HSFE80-15-R-0007_0003.pdf

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Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods:

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Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

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AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

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1 1

0003 07-22-2015

Department of Homeland Security Federal Emergency Management Agency

ATTN: CONTRACTING OFFICER

1111 Broadway, Suite 1200 Oakland CA 94607

Department of Homeland Security Federal Emergency Management Agency

To all Offerors/Bidders HSFE80-15-R-0007

X x

** HOUR & DATE for Receipt of Offers is EXTENDED to:

Title: Public Assistance Division Reengineering

Amendment 0003 is issued to include revised Q&A.

Proposal due date remains: 2:00 p.m. (EST) on 24 July 2015.

Daisy Joseph Contracting Officer

DHS / FEMA

PA Reengineering Part 1 29 Jun 2015

Questions & Answers (Q&A):

1) Will the Government please clarify if the PWS is intended to be drafted by the offeror as part of the approach and will be evaluated as part of the proposal? If so will the Government please provide guidance around the evaluation criteria that will be used to evaluate the proposed PWS?

A: Yes, the Performance Work Statement (PWS) will be evaluated. Reference the section E.1 and E.2 of the

Solicitation.

2) Is this a new opportunity and if not is there an incumbent and if so, can you indicate who that is?

A: This is a new requirement based on a previously awarded contract.

3) Are coaches required to have ICF certification, or can certification and applied experience demonstrate ability?

A: Certification and applied experience should be used to validate the qualification for coaching.

4) Can you indicate the number of persons to be coached and mentored?

A: Public Assistance anticipates approximately 100 people for live test, but the program is scalable and can include upwards of 1,000 people.

5) What is the level/title of the coaches/mentees?

A: All individuals involved in program delivery will need to be trained in the new culture and processes; this includes Federal, State, tribal, local government entities and possibly contractors. Roles are outlined on page 10 of the condensed playbook.

6) Does FEMA anticipate that award of the Public Assistance Reengineering contract will create any vendor conflict of interest which would preclude the selected vendor from supporting the PA Technical Assistance Contract?

A: There may be potential conflicts of interest with award of the PA Reengineering contract and future PA TAC support contracts. Potential conflicts may require contractors to mitigate these conflicts appropriately.

7) If the geographic location of the 12 week test pilot is unknown, does FEMA anticipate the selected vendor would be responsible for developing a mitigation strategy to address any potential conflict of interest created by Public

Assistance related contractual relationships with State and Local jurisdictions?

A: FEMA does not anticipate a conflict of interest created by PA related contractual relationships with State and local jurisdictions, as the PA Reengineering scope does not include eligibility determination/period formulation support.

8) How will the geographic location of the 12 week live test be determined and what is the estimated duration after contract award for selection of that location?

A: Since disaster locations are not predictable, each potential new disaster declaration will be assessed based on type of incident being declared, proximity to regional and state offices, size, complexity, and ability/willingness of state/local partners to participate in a pilot operation of the new program.

9) Will the written COR approval for travel requests impact the 72 hour requirement identified in E.2.b? When does the 72 hour mobilization requirement start?

A: Upon task order award, the COR will approve travel as quickly as possible to ensure that the contractor is able to meet the deployment timeline as stated in each task order requirement. The 72 hour mobilization requirement will begin as soon as the task order is awarded. While a no notice event may occur, FEMA will endeavor to give as much notice as possible.

10) Please confirm that award of the PA Reengineering solicitation, HSFE80‐R‐15‐0007, will not create an organizational conflict of interest (actual or perceived) for the awardee should that company hold existing or future Public Assistance support contracts and specifically, any upcoming Public Assistance Technical Assistance Contract (PA TAC) opportunities.

A: FEMA does not anticipate a conflict of interest with any current PA TAC support contracts. However, there may be potential conflicts of interest with award of the PA Re‐engineering contract and PA TAC. These conflicts may require contractors to mitigate these conflicts appropriately.

11) Does a Conflict of Interest exist if the company that authored and produced Attachment D, “Public Assistance

Redesign Condensed Playbook” submits an offer in response to this solicitation, given that objective 1 under this solicitation will be conduct of a test to evaluate the Public Assistance Redesign Condensed Playbook?

A: A potential conflict of interest exist, the contractor will be required to submit a conflict of interest mitigation plan should they propose.

12) Will the Government provide labor category descriptions for the labor categories identified in the Cost/Price

Schedule Worksheet?

