B08_SOL_Attachment_1_-_Contract_Certifications_and_Provisions.pdf

Attachment 1: Contract Certifications and Provisions

Required form(s) must be completed and returned to the contracting office with your quote.

FAR Provisions:

52.252-5 Authorized Deviations in Provisions (Nov 2020)

(a) The use in this solicitation of any Federal Acquisition Regulation (48 CFR Chapter 1) provision with an authorized deviation is indicated by the addition of “(DEVIATION)” after the date of the provision.

(b) The use in this solicitation of any Department of the Interior (48 CFR Chapter 14) and Department of Health and Human Services (48 CFR Chapter 3) provision with an authorized deviation is indicated by the addition of “(DEVIATION)” after the name of the regulation.

(End of provision)

52.203-18, Prohibition on Contracting with Entities that Require Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Statements-Representation (JAN 2017)

(a) Definition.

“Internal confidentiality agreement or statement,” “subcontract”, and “subcontractor”, as used in this provision, are defined in the clause at 52.203-19, Prohibition on Requiring Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Statements.

(b) In accordance with section 743 of Division E, Title VII, of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113-235) and its successor provisions in subsequent appropriations acts (and as extended in continuing resolutions), Government agencies are not permitted to use funds appropriated (or otherwise made available) for contracts with an entity that requires employees or subcontractors of such entity seeking to report waste, fraud, or abuse to sign internal confidentiality agreements or statements prohibiting or otherwise restricting such employees or subcontractors from lawfully reporting such waste, fraud, or abuse to a designated investigative or law enforcement representative of a Federal department or agency authorized to receive such information.

(c) The prohibition in paragraph (b) of this provision does not contravene requirements applicable to Standard Form 312, (Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement), Form 4414 (Sensitive Compartmented Information Nondisclosure Agreement), or any other form issued by a Federal department or agency governing the nondisclosure of classified information.

(d) Representation. By submission of its offer, the Offeror represents that it will not require its employees or subcontractors to sign or comply with internal confidentiality agreements or statements prohibiting or otherwise restricting such employees or subcontractors from lawfully reporting waste, fraud, or abuse related to the performance of a Government contract to a designated investigative or law enforcement representative of a Federal department or agency authorized to receive such information (e.g., agency Office of the Inspector General).

52.227-15 Representation of Limited Rights Data and Restricted Computer Software.

(DEC 2007)

(a) This solicitation sets forth the Government’s known delivery requirements for data (as defined in the clause at 52.227-14, Rights in Data—General). Any resulting contract may also provide the Government the option to order additional data under the Additional Data Requirements clause at 52.227-16, if included in the contract. Any data delivered under the resulting contract will be subject to the Rights in Data—General clause at 52.227-14 included in this contract. Under the latter clause, a Contractor may withhold from delivery data that qualify as limited rights data or restricted computer software, and deliver form, fit, and function data instead. The latter clause also may be used with its Alternates II and/or III to obtain delivery of limited rights data or restricted computer software, marked with limited rights or restricted rights notices, as appropriate. In addition, use of Alternate V with this latter clause provides the Government the right to inspect such data at the Contractor’s facility.

(b) By completing the remainder of this paragraph, the offeror represents that it has reviewed the requirements for the delivery of technical data or computer software and states [offeror check appropriate block]—

[ ] (1) None of the data proposed for fulfilling the data delivery requirements qualifies as limited rights data or restricted computer software; or

[ ] (2) Data proposed for fulfilling the data delivery requirements qualify as limited rights data or restricted computer software and are identified as follows:

(c) Any identification of limited rights data or restricted computer software in the offeror’s response is not determinative of the status of the data should a contract be awarded to the offeror.

HHSAR Provisions:

352.239.78 Information and Communication Technology Accessibility Notice (March 2024)

(DEVIATION)

(a) Any offeror responding to this solicitation must comply with established HHS Information and Communication Technology (ICT) accessibility standards. Information about Section 508 is available at https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/index.html.

