Attachment B - Rare Earth Elements Laboratory Analysis Services - Draft PWS.pdf

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

HEADQUARTERS

8725 JOHN J. KINGMAN ROAD

FORT BELVOIR, VIRGINIA 22060-6221

Material Verification Testing Analytical Laboratory Services

– Rare Earth Elements

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

1. INTRODUCTION

The Department of Defense – Defense Logistics Agency – Strategic Materials (“Government”) has a need for contractor support for chemical and physical property verification testing/analytical laboratory services for Rare Earth Elements (“REE”) and other specialty materials and analyses.

1.1 Background:

The Government acquires materials for the National Defense Stockpile (“Stockpile”), per the National Defense Stockpile Act. The Government stores these materials in varying quantities of bulk amounts for long periods of time, sometimes several decades.

Depending on the form of the material – powder, lump, ingots, fibers, sheets, rolls, etc. – the Government may store the material in bulk in piles, drums, supersacks, crates, stacked on pallets, etc. The Government’s storage locations are depots located in Scotia, New York;

Hammond, Indiana; Hawthorne, Nevada; and Point Pleasant, West Virginia. There may be situations where the Government stores material at a commercial location within the Continental United States (“CONUS”). Some materials may require special storage situations.

Examples of special storage situations are climate-controlled areas, sealed containment under artificial atmosphere, compartmentalized areas in consideration of safety based on the material properties and potentially hazardous impurities.

1.2 Objective:

The purpose of this contract is to employ analytical laboratory services for verification testing of Government materials in the Government Stockpile or pending Government acceptance into the Government Stockpile.

1.2.1 The Government will verify material vendors are supplying the Government with materials which are compliant with the chemical properties and physical properties (i.e., particle size, bulk density, morphology, surface area) which are specified (“Specs”) in the material acquisition contract. The Contractor shall perform verification testing on samples of Government material the Government provides to the Contractor.

1.2.2 The Contractor shall perform verification testing (chemical and physical properties in the Government’s Specs) of each material lot’s sample at the Contractor’s laboratory. The Government may require chemical analyses or physical properties analysis in addition to the Government Specs.

1.2.3 The Contractor’s verification testing analytical laboratory services shall be independent in nature. Neither the Government nor the material vendor will have influence on the Contractor’s decisions and methods in the Contractor’s performance of this contract. This requirement of independence does not preclude the Contractor from collaborating with the Government to facilitate the Contractor’s performance under this contract.

1.2.4 The Contractor shall have CONUS-based operations. The Contractor shall perform all activities in this Performance Work Statement (“PWS”) within CONUS. The Contractor shall have an established reputation for experience in laboratory analytical services for REE and Rare Earth Oxides (“REOs”), battery materials (graphite, light element cations, and transition metal systems), and other specialized analytical laboratory services (i.e., Time Temperature Transformation (“TTT”), thermogravimetric analysis coupled with infrared spectroscopy, instrumental gas analysis (“IGA”), Raman spectroscopy, glow discharge mass spectrometry (“GDMS”)).

1.2.5 The Contractor shall be ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 17025 certified, ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) 9001 certified, and ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) compliant.

1.2.6 The Contractor shall have expert ability and experience in analytical chemistry methods, method development, and method development in wet chemistry (i.e., sample preparation and digestion, titration, reagent preparation, glovebox work, etc.). The Contractor shall have expert ability and experience in instrumental analysis including Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and Raman vibrational spectroscopy, instrumental gas analysis (IGA), optical emission spectroscopy/atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES/AES), plasma emissions/absorption spectroscopy, ICP plasma-initiated mass spectrometry (MP), and glow discharge mass spectrometry (GDMS).

1.2.7 The Contractor shall not perform any inherently governmental function.

1.2.8 The Contractor shall assert to all Objective requirements in Section 1.2, as appropriate, in their proposal and support each assertion with documented evidence.

1.3 General Performance Requirements:

Due to the wide variety of material in the Government’s stockpile, or in the process of entering the Government’s Stockpile, each material is unique in nature – material form, quantity, lot size, packaging, delivery schedule, storage requirements, special handling requirements, etc. Each material also has unique properties and specs.

Contractor performance, scheduling, and responsiveness:

A. The Government’s material acquisition contracts with material vendors often require the Government to accept (or reject) material within 90 days of delivery of material to the Government’s location. Thus, within that 90-day period, the Government must sample material, submit samples to the Contractor for analysis, and the Contractor must deliver analytical reports to the Government. Contractor shall have the ability to perform verification testing and deliver analytical reports to the Government on numerous lots within 80 calendar days of the Government’s request for the Contractor’s services, allowing the Government a minimum of ten (10) calendar days to determine whether the material is acceptable or not, based on the analytical reports from the Contractor.

