Final_RFP_A2_AF_Plan.docx

Award-Fee Plan for the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC) FFRDC Management and Operations Project

Award-Fee Plan for the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC) FFRDC Management and Operations Project

Attachment 2 to Solicitation HSHQDC-15-R-00050

Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION:

This award-fee plan is the basis for the Government’s evaluation of the NBACC FFRDC Contractor’s performance and for presenting an overall assessment of that performance to the Fee Determining Official (FDO). It describes specific criteria and procedures that will be used to assess the Contractor’s performance and to determine the amount of award-fee earned. Actual award-fee determinations and the methodology for determining earned award-fee are unilateral decisions that are made solely at the discretion of the Government.

The award-fee will be provided to the NBACC FFRDC Contractor through the issuance of contract modifications and is in addition to the Cost-Plus-Award-Fee (CPAF) provisions of the contract. The award-fee earned and payable will be determined by the FDO based upon review of the Contractor’s performance against the criteria set forth in this plan. The FDO may unilaterally change this plan prior to the beginning of an evaluation period. The Contractor will be notified of changes to the plan by the Contracting Officer, in writing, before the start of the affected evaluation period. Changes to this plan that are applicable to a current evaluation period will be incorporated by mutual consent of both parties.

a. Background

The National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC) Federally-Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) will be managed by a Contractor for the Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology (DHS/S&T) Directorate. The NBACC FFRDC will characterize existing biological threats and anticipate future threats to prevent, respond to, and recover from an attack through the establishment of an integrated science-based program and infrastructure; conduct and facilitate the technical forensic analysis of evidentiary samples from investigations of bio-crime and terror and support an integrated research program to fill operational bioforensic capability gaps and manage, operate, sustain, and enhance the NBACC as a safe, secure facility. The programs that are conducted at the NBACC provide knowledge of infectious properties of biological agents (select agents), effectiveness of countermeasures (i.e., detectors, drugs, vaccines, and decontamination procedures) and forensics analyses to support policy makers and first responders’ development of policies, programs, and technologies.

The NBACC Strategic and Annual Plans are synchronized with and are aligned to the DHS/S&T Priorities and Milestones which DHS/S&T has identified as essential to NBACC’s success. The Strategic Plan is reviewed yearly to assess the need for revision and updates are provided to DHS/S&T. The Annual Plan is updated yearly to reflect the revised DHS/S&T Priorities and Milestones to ensure continued alignment of the FFRDC Mission. The NBACC Strategic Plan builds upon previous NBACC Strategic Plans and uses an expanded process that looks out ten years rather than 5 years. The NBACC Management Approach continues to use a closed-loop “plan-execute-improve” process that was previously developed and implemented for the FFRDC. The Annual Plan provides insight into the specific projects and activities accomplished or initiated by NBACC with current year funding. The progress of these projects and associated activities is reported in the monthly and quarterly reporting requirements by NBACC.

b. Scope

The scope of this Award-Fee Plan assesses the activities that the NBACC Contractor employs to plan, manage, and to operate the NBACC FFRDC. It also measures the effectiveness, quality, and the timeliness of the NBACC in meeting program objectives and goals.

c. Purpose

The purpose of this Award-Fee Plan is to define the process by which DHS/S&T evaluates the NBACC FFRDC Contractor’s performance, determines the amount of earned Award-Fee, and approves and authorizes the payment of the Award-Fee amounts that are earned by the NBACC FFRDC Contractor under the prime contract for the management and operation of the NBACC.

d. Objective

The objective of this Award-Fee Plan is to provide a timely, fair, and balanced framework to measure the NBACC FFRDC Contractor’s effectiveness in meeting the Performance Metrics that are identified in both the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) and this plan. It also provides the NBACC FFRDC Contractor with an opportunity to earn Award-Fee that is commensurate with the achievement of different levels of performance as defined in Section 7 of this plan.

2. APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS:

a. Department of Homeland Security Contract TBD and its referenced and attached documents.

b. Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) (current fiscal year version)

3. DEFINITIONS:

earn based upon the Government’s subjective evaluation of its performance.

