B08_Attach__1_PWS_LOWER_SPRINGS_Fuels_Reduction_Redding.docx

Contents

1.0 Background on the Government’s Requirement

Bureau of Land Management Redding Field Office is requesting 32 acres of equipment mastication, equipment piling, and hand felling of hazard fuels in fire prone areas immediately adjacent to private properties in the Lower Springs Road area of Shasta County, Redding CA. Heavy accumulations of hazard fuels on public lands adjacent to private properties have created elevated wildfire threat to infrastructure and resources. Established fuel breaks on property lines, roadways, and adjacent to infrastructure will improve access for first responders, evacuation of the public, and create tactically viable control features for use in wildfire suppression. This will be a second entry treatment of roadside and property boundary fuels in the area, original treatment occurred in 2019.

2.0 General Scope of Work

Mechanized services include approx. 32 acres of mastication, chipping, grinding, and piling of downed and standing dead or live material on slopes from 0-40%. Manual services include hand felling with power saws dead standing vegetation. Hand felling will be used in support of mechanized fuels reduction within the 32 acres of public land for treatment on the Lower Springs Road area of Redding, CA. One option year will be offered to complete the total 32 acres, no additional option years are identified. The Contractor shall accomplish all mastication, grinding, piling and felling within the designated treatment area in accordance with the specifications.

Place of Performance

The services under this contract will be performed on and adjacent to Lower Springs Road Hazard Fuels project area which is located in Shasta County, CA and contains approximately 32 acres of mechanical and manual fuels reduction treatments on public lands administered by the Burau of Land Management (BLM) Redding Field Office (see attached map). The project area is located approximately 1 miles W of Redding, CA, within Sections (or parts of Sections) of the following Township (T) and Range (R) identifiers: T31N R5W Sections:5, 6.

Driving Directions to Project Area

Lower Springs Hazard Fuels Maintenance Project: From Redding, California drive west on Eureka way. (State Route 299W) 1mi., turn Southwest (left) on Lower springs rd, continue for 2mi, arrive BLM Lower Springs Hazard Fuels Maintenance Project. Note: Additional unit segments exist on Tilton Mine rd. and Magical Lane, both tributaries to Lower Springs rd. Vehicle and equipment access to some sub-units may need to occur through locked gates or require equipment transportation across private land, all coordination with private landowners providing access to the project area will be coordinated through and by the BOM COR. For further directions see the attached road access and project site maps.

Access Specifications

Access will be by both gravel roads (improved) and dirt roads (unimproved), which may require four- wheel drive vehicles. Access is by all-weather and seasonal roads. Seasonal roads may be impassable for several days after heavy rains or snow-blocked during the winter months. Cross-country foot travel of one-half mile to one mile is typical to the unit boundaries.

If an all-terrain vehicle is used, it shall be of such design that it will travel over rough, uneven terrain and not create wheel ruts and channels, or cause significant damage to existing trail tread. The vehicle shall be approved by the COR prior to use.

Portions of the project area are beyond locked gates that require a key or lock combination for access. The Contractor will be given access to gate combos and required agency keys to make access, gate keys must be returned to the COR at the end of the period of performance. The Contractor shall lock gates with locks immediately after entry or exit.

Hours of Operations

The Contractor will coordinate their hours of operation with BLM, but the Contractor is not restricted to operating during regular BLM office hours. Chainsaw work may not begin until 1/2hr after sunrise and must end 1/2hr after sunset on any given working day. Other hours of operation restrictions may be implemented during high fire danger or during previously scheduled events.

Security of Equipment and Property

The Contractor may leave equipment at the work site with approval from the COR. The Contractor shall be responsible for equipment if it should be lost, stolen or damaged. At the close of each work period, government facilities, equipment, and materials shall be secured. All personnel employed by the Contractor in the performance of this contract, or any representative of the Contractor entering the government worksite, shall abide by all security regulations.

Period of Performance:

The Period of Performance reads as follows:

Base Year: Award through December 31st, 2022

3.0 Overall Objective(s)

The objective of this work is to reduce wildfire threat by constructing hazard fuel breaks near private infrastructure on public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management Redding Field Office.

· Hazard fuels will be reduced by masticating, cutting, grinding, and piling using equipment on slopes from 0-40%.

· Hazard fuels will be reduced by hand felling standing dead vegetation in support of mechanized operations.

