Attachment 3 Project Specifications.docx

SECTION C – DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS/WORK STATEMENT

DIVISION 100 - GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS

100 – Scope of Contract

It is the intent of this contract to manually and mechanically masticate (chop, mulch, or shred) mountain laurel and other undesirable species under 6” or 8” DBH in specified areas on the Allegheny National Forest. The densities of laurel shrub in the project area varies across the acres to be treated. Only by on-the-ground examination can prospective contractors determine what can be done with a machine and what would need to be manually treated. Manually treated areas would include intermittent stream buffer areas or dry drainages (10 feet buffer) or areas not able to be reached with the mechanized equipment. The areas to be treated are in forested stands where there may be downed woody material or rocks.

110 – Location

Project Vicinity and Area specific maps are included within this package. All pdf maps are georeferenced and can be used in conjunction with the Avenza App.

Most areas can be accessed from forest roads; however, some units may require following an access flag line through the woods to the treatment area. The contractor shall follow access flag lines to units that do not have road access to avoid offsite resource concerns. If a contractor desires to travel a different route, they must request a change in writing and obtain written permission from the COR.

All boundaries will have either orange painted “/// or //” and/or orange flagging, and at least one corner is marked with an orange or pink tag indicating “2024 Mastication” with the Project # and/or Unit # identified. All cards will be located, read and the contractor shall ensure they are at the correct location. The contractor must initial and date the cards prior to performing any work at the location. This is to ensure that they are at the correct contract unit.

Example of Orange project identification card.

120 – Contractor Furnished Property

The Contractor shall furnish all labor, equipment, supervision, transportation, supplies (except those designated as Government-furnished) and incidentals, to perform all work necessary to complete this contract.

130 – Government Furnished Property

The US Forest Service will provide several items to the contractor for the duration of the contract. These items will be distributed at the pre-work meeting. Government Furnished property will include the following items:

131 – Printed maps of all work areas displaying the location of stand boundaries, reserve areas, streams, and nearby roads. Georeferenced PDF maps will be furnished for use in Avenza or similar app. Upon request, shape files for use with GPS technology will also be provided at the prework.

132 – Contractor Identification Cards for display in vehicles while on work site. These cards identify a vehicle located on USFS lands as belonging to a contractor working on a government contract. While carrying out work onsite, the contractor must display these cards on their vehicle in a clearly visible location, such as in a window.

133 – USFS Gate Key(s). These must be returned to the Marienville Ranger District prior to approval of the final contract invoice.

140 – Contractor Representative

Before work starts the contractor shall designate a person in writing knowledgeable of contract requirements to act for him in his absence. The contractor or authorized representative shall be at the job site whenever work is in progress. In the absence of the contractor, the authorized representative may receive instructions from the Contracting Officer.

150 - Protection of Existing Structures

The Contractor shall be required to protect existing improvements such as pipelines, power lines, buildings, gates, and trails etc. which are located in the project area. The Contractor shall be required to repair or replace such improvements if damaged as a result of their operations. This includes replacing water bars and earthen barricades, roadside ditches, culverts and signs if disturbed as a result of this contract. Any rocks or slash removed for access must be replaced.

160 - Work Schedule

161 - The Contractor will notify the COR two days in advance of where and when work will start. Forest Service personnel will be available to answer questions or check areas Monday - Friday, 7:30 am to 4:00 pm. Contractor may work other than these hours and on weekends. The contractor may accompany the Forest Service inspector when conducting final inspections for acceptance and payment.

162 - If a contractor is awarded more than one item, only one item may be worked on at a time unless prior arrangements have been made with the COR. Work has to be completed before leaving each work area and going to the next area. The COR may direct the Contractor to a specific work area if there is a conflict with other activities in the area (ex. active logging) or in order to meet Forest Objectives.

163 - The contractor shall notify the COR at least weekly of the progress being attained on this project and which areas are being worked on. If work is going to be suspended for more than 3 days, the contractor must notify the COR when they plan to return to the contract work. The contractor will notify the COR when they have completed an area and it is ready for inspection. This notification can be either oral, written or e-mailed.

170 – Pre-work Meeting

The successful contractor and COR will gather for a pre-work meeting, prior to the start of work to discuss details of work, location, priorities, etc.

180 - 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 area of work and the contractor should contact the CO/COR immediately. Work on other areas of the contract that the Contractor does not view as unsafe should continue.

Contractor is required to follow all applicable OSHA standards (CFR 29), while working on the job site. In addition, it is recommended the successful contractor utilize appropriate personal protective safety equipment, which includes, but is not limited to, hard hats, ear protection, eye protection, and hand protection while working on project items. Contractor must keep the Government representative posted as to current site work and must be especially alert to vehicular traffic during field operations.

The contractor shall report all accidents or incidents associated with this contract to the Forest Service representative within 24 hours.

190 – Vehicle Operation

The Forest Service may, during the administration of this contract, direct the Contractor to temporarily halt treatment when: vehicles and/or equipment is causing excessive soil damage such as rutting/soil erosion on roads and/or other work areas until ground conditions improve.

DIVISION 200 - TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

210 - Treatment

210A – Item 1 Treatment It is the intent of this contract to manually and mechanically masticate mountain laurel and other non-desirable species on designated areas of the Allegheny National Forest. No snags of any size shall be felled, unless the snags present a safety hazard to the operator. The areas to be treated in Item 1 are predominately mountain laurel in the understory. If any other trees (< 6” diameter) or shrubs are in the treatment areas, they can be cut. The contractor does not have to avoid them.