A: a. Project Manager / Principal Consultant

i. Leads team on large projects or significant segment of large complex projects.

ii. Analyzes new and complex project related problems and creates innovative solutions involving finance, scheduling, technology, methodology, tools, and solution components.

iii. Provides applications systems analysis and programming activities for a Government site, facility or multiple locations.

iv. Prepares long and short‐range plans for application selection, systems development, systems maintenance, and production activities and for necessary support resources.

v. Oversees all aspects of projects.

b. Senior Consultant

i. Serves as subject matter expert, possessing in‐depth knowledge of a particular area, such as business, computer science, engineering, mathematics, or the various sciences.

ii. Provides technical knowledge and analysis of highly specialized applications and operational environments, high‐level functional systems analysis, design, integration, documentation and implementation advice on exceptionally complex problems that need extensive knowledge of the subject matter for effective implementation.

iii. Participates as needed in all phases of software development with emphasis on the planning, analysis, testing, integration, documentation, and presentation phases.

iv. Applies principles, methods and knowledge of the functional area of capability to specific task order requirements, advanced mathematical principles and methods to exceptionally difficult and narrowly defined technical problems in engineering and other scientific applications to arrive at automated solutions

c. Technical Writer

i. Writes a variety of technical articles, reports, brochures, and/or manuals for documentation for a wide range of uses.

ii. Coordinates the display of graphics and the production of the document.

iii. Ensures content is of high quality and conforms with standards.

d. Business Analyst

i. Formulates and defines systems scope and objectives based on both user needs and a thorough understanding of business systems and industry requirements.

ii. Devises or modifies procedures to solve complex problems considering computer equipment capacity and limitations, operation time, and form of desired results. Includes analysis of business and user needs, documentation of requirements, and translation into proper system requirements specifications.

iii. Provides consultation on complex projects and is considered to be the top level contributor/specialist of most phases of systems analysis, while considering the business implications of the application of technology to the current and future business environment.

e. Operations Expert

i. Define operational/process related challenges and successes using tools similar to lean management.

ii. Identify operational trends through the analysis of data and metrics.

iii. Create, recommend and implement operational/process solutions throughout the business model

iv. Use tools similar to lean management to ensure implementation of recommended solutions

f. Organizational Expert III

i. Analyze the organization structure to identify issues and recommend solutions

ii. Using both traditional and tools similar to lean management, interface with the workforce to identify problems in the organizational structure

iii. Analyze data and metrics to define trends in the organizational breakdown and identify both challenges and successes of the structure

iv. Create, recommend, and implement solutions to challenges

v. Use tools similar to lean management to ensure implementation of recommended solutions

g. Administrative / Clerical Support

i. Responsible for developing, drafting, writing and editing reports, briefs, proposals, and other documents in support of a client’s requirements.

ii. Interfaces with personnel to coordinate meetings, maintain logs, records and files, provides end‐user support, and performs general administrative duties.

iii. Assists in budgetary, billing, and financial management.

iv. Responsible for preparing and/or maintaining systems, programming and operations documentation, procedures and methods, including user reference manuals.

13) The Cost/Price Schedule Worksheet accounts for 59 weeks in the Base Year and 36 weeks in Option Year 1. Will the

Government adjust the Cost/Price Schedule Worksheet to represent 52 weeks in the Base Year and 52 weeks in

Option Year 1?

A: No. The government will not adjust because the objectives may happen concurrently/overlapping. These 36 weeks may not occur concurrently (12 week periods in each disaster location) and will continue throughout

Option Year 1.

14) Please confirm that that the Quality Control Plan required by the Statement of Objectives, Deliverables and Schedule

Item #6 is to be submitted as an appendix and is not counted against the technical quotations 35 page limit.

A: The Quality Control Plan is required and will be included in the 35 pages under Factor 1: Technical, sub‐factor

1.4. (See Section E.1 of the RFP)

15) The PA Condensed Playbook provided with the solicitation package (Attachment D) only provides a job aid for

Category A. In order for offerors to better evaluate the complexity and risks associated with providing training, coaching and mentoring support, would the government please provide a copy of the complete Playbook?

A: No. The Playbook is still under development.

16) The Statement of Objectives requires offerors to conduct training in the field in accordance with the new Public

Assistance business model and process. Has FEMA already developed the associated training materials that are to be used to conduct that training? If not, does FEMA anticipate including scope within a pending task order under this

IDIQ to develop the training materials?