B. The Contractor shall develop and submit to the Government a material testing plan, schedule Contractor personnel and Contractor equipment, and be ready to begin verification testing within one (1) month of the Government’s request for services.

C. The Contractor shall deliver analytical reports to the Government within five (5) business days from Contractor’s receipt of Government samples 90% of the time. In the situation where the Government has both physical and legal custody of a material in the Government’s Stockpile, stipulations and deadlines outlined in Section A. may be waived by the Government for sampling and verification testing.

The Contractor shall protect and maintain chain of custody and document chain of custody of material samples.

The Government reserves the right to observe and inspect the Contractor’s compliance with all activities associated with the performance of this Performance Work Statement

(“PWS”).

The Contractor shall be responsible for all costs associated with the performance of this PWS unless explicitly stated otherwise in the PWS.

The Contractor shall perform all activities associated with this PWS within the continental United States of America (“CONUS”). The Contractor shall ensure no Government material or samples of Government material leave the CONUS. The Contractor shall provide proof of applicable and appropriate federal, state, and local permits/licenses at Government request, to the Government. The Contractor shall submit copies of the certifications and accreditations with their proposal. The Government will not be responsible or liable for any failure of the Contractor to comply with their certifications, accreditations, licenses, regulatory requirements, and worker health and safety issues arising from the performance of the services in this

PWS.

1.4 Scope of Work:

1.4.1 This section contains a summary of the processes the Government expects from the contractor to perform the services in this PWS. Details of each process and Government requirements for each process are provided in Section 3.

The Contractor shall perform physical property verification testing of the Government’s material in accordance with the Government’s Specs and other Government requirements. The Contractor shall perform chemical property verification testing of the Government’s material in accordance with the Government’s Specs and other Government requirements.

1.4.2 The Contractor shall be responsible for all travel and expenses they incur during the performance of the PWS, unless otherwise stated in this PWS.

1.4.3 The Contractor shall be responsible for providing personnel and equipment necessary for the Contractor to perform the requirements of this PWS.

1.4.4 The Contractor shall be responsible for the proper disposal of all hazardous waste materials generated in the performance of this PWS in accordance with federal, state, and local regulations for waste material handling, storage, and disposal.

1.4.5 The Contractor shall be responsible for complying with all federal, state, and local regulations for the handling, storing, and processing of hazardous materials including licensing, if required.

1.5 Period of Performance (POP):

1.5.1 This contract is planned as an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contract (IDIQ). The IDIQ will have a base year Period of Performance (“POP”) of 12 months with two option years, with each option year having a POP of 12 months. The Government will exercise option years at the Government’s discretion. The total length of the IDIQ will not exceed 36 months.

1.5.2 Each Task Order resulting from the IDIQ will have its own POP.

2. GENERAL INFORMATION

2.1 Integrated Master Plan (“IMP”) & Integrated Master Schedule (“IMS”):

The Contractor shall develop, maintain, and follow a comprehensive IMP and IMS that ensures all activities within this PWS are planned in an order that complies with the PWS requirements and provides effective scheduling for each activity thorough completion of all work associated with this contract. The IMP and IMS shall be submitted to the Contraction Officer (“KO”) and Contracting Officer’s Representative (“COR”) within 14 calendar days of contract award (based on the KO’s signature date).

All changes to the IMS and IMP shall be submitted to the KO/COR in writing. The KO will provide approval/disapproval of the IMP and IMS to the Contractor within seven

(7) calendar days of receipt. The Contractor shall not implement any changes to the IMP and IMS prior to KO approval.

2.2 Quality Control Plan (“QCP”):

The Contractor shall develop and maintain a thorough and effective QCP to ensure services are performed in accordance with the PWS. The Contractor shall develop and implement procedures to identify, prevent, and ensure non-recurrence of defective services. The Contractor’s QCP documents how the contractor self-assures their work complies with the requirements of the contract. The Contractor shall submit the QCP to the KO/COR within 14 calendar days of contract award. The Contractor shall submit all changes to the QCP to the KO/COR in writing. The KO will provide approval/disapproval of changes to the Contractor within seven (7) calendar days of receipt. The Contractor shall not implement any changes to the QCP prior to KO approval.

