N0001419SB003.06SEP2019.FINAL.pdf

ONR BAA Announcement # N00014-19-S-B003

BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT (BAA)

Department of Defense (DoD) Explosives Ordnance Disposal (EOD) FY20 Science & Technology Program Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)

Development of Advanced Technologies for Diagnostic Sensors and Neutralization of Buried & Surface Munitions in Land Environments

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTION I. OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY

A. Required Overview Content

1. Federal Awarding Agency Name

2. Funding Opportunity Title

3. Announcement Type

4. Funding Opportunity Number

5. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA Numbers

6. Key Dates

7. North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)

Code

SECTION II. DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT THE

RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY

A. Program Description B. Federal Award Information

1. Eligibility for Competition

2. Contracted Fundamental Research

3. Funded Amount and Period of Performance

4. Instrument Types

5. Model Contracts and Grants C. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants

2. Cost Sharing or Matching D. Application and Submission Information

1. Address to Request (Access) Application Package

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management

(SAM)

4. Submission Dates and Times

5. Intergovernmental Review

6. Funding Restrictions

7. Other Submission Requirements

E. Application Review Information

1. Criteria

2. Review and Selection Process

3. Recipient Qualifications F. Federal Award Administration Information

1. Federal Award Notices

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

3. Reporting G. Federal Awarding Agency Contacts H. Other Information

SECTION III. APPENDICES

Appendix 1. Program Description Appendix 2. Applicable to Grants, Cooperative Agreements, and Technology Investment Agreements (TIA’s) Only Appendix 3. Requirements Applicable to Contracts and Other Transaction Agreements

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I. OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY

This publication constitutes a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for awards by the ONR Contact and Grants Awards Management Division, ONR Code 25 (or otherwise approved by Code 25) as contemplated in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.102(d)(2) and 35.016, the Department of Defense Grants and Agreements Regulations (DoDGARS) 32 CFR 22.315(a) and DoD’s Other Transaction Guide, Nov 2018. A formal Request for Proposals (RFP), solicitation, and/or additional information regarding this announcement will not be issued.

The ONR reserves the right to fund all, some, or none of the proposals received under this BAA.

ONR provides no funding for direct reimbursement of proposal development costs. Technical and cost proposals (or any other material) submitted in response to this BAA will not be returned. It is the policy of ONR to treat all proposals submitted under this BAA as sensitive competitive information and to disclose their contents only for the purposes of evaluation.

Hyperlinks have been embedded within this document and appear as underlined, blue-colored words. The reader may “jump” to the linked section by clicking the hyperlink.

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A. Required Overview Content

1. Federal Awarding Agency Name

Office of Naval Research, One Liberty Center 875 N. Randolph Street Arlington, VA 22203-1995

2. Funding Opportunity Title

Department of Defense (DoD) Explosives Ordnance Disposal (EOD)

FY20 Science & Technology Program Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) Development of Advanced Technologies for Diagnostic Sensors and Neutralization of Buried & Surface Munitions in Land Environments

3. Announcement Type

Initial Announcement

4. Funding Opportunity Number

N0014-19-S-B003

5. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Numbers

12.300

Title: Department of Defense (DOD), Department of the Navy, Office of Chief of Naval Research, Basic and Applied Scientific Research

6. Key Dates (See also Section II.D.4)

Anticipated Schedule of Events * Event Date Time White Papers Due Date 11 OCT 2019 3:00 PM EST Notification of Initial Navy Evaluations of White Papers*

01 NOV 2019

Full Proposals Due Date 20 DEC 2019 3:00 PM EST Notification of Selection for Award * 20 MAR 2020 Awards* 15 JUL 2020 Kickoff Meeting* 14 AUG 2020

Asterisk (*): These dates are estimates as of the date of this announcement https://beta.sam.gov/help/assistance-listing

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7. North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code

The NAICS code for contracts under this announcement is 541715 with a small business size standard of 1,000 employees.

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II. DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

A. Program Description

The Department of Defense (DoD) Explosives Ordnance Disposal (EOD) force is tasked with handling and safely disposing of a variety of explosive and non-explosive threats. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) DoD EOD Science and Technology (S&T) Program develops and demonstrates emerging technologies for DoD EOD missions and threat areas.

In this Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), ONR requests white papers and full proposals for the development of advanced technologies for diagnostic sensing and neutralization of buried and surface devices or munitions in land environments only. ONR is seeking novel, innovative and/or high risk/high payoff ideas and approaches. Please see Appendix 1 for further description of the research opportunity. Please read and respond to all sections of this

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B. Federal Award Information

1. Eligibility for Competition. Proposals for supplementation of existing projects are eligible to compete with applications for new Federal awards under this BAA.

2. Contracted Fundamental Research. With regard to any restrictions on the conduct or outcome of work funded under this BAA, ONR will follow the guidance on and definition of “contracted fundamental research” as provided in the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics) Memorandum of 24 May 2010.

