Attachment A-Statement of Work (SOW) 6.25.25.pdf

Title: Veterinarian Services

Attachment A Statement of Work (SOW)

Date: June 26, 2025

I. Background

The Department of National Hansen's Disease Program (NHDP) is responsible for care, treatment, training and research in Hansen's disease (HD, leprosy) in the United States. It operates an internationally recognized research program piloting new therapies and conducting basic scientific research on leprosy. In collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) (through AAI20009-001-0000), the NHDP also serves as the world's principal resource for leprosy research materials including Mycobacterium leprae. These activities involve exposure to infectious disease (leprosy) and require extensive use of exotic research animals including conventional mice, nude mice, gene knock-out and transformed mice and nine-banded armadillos.

II. Purpose / General Description

The purpose of this requirement is to provide Veterinarian services for armadillos and mice.

NHDP has an extensive animal colony that has armadillos (150), nude mice (750), knock mice

(750) and conventional mice (1000). The contractor shall provide services to this animal colony.

III. Period of Performance / Place of Performance

The period of performance shall be a base period of 12 months plus four 12-month option periods. The estimated start date is September 1, 2025. Exact dates will be entered at time of award.

The place of performance shall be at the NHDP vivarium, located at the Louisiana State University (LSU) School of Veterinary Medicine Annex at 5 Skip Bertman Dr. Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Core Days and Hours of Operation

The core days and hours of operation are Monday through Friday; 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM.

Overtime will not be authorized.

Approximately 100 hours of service will be required each year, including 4-8 hours on-site each month to conduct facilities inspections, consult with staff, perform preventative and emergency medical procedures on research animals, and execute administrative interactions.

Only emergency services or deliverables shall be provided on Saturdays, Sundays, Federal Government Holidays, or any other day as set forth by Presidential Executive Order, or any other Federal Government closures.

The following Federal Government holidays are established by law (5 U.S.C. 6103)

• New Year’s Day (January 1)

• Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Third Monday in January)

• Washington's Birthday (Third Monday in February)

• Memorial Day (Last Monday in May)

• Juneteenth (June 19)

• Independence Day (July 4)

• Labor Day (First Monday in September)

• Columbus Day (Second Monday in October)

• Veterans Day (November 11)

• Thanksgiving Day (Fourth Thursday in November)

• Christmas Day (December 25)

IV. Tasks

Task 1 - Federal Records Management

Task 1.1 - Records and Information Regulation Guidelines

In accordance with 36 CFR 1222.32, all data created for Government use and delivered to, or falling under the legal control of, the Government are Federal records subject to the provisions of 44 U.S.C. chapters 21, 29, 31, and 33, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552), as amended, and the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended and must be managed and scheduled for disposition only as permitted by statute or regulation.

The Contractor shall not retain, use, sell, or disseminate copies of any deliverable that contains information covered by the Privacy Act of 1974 or that which is generally protected from public disclosure by an exemption to the Freedom of Information Act.

Task 1.2 - Records and Information Management

The contractor shall manage and maintain Federal records and/or information, including electronic records and/or information, ensuing from this contract in accordance with all applicable records management laws and regulations, including but not limited to the Federal Records Act (44 U.S.C. Chapters. 21, 29, 31, 33); 36 CFR § 1236.20 What are appropriate record keeping systems for electronic records? & 1236.22 What are the additional requirements for managing electronic mail records? (https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-36/section-1236.22);

NARA Bulletin 2013-02, August 29, 2013, Guidance on a New Approach to Managing Email Records (https://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/bulletins/2013/2013-02.html); and NARA Bulletin 2010-05 September 08, 2010 (http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/bulletins/2010/2010-05.html), Guidance on Managing Records in Cloud Computing Environments.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-36/section-1236.22 https://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/bulletins/2013/2013-02.html http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/bulletins/2010/2010-05.html http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/bulletins/2010/2010-05.html

Managing the records includes, maintaining records to retain functionality and integrity throughout the records' full lifecycle including: (1) maintenance of links between records and metadata, and (2) categorization of records to manage retention and disposal, either through transfer of permanent records to NARA or deletion of temporary records in accordance with NARA-approved retention schedules.

