B08_-_PWS___QASP.pdf

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

Eastern black rail surveys on Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge, Okeechobee, Florida.

Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge Complex 4055 Wildlife Way, Vero Beach, Florida 32963

PART 1 GENERAL INFORMATION

INTRODUCTION

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has a need for Eastern black rail (Laterallus jamaicensis jamaicensis) presence/absence surveys on the Kissimmee Bend and Okeechobee Units of Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge). A project location map is shown in Attachment 5.

SCOPE

The project consists specifically of supplying all labor, equipment, materials and supplies necessary for conducting Eastern black rail surveys as identified under the following objective.

Objective 1: Survey Eastern black rail on Kissimmee Bend Unit of the Refuge Task 1.2: Annually survey Eastern black rail on Kissimmee Bend Unit of the Refuge

Objective 1: Survey Eastern black rail on Okeechobee Unit of the Refuge Task 1.2: Annually survey Eastern black rail on Okeechobee Unit of the Refuge

Eastern black rail protocols and data requirements are provided in Attachment 3.

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The period of performance shall be one year from award date.

Quality Assurance The government shall evaluate the contractor's performance under this contract in accordance with the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP). This plan is primarily focused on what the Government must do to ensure that the contractor has performed in accordance with the performance standards. It defines how the performance standards will be applied, the frequency of surveillance, and the minimum acceptable defect rate(s). (QASP attached)

Hours of Operation The contractor is responsible for conducting business between sunrise and sundown, seven days a week, except when the Government facility is closed due to local or national emergencies, administrative closings, or similar Government directed facility closings. The Contractor must at all times maintain an adequate workforce for the uninterrupted performance of all tasks defined within this PWS when the Government facility is not closed for the above reasons.

Place of Performance All monitoring work will be located at the Refuge. Comments/reports will be provided to the COR.

INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

The work shall be accepted when work is completed as described here within and in accordance with the specifications. Comments, recommendations, and/or reports must be submitted according to the schedule established by the COR. The contractor must work closely with the COR to ensure deadlines are met. Work will be inspected to assure compliance with the contract documents. However, quality control and adherence to all contract requirements is still the responsibility of the contractor. Schedule of payments will be based on acceptance of interim and final reports and associated data based on the tasks outlined in the scope.

Type of Contract: The government will award a Firm Fixed Price Contract.

Option Years: three option years are requested

Security Requirements: Not Applicable.

Physical security: Not Applicable.

Key Control: Government to provide access post-award.

Post Award Conference/Periodic Progress Meetings: The Contractor agrees to attend any post award conference convened by the contracting activity or contract administration office in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation Subpart 42.5. The Contracting Officer, Contracting Officers Representative (COR), and other Government personnel, as appropriate, may meet periodically with the contractor to review the contractor's performance. At these meetings the contracting officer will apprise the contractor of how the Government views the contractor's performance and the contractor will apprise the Government of problems, if any, being experienced. Appropriate action shall be taken to resolve outstanding issues. These meetings shall be at no additional cost to the government.

Contracting Officer Representative (COR): The (COR) will be identified by separate letter. The COR monitors all technical aspects of the contract and assists in contract administration The COR is authorized to perform the following functions: assure that the Contractor performs the technical requirements of the contract: perform inspections necessary in connection with contract performance:

maintain written and oral communications with the Contractor concerning technical aspects of the contract: issue written interpretations of technical requirements, including Government drawings, designs, specifications: monitor Contractor’s performance and notifies both the Contracting Officer and Contractor of any deficiencies; coordinate availability of government furnished property, and provide site entry of Contractor personnel. A letter of designation issued to the COR, a copy of which is sent to the Contractor, states the responsibilities and limitations of the COR, especially with regards to changes in cost or price, estimates or changes in delivery dates. The COR is not authorized to change any of the terms and conditions of the resulting order.

Key Personnel: The follow personnel are considered key personnel by the government: Oliver van den Ende, Refuge Manager (COR) (772-205-0697) and David Bender, Ecological Services (772-562-3909 x294). The contractor shall provide a contract manager who shall be responsible for the performance of the work. The name of this person and an alternate who shall act for the contractor when the manager is absent shall be designated in writing to the contracting officer. The contract manager or alternate shall have full authority to act for the contractor on all contract matters relating to daily operation of this contract. The contract manager or alternate shall be available between 8 AM and 4 PM, Monday thru Friday, except when the government facility is closed for administrative reasons.

Identification of Contractor Employees: All contract personnel attending meetings, answering Government telephones, and working in other situations where their contractor status is not obvious to third parties are required to identify themselves as such to avoid creating an impression in the minds of the public that they are government officials. They must also ensure that all document or reports produced by contractors are suitably marked as contractor products or that contractor participation is appropriately disclosed.

