BWR.DWM.RFR.2021.NPS TECH SERVICES MSA.QnA DOC.11.24.21.docx

Charles D. Baker Governor

Karyn E. Polito Lieutenant Governor

Kathleen A. Theoharides Secretary

Martin Suuberg Commissioner

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

REQUEST FOR RESPONSE (RFR)

TECHNICAL SERVICES RELATED TO IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FEDERAL NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM (CWA §319) COMMBUYS Bid#: BD-22-1045-BWR00-BWR01-68022

MassDEP’s Official Answers to Questions November 24, 2021

On November 1 2021, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) posted the above-referenced Request for Response (RFR) on COMMBUYS, seeking bids from qualified firms to provide MassDEP with Technical Services related to the Implementation of the Federal Nonpoint Source Program pursuant to Section 319 of the federal Clean Water Act. Pursuant to the Procurement Calendar set forth in RFR Section 2, MassDEP accepted written questions regarding the RFR from interested parties through November 15, 2021. Listed below are all written Questions that were received by the RFR deadline, followed by MassDEP’s official Answers.

Question 1. Subject: Previously Qualified Consultants Will MassDEP please issue a list of consultants who were previously awarded a Master Services Agreement for the NPS management program?

Answer: This is the first solicitation to establish a Master Services Agreement for the MassDEP NPS program. tTherefore, no prior list of consultants is available.

Question 2. Subject: Section 3.3.11 Question Section 3.3.11 indicates that “Administrative costs, (i.e., reporting and invoicing) for overseeing any future project cannot exceed 10% of the project amount.” Please clarify what is meant by “future project” and what types of reporting may be required for these future projects.

Answer: Through this solicitation, MassDEP is seeking to establish a list of pre-qualified firms (referred to as “Contractor”) to provide MassDEP’ with technical and consulting services related to the Department’s implementation of its NPS Management Program. After contract award, MassDEP will issue request(s) for price quotes for future projects to one or more firms who have been successfully pre-qualified as a result of this MSA. Any projects arising from this MSA will be required to meet the conditions in Section 3.3.11. In addition to any applicable reporting requirements outlined in Appendix 4 and Appendix 5, typical reporting generally includes, at a minimum, quarterly progress reports, draft and final reports, and DBE utilization reports, which will be required for all projects selected for §319 funding. Specific Project responses must include the reporting requirements as a separate task, and the budget must include costs for meeting these minimum reporting requirements.

Question 3. Subject: Section 3.6.1 Environmental Plan Question Section 3.6.1 requires that bidders, at a minimum, evaluate the feasibility of implementing an environmental plan on an annual basis. If companies have already established plans and/or objectives that promote environmental stewardship, but may not necessarily focus on the limited measures outline in the RFP, will they be able to use these existing programs to meet the requirements of this section?

Answer: Yes. As noted in Section 3.6.1 "The SST may award points to Bidders who provide evidence that measures and initiatives such as these are already in place within their operations, and/or for written proposals submitted with their Quote detailing a commitment to action contingent upon receipt of a Contract award". This Section also references the Additional Environmentally Preferable Products/Practices form available on COMMBUYS, which provides additional details regarding measures that can be viewed favorably in the evaluation of an existing Environmental Plan.

Question 4. Subject: Rate Escalation Question Will rate escalations be allowed on an annual basis as part of this contract and/or will rate escalations be considered if and when the 2-year renewals occur?

Answer: The labor rate per person or job title will be used to gauge both the cost and value of services provided to MassDEP. Labor rates quoted in the bid responses to this RFR may not apply for the duration of the contract (particularly if the contract is extended beyond the base three (3) year contract term). For example, a Bidder may include their standard yearly cost percentage increase over their base labor rates as quoted in this contract, which MassDEP may or may not elect to accept as part of the initial contract award. In addition, after Contract award, MassDEP reserves the right to further negotiate all labor rates with the selected Contractors on a project-by-project basis (at any point during the Contract term) in order to ensure Best Value to the Commonwealth for this Contract.

Question 5. Subject: Service Categories Question Must contractors submit qualifications for all five of the service categories discussed in Section 3.1?

Answer: Yes; as required in Section 3.2.1, "Each Bidder shall provide as part of its Response a Statement of Qualifications Narrative, which summarizes its firm’s experience and capabilities in performing the requested services listed in Section 3.1 of this RFR. "

Question 6. Subject: Submission of Invoices Under 3.3.10b., the text indicates that we "shall include" employee timesheets and other supporting docs with each invoice submitted. Can MA DEP confirm that timesheets are going to be required for projects under this MSA?

Answer: For the purposes of invoicing and backup documentation "timesheets" can be interpretated to mean an accounting of the number of hours worked on the specific project for which an invoice is developed. In case and project-specific circumstances, however, MassDEP does reserve the right to request additional supporting documentation prior to approve of an invoice for payment, which could include some or all timesheets associated with the project. See RFR section 3.3.10b.

