DEP.RFR.BWSC.MIWOSPRS.2016-03.7.21.16.docx

THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

executive office of energy and environmental affairs department of environmental protection bureau of waste site cleanup marine oil spill prevention & response program one winter street, 6th floor

BOSTON, MA 02108

Request for Response (RFR)

Marine and Inland Waters Oil Spill Prevention & Response Services Contract (MIWOSPRS)

DEP-BWSC-MIWOSPRS-2016-03

COMMBUYS Bid# BD-16-1045-BWSC0-BWSC1-00000008697

July 21, 2016

Please Note: This is a single document associated with a complete Bid (also referred to as Solicitation) that can be found on COMMBUYS (www.COMMBUYS.com). All Bidders are responsible for reviewing and adhering to all information, forms and requirements for the entire Bid, which are all incorporated into the Bid. Bidders may also contact the COMMBUYS Helpdesk at COMMBUYS@state.ma.us or the COMMBUYS Helpline at 1-888-MA-STATE. The Helpline is staffed from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday Eastern Standard or Daylight time, as applicable, except on federal, state and Suffolk county holidays.

Document Sensitivity Level: High during development; Low once published.

Revised: December 23, 2014

ATTACHMENTS

Attachment 1 – Supplemental Terms & Conditions

Attachment 2 – Pricing Terms & Conditions and Rate Schedules

Attachment 3 – Cover Sheet

Attachment 4 – Resume Form

Attachment 5 - Project Description Form

RFR Introduction and General Description Procurement Scope and Description Through this procurement, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP or the Department) is seeking qualified companies (“Contractor(s)”) to assist MassDEP by providing specialized maritime oil spill prevention and response services required to implement M.G.L. Chapter 21M, “Vessel Traffic Service” and Chapter 251 of the Acts of 2004, “An Act Relative To Oil Spill Prevention And Response In Buzzards Bay And Other Harbors And Bays Of The Commonwealth” and subsequent amendments. In addition, MassDEP is seeking qualified Contractors to provide services to assist MassDEP with inland waterway spill prevention and response services.

Detailed information regarding MassDEP’s Marine Oil Spill Prevention & Response Act (MOSPRA) Program can be found at:

http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/massdep/cleanup/marine/

The Contractor(s) selected as a result of this solicitation will be required, among other tasks generally described in the Scope of Services, to: (a) assist in MassDEP’s development of program policies and procedures; (b) develop and implement, or assist in the development and implementation of response plans, prevention and response training programs; and (c) provide coordination between federal, state, local and non-governmental organizations.

MassDEP’s RFR package is comprised of the following documents which are all links on the COMMBUYS posting:

· This RFR document describing the procurement, the scope of services and qualifications, the requirements for the submittal of responses, the required expectations for content of the response submittals, the procurement evaluation criteria, the Commonwealth’s required RFR specifications, the required state contract forms and related requirements, and COMMBUYS information.

· Attachment 1, Supplemental Terms and Conditions (“Attachment_1_Supplemental T&Cs”)

· Attachment 2, Pricing Terms & Conditions and Rate Schedules (“Attachment_2_Pricing”)

· MassDEP provided forms that are templates in MS Word for several of the required RFR response submittals: Attachment 3 - Cover Sheet, Attachment 4 – Resume Form, and Attachment 5 - Project Descriptions Form.

· Commonwealth required forms such as, but not limited to, the Commonwealth Standard Contract Form, Commonwealth Terms and Conditions, and others.

Applicable Procurement Law The Bid is issued under the following law:

· MGL c. 7, § 22; c. 30, § 51, § 52; and 801 CMR 21.00 (Goods and Services)

Number of awards This procurement will establish a master list of qualified Contractors to provide MassDEP with future programmatic and technical assistance services in support of MOSPRA. In addition, this procurement will establish a list of qualified Contractors to provide MassDEP with future inland waterway spill prevention and response support services. MassDEP has not established a specific number of awards for this procurement; Contract awards will be based upon the evaluation of the Bidders’ responses, including review of qualifications and related criteria as described in this RFR. Contractors selected for the master list may be awarded individual work assignments (projects) under the Contract by MassDEP. Selection for the master list is not a guarantee that an engagement for a project work assignment will result.