As defined therein the definition of “contracted fundamental research,” in a DoD contractual context, includes research performed under grants and contracts that are (a) funded by RDT&E Budget Activity 1 (Basic Research), whether performed by universities or industry or (b) funded by Budget Activity 2 (Applied Research) and performed on campus at a university. The research shall not be considered fundamental in those rare and exceptional circumstances where the applied research effort presents a high likelihood of disclosing performance characteristics of military systems or manufacturing technologies that are unique and critical to defense, and where agreement on restrictions have been recorded in the contract or grant.

Pursuant to DoD policy, research performed under grants and contracts that are

(a) funded by Budget Activity 2 (Applied Research) and NOT performed on-campus at a university or (b) funded by Budget Activity 3 (Advanced Technology Development) or Budget Activity 4 (Advanced Component Development and Prototypes) does not meet the definition of “contracted fundamental research.” In conformance with the USD (AT&L) guidance and National Security Decision Directive 189, ONR will place no restriction on the conduct or reporting of unclassified “contracted fundamental research,” except as otherwise required by

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statute, regulation or executive order. For certain research projects, it may be possible that although the research being performed by the prime contractor is restricted research, a subcontractor may be conducting “contracted fundamental research.” In those cases, it is the prime contractor’s responsibility in the proposal to identify and describe the subcontracted unclassified research and include a statement confirming that the work has been scoped, negotiated, and determined to be fundamental research according to the prime contractor and research performer.

Normally, fundamental research is awarded under grants with universities and under contracts with industry. Non-fundamental research is normally awarded under contracts and may require restrictions during the conduct of the research and DoD pre-publication review of such research results due to subject matter sensitivity. Potential offerors should consult with the appropriate ONR Technical POCs to determine whether the proposed effort would constitute fundamental or non-fundamental research.

3. Funded Amount and Period of Performance The planned funding amounts and period of performance are as follows:

*Total Amount of Funding Available (over 2-3 years): $6,000,000 *Anticipated Number of Awards: 4-6 *Anticipated Range of Individual Award Amounts: 350-500K per year *Anticipated Period of Performance: 2-3 years

4. Instrument Types

Awards may take the form of contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, technology investment agreements, and other transaction agreements, as appropriate.

The following provides brief descriptions of potential instrument types:

a. Procurement Contract:

i. A legal instrument, consistent with 31 U.S.C. §6303, which reflects a relationship between the Federal Government and another entity/contractor when the principal purpose of the instrument is to acquire property or services for the direct benefit or use of the Federal Government.

b. Assistance Instruments.

i. Any assistance instrument awarded under this announcement will be governed by the award terms and conditions that conform to DoD’s implementation of OMB circulars

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applicable to financial assistance. Terms and conditions of new awards made after December 26, 2014, will include revisions to reflect DoD implementation of new OMB guidance in 2 CFR Part 200, “Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards.” The DoD Terms and Conditions are located at https://www.onr.navy.mil/work-with-us/manage-your-award/manage-grant-award/grants-terms-conditions

ii. Grant: A legal instrument consistent with 31 U.S.C.

§6304, is used to enter into a relationship:

• The principal purpose of which is to transfer a thing of value to the recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a law or the United States, rather than to acquire property or services for the Federal Government’s direct benefit or use.

• Substantial involvement is not expected between the Federal Government and the recipient when carrying out the activity contemplated by the grant.

• No fee or profit is allowed.

iii. Cooperative Agreement: A legal instrument which, consistent with 31 U.S.C. 6305, is used to enter into the same kind of relationship as a grant, except:

• Substantial involvement is expected between the Federal

Government and the recipient when carrying out the activity contemplated by the cooperative agreement. No fee or profit is allowed. (For information on the substantial involvement ONR expects to have in cooperative agreements, prospective offerors should contact the Technical Point of Contact, Dr. Jean McGovern. Please see Section II.G.3 for contact information.)

• No fee or profit is allowed.

iv. Technology Investment Agreement (TIA): Assistance Transaction other than a Grant or a Cooperative Agreement (see 32 CFR Part 37). A legal instrument, consistent with 10 U.S.C.

§2371, which may be used when the use of a contract, grant, or cooperative agreement is not feasible or appropriate for basic, applied, and advanced research projects. The research covered under a TIA shall not be duplicative of research being conducted under an existing DoD program. To the maximum extent practicable, TIAs shall provide for a 50/50 cost share between the Government and the applicant. An applicant’s cost share may take https://www.onr.navy.mil/work-with-us/manage-your-award/manage-grant-award/grants-terms-conditions https://www.onr.navy.mil/work-with-us/manage-your-award/manage-grant-award/grants-terms-conditions https://www.onr.navy.mil/work-with-us/manage-your-award/manage-grant-award/grants-terms-conditions

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the form of cash, independent research and development (IR&D), foregone intellectual property rights, equipment, access to unique facilities, and/or other means. Due to the extent of cost share, and the fact that a TIA does not qualify as a “funding agreement” as defined at 37 CFR 401.2(a), the intellectual property provisions of a TIA can be negotiated to provide expanded protection to an applicant’s intellectual property. No fee or profit is allowed on TIAs.

c. Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) for Prototypes. A legal instrument, consistent with 10 U.S.C. §2371b, which may be used for prototype projects directly relevant to enhancing the mission effectiveness of military personnel and the supporting platforms, systems, components, or materials proposed to be acquired or developed by the Department of Defense, or for improvement of platforms, systems, components, or materials in use by the armed forces. The effort covered under an OTA shall not be duplicative of effort being conducted under an existing DoD program. Please refer to the DoD “Other Transactions Guide” dated November 2018, for additional information. This document, along with other OTA resources, may be accessed at the following link:

http://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/cpic/cp/10USC2371bOTs.html

5. Model Contracts and Grants- The model contracts and grants at the links above are only provided as examples. In the event of any conflict between these examples and current FAR, DFARS, NMCARS, or ONR clauses, current FAR, DFARS, NMCARS, or ONR clauses will govern.

• Examples of model contracts can be found on the ONR website at the following link: https://www.onr.navy.mil/work-with-us/how-to-apply/submit-contract-proposal.

• Examples of model grants can be found on the ONR website at the following link: https://www.onr.navy.mil/work-with-us/how-to-apply/submit-grant-application

C. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants

All responsible sources from academia, industry and the research community may submit proposals under this BAA. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Institutions (MIs) are encouraged to submit proposals and join others in submitting proposals. However, no portion of this BAA will be set aside for HBCUs/MIs, small businesses or other socio-economic participation. All businesses, both small and large, are encouraged to submit http://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/cpic/cp/10USC2371bOTs.html https://www.onr.navy.mil/work-with-us/how-to-apply/submit-contract-proposal https://www.onr.navy.mil/work-with-us/how-to-apply/submit-contract-proposal https://www.onr.navy.mil/work-with-us/how-to-apply/submit-grant-application

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proposals and compete for funding consideration.

Federally Funded Research & Development Centers (FFRDCs), including Department of Energy National Laboratories, are not eligible to receive awards under this BAA. However, teaming arrangements between FFRDCs and eligible principal Offerors are allowed so long as such arrangements are permitted under the sponsoring agreement between the Government and the specific FFRDC.

Navy laboratories, military universities and warfare centers as well as other Department of Defense and civilian agency laboratories are also not eligible to receive awards under this BAA and should not directly submit either white papers or full proposals in response to this BAA. If any such organization is interested in one or more of the programs described herein, the organization should contact an appropriate ONR Technical POC to discuss its area of interest.

University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs) are eligible to submit proposals under this BAA unless precluded from doing so by their Department of Defense UARC contract.

Teams are also encouraged and may submit proposals in any and all areas.

However, Offerors must be willing to cooperate and exchange software, data and other information in an integrated program with other contractors, as well as with system integrators, selected by ONR.

2. Cost Sharing or Matching - Cost sharing is not expected and will not be used as a factor during the merit review of any proposal hereunder. However, the Government may consider voluntary cost sharing if proposed.

D. Application and Submission Information

1. Address to Request (Access) Application Package This BAA may be accessed from the sites below. Amendments, if any, to this BAA will be posted to these websites when they occur. Interested parties are encouraged to periodically check these websites for updates and amendments.

• Grants.gov (www.grants.gov)

• FedBizOpps (www.fbo.gov)

• ONR website https://www.onr.navy.mil/work-with-us/funding-opportunities

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

a. General Information

All submissions will be protected from unauthorized disclosure in accordance with FAR Subpart 15.207, applicable law, and DoD/DON http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.fbo.gov/

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regulations. Offerors are expected to appropriately mark each page of their submission that contains proprietary information.

Titles given to the submissions should be descriptive of the work they cover and not be merely a copy of the title of this announcement.

b. Security Classification

White Papers and Proposals submitted under this BAA are expected to be unclassified; however, classified proposals are permitted. If a classified proposal is submitted and selected for award, the resultant contract will be unclassified. An ‘unclassified’ Statement of Work (SOW) must accompany any classified proposal.

Classified proposals shall be submitted directly to the attention of ONR’s Document Control Unit at the following address and marked in the following manner:

OUTSIDE ENVELOPE - (no classification marking):

“Office of Naval Research Attn: Document Control Unit ONR Code 43 875 North Randolph Street Arlington, VA 22203-1995”

The inner wrapper of the classified White Paper and/or Full Proposal should be addressed to the attention of Jean McGovern, ONR Code 32 and marked in the following manner:

INNER ENVELOPE - (stamped with the overall classification of the material)

“JEOD

Office of Naval Research ATTN: Jean McGovern ONR Code: 32 875 North Randolph Street Arlington, VA 22203-1995”

c. Non-Proprietary Statement of Work

For all proposals, a non-proprietary version of the Statement of Work must also be submitted. Do not put proprietary data or markings in or on the Statement of Work. For proposals containing data that the offeror does not want disclosed to the public for any purpose, or used by the

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Government except for evaluation purposes, the contractor shall mark the title page with the following legend:

“This proposal includes data that shall not be disclosed outside the Government and shall not be duplicated, used, or disclosed--in whole or in part--for any purpose other than to evaluate the proposal. If, however, a contract is awarded to this offeror as a result of--or in connection with--the submission of this data, the Government shall have the right to duplicate, use, or disclose the data to the extent provided in the resulting contract. This restriction does not limit the Government’s right to use information contained in this data if is obtained from another source without restriction. The data subject to this restriction are contained in (insert numbers or other identification of sheets).”