Question 7. Subject: Requirements for Submittal In Appendix 2 within the RFR doc, do points 5, 6, 7 not apply because they are superseded by Fed requirements for EEO/AA and DBEs? (See also 6-Evaluation Criteria, Step 3 in the RFR).

Answer: Yes. Items 5,6,7 in Appendix 2 are superseded by Federal Requirements. See the note "Given that this procurement is Federally funded, federal requirements for EEO/AA and DBE participation are set forth in Appendix 5 and all Bidders must submit these required forms as part of the RFR Response” in Appendix 2.5, 2.6 and 2.7.

Question 8. Subject: Payment for Services Does MA DEP intend for payments to be made “by completed deliverable” (as opposed to time and materials) as indicated on pages 16 and 17 of the RFR guidance? If so, will payments by subtask be permitted so that the contractor can be paid on a regular basis?

Answer: For the purposes of payments, acceptance of deliverables may include approval of any applicable invoice period's work product. However, Bidders should take note of all items in RFR Section 3.3, and specifically Sections 3.3.2 and 3.3.6.

Question 9. Subject: Evaluation Criteria The evaluation criteria on page #19 indicate that Supplier Diversity Program (SDP) forms will not be considered when scoring responses. However, page #29 in Appendix 2 states that at least 25% of evaluation points will be allocated to SDP Plan submissions. Can MassDEP clarify if SDP forms will be factored into the evaluation of responses?

Answer: As stated in in RFR Section 4.1.1, all Projects issued under this RFR will be fully funded through MassDEP’s federal Section 319 Grant from the EPA. Therefore, all applicable federal EPA terms and conditions apply to this RFR, including but not limited to, EPA’s Affirmative Action Submission Requirements, as specified in Section 4.1.1 and RFR Appendix 5. For these reasons, the Commonwealth Supplier Diversity requirements are inapplicable to this RFR solicitation, and the SDP Forms should not be submitted by bidders as part of the RFR Response because SDP will not be factored into the evaluation. Please see yellow highlighted note in Appendix 2 on top of pg. 27 which states "Given that this procurement is Federally funded, federal requirements for EEO/AA and DBE participation are set forth in Appendix 5 and all Bidders must submit these required forms as part of the RFR".

Question 10. Subject: Section 3.2.1 Statement of Qualifications Narrative Question Under Section 3.2.1 Statement of Qualifications it states - Bidders shall also detail experience working with environmental justice (EJ) populations as applicable. Does this environmental justice experience have to be directly related to non-point source management projects or will experience with other water resource management issues be considered to meet this requirement?

Answer: No; the statement "Bidders shall also detail experience working with environmental justice (EJ) populations as applicable," does not indicate a limitation to environmental justice experience directly related to non-point source management projects.

Question 11. Subject: Cost Proposal Requirement Section 7 of the RFR states, “Written proposals shall be limited to a maximum of 20 single sided pages. (NOTE: any cover page, the cost proposal and required forms for submission? are not included in the 20 page limit).” Other sections of the RFR, including the proposal checklist, state that bidder labor rates are required but do not request a cost proposal. Can MassDEP please confirm that a cost proposal is not required?

Answer: For the purposes of this solicitation the cost proposal consists of the Bidder Labor Rates as detailed in RFR Section 3.7. See also RFR Section 7.1.

Question 12. Subject: Page Limit Are the labor rates excluded from the 20 page limit?

Answer: For the purposes of this solicitation the cost proposal consists of Bidder Labor Rates as detailed in Section 3.7. As such Bidder Labor Rates are excluded from the 20 page limit.

Question 13. Subject: Page Limit Is the proposal checklist considered a required form that is excluded from the 20 page limit?

Answer: The Proposal Checklist is a required form, and does not count towards the proposal page limit of 20 single side pages. See RFR Section 7, which states "Written proposals shall be limited to a maximum of 20 single sided pages (NOTE: any cover page, the cost proposal and required forms for submission (such as DBE, PPD, etc.) are not included in the 20 page limit)."

Question 14. Subject: Contract Type Does the MassDEP anticipate awarding this contract as firm fixed price or time and material/rate type?

Answer: See MassDEP’s Answer to question 8 and Section 3.3.10. In addition, see RFR Section 3.7 NOTE TO BIDDERS, which describes the Price Quote process and price components to be included by contractors bidding on NPS projects after the NPS MSA Contract award.

Question 15. Subject: Labor Rates For pricing purposes can MassDEP confirm that bidders are required to submit a labor rate price list consisting of loaded labor rates for personnel, including subcontractor personnel, anticipated to work under any resultant contract? Can MassDEP clarify whether the labor rate price list is limited to key personnel or should include all personnel, including subcontractor personnel, anticipated to work under any subsequent scope of work?