Adding Contractors after initial Contract award If, over the life of the Contract, the Strategic Sourcing Team (SST) determines that additional Contractors should be added, these may first be drawn from qualified companies which responded to this Bid but were not awarded contracts. If necessary to meet the requirements of the Commonwealth, the Bid may be reopened to obtain additional Quotes.

Eligible Entities Any contract resulting from this Bid will be open for use to the Issuing Entity Only. The issuing entity for this solicitation is the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

Acquisition Method(s) Fee for Service Performance and Payment Time Frames Which Continue Beyond Duration of the Contract.

All agreements for services entered into during the duration of this Contract and whose performance and payment time frames extend beyond the duration of this Contract shall remain in effect for performance and payment purposes (limited to the time frame and services established per each written agreement). No agreements for services may be executed after the Contract has expired. Any Contract termination or suspension pursuant to this section shall not automatically terminate any agreements for services already in place unless the Department also terminates said agreements for service, which were executed pursuant to the main Contract.

Contract Duration The base period of this Contract is three (3) years, with two (2) additional two year renewal options, for a maximum Contract term of 7 years if all option years are exercised. No agreements for services may be executed after the Contract has expired.

Estimated Value of the Contract Based upon MassDEP’s past experience with MOSPRA Program projects as well as anticipated inland waterways projects, the total funding available for the work under this Contract, including all renewal options, is estimated at approximately $2,000,000. The value to individual Contractors for specific projects under this Contract will vary and will be determined by the work and cost plan developed for each specific project.

The Commonwealth makes no guarantee that any commodities or services will be purchased from any Contract resulting from this Bid. Any estimates or past procurement volumes referenced in this Bid are included only for the convenience of Bidders, and are not to be relied upon as any indication of future purchase levels.

estimated Procurement CALENDAR

Bidders Physical Conference MassDEP One Winter Street, 2nd Floor Boston, MA 02108 Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at 10 a.m.

Times are Eastern Standard/Daylight Savings (US), as displayed on the COMMBUYS system clock displayed to Bidders after logging in. If there is a conflict between the dates in this Procurement Calendar and dates in the Bid’s Header, the dates in the Bid’s Header on COMMBUYS shall prevail. Bidders are responsible for checking the Bid record, including Bid Q&A, on COMMBUYS for Procurement Calendar updates.

Written questions via the Bid Q&A on COMMBUYS The “Bid Q&A” provides the opportunity for Bidders to ask written questions and receive written answers from the SST regarding this Bid. All Bidders’ questions must be submitted through the Bid Q&A found on COMMBUYS (see below for instructions). Questions may be asked only prior to the Deadline for Submission of Questions stated in the Estimated Procurement Calendar. MassDEP reserves the right not to respond to questions submitted after this date. It is the Bidder’s responsibility to verify receipt of questions.

Please note that any questions submitted to the SST using any other medium (including those that are sent by mail, fax, email or voicemail, etc.) will not be answered. To reduce the number of redundant or duplicate questions, Bidders are asked to review all questions previously submitted to determine whether the Bidder’s question has already been posted.

Bidders are responsible for entering content suitable for public viewing, since all of the questions are accessible to the public. Bidders must not include any information that could be considered personal, security sensitive, inflammatory, incorrect, collusory, or otherwise objectionable, including information about the Bidder’s company or other companies. The SST reserves the right to edit or delete any submitted questions that raise any of these issues or that are not in the best interest of the Commonwealth or this Bid.

All answers are final when posted. Any subsequent revisions to previously provided answers will be dated.

It is the responsibility of the prospective Bidder and awarded Contractor to maintain an active registration in COMMBUYS and to keep current the email address of the Bidder’s contact person and prospective contract manager, if awarded a contract, and to monitor that email inbox for communications from MassDEP, including requests for clarification. MassDEP and the Commonwealth assume no responsibility if a prospective Bidder’s/awarded Contractor’s designated email address is not current, or if technical problems, including those with the prospective Bidder’s/awarded Contractor’s computer, network or internet service provider (ISP) cause email communications sent to/from the prospective Bidder/Awarded contractor and MassDEP to be lost or rejected by any means including email or spam filtering.

Locating Bid Q&A Log into COMMBUYS, locate the Bid, acknowledge receipt of the Bid, and scroll down to the bottom of the Bid Header page. The “Bid Q&A” button allows Bidders access to the Bid Q&A page.