Task 1.3 - Records Management Training

The contractor (and/or subcontractor) shall ensure that all employees having access to (1) Federal information or a Federal information system, or (2) personally identifiable information (PII), complete the HHS Records Management Training before performing work under this contract, and thereafter completing the annual refresher course during the life of the contract. The training is located at https://humancapital.learning.hhs.gov/courses/2024recordsmanagement/01_index.html. At the end of the Records Management training, the “Congratulations" slide is considered your certificate of completion. Please send the completion certificates to the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) of the contract. The listing of completed training shall be included in the first progress report. Any revisions to this listing as a result of staffing changes shall be submitted with next required progress report.

Task 2: Veterinarian Services

The contractor shall:

1. Conduct monthly visits at NHDP Animal vivarium to perform preventative medicine for research animals, facilities inspection, and administrative interactions.

2. Conduct telephone consultations, to include 24-hour emergency call availability, as needed.

3. Conduct scheduled specialty services, to include advanced treatments and survival surgeries.

Unscheduled specialty services may be required in the event of an emergency to treat animals with acute illness or severe injury.

4. Dispense DEA controlled substances.

5. Conduct Semiannual Program Review and Facility Inspections, as required by the National Institutes of Health Office of Laboratory Welfare to address safety concerns that can impact animal welfare (https://olaw.nih.gov/resources/documents/cheklist.htm).

6. Provide diagnosis, treatment, and control of disease in the animal care facilities, and management of protocols associated with the disease.

7. Advise researchers on best methods of anesthesia, analgesia, assessment of animal well-being, and euthanasia of research animals.

https://humancapital.learning.hhs.gov/courses/2024recordsmanagement/01_index.html https://olaw.nih.gov/resources/documents/cheklist.htm

8. Serve as a member of the NHDP Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), participating in meetings, inspections, and protocol reviews as required by the Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (https://olaw.nih.gov/policies-laws/phs-policy.htm#FunctionsoftheInstitutionalAnimalCareandUseCommittee) and Animal Welfare Act (https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfare/downloads/bluebook-ac-awa.pdf).

9. Provide a written report of each monthly and semiannual facilities inspection, to include acceptable, minor deficiency, or significant deficiency regarding animal health and safety.

I. Procurements Requiring Information Security and/or Physical Access Security

1. Baseline Security Requirements

a. Applicability. The requirements herein apply whether the entire contract or modification (hereafter "contract"), or portion thereof, includes either or both of the following:

i. Access (Physical or Logical) to Government Information: A Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) will have or will be given the ability to have, routine physical (entry) or logical (electronic) access to government information.

ii. Operate a Federal System Containing Information: A Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) will operate a federal system and information technology containing data that supports the HHS mission. In addition to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 2.1 definition of "information technology" (IT), the term as used in this section includes computers, ancillary equipment (including imaging peripherals, input, output, and storage devices necessary for security and surveillance), peripheral equipment designed to be controlled by the central processing unit of a computer, software, firmware and similar procedures, services (including support services), and related resources.

b. Safeguarding Information and Information Systems. All government information and information systems must be protected in accordance with HHS/HRSA policies and level of risk. At a minimum, the Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) must:

i. Protect the:

Confidentiality, which means preserving authorized restrictions on access and disclosure, based on the security terms found in this contract, including means for protecting personal privacy and proprietary information;

Integrity, which means guarding against improper information modification or destruction, and ensuring information non-repudiation and authenticity; and

Availability, which means ensuring timely and reliable access to and use of information.

