Responses_to_Solicitation_QA_(DTNH22-14-R-00002)_05-14-2014.pdf

NHTSA RFP# DTNH22-14-R-00002

PR 14-00090

Title: Upgrade and Maintenance of the current National Automotive Sampling System to the new Crash Investigation based and Crash Report based Sampling Systems

Attachment A, QA Responses 1

SOLICITATION QUESTIONS:

Q1. Does an incumbent \ prior contractor exists for the services outlined by this effort and if so, could you please provide the vendor and corresponding contact number?

ANSWER 1: The current incumbents and contract numbers are listed below:

Calspan Corporation (DTNH22-11-C-00207); KLD Associates, Inc. (DTNH22-11-C- 00208); NISR, Inc. (contract number DTNH22-13-C-00293).

Q2. On page 18, first paragraph, there is an instruction to ship all furniture and equipment from an existing office to a new office. Is there an inventory of GFE/existing equipment and furniture available by current locations?

ANSWER 2: No. Since CISS is a new program and location of CISS sites are different than the current NASS-CDS sites, there will be no requirement to ship existing equipment and furniture from a NASS-CDS location to a CISS location.

Q3. The solicitation clearly states that a single company cannot be awarded both the Zone Center and the related PSUs for either the CISS, or the CRSS. Would NHTSA accept a proposal that includes a team approach where-in one company operates the Zone Center, but a subcontractor operates the PSUs? In this way, a team could respond to all of the potential general requirements and present a comprehensive bid.

ANSWER 3: No.

Q4. Question (regarding due dates) RFP Reference: Amendment 0001 Question: The Amendment is received and clarifies the due dates, but uses both “ET” and “EST”. Given that the east coast is now on “EDT”, is that what is meant in all citations?

ANSWER 4: Yes; (i.e. EDT for the Washington, DC area timezone).

Q5. Question (regarding “no earlier”) RFP Reference: main text of RFP, page 37 Observation: The RFP indicates that the Contractor shall consider major changes for inclusion no earlier than two editions after the current manual (underline added).

Question: Given that this requirement can allow for substantial lags in updating the manual, was the intent to require “no later” than two editions after the current manual?

ANSWER 5: Yes, “ no later” should have been used. Paragraph will now read, “Experience has shown that, in general, it is too ambitious to expect that major changes be incorporated into the following year’s manual and data collection system. Major changes include the addition of new elements and overhauls of existing ones. The Contractor shall

Attachment A, QA Responses 2 consider these major changes for inclusion no later than two editions after the current manual.”

Q6. Question (regarding probable typos) RFP Reference: main text of RFP, page 87, paragraph starting with “e”, 5th line therein.

Question: In the phrase “If such conflict of interest is found to extent, the Offeror may…” intended to say “The Contracting Officer may…” or “NHTSA may ….”?

Related Question: The page headings for Attachment J.12 cite the proper subject matter, but indicate “J.9” rather than “J.12”. This is a typo, correct?

ANSWER 6: Yes. On page 87 of the RFP the 5th line in under e it should read NHTSA vice Offeror. Additionally the header text for att. J.12 should read J.12 vice J.9; and both edits are captured in amendment #2 to the solicitation.

Q7. Question (regarding assignment of duties, re local cooperation) RFP Reference:

Attachments J.9 (page 13) and J.10 (page 16) Question: The RFP assigns the duty of establishing and maintaining the Cooperation of Local Officials as a duty of the Zone Center in Attachment J.9 and also to the CISS PSU’s in Attachment J.10. But it appears the same duty is the responsibility of two different contractors (given the RFP requirement that the same contractor cannot operate both the Zone Center and the PSU’s). This affects potential duplication of effort, staffing levels, costing, and effective assignment of responsibility and quality assurance.

Is the establishing and maintaining cooperation of local officials a duty of the Zone Center and not the CISS PSU contractor?

ANSWER 7: The RFP clearly states the responsibility of establishing cooperation at a CISS PSU is the PSU contractor. The Zone Center has the responsibility of advising and assisting the CISS PSU staff in gaining the cooperation.

