News Clips Commercial Items Solicitation No. 693JK421R500007 As PUBLISHED .pdf

Solicitation # 693JK421R500007

News Clips Services for DOT

“News Clips Services for DOT”

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

**PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE NOTICE CAREFULLY AS IT MIGHT CONSTITUTE THE ONLY

NOTICE ISSUED**

Due-Date for Proposals: 11:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time May 10th, 2021—with proposals to be submitted via e-mail to all three of the following addresses:

james.mowery@dot.gov; Lori.Irving@dot.gov; and Benita.Harris-Clarke@dot.gov .

No telephone calls, please. All questions concerning this Solicitation shall be e-mailed to all three of the following addresses: james.mowery@dot.gov; Lori.Irving@dot.gov;

and Benita.Harris-Clarke@dot.gov .

This is a full-and-open-competitive COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION / Request for Proposals, numbered as 693JK421R500007, for commercial items (“News Clips Services for

DOT”), which was prepared by the U. S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) Office of the

Senior Procurement Executive in accordance with the format specified in FAR Subpart 12.6— but which is supplemented with the additional information included in this notice.

Accordingly, this Solicitation, while pertaining fundamentally to commercial items (“News

Clips Services for DOT”), does also have certain features typically associated with FAR Part 15 acquisitions, including: (a) specified Evaluation Criteria; and (b) a specified “Best Value” selection-process, in which each offeror’s overall attained technical standing will be more important than the offeror’s total proposed price; and (c) a reserved right for DOT to establish a

Competitive Range or a Limited Competitive Range pertaining to the proposals received by

DOT in response to this Solicitation; and (d) a reserved right for DOT to investigate the Past mailto:james.mowery@dot.gov mailto:Lori.Irving@dot.gov mailto:Benita.Harris-Clarke@dot.gov mailto:james.mowery@dot.gov mailto:Lori.Irving@dot.gov mailto:Benita.Harris-Clarke@dot.gov

Performance records of the offerors, including, potentially, but not limited to, a reserved right for

DOT to conduct one or more past-performance-investigations that reach beyond the past-performance-information that is included in the offerors’ proposals; (e) a reserved right for DOT to engage in discussions / negotiations with offerors; and (f) a reserved right for DOT to obtain clarifications from offerors; and (g) a reserved right for DOT to ask any offeror(s) to provide, to

DOT, work-product-samples that were not included in the proposal initially submitted by the offeror to DOT; and (h) a reserved right for DOT to require submission of Final Proposal

Revisions (“Best and Final Offers”) from all offerors whose proposals DOT determined were inside this procurement’s Competitive Range or Limited Competitive Range.

Interested parties are responsible for frequently monitoring the BetaSam.gov website, for any

Amendments to this Solicitation, to ensure that they have the most current and most complete information regarding this acquisition.

Again: No telephone calls, please. Instead, all questions concerning this

Solicitation shall be e-mailed to all three of the following addresses: james.mowery@dot.gov;

Lori.Irving@dot.gov; and Benita.Harris-Clarke@dot.gov .

It is currently estimated that one and only one contract (a stand-alone contract) will be awarded from this Solicitation.

It is currently estimated that the contractor’s staff-members serving in the performance of the contract awarded from this Solicitation will be working electronically and will not be working on any Government premises; and all offerors are hereby instructed to price-out their proposals accordingly.

Work-details are given in the Statement of Work set forth below in this Solicitation.

Pricing-format-details are given in the pricing-tables set forth below in this Solicitation.

mailto:james.mowery@dot.gov mailto:Lori.Irving@dot.gov mailto:Benita.Harris-Clarke@dot.gov

The North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is

519190, “All other information services", with a small business size standard of 30 Million

Dollars. However, this procurement is not a small-business set-aside, but is instead a full-and-open-competitive acquisition, as is noted above.

The Product Service Code for this procurement is R612, “Support – Administrative: Information

Retrieval”.

1. CONTRACT PRICING TABLES

SCHEDULE OF PRICING

Base Period: June 1, 2021 through May 31, 2022:

CLIN Description of Services Qty. Unit FIXED Price

Per Lot

0001 Analyst Written Daily News Briefings 1 Lot $

0002 Provide eNews Print and internet Monitoring. 1 Lot $

0003 Provide Social Media Monitoring. 1 Lot $

0004 Provide Access to North American and US Territory Media

Databases.

1 Lot $

0005 Create an Analytics Tool for Tracking Progress and Success of

Media Campaigns.

1 Lot $

Total FIXED Price for BASE Period, if ALL and ONLY the above-listed LOTS are in fact PROVIDED

Option Period One: June 1, 2022 through May 31, 2023:

1001 Analyst Written Daily News Briefings 1 Lot $

1002 Provide eNews Print and internet Monitoring. 1 Lot $

1003 Provide Social Media Monitoring. 1 Lot $

1004 Provide Access to North American and US Territory Media

Databases.

1 Lot $

1005 Create an Analytics Tool for Tracking Progress and Success of

Media Campaigns.

1 Lot $

Total FIXED Price for OPTION Period ONE, if ALL and

ONLY the above-listed LOTS are in fact PROVIDED

Option Period Two: June 1, 2023 through May 31, 2024:

2001 Analyst Written Daily News Briefings 1 Lot $

2002 Provide eNews Print and internet Monitoring. 1 Lot $

2003 Provide Social Media Monitoring. 1 Lot $

2004 Provide Access to North American and US Territory Media

Databases.

1 Lot $

2005 Create an Analytics Tool for Tracking Progress and Success of

Media Campaigns.