A: FEMA is developing workforce training concurrent with the execution of this contract. The awardee will provide training to personnel in the Joint Field Office (JFO) as they are executing.

17) The Statement of Objectives, Attachment A, has the following listed for Objectives 3: Implement Plan. But on the

Cost Price worksheet, Attachment C has the heading for Objective 3 as “Scale Up”. Should this title be changed to match the objective title listed in Attachment A as Implement Plan? It also would appear that Objective 3 is going to continue into the Option Year 1. Is this correct?

A: The SOO has been changed to reflect that Objective 2 reads: Develop Implementation Plan; and Objective 3 reads: Scale Up. Yes, Objective 3 will continue into Option Year 1.

18) When looking at the estimated number of weeks on the Cost Price worksheet, Attachment C, for the base contract period, it appears to total 59 weeks. Is the number of weeks listed under the 3 objectives incorrectly stated somewhere on this Cost Price worksheet for the base year of the contract?

A: No. Objective 3 will continue into Option Year 1. These 36 weeks may not occur concurrently (12 week periods in each disaster location) and will continue throughout Option Year 1.

19) If the option year as is indicated in Attachment A, Section F, indicates that the option year period is for one year, then why is number of weeks in Attachment C only indicating 36 weeks for the option period?

A: Objective 3 will continue into Option Year 1. These 36 weeks may not occur concurrently (12 week periods in each disaster location) and will continue throughout Option Year 1.

20) Under section J, (Travel) Statement of Objectives, Attachment A, will FEMA be granting written approval when the

Task Order is issued for Travel when the 72 hour notice to deploy is issued?

A: Upon task order award, the COR will approve travel as quickly as possible to ensure that the contractor is able to meet the deployment timeline as stated in each task order requirement. While a no notice event may occur, FEMA will endeavor to give as much notice as possible.

21) In the Statement of Objectives, Attachment A, section G (Deliverable and Schedule), item 6 indicates that a Quality

Control Plan (QCP) will be submitted with the proposal. In section E of the RFP, page E‐1, it is not indicated what

Volume the QCP is to be included. Please indicate what volume of the proposal submission that the QCP is to be included.

A: The Quality Control Plan is required as a sub‐factor under Factor 1: Technical (Section E.1 of the RFP).

22) Does the government prefer the use of a standard Performance Work Statement (PWS) and Performance

Requirement Summary (PRS) template? If so, can the government please provide these templates along with any associated performance measures? In order to facilitate a fair comparison of performance measures, can the government please provide additional instructions on the PRS, such as what required elements must be included

(especially if no template is available)?

A: Reference Attachment F.

23) Sub‐factor 1.2 Management Approach and Capabilities states that offerors shall provide personnel. Are offerors required to include a staffing plan along with resumes for proposed personnel as part of this section?

A: Yes. Offerors need to be able to demonstrate the requisite skills and abilities to execute the scope of work per the RFP, SOO and attachments.

24) Can the Government please confirm that key personnel resumes are not required? If required, do the resumes count against the 35 page limit of the Technical Volume?

A: Resumes are required. See Sections E.1 of the RFP.

25) Can the government clarify whether any of the seven labor categories listed on the cost/price schedule worksheet are key personnel? If so, can the government provide clarification on the minimum education/experience requirements for each labor category so that offerors can accurately map proposed resources to each labor category?

A: Propose Personnel to include proposed Key Personnel See Section E.1 of the RFP.

26) Can the government clarify how it estimated the number of resources, hours, and weeks in the cost/price schedule worksheet? Is this based on the incumbent’s prior/existing level of effort or an independent government estimate?

A: Labor categories and hours were developed using an Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE).

27) Will the government allow offerors to propose a resource mix, hours, weeks, and Other Direct Costs that are different than those outlined in the cost/price schedule worksheet to generate efficiencies that provide the government with a better overall value?

A: Yes, see Section E.1 of the RFP.

28) In addition to clarifying the resource mix, hours, and weeks, can the government please clarify how the government developed the seven labor categories in the cost/price schedule worksheet?