Q8. Question (regarding assignment of duties) RFP Reference: Attachments J.9 (page

19) and J.10 (page 18) Question: The RFP assigns the duty of monitoring the CISS PSU performance to the CISS Zone Center, through visits and reporting and interaction with the COR. This is explicit in Attachment J.9 (page 19). At the same time, Attachment J.10 (page 18) cites the in-house quality control by cross-checking work (as is logical) and direct reporting only to the COR, but does not cite the role of the Zone Center. This can cause confusion amongst the different parties, even though the role of the Zone Center in trainee evaluation during the probationary period is cited in Attachment J.10 (page 20). Is the intent to have the duties as specified in Attachment J.9? Is a clarification needed to address this?

ANSWER 8: No. The activity of in-house quality control at the CISS PSU level is the responsibility of the PSU contractor.

Attachment A, QA Responses 3

Q9. Question (regarding detail of budget) RFP Reference: main text of RFP, page 74;

main text of RFP, Section 1.5 Submission Requirements on pages 88-89; Amendment Question: Given that most of the tasks are hypothetical at this time, is it expected that the budget estimates provided will be assessed in terms of methodology and orderly inclusion of the staffing levels and/or estimating details contained in the hypothetical tasks, and not in terms of finalized numbers?

ANSWER 9: Yes; with exception of Task 1 (i.e. att. J.9) and Task 2 (i.e. att. J.10);

which are not hypothetical tasks.

Q10. Question (regarding staffing) RFP Reference: Attachments J-15 to J.17 Question: The CISS staffing levels is detailed with respect to persons covered by DOL-mandated titles in accord with the SCA. The same is not cited for the CRSS staffing.

Will such information be provided at a later date, or is it expected that as independent contractors, this is not applicable?

ANSWER 10: It is not anticipated that labor categories that are applicable to SCA will be utilized for CRSS, but it will ultimately depend upon the labor category mix that is chosen by each individual Offerror to use as labor categories in their proposal, as to whether or not SCA is applicable to CRSS.

See DOL wage determination links provided below for additional information:

A Service Contract Act Directory of Occupations and corresponding geographic wage determinations can be found at: http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/wage/

Q11. Question (regarding firm fixed price) RFP Reference: Attachment 12 (page 4).

Observation: The crashed vehicles are to be shipped from and to Kansas City, Kansas but the frequency of such shipments are not specified, nor is it necessarily to be expected that it will be known at this time. Also, actual shipments may occur from/to other locations, with Kansas City being a convenient location to assure a level playing field for competing bids.

Question: Is it feasible to expect a firm fixed price on this activity, given the above observation? How does this affect the full proposal, if the Submitter intends to respond to this activity?

ANSWER 11: For purposes of evaluation; Offerrors are requested to provide shipping costs from Kansas City to the proposed training location. Offerrors shall anticipate making one shipment of 10 vehicles for each year of the contract’s period of performance, (i.e. a total of 5 shipments of 10 vehicles per year over the entire contract period).

With respect to General Requirement 1: CISS Zone Center Operations:

http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/wage/

Attachment A, QA Responses 4

Q12. NHTSA has historically maintained at least two zone centers. The solicitation does not indicate if NHTSA would consider awarding a single contract to perform all of the CISS Zone Center Operations. Can NHTSA clarify its willingness to do so?

ANSWER 12: Attachments J.9 and J.10 clearly state that “This Task Order will award two (2) contracts, one for the operation of twenty-four (24) CISS sites and one for the operation of the CISS Zone Center. The 24 CISS sites will be awarded in three phases as shown in Tables 1-3. The implementation schedule of the three phases will be specified by NHTSA after award of these Task Orders.” (See page 4 in both attachments J.9 and J.10)

Q13. NHTSA has historically required that the zone center technical staff be located at a single facility, but has also permitted exceptions to this requirement. The solicitation does not indicate if NHTSA will require all technical staff to perform their zone center related work at a single location. Can NHTSA clarify its position? Will NHTSA permit technical staff to perform zone center related work at remote sites?

ANSWER 13: Yes, NHTSA does not require all technical staff to be located at a single facility and will permit technical staff to perform work at remote sites.

Q14. On page 11 of Attachment J.9 NHTSA states that "A dedicated computer line shall be established for computer communications." Can NHTSA provide the specifications/requirements for this "dedicated computer line"?