The subject contract

Laboratories or an authorized designee who is responsible for

Determining the actual amount of award-fee earned by the

Contractor and payable during each evaluation period earned by the Contractor and payable during

Fee Review Board) is a group of Government officials that consists of a chairperson, the Contracting Officer, other functional area participants, and advisor members; and other senior management representative(s) who represent outreach activities. The PEB is responsible for the evaluation of the Contractor’s performance and the generation of the PFB/PR documents (for interim evaluation) and the PFB/DFPR for end-of period (annual evaluations)

4. ORGANIZATION:

The award-fee organization consists of the following parties:

· Fee Determining Official;

· Executive Agent

· Performance Evaluation Board (another name for an Award Fee Review Board (AFRB) which consists of a chairperson, the Contracting Officer, other functional area participants, and advisor members; and other senior management representative(s) who represent outreach activities).

· Contracting Officer

The specific names for each of the above identified roles within the award-fee organization are provided as Attachment 1 to this plan. (See Attachment 1)

A discussion of the responsibilities of each of the above identified participants will be provided in Section 5 of this plan entitled “Responsibilities”.

5. RESPONSIBILITIES:

a. Fee Determining Official

Fee Determining Official (FDO)—the FDO, as identified in Attachment 1 to this plan, will be the DHS Deputy Under Secretary for Science and Technology Directorate. A designee may be utilized temporarily if the assigned FDO chooses to delegate responsibility to a designee. The FDO is responsible for the supervision of this performance evaluation activity. The primary FDO responsibilities are as follows:

· Participate in the preliminary debriefing of the Contractor;

· Reviews, approves, and provides comments on the Draft Final Performance Report (DFPR) and makes a determination on the Award-Fee and make recommendations to the Contracting Officer;

· Monitor and adjust certain matters in this plan. The FDO may unilaterally change certain matters in this plan as covered in Section 8 and not otherwise requiring mutual agreement under the contract as described within Section 8 of this plan, provided that the NBACC FFRDC Contractor receives notice of the changes prior to the beginning of the evaluation period to which the changes apply;

· The FDO reserves the right to make adjustments to the evaluation weighting as defined in Section 7 of this plan in order to address anomalies and other considerations of the evaluation process. Changes to Sections 6(b) and 7(b), both entitled “Evaluation Weights,” that will result in an increase or decrease in a factor’s weighting by more than 3 percentage points from that initially approved for the current fiscal year must be made bilaterally;

· Approve recommended changes to the evaluation requirements of this plan; and

· The FDO may, at their discretion, appoint advisory members and senior management representatives to represent outreach activities to the PEB. Advisory members and senior management representatives may be used to address specific areas of expertise such as:

· Management Systems and Facilities

· Science

· Safety and Regulatory Compliance

· Financial Management

· Forensics Operation

b. Executive Agent

Executive Agent (EA)—the Executive Agent (EA), as identified in Attachment 1 to this plan, will be the Director of the Office of National Laboratories for DHS Science and Technology Directorate. A designee may be utilized temporarily if the assigned EA chooses to delegate the responsibility to a designee. A designee may also be used as a permanent replacement. In either case, it is imperative that the NBACC FFRDC Contractor be notified if the assigned EA chooses to delegate responsibility to a designee. In addition to those tasks that are specifically defined in the Sponsoring Agreement, the EA will perform the following Performance Evaluation Process tasks as follows:

· Reviews and Approves the Preliminary Findings Briefing (PFB) document that is developed by the PEB Chairperson.

· Leads the Preliminary Findings Debriefing with the NBACC FFRDC Contractor.

· Reviews and Approves the Preliminary Report, developed by the PEB, in the semi-annual evaluation.

· Reviews and Approves the Draft Final Performance Report (DFPR) in the end-of-period evaluation (annual evaluation) that was prepared by the PEB Chairperson and presents it to the FDO (includes score, award-fee payment recommendation, observations, strength and improvement path based upon the demonstration of adherence to contract and provision of deliverables.

· Prepares the Final Performance Report (FPR) and the NBACC FFRDC Contractor debriefing based upon the comments he/she received from the FDO.

· At the discretion of the FDO, the EA will conduct an informational briefing of the annual assessment findings and final score to the DHS Undersecretary for Science and Technology.