1 Lot $

Total FIXED Price for OPTION Period TWO, if ALL and

Option Period Three: June 1, 2024 through May 31, 2025:

3001 Analyst Written Daily News Briefings 1 Lot $

3002 Provide eNews Print and internet Monitoring. 1 Lot $

3003 Provide Social Media Monitoring. 1 Lot $

3004 Provide Access to North American and US Territory Media

Databases.

1 Lot $

3005 Create an Analytics Tool for Tracking Progress and Success of

Media Campaigns.

1 Lot $

Total FIXED Price for OPTION Period THREE, if ALL and ONLY the above-listed LOTS are in fact Provided

Option Period Four: June 1, 2025 through May 31, 2026:

4001 Analyst Written Daily News Briefings 1 Lot $

4002 Provide eNews Print and internet Monitoring. 1 Lot $

4003 Provide Social Media Monitoring. 1 Lot $

4004 Provide Access to North American and US Territory Media

Databases.

1 Lot $

4005 Create an Analytics Tool for Tracking Progress and Success of

Media Campaigns.

1 Lot $

Total FIXED Price for OPTION Period FOUR, if ALL and

Aggregate Grand Total FIXED Price of BASE Year and

All Four OPTION Years, if ALL and ONLY the above-listed

LOTS are in fact PROVIDED in each and every YEAR: $

Note: Offerors shall not include any overtime (OT) pricing in their proposed pricing for this

News Clips project. Any potential overtime pricing and any potential overtime hours, would be subject to COR-approval and would be reimbursed only if, when, and to the extent actually needed by DOT and actually provided to DOT by the contractor.

2. SUPPLIES OR SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED

(STATEMENT OF WORK)

U.S. Department of Transportation Media Management Service and CUSTOMIZED

MEDIA MONITORING AND ANALYSIS SERVICE

BACKGROUND

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Office of the Secretary, Office of

Public Affairs (OPA), requires a service that provides a media database; real-time monitoring and search capability of broadcast, online and social media; and the ability to track the success of media campaigns from each of those mediums. This service must allow users to have quick, easy access to information necessary to ensure effective communication of the Department’s missions to the public.

Additionally, in order to effectively guide the U.S. Department of Transportation, the

Secretary and senior staff must start each day fully informed about important news on all transportation issues published and broadcast nationwide. OPA has the responsibility to provide the USDOT Secretary and Department and Agency leadership and staff with the latest analysis of what the media is reporting about Department-wide and Agency-specific priorities, initiatives, and programs. OPA seeks contract support to provide succinct, categorized, in-depth daily news analysis of national and local media coverage to the leadership and staff of the Department and its agencies.

The USDOT OPA plans to be selective regarding the services requested as to obtain the best price.

SCOPE OF SERVICES

The contractor must demonstrate systematic capabilities, staffing, and management experience to (a) aggregate news from national and regional print and broadcast media outlets; (b) apply human judgment in reviewing those stories to isolate information

USDOT should be made aware of each morning; and (c) weave those story elements together into new multi-source stories that inform completely but in a fraction of the page count represented by the original full-text articles or broadcast transcripts. The contractor shall provide a team lead, who is in possession of at least a bachelor’s degree and at least

3-5 years of experience in aggregating news briefings. The contractor must be extremely flexible in its operations; able to change the types of stories included in the daily briefings, the length and format of the briefings, even the daily delivery time on short notice. The daily briefings will be produced by the contractor at its own site, delivered electronically to USDOT Monday through Sunday, excluding federal holidays and an extra day at Christmas and Thanksgiving.

The contractor shall provide an integrated database of journalists that allow the USDOT

OPA to develop comprehensive media contact lists for markets, both large and small, across the United States to include the U.S. territories. This should include national and local, both traditional and new media, print, online, radio and broadcast. The contractor should also provide the ability to locate journalists based on keywords searches of their previously published articles or social media posts.

The contractor should also provide an integrated tool that allows the USDOT OPA to send out and track the receipt of press releases and media advisories.

The contractor should provide integrated Social media management tools: publishing, scheduling content, conversation analysis, and influencer engagement.

The contractor should also provide media monitoring capability for television, including local, national and cable outlets; online radio, print, blogs and microblogs, and social media entities; to include Twitter Firehose, Facebook, Blogs, Forums, and Youtube.

News stories should be able to be shared without incurring copyright violations or fees.

The contractor should also provide social media analysis, using graphs and charts to demonstrate the reach/coverage of the Department’s messages. The Department should be able to search for coverage and create reports on coverage that may have occurred before the inception of the contract.

Analyst Written Daily News Briefings:

TASKS

Task 1

Ability to staff a team of analysts that can publish two distinct briefings on deadlines, including:

• A 6:30 am briefing, written overnight by US citizen analysts, that distills news coverage of interest to DOT officials from the previous 24 hours and includes a Washington calendar noting the important events scheduled on that day;

• A 4:45 am briefing with a specific focus on highest level coverage to serve as the first read for the Secretary.

Task 2

Monitor, at a minimum, all the nation’s national and major regional/local newspapers; television news from the broadcast networks, major cable networks, and local television coverage in the top 210 DMA markets; major domestic news wires; appropriate specialty press; and appropriate online news sources (e.g.

blogs); all for coverage of matters of potential interest to USDOT.

Task 3

Focus the briefings and the majority of the news included in them on USDOT and its core mission, supplemented by news about the 10 agencies within

USDOT. More explicitly, use of expert analysts to:

i. Apply proven, extensive understanding of DOT’s mission and interests;

ii. Determine which aspects of each story, if any, are important to the various constituencies within DOT, including its modes FAA, FHA, FMCSA, FRA, FTA, Maritime Administration, NHTSA, PHMSA, and the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Administration.

iii. Edit out all information (not stories, but parts of stories) that is redundant or irrelevant;

iv. For each topic in the briefing each day, weave the remaining

(important) information together such that it reads like a single story rather than what it really is, subsets of myriad stories on the same topic;

v. Interweave news from all sources including online print and television;

vi. Characterize the coverage such that DOT officials can quickly get a sense for how widely various story elements were run and also for the general tonality of the coverage.