ANSWER 14: Acquisition of a local carrier with high-speed Internet will be required. Residential grade services such as DSL are not acceptable. A minimum of high-speed business grade cable will be acceptable, but if fiber optic is available it is recommended the Contractor pursue this route. As it may be required to download material from the centralized server to a local machine on a routine basis the minimum recommended download speed is 75Mbps. Upload speeds will vary by location, but should not be lower than 35Mbps minimum due to requirements to upload materials related to cases on a frequent basis. Proposals should clearly communicate the minimum speed solutions that will be leveraged by the Contractor.

Where applicable, mobile data plans may be proposed as solutions for remote operations, but since mobile connectivity is unstable these solutions should be supplemental to the primary Internet connectivity lines used in the office locations.

The Crash Data Acquisition Network (CDAN) support group has provided CISS field site setup information (see attachment J.18) for new data collection sites to ensure compliance with requirements.

Attachment A, QA Responses 5

Q15. Will the costs associated with maintaining/operating/using this "dedicated computer line" after its installation be reimbursable as an ODC?

ANSWER 15: Yes.

Q16. On page 11 of Attachment J.9 NHTSA states that "The Contractor is responsible for installation of communication lines to connect to the wide area network used for the Electronic Data System." Can NHTSA provide the quantity and specifications/requirements for these "communication lines"?

ANSWER 16: The quantity of lines will be dependent upon the configuration / setup of offices proposed by the Contractor to meet the requirements. At a minimum a site will be required to have one dedicated line with high-speed business grade Internet. Connection speeds will vary based on location and technology available within the geographic location, but a minimum of 35 Mbps upload / 75 Mbps download is required to support daily operations.

Where applicable, mobile data plans may be proposed as solutions for remote operations, but since mobile connectivity is unstable these solutions should be supplemental to the primary Internet connectivity lines used in the office locations.

The Crash Data Acquisition Network (CDAN) support group has provided CISS

Q17. Will the costs associated with maintaining/operating/using these "communication lines" after its/their installation be reimbursable as an ODC?

ANSWER 17: Yes.

Q18. Can NHTSA clarify how these "communication lines to connect to the wide area network used for the Electronic Data System" are different from the "dedicated computer line used to establish computer communications"?

ANSWER 18: There is no difference. To clarify the statement, Internet-based connectivity is required to meet client/server communication requirements for local and web-based applications.

Where applicable, mobile data plans may be proposed as solutions for remote operations, but since mobile connectivity is unstable these solutions should be supplemental to the primary Internet connectivity lines used in the office locations.

Attachment A, QA Responses 6

The Crash Data Acquisition Network (CDAN) support group has provided CISS field site setup information (see attachment J.18) for new data collection sites to ensure compliance with requirements.

Q19. On page 11 of Attachment J.9 NHTSA states that "The Contractor is responsible for installation of high-speed internet and (backup) mobile connectivity." Can NHTSA provide the quantity and specifications/requirements for these services/features? Can NHTSA define its meaning of "(backup) mobile connectivity"?

ANSWER 19: Where applicable, mobile data plans may be proposed as backup solutions for remote operations, but since mobile connectivity is unstable these solutions should be supplemental to the primary Internet connectivity lines used in the office locations. Mobile data plans may be proposed based on the physical location of the sites due to geographic and mobile provider specific availability.

Quantity of the connections will be based on the proposed solution for the operational model by the Contractor.

The Crash Data Acquisition Network (CDAN) support group has provided CISS field site setup information (see attachment J.18) for new data collection sites to ensure compliance with requirements.

Q20. Will the costs associated with maintaining/operating/using these "high-speed internet and (backup) mobile connectivity [lines]" after its/their installation be reimbursable as an ODC?

ANSWER 20: Yes.

Q21. Can NHTSA clarify how these "high-speed internet and (backup) mobile connectivity [lines]" are different from the "communication lines to connect to the wide area network used for the Electronic Data System" and/or the "dedicated computer line used to establish computer communications"?

ANSWER 21: There is no difference. To clarify the statement, Internet-based connectivity is required to meet client/server communication requirements for local and web-based applications.