Amendment Deadline The SST reserves the right to make amendments to the Bid after initial publication. It is each Bidder’s responsibility to check COMMBUYS for any amendments, addenda or modifications to this Bid, and any Bid Q&A records related to this Bid up until the deadline date for amending the RFR listed in the Procurement Schedule. The SST and the Commonwealth accepts no responsibility and will provide no accommodation to Bidders who submit a Quote based on an out-of-date Bid or on information received from a source other than COMMBUYS.

Bidders Conference The Bidders Conference will be held on August 2, 2016 at 10 a.m. at MassDEP’s Boston office located at 1 Winter Street. Please take the escalators to the second floor reception area where you will be asked to sign in and be directed to the conference room.

The Bidders Conference is the physical conference conducted by MassDEP for the purpose of informing prospective Bidders about general Bid information and answering questions from prospective Bidders. The date/time and location of the Bidders Conference is presented in the Estimated Procurement Calendar in Section 2. While Bidders may ask questions for response by MassDEP on an “informal basis” during the conference, Bidders must formally submit questions on COMMBUYS in order to receive MassDEP’s official answers on the COMMBUYS website in accordance with the requirements of Section 2.1 and within the timeframes set forth in the Estimated Procurement Calendar.

While attendance at the Bidders Conference is not a requirement for Bidders, attendance is highly recommended for firms who choose to submit a Quote Package. Please refer to the COMMBUYS website for any updated information.

Scope of services; Minimum mandatory specifications

IN GENERAL: All Bidders must submit an RFR Response that includes a description of all categories of services selected and offered, along with pricing information required by Attachment 2 with respect to each selected service category. For each identified service category, Bidders must identify any currently required licenses, certifications and/or other specialized training that qualifies the Bidder to provide this category of service, and state that all required licenses, certifications, etc. are current for all personnel of the Bidder who are identified to provide these services. In addition, to the extent required, all Bidders must identify that the service category is in adherence with/compliant with any federal, state, and/or regulatory requirements associated with that category. By submitting a response to this RFR, all Bidders acknowledge and assent that their RFR Response: (1) complies with and will adhere to all required terms and conditions of the RFR, (2) includes a qualified team that has acquired all required licensing/certifications, etc. that are mandatory prerequisites for the selected categories, and (3) if selected as a result of this solicitation, will ensure that all personnel associated with the selected service categories will maintain, update and/or acquire all licenses, certifications, etc. that are required to remain qualified for these services for the duration of the Contract.

Additional required submissions for the Bidders appear in this RFR, Section 7 (how to submit a Quote), Section 9 (Appendix 2 – Required Specifications) and Section 10 (Appendix 3 – Instructions for Execution and submission of Commonwealth Standard Forms).

NOTE To Bidders: All RFR Responses will be submitted both electronically (through the COMMBUYS posting website) and in hard copy to MassDEP. The electronic and hard copy versions of the RFR Response must be IDENTICAL in content. The official deadline for receipt of the RFR Responses is through the COMMBUYS electronically generated posting (date and time). The Quote must include a cover letter signed in ink (in the hard copy) by an individual having the authority to bind the entity submitting the response to the RFR. Additional requirements for quote submission are set forth in RFR Section 7. Detailed specification content for the Bidders’ RFR Responses are provided in the following sections.

Scope of Services:

MassDEP is seeking, through this solicitation, to establish a list of Contractors that have the capability to perform some or all of the following services. In the RFR Response, Bidders should specify their qualifications and experience with respect to the scope of services categories described below, and include in the RFR Response the specific scope of service sub-section reference(s):

3.1.7 Provide other professional consulting services as requested by MassDEP for preventing and planning for inland water spills, including but not limited to geographic response plans, strategies and training on fast water, survey and/or studies of strategies used in other locations, analysis of previous incidents and coordination, implementation and reporting on training exercises.

3.1.8 Provide MassDEP with support services for the Marine and Inland Waters Oil Spill Prevention and Response Program, including but not limited to Geographic Information Systems, database development & maintenance, and implementation of innovative technologies.

Bidder Qualifications

Bidder qualifications are described in this Section, and all Bidders must complete and submit as part of the RFR Response all required qualifications information listed in Section 7 (How to Submit A Quote). Additional information regarding Contractor performance requirements and Contract specifications are provided in RFR Attachment 1, Supplemental Terms & Conditions, and Attachment 2, Pricing Terms &Conditions and Labor Rate Schedules, to this RFR. The requirements of this Section must be read concurrently and consistently with all other RFR requirements, including all RFR Attachments.