Each sheet of data that the offeror wishes to restrict must be marked with the following legend:

“Use or disclosure of data contained on this sheet is subject to the restriction on the title page of this proposal.”

White Papers: The due date for white papers is no later than 3:00 PM Local Eastern Time on Friday, October 11, 2019. White papers are to be submitted as a pdf file via electronic mail (email) to (jean.mcgovern@navy.mil and Code 32 box (onrcode32researc.fct@navy.mil ). If an Offeror does not submit a white paper before the specified due date and time, it is not eligible to participate in the remaining Full Proposal submission process and is not eligible for funding. Each white paper should state that it is submitted in response to this BAA and cite the particular sub-section of the Research Opportunity Description that the white paper is primarily addressing.

White Paper Evaluation/Notification: Evaluations of the white papers will be issued via email notification on or about Friday, November 1, 2019. Any Offeror whose white paper is not selected based on the evaluation criteria in Section E below is ineligible to submit a full proposal under this BAA.

Full Proposals: The due date for receipt of Full Proposals is 3:00 PM Local Eastern Time on Friday, December 20, 2019. The date for final selections is Friday, March 20, 2020, an estimate as of the date of this announcement. PI’s will be notified via email of their project’s selection or non-selection for FY20 funding no later than March 20, 2020. Full proposals received after the published due date and time will not be considered for funding in FY20.

mailto:jean.mcgovern@navy.mil mailto:onrcode32researc.fct@navy.mil

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d. White Paper Requirements.

i. White Paper Format

• Paper Size – 8.5 x 11-inch paper

• Margins – 1 inch

• Spacing – single-spaced

• Font – Times New Roman, 12 point

• Page limit– 5 pages (excluding the cover page).

ii. White Paper Submission. When e-mail submission is required (per the instructions below), the white paper must be at least Microsoft Word 2016 compatible, or PDF-compatible format attachment to the email. There is an email size limit of 5MB per email.

Electronic (email) submissions must be sent to the following email address: jean.mcgovern@navy.mil and department email onrcode32researc.fct@navy.mil. The subject line of the email shall read: “N00014-19-S-B003 White Paper Submission”. Do not send ZIP files. Password protected files are discouraged.

iii. White Paper Content:

White papers shall include the following:

Cover Page: The Cover Page can be found at https://www.onr.navy.mil/work-with-us/how-to-apply/submit-contract-proposal grant-application

(1). Technical Concept: A description of the technology innovation and technical risk areas. In addition, please address the following specific items in your technical concept, in any order:

(a). Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs):

Provide TRL levels for the proposed technology or set of technologies applied. Include any relevant test data, dates and sites, including receiver operating curves to support the level determination.

(b). Time phased Technical Risk Reduction:

mailto:onrcode32researc.fct@navy.mil https://www.onr.navy.mil/work-with-us/how-to-apply/submit-contract-proposal https://www.onr.navy.mil/work-with-us/how-to-apply/submit-contract-proposal

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Proposals should articulate the technical and performance risks during the development and activities to manage risk reduction. Describe how high technical risk will be burned down in the schedule.

(c). Lab and Field Work: A description for demonstrating and evaluating the effectiveness of the proposed technology, capability and/or processes in field experiments and/or bench test environments.

(d). “Ilities” and/or safety: Describe any safety or “ility” challenges known at early stages of the proposed technology solution, such as radiation safety or specialized maintainability or usability.

(2). Notional JEOD Concept – A description of the project objectives, the concept of operation for the new capabilities to be delivered, and the expected operational performance improvements

(3). A Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) cost estimate and schedule that delineates labor and non-labor material costs at a minimum for the phased activities.

e. Full Proposals: See Appendix 2 for Instructions for Grants, Cooperative Agreements, and TIAs and Appendix 3 for Instructions for Contracts and Other Transactions

3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM) - All offerors submitting proposals or applications must:

a. Be registered in the SAM prior to submission;

b. Maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which it has an active Federal award or an application under consideration by any agency; and

c. Provide its DUNS number in each application or proposal it submits to the agency.

SAM may be accessed at https://www.sam.gov/SAM/ https://www.sam.gov/SAM/

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4. Submission Dates and Times - See Section I.A.6 above, “Key Dates” for information.

5. Intergovernmental Review:

RESERVED

6. Funding Restrictions:

7. Other Submission Requirements:

See Appendix 2 for Instructions for Grants, Cooperative Agreements, and TIAs and Appendix 3 for Instructions for Contracts and Other Transactions

E. Application Review Information

1. Criteria. Awards under this BAA will be made in accordance with FAR 35.016(e). The primary basis for selecting proposals for acceptance will be technical merit, importance to agency programs, and fund availability. To the extent appropriate, cost realism and reasonableness will also be considered when selecting proposals. ONR reserves the right to request and require any additional information and documentation after it makes the type of award instrument determination. ONR reserves the right to remove Offerors from award consideration when the parties fail to reach agreement on award terms, conditions, and cost/price within a reasonable time, or when the Offeror fails to timely provide requested or required additional information.