A: The Government completed an IGCE to determine the mix, hours, weeks and labor categories in the cost/price schedule worksheet. The labor categories are based on general skill set requirements needed to ensure the successful test, plan, and scale‐up of the PA Re‐engineering project. The cost‐price worksheet includes assumptions based on an extended work day and week in Joint Field Offices (JFO) for teams in the field. It also includes an appropriate office team to ensure adherence to normal contracting practices, and other necessary back end tasks that will not be completed in the field.

29) Can the government specify the anticipated FEMA Region(s) where the live test of the PA Playbook will occur under this contract?

A: No. All regions and their associated states are potential locations for Live Test, with priority being given to the lower 48 states (CONUS).

30) Can the government elaborate on what lean management principles were used to develop its redesigned lean management business model and process?

A: "Lean Management concepts used in creating and maintaining an improved PA process from grant formulation through programmatic closeout.

• Plan, Do, Check, Act:

o Overall approach that ensures continuous improvement of newly designed process

• People: to ensure that a people based organization participates in the constant monitoring and improvement of the business model. Includes new methods of:

o selection o training o involvement o supervision o performance measurement

• Process: to ensure sustainable results, tools developed around:

o Standard work o Visual controls o Value stream mapping o Waste‐continuous identification and removal

• Performance: to continually measure progress toward goals o Determine current process performance o Identify and monitor performance benchmarks o Evaluate progress of process improvement initiatives within new model

31) Throughout the SOO, there are numerous references to the term "lean management principles". We know of only one consulting firm that has directly applied lean management principles in support of the PA Reengineering initiative. To increase the competition for this RFP and as a means to facilitate a fair comparison of proposals, can the requirement to apply "lean management principles" refer generally to efficient management practices through the use of industry standards, such as six sigma, or does it refer solely to the application of the incumbent’s methodology?

A: Any industry standard lean management system is acceptable as long as it complies with the principles set forward in the draft playbook.

32) Attachment D includes an overview of the draft training schedule for staff. Does the government require the design and development of all course materials within the scope of this effort?

A: Yes the contractor will be required to create all materials associated with Attachment D.

33) Are there materials, tools, and templates which have been developed as part of the initial phase of the PA

Reengineering project? If so can these be shared with all Offerors? If not, what materials will the Offeror need to design and develop prior to the live test?

A: They’re still under development at this time and not ready for release. If not, what materials will the Offeror need to design and develop prior to the live test? Primarily, training/mentoring materials for persons (i.e., Federal, State, local, and tribal) involved in the Live Test that is describe the new PA processes, reporting instruments for Live Test progression and subsequent After Action reports, and various program components not currently identified as needing revisions/development.

34) Does the proposed schedule in Attachment D represent approved learning objectives already established during the

PA Re‐engineering process?

A: These learning objectives have been approved by FEMA.

35) Does the training schedule in Attachment D reflect the intended learning hours (i.e., 40) that the government intends to devote to training staff on the new process?

A: Yes. Additional time may be required for teaching management tools to supervisory personnel.

36) Has FEMA developed a plan and/or schedule for the live pilot test activities referred in Section E.2 in the Statement of Objectives? If so, could FEMA please provide a copy of the plan and/or schedule?

A: The Plan is under development. Since disaster locations are not predictable, each potential new disaster declaration will be assessed based on type of incident being declared, proximity to regional and state offices, size, complexity, and ability/willingness of state/local partners to participate in a pilot operation of the new program.

37) Does government intend for the training schedule reflected in Attachment D to be comprised of instructor‐led, classroom based training, or a blended approach that may include computer‐based training or other delivery methods?

A: All of the above. CBT may be appropriate as an overview, pre‐requisite to classroom‐delivered training to acquaint learners with cultural and philosophical changes as well as Bold Concepts involved in the new delivery model. Delivery modalities should be appropriate to adult, professional learners and should encourage participation and stimulate interest in learning.

38) If the government anticipates the use of computer‐based training, is the contractor responsible for 508 compliance, testing, and certification?

Yes, for training developed by the contractor.

39) Does the government require the training program to be compliant with certification requirements?

A: No it does not need to be compliant.

40) Has the new staffing model referred to in Attachment D been approved by FEMA OCCHCO, and as required, have revised job classifications, roles, responsibilities, and position descriptions been approved? If not, is facilitating that approval within the scope of this effort?

A: No. PA is still developing workforce requirements (i.e., staffing and training) based upon the new PA program.

Upon finalization of workforce requirements, we (FEMA) will address/facilitate discussions with OCCHCO. The contractor may be requested in supporting briefing materials and other supporting materials.