As part of the RFR Response, all Bidders must include a statement of the RFR services that they are qualified to perform, and must demonstrate significant expertise and experience relative to those RFR services. (See, e.g., MassDEP Form Attachment 5 entitled: “Project Descriptions” that demonstrate the Bidder’s Qualifications) Bidders also must demonstrate and affirm in their RFR Response that they have adequate numbers of qualified staff capable of providing quality services effectively and on time. As part of these qualification requirements, all Bidders must demonstrate adequate experience with cost estimating and project scheduling, based upon work performed on prior projects.

Bidders may propose the use of a subcontractor(s), in which case the RFR Response shall indicate that a subcontractor(s) will be necessary and shall specify the type of service and area(s) of expertise that the subcontractor would perform. All subcontractors are subject to approval by MassDEP at its sole discretion, pursuant to Article 9 of the Commonwealth’s Terms and Conditions.

In the RFR Response, all Bidders must demonstrate some or all of the following skills, specialized knowledge or areas of expertise. As with the Scope of Services, Bidders may have some or all of the following specialized knowledge or areas of expertise, and must specify in their response, utilizing the RFR sub-sections referenced below, their specific qualification area(s):

Additional Mandatory Terms & Conditions

Standard Commonwealth Forms In addition to meeting all the requirements of this RFR and its Attachments, the terms and conditions for this Contract are presented in the “Commonwealth Terms and Conditions” and “Standard Contract Form” that the Contractors must agree to, sign and submit with the responses to this RFR. See RFR Section 7 regarding detailed submission requirements.

Supplemental Terms and Conditions After Contract award, the Contractor shall comply with the performance requirements specified in the Supplemental T&Cs of this RFR (Attachment 1).

Pricing Terms and Conditions and Rate Schedules After Contract award, the Contractor shall comply with the project cost estimating and invoicing requirements specified in the Pricing Terms &Conditions and Rate Schedules of this RFR (Attachment 2). In addition, all Bidders must submit rate schedules contained in Attachment 2 as part of the RFR response.

Environmental Specifications Executive Order 515, Establishing an Environmental Purchasing Policy Products and services purchased by state agencies must be in compliance with Executive Order 515, issued October 27, 2009. Under this Executive Order, Executive Departments are required to reduce their impact on the environment and enhance public health by procuring environmentally preferable products and services (EPPs) whenever such products and services perform to satisfactory standards and represent best value, consistent with 801 CMR 21.00. In line with this directive, all contracts, whether departmental or statewide, must comply with the specifications and guidelines established by OSD and the EPP Program. EPPs are considered to be products and services that help to conserve natural resources, reduce waste, protect public health and the environment, and promote the use of clean technologies, recycled materials, and less toxic products. Questions concerning the EO or the appropriate specifications may be directed to OSD’s EPP Procurement Program, www.mass.gov/epp. The Order can be seen at htpp://www.mass.gov/courts/docs/lawlib/eo500-599/eo515.pdf

Environmental plan Beginning the first year of the Contract and throughout the life of the Contract, awarded Bidders must agree to work with the MassDEP to examine the feasibility of implementing an environmental plan. The objective of this requirement is to actively encourage suppliers to incorporate sustainable practices throughout their business operations and further market such practices to Contract users. Such a plan may include, but not be limited to, the following:

· Implementing energy efficiency initiatives at the corporate level in line with Executive Order 484, such as lighting retrofits, purchase of energy from renewable sources, use of bio-heat fuel, and other energy reduction technologies.

· Encouraging environmental initiatives at a corporate and/or manufacturing level for the purpose of reducing the impact of manufacturing on the environment; such as clearly identifying recycled content of packaging on the packaging, providing product life cycle assessments, working toward the elimination of ozone depleting chemical usage in the manufacturing or refining process (where applicable), and conducting internal environmental auditing related to pollution control.

· Adopting standards and/or obtain certifications, where applicable, for product development and manufacturing processes such as but not limited to LEED, ISO 14001, Cradle to Cradle (C2C) Protocol, Green Seal, Environmental Choice and others.

· Using alternative fuel vehicles for delivery or transportation purposes and/or vehicles equipped with diesel emission control devices and operating such vehicles with guidance on anti-idling initiatives.

