RFQ_N6227120Q1124_02.docx

RFQ Number: N6227120Q1124 Description: Characterizing Soundscapes on the US West Coast

Solicitation is issued as a request for quotation (RFQ).

This is a COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION and is prepared in accordance with the information in FAR Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures, and as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.

This solicitation documents and incorporates provisions and clauses in effect through FAC 2005-87-1 and DFARS Publication Notice 20160325. It is the responsibility of the contractor to be familiar with the applicable clauses and provisions. The clauses may be accessed in full text at these addresses: https://www.acquisition.gov/far/ and http://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/dars/dfarspgi/current/index.html.

The NAICS code is 541715, with a small business size standard of 1,000 employees. This is set-aside 100% for small business.

Description of Service:

Since 2018, the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), along with the US Navy and the National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have co-managed a 3-year program that characterizes soundscapes within NOAA-managed National Marine Sanctuaries (NMS). Using passive acoustic recording systems, this program measures and describes comparable soundscape qualities in seven sanctuaries and one Marine National Monument within the US National Marine Sanctuary (NMS) System. NPS is responsible for the west coast regional effort and works in collaboration with Channel Islands NMS, Monterey Bay NMS and Olympic Coast NMS. This research effort serves to support both NOAA and the Navy to protect and further understand acoustic habitats within the boundaries of these protected areas.

As part of this research, NPS must holistically sample the soundscape to reflect the specific sampling needs (in space, time, and frequency) of each monitored sanctuary, including anthropogenic sound sources, natural abiotic sound sources, and biological sound sources relevant to each site. This involves metrics used to characterize and compare soundscape components among each site. These acoustic metrics will integrate with other available data and characterize habitat conditions and species presence, as well as human activity levels, in proximity to recording locations. Characterizing these soundscapes is a multi-step process: a) acoustic data collection, b) analyzing the data and its quality and c) interpreting the results. The first year has primarily been focused on collection of initial data sets. The second and third years will continue collecting the data times series and will commence data analysis, interpretation and report generation based on the results.

The contractor will be required to analyze soundscape data and interpret the information that will assist the project team in providing resource managers science-based knowledge on impacts to the sanctuaries and guidance on which to make decisions on their usage and protective measures.

Period of Performance:

Base: One (1) year from date of award Option One: One (1) year

Submission Deadline:

This announcement will close at 01:00 PM PST on 07/24/2020 All responsible sources may submit a quote which shall be considered by the agency. Quotes shall be submitted prior to the submission deadline to the NPS Contracting POC.

Vendor Questions:

Vendor questions shall be submitted by e-mail to the NPS Contracting POC listed.

NPS Contracting POC:

Evaluation: Best Value

(a) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers:

Factor 1 – Technical Capability Sub-factor 1 - Technical Approach Sub-factor 2 - Management Plan Sub-factor 3 – Minimum Technical Requirements (See section 5.0 of the PWS; Must meet all requirements to be eligible for award)

Factor 2 - Past Performance

Factor 3 - Cost/Price

The Government anticipates awarding a Firm Fixed Price single contract, resulting from this solicitation.

Award will be made based on the best value proposal meeting the technical acceptability standards for Factors 1 and 2.

Introduction: This section outlines the criteria the Government will use in evaluating the offeror’s technical capabilities and proposals for these services. The Government will compare each offeror’s technical capabilities and proposal elements against the predetermined evaluation criteria related to the Government’s requirement defined herein. This is a competitive source selection that will be conducted in accordance with (IAW) Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13 and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) Part 215.

The Government intends to make award based on initial quotes. Task order will be made to the contractor submitting the quote determined to best meet the needs of the Government after consideration of all the evaluation factors.

Evaluation: The Government will evaluate all quotes received against Technical and Cost/Price proposals. Technical proposals will be evaluated on a best value basis. The Cost/Price Factor will not be given a rating or scored, however, this factor will be evaluated for reasonableness and cost realism (if required) for the level of effort proposed by offerors. Technical Approach, Management Plan, Minimum Technical Requirements, and Past Performance rank equally, but when combined are significantly more important the Price.

Basis of Award.

(a) To arrive at a source selection decision, the Source Selection Official shall select the offeror whose proposal offers the best value to the Government IAW established criteria. This shall be a best value trade-off with technical capability (Factors 1 through 2) ranking equally, but combined more important than price. Each offeror will be assigned a rating of Outstanding, Good, Acceptable, Marginal, Unacceptable for each of subfactors. If an offeror is given an unacceptable rating for any of the factors/subfactors, the overall technical capability rating will be deemed unacceptable. Award will not be made to any offeror that does not have an acceptable or better technical capability rating. Under best value trade-off evaluation procedures, the Government may award a contract to other than the lowest price.

(b) Options. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).

(c) A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer, e-mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer's specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award.

System for Award Management:

System for Award Management (SAM). Quoters must be registered in the SAM database to be considered for award. Registration is free and can be completed on-line at http://www.sam.gov/. All quotes shall include price(s), FOB point, a point of contact, name and phone number, business size, and payment terms. Each response must clearly indicate the capability of the quoter to meet all specifications and requirements.