Task 4

Include a national news section highlighting major news of the day on topics not directly related to transportation issues but nonetheless helpful to USDOT and agency officials from the standpoint of general awareness.

Task 5

Provide flexibility on topics of focus for briefings.

Task 6

Not rely exclusively on “keyword” searching of electronic databases. The contractor must use human surveillance of print and electronic sources to identify stories of potential interest to USDOT and its agencies even if those stories do not use keyword combinations that would identify them as such to a computer.

Task 7

Ensure each briefing is current; based on stories appearing that morning in the nation’s newspapers and broadcast in the preceding 24 hours by the nation’s national and local television news outlets.

Task 8

Capture national and television news as it is broadcast. USDOT and its agencies are interested in news as it is broadcast to the public, not in stories appearing on the websites of media outlets that may not have ever aired. For broadcast stories in which reviewing the actual audio/video would be particularly useful, the vendor will provide a link to available “video clips” that stream to the reader’s desktop.

Task 9

For each story write-up, identify each source publication, author, and date and include a hypertext link to the full-length story on the Internet when available.

Task 10

Organize each briefing by story and subject, and include a customized index divided by subject matter in printable form for distribution.

Task 11

Provide an IP-protected website that can be accessed by USDOT and its agency employees without requiring usernames or passwords; support by email notification. The site shall include a searchable archive of the briefing documents as well as PDF and Word versions for easy printing.

Task 12

Provide full access to the daily briefings on mobile devices, including but not limited to iPhone®, Android® and Windows®.

Task 13

Provide searchable access to an archive of USDOT’s briefing dating back to

February 2010.

Task 14

Provide a dedicated client manager with at least a bachelor’s degree and at least

3-5 years of previous experience in aggregating news briefings to handle service, distribution, editorial and technical questions.

Task 15

Provide 24/7/365 live availability of key contractor staff to accommodate late breaking requests and to provide urgent customer support needs after normal business hours.

Task 16

Provide access to a database that shows the open rate of different briefings and the click rate of different articles within those briefings eNews Print and Internet Monitoring:

Task 1.The contractor shall provide a tool that monitors at least 4,500+ print publications in text format.

Task 2. The contractor shall provide eNews North American media monitoring from at least 20,000+ internet and online print.

Task 3. The contractor shall provide information from online broadcast, news related websites.

Task 4. The contractor shall provide unlimited articles and search folders.

Task 5. The contractor shall provide text only with URL for online content.

Social Media Monitoring Capability:

Task 1. The contractor shall monitor blogs, microblogs, and forums and social media entities; to include but not limited to Twitter Firehose, Facebook, and

Youtube.

Task 2. The contractor shall capture data in real time and deliver it to a dashboard, integrated with traditional monitoring coverage.

Task 3. The contractor shall set up email alerts and search terms, sort coverage dynamically, filter results by country and media type, analyze and compare volume of coverage, score the quality of engagements, rate influential sites, easily share reports and coverage with key stakeholders, and more.

Task 4. Upon request, the contractor shall produce reports on social media coverage of specific campaigns including conversation analysis and influencer engagement.

North American Media Database:

Task 1. The contractor shall provide access to North American and US Territory

Media Databases.

Task 2. The contractor shall provide the ability to send press releases and media advisories to targeted media lists.

Task 3. The contractor should provide the ability to track open rates, click through rates and bouncebacks to help the USDOT be more targeted in follow-up.

Task 4. The contractor shall ensure the media database remains current and up-to-date. The contractor shall not rely on technology alone to keep the media database up to date. The contractor shall employ human analysts to ensure accuracy of the media database

Task 5. The contractor will provide training on their systems.

Analytics Tool for Tracking Progress and Success of Media Campaigns:

Task 1. The contractor shall create charts, graphs, DMA maps with selected coverage to determine campaign publicity values, tone and frequency.

Task 2. The contractor should provide Validated reach statistics so that USDOT can understand the actual amount of people that have read USDOT content.

Along with validated reach, the contractor shall provide demographic and firmographic details of the earned media audience.

Task 3. The contractor shall provide the ability to generate graphics that compare current and historic coverage.

Task 4. The contractor shall provide tone of coverage.

Real-time Monitoring and E-mail Alerts for Real-time Broadcast Media:

Task 1. This service will provide the ability to search, track and view content in a number of common video formats (Windows Media, MPEG, QuickTime) in either broadcast (HD/UHD/4K) quality resolution for a period after broadcast. USDOT users require the ability to set automatic email alerts, perform keyword searches, and email clips to colleagues.

Task 2. A comprehensive web-based television search engine application licensed to end-user and available 24 hours a day and seven days per week.

Task 3. Searchable full-motion video (30 frames per second) at bit rates of 240 kbps or higher

Task 4. Real-time integration of Nielsen's estimated audience size and publicity values. A report building tool for building web pages to include cumulative sums of audience estimates and publicity value.

Task 5. The ability to download HD resolution in all video markets and full broadcast quality (HD/UHD/4K) clips in selected markets.

Task 6. Immediate access to a broadcast content catalog that includes a minimum of 5 real-time radio stations (NPR, Bloomberg, WABC, WCBS, POTUS)

DELIVERABLES

The contractor shall provide the following deliverables as follows:

DELIVERABLES / SOW

REFERENCE

Tasks Delivery

Dates

Analyst Written Daily News

Briefings

Tasks 1 - 16 Daily eNews Print and Internet

Monitoring

Tasks 1 through

Ongoing

Social Media Monitoring

Capability

Tasks 1 through

Ongoing

North American Media

Database

Tasks 1 through

Updated regularly/as journalists move or update their information.