Where applicable, mobile data plans may be proposed as solutions for remote operations, but since mobile connectivity is unstable these solutions should be supplemental to the primary Internet connectivity lines used in the office locations.

The Crash Data Acquisition Network (CDAN) support group has provided CISS

Attachment A, QA Responses 7

Q22. No estimated level-of-effort for this task was presented in the solicitation, as was done for all of the other CISS tasks. Can NHTSA clarify the estimated level-of-effort for this task in terms of hours, travel costs, costs of supplies, equipment, and ODCs?

ANSWER 22: Each Offerror is encouraged to be creative, and innovative in proposing their own individual approach to accomplishment of the requirements as stated in the RFP.

With respect to General Requirement 3: CISS Training Development:

Q23. Confirm that the total projected level-of-effort (LOE), as indicated on page five of Attachment J.11, for this task is limited to the "plan for five (5) web-based training modules per year", and that "the modules should be approximately one (1) hour in length per module, and each module should be planned to have 25 participants at a time."

ANSWER 23: Yes, this assumption is correct.

Q24. Confirm that the CISS Training Development does not include the design and development of the materials for the three one-week basic training classes.

ANSWER 24: Yes, this assumption is correct.

With respect to General Requirement 4: CISS Training Location:

Q25. Can NHTSA define the zip codes or counties included in their understanding of the "Baltimore/Washington DC area"?

ANSWER 25: As stated in the general requirement, the offeror should propose the location within 50 miles of NHTSA headquarters.

Q26. Will the 10 vehicles used for training be available for shipping all at one time? If not, how many separate shipments will be needed?

ANSWER 26: RFP states that garage space shall be required for the storage of 10 vehicles. It is assumed that these vehicles shall be at the training facility when a training course begins.

Q27. Will all 10 vehicles be shipped to the training facility during year 1? If not, can NHTSA provide a shipping schedule?

ANSWER 27: It is assumed that these vehicles shall be at the training facility when a training course begins. No schedule will be available until after Task Order has been awarded. For purposes of this hypothetical task order Offerrors should assume that all 10 vehicles will be shipped during the first year, as well as shipment of 10 more vehicles each additional year throughout the contract.

Attachment A, QA Responses 8

Q28. Must all 10 vehicles be stored indoors at all times? May the vehicles be stored outdoors, but out-of-the-elements? May the vehicles be stored outdoors with exposure to the elements?

ANSWER 28: Attachment J.12 states “garage facility”. This implies vehicles will be kept in an indoor structure.

Q29. Confirm that this task requires that "the offeror is only responsible for providing adequate training facilities" and that no direct labor is projected.

ANSWER 29: It is anticipated that direct labor may be required for a facility attendant.

With respect to General Requirement 5: CISS Injury Coding:

Q30. NHTSA has historically maintained at least two zone centers. The solicitation does not indicate if NHTSA would consider awarding a single contract to perform all of the CISS Injury Coding related work. Can NHTSA clarify its willingness to do so?

ANSWER 30: It is NHTSA’s intention to award this Task Order to one contractor.

Q31. NHTSA has historically required that the zone center technical staff be located at a single facility, but has also permitted exceptions to this requirement. The solicitation does not indicate if NHTSA will require all technical staff to perform their CISS Injury Coding related work at a single location. Can NHTSA clarify its position? Will NHTSA permit technical staff to perform CISS Injury Coding related work at remote sites?

ANSWER 31: Yes. NHTSA will permit technical staff to perform injury coding at remote sites.

Q32. Page five of Attachment J.13 stated that "the contractor shall assume five thousand (5,000) occupants per year will require injury coding ... [and] It is anticipated that each coded occupant will require approximately two (2) hours of time to complete." Is this 10,000 hour level-of-effort to be used in the Business-Management Proposal?

ANSWER 32: Yes.

With respect to General Requirement 6: CISS Crash Reconstruction:

Q33. NHTSA has historically maintained at least two zone centers. The solicitation does not indicate if NHTSA would consider awarding a single contract to perform all of the CISS Crash Reconstruction related work. Can NHTSA clarify its willingness to do so?

ANSWER 33: It is NHTSA’s intention to award this Task Order to one contractor.