· The EA will chair a meeting with the NBACC FFRDC Contractor in order to conduct a debriefing of the Final Performance Report (FPR). The FPR is a comprehensive evaluation report that includes the Contractor’s evaluation scores. These discussions will also include the announcement of the decision to pay award-fee or not, the award-fee payment scores, award-fee payment, observations, strengths, and the path for each performance measure.

c. Performance Evaluation Board

Performance Evaluation Board (PEB)—as identified in Attachment 1 to this Plan, the PEB is made up of the following membership:

· Chairperson—DHS/S&T Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR)

· Members—the members of the PEB consist of the following personnel:

· Science (Personnel from DHS/S&T Chemical and Biological Defense Division (CBD) and other Government Task Leads),

· The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Liaison for Bioforensics, and

· Representatives from other customers as assigned by the PEB Chairperson

The primary responsibilities of the PEB include the following activities:

· Maintain written records of the Contractor’s performance in their assigned evaluation area(s) so that a fair and accurate evaluation is obtained;

· Gather evaluation input from sponsors concerning the performance of the NBACC Contractor in their assigned area(s) of responsibility and consider the Contractor’s written self-assessment and the Contractor’s demonstration of adherence to contract terms and the provision of deliverables by the NBACC FFRDC Contractor;

· Review and assess the data and other supporting information provided by the NBACC FFRDC Contractor;

· Jointly review/discuss the written records of Contractor performance. The PEB will also perform the following activities:

· Consider all information from pertinent sources;

· Prepare interim performance reports, and;

· Arrive at an earned award-fee score and recommendation to provide to the EA for his/her review/consideration; and

· Provide the EA with the earned award-fee score and recommendation whether or not to provide the Contractor with earned award-fee

· Recommend changes to this plan.

d. PEB Chairperson

The PEB Chairperson is the DHS/S&T Contracting Officer’s Representative, or his/her designee. The primary responsibilities of the PEB Chairperson are as follows:

· Coordinates the activities of the PEB members;

· Selects PEB members who are knowledgeable in performance evaluations and are prepared to perform assigned tasks in a timely manner;

· Synthesizes the results provided by PEB members and develops the Preliminary Findings Debriefing;

· Participates in the NBACC debriefing of preliminary findings (no scores) and notifies NBACC Contractor of its option to submit a reclama and other supporting documentation (see Section 6(f) and 6(g) respectively); and

· Leads the PEB in assessing the reclama by the NBACC Contractor and developing the Preliminary Performance Report (for the interim evaluation (semi-annual review) or the updated Draft Final Performance Report ( for the end-of-period evaluation (annual review))

e. Contracting Officer

The Contracting Officer (CO) reviews the recommendations from the FDO for the award-fee earned for the period being evaluated and will determine whether or not the FDO recommendations of the amount of earned award-fee are within the scope of this plan. Upon determining that the FDO recommendations are in accordance with the provisions of this plan, the CO will then prepare and execute a unilateral contract modification that will provide the Contractor with the amount of earned award-fee.

6. AWARD-FEE PROCESSES:

a. Evaluation Period

As identified in Attachment 2 to this plan (see Attachment 2), the evaluation period for the award-fee for the base period of this contract will be a full calendar year using the actual date of contract award as the starting point. For the four option periods, the Government will start the evaluation of the Contractor’s performance at the actual date of each option’s exercise. For those Award-Term incentive periods, the Government will start evaluating the Contractor’s performance for award-fee purposes at the actual date of each award-term incentive period’s exercise. As identified in this plan, the Government will also be conducting interim evaluations (semi-annual reviews). The interim evaluations will take place every six months or halfway through the full calendar year. The Government will conduct the end-of-period evaluation (annual evaluations) at the end of the calendar year.

b. Available Award-Fee Amount

The available award-fee for each evaluation period is shown in Attachment 2 to this plan. (See Attachment 2) The earned award-fee that will be paid out is based upon the Contractor’s performance during the evaluation period.

c. Evaluation Weights

The evaluation weights are defined in both the Performance Metrics Section of the QASP and in this plan. For the NBACC FFRDC project, the evaluation weights will be as follows:

*--Number is rounded (actual value is 33.33333333333333. The sum of the three weight percentage values equal 100%. To calculate the total performance points score to determine the award-fee, the Government (the PEB) would evaluate the Contractor’s performance in every sub-factor within the individual evaluation factor and would then develop an average factor score (ranging from 0 to 100). Next, the PEB would sum up the three average performance scores and would divide that sum by the number of factors (three) to obtain the total performance score. NOTE: If the average score for an individual evaluation factor is less than 61 points, then the average overall factor score would be 0.