Analytics Tool for Tracking

Progress and Success of

Media Campaigns

Tasks 1 through

Ongoing

Real-time monitoring and

E-mail alerts for real-time broadcast media

Tasks 1 through

Ongoing

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

The contractor shall perform services electronically, off of any Government-premises.

SECTION 508 COMPLIANCE

A. This solicitation includes electronic and information technology (EIT) which is subject to the requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. § 794d). Section

508 requires Federal agencies acquiring EIT to ensure that Federal employees and members of the public with disabilities have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access and use available individuals without disabilities.

B. All EIT products and services procured under this contract must meet the Architectural and

Transportation Barriers Compliance Board's (the Access Board's) Electronic and Information

Technology (EIT) Accessibility Standards (36 CFR part 1194), listed below, at time of delivery to the Government. The full text of the accessibility standards is available at http://www.section508.gov/.

C. Section 508 standards that are determined to apply are based in part on EIT requirements characterized using the Buy Accessible Wizard Provision based on definite EIT requirements that are identified by a "yes" in the applicable column. Provisions based on possible EIT requirements are identified by a "maybe" in the applicable column. However, if your product or services deliverable has physical or functional characteristics corresponding to any of the listed

EIT accessibility requirements, even those beyond identified program requirements, then the requirement applies and you should provide appropriate accessibility information.

Applicable Section 508 standards for this contract are as follows:

-Section 1194.21 -Software Applications and Operating Systems.

-Section 1194.22- Web Based Intranet and Internet Information and Applications.

-Section 1194.24- Video and Multimedia Products.

-Section 1194.31 - Functional Performance Criteria.

-Section 1194.41 - Information, Documentation and Support.

D. The standards do not require the installation of specific accessibility-related software or the attachment of an assistive technology device(s), but merely require that the EIT be compatible with such software and device(s) so that it can be made accessible if so required in the future.

http://www.section508.gov/

E. Contractors may propose products or services that use designs or technologies that do not meet the applicable accessibility standards but provide substantially equivalent or greater access to use of a product by individuals with disabilities; this is known as equivalent facilitation (see

36 CFR Section 1194.5). The Government shall evaluate whether products or services meet the applicable standards through equivalent facilitation and if so, the products or services that offer equivalent facilitation will be considered along with those that strictly meet the applicable standards.

F. Contractors offering less than fully Section 508 compliant EIT must clearly identify in their proposal/quote any EIT that is not fully compliant and identify the Section 508 accessibility standard(s), or specific provisions of the standard(s), set forth in the solicitation that will not be met in time to meet the Government's stated delivery/performance schedule. Unless otherwise stated in the proposal/quote, the contractor represents that the EIT supplies and services offered fully comply with the accessibility standard(s) set forth in the solicitation.

All EIT developed, acquired, maintained, or used under USDOT task orders issued against the contract shall comply with applicable section 508 standards listed in paragraph C.

The specific standards applicable to the task order shall be identified in the task order.

Any vendor submitting a proposal/quotation/bid in response to this solicitation must demonstrate the ability to comply with the established EIT accessibility standards identified in the Government Product and Services Accessibility Template (GPAT) under section of this solicitation. The GPAT is a simple tool to assist Federal Contracting Officers in fulfilling the market research requirements associated with Section 508 regulations. The GPAT requirements are incorporated on a form to be included with government solicitations and filled out by solicitation respondents as a part of the offeror's proposal which indicates how their proposed solution addresses the applicable Section 508 requirements.

Respondents to this solicitation must provide any detailed information necessary for determining conformance to Subparts 8, C, and D of 36 CFR part 1194 standards, as well as for documenting EIT products or services that are incidental to the project, which would constitute an exception to Section 508 requirements. If a vendor claims its products or services, including

EIT deliverables such as electronic documents and reports, meet applicable Section 508 accessibility standards in the GPAT under Section F of the solicitation, and it is later determined by the Government- i.e., after award of a contract/order, that products or services delivered do not conform to the described accessibility standards in the GPAT, remediation of the products or services to the level of conformance specified in the vendor's response to the

GPAT will be the responsibility of the Contractor and at its expense.

The specific Section 508 standards applicable to the resulting task orders will be identified in the

Statement of Work (SOW) Section issued after contract award. If it is determined by the

Government that EIT products and services provided by the Contractor do not conform to the described accessibility standards in the GPAT, remediation of the products or services to the level of conformance will be the responsibility of the Contractor at its own expense.

In the event of a modification to an awarded task order which adds EIT products or services or revises the type of, or specifications for, products or services, the Contractor shall provide to the Contracting Officer, an updated GPAT that meets Section 508 accessibility standards.

Section 508 requirements will apply for this acquisition as it applies to interaction with web related products and services. It is conceivable that these vendors will be able to utilize off the shelf software products for interaction with their products and services. Each offeror responding to the formal solicitation will have to confirm its Section 508 Compliance for this requirement.

The Section 508 GPAT forms required for compliance and non-compliance with this solicitation can be found under Section F. Prospective Offerors should complete each GPAT and submit the completed forms with their proposals. Proposals submitted without the requisite Section 508 GPATs shall be determined to be incomplete in response to the solicitation.

CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION

Contracting Office (CO)

The Contracting Officer for this contract is:

James H. Mowery III Telephone: (202) 366-4959 / 703-836-5924

Contracting Officer

Office of the Secretary

Office of the Senior Procurement Executive

Department of Transportation

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE

Washington, DC 20590

Only the contracting officer has authority to: (1) increase or decrease the contract amount;

(2) direct or negotiate any changes; (3) modify or extend the period of performance; (4) change the schedule of completion; (5) authorize payment under this contract; (6) otherwise modify any terms or conditions of this contract.