· Working with the SST to develop and distribute information and/or materials to Commonwealth customers on the Awarded Bidder’s environmental practices and initiatives throughout the term of the Contract.

· Developing a plan to implement the recycling of materials used or produced in normal business operations.

· 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. (See the Additional Environmentally Preferable Products / Practices form on COMMBUYS).

Compensation Structure/Pricing

Project Based Compensation

Compensation will be project based. As part of the RFR Response, Bidders must complete and submit the Labor Rate schedules provided in Attachment 2, specifying their current hourly rates.

Once the Contract is awarded, MassDEP may select one or more of the qualified Contractors from the master-list to provide project-specific services as requested by the Department. At that time, the selected Contractors will be required to provide a Scope of Work and Budget specific for that project. All rates are subject to negotiation by the Department.

Travel expenses and all other expenses

The allowable costs for these items and related expenses are specified in Attachment 2.

1. OTHER TERMS

4.1 Contractual Reporting by the Contractor

Contractors are responsible for compliance with all other Contract reporting requirements including, but not limited to, Supplier Diversity Program (SDP) and other Contract reports, as required by this Contract. For Supplier Diversity Program expenditure report, follow link at: http://www.mass.gov/anf/budget-taxes-and-procurement/procurement-info-and-res/procurement-prog-and-serv/sdo/sdp/supplier-diversity-program-reports.html. As part of specific projects under this Contract, Contractors are responsible, if requested, for providing monthly progress reports, including % completion for tasks, budgets and draft and final project reports and other deliverables as determined by the Project Manager.

4.2 Security and confidentiality

The Contractor shall comply fully with all security procedures of the Commonwealth and Commonwealth Agencies in performance of the Contract. The Contractor shall not divulge to third parties any confidential information obtained by the Contractor or its agents, distributors, resellers, subcontractors, officers or employees in the course of performing Contract work, including, but not limited to, security procedures, business operations information, personally identifiable information, or commercial proprietary information in the possession of the Commonwealth Agency. More specific requirements regarding security and confidentiality are set forth in the Supplemental T&Cs of this RFR (Attachment 1).

4.3 Contract Management (Contractor’s interface with Commonwealth’s Contract Administrator) Following Contract award, all questions must be directed to the MassDEP Contract Administrator. Changes to the Contractor’s contact information, company name, legal address, payment address, tax identification number, authorized signatories, SDO-certification status, or EFT information must be promptly reported via email to the MassDEP Contract Administrator. In some cases additional paperwork will be required to effect the change. More specific requirements regarding contract management are set forth in the Supplemental T&Cs of this RFR (Attachment 1)

MassDEP’s designated Contract Administrator is as follows:

Patrick Hurley MassDEP- BWSC One Winter Street, 6th Floor Boston, MA 02108 Patrick.Hurley@state.ma.us

4.4 Ownership of Intellectual Property under this Contract

By submitting a response to this RFR, Bidders accept and acknowledge that, in conformance with the Commonwealth’s Standard Terms and Conditions, on the date on which the Commonwealth reimburses Contractor for a deliverable accepted by the Commonwealth under the terms of this Contract, all of the Contractor’s right, title and interest in all Property developed by the Contractor under the terms of this Contract solely for purposes of creating the deliverables shall pass to and vest in the Commonwealth, including all copyright, patent, trade secret, trademark and other intellectual property rights created by Contractor in connection with such work and any causes of action relating to or based upon such work (hereinafter the "Commonwealth Property"). Contractor hereby assigns to the Commonwealth, as of the date on which the Commonwealth reimburses Contractor for such deliverables, all intellectual property rights that it may now or hereafter possess in the Commonwealth Property related to such deliverable and all derivative works thereof.

5. Audit During the term of this Agreement and for a period of six years thereafter, MassDEP, its auditors, the Operational Services Division, the Office of the Inspector General or other authorized representatives shall be afforded access at reasonable times to Contractor's accounting records, including sales information on any system, reports or files, in order to audit all records relating to goods sold or services performed pursuant to this Agreement. If such an audit indicates that Contractor has materially overcharged MassDEP, then the Contractor shall remit the overcharged amount and be responsible for payment of any costs associated with the audit.

