Section L.LawnCare.doc

Instructions for Submitting Proposals & Questions Regarding the Solicitation

Offerors are requested to submit any proposal questions regarding this solicitation within 10 business days (July 27, 2009) after the issue date set forth in this RFP in Federal Business Opportunity (FBO). Questions shall be submitted via e-mail to Contracting Officer, Rhonda Emmert at emmert.rhonda@dol.gov. Questions submitted after July 27, 2009 may not be answered prior to the due date for receipt of proposals.

No verbal questions will be accepted.

The government will make every reasonable effort to provide written answers to all offerors’ questions within 10 (ten) business days of the last day for submission of questions (August 10, 2009). Answers to all questions will be posted as an amendment in FBO.

Proposal Preparation Instructions A. General Proposal Requirements – Proposals shall be prepared and submitted in accordance with the following guidance to facilitate a comprehensive evaluation by the Government.

1. Proposals shall be submitted in individual volumes as follows:

Title Volume

Technical Proposal

Price Proposal (Section B) (Attachment #1)

Sections A thru K & Attachments

2. Each volume of the proposal shall be submitted as a separate attachment. The title page shall include the title, volume number, copy number, solicitation number, name, address, telephone number, facsimile number and e-mail address of the offeror. NOTE: No Vista or Zip files. Offerors shall submit proposal electronically to Emmert.Rhonda@dol.gov. Proposal must be submitted by a person with authority to commit the company to performance and price. In the alternative, if and only if unable to submit proposal electronically, submit 1 (one) Hard Copy Original signed by a person with authority to commit the company to performance and price to Rhonda Emmert, Contracting Officer, either by hand or mail delivery. NO PRICING INFORMATION SHALL BE CONTAINED IN THE TECHNICAL PROPOSAL.

3. A 10 (ten) page limitation is applicable. Extraneous documentation and excessive literature is strongly discouraged. Reference material may be included as an attachment. For example, resumes.

4. The technical proposal shall include a table of contents, including a list of figures and/or list of tables, as applicable. The sequencing of information contained in the technical proposal shall correspond to the sequencing of the Statement of Work (SOW). NOTE: NO PRICING INFORMATION SHALL BE INCLUDED IN THE TECHNICAL PROPOSAL.

5. Unnecessarily elaborate brochures, or other presentations in excess of that required to present a comprehensive proposal are not desired and will not be considered in the evaluation of proposals.

Volume 1 – Technical Proposal The technical proposal shall fully describe how the offeror intends to meet the requirements of the solicitation. The proposal shall fully describe and address the technical approach and the personnel to meet the requirements cited in the Statement of Work in Section C and the Evaluation Criteria in Section M. Resumes of key personnel must be included as an attachment. Key personnel are the person(s) who manage the contract for the offeror. Resumes shall address experience and training specific to the requirement cited in Section C.

Technical Proficiency: The technical proposal shall fully describe the offerors technical proficiency management capability including past performance requirements described below. NOTE: See Section M.

Past Performance Information (PPI) Requirements – The proposal shall include PPI for similar ongoing contracts and contracts completed within the last 5 (five) years with narratives for 3 projects that demonstrate experience in performing work similar to that described in the Statement of Work in Section C of the RFP. Information provided should include awards, customer letters of commendation, etc., with points of contact and telephone number. The proposal shall include the same types of PPI for each reference.

1. The following specific information shall be provided for each contract identified in the PPI summary:

a. Contract Number

b. Name and address of government Agency or private industry company or corporation which placed the contract; name, address, telephone number and e-mail address of the following individuals involved in the contract:

1) Contracting official who signed the contract

2) Individual responsible for administering the contract

3) Technical representative or end user of the product/service

c. Identify the contract type, i.e., indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ), firm fixed price, cost reimbursable.

d. Brief description of work performed.

e. Explanation of completion schedule delays.

f. Provide additional explanation of circumstances pertaining to any performance problems if applicable.

2. An offeror who has no past contract performance or has no information available for the past contracts, may provide PPI for their management staff key personnel, although the performance was not accomplished while the personnel were employed by the offeror. However, all PPI must be applicable to requirements which are similar to those required by this solicitation. An offeror with no PPI who wishes to have the PPI of his management staff and key personnel considered shall provide a list of references for those individuals. Failure to provide PPI, or an explanation as to the lack of PPI, may cause a proposal to be removed from consideration for award.

Volume 2 – Price Proposal Price Proposal – The proposal shall be based upon the information shown in Section B and shall include a unit price and extended amount for each of the contract line item numbers (CLIN) shown in Section B. Please complete the spreadsheet in Volume 2, Section B, Attachment #1. Failure to provide information as requested by MSHA may cause the proposal to not be considered.

Volume 3 – Sections A thru K and Attachments

Proposals must be received by the Contracting Officer (CO) by 3:00 P.M. Eastern Time on August 24, 2009 at the Mine Safety Health Administration (MSHA) Purchasing Office located at the National Mine Health and Safety Academy, Building F-7 at 1301 Airport Road, Beaver, WV 25813.

Proposals postmarked and mailed by the United States Postal Service (USPS) or other acceptable delivery method (including FedEx and UPS) 5 (five) days or more prior to the due date for receipt of proposals are considered to be received on time. Proposals received late will only be evaluated if it is determined by the CO to be in the best interest of the Government to do so.