Attachment A, QA Responses 9

Q34. NHTSA has historically required that the zone center technical staff be located at a single facility, but has also permitted exceptions to this requirement. The solicitation does not indicate if NHTSA will require all technical staff to perform their CISS Crash Reconstruction related work at a single location. Can NHTSA clarify its position? Will NHTSA permit technical staff to perform CISS Crash Reconstruction related work at remote sites?

ANSWER 34: Yes. NHTSA will permit technical staff to perform work at remote sites.

Q35. Page five of Attachment J.14 stated that "the contractor is to assume two thousand (2,000) crash reconstructions per year, and on average each reconstruction will require ten (10) hours per case." Is this 20,000 hour level-of-effort to be used in the Business- Management Proposal?

ANSWER 35: Yes.

Q36. What is the anticipated start dates and projected duration of the following:

Activity Anticipated Start Date Projected Duration in

Months J-9 General Requirement 1 CISS Zone Center

CY 2014 60 months

J-10 General Requirement 2 CISS PSU Operations

CY 2014 60 months

J-10 General Requirement 2 CISS PSU Operations CISS Phase 1

CY 2014 60 months

J-10 General Requirement 2 CISS PSU Operations CISS Phase 2

CY 2015 48 months

J-10 General Requirement 2 CISS PSU Operations CISS Phase 3

CY 2016 36 months

ANSWER 36: Refer to edits (in blue) within table in Q40.

Q37. When do you anticipate Future phases for CISS or CRSS to be implemented?

ANSWER 37: Future phases will be dependent on budget.

Attachment A, QA Responses 10

Q38. In attachment J.9 CISS Zone Center Operation section L.3, on page 40 refers to regional awards, and in attachment J.10 CISS PSU Operation L.3, on page 35, states that individual offers must be submitted for each Zone Center.

Questions

• Is it the intent of NHTSA to award:

o more than one Zone Center Operation (Task 1) within this solicitation?

o PSU Operation (Task 2) to more than one Contractor?

o CRSS Coding and PSU (Task 8) to more than one Contractor?

ANSWER 38: Attachments J.9 and J.10 clearly state that “This Task Order will award two (2) contracts, one for the operation of twenty-four (24) CISS sites and one for the operation of the CISS Zone Center. The 24 CISS sites will be awarded in three phases as shown in Tables 1-3. The implementation schedule of the three phases will be specified by NHTSA after award of these Task Orders.”

Additionally, for att. J.10 it is anticipated to only operate one CISS Zone Center and this intention is now stated in the amendment #2 to the solicitation; finally, att. J.16 clearly states that one contractor will be awarded this task for CRSS Coding and PSU. (See page 4 in both attachments J.9 and J.10)

Q39. Please clarify, in accordance with FAR section 9.5 Organizational Conflict of Interest, – are contractors excluded from award of any or all of the tasks included in this governing contract if they were involved in the development of this request for proposal and/or any of the actual or hypothetical tasks?

ANSWER 39: Yes. Any contractor involved in the development of any or all of the tasks or hypothetical tasks would be excluded from participation; however, no contractor was involved in the development of this request for proposal.

Q40. RFP page 88, section L.5 says: Offerors shall complete a separate technical and cost proposal for each general requirement in which they wish to receive consideration for award (see Section C and Attachments J.9 – J.17 for information specific to each general requirement area). Offerors shall include the following table with their proposals indicating whether or not they have submitted a proposal for a General Requirement area.

The amendment says:

Clarification on Attachments J.9-J.17- The Attachments J.11 to J.17 are Hypothetical Task Order which are provided to the Offeror solely for the purposes of pricing their proposals for the corresponding General Requirement. No question or proposal submission dates are provided or stated in the Attachments as these Hypothetical Tasks are not considered separate from the evaluation and award of the base award. Attachments J.9 and J.10 are not Hypothetical Tasks but real requirements that the Government may choose

Attachment A, QA Responses 11 to award at the award of the base contracts. Proposals in response to Attachments J.9 and J.10 will be evaluated separately from the award of any base contracts.

Questions:

• Does the offeror need to submit standalone technical proposals against each of the General Requirements and/or Hypothetical Tasks?

