Attachment 1- Statement of Requirement (Final).pdf

Statement of Requirement

Bottling of SRM 1632f

I. BACKGROUND

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has two (2) lined drums containing approximately 172 kg (378 lb) of bituminous coal divided into a total of 17 bags each containing between 7.3 kg and 11 kg. The material is sized at 250 µm (60 mesh). Since the material is from the same bulk material used to produce RM 8499 Trace Elements in Coal (Bituminous), proper blending should result in bottled material that meets the NIST homogeneity criteria. The contents of all the bags need to be mixed and bottled for production of SRM 1632f. The intention is to issue the bottled coal material as a NIST Standard Reference Material (SRM).

II. OBJECTIVE

This project requires the entire contents of the bagged coal material to be mixed and divided into sublots by spin-riffling into approximately 2800 to 3100 NIST-provided amber glass bottles each containing a mean mass of between 51 g and 55 g within a range of approximately 50 g and 58 g of the coal. Preparation of a bottled material with negligible heterogeneity (within the inherent limitations of heterogeneity in the processed coal matrix) is an important requirement.

The following steps are required to meet the objective (with the exception of the NIST review, the

Contractor shall perform all steps):

• Air-dry coal material received from NIST

• Provide NIST with a detailed bottling plan based on the total mass of air-dried material and number of bottles filled

• Provide NIST with anticipated schedule

• Blend the coal material

• Divide the coal material into lots and report mass of each lot

• Divide lots into sublots

• Fill bottles by spin riffling

• Send select bottles to testing laboratory for homogeneity testing and report results to NIST

• NIST reviews whether results meet homogeneity criteria o If homogeneity criteria not met, rework and test samples once at no additional cost

• Ship bottles of coal material to NIST

III. DETAILED BOTTLING PLAN

The Detailed Bottling Plan (DBP) presents the procedures that will be followed by the contractor to blend and split the government-furnished material into lots and sublots; manage excess material;

label empty capped bottles; label filled capped bottles; monitor and track fill mass; and identify and track bottles throughout the bottling, acceptance testing, and packaging process until all bottles are sealed in shipping containers. The DBP documents the specific bottles to be removed to perform measurements for homogeneity testing and how these measurements will be conducted.

The DBP will depend on information the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) provides to the Contractor prior to shipment of the material to the Contractor (see below) and the total mass of air-dried coal material (see Task 4).

This information shall be based on the Preliminary Bottling Plan submitted by the Contractor, including the number of lots, sublots, and bottles in each sublot. The information provided by the

COR shall include:

i. a confirmation of the total number of bottles to be filled (number of sublots multiplied by the number of bottles in each sublot),

ii. the total number of bottles to be tested for homogeneity testing,

iii. the specific bottles to be tested,

iv. the number of replicates to be taken from each bottle,

v. how the homogeneity testing measurements will be organized, including how test portions will be segregated for moisture and determination, and the run order for standards, blanks, controls, and samples for the sulfur determination.

The DBP shall be formatted as an Excel spreadsheet or Word document. The DBP will require approval by the COR as described below. Any revisions made to the DBP will solely consist of the five (5) areas identified above. These revisions are strictly technical in nature and shall not encompass any changes that affect the price, schedule, or requirements. Any change outside of this scope will require the Contracting Officer’s (CO) prior approval.

The DBP provided by the Contractor shall include the following:

1. Documentation of the blending and splitting process that describes how lots and sublots shall be produced. This documentation shall include the estimated mass of the lots and sublots.

2. Documentation of how, once the sublots have been produced, any material that is determined to be in excess of the mass that is needed to fill the bottles for that sublot shall be separated from the sublot. See TASKS 8(B).

3. Documentation of the number of sublots, the number of bottles in each sublot, the total number of bottles to be filled, the number of containers (e.g., boxes) of bottles (and number of bottles in each container) that will be shipped to NIST.