https://olaw.nih.gov/policies-laws/phs-policy.htm#FunctionsoftheInstitutionalAnimalCareandUseCommittee https://olaw.nih.gov/policies-laws/phs-policy.htm#FunctionsoftheInstitutionalAnimalCareandUseCommittee https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfare/downloads/bluebook-ac-awa.pdf

ii. Report any discovered or unanticipated threats or hazards by either the agency or contractor, or if existing safeguards have ceased to function immediately after discovery, within one (1) hour or less, to the government representative(s).

iii. Adopt and implement all applicable policies, procedures, controls, and standards required by the HHS/HRSA Information Security Program to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of government information and government information systems for which the Contractor is responsible under this contract or to which the Contractor may otherwise have access under this contract. Obtain all applicable security and privacy policies by contacting the CO/COR or HHS/HRSA security and/or privacy officials.

c. Privacy Act. Comply with the Privacy Act requirements (when applicable), and tailor FAR and HHSAR clauses as needed.

d. Privacy Compliance. Comply with the E-Government Act of 2002, NIST SP 800-53, and applicable HHS/OpDiv privacy policies, and complete all the requirements below:

i. Per the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-130, Personally Identifiable Information (PII), is "information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual's identity, either alone or when combined with other information that is linked or linkable to a specific individual." Examples of PII include, but are not limited to the following:

Social Security number, date and place of birth, mother's maiden name, biometric records, etc.

e. Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). Executive Order 13556 defines CUI as "information that laws, regulations, or Government-wide policies require to have safeguarding or dissemination controls, excluding classified information." The Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) must comply with Executive Order 13556, Controlled Unclassified Information, (implemented at 3 CFR, part 2002) when handling CUI. 32 C.F.R. 2002.4(aa) As implemented the term "handling" refers to "…any use of CUI, including but not limited to marking, safeguarding, transporting, disseminating, re-using, and disposing of the information." 81 Fed. Reg. 63323. The requirements below apply only to nonfederal systems that process, store, or transmit CUI, or that provide security protection for such components. All sensitive information that has been identified as CUI by a regulation or statute, handled by this solicitation/contract, must be:

i. Marked appropriately;

ii. Disclosed to authorized personnel on a Need-To-Know basis;

iii. Protected in accordance with NIST SP 800-53, Security and Privacy Controls for Information Systems and Organizations applicable baseline if handled by a Contractor system operated on behalf of the agency, or NIST SP 800-171, Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Information Systems and Organizations if handled by internal Contractor system; and

iv. Returned to HHS control, destroyed when no longer needed, or held until otherwise directed. Information and/or data must be disposed of in accordance with NIST SP 800-88, Guidelines for Media Sanitization.

f. Protection of Sensitive Information. For security purposes, information is or may be sensitive because it requires security to protect its confidentiality, integrity, and/or availability. The Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) must protect all government information that is or may be sensitive by securing it with a solution that is validated with current FIPS 140 validation certificate from the

NIST CMVP.

g. Confidentiality and Nondisclosure of Information. Any information provided to the contractor (and/or any subcontractor) by HHS or collected by the contractor on behalf of HHS must be used only for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this contract and must not be disclosed or made known in any manner to any persons except as may be necessary in the performance of the contract. The Contractor assumes responsibility for protection of the confidentiality of Government records and must ensure that all work performed by its employees and subcontractors must be under the supervision of the Contractor. Each Contractor employee or any of its subcontractors to whom any HHS records may be made available or disclosed must be notified in writing by the Contractor that information disclosed to such employee or subcontractor can be used only for that purpose and to the extent authorized herein.