**--This is the maximum number of points per individual evaluation factor.

These weights are qualifying devices. Their purpose is to provide guidance in arriving at a general indication of the amount of earned award-fee. The FDO reserves the right to make adjustments to the evaluation weighting as defined in Section 5(a) of this document.

d. Evaluation Criteria

The evaluation criteria that the Government will use in the overall evaluation of the Contractor’s performance are provided in Attachment 3 to this plan. (See Attachment 3) If the Contracting Officer does not give specific written notice to the Contractor of any change to the evaluation criteria prior to the start of a new evaluation period, then the same evaluation criteria that are listed for the preceding period will be used in the subsequent award-fee evaluation period. Any changes to the evaluation criteria will be made by revising Attachment 3 and notifying the NBACC FFRDC Contractor.

e. Evaluation Grading

The adjectival evaluation ratings that the Government will use in the evaluation of the Contractor’s performance are provided in Attachment 4 to this plan. (See Attachment 4) A discussion of how the Government will grade the Contractor’s performance is also provided in Attachment 4 to this plan. The process for how the Government will evaluate performance is provided in Attachment 6 (for the interim (semi-annual) evaluation) or Attachment 7 (for the end-of period (annual)) evaluation). (See Attachments 6 or 7 respectively)

f. Contractor Self-Assessment

In this evaluation process, at both the interim (semi-annual) evaluation and the end-of-period (annual) evaluation, the NBACC FFRDC Contractor will be afforded an opportunity to submit information (evidence) on its behalf, including a written self-assessment of its performance. These self-assessments will be limited to fifty written pages in length and may be accompanied by an oral presentation regarding contract performance to the PEB. The evidence and other supporting documentation is not counted towards the fifty page limit. It must be made available for review by the Contractor’s Area Coordinators not later than submission of the written self-assessment to DHS/S&T.

DHS/S&T acknowledges the depth and breadth that is required in developing the written self-assessment and has afforded the NBACC Contractor 20 working days after the end of the appraisal period to submit their written self-assessment for each semi-annual period. The scoring and earned award-fee will be administered annually as part of the year-end assessment process.

g. Interim (Semi-Annual) Evaluation Process

IMPORTANT NOTE: An interim determination for the NBACC FFRDC Contractor must be made by the Government within 60 calendar days after the receipt by the Contracting Officer of the NBACC Contractor’s written self-assessment report or for a longer period if the NBACC Contractor and Contracting Officer agree. The method that the Government will follow in the monitoring and assessing the Contractor’s performance during the interim evaluation is described below:

The PEB Chairperson will notify each PEB member 60 calendar days before the midpoint of the evaluation period. The PEB will complete their individual evaluation reports by 60 calendar days after their notification by the PEB Chairperson. The PEB will then convene and jointly determine the interim evaluation results and prepares a Preliminary Findings Briefing (PFB). Once agreed upon by the PEB membership, the PEB Chairperson will forward the PFB to the Executive Agent for his review and approval.

The PFB will include, but is not limited to, an executive summary, a Contractor self-assessment (without scores) of the first-half deliverables by program, progress toward full-year deliverables, risk register, and look ahead. The agenda topics should be coordinated and agreed between the DHS and the Contractor. NOTE: The end-of-period (annual review) will include all interim (semi-annual) review topics but will include the Contractor’s recommended scores.

The PEB Chairperson may request additional performance information from other Governmental personnel and/or units that are involved in observing the Contractor’s performance, as appropriate.

After review, the Executive Agent will provide the PEB Chairperson with his written concurrence on the PFB documentation or not. If the PFB is not acceptable, the EA will send the document back to the PEB Chairperson for necessary corrections until the document is determined acceptable. Once the document is determined acceptable by the EA, he/she will provide his/her written concurrence to the PEB Chairperson. Upon the receipt of the written concurrence, the Government, led by the EA, will hold a Preliminary Findings Debriefing with the NBACC FFRDC Contractor in order to discuss the preliminary evaluation results. At this meeting, DHS will provide the Contractor with feedback on first-half deliverables and associated work efforts and will provide the Contractor with an opportunity to provide a reclama and to make revisions to those deliverables that need improvement before they are accepted as final.