4. Documentation of how each capped bottle will be labelled with the lot number, sublot number, and the order of filling within the sublot. Each sublot shall represent a split produced in the final division of the lot by spin-riffling performed and the number of positions in the spin riffler equals the number of bottles in each sublot of material.

5. Documentation of the procedure for tracking each bottle and monitoring the fill mass to control each bottle’s fill mass to achieve a mean mass between 51 g and 55 g within a range of 50 g to 58 g and to maintain sufficient headspace to allow for mixing of the contents in the bottles provided. The minimum specifications to meet the fill mass requirement are that at least 99 % of the bottles shall contain at least 50 g and at least 99 % of the bottles contain less than 58 g of coal material. It is highly preferable, but not required that all bottles contain between 50 g and 58 g of coal.

6. Documentation on a proposal for the test portions to be removed to perform measurements for homogeneity testing and how these measurements shall be conducted (which will depend on the total number of bottles produced and the total number of sublots).

This documentation on the measurements shall include:

(A) The constituents to be measured, which shall be moisture (mass loss after drying at

107 C for 1 h), sulfur (as determined and dry-mass basis), and ash (as determined and dry-mass basis) with the requirement that each shall be reported to the nearest 0.001 %, absolute.

(B) The ASTM standard method(s) that shall be used for each constituent.

(C) The nominal mass of the test portion for each constituent.

(D) The number of bottles that will be removed for measurement (NIST will require at least 24 and no more than 48, depending on the number of bottles and sublots) and the lot, sublot, and bottle number within that sublot (selected by a random sampling provided by NIST statistician). See ii above.

(E) The number of replicate test portions to be taken from each bottle (in consultation with the Subject Matter Expert (SME), the COR will specify at least two (2) and no more than three (3), depending on the number of bottles and sublots). See iv above.

(F) The total number of measurements to be performed for each constituent, which will be calculated from the number of bottles measured and the number of replicates taken from each bottle (in consultation with the SME, the COR will specify at least 48 and no more than 72 total measurements for each constituent, depending on the number of bottles and sublots). See i, ii, iv above.

(G) Assignment of each specific measurement of a test portion to an analytical run and the position in that run (e.g., lot 2, sublot 4, bottle 50, replicate 2, sulfur run 2, position 6), as specified by the COR. See iii above.

(H) The run order for standards, blanks, controls, and samples for the sulfur determination.

NIST will provide a bottle of a coal reference material to use as a control for the sulfur determination. For each run, this control shall be analyzed as the first and last test portion and after about every 10th test portion for all sulfur determinations. Each control test portion analyzed in the sulfur determination shall have a matched moisture test portion to calculate the sulfur on a dry basis.

(I) A description of how the corrections to a dry-basis shall be applied.

(J) Specification that all measurement data be recorded in an Excel spreadsheet and sent via email to the NIST COR and SME. See TASKS 10.

Review and Revisions

The DBP shall not contain any material changes that waive, bypass, or alter any contract requirements. After receipt of a DBP from the Contractor that addresses all items stated above, the

COR shall have four (4) business days to review the reported masses and approve the written DBP or request corrections. If the COR requests corrections, the Contractor shall have three (3) business days to supply an updated DBP. Any additional corrections will be reviewed by the COR within three (3) business days of receipt of the Contractor’s updated request. The final DBP shall be formatted as a pdf.

Once the Contractor has received the COR’s approval of the DBP, the processing can continue in order to meet the requirements that follow. Once the DBP is finalized/approved any requested changes/deviations from it cannot be performed without an executed contract modification.

IV. TASKS

The contractor shall send all requested deliverable information (notifications, DBP, measurement data, and reports) to both the NIST COR and SME via email. All data shall be reported in Excel spreadsheets. Refer to the specific tasks and the Deliverables table for specific deliverables and due dates.

1. The contractor shall notify the COR and SME of receipt of the drum and bottles, within two business days of receipt by the Contractor.