· Fuels reduction work will cut, chip, grind, and pile standing or fallen dead vegetation to reduce future wildfire threat and improve overall stand health

· Fuels reduction operations will thin live standing and resprouting vegetation to achieve 30ft stem spacing post treatment.

4.0 Specific Tasks

Task 1: Masticate/ Grind/ Machine Pile, using tracked or wheeled equipment, live or dead standing and fallen dead vegetation on slopes from 0-40%. Allowable treatment methods include:

· Masticate or grind targeted fuels - - cut material will remain on-site.

· Machine or hand cut vegtation for machine piling - - piles to remain on site.

Mechanized specifications:

· Cut, Grind, Pile dead fuels (standing and fallen) to 18 inches diameter.

· Standing snags greater than 18 inches diameter may be left standing if they do not pose an immediate risk to operators, equipment, and ground personnel.

· Felled or downed material greater than 18 inches diameter may be limbed and left to lay on site.

· Cut, Grind, Pile live fuels up to 6 inches diameter at breast height (DBH) to achieve 30-foot stem spacing between leave trees post-treatment.

· All piles built will be built to a minimum of 6x6 feet, maximum of 30x30 feet in dimension. Piles will remain on site for burning by BLM.

· Piles must be built off of recreation trails, roadways, and property lines a minimum of 10ft set back.

· Piles will be built with only organic material and free from soil or other non-combustibles. Piles will be compact and trimmed to promote efficient burning.

· Cut / remaining stumps will be no taller than 8 inches above ground level, measured from the uphill side.

· Scarring of leave trees will be avoided

· Equipment operation is excluded within 50-foot buffers around seasonal and intermittent streams. Buffers will be marked in Blue riparian flagging. Stream crossings are allowable for equipment transportation and site access.

Task 2: Hand sever using power saws dead standing or fallen vegetation in support of mechanized operations.

· Hand cut standing dead trees up to 18 inches DBH.

· Standing snags larger than 18 inches may be left on site if not posing an immediate threat to operators, equipment, and ground personnel.

· Hand cut, limb and buck downed fuels up to 18 inches diameter,

· material greater than 18 inches diameter will be bucked to create maximum contact with ground surface and left on site.

· Un-piled logs and slash (greater than 18 inches) will be set back 10 feet from trails, infrastructure, or roadways.

Criteria for Selection of Leave Trees:

All live conifers and hardwoods 6 inches DBH and larger are reserved from cutting or girdling. These trees shall be included in spacing requirements. The largest, healthiest, best-formed trees shall be selected as leave trees. Characteristics used in the selection of leave trees include the following:

· Has no apparent damage to the main bole;

· Is not visibly dead/dying;

· Demonstrates good vigor and is disease/bug free;

· Has at least 40 percent crown ratio or largest crown ratio if none greater than 40 percent are present

5.0 Delivery / Performance Schedule

Mapping

Unit boundaries are not marked. A shapefile and PDF Map of the treatment area for GPS/ Avenza will be provided and contractor will be required to accurately work within boundary of unit. Trailheads, intersections, and trail spurs are identified with recreation signage.

Additional Information:

The Contractor is responsible for organizing and directing all the equipment and personnel needed to fully accomplish the work. The Contractor shall develop and submit a Treatment Plan and Schedule to accomplish the project objectives. The Treatment Plan and Schedule will be agreed upon by both parties and incorporated into the contract at the Pre-Work. All changes to the Treatment Plan and Schedule will be agreed to prior to the changes taking effect. The Treatment Plan and Schedule shall include as a minimum the following items:

1. Cutting Plan – Discussed in more detail at Pre-Work meeting

2. Safety Plan – To include traffic control, identification of hazards, and trail closures if applicable

3. Fire Prevention Plan – For prevention and control of fires, with detailed list of personnel and equipment

Statutory Compliance

The Contractor agrees to conduct operations under this contract and other related business activities in compliance with federal, state, and local statutes, standards, orders, permits or other regulations. Failure to comply will be grounds for default in accordance with the Default clause. The contract shall govern if such laws conflict with or preclude performance of contractual requirements.

Improvements

The Contractor shall comply with the rules and regulations governing the operation of premises which are occupied and shall perform the contract in a manner that will not interrupt or interfere with the conduct of BLM business.

