Attachment_1_-_SOW-_For_Aerial_Services_2023_-_NB_2.pdf

Attachment 1 Statement of Work Statement

Specifications/Work Requirements

Furnish and Deliver: Herbicides/Insecticides and Aerial Application/Spraying Central Louisiana Refuges Complex Louisiana

1.1 General: This is a non-personal services contract order for the aerial application of herbicides, insecticides/pesticides, and aerial seed planting on moist soil units within delineated project boundaries on the Central Louisiana Refuges Complex (NWR/Refuge). 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. The contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, transportation, tools, materials, supervision, and other items and non-personal services necessary to perform work services as defined in this Performance Work Statement except for those items specified as government furnished property and services. The Contractor shall perform to the standards in this contract. These treatments will address/control broadleaf weed species within our force account farming program such as red vine, cocklebur, t-weed, balloon vine, and pigweed. Additional treatments to treat pest species such as sugarcane aphids, stink bugs, and midge. The force account farming program on these Refuges are to provide DED’s- Duck Energy Days for wintering waterfowl denoted within our CCP and Habitat Management Plans

Details concerning specific plot locations shall be identified on maps to be provided to the Contractor prior to commencement of spray operations at the initial pilot briefing or pre-spray meeting.

1.3 Period of Performance: The period of performance shall be on or about 1 March 2023 thru 30 October 2023.

1.4 Place of Performance: The work to be performed under this contract will primarily be within boundaries of the Central Louisiana Refuges Complex (Avoyelles Parish), Louisiana.

Lake Ophelia NWR – approximately 17,500 acres 31 12 08.56 N, 91 53 42.27 W

Grand Cote NWR - approximately 6,200 acres 31 05 53.82 N, 92 08 17.12 W

1.5 Type of Contract: This is a Firm-Fixed Price commercial Order.

1.6 Post Award Conference/Periodic Progress Meetings: The Contractor agrees to attend any post award conference or progress meetings convened by the contracting activity or contract administration office in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation Subpart 42.5. The Contracting Officer, Contracting Officers Representative (COR), Government/Site Representative (GR/SR), and other Government personnel, as appropriate, may meet periodically with the Contractor to review the Contractor's performance and/or status of work. At these meetings, the Contracting Officer will apprise the Contractor of how the government views the Contractor's performance and the Contractor will apprise the Government of problems being experienced, if any. Appropriate action shall be taken to resolve outstanding issues. These meetings shall be at no additional cost to the Government.

1.7 Key Personnel: The follow personnel are considered key personnel by the government: Contract Manager/Administrator, Project Manager/Supervisor. The Contractor shall provide a contract manager who shall be responsible for the performance of the 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 Contracting Officer. The contract manager or alternate shall have full authority to act for the Contractor on all contract matters relating to daily operation of this contract. The contract manager or alternate shall be available between

1.8 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. They must also ensure that all documents or reports produced by contractors are suitably marked as contractor products or that contractor participation is appropriately disclosed. The Contractor personnel will be required to obtain and wear badges (or company attire indicating name of company) in performance of this service.

II. Scope

2.1 Objective: Provide aerial herbicide treatment. Details concerning specific plot locations shall be identified on maps to be provided to the Contractor prior to commencement of spray operations at the initial pilot briefing or pre-spray meeting.

2.2 Contractor must comply 100% with the agreed-upon plan of work. Method of treatment will be by air via use of helicopter. Aerial application of chemicals must be at the appropriate rate suggested by the manufacture and in accordance with the label. All work must be done according to work statement, EPA standards, and herbicide label restrictions.

2.3 The Contractor shall provide all personnel, labor (i.e. herbicide application), equipment, supplies (i.e.

chemicals, herbicides, adjuvant) , transportation, tools, materials, supervision, and other non-personal services necessary to perform the requirements of this contract order and shall plan, schedule, coordinate, and ensure effective performance of required services for the entire duration of contract.

NOTE: The Contractor is responsible for treating within the delineated treatment plots, as specified by the Government Site Representative/COR, only.