The confidentiality, integrity, and availability of such information must be protected in accordance with HHS and HRSA policies. Unauthorized disclosure of information will be subject to the HHS/HRSA sanction policies and/or governed by the following laws and regulations:

i. 18 U.S.C. 641 (Criminal Code: Public Money, Property or Records);

ii. 18 U.S.C. 1905 (Criminal Code: Disclosure of Confidential Information);

and

iii. 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, Subchapter I (Paperwork Reduction Act).

h. Contract Documentation. The Contractor must use provided templates, policies, forms and other agency documents to comply with contract deliverables as appropriate. See Appendix A for baseline deliverables.

l. Standard for Encryption. The Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) must:

i. Comply with the HHS Standard for Encryption of Computing Devices and

Information to prevent unauthorized access to government information.

ii. Encrypt all sensitive federal data and information (i.e., PII, protected health information [PHI], proprietary information, etc.) in transit (i.e., email, network connections, etc.) and at rest (i.e., servers, storage devices, mobile devices, backup media, etc.) with encryption solution that is validated with current FIPS 140 validation certificate from the NIST

CMVP.

iii. Secure all devices (i.e.: desktops, laptops, mobile devices, etc.) that store and process government information and ensure devices meet HHS and HRSA-specific encryption standard requirements. Maintain a complete and current inventory of all laptop computers, desktop computers, and other mobile devices and portable media that store or process sensitive government information (including PII).

iv. Verify that the encryption solutions in use have been validated under the Cryptographic Module Validation Program to confirm compliance with current FIPS 140 validation certificate from the NIST CMVP. The Contractor must provide a written copy of the validation documentation to the COR.

v. Use the Key Management system on the HHS personal identification verification (PIV) card or establish and use a key recovery mechanism to ensure the ability for authorized personnel to encrypt/decrypt information and recover encryption keys http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/. Encryption keys must be provided to the COR upon request and at the conclusion of the contract.

2. Incident Response

a. The Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) must respond to all alerts/Indicators of

Compromise (IOCs) provided by HHS Computer Security Incident Response Center (CSIRC)/HRSA Computer Security Incident Response Team (hrsacsirt@hrsa.gov) within 24 hours, whether the response is positive or negative. In accordance with FISMA and OMB M-17-12, Preparing for and Responding to a Breach of Personally Identifiable Information (PII), an incident is "an occurrence that (1) actually or imminently jeopardizes, without lawful authority, the integrity, confidentiality, or availability of information or an information system; or (2) constitutes a violation or imminent threat of violation of law, security policies, security procedures, or acceptable use policies" and a privacy breach is "the loss of control, compromise, unauthorized disclosure, unauthorized acquisition, or any similar occurrence where (1) a person other than an authorized user accesses or potentially accesses personally identifiable information or (2) an authorized user accesses or potentially accesses personally identifiable information for an other than authorized purpose." For additional information on the HHS breach response process, please see the HHS Policy and Plan for Preparing for and Responding to a Breach of Personally Identifiable Information (PII)."

b. In the event of a suspected or confirmed incident or breach, the Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) must:

i. Protect all sensitive information, including any PII created, stored, or transmitted in the performance of this contract, with encryption solution that is validated with current FIPS 140 validation certificate from the

NIST CMVP.

ii. NOT notify affected individuals unless so instructed by the Contracting Officer or designated representative. If so instructed by the Contracting Officer or representative, the Contractor must send HRSA approved notifications to affected individuals following specific instructions from the HHS Privacy Incident Response Team (PIRT).

iii. Report all suspected and confirmed information security and privacy incidents and breaches to the HRSA Computer Security Incident Response http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/ mailto:hrsacsirt@hrsa.gov

Team (hrsacsirt@hrsa.gov) or 301-443-3333, COR, CO, HRSA SOP (or his or her designee), and other stakeholders, including breaches involving PII, in any medium or form, including paper, oral, or electronic, as soon as possible and without unreasonable delay, no later than one (1) hour, and consistent with the applicable HRSA and HHS policy and procedures, NIST standards and guidelines, as well as US-CERT notification guidelines. The types of information required in an incident report must include at a minimum: company and point of contact information, contact information, impact classifications/threat vector, and the type of information compromised. In addition, the Contractor must:

Cooperate and exchange any information, as determined by the Agency, necessary to effectively manage or mitigate a suspected or confirmed breach;

Not include any sensitive information in the subject or body of any reporting e-mail; and

Encrypt sensitive information in attachments to email, media, etc.

iv. Comply with OMB M-17-12, Preparing for and Responding to a Breach of Personally Identifiable Information, and HHS and HRSA privacy breach response policies when handling PII breaches.

v. Provide full access and cooperate on all activities as determined by the Government to ensure an effective incident response, including providing all requested images, log files, and event information to facilitate rapid resolution of sensitive information incidents. This may involve disconnecting the system processing, storing, or transmitting the sensitive information from the Internet or other networks or applying additional security controls. This may also involve physical access to contractor facilities during a breach/incident investigation.