The Section 508 accessibility standards applicable to this solicitation are stated in the clause at 352.239-79 Information and Communication Technology Accessibility. In order to facilitate the Government’s determination whether proposed ICT supplies, products, platforms, information, and documentation meet applicable Section 508 accessibility standards, offerors must submit an appropriate HHS Section 508 Accessibility Conformance Checklist (see https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/accessibility- checklists/index.html) or an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) (based on the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) see https://www.itic.org/policy/accessibility/vpat), in accordance with the completion instructions. The purpose of the checklists and conformance reports are to assist HHS acquisition and program officials in determining whether proposed ICT supplies, products, platforms, information, and documentation conform to applicable Section 508 accessibility standards.

https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hhs.gov%2Fweb%2Fsection-508%2Findex.html&data=05%7C02%7Cnicole_gregory%40ibc.doi.gov%7C813f072a22cd47176ed708dc950fd73b%7C0693b5ba4b184d7b9341f32f400a5494%7C0%7C0%7C638549142474789658%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=yC9mI94to3XzWa1vv6RRCxRXO6mkFoIvC5%2Bizp1VxY4%3D&reserved=0 https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hhs.gov%2Fweb%2Fsection-508%2Faccessibility-&data=05%7C02%7Cnicole_gregory%40ibc.doi.gov%7C813f072a22cd47176ed708dc950fd73b%7C0693b5ba4b184d7b9341f32f400a5494%7C0%7C0%7C638549142474796552%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=RKQ5n5ravnk3qcSYmbFE0Hi1dGfWVl3jtnpLL8eJwKQ%3D&reserved=0 https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.itic.org%2Fpolicy%2Faccessibility%2Fvpat&data=05%7C02%7Cnicole_gregory%40ibc.doi.gov%7C813f072a22cd47176ed708dc950fd73b%7C0693b5ba4b184d7b9341f32f400a5494%7C0%7C0%7C638549142474804227%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=cUzQj1RPMzVVLPNcNrPwulVQpxyonRUscyDIYo6VDlg%3D&reserved=0

Checklists and ACRs evaluate—in detail—whether the ICT conforms to specific Section 508 accessibility standards and identifies remediation efforts needed to address conformance issues.

If an offeror claims its supplies or services meet applicable Section 508accessibility standards, and it is later determined by the Government, i.e., after award of a contract or order, that supplies, products, platforms, information, documentation, or services support delivered do not conform to the described accessibility standards, remediation of the supplies, products, platforms, information, documentation, or services support to the level of conformance specified in the contract will be the responsibility of the Contractor at its expense.

In order to facilitate the Government's determination whether proposed ICT supplies meet applicable Section 508 accessibility standards, offerors must submit an Accessibility Conformance Report, in accordance with its completion instructions and tailored to the requirements in the solicitation. The purpose of the Report is to assist HHS acquisition and program officials in determining whether proposed ICT supplies conform to applicable Section 508 accessibility standards. The template allows offerors or developers to self-evaluate their supplies and document, in detail, whether they conform to a specific Section 508 accessibility standard, and any underway remediation efforts addressing conformance issues.

In order to facilitate the Government's determination whether proposed ICT services meet applicable Section 508 accessibility standards, offerors must provide enough information to assist the Government in determining that the ICT services conform to Section508 accessibility standards, including any underway remediation efforts addressing conformance issues.

Respondents to this solicitation must identify any inability to conform to Section 508 requirements. If an offeror claims its supplies or services meet applicable Section 508 accessibility standards, and it is later determined by the Government, i.e., after award of a contract or order, that supplies or services delivered do not conform to the described accessibility standards, remediation of the supplies or services to the level of conformance specified in the contract will be the responsibility of the Contractor at its expense.