Offerors’ white papers and full proposals will be evaluated against the following criteria:

Criteria 1. Overall scientific and technical merits of the proposal and responsiveness to the topic, i.e., the degree of innovation, soundness of technical concept, Offeror's awareness of the state of the art and understanding of the scope of the problem, significance and originality of the technical approach and effort needed to address/solve the problem, and anticipated scientific impact within the field. The following areas will also be considered: (A) the Offeror’s capabilities, related experience, facilities, techniques or unique combinations of these which are integral factors for achieving the proposal objectives, and (B) the qualifications, capabilities and experience of the proposed Principal Investigator

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(PI), team leader and key personnel who are critical to achieving the proposal objectives.

Criteria 2. Potential JEOD relevance and contribution to the DoD EOD joint service mission.

Criteria 3. The availability of funds. (Not applicable to white papers.)

Criteria 1, 2, and 3 are equally important.

2. Review and Selection Process

a. Evaluation. White Papers and Proposals will not be evaluated against each other since they are not submitted in accordance with a common work statement.

The ultimate recommendation for award of proposals is made by ONR's scientific/technical community. Recommended proposals will then be forwarded to the ONR Contracts and Grant Awards Management office by the ONR Program Officer. Any notification received from ONR that indicates that the Offeror's full proposal has been recommended does not ultimately guarantee an award will be made. This notice indicates that the proposal has been selected in accordance with the evaluation criteria stated above and has been sent to the Contracting Department to conduct cost analysis, determine the offeror's responsibility, to confirm whether funds are available, and to take other relevant steps necessary prior to making an award.

b. Commitment to Small Business (For Contract Awards Only)

The Office of Naval Research is strongly committed to providing meaningful prime and subcontracting opportunities for small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses (SDBs), woman-owned small businesses (WOSBs), historically underutilized business zone (HUB Zone) small businesses, veteran-owned small business (VOSBs), service disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs), historically black colleges and universities, and minority institutions, and other concerns subject to socioeconomic considerations through its awards.

Businesses unfamiliar with doing business with the government and that require assistance may contact the state-specific Department of Defense (DoD) Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC). DoD PTACs serve as a resource for businesses pursuing and performing under contracts with DoD, other federal agencies, state and local governments

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and with government prime contractors. Assistance provided by the PTACs is usually free of charge. PTAC support includes registration in systems such as SAM, identification of contract opportunities, understanding requirements and preparing and submitting proposals. The PTACs have a presence in each state, Puerto Rico and Guam.

To locate a local PTAC visit:

http://www.dla.mil/HQ/SmallBusiness/PTAC.aspx or http://www.aptac-us.org/new/.

i. Subcontracting Plan - For proposed contract awards exceeding $700,000, large businesses and non-profits (including educational institutions) shall provide a Subcontracting Plan (hereafter known as ‘the Plan’) that contains all elements required by FAR 19.704, FAR 52.219-9 and as supplemented by DFARS 252.219-7003.

NOTE: Small businesses are exempt from this requirement to submit a subcontracting plan.

The Plan must be submitted as an attachment to the “Proposal Checklist” and will not be included in the page count. If a company has a Master Subcontracting Plan, as described in FAR

19.701 or a Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan, as described in DFARS 219.702, a copy of the Plan shall also be submitted as an attachment to the “Proposal Checklist”.

Plans will be reviewed for adequacy, ensuring that the required information, goals, and assurances are included. FAR 19.702 requires an apparent successful offeror to submit an acceptable Plan. If the apparent successful offeror fails to negotiate a Plan acceptable to the contracting officer within the time limit prescribed by the contracting officer, the offeror will be ineligible for award.

Offerors shall propose a plan that ensures small businesses (inclusive of SDBs, WOSBs, HUBZone, VOSBs and SDVOSBs) will have the maximum practicable opportunity to participate in contract performance consistent with efficient performance.

As a baseline, Offerors shall, to the best extent possible, propose realistic goals to ensure small business participation in accordance http://www.dla.mil/SmallBusiness/Pages/ProcurementTechnicalAssistanceCenters.aspx http://www.aptac-us.org/new/

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with the current or most recent fiscal year subcontracting goals found on the DoD Office of Small Business Program website at:

https://business.defense.gov/. If proposed goals are below the statutory requirements, then the offeror shall include in the Plan a viable written explanation as to why small businesses are unable to be utilized and what attempts were taken to ensure that small business were given the opportunity to participate in the effort to the maximum extent practicable.

ii. Subcontracting Resources -

Subcontracting to a prime contractor can be a good way to participate in the contracting process. The following is a list of potential resources that may assist in locating potential subcontracting partners/opportunities/resources:

*Companies Participating in DoD Subcontracting Program Report *DAU Small Business Community of Practice (SB COP) *DefenseLink ≥ $7.0 M Award Notices *DoD OSBP Prime Contractors and Subcontractors with Subcontracting Plans *Dynamic Small Business Search *Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS) *Federal Business Opportunities (FEDBIZOPPS) *Navy SBIR/STTR Search – Website or Brochure *DoD Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTAC) *U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Subcontracting Opportunities Directory *U.S. SBA Subnet

In accordance with FAR 5.206, the following entities may transmit a notice to the Government wide Point of Entry (GPE) at https://www.fbo.gov/ to seek competition for subcontracts, to increase participation by qualified small businesses, VOSBs, SDVOSBs, HUBZones, SDBs, and WOSBs, and to meet established subcontracting plan goal as follows:

(1). A contractor awarded a contract exceeding $250,000 that is likely to result in the award of any subcontracts;

(2). A subcontractor or supplier, at any tier, under a contract exceeding $250,000, which has a subcontracting opportunity exceeding $15,000.

The notices must describe:

https://business.defense.gov/ https://www.fbo.gov/

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(a) The business opportunity;

(b) Any prequalification requirements; and

(c) Where to obtain technical data needed to respond to the requirement.

In addition, another example of a place in which prime contractors may post solicitations or sources sought notices for small business is the U.S. SBA SUB-Net:

https://eweb.sba.gov/gls/dsp_sbabanner.cfm. The SUB-Net database provides a listing of subcontracting solicitations and opportunities posted by large prime contractors and other non-federal organizations.

c. Options

The Government will evaluate options for award purposes by adding the total cost for all options to the total cost for the basic requirement.

Evaluation of options will not obligate the Government to exercise the options during contract or grant performance. The Government reserves the right to exercise options at time of award.

d. Evaluation Panel

Technical and cost proposals submitted under this BAA will be protected from unauthorized disclosure in accordance with FAR 3.104-4 and

15.207. The cognizant Program Officer and other Government scientific experts will perform the evaluation of technical proposals. Restrictive notices notwithstanding, one or more support contractors may be utilized as subject-matter-expert technical consultants. However, proposal selection and award decisions are solely the responsibility of Government personnel. Each support contractor’s employee having access to technical and cost proposals submitted in response to this BAA will be required to sign the ONR Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) for Contractor Support prior to receipt of any proposal submissions. This NDA includes third-party beneficiary language giving the submitter of proprietary information a right of direct action against the contractor employee and/or his/her employer in the event that the NDA is violated.

3. Recipient Qualifications

See Appendix 2 for Instructions for Grants, Cooperative Agreements and TIAs and Appendix 3 for instructions for Contracts and Other Transactions.

https://eweb.sba.gov/gls/dsp_sbabanner.cfm

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F. Federal Award Administration Information

1. Federal Award Notices

All applicants will receive a notification email advising if their proposal has been selected or not selected for award.

Applicants whose proposals are recommended for award may be contacted by a Contract or Grant specialist to discuss additional information required for award.

This may include representations and certifications, revised budgets or budget explanations, certificate of current cost or pricing data, subcontracting plan for small businesses, and/or other information as applicable to the proposed award.

The notification e-mail must not be regarded as an authorization to commit or expend funds. The Government is not obligated to provide any funding until a Government Contracting Officer or Grants Officer, as applicable, signs the award document.

Only the award document signed by the Contracting Officer or Grants Officer is the official go-ahead to commence the research project.

Office of Naval Research (ONR) award/modification documents are only available via the Department of Defense (DoD) Electronic Document Access System (EDA) within the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE) (https://wawf.eb.mil/piee-landing/).

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

a. Applicable to All Awards

i. Export Control:

Offerors should be aware of recent changes in export control laws.

Offerors are responsible for ensuring compliance with all U.S.

export control laws and regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR)(22 CFR Parts 120 - 130) and Export Administration Regulation (EAR) (15 CFR Parts 730 – 774), as applicable. In some cases, developmental items funded by the Department of Defense are now included on the United States Munition List (USML) (22 CFR Part 121) and are therefore subject to ITAR jurisdiction. In other cases, items that were previously included on the USML have been moved to the EAR Commerce Control List (CCL). Offerors should address in their proposals whether ITAR or EAR restrictions apply to the work they are proposing to perform for ONR. The ITAR and EAR are available online at http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-https://wawf.eb.mil/piee-landing/ http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/ECFR?page=browse

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bin/ECFR?page=browse. Additional information regarding the President's Export Control Reform Initiative can be found at http://export.gov/ecr/index.asp.

Offerors must comply with all U.S. export control laws and regulations, including the ITAR and EAR, in the performance of any award or agreement resulting from this BAA. Offerors shall be responsible for obtaining any required licenses or other approvals, or license exemptions or exceptions if applicable, for exports of hardware, technical data, and software (including deemed exports), or for the provision of technical assistance.

ii. Security Classification:

In order to facilitate intra-program collaboration and technology transfer, the Government will attempt to enable technology developers to work at the unclassified level to the maximum extent possible. If access to classified material will be required at any point during performance, the Offeror must clearly identify such need in Section II, Block 11 of the Proposal Checklist. The Proposal Checklist can be found at the following link:

contract-proposal

If it is determined that access to classified information will be required during the performance of an award, a Department of Defense (DD) Form 254 will be attached to the award, and FAR 52.204-2 - Security Requirements will be incorporated into the contract.