Contracting Officer's Representative (COR)

After award, a Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) will be designated to manage the technical aspects of this contract. All modifications to this contract must be approved by the COR prior to issuance by the CO. The COR for this contract is:

TBD Telephone:

Office of Public Affairs Email:

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE

Room W93-502

Washington, DC 20590

The COR has the responsibility to inspect all deliverables/services and authorization to certify (but not to reject or deny) invoices for payment. The authority to reject an invoice or assess deductions on an invoice is expressly reserved for the CO.

The CO is the only individual who can legally commit or obligate the Government for the expenditure of public funds. The technical administration of this contract shall not be construed to authorize the revision of the terms and conditions of this contract. Any such revision shall be authorized in writing by the CO.

Contractor's Representative

The Contractor's representative to be contacted for all contract administration matters:

Name: TBD Telephone:

The contractor's representative shall be responsible for all contract administration issues and shall act as the central point of contact with the Government for all such issues. The representative shall have full authority to act for the contractor in all contractual matters. The representative shall be able to fluently read, write, and speak the English language.

Key Personnel

The contractor shall provide and maintain in the spaces below, the names and phone numbers of key personnel performing under the terms and conditions of the contract.

When contractor's first available key personnel selection becomes unavailable to render services, the contract is responsible for providing a back-up with equal or greater knowledge and experience as identified in the contract.

NAME PHONE NUMBER

PERSONNEL REQUIREMENT

It is the policy of the DOT to maintain a drug-free workplace.

FOREIGN NATIONALS AS CONTRACTOR EMPLOYEES

Each employee of the Contractor shall be a citizen of the United States of America, or an alien who has been lawfully admitted for permanent residence as evidenced by Alien

Registration Receipt Card Form I-151, or who presents other evidence from the "U.S.

Citizenship and Immigration Services that employment will not affect his/her immigration status.

GOVERNMENT FURNISHED EQUIPMENT

DOT will furnish, to the contractor, any and all access, to DOT’s IT-system(s) and equipment, which is needed by the contractor for the performance of the contract awarded from this Solicitation. Any anticipated use of Government furnished telecommunications and/ or information systems and or access to Government telecommunications rooms or closets must be identified and agreed to in writing by the Government. To the extent that specific use of such IT systems and such equipment is not identified in the contract awarded from this Solicitation, it shall be assumed, in the absence of any contract-modification, that the Contractor can perform the services provided under the contract without use of government furnished telecommunications and information systems and related equipment.

Any approved use of Government furnished telecommunications and information systems and equipment (including telephones, fax machines, computers, modems, networks, Internet and other installed software) shall be used for transaction of DOT official business only.

DOT telecommunications and information systems are subject to security-monitoring at all times. Use of these systems constitutes consent to security monitoring.

OPERATIONS DURING GOVERNMENT HOLIDAYS

All Government offices are closed, except for minimum essential personnel required for in-house operations, during Federal holidays. Except as otherwise specified, the

Contractor shall not schedule routine work on Federal holidays. When such holidays fall on a Saturday, the preceding Friday will be considered a holiday. When such holidays fall on a Sunday, the succeeding Monday will be considered a holiday. The ten Federal holidays per year are as follows:

New Year’s Day 1st Day of January

Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday 3rd Monday of January

President’s Day 3rd Monday of February

Memorial Day Last Monday of May

Independence Day 4th day of July

Labor Day First Monday of September

Columbus Day Second Monday of October

Veteran’s Day 11th day of November

Thanksgiving Day Fourth Thursday of November

Christmas Day 25th day of December

3. INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

Inspection and Acceptance shall be subject to:

FAR 52.246-4 Inspection of Services-Fixed Price (AUG 1996)

4. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The period of performance shall be not exceed 60 months inclusive of a one-year Base-period and 4 one-year Option-periods.

4.1 PLACE OF DELIVERY/SERVICE:

800 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20591

5. CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION

5.1 CONTRACTING OFFICER

The CO is the only individual who can legally commit or obligate the Government for the expenditure of public funds. Only the contracting officer has authority to: (1) increase or decrease the award amount; (2) direct or negotiate any changes; (3) modify or extend the period of performance; (4) change the schedule of completion; (5) authorize payment under this contract; and (6) otherwise modify any terms or conditions of this contract.

CONTRACTING OFFICER

James H. Mowery III

Telephone: 703-836-5924 or 202-366-4959

E-Mail: james.mowery@dot.gov

CONTRACT SPECIALIST (CTR)

Same as contracting officer

5.2 CONTRACTING OFFICER REPRESENTATIVE (COR)

The COR has the responsibility to inspect all deliverables and services and authorization to certify (but not to reject or deny) invoices for payment. The authority to reject an invoice or assess deductions on an invoice is expressly reserved for the CO. The technical administration of this contract shall not be construed to authorize the revision of the terms and conditions of this contract. Any such revision shall be authorized in writing by the CO.

The following individual is:

TBD Telephone: TBD

Contracting Officer Representative Email: TBD

Department of Transportation

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE

Washington DC 20590

5.3 CONTRACTOR POINT OF CONTACT

Name: TBD

Title: TBD

Email: TBD

6. PAYMENT

The vendor shall be paid in accordance with FAR 52.212-4 (i).

7. SUBMISSION OF INVOICES

(a) Definitions. As used in this clause—

(1) Contract financing payment has the meaning given in FAR 32.001.

(2) Payment request means a bill, voucher, invoice, or request for contract financing payment or invoice payment with associated supporting documentation. The payment request must comply with the requirements identified in FAR 32.905(b), “Content of

Invoices,” this clause, and the applicable Payment clause included in this contract.