2. The Government reserves the right to be present at the Contractor’s site to witness the preparation and packaging. The Contractor shall notify the COR and SME of the tentative preparation and packaging schedule at least 10 business days prior to the scheduled opening of the drum to start work so that the COR/SME can plan travel.

3. The material provided by NIST is required to air dry to promote equilibration and allow easily oxidized components to react with the atmosphere. At least two business days prior to the start of the air drying, the Contractor shall notify the COR and SME of the dates the air-drying will begin and end.

The base requirement is approximately three (3) calendar days of air drying. Note that a contract option changes this requirement to ten (10) calendar days of air drying if the option is exercised, along with the other requirements of that option.

To achieve this requirement for three (3) calendar days of air drying, the Contractor shall take the following actions:

(A) Spread all of the coal powder out at a depth of 2.5 cm (1 inch) over plastic sheeting that is at least 0.15 mm (6 mil) thick. The plastic sheeting shall be sufficiently resistant to tearing that it will not rip during the air drying procedure.

(B) Air dry the layer of coal powder over approximately three (3) continuous calendar days

(at least 64 hours and no more than 80 hours) in an area that will not be exposed to potentially contaminating dust.

(C) Over the course of the air-drying, activity that is not related to the drying shall not be performed in the drying area to avoid generation of potentially contaminating dust.

(D) The days the drying starts and ends can be normal working days (but do not have to

be) and the days in-between shall be days that no non-related work is performed in the drying area. For example, 3-day air drying could start on a Friday and be completed on the following Monday, with no non-related work performed on Saturday and Sunday.

(E) Over the course of the air-drying, the Contractor shall rake the coal periodically (at least twice, approximately every 24 h) to promote mixing and more uniform air drying and oxidation. The coal shall be spread out at a depth of 2.5 cm (1 inch) after each raking event.

This raking shall be performed in a manner that does not contaminate the coal or tear the underling plastic sheet.

(F) Once the air drying is complete, the Contractor shall store the material in a manner to minimize further air drying.

4. After the air drying is completed, the Contractor shall:

(A) Record the total mass of the bulk coal powder after the air-drying is completed.

(B) Discard any fine particles that tend to adhere to the plastic and ensure that no plastic pieces are incorporated into the bulk coal powder.

(C) Determine the expected mean mass of material that each bottle will contain and that the expected range (lowest to highest mass) meets the fill mass requirement that at least

99 % of the bottles shall contain at least 50 g and at least 99 % of the bottles contain less than 58 g of coal material

5. Prior to any subsequent processing, the Contractor shall report to the COR and SME via email:

(A) The recorded total air-dried mass of coal material.

(B) The anticipated date for reaching the following milestones:

(1) Reporting the mass of each lot split.

(2) Completion of all bottling and recording of the mass of each filled and capped bottle.

(3) Reporting the results of homogeneity testing.

(4) Shipment of bottles and remaining material to NIST.

(C) Submit a DBP as described in III DETAILED BOTTLING PLAN.

6. After COR approval of the DBP, the Contractor shall blend the coal material by recombining opposite portions produced by the spin riffler or by an appropriately sized blender. The blending procedure shall be designed to ensure that the material is well-mixed.

7. The Contractor shall spin riffle the blended material into lot splits of nominally equal mass (the number of lots equal to the number of lots in the DBP). Determine and record the mass (to the nearest 10 grams) of each lot split. Once the splits have been produced, precautions shall be taken to avoid contamination and minimize gain or loss of moisture prior to bottling. Prior to any subsequent processing, the Contractor shall notify the NIST COR and SME of the mass of each lot split. The COR, in consultation with the SME, shall have until 5 PM of the second business day after receipt of this report to approve the manner in which the lots were split so that the Contractor can proceed with further processing of the coal.

8. After COR approval of the manner in which the lots were split, the Contractor shall process each lot into sublots and fill the bottles for each sublot by spin riffling according to the DBP.