41) Would award of this contract present any Organizational Conflict of Interests with future contracts (new and recompetes) with FEMA’s Recovery Directorate?

A: FEMA does not anticipate a conflict of interest with any current FEMA's Recovery Directorate support contracts. There may be potential conflicts of interest with award of the PA Re‐engineering contract and future

Recovery Directorate support contracts. These conflicts may require contractors to mitigate these conflicts appropriately. FEMA does not anticipate a conflict of interest created by PA related contractual relationships with State and local jurisdictions, as the PA Re‐engineering scope does not include eligibility determination/project formulation support.

42) Does the Implementation Plan for the new PA business model have to be NIMS compliant?

A: Yes. The field components of the PA program will need to be NIMS compliant.

43) Per section H. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED EQUIPMENT (GFE) of the Statement of Objectives (SOO), the contractor shall not rely on receiving any GFE in support of these requirements. The Contractor shall provide all equipment, supplies, and staff to fulfill the requirements detailed in this requirement document and accompanying options.

How will Contractor personnel access non‐public government information electronically? Will the government consider issuing the Contractor Virtual Private Network (VPN) token access to utilize via Contractor furnished computers?

A: If it is deemed necessary for the contractor to have access to information, we will either provide contract staff computers or assign a FEMA staff member to access the data on behalf of the contractor. It is unlikely that contractor equipment will be permitted to access sensitive data sources within our firewall.

44) In reviewing the SOO, we noted a particular sequence of effort articulated as Objective 1, Conduct live test and develop an after action report; Objective 2, Develop implementation plan and Objective 3, Implement Plan and each with associated duration . Are all three of these Objective efforts to be awarded in a single task order?

A: No, it is anticipated that there will be multiple task orders.

45) In Objective 1, the text states “b. Activities include, but are not limited to: Deploying within 72 hours of task order awards to a CONUS location.” The deliverables, outcomes and activities described, e.g. “developing a training scenario for FEMA’s use, creating new change agents, training plan and curriculum, communications plans, reporting templates, success measures and associated reporting,” etc. point to a significant a level of effort prior to the exercise. This effort does not appear to be accounted for in the price/cost worksheet. As the SOO reads and based on the level of effort implied in the price/cost worksheet it seems that the planning, development, preparation and staffing of deliverables all are to be accomplished in the 72 hours from the issuance of the first task order.

In order for us to be responsive in terms of manpower planning and pricing, as well as in structuring an implementable technical approach, will you expand on the timing, sequence and phasing for Objective 1 in terms of:

• award of contract? Approximately mid to late August 2015

• issuance of initial task order and objectives to covered in this task order? A: JFO Identification will not start until September and will run through end of calendar year, perhaps longer, if disaster activity doesn’t support ideal disaster declaration opportunities in the Fall timeframe. This task order will not be issued prior to JFO identification.

• planning, preparation and deliverables, if any, expectations for the contractor prior to the 72 hour notification of the initial live test? A: FEMA expects a minimal amount of effort prior to issuing the task order primarily to identify a cadre of individuals that can perform the duties required during Objective 1, after the task order is issued.

A: FEMA expects a minimal amount of effort prior to issuing the task order primarily to identify a cadre of individuals that can perform the duties required during Objective 1, after the task order is issued. FEMA does not expect significant effort to be expended prior to the issuance of a task order or during the 72 hours required for deployment to the designated Live Test site. While a no notice event may occur, FEMA will endeavor to give as much notice as possible.

46) Paragraph G.2. of the SOO states, “The Contractor shall provide the staff required to execute the operations above within seven (7) business days of contract award.” In conjunction with the answer to our question number 2 above, does this mean, the contractor will have staff on‐boarded to work on the project or in a stand‐by status to execute the contract while awaiting the 72 hour notice for the first live test?

A: The Contractor shall identify a sufficient cadre/ staff required to execute the operations in Section E of the SOO within 7 business days of the contract award in order to facilitate security/badging requirements. Once a task order is issued for a "live test" event or any subsequent task order awards ‐ the contractor must have staff at the event within 72 hours.

47) In preparing our technical approach, please provide the following facts about the live test:

• Expected duration of the “live test” event? A: 60 to 120 days.

• Will the "live test be on site of an actual/real FEMA response to an actual disaster or will it be a scenario driven simulated disaster exercise to training on and test the playbook? A: Live Test.

