a set of deliverables that may be required under this contract. It should be noted that the table is NOT all inclusive of the types of deliverables that may be required.

Deliverable Type Frequency and Quantity

7. Performance Requirement Summary (PRS) Performance Standards: Performance standards will be specified with each PWS solicitation. As a point of reference, the following is a table of potential performance standards and the relevant task statements.

Standard (Statements)

Conduct Studies, Analyses, and Assessments (4.1)

Develop and maintain system operations (4.2.1, 4.2.2, 4.2.3)

Develop and implement system enhancements and upgrades (4.2.1, 4.2.2, 4.2.3)

Compliant with applicable standards (All Statements)

Deliverables completed in accordance with Schedule (All statements)

Early identification of problems and/or corrective actions. Report to gov’t within 5 days of discovery.

(4.1, 4.2.1, 4.2.2, 4.2.3) 90% of the time

Re-perform/correct at no cost to the Government.

For user support, responsive to 1st request (4.2.2. 4.2.3)

Identify trends and areas of improvement (4.1, 4.2.3)

Environmental market data collection and entry (4.2.1, 4.2.3, 4.4)

8. DATA RIGHTS

All code and documentation will utilize the DoD approved Defense Intelligence Information Enterprise (DI2E) platform. All existing and developed code and documentation is property of the US Army Corps of Engineers.

The Government has unlimited rights to all documents/material produced under this contract. All documents and materials, to include the source codes of any software, 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 Contracting Officer. 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.

APPENDIX A – LABOR CATEGORIES

1. Senior Principal Investigator RESP: This category is intended to be used rarely and only when the highest level of subject matter expertise in water resource related fields is required. When used, they will be the senior topic expert on the assigned task. The SPI may design the approach for solving the problem and may oversee the execution of the effort, providing advice and guidance as necessary. It is expected that, when used, the SPI with the most expertise in the required discipline will work on that task, e.g., a task requiring expertise in computational engineering should be headed by a SPI with a background in computational engineering.

MQ: The SPI shall have a PHD in a discipline that is closely related to the computer sciences, computational engineering, or geographic information systems fields, plus 20 years of experience in these fields. In lieu of the PHD, the SPI may substitute a Master's degree in a related field plus 25 years of experience in computer sciences, computational engineering, geographic information systems, or a related field or a Bachelor’s degree in a related field plus 30 years of experience in computer sciences, computational engineering, or geographic information systems fields.

2. Principal Investigator (PI) RESP: The PI will usually be the senior topic expert on the assigned task. The PI will design the approach for solving the problem and will oversee the execution of the effort, providing advice and guidance as necessary. It is expected that the PI with the most expertise in the required discipline will work on that task, e.g. a task requiring expertise in software engineering should be headed by a PI with a background in software engineering.

MQ: The PI shall have a PhD in a discipline** that is closely related to the computer sciences, computational engineering, or geographic information systems fields, plus 3 years of experience in these fields, 2 of which must have been at a level of responsibility equivalent to the senior analysts or PI level. In lieu of the PhD, the PI may substitute a Master’s degree in a related field plus 5 years of experience in computer sciences, computational engineering, or geographic information systems fields, 3 years at the PI level. Similarly, a Bachelor’s degree in a related field plus 8 years of experience in computer sciences, computational engineering, or geographic information systems fields, 3 years at the PI level meets the minimum qualifications.

3. Senior Analysts (SA) RESP: The SA will work closely with the PI in developing the approach for solving the problem. The SA will normally design and perform any analysis of data and draw conclusions. The SA will then be the manager in charge of carrying out the technical aspects of the effort including coding, testing, refining, updating, troubleshooting, and implementing the approach.

MQ: The SA shall have a PhD in a discipline that is closely related to these fields, plus 2 years of experience in computer sciences, computational engineering, or geographic information systems fields, or a Master’s degree in a related field plus 3 years of experience or a Bachelor’s degree in a related field plus 4 years of experience.

4. Mid-Level Analyst (MA) RESP: The MA will work closely with the SA in conducting the analysis of data and drawing conclusions. The MA will also work closely with SA in modifying existing computer software or developing new programs to perform various kinds of analysis and data display/presentation. The MA will also be responsible for compilation and entry of new data as necessary.

MQ: The MA shall have a PhD in a discipline related to computer sciences, computational engineering, or geographic information systems fields, or a Master’s degree plus 3 years of experience at the Research Assistant level or a Bachelor’s degree plus 4 years’ experience at the Research Assistant level.

4. Project Manager/Administrator (PM) RESP: The PA will ensure that the firm has all of the necessary resources available for carrying out an assigned task, including material supplies as well as personnel. The PA will also ensure that work progresses in a timely manner and that schedules are met. When schedules cannot be met, the PA will be responsible for notifying the Contracting Officer or the Contracting Officers Representative and requesting an extension.

MQ: The PA shall have a Master’s degree in Management or a computer science- related field plus 3 years of experience, 2 of which must have been at the PA level or a Bachelor’s degree in Management or a computer science- related field plus 5 years of experience conducting such studies as will be derived from this contract, 3 of which must have been at the PA level.

10. Administrative/Clerical (A/C) RESP: Assists Project Manager by producing financial, administrative, and management reports for resource planning, meetings, client briefings, and invoicing. A/C staff must be knowledgeable in Microsoft Office products such as Scheduler, Word, and Excel.