As part of this process, the Contractor shall:

(A) mark each empty bottle and cap (shall use pre-cleaned bottles and caps supplied by

NIST) prior to filling the bottles for each sublot and record the mass of the empty capped bottle (to the nearest 0.1 g) in an Excel spreadsheet according to the DBP. Each capped bottle will be labelled with the lot number, sublot number, and the order of filling within the sublot. The cap shall be marked in a manner such that the identification is permanent (it will not be smeared, smudged, or removed by the alcohol wipe of the filled bottled, as specified in Task 9 below) and shall remain on the cap of each bottle that is shipped to NIST. Any identification applied to the glass bottle shall be made in a manner such that it, and any related material, can and shall be removed

After the marked caps from the marked bottles are removed, prior to filling, both shall be stored in a manner to avoid contamination.

(B) for each sublot, remove any excess material, as needed, and record the mass of each sublot after removal of excess material and the mass of that excess material, both to the nearest gram. Transfer excess material, if any, from each sublot to an empty liner bag

[liner shall be ≥ 0.15 mm (6 mil) thickness] and secure it with a zip-tie or another bag closure that minimizes any air within the bag. Use an indelible dark ink marker to write the mass of coal on each bag. Place that bag inside a second liner bag of the same dimension, secure it in the same manner as the first bag. On the outer bag, write in indelible ink the text “Excess coal from SRM 1632f, lot #, sublot #, coal mass = ## g”, and place it in a plastic-lined drum.

(C) proceed with transferring the contents of each sublot by spin-riffling into bottles. The number of positions in the spin riffler shall equal the number of bottles in each sublot of material. Bottles shall be filled by spin-riffling only. Coal material shall not be added to any bottle by methods other than spin riffling. Coal material shall not be removed from any bottle other than for removal of test portions, as specified in the bottling plan, for testing to meet stated requirements.

9. The Contractor shall:

(A) After each bottle is filled and its cap secured,

i. confirm that the identification on the cap matches the identification on the

ii. wipe clean the exterior of each filled bottle and its cap with alcohol.

(B) After residual alcohol on the bottle and cap has dried, record the mass of the capped bottle filled with coal material (to the nearest 0.1 g).

(C) Record the gross mass of each capped bottle (capped bottle filled with coal material, to the nearest 0.1 g) in the spreadsheet containing the empty mass of each capped bottle and, within that spreadsheet, calculate the net mass of coal material in each bottle (to the nearest 0.1 g).

10. Prior to sending the bottles for homogeneity testing, the Contractor shall send an electronic copy formatted in Excel of the spreadsheet containing the bottle masses to the NIST COR and

SME. The spreadsheet shall contain the following information:

1) masses (weights) of each capped bottle (empty and full),

2) the number of bottles filled,

3) the number of sublots,

4) the mass of excess material, if any, from each sublot,

5) the number of bottles in each sublot (the number of bottles in each sublot shall be the same for each sublot),

6) the identification of each bottle with the lot, sublot, and order of fill in each sublot, and

7) the identification of the bottles that will be sent for homogeneity testing.

After receipt of this information from the Contractor, the COR shall have three (3) business days to review the information and approve the submission of the identified bottles for homogeneity testing or request changes. If the bottles identified for acceptance testing deviate from the DBP, the plan shall be revised according to the procedure in III DETAILED

BOTTLING PLAN.

11. For all bottles that will not be sent for homogeneity testing, remove any markings on the bottle

(markings on the cap remain).

12. The Contractor shall store (away from dust or contamination) all labelled bottles in one of the containers (boxes) in which the empty bottles were shipped (unless the container is not usable) according to the order in which the bottles were filled, and clearly identify the contents of each shipping container box (e.g., sublot number, and bottles within that sublot) on the top and at least one side on the shipping container. Further testing at NIST depends on having the bottles organized by fill order. A paper or plastic based container other than the box in which the bottles were shipped from NIST is acceptable if it does not increase the likelihood of bottle breakage. Packaging the bottles from each sublot in separate containers is also acceptable. The

Contractor shall notify the COR and SME of the total number of bottles and the number of containers of bottles.