• Is there an existing live test or exercise design? Can you provide this to help us prepare the proposal?

A: Yes.

• If the live test is based on scenario driven, simulated disaster‐‐ will the live test / exercise play be based on actual time or a compressed time scale (i.e. one live test / exercise day = 3 real disaster response days?)

A: It will not be scenario based. It will be a live test in an actual disaster.

• Will the live test exercise each of the process flows and execution of the work template contained in the

“playbook”? A: Yes.

• What is the role of the Joint Field Office (JFO) in the live test; are there to be FEMA provided “live test”/ exercise controllers? A: There will be change team members (>2 persons) that will be engaged with the live test from a mentoring, training, and troubleshooting role. The JFO will provide support.

• What are the anticipated numbers of FEMA participants in the exercise; # of role players; # of local, state, tribal or business players? A: Less than 100.

48) What is meant by “scale up to multiple disaster locations?” Is the intent that we be able to replicate the staff described in the cost‐price worksheet? Is this an envisioned circumstance where the language of paragraph G.2. is applied, “If more than one Task Order is issued, the Contractor shall execute the requirements concurrently where feasible and practicable.”

A: The intent is not to replicate the staff described in the cost‐price worksheet for each JFO, but rather that the cost‐price worksheet includes all staff necessary to staff scale‐up operations (3 teams of 3 people; staffing up to 3

JFOs at the same time; each team could be sent to three different JFOs for 12 weeks per JFO, for a total of 36 weeks). The intent of paragraph G.2 is to explain that a previous task order may not be complete before the

Government issues a second task order (i.e. Live Test and Implementation Plan).

49) Is this a new requirement with an existing or previous contractor?

A: New requirement based on a previous contract.

50) Is the playbook an in‐house or contractor developed effort? Will the developer(s) of the playbook be available during the live test or for any preparation period prior to the "live test"?

A: "It is a hybrid work product (i.e., FEMA SMEs and contractors). Yes, FEMA staff will be available for support regarding the playbook. We’ve established time between now and Live Test to work with the contractor on the new PA program and to provide the technical (program) support in the development of associated materials."

51) In lieu of the Cost/Price Schedule Worksheet, where the level of effort needed to accomplish the Objectives has been pre‐determined by the Government, would the Government consider substituting a sample Task Order? In this case Offerors would determine the approach and Level of Effort required and proposes an associated Firm Fixed price, which would provide the Government a better way to evaluate the prices of different offerors.

A: No. However, the government is open to alternate labor categories (see response 28).

52) Given the requirement for experienced personnel to execute “coaching, mentoring, training…” and other aspects of the SOO, would the Government consider incorporating Key Personnel as an additional Evaluation Factor, along with

Technical and Past Performance?

A: Reference the RFP Section E.1. Also, the Government considers the project manager and senior consultant as key personnel.

53) So that we can better understand timing of the initial work described in the RFP, does FEMA expect the selected vendor to deploy immediately to an existing JFO for the pilot test, or is it anticipated that we would have time to prepare a trained team and then deploy when a new disaster occurs and a new JFO is opened?

A: JFO Identification will not start until September and will run through end of calendar year, perhaps longer, if disaster activity doesn’t support ideal disaster declaration opportunities in the Fall timeframe.

54) Does FEMA anticipate providing the selected vendor with a maintenance fee to support the maintenance of a response capability (e.g., trainer cadre, recruitment effort rapid deployment capability, etc.)?

A: No, there will not be a maintenance fee.

PA Reengineering Part 2

Q&A

1) Our understanding is that any subcontracting requirements to be documented in the Subcontracting Plan required upon award will incorporate goals for each socio‐economic group based on the total value of subcontracted dollars.

Is this correct?

A: Reference FAR 52.219‐9 Alt II (d). FEMA’s Subcontracting Goal is located in the Request for Proposal (RFP) at

E.5.

2) We understand the primary purpose of the proposed effort is to provide services not covered by Service Contract

Labor Standards (SCLS) and therefore the SCLS clause does not apply. Please confirm.

A: The Service Contract Act does apply.

3) As FAR 52.222‐41 “Service Contract Labor Standards (SCLS)” clause is contained in the RFP, please identify which labor categories provided in the Cost/Price Schedule are subject to this clause.

A: Reference Wage Determination 2015‐2103.