Data Rights: The Government has unlimited rights to all documents/material produced under this contract. All documents and materials, to include the source codes of any software, produced under this contract shall be Government owned and are the property of the Government with all rights and privileges of ownership/copyright belonging exclusively to the Government. These documents and materials may not be used or sold by the contractor without written permission from the Contracting Officer. All materials supplied to the Government shall be the sole property of the Government and may not be used for any other purpose. This right does not abrogate any other Government rights.

PART 2. DEFINITIONS AND ACRONYMS –standard

PART 3. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY, EQUIPMENT, AND SERVICES

Services: The Government will provide no services.

Facilities: The Government will provide access to the Refuge proper where all field work shall take place.

Utilities: The Government will not provide any utilities in the field.

Equipment: The Government will provide no equipment.

Materials: The Government will provide all data specifically required for this project

PART 4. CONTRACTOR FURNISHED ITEMS AND SERVICES

General: The Contractor shall furnish all labor and services required to perform work under this PWS.

Secret Facility: Clearance: Not Applicable.

Labor and Materials: None

Equipment: Not Applicable

PART 5 SPECIFIC TASKS

Basic Services: The Contractor shall provide the necessary labor materials and supplies to conduct the scope of the contract safely.

PART 6. APPLICABLE PUBLICATIONS {CURRENT EDITIONS)

The Contractor must abide by all applicable regulations, publications, manuals, and local policies and procedures, FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulations) and DOI (Department of the Interior) Local Clauses.

PART 7 ATTACHMENT LIST

Attachment 1: Performance Requirements Summary (PRS)

Attachment 2: Deliverables Schedule

Attachment 3: Eastern Black Rail Protocols and Data Requirements

Attachment 4: Reporting Deliverables

Attachment 5: Project Location Map

ATTACHMENT 1 Performance Requirements Summary (PRS)

The contractor service requirements are summarized into performance objectives that relate directly to mission essential items. The performance threshold briefly describes the minimum acceptable levels of service required for each requirement. These thresholds are critical to mission success.

Tasks

Performance Standard

Acceptable

Quality Level

(AQL)

Surveillance Method

Positive/Negative Incentive for Meeting/Not

Meeting Performance

Standards Task 1.1 Annually survey Eastern black rail on Kissimmee Bend Unit

Contractor shall complete PWS Task 1.1 within 1 year of contract award date.

See attached data requirements and reporting deliverables

Review of report with maps, photos, and GIS data

Non-compliance with work schedules will result in negative performance rating

Task 2.1 Annually survey Eastern black rail on Okeechobee Unit

Contractor shall complete PWS Task 2.1 within 1 year of contract award date.

See attached Review of Non-compliance data report with with work requirements maps, photos, schedules will and reporting and GIS data result in negative deliverables performance rating

Attachment 2 Deliverables Schedule

Deliverable Frequency # of Copies Medium/Forma Submit To Final Report for all tasks

NLT 12 months after award

1 Electronic; MS Word; Shapefiles

Oliver van den Ende and/or Geodatabase ArcMap 10.3 GIS (or later) data compatible

Attachment 3: Eastern black rail survey protocol and data requirements

Eastern black rail (BLRA) surveys conducted on the Kissimmee Bend and Okeechobee Units of the Refuge need to be conducted using the “Eastern Black Rail Call-Response Survey Protocol, version 1.0. 2023. Christy Hand, Amy Schwarzer, Maureen Correll, Alix Godar, Heather Levy, Liza Rossi, Michelle Stantial, Morgan Wolf. Eastern Black Rail Protocol Team” or newer version.

GIS data needs to be provided in shapefiles or geodatabase compatible with the latest ArcGIS program.

Attachment 4: Report Format

At a minimum, each report should contain the following sections:

Title Introduction Study Area Methods Results Discussion Management Recommendations Literature Cited

Attachment 5: Project Location Map

QUALITY ASSURANCE PLAN

Eastern Black Rail Surveys on Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge, Okeechobee, Florida.

1. PURPOSE

This Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) provides a systematic method to evaluate performance for the stated contract. This QASP explains the following:

• What will be monitored

• How monitoring will take place

• Who will conduct the monitoring

• How monitoring efforts and results will be documented

This QASP does not detail how the contractor accomplishes the work. Rather, the QASP is created with the premise that the contractor is responsible for management and quality control actions to meet the terms of the contract. It is the Government's responsibility to be objective, fair, and consistent in evaluating performance. In addition, the QASP should recognize that unforeseen and uncontrollable situations may occur. This QASP is a "living document" and the Government may review and revise it on a regular basis. However, the Government shall coordinate changes with the contractor. Updates shall ensure that the QASP remains a valid, useful, and enforceable document. Copies of the original QASP and revisions shall be provided to the contractor and Government officials implementing surveillance activities. FAR & DOI Local Clauses apply to this contract.