• If yes, please provide sections D through M for each of these hypothetical tasks, such that the offeror will have sufficient understanding of the individual task proposal requirements and evaluation criteria.

• If individual technical task order proposals are not required for each hypothetical task, but cost proposals are required, please outline the evaluation criteria for these hypothetical tasks, or verify if award will be determined on price alone?

ANSWER 40: First Bullet Response: Yes.

Second Bullet Response: Please refer to Sections L & M of the RFP as well as Section C, and any related attachments for information to gain a better understanding of the individual tasks.

Third Bullet Response: Individual technical proposals are required for each hypothetical task as well as proposed costs based upon the assumptions provided for each hypothetical task.

Q41. RFP Page 68 contains FAR 52.219-9 Alt II Small Business Subcontracting Plan, RFP Page 100, says:

Under FAR 52.219-9, the offeror shall submit a Small Business Subcontracting Plan in solicitations and contracts that are expected to exceed $650,000.00. As such, the offeror shall submit Attachment J.4 as part of its proposal submission. All subcontracting plans and statements supporting the absence of subcontracting opportunities must be acceptable to the Contracting Officer. Failure to submit and negotiate an acceptable subcontracting plan or a statement supporting the absence of subcontracting opportunities may render the offeror ineligible for award of a contract. The subcontracting plan will become part of the contract.

Attachment A, QA Responses 12

• Is the offeror to submit a subcontracting plan for the governing IDIQ contract?

• If yes, since offerors may not bid on all tasks, how will this governing IDIQ plan be evaluated?

• Also, if the plan is required on the governing IDIQ and not all proposed on tasks are awarded, then will the offeror be afforded the opportunity to amend the governing plan based on the task(s) awarded?

• If a stand-alone plan is required for each individual task, please confirm.

ANSWER 41: First Bullet Response: No. For any Offerrors classified as Other

Than Small Businesses; only, would be required to submit a Sub- Contracting Plan for each individual task.

Second Bullet Response: No Separate Subcontracting Plans will be evaluated for each individual task.

Third Bullet Response: No. Separate stand alone Subcontracting Plans will be proposed for each individual task.

Fourth Bullet Response: Yes.

Q42. The RFP contains FAR 52.222-41 Service Contract Act (SCA) of 1965. Reference is made in the proposal instructions for General Requirement task 2, PSU Operations, that various labor categories are governed by the SCA.

• Can NHTSA please provide a consolidated list of all SCA categories, not just for the PSU task, but for any other labor categories anticipated to be covered by the SCA?

• Also, can current wage determinations be provided that are geographic in nature so that the offeror has a clear understanding of the implementation of the act?

ANSWER 42: The labor categories proposed by each Offerror will determine whether or not a particular labor category is applicable to SCA.

See DOL wage determination link provided below for additional information:

A Service Contract Act Directory of Occupations and corresponding geographic wage determinations can be found at: http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/wage/ http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/wage/

Attachment A, QA Responses 13

Q43. Regarding RFP, page 105, Section M.4 Cost and Business Proposal: please further explain the methodology by which cost and business proposals will be evaluated.

Offerors may bid on all, or only selected tasks.

• How will the government evaluate these differences in price across offerors?

• Will each task/hypothetical task be evaluated separately?

• Will the selected contractor for a hypothetical task that has not won a real task be awarded a governing IDIQ contract?

• If yes, does this winner of a hypothetical task have any advantage over other IDIQ winners when the hypothetical task becomes a real task?

• Is the responsibility for establishing cooperation with official agencies

(police, tow, hospital) the primary responsibility of the Zone Center or the PSU contractor?

ANSWER 43: First Bullet Response: This will be done by evaluation of each task/hypothetical task separately.

Second Bullet Response: Yes.

Third Bullet Response: Yes. Those Offerrors who are selected for award of contracts for only tasks that are hypothectical will receive a Base IDIQ Contract award for those requirements and will receive fair opportunity in accordance with FAR 16.505(b)(1) for any tasks when they become real requirements.

Fourth Bullet Response: No. Any Offerror receiving an award for a hypothetical task will receive the same fair opportunity for all future requirements once they become real.