4) FAR 52.222‐17 “Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers” is contained in the RFP. However, it is not evident that this work succeeds a contract for performance of the same or similar work as required per FAR 22.1207 “Contract

Clause.” Please confirm that FAR 52.222‐17 does not apply to this solicitation.

A: FAR 52.22‐17 applies to all covered contracts except those not subject to the FAR.

5) Please confirm that proposal front matter such as a title page and table of contents is not included in the technical quotation’s 35 page limit.

A: 35 pages (does not include cover page, index and resumes)

6) Since this requirement is subject to the Service Contract Act, with a wage determination being provided as

Attachment E, and numerous labor categories listed under Objective 1 of Attachment C have hours per week in excess of 40. Is the Government going to provide a blanket overtime approval for Objective 1 at time of award of the contract?

A: No.

7) In our review of the RFP, we did not find the Past Performance Questionnaires, Attachment B anywhere. Could you please direct me to where I might be able to find the Past Performance Questionnaires?

A: See Attachment B.

8) Under section E1, paragraph titled Volume IV, Combined Synopsis / Solicitation Package sub section b, may be in conflict with section E‐3, which section (b) (2), in that the offeror is only to provide a certification that Reps and Certs have been entered in the last 12 months and are current, accurate and complete. Is FEMA requesting that all the

Reps and Certs provided on pages E7 to E17 be prepared and provided as part of the package submission even if the offeror has completed the on‐line certification?

A: Reference FAR 52.212‐1 (b)(8) of the RFP.

9) Section C.1 Instructions to Offerors item (a) mentions the solicitation cover sheet (SF 1449), but this does not appear to be included in the solicitation package. Can the government please provide this form?

A: A SF1449 is not required for the combined synopsis/solicitation (FAR 12.603(b). Reference FAR 5.212‐1; in addition to Volume IV of the RFP.

10) Can government please provide the past performance questionnaire (attachment B)? It does not appear to be included in the RFP documents.

A: See Attachment B.

11) Will the government allow offerors to include past performance projects where the offeror performed as either a

Prime or a Subcontractor?

A: No, the Government is seeking Past Performance projects demonstrating your performance as the Prime

Contractor.

PA Reengineering Part 2

12) THE COVER page of the RFP sets a small business size for the NAICS code of $15M, while the first page of the RFP sets a small business size of 500 employees. Which is correct?

A: The NAICS code for this requirement 541611, entitled Administrative Management and General Management

Consulting Services. The size standard for NAICS 541611 is $15.0M.

13) Because the Statement of Objectives requires the contractor to implement the process, can the government please confirm whether the contractor that assisted in re‐engineering of the PA business model has an Organizational

Conflict of Interest for this procurement because they are testing the effectiveness of the business model which they themselves designed?

A: A potential conflict of interest does exist. The contractor is required to submit a Conflict of Interest Mitigation Plan should they propose.

14) What is the government’s schedule for selection and award?

A: Approximately August 2015.

15) The RFP includes subcontracting goals. Are offerors required to submit a Small Business Subcontracting Plan with their proposals? If required, in which volume should this be included?

A: If applicable yes.

16) Consistent with Section C.1(e), would the Government accept an Alternative Proposal that would consist of an approved GSA MOBIS schedule offering as the basis for the Cost Proposal, with Task Orders to be issued on a Firm

Fixed Price basis? This schedule of rates would then serve as the basis for pricing future Task Orders under the IDIQ.

A: Proposals must conform to the requirements stated in the RFP and attachments.

17) Given that this is a Solicitation for Commercial items, can the Government confirm that the Small Business requirement applies only if the Offeror determines that there are subcontracting possibilities under the IDIQ and intends to subcontract further?

A: The Government encourages subcontracting opportunities.

18) Historically FEMA has defined small business participation as a percentage of total dollars subcontracted. In this solicitation it appears to be a percentage of the total contract value. Please clarify if this is correct?

A: Reference Section E.5 of the RFP, in addition to guidance in FAR 52.212‐1.

19) Will participation on this contract impact the ability of a contractor, or a subcontractor, to support the existing

Public Assistance Technical Assistance Contracts (PA TAC) by creating an organizational conflict of interest?

A: FEMA does not anticipate a conflict of interest with any current PA TAC support contracts. However, there may be potential conflicts of interest with award of the PA Re‐engineering contract and PA TAC. These conflicts may require contractors to mitigate these conflicts appropriately.