NOTE: The Contracting Officer reserves the right to require the Contractor to replace any operating personnel, or equipment used in the performance of this Contract if the personnel, or equipment are violating, or have violated, any state or federal laws; or are unsafe; or for any valid reason. In this event, the Contractor shall as soon as reasonably possible, upon written or verbal notice (to be later reduced to writing) from the Contracting Officer, provide replacements satisfactory to the Contracting Officer at no additional cost.

2.4 The Contractor will provide USFWS with contact information for all ground personnel, and vehicle, equipment, and aerial aircraft identification information (including make, model, color, name of company, contact information, number of the aircraft, expected flight elevation, duration of flight, and time and date of flight, and flight route) at least 48 hours before implementation of the project. All pilots will use AM frequency TBD to communicate while on the Refuge and are required to announce when they enter and exit the Refuge.

2.5 Where applicable, the name brand and quantity of herbicide proposed by the contractor must be pre-approved by the USFWS through a Pesticide Use Proposal 30 days prior to application. Rates applied shall not exceed the highest rate recommended on the label for that treatment. Upon request, the USFWS can supply a list of commonly used chemicals for the Southeast Region.

2.6 The Contractor will provide adequate personnel for the purpose of loading and dispersing of the chemicals. The Contractor will be responsible for all unloading/loading operations. Movement of chemicals, water, and equipment in and around the treatment locations will be the sole responsibility of the contract applicators. All personnel and equipment to be used will be appropriately licensed and certificated as appropriate for the work to be done. The Contractor will be responsible for providing sufficient equipment, fuel (for equipment), safety items, spill response kit, personnel and their subsistence needs during the project period, as well as checking all work sites for hazards of any type which could affect their ability to accomplish the spraying project. The Contractor will supply equipment to meter chemicals and water mixtures and will provide mixing and loading equipment and water. Water hauling services may be required. The Contractor must be capable of calibrating equipment to the final application rate specifications.

*NOTE: All equipment and personnel must be able to work at a semi-remote and semi-primitive site (i.e., no electrical or water hookups, bathrooms, or other facilities available).

2.7 Contractor must use a boom designed for minimizing drift and non-target damage.

2.8 Public Safety: Public safety must be ensured when spraying or using pesticides. Refuges are heavily visited by the public. In application areas where there is potential for public use, the Refuge shall advise the Contractor of any public use hazards. It shall be the ultimate responsibility of the Contractor (pilot) to initiate spray operations – GO/NO GO. During aerial spray operations, the pilot shall be in communication with the Refuge COR/SR of record. The Refuge Project Manager can/shall be able to halt spraying at any time, if necessary.

III. DELIVERABLES

3.1 The aircraft pilot shall be responsible for collecting the following data: spraying date, location (longitude & latitude), acres sprayed, chemical use report detailing chemicals used and herbicide rates/volume, crew members, hours worked, and weather conditions. The Contractor should also provide either ArcGIS shapefiles or maps to the COR/SR of record showing spray lines or swaths/paths as collected by on-board DGPS or AgNAV. Upon completion of the spraying, the Contractor shall submit a report on the applications, which shall be verified by the COR/SR and signed by the Contractor.

3.2 Work plan to include schedule.

3.3 Safety/spill response plan.

3.4 Quality Control Plan.

The Contractor shall institute a complete quality-control program to ensure that the requirements of this contract are provided, as specified. The overall goal of the program should be to identify and correct any problems that may exist before they are identified by or reported to the Site Representative/Government.

This will aid in ensuring the contractor meets time schedules, adheres to standard commercial practices, and complies with Performance Work Statement/contract in an efficient, ethical, and productive manner.

When notified of a deficiency, items/services designated as unsatisfactory or below standard shall be re-performed by the Contactor at no additional cost to the Government.

All corrective action must be completed by the next working day (or a time established by the SR/Government) of notification of the deficiency. If not, a deduction may be made (as determined from the applicable month’s (or final) invoice. Failure for the Government to notify the Contractor of a deficiency does not relieve the Contractor of the obligation to perform services nor does it relieve the Contractor of the responsibility to ensure that quality control measures are adhered to for contract compliance.