Items delivered as electronic content must be accessible to HHS acceptance criteria. Checklist for various formats are available at http://508.hhs.gov/. Materials, other than items incidental to contract management, that are final items for delivery should be accompanied by the appropriate checklist, except upon approval of the Contracting Officer or Contracting Officer’s Representative.

(End of provision)

DIAR Provisions:

DIAR 1452.215-71 Use and Disclosure of Proposal Information (APR 1984)

(a) Definitions. For the purposes of this provision and the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C.

552), the following terms shall have the meaning set forth below:

(1) "Trade Secret" means an unpatented, secret, commercially valuable plan, appliance, formula, or process, which is used for making, preparing, compounding, treating or processing articles or materials which are trade commodities.

https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2F508.hhs.gov%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cnicole_gregory%40ibc.doi.gov%7C813f072a22cd47176ed708dc950fd73b%7C0693b5ba4b184d7b9341f32f400a5494%7C0%7C0%7C638549142474811245%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=i2nWLmp0nPYsxW%2BlZbFyhTCJ8Uqt0QC27xebLTFCojE%3D&reserved=0

(2) "Confidential commercial or financial information" means any business information (other than trade secrets) which is exempt from the mandatory disclosure requirement of the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552. Exemptions from mandatory disclosure which may be applicable to business information contained in proposals include exemption (4), which covers "commercial and financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential," and exemption (9), which covers "geological and geophysical information, including maps, concerning wells."

(b) If the offeror, or its subcontractor(s), believes that the proposal contains trade secrets or confidential commercial or financial information exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, (5 U.S.C. 552), the cover page of each copy of the proposal shall be marked with the following legend:

"The information specifically identified on pages ______ of this proposal constitutes trade secrets or confidential commercial and financial information which the offeror believes to be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. The offeror requests that this information not be disclosed to the public, except as may be required by law. The offeror also requests that this information not be used in whole or part by the government for any purpose other than to evaluate the proposal, except that if a contract is awarded to the offeror as a result of or in connection with the submission of the proposal, the Government shall have the right to use the information to the extent provided in the contract."

(c) The offeror shall also specifically identify trade secret information and confidential commercial and financial information on the pages of the proposal on which it appears and shall mark each such page with the following legend:

"This page contains trade secrets or confidential commercial and financial information which the offeror believes to be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act and which is subject to the legend contained on the cover page of this proposal."

(d) Information in a proposal identified by an offeror as trade secret information or confidential commercial and financial information shall be used by the Government only for the purpose of evaluating the proposal, except that (i) if a contract is awarded to the offeror as a result of or in connection with submission of the proposal, the Government shall have the right to use the information as provided in the contract, and (ii) if the same information is obtained from another source without restriction it may be used without restriction.

(e) If a request under the Freedom of Information Act seeks access to information in a proposal identified as trade secret information or confidential commercial and financial information, full consideration will be given to the offeror's view that the information constitutes trade secrets or confidential commercial or financial information. The offeror will also be promptly notified of the request and given an opportunity to provide additional evidence and argument in support of its position, unless administratively unfeasible to do so. If it is determined that information claimed by the offeror to be trade secret information or confidential commercial or financial information is not exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, the offeror will be notified of this determination prior to disclosure of the information.

(f) The Government assumes no liability for the disclosure or use of information contained in a proposal if not marked in accordance with paragraphs (b) and (c) of this provision. If a request under the Freedom of Information Act is made for information in a proposal not marked in accordance with paragraphs (b) and (c) of this provision, the offeror concerned shall be promptly notified of the request and given an opportunity to provide its position to the Government.

However, failure of an offeror to mark information contained in a proposal as trade secret information or confidential commercial or financial information will be treated by the Government as evidence that the information is not exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, absent a showing that the failure to mark was due to unusual or extenuating circumstances, such as a showing that the offeror had intended to mark, but that markings were omitted from the offeror's proposal due to clerical error.

52.227-15 Representation of Limited Rights Data and Restricted Computer Software. (Dec 2007)