Answer: See RFR Section 3.7, which states "As part of the RFR Response, all Bidders are required to submit their firm’s base labor rate price list, consisting of the loaded hourly rates of any key personnel who would be performing any work associated with the firm’s selected services for this solicitation," If a Bidder intends to use a subcontractor as key personnel then the subcontractor’s base labor rates should also be provided. See also, RFR Section 3.2.3 NOTE to Bidders: regarding legal requirements for subcontractors utilized by the Contractor to perform projects under this Contract.

Question 16. Subject: Labor Rates Should a bidders price list include rates for each of the 7 contract years, or only one rate that covers all 7 years?

Answer: See MassDEP’s Answer to Question 4 above.

Question 17. Subject: Labor Rates As an alternative to providing loaded labor rates by individual personnel, can bidders instead provide loaded labor rates by proposed labor categories?

Answer: Yes, Bidders may choose to also identify labor rates by the labor category of key personnel. See See also MassDEP’s Answers to Questions 4 and 15 above..

Question 18. Subject: Labor Rates As a sub-recipient, can a for-profit organization include fee/profit in their proposed loaded labor rates?

Answer: Yes. See MassDEP’s Answers to Questions 4, 15, and 17 above.

Question 19. Subject: Supplier Diversity Plan Page 19, Section 6, Step 3 states that the “Supplier Diversity Program (SDP) Plan (formerly Affirmative Market Plan): IS NOT REQUIRED FOR THIS PROCUREMENT since this procurement will receive federal funding.” Will MassDEP consider removing references to the Massachusetts Supply Diversity Program (SDP) and the Small Business Purchasing Program (SDPP) in Appendix 2 (sections 5,6,7) since they do not appear applicable to this procurement?

Answer: See MassDEP’s Answers to Questions 7 and 9 above. MassDEP apologizes for the confusion, but Appendix 2 is required of all state solicitations and as as result, MassDEP is unable to remove any items in this Appendix.

Question 20. Subject: Supplier Diversity Program Clarification Please clarify: Section 6 (Evaluation Criteria), under Step 3 (page 19) indicates that the Supplier Diversity Program (SDP) Plan is NOT required for this procurement. Are Step 4 (Equal Employment Opportunity / Affirmative Action Policy Statement) and Step 5 (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Participation) required instead of Step 3 SDP Plan? Do the requirements of the Small Business Purchasing Program, as described on page 26 still apply, or are these replaced by the EEO/AAP and DBE requirements? Do the requirements of the Supplier Diversity Program, as described on pages 27-29 still apply, or are these replaced by the by the EEO/AAP and DBE requirements? For example, please clarify whether the following statement applies or does not apply to the evaluation of the award of this Master Services Agreement and/or to subsequent task orders: “To encourage Bidders to develop substantial supplier diversity initiatives and commitments as measures valuable to the Commonwealth, at least 25% of the total available evaluation points for this bid solicitation shall be allocated to the evaluation of the SDP Plan submissions.”

Answer: See MassDEP’s Answers to Questions 7, 9 and 19 above. The SDP 25% of the total evaluation points does not apply to this procurement because it is federally funded thorugh the EPA’s Section 319 Grant. Therefore, only EPA’s mandatory DBE requirements apply, and Bidders are required to comply with and submit as part of the RFR Reponse the federal EEO/AA forms contained in RFR Appendix 5.

Question 21. Subject: Small Business Purchasing Program Clarification Please clarify: Under the heading “6. Small Business Purchasing Program (SBPP)” on page 26, text states: “The Strategic Sourcing Services Team (SST) will not evaluate submissions from non-SBPP participants unless no SBPP Bidder meets the SST’s best value evaluation criteria.” Is this statement suggesting that if a SBPP submits a qualifying response to this RFR, no awards will be made to any large business? To be scored most responsive, must a large business identify its small business partners as part of the response to this RFR (i.e., in advance of being awarded a MSA) or can teaming partnerships be formed after award of the MSA?

Answer: See MassDEP’s Answer to Questions, 7, 9, 19 and 20 above, and the highlighted yellow note in Appendix 2.6 which states "Given that this procurement is Federally funded, federal requirements for EEO/AA and DBE participation are set forth in Appendix 5 and all Bidders must submit these required forms as part of the RFR Response. "

Question 22. Subject:

If at least one SBPP submits a response to this solicitation will the response of non SNBPPs be discarded or will they also evaluated?

Answer: See MassDEP’s Answers to Questions 7, 9, 19, 20 and 21 above.

This information is available in alternate format. Contact Michelle Waters-Ekanem, Director of Diversity/Civil Rights at 617-292-5751.

TTY# MassRelay Service 1-800-439-2370 MassDEP Website: www.mass.gov/dep

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