13. Homogeneity testing, reporting, and evaluation of results.

(A) Homogeneity testing: The Contractor shall remove the bottles specified for homogeneity testing in the DBP from the shipping container, replacing each removed bottle with an empty upside-down bottle. The testing laboratory personnel shall remove the measurement test portions from the bottles, as specified in the DBP. The number of bottles removed and number of replicate test portions measured will depend on the total number of bottles produced and the total number of sublots. Sulfur, ash, and moisture test portions shall be removed under the same environmental conditions

(temperature and relative humidity) to ensure that the dry mass correction is appropriate. Moisture, sulfur, and ash measurements shall be made as specified in the bottling plan. The Contractor shall retain these sublot bottles and residual coal material in them.

(B) Reporting on homogeneity testing results: Within three (3) business days of receipt of the homogeneity test results, report all measurement data, for each test portion, to the

COR and SME. The determined moisture, sulfur (as determined and dry basis), and ash

(as determined and dry basis) values shall be reported to the nearest 0.001 %.

(C) NIST review of homogeneity testing results: In consultation with a NIST statistician, the COR and SME shall review this measurement data to determine if the material shows statistically significant signs of heterogeneity. Determination that the material show signs of heterogeneity will be based on the results of a statistical test for differences between bottles at the 5 % significance level. The COR shall report back to the Contractor within 6 business days of receipt of the measurement data.

(D) Actions if the bottled material does not meet the homogeneity criteria: If the COR and

SME determine that the material does not meet the homogeneity criteria, the COR has an additional two (2) business days to make a recommendation to address that heterogeneity issue. This recommendation may include, but not be limited to the following, all of which are options, but not requirements:

i. If the COR and SME determine that one or more sublot(s) do not meet the homogeneity criteria, the COR has the option of accepting the results and segregating the material that does not meet the criteria from the remaining sublots.

ii. If the COR and SME determine that there is not a sufficient amount of material that meets the homogeneity criteria, the COR has the option of recommending, for some or all of the material, that the Contractor shall remix, subdivide, rebottle, and reanalyze the material following the same specifications above for the original work. The COR may require using new bottles for the remixed material, and if so, will provide those bottles at no cost. Cleaning of the new bottles at NIST might delay completion of the work.

Once notified of the COR’s recommendation to address any heterogeneity issue, the

Contractor shall have three (3) business days to respond to the COR’s recommendation. If the Contractor does not agree with the COR’s recommendation it can propose an alternative. If the Contractor proposes an alternative, the COR will have three (3) business days to respond to that alternative. If the COR and the Contractor cannot agree on a recommendation to address the heterogeneity issue within five (5) business days of COR’s receipt of the Contractors alternative, the matter shall be referred to the Contracting Officer (CO).

(E) Post homogeneity evaluation: After the COR has notified the Contractor that the material meets the homogeneity criteria, the Contractor shall prepare these retained bottles from the homogeneity testing for shipment to NIST in a separate container similar to the container used to ship the remaining bottles.

14. The Contractor shall prepare the containers of bottles containing the coal material from the spin riffled sublots and the excess material for shipment to NIST. No later than six (6) business days after the COR has reported to the Contractor that statistically significant signs of heterogeneity have not been detected or the Contractor and the COR have agreed that the processing, bottling, and analysis are complete, the Contractor shall report to the COR and

SME the number of containers (boxes) of bottles and drums that will be shipped to NIST with an itemized list that includes the gross mass (weight) of each container and drum and the total mass (weight) of the shipment. The shipment shall be FOB Destination.

15. The Contractor shall complete all work, send all reports on measurement data and results to the COR and SME, and ship all material to NIST, within twenty four (24) weeks of the

Contractor receiving the coal materials and bottles from NIST. This twenty four (24) week period fully takes into account the time required to complete all the contract tasks, assuming

NIST determines that the material meets the homogeneity criteria based on initial tests.