Volume 1 – Technical Capability and Past Performance The Technical proposal shall consist of the sections as detailed below. The contractor must use the same numbering scheme for the sections as the ones used below. The technical quote shall be divided into the sections for each of the below factors. There is no page limit for each factor. The total page limit for the Volume I – Technical submission is 20 pages, with 12-point font, and at least 10-point font in any diagrams.

Sub-factor 1 - Technical Approach: Describe the procedures and techniques to achieve the performance requirements that will provide high quality performance. Identify any technical risks expected to be encountered under the performance requirements and how the technical approach will mitigate such risks. Demonstrate a clear understanding of the problems and risks involved in the performance of contract requirement, and present reasonable solutions to such problems and ways to mitigate such risks for successful performance.

Sub-factor 2 - Management Plan: Include the management approach for optimum project oversight and management of personnel. Demonstrate the offer’s ability to maintain quality service to the Government meeting the requirement of the PWS. The plan should include the offeror’s oversight program and methods to be used for identifying and preventing defects in the quality of service.

Sub-factor 3 – Minimum Technical Requirements: Provide a staffing plan demonstrating how offeror intends to staff the position with personnel with the requisite technical expertise and experience who possess the necessary to begin performance. Offeror shall address how it intends to provide qualified personnel in the geographic location of performance. Provide a resume of proposed subject matter expert (SME) that reflects qualifications (general, professional, specific experience, training, and education) required to perform the contract requirement along with the letter of intent or commitment. Contractor must submit a signed letter of commitment for each candidate. A statement indicating whether the company is proposing performance by one or more individuals who have previously worked for the federal government either as civilians or active duty military members, and if so, a second statement that to the best of the company’s knowledge the individuals are eligible to perform the duties in this task order.

Contractor Candidate Personnel must submit a signed statement of compliance and certification of the below statement:

I certify that I had no hand in the creation or refinement of this requirement and that I was not privy to any non-public information about the requirement before or after the point of solicitation. I further certify that I used no government resources in pursuit of my relationship with this proposing company for this or other government contracts. I also certify that I am eligible to perform the duties in this requirement; no post-government-employment restrictions or other restrictions would prevent my performance. Additionally, I certify that should this proposing company be awarded this contract, I will renounce any status I may have as an NPS volunteer and relinquish any NPS office-space and other resources given to me on account of my volunteer status. Finally, I certify that no government resources (other than those provided pursuant to this contract) will be used in the performance of this requirement.

Signature: ______________________________________________________________________________________

Past Performance Describe two (2) recent, relevant contract projects performed within three (3) years before the solicitation close date. Explain the relevance and quality of the projects’ size (number of FTEs) and scope (nature of service) in relation to this solicitation’s requirements. Include contract number, contract value, and customer point of contact (name, phone number, and email address). Past performance information shall be no more than one page for each project. A sample past performance form is attached to this RFQ.

Volume II – Cost/Price Price proposals shall be firm fixed price and in accordance with CLIN structure provided below. Provide one price proposal, without alternate price arrangements, with sufficient information to allow for a detailed evaluation. At a minimum, provide the labor category, fully burdened hourly rate, and number of hours. Price quotations shall be firm fixed price and in accordance with CLIN structure provided below. NPS requests responses from offerors for the following:

PoP: One (1) year from date of award

PoP: One (1) year from date of award

PoP: One (1) year from date of award

Provide Recommendations on Data Collection Plan (In accordance with the PWS)

PoP: One (1) year

Provide Recommendations Regarding Development of Product Types and Analyses Support of Data Collected in Each Marine Sanctuary (In accordance with the PWS)

PoP: One (1) year

Technical Report (In accordance with the PWS)

PoP: One (1) year

The following provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition and will be incorporated into any resultant purchase order.

The following DFARS provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition and are incorporated by reference. If the offeror has completed any of the following provisions listed in this paragraph electronically as part of its annual representations and certifications at https://www.acquisition.gov, the offeror they are to indicated in the submitted quote, there is no need to complete these provisions again for a this solicitation.

SUPTXT243-9400 (1-92) AUTHORIZED CHANGES ONLY BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER (JAN 1992)

a. Except as specified in paragraph (b) below, no order, statement, or conduct of Government personnel who visit the Contractor's facilities or in any other manner communicates with Contractor personnel during the performance of this contract shall constitute a change under the "Changes" clause of this contract.

b. The Contractor shall not comply with any order, direction or request of Government personnel unless it is issued in writing and signed by the Contracting Officer, or is pursuant to specific authority otherwise included as a part of this contract.

c. The Contracting Officer is the only person authorized to approve changes in any of the requirements of this contract and notwithstanding provisions contained elsewhere in this contract, the said authority remains solely the Contracting Officer's. In the event the contractor effects any change at the direction of any person other than the Contracting Officer, the change will be considered to have been made without authority and no adjustment will be made in the contract price to cover any increase in charges incurred as a result thereof. The address and telephone number of the Contracting Officer is:

TBD

(End of SUP TXT)

Past Performance Form: CONTRACTOR/SUB:

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Overview / Description

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