As discussed in Attachment 5 to this Plan (See Attachment 5), the PEB will, upon receipt of all information including the Contractor’s written self-assessment, will conduct a secondary review in which it will review all of the new information in order to see if the new materials/information caused the PEB to make any changes to its initial evaluation of the Contractor’s performance. At the completion of this review, the PEB will then generate a Preliminary Report (PR) for review and approval by the EA. The PR document will capture all the content of the original evaluations found within the PFB documentation as well as any revisions to its evaluation of the Contractor performance. The PEB will, in the PR document, identify those areas where the revisions to scoring occurred and will provide the reasoning for the changes from the initial ratings identified in the PFB. If there were no changes in its evaluation, after the further review of the additional information, of the Contractor’ performance, then the PEB will state so in the PR document.

After obtaining concurrence from all the members of the PEB, the PEB Chairperson will then forward the PR to the EA for his/her review and approval. If the PR document is not acceptable, the EA will send the document back to the PEB Chairperson for necessary correction until the document is determined acceptable. Once the PR is determined acceptable, the EA will provide written approval to the PEB Chairperson and the Government will provide the Contractor with the finalized written PR document and will also formally meet with the NBACC Contractor in order to discuss the interim (semi-annual) ratings and the associated conclusions in the PR.

As discussed in subsection (f) of this section, DHS/S&T acknowledges the depth and breadth of the effort taken by the NBACC Contractor of developing the written self-assessment and has afforded the NBACC Contractor 20 working days after the end of the appraisal period to submit their self-assessment for the semi-annual period. IMPORTANT NOTE: as noted in the first paragraph of this item, there will be no payment of award-fee for the interim evaluation period. The scoring and earned award-fee will be paid annually as part of the year-end assessment process.

h. End-of-Period (Annual) Evaluation Process

IMPORTANT NOTE: A final determination on the NBACC FFRDC Contractor’s performance and the amount of earned the Award-Fee for the NBACC FFRDC project must be made by the Government within 60 calendar days after the receipt by the Contracting Officer of the NBACC Contractor’s written self-assessment report or for a longer period if the NBACC Contractor and Contracting Officer agree. The method that the Government will follow in monitoring and assessing the Contractor’s performance during the end-of-period evaluation is described below:

The PEB Chairperson will notify each PEB member 60 calendar days before the end of the evaluation period. PEB members will complete their individual evaluation reports by 60 calendar days after receiving notification from the PEB Chairperson. The PEB will jointly prepare its Preliminary Findings Briefing (PFB) and the Draft Final Performance Report (DFPR). The DFPR is a draft evaluation report that contains the initial evaluations of the Contractor’s performance and recommendation to the FDO. At this time, the PEB may also recommend any significant changes to the award-fee plan for FDO approval.

The Draft Final Performance Report (DFPR) will include, but is not limited to, an executive summary, a Contractor self-assessment (with recommended scores) of the full-year deliverables by program, progress made during the year, the risk register, and look ahead. NOTE: The end-of-period (annual evaluation) will include all the semi-annual review topics and will include the Contractor’s recommended scores.

The PEB Chairperson may request additional performance information from other Governmental personnel and/or units that are involved in observing the Contractor’s performance, as appropriate.

Once finalized and agreed upon by the membership of the PEB, the PEB Chairperson will forward the DFPR and the PFB to the Executive Agent (EA) for his/her review and comment.

After review, the EA will determine if the DFPR and PFB are acceptable or not. If either document is unacceptable, the EA will forward that document back to the PEB Chairperson for necessary correction until the document is acceptable. Once the documentation is acceptable, the EA will provide the PEB Chairperson with his written concurrence on the DFPR and the PFB documentation. Upon the receipt of the EA’s written concurrence, the Government, led by the EA, will hold a Preliminary Findings debriefing with the NBACC FFRDC Contractor in order to discuss the preliminary evaluation results. At this meeting, DHS will provide the Contractor with feedback on deliverables and will provide the Contractor with an opportunity to provide a reclama and to make revisions to those deliverables that needed improvement before they are accepted as final.

As discussed in item (f) of this section of the plan, the NBACC FFRDC Contractor will be afforded an opportunity to submit a reclama and other information (evidence) on its behalf, including a written self-assessment of its performance at the annual evaluation period. The written self-assessment will be limited to fifty written pages in length and may be accompanied by an oral presentation regarding contract performance to the PEB. The supporting evidence and other associated supporting documentation will not be counted towards the 50 page limit. However, the supporting evidence and the other supporting documentation must be made available for review by the Contractor’s Area Coordinators not later than submission of the self-assessment to DHS/S&T.