16. If the COR and SME determine that additional blending, bottling, and analysis are required, including the extra time that might be required for the COR and SME to review measurement results and modifications to the processing stated in Task 15, the Contractor shall complete all additional work within 10 weeks of reaching agreement with the COR on a recommendation to address the heterogeneity issue and the Contractor possessing all bottles required for rebottling.

17. The Contractor shall take precautions to minimize losses to breakage or other accidents and shall notify via email the loss of any filled bottles to the COR and SME within two (2) business days of the loss.

V. OPTION

Option to air-dry the coal for ten (10) calendar days instead of three (3) calendar days. This option for a ten (10) calendar air-drying would proceed in exactly the same manner as the three (3) calendar day air-drying, except:

(A) The coal material would be air-dried for ten (10) continuous days (at least 232 hours and no more than 248), and

(B) Over the course of the air-drying, the Contractor shall rake the coal periodically (at least four times, approximately every 48 h).

VI. DELIVERY SCHEDULE

All deliverables shall be sent to the COR and SME, except that shipment of bottles and excess material shall be sent to the NIST delivery address. The number of days listed are business days.

Each deliverable listed in the table below has a quantity of one (1).

Deliverables

Description Task Format When due

Notification of receipt of drums and bottles

1 email Within 2 days of receipt

Notification of tentative preparation and packing schedule

2 email Excel spread-sheet

At least 10 days prior to the scheduled opening of the drums

Notification of dates the air-drying will begin and end

3 email At least 2 days prior to start of air-drying

Report

(A) total air-dried mass of coal material;

(B) anticipated date for reaching milestones

(1) reporting mass of each lot split,

(2) completion of all bottling and recording of bottle masses,

(3) reporting results of homogeneity testing, and

(4) shipment of bottles to NIST;

(C) DBP that will require approval by

COR

5 email Excel spread-sheet

Prior to any subsequent processing

Report final DBP III email pdf Within deadlines stated in Task 8 and prior to any subsequent processing

Report mass of each lot split 7 email Excel spread-sheet

After splitting into lots and prior to any subsequent processing

Report (1) masses (weights) of each capped bottle (empty and full)

(2) number of bottles filled,

(3) number of sublots

(4) the mass of excess material, if any, from each sublot,

(5) the number of bottles in each sublot,

(6) identification of each bottle with the lot, sublot, and order of fill in each sublot, and

(7) identification of the bottles that will be sent for homogeneity testing

10 email Excel spread-sheet

After bottling is complete and Prior to sending the bottles for homogeneity testing

Report homogeneity testing results for moisture, sulfur (as is and dry basis), and ash for each bottle

13(B) email Excel spread-sheet

Within 3 days of receipt of results from the testing laboratory

Report number of containers of bottles and drums that will be shipped to NIST with an itemized list that that includes the gross mass (weight) of each container and drum and the total mass (weight) of the shipment

14 email Excel spread-sheet

Within 6 days after the

NIST COR has reported to the Contractor that statistically significant signs of heterogeneity have not been detected or the Contractor and NIST have agreed that the processing, bottling, and analysis are complete

Complete all work, send all reports on measurement data and results to the COR and SME, and ship all material to NIST

15 Format as noted

Within 24 weeks of the

Contractor receiving the materials from NIST described in Task 1

If the COR determines that additional blending, bottling, and analysis are required, including the extra time that might be required for the COR and SME to review measurement results and modifications to the processing stated in

Task 15, the Contractor shall complete all additional work

16 Format as noted

Within 10 weeks of reaching agreement with the COR on a recommendation to address the heterogeneity issue and the Contractor possessing all bottles required for rebottling

Notification of the loss of any filled bottles

17 email Within 2 days of the loss

VII. DELIVERY

Delivery shall occur within six (6) months of award. If rework is required, an additional

10 weeks (plus the time required for NIST to deliver additional bottles) is allowed.