Fifth Bullet Response: The RFP clearly states the responsibility of establishing cooperation at a CISS PSU is the PSU contractor. The Zone Center has the responsibility of advising and assisting the CISS PSU staff in gaining the cooperation. (see att. J.9, page 13, and att.

J.10, page 17)

The following provides supplemental information to address Question 43:

Attachment A, QA Responses 14

Regarding RFP, page 105, Section M.4 Cost and Business Proposal: please further explain the methodology by which cost and business proposals will be evaluated.

Offerors may bid on all, or only selected tasks.

RESPONSE: The following information is provided to clear up any misunderstanding regarding the roles this RFP’s real and hypothetical task orders play in the selection of successful offerors.

• The purpose of this procurement is acquire services in support of the nine (9) general requirements identified in the table at the top of page 9 of the RFP. A similar table is provided below for your reference

General Requirement (GR)

Description RFP Section Attachment

GR 1 CISS - Zone Center C.4.A.1 J.9 GR 2 CISS - PSU Operations C.4.A.2 J.10 GR 3 CISS - Training Development C.4.A.3 J.11 GR 4 CISS - Training Location C.4.A.4 J.12 GR 5 CISS - Injury Coding C.4.A.5 J.13 GR 6 CISS - Reconstruction C.4.A.6 J.14

GR 7 CRSS-Quality Control

C.4.B.7 Note: C.4.B.1 through

C.4.B.6 are left intentionally blank.

J.15

GR 8 CRSS-PSU Operation and Coding C.4.B.8 J.16

GR 9 CRSS-Training C.4.B.9 J.17

• An offeror may elect to submit proposals for one or multiple General Requirements.

HOWEVER, an offeror must submit separate cost and technical proposals (as well as subcontracting plans if other than a small business) for each General Requirement it has elected to compete for.

• Regarding General Requirements 1 CISS - Zone Center and 2 CISS-PSU Operations:

- Although a single contractor may elect to submit proposals for both General Requirements, no one contractor will receive award of an IDIQ contract that includes both General Requirements 1 and 2. Furthermore, only one contractor will be awarded a contract for General Requirement 1 and only one contractor will be awarded a contract for General Requirement 2.

Attachment A, QA Responses 15

- Attachments J.9 and J.10 represent actual Task Order requirements. An offeror’s proposal for General Requirements 1 and/or 2 should be based upon the specific requirements addressed in those two attachments. Award of those Task Orders will occur at the same time as the award of the IDIQ contracts for those Task Orders.

- The contract for General Requirement 1 and contract for General Requirement 2 may also include any or all of the remaining seven General Requirements. Inclusion of those additional General Requirements will depend upon the results of the government’s evaluation of proposals submitted by the General Requirement 1 and 2 contractors.

• Regarding General Requirements 3 through 9:

-Corresponding Attachments J.11 through J.17 are provided as “Hypothetical Task Orders.” They serve as examples of those General Requirements, and are used for evaluation purposes, but do not themselves represent actual task order requirements.

Based upon its evaluation of cost and technical proposals submitted for those Hypothetical Task Orders, the government will award IDIQ contracts to those offerors whose proposals represent the best value to the government.

Unlike the award of contracts for Requirements 1 and 2 (where Task Order and contract awards will occur simultaneously) only the basic IDIQ contracts will be awarded for General Requirements 3 through 9. Separate Individual RFP’s will be issued later for fair opportunity competitions among only those Offerrors who received contract awards for those specific General Requirements; thus, resulting in Task Order awards once known Task Order requirements are identified in accordance with Section G.1 of the RFP and resultant contract.

Q44. Regarding training requirements in Zone Center Operations, the solicitation requires the Zone Center to provide a staff member for basic training, however in C.4.A.4.3, on page 26 states “NHTSA must conduct all field crash investigation using CID staff.”

Question:

• Are Zone Center staff member(s) required to be involved?

ANSWER 44: Yes. The Zone Center contractor is required to provide staff for training as stated in section C.4.A.1.18 (CISS Training Requirements). However, a Contractor provided instructor is not required for task 4 att. J.12 Training Location.

Q45. The terms “Crash Field Technicians” and “Researchers” are used interchangeably.

What is the preferred term for this role?

ANSWER 45: Crash Field Technician is the preferred term.