3. Contract Initiation and Expiration

a. General Security Requirements. The Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) must comply with information security and privacy requirements, Enterprise Performance Life Cycle (EPLC) processes, HHS Enterprise Architecture requirements to ensure information is appropriately protected from initiation to expiration of the contract. All information systems development or enhancement tasks supported by the contractor must follow the HHS EPLC framework and methodology and in accordance with the HHS Contract Closeout Guide (2012).

b. System Documentation. Contractors (and/or any subcontractors) must follow and adhere to HHS System Development Life Cycle requirements, at a minimum, for system development and provide system documentation at designated intervals (specifically, at the expiration of the contract) within the EPLC that require artifact review and approval.

c. Sanitization of Government Files and Information. As part of contract closeout and at expiration of the contract, the Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) must provide all required documentation, including HRSA Disposition Plan to the CO and/or COR to certify that, at the government's direction, all electronic and paper records are appropriately disposed of and all devices and media are sanitized in accordance with NIST SP 800-88, Guidelines for Media Sanitization.

mailto:hrsacsirt@hrsa.gov

d. Notification. The Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) must notify the CO and/or COR and system ISSO within 14 days before an employee stops working under this contract.

Contractor Responsibilities upon Physical Completion of the Contract. The contractor (and/or any subcontractors) must return all government information and IT resources (i.e., government information in non-government-owned systems, media, and backup systems) acquired during the term of this contract to the CO and/or COR.

Additionally, the Contractor must provide a certification that all government information has been properly sanitized and purged from Contractor-owned systems, including backup systems and media used during contract performance, in accordance with HHS and/or HRSA policies.

4. Position Sensitivity Designations All Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) employees must obtain a background investigation commensurate with their position sensitivity designation that complies with Parts 1400 and 731 of Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). The following position sensitivity designation levels apply to this solicitation/contract: The contractor will not need access to HRSA systems or a PIV card.

V. SCHEDULE OF DELIVERABLES

Section 508 requires that all external public facing content and non-public facing official agency communications be accessible. Regardless of format, all digital content or communications materials produced as deliverables under this contract must conform to applicable Section 508 standards to allow federal employees and members of the public with disabilities to access information that is comparable to information provided to persons without disabilities.

The contractor shall complete and submit the applicable HHS Section 508 Accessibility Compliance Checklist per Section 508 deliverable. The checklist will serve as an artifact declaration of the Section 508 deliverable's compliance. Remediation of any Section 508 deliverables that do not comply with the applicable requirements as set forth below shall be the contractor's responsibility.

HHS guidance and checklists regarding accessibility of documents can be found at https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/accessibility-checklists/index.html.

The contractor shall submit the following deliverables as identified in the tasks listed in the SOW and in the quantities stipulated and during the periods listed below.

Item Quantity Due Date Place to Report Task 1.3 - Provide Records Management

1 30 Days after Award and upon new staff onboarding and thereafter completing

Sent via email to:

dhooker@hrsa.gov https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/accessibility-checklists/index.html

VI. Payment Schedule

The contractor shall be reimbursed in twelve equal monthly firm-fixed price payments, after performance of services and within 30 days of submission and acceptance of invoices.

training completion certificates the annual refresher course during the life of the contract.

Task 2.9:

Written Facility Inspections and other standardized reports and findings

1 Monthly Sent via email to:

dhooker@hrsa.gov in pdf format