(3) Electronic form means an automated system transmitting information electronically according to the accepted electronic data transmission methods and formats identified in paragraph (c) of this clause. Facsimile, email, and scanned documents are not acceptable electronic forms for submission of payment requests.

(4) Invoice payment has the meaning given in FAR 32.001.

(b) ELECTRONIC PAYMENT REQUESTS. Except as provided in paragraph (e) of this clause, the contractor shall submit payment requests in electronic form. Purchases paid with a

Governmentwide commercial purchase card are considered to be an electronic transaction for purposes of this rule, and therefore no additional electronic invoice submission is required.

(c) The Department of Transportation utilizes the Delphi eInvoicing web-portal for processing invoices. For vendors submitting invoices, and certain grantees submitting payment requests, they will be required to submit invoices to OST electronically via the Delphi eInvoicing web-portal which is accessed via https://einvoice.esc.gov, and is authenticated via www.login.gov.

All persons accessing the Delphi eInvoicing web-portal will be required to have their own unique user Delphi eInvoicing ID and be credentialed through login.gov. See www.login.gov for instructions.

(d) In order to receive payment and in accordance with the Prompt Payment Act, all invoices submitted as attachments in the Delphi eInvoicing web-portal shall contain the following:

https://einvoice.esc.gov/ http://www.login.gov/

(1) Invoice number and invoice date.

(2) Period of performance covered by invoice.

(3) Contract number and title.

(4) Task/Delivery Order number and title (if applicable).

(5) Amount billed (by CLIN), current and cumulative.

(6) Total ($) of billing.

(7) Cumulative total billed for all contract work to date.

(8) Name, title, phone number, and mailing address of person to be contacted in the event of a defective invoice.

If the contract includes allowances for travel, all invoices which include charges pertaining to travel expenses will catalog a breakdown of reimbursable expenses with the appropriate receipts to substantiate the travel expenses.

(e) PAYMENT SYSTEM REGISTRATION. All persons accessing the Delphi eInvoicing web-portal will be required to have their own unique user Delphi eInvoicing ID and password and be credentialed through login.gov.

(1) ELECTRONIC AUTHENTICATION. See www.login.gov for instructions. Click on the following link for instructions on establishing a login.gov account: https://login.gov/help/.

(2) To create a login.gov account, the user will need a valid email address and a working phone number. The user will create a password and then login.gov will reply with an email confirming the email address.

(3) Agency POC’s will be responsible for communicating with vendor POC’s to initiate the

Delphi eInvoicing account creation process. Vendor POC’s who will require access to the eInvoicing web-portal for invoice submission and payment tracking purposes will be required to provide their full name, valid email address, and current phone number to the agency POC to initiate the Delphi eInvoicing web-portal account. Vendor users and the agency POC will be https://login.gov/help/ notified via e-mail when the account is created. The vendor user will be provided detailed instructions for logging into their Delphi eInvoicing account.

The STB POC is:

Ashle Moore

202-366-xxxx ashle.moore.ctr@dot.gov

If the Vendor has any general questions or issues accessing the iSupplier web-portal, please have them contact the ESC iSupplier helpdesk either at:

1. https://einvoice.esc.gov/

2. Call Delphi helpdesk at 1-866-641-3500, option #4, then option #3

(4) Training on Delphi. To facilitate use of DELPHI, comprehensive user information is available at http://einvoice.esc.gov.

(5) ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT. Vendors are responsible to contact the Delphi Help Desk when their firm’s points of contacts will no longer be submitting invoices so they can be removed from the system. Instructions for contacting the Delphi Help Desk can be found at http://einvoice.esc.gov.

OST vendors shall submit invoices to OST electronically via the Delphi eInvoicing web-portal.

To initiate this process, you are requested to provide OST with information (company name, contract/task order number/purchase order (PO) number, and up to two Point of Contact (POC) full names and their email addresses) as shown on the table below.

mailto:ashle.moore.ctr@dot.gov https://einvoice.esc.gov/ http://einvoice.esc.gov/

Company

Name

Contract

#/ Task

Order #

Primary

POC

First

Name

Primary

POC

Last

Name

Primary

POC

email

Secondary

POC First

Name

Secondary

POC Last

Name

Secondary

POC

email

Email the above information to the following email address: ashle.moore.ctr@dot.gov.

Please note that the POCs you provide are the individuals you authorize to submit invoices to

OST on behalf of your company. Your POCs will then receive a welcome letter from Delphi eInvoicing processing center with instructions on creating a Login.gov user account. This account can then be used to access the eInvoicing web-portal at http://einvoice.esc.gov.

The Vendor shall contact their COR when POCs leave their organization or will no longer be submitting invoices, with the full name, title, phone number, e-mail address, and user ID of the

POC. The user ID will then be removed. If a user ID becomes inactive/times out due no activity by the POC, the Vendor shall contact their COR with the full name, title, phone number, e-mail address, and user ID of the POC to be reactivated. To prevent being timed out due to no-activity, users should login once within 45 days of their last login.

8. FAR 52.252-2 CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY

REFERENCE (FEB 1998)

This incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available.

Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at this address:

https://www.acquisition.gov/far/.

mailto:ashle.moore.ctr@dot.gov https://www.acquisition.gov/far/

52.202-1 Definitions Jun 2020

52.203-5 Covenant Against Contingent Fees May 2014

52.203-6 Restrictions on Subcontractor Sales to the Government Jun 2020

Alternate I

52.203-7 Anti-Kickback Procedures Jun 2020

52.203-17 Contractor Employee Whistleblower Rights and Requirement to Inform

Employees of Whistleblower Jun 2020

52.204-4 Printed or Copied double-sided on Postconsumer Fiber

Content Paper May 2011

52.204-19 Incorporation by Reference of Representations and Certifications

Dec 2014

52.204-23 Prohibition on Contracting for Hardware, Software, and Services Developed or

Provided by Kaspersky Lab and Other Covered Entities Jul 2018

52.204-25 Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video

Surveillance Services or Equipment Aug 2020

52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items Oct 2018

52.222-50 Combating Trafficking in Persons Jun 2020

52.223-18 Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging While Driving

Jun 2020

52.225-13 Restrictions on Certain Foreign Purchases Jun 2008

52.232-1 Payments Apr 1984

52.232-18 Availability of Funds Apr 1984

52.232-33 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer—

System for Award Management Oct 2018

52.232-39 Unenforceability of Unauthorized Obligations Jun 2013

52.232-40 Providing Accelerated Payments to Small Business Dec 2013

52.233-1 Disputes May 2014

52.243-1 Changes- Fixed Price Aug 1987

Please note:

*All Offerors and prospective contractors must be registered in the System for Award

Management (SAM) with their Online Representations and Certifications Applications (ORCA) at https://www.sam.gov/ or must provide a completed copy of 52.212-3 with their quotation.

9. FAR CLAUSES IN FULL TEXT

52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive

Orders-Commercial Items (Nov 2020)

(a) The Contractor shall comply with the following Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clauses, which are incorporated in this contract by reference, to implement provisions of law or

Executive orders applicable to acquisitions of commercial items:

(1) 52.203-19, Prohibition on Requiring Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements or

Statements (Jan 2017) (section 743 of Division E, Title VII, of the Consolidated and

Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113-235) and its successor provisions in subsequent appropriations acts (and as extended in continuing resolutions)).

(2) 52.204-23, Prohibition on Contracting for Hardware, Software, and Services

Developed or Provided by Kaspersky Lab and Other Covered Entities (Jul 2018) (Section

1634 of Pub. L. 115-91).

(3) 52.204-25, Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video

Surveillance Services or Equipment. (Aug 2020) (Section 889(a)(1)(A) of Pub. L. 115-

232).

(4) 52.209-10, Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations (Nov

2015).

https://www.sam.gov/

(5) 52.233-3, Protest After Award (Aug 1996) (31 U.S.C. 3553).

(6) 52.233-4, Applicable Law for Breach of Contract Claim (Oct 2004) (Public Laws 108-

77 and 108-78 ( 19 U.S.C. 3805 note)).

(b) The Contractor shall comply with the FAR clauses in this paragraph (b) that the

Contracting Officer has indicated as being incorporated in this contract by reference to implement provisions of law or Executive orders applicable to acquisitions of commercial items:

_X_ (1) 52.203-6, Restrictions on Subcontractor Sales to the Government (June 2020), with Alternate I (Oct 1995) (41 U.S.C. 4704 and 10 U.S.C. 2402).

_X_ (2) 52.203-13, Contractor Code of Business Ethics and Conduct (Jun 2020) (41

U.S.C. 3509)).

_X_ (3) 52.203-15, Whistleblower Protections under the American Recovery and

Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Jun 2010) (Section 1553 of Pub. L. 111-5). (Applies to contracts funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.)

__ (4) 52.204-10, Reporting Executive Compensation and First-Tier Subcontract Awards

(Jun 2020) (Pub. L. 109-282) ( 31 U.S.C. 6101 note).

__ (5) [Reserved].

__ (6) 52.204-14, Service Contract Reporting Requirements (Oct 2016) (Pub. L. 111-

117, section 743 of Div. C).

__ (7) 52.204-15, Service Contract Reporting Requirements for Indefinite-Delivery

Contracts (Oct 2016) (Pub. L. 111-117, section 743 of Div. C).

_X_ (8) 52.209-6, Protecting the Government’s Interest When Subcontracting with

Contractors Debarred, Suspended, or Proposed for Debarment. (Jun 2020) (31 U.S.C.

6101 note).

_X_ (9) 52.209-9, Updates of Publicly Available Information Regarding Responsibility

Matters (Oct 2018) (41 U.S.C. 2313).

__ (10) [Reserved].

__ (11) (i) 52.219-3, Notice of HUBZone Set-Aside or Sole-Source Award (Mar 2020)

(15 U.S.C. 657a).

__ (ii) Alternate I (Mar 2020) of 52.219-3.

__ (12) (i) 52.219-4, Notice of Price Evaluation Preference for HUBZone Small

Business Concerns (Mar 2020) (if the offeror elects to waive the preference, it shall so indicate in its offer) (15 U.S.C. 657a).

__ (ii) Alternate I (Mar 2020) of 52.219-4.

__ (13) [Reserved]

__ (14) [Reserved]

__ (15) (i) 52.219-7, Notice of Partial Small Business Set-Aside (Nov 2020) (15 U.S.C.

644).

__ (ii) Alternate I (Mar 2020) of 52.219-7.

__ (16) 52.219-8, Utilization of Small Business Concerns (Oct 2018) (15 U.S.C.

637(d)(2) and (3)).

__ (17) (i) 52.219-9, Small Business Subcontracting Plan (Jun 2020) (15 U.S.C.

637(d)(4)).

__ (ii) Alternate I (Nov 2016) of 52.219-9.

__ (iii) Alternate II (Nov 2016) of 52.219-9.

__ (iv) Alternate III (Jun 2020) of 52.219-9.

__ (v) Alternate IV (Jun 2020) of 52.219-9

__ (18) (i) 52.219-13, Notice of Set-Aside of Orders (Mar 2020) (15 U.S.C. 644(r)).

(ii) Alternate I (Mar 2020) of 52.219-13.