210B – Item 2 Treatment It is the intent of this contract to manually and mechanically masticate competing woody vegetation on designated areas of the Allegheny National Forest. No snags of any size shall be felled, unless the snags present a safety hazard to the operator. The areas to be treated in Item 2 are fairly flat and have no recent harvest activity. In Item 2, species to cut include red maple, black birch, black cherry, yellow poplar, cucumber, Eastern hemlock, Hawthorne shrub, muscle wood, and ironwood. Any of the listed species that are < 8” DBH shall be felled. Species to retain include American chestnut, oak, hickory, and white pine, of all sizes.

All Items/Areas - Non-Desirable Species are defined in this contract as any tree species that are less than 6” (DBH) in diameter and all Non-Native Invasive species (NNIS) greater than 1 foot in height such as: 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.

211 – Care of Overstory Timber

Care shall be taken to not damage any standing timber that is greater than 6” in diameter. If the equipment utilized cannot get close to overstory timber without causing damage, manual cutting will be required to remove laurel from around the bases of overstory trees.

220 – Treatment Time

Treatment will occur outside the nesting season of April 1 – June 30. Please refer to Section F for Contract Time of Delivery.

230 – Equipment Types

Equipment to be used includes any type of rotary cutting mower/attachment or horizontal drum type that can cut/pulverize woody plant material. It can be either boom-mounted or integrated as long as it can travel through forested stands. Examples include but not limited to a FECON bull hog brush cutter. http://www.fecon.com/. Due to density and heights of the laurel shrub and working in forested stands, it is not feasible to use a traditional brush hog type mower.

240 – Ground Disturbance

Ground disturbance will be limited to the top 6 inches of soil or less, no excessive digging with equipment should be done – blade/cutter should be off the ground and not digging into the ground. No mechanical equipment will be used with 10 feet of intermittent streams or dry drainages. In these locations, hand work must be done. Manual cutting with brush cutters, loppers, saws, etc. may be used in these areas. When crossing an intermittent stream or dry drainage, equipment should traverse as perpendicular to the stream as possible and cross at a point with the most stable banks. Cut material should be placed greater than 10 feet from a stream or drainage.

250a – Slash disposal – manual cutting

Felled material should not lean against or be suspended by an uncut tree. Slash created by the Contractor's operations shall be removed 10 feet away from the locations listed below and lopped to 3 feet in height.

250b – Slash disposal – mechanized cutting

Slash (material) created by the Contractor's operations shall be scattered as not to have a depth of greater than 6 inches. Material will be scattered about. This will allow natural tree regeneration to take place at a faster rate.

260 - Stump Heights

Maximum cutting height is six inches, unless otherwise stated to the Contractor in writing by the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) due to unusual circumstances.

· Sprouts (multiple stems) will be cut as close to the ground as possible.

· Woody vegetation will be cut in a manner which results in a flat (parallel with the ground) surface.

· Angular stump cuts will not be allowed.

270 - Other Resources

270a Cultural Resources: If during the execution of this contract, the operator unearths a cultural or historic site, work must cease in the area and the Contract Inspector or COR notified immediately.

270b Wildlife Resources: Raptor nesting season is from Aril 1-July 31. If during the execution of this contract, an active stick nest is encountered inside/near the unit boundary, during the month of July, the contractor shall be required to halt operations on that area until after July 31st.

The contractor will be granted permission to work other units on the contract until the raptor nesting season has concluded.

280 - Work Area and Equipment Clean Up

The contractor shall clean up the work area in and around treatment areas prior to the Government accepting the item as complete. This cleanup includes removal of all excess and discarded materials associated the project, as well as other activities of the contractor.

Contractor shall ensure that prior to moving any equipment to a work site and between work sites on the Allegheny National Forest, that all equipment used to complete work such as but not limited to skidders, tractors, skid steers, off road equipment and hand tools are free of soil, seeds, vegetative matter, or other debris that could contain or hold seeds. Equipment shall be considered free of soil, seed and other such debris when a visual inspection does not disclose such material. Disassembly of equipment components or specialized inspection tools is not required. Cleaning of equipment may entail brushing or hosing off. The use of detergents or other cleaning agents are not to be used unless they are used at a car wash or other facility equipped for water catchment and treatment. Equipment is not to be cleaned in streams, ditches, or other waterways. If the contractor desires to clean the equipment on National Forest land, the contractor and Forest Service shall agree on location for the cleaning.

PERFORMANCE-BASED SERVICE CONTRACT (PBSC) REQUIREMENTS

Performance Work Statement – Contractor

The Contractor shall perform laurel mastication work in accordance with the specifications contained in this contract.

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

Performance Based Program

Performance based program apply to the Government’s inspections for contract compliance. All work must meet the acceptance standards as listed below.

For the purposes of applying disincentives the Government will conduct compliance inspections on all of the acres the Contractor has reported as completed to specifications. For the purpose of applying performance results, inspections shall be deemed to accurately reflect the total work.

DISINCENTIVES

If a Contractor has to be sent back to an area that the Government has failed on the 1st inspection and the Contractor failed again to fix work that was not done to the contract specifications, there will be a 5% deduction from their payment for that Area. With each following return to the Area to fix the work an additional 3% deduction from the final payment for that Site will be made.

If the Contractor does not meet the time conditions outlined in Section F, there will be a 10% deduction from the payment of the unfinished acres. An additional 5% deduction will occur for each additional week that the required work is not completed.

The use of disincentives does not waive any other rights of the Government, in dealing with inadequate performance.

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