2.3 Standard Operating Procedure (“SOP”):

The Contractor shall develop and follow a government-approved SOP for performance of each activity within this PWS. The contractor’s SOP shall include an accident prevention plan, a site-specific hazard analysis (SSHA), an accident hazard analysis (AHA), and the QCP described in Section 2.2. The Contractor shall submit the SOP to the KO/COR within 14 calendar days of contract award. The Contractor shall submit all changes to the SOP and any plans contained therein to the KO/COR in writing. The KO will provide approval/disapproval of the SOP to the Contractor within seven (7) calendar days of receipt. The Contractor shall not implement any changes to the SOP prior to KO approval.

2.4 Quality Assurance:

The Government will evaluate the Contractor’s performance under this contract.

2.5 Federal Holidays:

The Government will not require the Contractor to provide services on federal holidays unless approved by the KO/COR.

When a federal holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday will be observed as a legal holiday. When the federal holiday falls on a Saturday, the preceding Friday is observed as the holiday.

2.6 Place of Performance:

Work will be performed at the Contractor’s facilities unless otherwise specified in this PWS. All Contractor facilities that will be used in the performance of this contract shall be within CONUS.

2.7 Environmental and Safety:

The Contractor shall comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.

2.7.1 Hazardous Materials:

The Contractor shall minimize their use of hazardous materials. The Contractor shall only use hazardous materials if a suitable non-hazardous material alternative does not exist. If required, the Contractor shall handle and dispose of hazardous materials in accordance with what is listed on the container(s) labeling.

2.7.2 Spill Responsibility:

The Contractor shall be solely responsible for all spills or leaks during the performance of this contract that occur because of, or is contributed to, the actions of its agents, employees, or subcontractors. The Contractor shall clean up such spills or leaks to the satisfaction of the Government in a manner that complies with applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations. The cleanup will be at no cost to the government. The Contractor shall report all such spills or leaks, regardless of their quantity, to the KO/COR immediately upon discovery. The Contractor shall submit a written follow-up report to the KO/COR within 24 hours after the initial report. The Contractor shall write its report in narrative form and include the following:

a. Description of item spilled (including identity, quantity, etc.);

b. Whether amount spilled is EPA/state reportable and if so, whether it was reported;

c. Exact time and location of spill including a description of the area involved;

d. Containment procedures initiated;

e. An estimate of the amount Government material lost;

f. Summary of any communications the Contractor has with press or

Government officials other than the KO/COR; and

g. Description of clean-up procedures the Contractor employed or will employ at the site including disposal location of spill residue.

2.7.3 Safety:

The Contractor shall comply with all federal, state, and local occupational health and safety requirements for the Contractor’s employees and facilities.

2.7.4 Mishap Reporting:

The Contractor shall report, in writing, to the KO/COR all injuries, property damage, equipment damage, or vehicle accidents that occur during performance of this contract within two hours of occurrence. The Contractor shall complete and submit any documentation determined to be appropriate by the KO/COR to document the mishap.

2.8 Certificates of Analysis (COA):

Each Contractor analytical report, hereby referred to as a COA, shall include the following:

a. Lot number,

b. Weight and number of containers the COA covers,

c. List of the tests performed and/or methodology applied,

d. Numerical results and qualitative results (as applicable),

e. Error ranges/limits for results – optional only if the ranges are specified in the testing standard and/or the Contractor’s technical proposal,

f. Specifications/requirements, where applicable,

g. Name of the company or name of the laboratory,

h. Date or range of dates each analysis is performed, and

i. Printed name and signature of analyst.

2.9 Physical Security:

The Contractor shall be responsible for safeguarding all Government material in its custody.

The Contractor shall track, document, and maintain chain of custody, especially when the physical location of the Government material changes. The Contractor shall provide documentation demonstrating proof of custody and location of Government material at any time upon Government request.

The Contractor shall develop and maintain a description of their physical security and chain of custody plans for the Government material. The Contractor shall submit a description of their physical security with their technical proposal.

The Contractor shall be appropriately and adequately insured and bonded for the duration of this contract.

2.10 Post-Award Conference/Periodic Progress Meetings:

The Contractor is required to attend any post award conference or subsequent performance/progress meetings as requested by the KO/COR. At these meetings, the KO will provide feedback on Contractor performance and the Contractor will notify the Government of any issues preventing performance. The Contractor shall take appropriate action to resolve outstanding performance issues. The Government will conduct these meetings remotely and the meetings will be at no additional cost to the Government.

2.11 Key Personnel:

The Contractor shall designate a contract manager who will be responsible for the performance of the PWS requirements. The Contractor shall provide the name and contact information (including best telephone number for contact) for this person and an alternate person to the KO/COR in writing within seven (7) calendar days after contract award. The contract manager or alternate shall have full authority to act for the Contractor on all matters relating to this contract. The Contractor shall provide the best telephone numbers of the contract manager and the alternate at which the Government can reach the contract manager or alternate, to the Government upon award.