DHS/S&T acknowledges the depth and breadth of developing the self-assessment and has afforded the NBACC Contractor 20 working days after the end of the appraisal period to submit their written self-assessment for the annual period. As noted earlier in this section, the scoring and payment of the earned award-fee will occur annually as part of the year-end assessment process.

As discussed in Attachment 6 to this plan, the PEB will, upon receipt of all information including the Contractor’s written self-assessment, will conduct a secondary review in which it will review all of the new information to see if it would cause the PEB to change any of its initial evaluation ratings of Contractor’s performance. At the completion of this review, the PEB will then generate an updated Draft Final Performance Report (DFPR) for review and approval by the EA. The updated DFPR document will capture all the content of the original evaluations found within the original DFPR documentation as well as any revisions to its evaluation of the Contractor performance. The PEB will, in the updated DFPR document, identify those areas where the revisions to the scoring occurred and will provide the reasoning for any changes from the initial ratings that are identified in the initial DFPR. If there were no changes in its evaluation, after the further review of the additional information, of the Contractor’ performance, the PEB will state so in the updated DFPR document. The PEB Chairperson will forward the updated DFPR to the EA for his/her review and approval.

The EA will review the updated DFPR and will either approve the document or not. If the EA does not approve the document, he/she will send it back to the PEB Chairperson for the necessary corrections until the document is determined acceptable. If the DFPR is acceptable, the EA will inform the PEB Chairperson that the document is acceptable and will forward the document onto the Fee Determining Official (FDO) for his/her review/approval.

The FDO will review the DFPR and determine if the document is acceptable or not. If the document is not acceptable, the FDO will send the document back to the EA for the necessary corrections until the document is determined acceptable. If the DFPR is determined acceptable, the FDO will approve the DFPR and will provide his/her written approval and applicable comments to the EA. Upon receipt of the FDO-approved DFPR, the EA will then prepare the Final Performance Report (FPR). Once the FPR is complete and determined to be acceptable, the EA will then set up and chair a formal meeting with the NBACC FFRDC Contractor in order to conduct the NBACC FPR Debriefing. The NBACC FPR Debriefing is the formal meeting where the Government and the NBACC Contractor will discuss the final ratings/conclusions in the FPR. In addition, the EA will provide the Contracting Officer with a signed copy of the FPR for file and for action purposes.

The Contracting Officer will then review the final FPR document in order to determine if the final FPR is in compliance with this plan. Once he/she determined that the final FPR is in compliance with the plan, the Contracting Officer will issue a unilateral contract modification that will provide the NBACC FFRDC Contractor with the amount of earned award-fee, if any.

i. Unearned Award-Fee

Unearned Award-Fee for the full year will not be carried over or made available to the NBACC Contractor beyond the annual evaluation period.

7. EVALUATION FACTORS:

a. Evaluation Period

As identified in Attachment 2 to this plan (see Attachment 2), the evaluation period for the award-fee for the base period of this contract will be a full calendar year using the actual date of contract award as the starting point. For the four option periods, the Government will start the evaluation of the Contractor’s performance at the actual date of each option’s exercise. For those Award-Term incentive periods, the Government will start evaluating the Contractor's performance for award-fee purposes at the actual date of each award-term incentive period’s exercise. As identified in this plan, the Government will also be conducting interim evaluations (semi-annual reviews). The interim evaluations will take place every six months or halfway through the full calendar year. The Government will conduct the end-of-period evaluation (annual evaluations) at the end of the calendar year.

b. Evaluation Weights

The evaluation weights are defined in Section 6(c) of this Award-Fee Plan.

c. Evaluation Criteria

The evaluation criteria that the Government will use in the overall evaluation of the Contractor’s performance are provided in Section 6(d) of this Award-Fee Plan.

d. Evaluation Grading

The adjectival evaluation ratings that the Government will use in the evaluation of the Contractor’s performance are provided in Attachment 4 to this plan. (See Attachment 4) A discussion of how the Government will grade the Contractor’s performance is also provided in Attachment 4 to this Plan. The process for how the Government will evaluate performance is provided in Attachment 6 (for the interim (semi-annual) evaluation) or Attachment 7 (for the end-of period (annual)) evaluation. (See Attachments 6 or 7 respectively)