Before any camp, quarry, borrow pit, storage or service area other than shown on drawings is opened or operated lands administered by the BLM, written permission shall be obtained through the BLM and COR. A camp is interpreted to include the campsite or trailer parking area of any employee working on the project for Contractor. Such permission, if granted, shall be without charge to Contractor. Contractor must remove and dispose of all said improvements when no longer needed.

Recreation Resources

The Contractor will repair recreation trails to pre-treatment conditions where damage to trail tread, trail drainage, and where user access is blocked or compromised. The trail system will be closed by the BLM during fuels reduction operations, the Contractor will coordinate with the BLM on timing and duration of closures to public access. As fuels reduction operations allow, trails will be reopened to continue public use.

Wildlife Resources

The Contractor shall comply with seasonal restrictions administered by the Bureau of Land Management project design features. No treatments will be permitted from June 1st through September 1st of any given year of project implementation.

Sensitive resource areas will be flagged and identified on maps provided at the pre-work meeting. Treatments are not permitted in this project from June 1 until September 1 of any given year of project implementation. However, if this protection measure proves inadequate, if other such areas are discovered, or if new concerns are identified, the BLM may either cancel or unilaterally modify this contract to provide additional protection regardless of when such facts become known. Discovery of such areas by either party shall be promptly reported to the other party and operations will be suspended at that location until the significance or potential significance of the area is determined.

Any active raptor nest found will be reported to the Wildlife Biologist and project activities ceased within a 0.5-mile buffer until surveys indicate that project activities would not disturb nesting and/or breeding activities.

Protection of Improvements

The Contractor shall protect roads and other improvements (such as fences, roads, trails, telephone lines, and ditches) whether designated on the project area map or not.

Protection of Improvements Not Owned by the BLM

The Contractor will notify all utility companies, or other parties affected, and plans for all necessary adjustments of the public utility fixtures, pipelines, and other appurtenances affected by Contractor’s operations.

When Contractor’s operations are adjacent to properties of railway, telegraph, telephone, or power companies, or other property, work shall not begin until all necessary arrangements to prevent damage have been made by the Contractor.

The Contractor will cooperate with all owners of above-mentioned property. In the event of interruption because of accidental breakage, the Contractor shall promptly notify the proper authority, and cooperate with that authority in the restoration of service.

When access through private in-holdings or rights of ways are required, the Contractor will adhere to all stipulations and security requirements of the landowner to maintain project area access. Coordination with private landowners and right of way hoders will be done through or in cooperation with the BLM COR.

Protection of Land Survey Monuments The Contractor shall protect all known survey monuments, witness corners, reference monuments and bearing trees against any damage during Contractor’s operations.

Safety

The Contractor will follow all United States Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Standards that pertain to the operations set forth in this contract under Subpart R, Special Industries Standards 1910.266 Logging Operations Standards.

Sanitation and Servicing

The Contractor shall take all reasonable precautions to prevent pollution of air, soil, and water by Contractor’s operations. If facilities for employees are established within the project area, they shall be operated in a sanitary manner. Contractor shall not service tractors, trucks or other equipment on BLM lands where servicing is likely to result in pollution to soil or water.

Contractor shall remove from BLM lands all refuse resulting from use, servicing, repair, or abandonment of equipment. If the contractor’s operations or servicing of equipment result in pollution to soil or water, Contractor shall conduct cleanup to restore the polluted site to the previous observed conditions, and approved by the COR.

6.0 Government-Furnished Property, Materials, Services

General:

The Contractor shall furnish all personnel, materials, equipment, supplies, facilities, transportation, tools, supervision, and other items and non-personal services necessary to perform the work tasks defined in this Performance Work Statement, except for those items specified as government furnished property and services.

Materials:

The Contractor shall furnish all materials necessary to meet the requirement of this contract except for those items specified as government-furnished property and services.

Equipment:

The Contractor shall furnish equipment necessary to meet the requirement of this contract except for those items specified as government-furnished property and services.

7.0 Security and Administrative Matters

Regular Work Hours:

Unless otherwise specified, work hours under this task order shall be limited to the time between one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset each day. Work being done on Saturday, Sunday, or Federal holidays must be coordinated with and authorized by the BLM COR.