2.12 Contractor Travel:

The Contractor shall be responsible for all Contractor travel expenses during their performance of the requirements in this PWS unless otherwise stated in this PWS.

2.13 Organizational Conflict of Interest:

Contractor and subcontractor personnel performing work under this contract may not receive, have access to, or participate in the development of proprietary or source selection information (e.g., cost or pricing information, budget information or analyses, specifications or work statements, etc.) or perform services that may create a current or subsequent organizational conflict of interest (“OCI”) as defined in FAR Subpart 9.5.

The Contractor shall notify the KO immediately whenever it becomes aware that such access or participation may result in any actual or potential OCI and shall promptly submit a plan to the KO to avoid or mitigate any such OCI. The Contractor’s mitigation plan will be determined to be acceptable solely at the discretion of the KO, and in the event the KO unilaterally determines that any such OCI cannot be satisfactorily avoided or mitigated, the KO may effect other remedies as the KO deems necessary, including prohibiting the Contractor from participation in subsequent contracted requirements that may be affected by the OCI.

2.14 Monthly Status Reports:

The Contractor shall submit written monthly reports detailing the status of the services to the KO/COR. These reports shall coincide with invoice submission and shall be uploaded as attachments to the invoice in Wide Area Work Flow (“WAWF”).

2.15 Acceptance:

The Government will inspect all deliverables from the Contractor within 30 calendar days of receipt for compliance with all requirements described in this PWS. The KO/COR will notify the Contractor of acceptance or rejection of Contractor’s deliverables. This notification, and not the government’s payment on the services, will represent the acceptance of Contractor’s deliverables.

3. REQUIREMENTS/PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

3.1 Chemical analysis and physical property analysis of Government material:

3.1.1 Requirement:

The Contractor shall submit a verification testing plan for chemical properties of the Government’s material, including particle size analysis and other physical property tests, if required, to the Government within 14 calendar days from the Government’s issuance of a Task Order. The Contractor shall include standards and brief descriptions of method for each test in its verification testing plan. The Government will advise the Contractor of acceptance of their verification testing plan within seven (7) calendar days of the Government’s receipt of the verification testing plan.

The Contractor shall perform all verification tests/analyses required for the Government’s material as described in the Task Order. The contractor shall report the results to the Government in the format described in Section 2.9 Certificates of Analysis of this PWS. The Contractor shall submit the COA/Analytical report to the Government, as directed by the COR, via email for each sample it tests. The Contractor’s COA/Analytical report shall be in PDF format and be attached to the email to the Government.

The Contractor shall comply with all certifications and accreditations it possesses and other Quality Assurance requirements for the Contractor’s industry. The Contractor shall comply with their QSP, IMS, IMP, and SOP, described in Sections 2.1 through 2.3 of this PWS.

The Contractor shall deliver COAs to the Government, as directed by the COR, within five (5) business days from the date the Government delivers the analytical samples to the Contractor.

3.1.2 Performance Standard:

The Contractor shall test each lot’s sample and deliver COAs for each sample to the Government as described in this PWS and in Section 3.3.1. The contractor shall deliver the COAs for each sample to the Government within 10 business days after the Contractor receives the Government sample The Contractor shall comply with all Quality Assurance requirements for their accreditations. The Contractor shall comply with the IMS, IMP, SOP, and QSP they submitted to the Government.

3.1.3 Acceptable Quality Level:

The Contractor shall submit a verification testing plan for chemical properties of the Government’s material, including particle size analysis and other physical property tests, if required, to the Government within 14 calendar days from the Government’s issuance of a Task Order. The Contractor shall include standards and brief descriptions of method for each test in its verification testing plan.

The Contractor shall perform all verification tests/analyses required for the Government’s material as described in the Task Order. The Contractor shall perform all verification tests/analyses required for the Government’s material as described in the Task Order within 10 business days of Contractor’s receipt of samples from the Government.

The contractor shall report the results to the Government in the format described in Section 2.8 Certificates of Analysis of this PWS. The Contractor shall submit the COA/Analytical report to the Government via email for each sample it tests. The Contractor’s COA/Analytical report shall be in PDF format and be attached to the email to the Government.

The Contractor shall comply with all certifications and accreditations it possesses and other Quality Assurance requirements for the Contractor’s industry. The Contractor shall comply with their QSP, IMS, IMP, and SOP, described in Sections 2.1 through 2.3 of this PWS.

Contractor shall deliver COAs to the Government, as directed by the COR. The Contractor shall deliver the COAs to the government within five (5) business days from the date the Government delivers the analytical samples to the Contractor.