IMPORTANT NOTE: Those factors receiving a grade of “Unsatisfactory” (less than 61) will be assigned zero performance points for the purposes of calculating the award-fee amount. The NBACC Contractor will not be paid an award-fee when the total performance point score is “Unsatisfactory” (less than 61). In order to earn a total overall rating of “Excellent,” the Contractor must be under cost, on or ahead of schedule, and be rated “Excellent” for Technical Performance. Key Government personnel will evaluate and assess the Contractor’s performance for the six-month period beginning at Contract Award and will continue semi-annually thereafter.

e. Guidance on Assessing Performance and Level of Compliance

In assessing the NBACC FFRDC Contractor’s performance and to gauge the level of compliance, the personnel assigned either to the Performance Evaluation Board or as the Fee Determining Official shall utilize the following information sources:

· Government contract surveillance records;

· Contractor’s Self-Assessment;

· The Performance Metrics;

· Contractor’s reclama and other submitted supporting documentation; and

· Attachment 7 of this Award-Fee Plan

Also, the Government evaluators may find that additional guidance can be found within the Quality Project Performance Plan (QPPP) Parameters Definitions for Bioforensics Methods and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

8. AWARD-FEE PLAN CHANGE PROCEDURE:

a. Right to Make Unilateral Changes

Except for the matters described below, this plan may be revised unilaterally by the Government prior to the beginning of the interim or annual rating periods in order to redirect emphasis. Such unilateral changes are to be made by the FDO prior to the beginning of an evaluation period by timely written notice to the NBACC FFRDC Contractor. For redirection made during the evaluation period, these changes will be made bilaterally and the Government will provide the notification of such changes to the NBACC FFRDC Contractor as soon as practical, depending upon the urgency of the redirection, with an objective 30 calendar days prior to the effective date on which the change applies. Unilateral changes will be made effective as of the date on which the change applies pursuant to the written notice, and a unilateral contract modification will be issued in order to incorporate the change as soon as practicable thereafter.

The FDO may unilaterally change this plan prior to the beginning of an evaluation period. In addition, the NBACC Contractor may recommend changes to the plan no later than 30 days prior to the beginning of a new evaluation period. The Contractor will be notified of changes to the plan by the Contracting Officer, in writing, before the start of the affected evaluation period. Changes to this plan that are applicable to a current evaluation period will be incorporated by the mutual consent of the parties.

b. Steps to Change Plan Coverage

The following is a summary of the principal actions involving changing plan coverage:

The PEB will establish lists of any subsidiary actions and schedules as necessary to meet the above schedules.

c. Method for Changing Plan Coverage

The method to be followed for changing plan coverage is described below:

· Personnel involved in the administration of the award-fee provisions of the contract are encouraged to recommend plan changes with a view toward changing management emphasis, motivating higher Contractor performance levels or improving the award-fee determination process. The recommended changes should be sent directly to the PEB Chairperson.

· Prior to the end of the interim evaluation period, , the PEB will submit its recommended changes, if any, applicable to the next annual evaluation period for approval by the FDO with appropriate comments and justification. The FDO may refer the proposed changes to the PEB for additional evaluation, consideration, and recommendation.

· Prior to the end of the annual evaluation period, the PEB will submit its recommended changes, if any, applicable for the next interim evaluation period for approval by the FDO with appropriate comments and justification. The FDO may refer the proposed changes to the PEB for additional evaluation, consideration, and recommendation.

· At or before the beginning of each evaluation period, the Contracting Officer will notify the NBACC FFRDC Contractor in writing of the changes to be applied during the next period, and will request the NBACC Contractor’s concurrence with such changes. These changes must be made bilaterally. If the NBACC Contractor is not provided with this notification, or if the notification is not provided at or before the beginning of the next period, then the existing plan will continue in effect for the next evaluation period. If the NBACC FFRDC Contractor does not concur with a proposed change which is required to be bilateral, then the proposed change will not take effect.

9. METHOD FOR CREATING SPECIAL AREAS OF EMPHASIS:

As world events change, those events may directly affect the Department of Homeland Security Fiscal Year Priorities or Milestones. In these circumstances, DHS/S&T may elect to redirect the NBACC FFRDC Contractor to different priorities and tasks during the evaluation period. When this occurs, the FDO, in concert with the PEB Chairperson, will identify these Special Areas of Emphasis. The PEB Chairperson will work with the NBACC FFRDC Contractor to develop agreed upon acceptance criteria and project outcomes along with a redistribution of the performance metrics and weighting factors. The Contracting Officer will coordinate contract changes, as appropriate.