Attachment A, QA Responses 16

Q46. Should the offeror submit their choice for region for Zone Center or PSU as opposed to submitting a general willingness to serve as a Zone Center or PSU?

ANSWER 46: Offerrors are required to submit their individual technical and cost proposals for consideration of any task/hypothetical task for which they seek to be considered. The offeror must make a business decision to either operate a CISS Zone Center or operate CISS PSUs.

Q47. And in consideration of this, will PSU regions and/or zones be established at the onset of Phase 1, or later in Phase 2, and/or 3 implementation?

ANSWER 47: Attachments J.9 and J.10 clearly state that “This Task Order will award two (2) contracts, one for the operation of twenty-four (24) CISS sites and one for the operation of the CISS Zone Center. The 24 CISS sites will be awarded in three phases as shown in Tables 1-3. The implementation schedule of the three phases will be specified by NHTSA after award of these Task Orders.” (See page 4 in both attachments J.9 and J.10)

Q48. SOW C.4.A.2.1 – Establish CISS PSU Facilities

Question - There is an instruction to ship all furniture and equipment from an existing office to a new office. Is there an inventory of GFE/existing equipment and furniture available by current locations?

ANSWER 48: Since CISS is a new program and location of CISS sites are different than the current NASS-CDS sites, there will be no requirement to ship existing equipment and furniture from a NASS-CDS location to a CISS location.

Q49. Section L.8 – Proposal Content

a. Question - States that SF33, Section K, Waiver of Price Evaluation Adjustments/Preferences and Conflict of Interest are due on Proposal due date. Are these documents to be included separately are within Volume I or Volume II?

b. Question - It states that the SF33 must have an original signature. If the offeror is submitting electronically, can the SF33 be a signed PDF file or must it be submitted separately as an original document?

ANSWER 49: The Submission of the SF 33 as well as Reps and Certs are collected outside of the Technical and Business proposals but should be included as attachments with submission of the proposals in the same or follow up emails with the solicitation number referenced in the subject line of the email.

Attachment A, QA Responses 17

Q50. Section L, Part I(5) ODCs Question - Is it the government’s intent for the offeror to identify all ODCs with the exclusion of pricing for the main solicitation?

ANSWER 50: Offerrors should present all ODC’s for each individual task order within their proposal submissions.

Q51. Section C.4.A.2.1

Question - Where shall offeror’s propose pricing for vehicle leasing if no pricing for the main solicitation is to be included in the ODCs?

ANSWER 51: Offerrors should present costs for vehicle leasing with all other ODC’s for each individual task; if any, within their proposal submissions..

Q52. Section M.2

Question - Is it the government’s intent to make awards by General Requirement Areas?

ANSWER 52: Yes.

Q53. Section M.2

Question - Is it possible for an offeror to receive awards in all General Requirement Areas, and then have awards restricted at the task order level?

ANSWER 53: Yes.

Q54. Section M.2

Question - The solicitation clearly states that a single company cannot be awarded both the Zone Center and the related PSUs for either the CISS, or the CRSS. Would NHTSA accept a proposal that includes a team approach where-in one company operates the Zone Center, but a subcontractor operates the PSUs? In this way, a team could respond to all of the potential general requirements and present a comprehensive bid.

ANSWER 54: No. Similarly to question 3, this type of teaming arrangement is not acceptable as noted on page 86, Section “L” of the RFP this would not be permitted because no single company can receive award for operation of both the Zone Center and related PSU’s; further, this restriction is not made acceptable by a contractor/sub-contractor teaming agreement.

Q55. Attachment J.10, Section C.4.A.2.2

Question - Assuming that most investigative staff is not going to be NASS-trained prior to hire, how soon after contract award will the next training begin?

Attachment A, QA Responses 18

ANSWER 55: At this time, a schedule for the Basic Training classes have not been determined. The schedule will be determined after the Task Order has been awarded.

Q56. Attachment J.10, Section L, Part III

Question - Are resumes needed for all labor categories in all three phases?

Or just Phase 1? The timing of Phases 2 and 3 are unknown.

ANSWER 56: Yes. Resumes for all labor categories for task 2, att. J.10, CISS PSU are required; however, only resumes for Phase 1 period are presently being requested at this time.