Federal Holidays:

The following Federal Legal Holidays are observed:

Fire Danger Season:

The Contractor shall take every reasonable precaution to prevent a wildland fire from occurring from his or her actions on this project. The Contractor must provide a fire mitigation and response plan to the BLM COR which outlines the Contractor’s fire prevention equipment at site, fire response/ reporting actions, and evacuation plan in the event of a Wildfire start at or adjacent to the project site. The Authorized Officer may, under certain conditions, require fire prevention and control measures in addition to those required by applicable state laws and regulations. This may include but will not be limited to changes in daily work schedules or full closure of operations due to extreme fire risk.

8.0 Technical Exhibits and Definitions

Standard Definitions:

Physical Condition The Physical appearance of Federal equipment or facilities that considers cracks, chips, dents, abrasions, rust, corrosion, general cleanliness, vibration, operating temperature, and discoloration and other items as identified by the COR.. Physical condition may be determined by visual as well as diagnostic means.

Contracting Officer (CO) The Secretary of the Interior or designated authorized representative who is the only agent capable of signing a federal award or obligating funds.

Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) The Contracting Officer’s designated representative as indicated in a delegation of authority letter.

Quality Assurance (QA) Surveillance of Contractor performance to determine performance requirements are met.

Performance Requirements Summary (PRS) (see Technical Exhibit below) The PRS identifies the key performance indicators of the Contract that will be evaluated by the Government to assure Contract performance standards are met by the Contractor.

Quality Control Those actions taken by the Contractor to control the production of goods or services so that they meet the requirements of the performance work statement.

Lower Springs Hazard Fuels Maintenance Performance Work Statement (PWS)

PWS Page 5

EXHIBIT X: QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEILLANCE PLAN (QASP)

Task(s):

1: Mechanized Fuels Reduction

2: Hand Cut and Fell All trees, brush, and downed material up to 6 inches diameter live or 18 inches diameter dead must be masticated, ground, chipped, or piled in accordance with the specification listed under Section 4 of this task order.

Hand fell all standing dead and fallen vegetation up to 18 inches diameter in support of mechanized fuels reduction within accordance of the specifications listed under section 4 of this task order.

The COR and/or Project Inspector (PI) will conduct government inspections. The Contractor (or designated representative) is encouraged to be present to observe inspections. Summary results will be made available on request. Government inspections will consist of:

a. Compliance Inspections Visual compliance inspections of work tasks will be made on a periodic basis across the project area. Such inspections are not final and do not constitute acceptance by the Government.

b. Final Inspections Final inspections for payment will be made on the completed project unit unless otherwise agreed upon in writing. Contractor shall request a final inspection.

Inspection requests shall be verbal and documented within the diary or in writing and pursuant to FAR 52.246-4, shall include results of Contractor’s quality inspections. Inspections will be completed within ten

(10) calendar days after the notice is received for each item. If a formal request for an item inspection is within the ten (10) working days since the previous request, the time will not start until the time for the previous inspection expires.

The Contractor will be responsible for ensuring his or her crew can identify leave trees and cut to desired spacing distances.

The contractor will be made aware of the deficiencies and documented in the COR’s diary. Deficiencies will need to be corrected within 48 hours unless the BLM representative states otherwise.

Incentives/Disincentives

a. Contractor will be required to rework the area at no additional cost to the Government

b. The Government will charge to the Contractor any additional cost of subsequent inspection of reworked area

c. Positive or negative Performance rating at the end of the contract (this will have definitive impacts on the

3. Pile Covering

All piles created within the project area must be covered under the specification outlined within section 4 of this task order.

See above

See above image1.emf

Sources: Esri, HERE, Garmin, Intermap, increment P Corp., GEBCO, USGS, FAO, NPS, NRCAN, GeoBase, IGN, Kadaster NL, Ordnance Survey, Esri Japan, METI, Esri China (Hong Kong),

(c) OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community

Lower Springs Mastication Maintenance Mastication - 32ac

¹ 0 0.15 0.3 0.45 0.60.075 Miles

Legend Lower Springs Mastication 2022 Trails Ownership Polygons (Redding FO) image2.emf

Sources: Esri, HERE, Garmin, Intermap, increment P Corp., GEBCO, USGS, FAO, NPS, NRCAN, GeoBase, IGN, Kadaster NL, Ordnance Survey, Esri Japan, METI, Esri China (Hong Kong),

(c) OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community

Lower Springs Mastication Maintenance Overview

¹ 0 0.95 1.9 2.85 3.80.475 Miles

Legend Lower Springs Mastication 2022 Ownership Polygons (Redding FO)