2. GOVERMENT ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

The following personnel shall oversee and coordinate surveillance activities.

a. Contracting Officer (CO) -The CO shall ensure performance of all necessary actions for effective contracting, ensure compliance with the contract terms, and shall safeguard the interests of the United States in the contractual relationship. The CO shall also assure that the contractor receives impartial, fair, and equitable treatment under this contract. The CO is ultimately responsible for the final determination of the adequacy of the contractor's performance.

Assigned Contracting Officer:

Organization or Agency: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Telephone:

Email

b. Contracting Officer Representative (COR) - The COR is responsible for technical administration of the contract and shall assure proper Government surveillance of the contractor's performance. The COR shall keep a quality assurance file. At the conclusion of the contract or when requested by the CO, the COR shall provide documentation to the CO. The COR is not empowered to make any contractual commitments or to authorize any contractual changes on the Government's behalf. The contractor shall refer any changes they deem may affect contract price, terms, or conditions to the CO for action.

Assigned COR: Oliver van den Ende, Wildlife Refuge Specialist Telephone: 772-205-0697 Email: oliver_vandenende@fws.gov

3. CONTRACTOR REPRESENTATIVES:

The following employees of the contractor serve as the contractor's Program Manager and Task Manager for this contract.

Contractor:

Contractor's Representative:

Telephone:

4. REQUIREMENTS & ACCEPTABLE QUALITY LEVELS:

a. The contractor shall work with COR to schedule times of surveys.

b. The contractor shall provide a draft of the final report before it is finalized.

c. The contractor shall provide operational oversight of the activities taking place on the Refuge in coordination with the Service.

d. The contractor shall provide all data including pictures, shape files, and maps to the Service by the time the final report is submitted.

e. The contractor shall furnish all labor, supplies, transportation, lodging and materials for the project.

5. PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Performance standards define desired services. The Government performs surveillance to determine if the contractor exceeds, meets or does not meet these standards. The Performance Requirements Summary includes performance standards. The Government shall use these standards to determine contractor performance and shall compare contractor performance to the Acceptable Quality Level

(AQL).

6. INCENTIVES:

The Government shall use the incentives listed below. Incentives shall be based on exceeding, meeting or not meeting performance standards.

- Non-compliance with the performance work statement will result in a negative performance evaluation/rating.

- Acceptable [satisfactory or better] performance shall receive a positive performance evaluation, and result in the contractor receiving a favorable Contractor Performance Report - to be completed by the COR upon completion of the contract.

- Late delivery or delayed maintenance/repairs may lead towards a negative performance evaluation/rating and require work to be completed at contractor's expense. The Serivce shall reserve the right to schedule meetings with contractor representatives as needed to correct sub-standard or mailto:oliver_vandenende@fws.gov unsatisfactory performance.

7. METHODS OF QUALITY ASSURANCE (QA) SURVEILLANCE:

Various methods exist to monitor performance. The COR shall use the surveillance methods listed below in the administration of this QASP.

Regardless of the surveillance method, the COR shall always contact the contractor when a defect is identified and inform the manager of the specifics of the problem. The COR shall be responsible for monitoring the contractor's performance in meeting a specific performance standard/ AQL.

a. 100% INSPECTION

Surveillance results may be used as the basis for actions (to include payment deductions) against the contractor. In such cases, the Inspection of Services clause in the Contract becomes the basis for the CO's actions.

8. RATINGS:

Metrics and methods are designed to determine if performance exceeds, meets, or does not meet a given standard and acceptable quality level. A rating scale shall be used to determine a positive, neutral, or negative outcome. The following ratings shall be used:

EXCEPTIONAL: Performance significantly exceeds contract requirements to the Government's benefit.

SATISFACTORY: Performance meets contractual requirements.

UNSATISFACTORY: Performance does not meet contractual requirements.

9. DOCUMENTING PERFORMANCE:

a. ACCEPTABLE PERFORMANCE The Government shall document positive performance. A report template is attached. Any report may become a part of the supporting documentation for fixed fee payments, award fee payments, or other actions.

b. UNACCEPTABLE PERFORMANCE When unacceptable performance occurs, the COR shall inform the contractor. This will normally be in writing unless circumstances necessitate verbal communication. In any case, the COR shall document the discussion and place it in the COR's file.

When the COR determines formal written communication is required, the COR shall prepare a Contract Discrepancy Report (CDR), and present it to the contractor. A CDR template is attached to this QASP.

The contractor shall acknowledge receipt of the CDR in writing. The CDR will specify if the contractor is required to prepare a corrective action plan to document how the contractor shall correct the unacceptable performance and avoid a recurrence. The CDR will also state how long after receipt the contractor has to present this corrective action plan to the COR. The Government shall review the contractor's corrective action plan to determine acceptability. Any CDRs may become a part of the supporting documentation for contract payment deductions, fixed fee deductions, award fee nonpayment, or other actions deemed necessary by the CO.

10. FREQUENCY OF MEASUREMENT:

a. Frequency of Measurement During contract performance, the COR shall measure performance at the time of delivery and throughout the life of the contract as specified in the Performance Requirements Summary.