6 Evaluation criteria The SST will evaluate the Quotes using the following general process:

Step 1: Initial Screening of Quote: Quotes received by MassDEP within the date and time deadlines will be screened for compliance with completeness and responsiveness to the Quote requirements provided in this RFR. MassDEP will use the COMMBUYS date and time as the official Quote time to determine if the deadline was achieved. However, all Bidders are still required to submit both the electronic and hard copy of the Quote by the date/time specified in the Estimated Procurement Calendar in Section 2. MassDEP may disqualify any responses that it determines, in its sole discretion, to be late, incomplete or non-responsive.

Step 2: Supplier Diversity Evaluation of Bidders’ Responses: The Quotes will be reviewed for compliance with the Supplier Diversity Plan (SDP) requirements specified in the RFR. The Department’s SDP staff will evaluate each Bidder’s SDP response, and the scoring of the response to SDP requirements shall account for no less than 10% of the total points in the evaluation.

NOTE: the SDP requirements are a mandatory component of this RFR. Detailed descriptions of the SDP requirements are provided in Appendix 2, and the requirements for SDP submittal with the Quote are provided in Appendix 3.

Step 3: Experience and Capabilities Evaluation: The SST will evaluate the portions of the Bidders’ Quotes that provide the information on Bidder qualifications and capabilities to provide the services for the Contract. This evaluation will involve a systematic review, scoring, and ranking of the Bidders.

This evaluation and scoring will be based on:

· Company capabilities and management approach;

· Demonstrated ability to perform tasks in line with Scope of Services;

· Previous company and individual personnel experience and qualifications;

· Company’s previous project experience and performance; and

· MassDEP survey of Points-of-Contact from the Project Descriptions.

· OPTIONAL: At MassDEP’s discretion, interviews may be conducted of all, some or none of the Bidders. If MassDEP elects to conduct interviews, the selected Bidder(s) will be notified by email one week in advance of the interview date.

The SST’s evaluation of each Bidder’s capabilities and experience will include contacting client point-of-contacts from the submitted Project Descriptions. The Department will use its discretion as to how many client points-of-contact are contacted. The Department also reserves the right, in its discretion, to contact and ask about any Bidder’s past performance from any other individual or organization in addition to those clients/projects cited by Bidders in the Quote. It is the responsibility of the Bidder to ensure that contact information for previous projects is up to date. If after a reasonable effort, MassDEP is unable to contact a Bidder’s client point-of-contact, that project will not be considered in the scoring and ranking.

Step 4: Combined Experience/Capabilities and Pricing Evaluations, and Recommendations for Contract Award. The SST’s final evaluation will include a comparison and final ranking of Bidders based on the experience and capabilities, together with the pricing evaluation, in order to arrive at the best-value Bidders. All Quotes will be evaluated by the Department according to quality and responsiveness including completeness, organization and conciseness. The selected list of Bidders will be forwarded to Department management with the SST’s final recommendations for Contract award.

1. HOW TO SUBMIT A quote

All Bidders may begin creating and compiling Quote materials (also referred to as RFR Responses in this solicitation) as soon as the Bid with all attachments is in the Sent document status on the COMMBUYS website. Bidders are instructed not to submit Quotes before the Bid Amendment Deadline has been reached (see Estimated Procurement Calendar, RFR Section 2).

Quote Content and General Instructions

The Quote must include the following items in the order presented below. In addition, for RFR Response content, all Bidders must comply with the requirements of RFR Section 3.0. If a MassDEP form is provided, it will be accessible via COMMBUYS.

1) Section 1: Cover Sheet – [form provided- Attachment 3].

2) Section 2: Company Capabilities & Technical Experience- Provide a narrative describing the company’s capabilities for performing some or all of the Scope of Services. [No form provided. Page limit is 6 pages.]

3) Section 3: Management Approach- Provide a narrative describing the company’s management approach for implementing this Contract. Including an organizational chart and anticipated personnel working on this project, identify potential subcontractors to enhance capabilities in line with Scope of Services & Qualifications, describe effectiveness of management approach for providing technical services and meeting administrative requirements for planning, executing and invoicing for the Contract. [No form provided. Page limit is 6 pages]

4) Section 4: Personnel Resumes: Provide completed resumes for three (3) to seven (7) of your proposed staff that you believe are important to implementing the work. Enter a resume number in the box in the upper right of the form. [Form provided-Attachment 4. Page limit is 3 pages for each resume.]