__ (19) 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting (Mar 2020) (15 U.S.C. 637(a)(14)).

__ (20) 52.219-16, Liquidated Damages-Subcontracting Plan (Jan 1999) (15 U.S.C.

637(d)(4)(F)(i)).

__ (21) 52.219-27, Notice of Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Set-

Aside (Mar 2020) (15 U.S.C. 657f).

__ (22) (i) 52.219-28, Post Award Small Business Program Rerepresentation (Nov

2020) (15 U.S.C. 632(a)(2)).

(ii) Alternate I (MAR 2020) of 52.219-28.

__ (23) 52.219-29, Notice of Set-Aside for, or Sole Source Award to, Economically

Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business Concerns (Mar 2020) (15 U.S.C. 637(m)).

__ (24) 52.219-30, Notice of Set-Aside for, or Sole Source Award to, Women-Owned

Small Business Concerns Eligible Under the Women-Owned Small Business Program

(Mar2020) (15 U.S.C. 637(m)).

__ (25) 52.219-32, Orders Issued Directly Under Small Business Reserves (Mar 2020)

(15 U.S.C. 644(r)).

__ (26) 52.219-33, Nonmanufacturer Rule (Mar 2020) (15U.S.C. 637(a)(17)).

__ (27) 52.222-3, Convict Labor (Jun 2003) (E.O.11755).

__ (28) 52.222-19, Child Labor-Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies (Jan2020)

(E.O.13126).

__ (29) 52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities (Apr 2015).

__ (30) (i) 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity (Sep 2016) (E.O.11246).

__ (ii) Alternate I (Feb 1999) of 52.222-26.

__ (31) (i) 52.222-35, Equal Opportunity for Veterans (Jun 2020) (38 U.S.C. 4212).

__ (ii) Alternate I (Jul 2014) of 52.222-35.

__ (32) (i) 52.222-36, Equal Opportunity for Workers with Disabilities (Jun 2020) (29

U.S.C. 793).

__ (ii) Alternate I (Jul 2014) of 52.222-36.

__ (33) 52.222-37, Employment Reports on Veterans (Jun 2020) (38 U.S.C. 4212).

__ (34) 52.222-40, Notification of Employee Rights Under the National Labor Relations

Act (Dec 2010) (E.O. 13496).

__ (35) (i) 52.222-50, Combating Trafficking in Persons (Oct 2020) (22 U.S.C. chapter

78 and E.O. 13627).

__ (ii) Alternate I (Mar 2015) of 52.222-50 (22 U.S.C. chapter 78 and E.O. 13627).

__ (36) 52.222-54, Employment Eligibility Verification (Oct 2015). (Executive Order

12989). (Not applicable to the acquisition of commercially available off-the-shelf items or certain other types of commercial items as prescribed in 22.1803.)

__ (37) (i) 52.223-9, Estimate of Percentage of Recovered Material Content for EPA–

Designated Items (May 2008) ( 42 U.S.C. 6962(c)(3)(A)(ii)). (Not applicable to the acquisition of commercially available off-the-shelf items.)

__ (ii) Alternate I (May 2008) of 52.223-9 (42 U.S.C. 6962(i)(2)(C)). (Not applicable to the acquisition of commercially available off-the-shelf items.)

__ (38) 52.223-11, Ozone-Depleting Substances and High Global Warming Potential

Hydrofluorocarbons (Jun 2016) (E.O. 13693).

__ (39) 52.223-12, Maintenance, Service, Repair, or Disposal of Refrigeration

Equipment and Air Conditioners (Jun 2016) (E.O. 13693).

__ (40) (i) 52.223-13, Acquisition of EPEAT®-Registered Imaging Equipment (Jun

2014) (E.O.s 13423 and 13514).

__ (ii) Alternate I (Oct 2015) of 52.223-13.

__ (41) (i) 52.223-14, Acquisition of EPEAT®-Registered Televisions (Jun 2014)

(E.O.s 13423 and 13514).

__ (ii) Alternate I (Jun2014) of 52.223-14.

__ (42) 52.223-15, Energy Efficiency in Energy-Consuming Products (May 2020) (42

U.S.C. 8259b).

__ (43) (i) 52.223-16, Acquisition of EPEAT®-Registered Personal Computer Products

(Oct 2015) (E.O.s 13423 and 13514).

__ (ii) Alternate I (Jun 2014) of 52.223-16.

__ (44) 52.223-18, Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging While

Driving (Jun 2020) (E.O. 13513).

__ (45) 52.223-20, Aerosols (Jun 2016) (E.O. 13693).

__ (46) 52.223-21, Foams (Jun2016) (E.O. 13693).

__ (47) (i) 52.224-3 Privacy Training (Jan 2017) (5 U.S.C. 552 a).

__ (ii) Alternate I (Jan 2017) of 52.224-3.

__ (48) 52.225-1, Buy American-Supplies (May 2014) (41 U.S.C. chapter 83).

__ (49) (i) 52.225-3, Buy American-Free Trade Agreements-Israeli Trade Act (May

2014) (41 U.S.C.chapter83, 19 U.S.C. 3301 note, 19 U.S.C. 2112 note, 19 U.S.C. 3805 note, 19 U.S.C. 4001 note, Pub. L. 103-182, 108-77, 108-78, 108-286, 108-302, 109-53, 109-169, 109-283, 110-138, 112-41, 112-42, and 112-43.

__ (ii) Alternate I (May 2014) of 52.225-3.

__ (iii) Alternate II (May 2014) of 52.225-3.

__ (iv) Alternate III (May 2014) of 52.225-3.

__ (50) 52.225-5, Trade Agreements (Oct 2019) (19 U.S.C. 2501, et seq., 19 U.S.C.

3301 note).

_…