10. CONTRACT TERMINATION:

If the contract is terminated after the start of an award-fee evaluation period, the award-fee deemed earned for that period shall be determined by the FDO using the normal award-fee evaluation process. After termination for convenience, the remaining award-fee amounts allocated to all subsequent award-fee evaluation periods cannot be earned by the Contractor and therefore, shall not be paid.

11. PERFORMANCE EVALUATION CALENDAR AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION FLOW CHART:

Since the Performance Evaluation Schedule is somewhat fluid and functions as a guide of the timing of events throughout the year, a current Program Year Performance Evaluation Calendar will be provided as a separate attachment (Attachment 8 to this plan) and will be updated on an annual basis. (See Attachment 8)

The Performance Evaluation Flow Chart, which represents the key activities for the performance evaluation process, is separated out by the specific process and the specific evaluation period. The Performance Evaluation Flow Chart for the interim evaluation period (semi-annual period) is provided as Attachment 5 (See Attachment 5). For the end-of-period evaluation (annual evaluation), the Performance Evaluation Flow Chart for this process is provided as Attachment 6. (See Attachment 6)

12. ATTACHMENTS TO THE AWARD-FEE PLAN:

Attachment 1---Award-Fee Organization Attachment 2---Award-Fee Allocation by Evaluation Periods Attachment 3---Evaluation Criteria Attachment 4—Evaluation Grading Scales (Adjectival and Numerical) Attachment 5—Performance Evaluation Process (Semi-Annual Evaluation) Attachment 6—Performance Evaluation Process (Annual Evaluation) Attachment 7—Guidance on Assessing Performance and Level of Compliance Attachment 8—Performance Evaluation Calendar

Attachment 1—the Award-Fee Organization

The membership for the Award-Fee Organization (AFO) for the NBACC FFRDC Contract will be as follows:

and Technology, or designee

Director, or designee

FFRDC Contract

FBI Liaison for Bioforensics

Other NBACC Customers as assigned

By the PEB Chairperson

Represent Outreach Activities

Key Terms:

· CBD—Chemical and Biological Defense Division

· DHS—Department of Homeland Security

· FBI—Federal Bureau of Investigation

· FDO—Fee Determining Official

· FFRDC—Federally Funded Research and Development Center

· HSARPA—Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency

Attachment 2—Award-Fee Allocation by Evaluation Period

The award-fee earned by the Contractor will be determined at the completion of the evaluation periods shown below. The percentages and dollars shown corresponding to each period is the maximum available award-fee amount that can be earned during the particular period.

Evaluation

Key Terms:

DATE—Date of Award-Term Exercise DOA—Date of Contract Award DOE—Date of Option Exercise

Key Assumptions:

*--The Government may unilaterally revise the distribution of the remaining award-fee dollars among subsequent periods. The Contractor will be notified of such changes, if any, in writing by the Contracting Officer before the period is started and the award-fee plan will be modified accordingly. Subsequent to the commencement of a period, changes may be made by mutual agreement of the parties.

**--In each year of performance under the contract award, there will be a separate award fee amount (pool) that is established that will be made available for the payment of earned award-fee subject to successful evaluation of Contractor performance. The award-fee amount will be expressed as part of the line item description in Section B of the contract award. Also, as was discussed earlier in the Award-Fee Plan, the Government is planning on only paying out earned award-fee at the end of the period of performance of the specific performance year. There will be no payout of award-fee at the interim (semi-annual) review.

***--This line item is an Award-Term (AT) incentive period. The exercise of this line item is subject to the Contractor’s successful performance and the Government’s determination that said performance warrants the Government executing the AT incentive period.

****--the 100 points is the total maximum score that the NBACC FFRDC Contractor can achieve under a particular award-fee evaluation period. As identified in Attachment 3, there are three main evaluation factors that the Government will use to evaluate the Contractor’s performance for this project:

· Technical Performance (33.33% weight)

· Business Management Performance (33.33% weight)

· Cost Control (33.33% weight)

To develop the 100 point score, the Government would evaluate all subfactors under each of the three main factors and develop a numerical score for each of the three main evaluation factors.