5) Section 5: Project Descriptions: Bidders must submit the completed Project Descriptions for three (3) to seven (7) of your company’s completed projects that demonstrate your capabilities and management of projects pertinent to the Scope of Services for this Contract. Please ensure that the client contacts for each listed project are up to date, including names, titles, telephone numbers and email addresses. [Form provided- Attachment 5. Two page limit per Project Description.]

6) Section 6: Price Proposal (Rate Schedule) Bidders must complete and submit Attachment 2.

7) Commonwealth Forms: Bidders must provide the requested Commonwealth Forms as described in Section 9 – Appendix 2 and Section 10 - Appendix 3. NOTE TO ALL BIDDERS: The two original hard copies of the Bidder’s RFR response must contain two original wet signatures of all required Commonwealth forms.

1. Quote Submission Method All Bidders’ Quotes must be submitted to the Department via two different methods:

1. One completed copy uploaded as a PDF file to the COMMBUYS website for this solicitation (Official copy), and

2. Seven (7) hard copies submitted to the Department’s Boston office.

Hard copies of the RFR Response must be submitted in a sealed envelope and include two (2) original signed copies (with original signatures on Commonwealth Forms) and five (5) duplicate copies. Hard copies must be submitted to the following address in accordance with all of the Quote submission requirements, including Bid Opening Date/Time, Bid Package and Environmental Response Submission Compliance provisions (refer to Section 9 – Appendix 2 – RFR – Required Specifications).

Patrick Hurley MassDEP- BWSC One Winter Street, 6th Floor Boston, MA 02108

NOTE TO ALL BIDDERS: The Quote uploaded to the COMMBUYS website must have exactly the same content as the hard copies of the Quote that are sent to the Department. MassDEP will verify that the hardcopy quote matches the electronic copy. In instances where differences are noted, the electronic copy will be considered valid.

Online Quote Submission via COMMBUYS is required.

All Bidders must submit Quotes online using tools available only to Sellers registered in COMMBUYS. COMMBUYS provides Seller registration functionality at no charge. To register, go to www.COMMBUYS.com and click on the “Register” link on the front page. All Bidders who are awarded a contract resulting from this Bid, if any, will be required to maintain an active account during the duration of the Contract, by reviewing their registration information regularly and maintaining its accuracy.

As you review the details of the bid in the RFR document, please take note of the assigned Bid Opening Date/Time and be mindful that buyers can only consider bid responses that are complete and have been submitted in COMMBUYS by the specified Bid Opening Date/Time.

1. COMMBUYS Quote Submission Training and Instructions The following resources are provided to assist Bidders in submitting Quotes:

· Section 11, Appendix 4, Instructions for Vendors Responding to Bids Electronically through COMMBUYS, which is part of this document;

· An online job aid on “How to Create a Quote” found at: http://www.mass.gov/anf/docs/osd/commbuys/create-a-quote.pdf

· Webcast video on “How to Find Bids (Solicitations) and Submit Quotes (Responses) through COMMBUYS” found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhUTNokbhfY&index=9&list=PL247E2162C4B2F10A

1. COMMBUYS Support Technical assistance is available during the procurement process. Every effort is made to respond to inquiries within one business day.

Website: Go to www.mass.gov/osd/commbuys and select the COMMBUYS Resource Center link offered under Key Resources.

Email: Send inquiries to the COMMBUYS Helpdesk at COMMBUYS@state.ma.us Telephone: Call the COMMBUYS Help Desk at 1-888-MA-STATE (1-888-627-8283). The Help Desk is staffed from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday Eastern Standard or Daylight time, as applicable, except on federal and state holidays.

Bidders are advised that COMMBUYS will be unavailable during regularly scheduled maintenance hours of which all users will be notified.

1. Bid Opening Date/Time All Bids must be received by the MassDEP before the specified date, month, year and time displayed as the Bid Opening Date/Time in the Header Information section of the Bid in COMMBUYS. Times are Eastern Standard/Daylight Savings (US), as applicable. All Bidders are advised to allow adequate time for submission by considering potential online submission impediments like Internet traffic, Internet connection speed, file size, and file volume. OSD is not responsible for delays encountered by Bidders or their agents, or for a Bidder’s local hardware failures, such as computers or related networks, associated with bid compilation or submission. Bids submitted via COMMBUYS are time stamped by the COMMBUYS system clock which is considered the official time of record.