National Institute of Standards and Technology

100 Bureau Dr.

Bldg 301

Gaithersburg, MD 20886

VIII. GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

NIST will be responsible for arrangements if the Contractor needs to access the NIST campus.

NIST reserves the right to have a representative on the contractor’s site to observe any part of the process. The COR shall report back information to the Contractor as specified in this Statement of

Requirement. Prior to shipment of the material to the Contractor, the COR shall report to the

Contractor information the COR and SME deem necessary for the Contractor to prepare a DBP.

This information shall be based on the detailed bid submitted by the Contractor, including the number of lots, sublots, and bottles in each sublot. The information provided by the COR shall include a confirmation of the total number of bottles to be filled (number of sublots multiplied by the number of bottles in each sublot). It shall also include the COR’s request for the total number of bottles to be tested for acceptance testing and the number of replicates to be taken from each

IX. NIST INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA:

As noted in Task 13, acceptance of the material shall be based on the results of the data reported by the Contractor, including determination of no signs of significant heterogeneity based on the results of a statistical test for differences between bottles at the 5 % significance level.

The COR and SME shall inspect the bottles and drum of coal material upon arrival at NIST. Bottles shall be inspected to assess whether the correct number of bottles were delivered based on what was reported and that at least 99 % of the bottles contain at least 50 g coal and at least 99 % of the bottles contain less than 58 g of coal, with sufficient headspace to allow for mixing of the contents.

The containers will be inspected to assess that the bottles are boxed according to the fill order, as specified. The drum shall be inspected to assess that the contents of the lined bags agrees with the contractor’s report. The COR will notify the Contractor whether the material has been accepted.

X. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY, MATERIAL, EQUIPMENT, or

INFORMATION (GFP, GFM, GFE, or GFI)

Note: The coal material comes from the same batch of 250 µm (60 mesh) sized material used to produce RM 8499 that did not show statistically significant signs of heterogeneity. Thus, any statistically significant signs of heterogeneity will likely result from the blending procedure and not inherently from the coal material.

Upon award, the COR shall provide to the Contractor information deemed necessary for the

Contractor to prepare a DBP. This information will be based on the bid submitted by the

Contractor, including the number of lots, sublots, runs, and bottles in each run. The government-furnished information will be:

1) the number of bottles that will be removed for homogeneity testing (at least 24 and no more than 48 bottles),

2) the number of replicate test portions to be taken from each bottle (at least two (2) and no more than three (3), depending on the number of bottles and sublots),

3) the total number of measurements to be performed for each constituent (at least 48 and no more than 72 total measurements for each constituent, depending on the number of bottles and sublots), and

4) assignment of each specific measurement of a test portion to an analytical run and the position in that run (e.g., lot 2, sublot 4, bottle 50, replicate 2)

5) How measurements will be organized, including how test portions will be segregated for moisture and determination, and the run order for standards, blanks, controls, and samples for the sulfur determination.

NIST shall provide to the Contractor pre-cleaned amber glass bottles and screw caps of the same type used for NIST coal and coke SRMs. NIST shall ship sufficient amber glass bottles to the

Contractor for spin-riffle bottling. An excess number of bottles (200) shall be shipped to allow for any breakage, bottle material wastage, and to serve as spacers to replace bottles pulled for analysis. NIST shall provide to the Contractor two (2) lined drums containing approximately

172 kg (378 lb) of bituminous coal sized at 250 µm (60 mesh) and divided into a total of 17 bags each containing between 7.3 kg and 11 kg. Any unused coal shall be returned to the Government prior to the end of this contract. The Contractor shall package the coal to minimize leakage from the primary container.

If the COR, in consultation with the SME, requires reworking the material as a result of determining that there is not a sufficient amount of material that meets the homogeneity criteria, NIST will ship the required number of clean bottles to the Contractor for that rework. It is anticipated that it would take about 25 business days for NIST to clean the bottles.