ONR does not provide access to classified material under grants or cooperative agreements.

iii. Requirements Concerning Live Organisms:

(1) Use of Animals:

The DoD policies and requirements for the use of animals in DoD-supported research are described in DoD Instruction 3216.01, Use of Animals in DoD Programs, and SECNAVINST 3900.38C, The Care and Use of Laboratory Animals in DOD Programs. If animals are to be utilized in the research effort proposed, the Offeror must submit a Full Appendix or Abbreviated Appendix with supporting documentation (copies of Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) Approval, IACUC Approved Protocol, and most recent United States Department of http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/ECFR?page=browse http://export.gov/ecr/index.asp https://www.onr.navy.mil/work-with-us/how-to-apply/submit-contract-proposal https://www.onr.navy.mil/work-with-us/how-to-apply/submit-contract-proposal

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Agriculture (USDA) Inspection Report) prior to award. For assistance with submission of animal research related documentation, contact the ONR Animal Use Administrator at

(703) 696-4046. Guidance: https://www.onr.navy.mil/About- ONR/compliance-protections/Research-Protections/animal-use

(2) Use of Human Subjects in Research:

a. Offerors must protect the rights and welfare of individuals who participate as human subjects in research awarded pursuant to this BAA and must comply with the requirements of the Common Rule at 32 CFR part 219 and applicable provisions of DoD Instruction 3216.02, Protection of Human Subjects and Adherence to Ethical Standards in DoD-Supported Research (2011), the DON implementation of the human research protection program contained in SECNAVINST 3900.39E (or its replacement), 10 USC §980 “Limitation on Use of Humans as Experimental Subjects,” and when applicable, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other federal and state law and regulations.

b. For proposals containing activities that include or may include “research involving human subjects” as defined in DoDI 3216.02, prior to award, the Offeror must submit documentation of:

(i) Approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) (IRB-approved research protocol, IRB-approved informed consent document, and other material they considered); proof of completed human research training (e.g., training certificate or institutional verification of training for the principal investigator, co-investigators); and the Offeror’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)-issued Federal Wide Assurance (FWA#), including notifications of any suspensions or terminations to the FWA,

(ii) Any claimed exemption under 32 CFR 219 101(b), including the category of exemption, supporting documentation considered by the Offeror’s institution in making the determination (e.g., protocol, data collection tools, advertisements, etc.). The documentation shall https://www.onr.navy.mil/About-ONR/compliance-protections/Research-Protections/animal-use https://www.onr.navy.mil/About-ONR/compliance-protections/Research-Protections/animal-use

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include a short rationale supporting the exemption determination. This documentation should be signed by the IRB Chair or IRB vice Chair, designated IRB administrator or official of the human research protection program.

(iii) Any determinations that the proposal does not contain activities that constitute research involving human subjects, including supporting documentation considered by the Offeror’s institution in making the determination. This documentation should be issued by the IRB Chair or IRB vice Chair, designated IRB administrator or official of the human research protection program.

(a) Documentation must be submitted to the ONR Human Research Protection Official (HRPO), by way of the ONR Program Officer. If the research is determined by the IRB to be greater than minimal risk, the Offeror also must provide the name and contact information for the independent research monitor and a written summary of the monitors’ duties, authorities, and responsibilities as approved by the IRB. For assistance with submission of human subject research related documentation, contact the ONR Human Research Protection Official (HRPO) at

(703) 696-4046.

(b) Contracts, orders, or grant awards and any subawards or modifications will include a statement indicating successful completion of the HRPO review. Research involving human subjects must not be commenced under any contract award or modification or any subcontract or grant subaward or modification until awardee receives notification from the Contracting or Grants Officer that the HRPO has approved the assurance as appropriate for the research under the award or modification and that the HRPO has reviewed the protocol and accepted the IRB approval or determination for compliance

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with Federal, DoD and DON research protection requirements. See, DFARS 252.235-7004. Guidance:

http://www.onr.navy.mil/About- ONR/compliance-protections/Research- Protections/Human-Subject-Research.aspx

iv. Biosafety and Biosecurity Requirements: Offerors must comply with applicable provisions of DOD 6055.18-M, Safety Standards for Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories, including ensuring compliance with standards meeting at least the minimum applicable requirements of the current edition of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL),” and National Institutes of Health, “The NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules (NIH Guidelines).”

v. Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules.

Offerors must not begin performance of research within the scope of “The NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules (NIH Guidelines)” until receiving notice from the Contracting or Grants Officer that ONR has reviewed and accepted the Offeror’s documentation. In order for ONR to accomplish that review, an offeror must provide the Contracting or Grants Officer, generally as part of an original proposal prior to award, sufficient documentation to enable the review, including:

(1) A written statement that the Offeror is in compliance with NIH Guidelines. This statement should be made by an official of the institution other than the Principal Investigator and should be on university or company letterhead.