The COMMBUYS system date and time is displayed in the top right corner of the COMMBUYS dashboard. Once the system time passes the Bid Opening Date/Time, the ability to submit a quote is disabled. Even if a vendor is in the process of entering the quote submission, their ability to submit the quote ends after the Bid Opening Date/Time has elapsed.

As such, please allot sufficient time to submit your quote response.

1. Quote Contents Bidders must comply with the requirements below.

5. Electronic Signatures Quotes submitted via COMMBUYS must be signed electronically by the Bidder or the Bidder’s Agent by accepting the terms and conditions of the bid on the “Terms & Conditions” tab of the Bid in COMMBUYS. By selecting “Save & Continue” on the “Terms and Conditions” tab after accepting the terms and conditions of the bid, the submitter attests that s/he is an agent of the Bidder with authority to sign on the Bidder’s behalf, and that s/he has read and assented to each document’s terms.

5. Ink Signatures Typically, original ink signatures are required on the Commonwealth forms only after contracts have been awarded. However, for this solicitation, in order to achieve an expeditious contract award process, MassDEP requires Bidders to submit original ink-signature versions of the following forms with the two (2) hard copy originals of the RFR response:

Standard Contract Form;

Commonwealth Terms and Conditions;

Contractor Authorized Signatory Listing; and Request for Taxpayer Identification and Verification (Mass. Substitute W9 Form) Electronic Funds Transfer Sign Up Form.

Bidders who have previous contract(s) with the Commonwealth and have up-to-date, ink-signature versions of the Commonwealth Terms and Conditions and Request for Taxpayer Identification and Verification (Mass. Substitute W9 Form) on file with the Office of the State Comptroller may submit copies of the signed forms. However, a new Standard Contract Form and Contractor Authorized Signatory Listing with original ink signatures must be submitted for each new contract with the Commonwealth.

1. Limits and Restrictions

6. File Naming Conventions Files submitted via COMMBUYS must follow the file naming convention specified below. The Description entered during the file upload process ensures each file is readily identified by Company Name and content. The File Name assigned by the Bidder as stored on their computer or network must be structured such that each file can be processed by the upload tool. The upload tool will reject any file name that includes spaces or symbols, like the brackets [ ] some systems apply when files are downloaded from the Internet.

RFR Section or Quote Component Description Enter in COMMBUYS during upload File Name Assign when creating files

6. File Size Limits The system may not accept files that approach or exceed 10 MB. If a large file fails to upload, the Bidder must save the contents as multiple files. Note the naming convention used above which illustrates distinguishing multi-part files through use of Part 1, Part 2, etc. If a large file fails to upload, bidders must break up the file and append _Part1, _Part2 to the end of the Description and File Name.

6. File Format Restrictions All scanned documents must be in .pdf or .gif format, and must be scanned in such a way that they can be read on a computer monitor and printed on 81/2” x 11” paper, unless otherwise specified. Forms provided for the Bidder to complete, with the exception of the forms requiring ink signatures, must be completed in their original formats prior to scanning.

6. Documents and items that cannot be submitted electronically Documents and items that cannot be submitted electronically, like confidential business references submitted by the reference, or requests for material samples, respectively, must be submitted to the following address in accordance with all of the Quote submission requirements including Bid Opening Date/Time, Bid Package and Environmental Response Submission Compliance provisions.

Patrick Hurley MassDEP - BWSC One Winter Street, 6th Floor Boston, MA 02108

1. Withdrawing a Quote

7. Prior to Bid Opening Date/Time Quotes may be withdrawn using the “Withdraw Quote” button offered under the Summary tab of a submitted Quote.

7. After Bid Opening Date/Time No Quote can be withdrawn after the Bid Opening Date/Time. If the Bidder wants to remove a Quote from consideration, contact the Strategic Sourcing Services Lead for guidance.

1. Additional Quote Terms

8. Prohibition regarding contract terms Bidders must not, as part of their Quote, propose additional contractual terms, or supplemental or clarifying language pertaining to contractual terms, even if the proposed additions/clarifications are not in conflict with the Commonwealth Terms and Conditions, the Standard Contract Form, or other documents comprising this RFR. It is essential for the Department to ensure that all Contractors awarded a Contract through the solicitation can be depended upon to incorporate the same terms and only those terms.