(2) Evidence demonstrating that the proposed research protocol has been approved by an Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC);

and a copy of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Letter of Approval of the IBC, or the most recent letter from DHHS stating the IBC is in compliance with the NIH Guidelines.

vi. Institutional Dual Use Research of Concern: As of September 24, 2015, all institutions and United States Government (USG) funding agencies subject to the United States Government Policy for Institutional Oversight of Life Sciences Dual Use Research of Concern must comply with all the requirements listed http://www.onr.navy.mil/About-ONR/compliance-protections/Research-Protections/Human-Subject-Research.aspx http://www.onr.navy.mil/About-ONR/compliance-protections/Research-Protections/Human-Subject-Research.aspx http://www.onr.navy.mil/About-ONR/compliance-protections/Research-Protections/Human-Subject-Research.aspx https://www.phe.gov/s3/dualuse/Documents/durc-policy.pdf https://www.phe.gov/s3/dualuse/Documents/durc-policy.pdf https://www.phe.gov/s3/dualuse/Documents/durc-policy.pdf

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therein. If your research proposal directly involves certain biological agents or toxins, contact the cognizant Technical Point of Contact. U.S. Government Science, Safety, Security (S3) guidance may be found at http://www.phe.gov/s3/dualuse.

vii. Department of Defense High Performance Computing Program: The DoD High Performance Computing Program (HPCMP) furnishes the DoD S&T and RDT&E communities with use-access to very powerful high performance computing systems.

Awardees of ONR contracts, grants, and other assistance instruments may be eligible to use HPCMP assets in support of their funded activities if ONR Program Officer approval is obtained and if security/screening requirements are favorably completed. Additional information and an application may be found at https://www.hpc.mil/.

viii. Project Review Meetings and Program Review Meetings:

Individual Project Review Meetings between the ONR sponsor and the performer may be held as necessary. Project Review Meetings typically last approximately one day. Typically, there are 2 in-person Project Review Meetings each year. Additional Project Review Meetings are likely, but these will be accomplished by video telephone conferences, telephone conferences, or web-based collaboration tools.

In addition to Project Review Meetings, Program Review Meetings may be held to provide a forum for reviews of the latest results from individual project experiments and any other incremental project progress towards major demonstrations.

Program Review Meetings are generally held once per year and last two to three days.

For cost estimating purposes, offerors should assume 40% of the review meetings will be at or near ONR, Arlington VA, and 60% will be held at other government or non-government facilities within the continental United States.

The Government sometimes finds it advantageous to hold Program Review Meetings at a performer’s facility. Offerors interested in hosting such meetings should include an estimated cost and the following language in their proposals, which become part of any award (note: if a contract is awarded, use of the facility will be included as an option):

http://www.phe.gov/s3/dualuse https://www.hpc.mil/

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[Name of entity] offers the use of its facilities for an ONR Program Review Meeting to discuss the status of programs related to the subject of this proposal. Such meetings may include attendees representing multiple research efforts. The meetings will discuss only “contracted fundamental research” as provided in the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics) Memorandum of 24 May 2010, the results of which are open to the public. No fee will be charged Program Review Meeting attendees. [Name of entity] understands it will not be asked to host a Performance Review Meeting more than once per year, if at all.

Offerors are not required to include the foregoing term in their proposals, and whether they do or not will not affect their selection for award.

The forgoing does not apply to international offerors submitting proposals to ONR Global (ONRG). International offerors should contact the cognizant ONRG Administrative Director (AD) for guidance prior to submitting a proposal.

3. Reporting:

See Appendix 2 for reporting requirements for Grants, Cooperative Agreements and TIAs. See Appendix 3 for reporting requirements for Contracts and Other Transactions.

G. Federal Awarding Agency Contacts

1. Communications:

a. All UNCLASSIFIED communications shall be submitted via e-mail to the Technical Point of Contract (POC) with a copy to the designated Business POC, as designated below.

b. CLASSIFIED questions shall be handled through the ONR

Security POC. Specifically, any entity wanting to ask a CLASSIFIED question shall send an UNCLASSIFIED email to the ONR Security POC with a copy to both the Technical POC and the Business POC stating that the entity would like to ask a CLASSIFIED question. DO NOT EMAIL ANY CLASSIFIED QUESTIONS. The Security POC will contact the entity and arrange for the CLASSIFIED question to be asked through a secure method of communication.

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c. Comments or questions submitted should be concise and to the point, eliminating any unnecessary verbiage. In addition, the relevant part and paragraph of the Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) should be referenced. Questions submitted within 2 weeks prior to a deadline may not be answered, and the due date for submission of the white paper and/or full proposal will not be extended.

i. Questions of a technical nature should be submitted to:

Jean McGovern Office of Naval Research ONR Program Officer Ocean Engineering Division, Code 322 875 N. Randolph Street Arlington VA 22203 Email Address: jean.mcgovern@navy.mil

ii. Questions…