NRESS RFP Cover Letter.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD 20771

April 3, 2020

Reply to Attn of: 210.H

TO: All Potential Offerors

SUBJECT: Request for Proposal (RFP), Solicitation No. 80HQTR20R0001, NASA Research and Education Support Services-II (NRESS-II)

You are invited to submit a proposal in response to the National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA) Headquarters’ (HQ) NASA Research and Education Support

Services-II (NRESS-II) solicitation. The principal purpose of this requirement is to provide professional support services, information technology support, and other related services for the NRESS program that supports the agency’s peer review life cycle and the research objectives of the customer directorates. The Statement of Work, Attachment A, describes the scope of the requirement.

This acquisition will be conducted as an 8(a) set-aside competition. The North American

Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 561110 and the small business size standard is $7M.

This competitive procurement will result in an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with the ability to issue Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) task orders. The contract will have an effective ordering period of 5 years from the contract effective date. The anticipated contract award date is December 1, 2020, with a February 1, 2021 contract effective date.

Phase-In will be conducted, under a separate firm fixed price contract or purchase order, during the 45-day period prior to the effective date of the contract.

The contract will be performed onsite at NASA Headquarters and offsite at the Contractor’s facilities. The Government will make available existing Installation-Accountable

Government Property (IAGP) for onsite contract performance and Government Furnished

Property (GFP) for offsite use at the Contractor’s facility.

In order to control and protect sensitive data owned by both the Government and

Government Contractors, it is now Goddard Center policy that all procurement-related documents be released in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). Offerors shall be aware that the while the Cost Volume exhibits included in the RFP are in PDF format; the Offeror’s

Cost Volume proposal submitted in response to this RFP shall include completed Cost

Volume exhibits in Microsoft Office Excel format. Instructions for converting from PDF format to Excel format can be found in the Section L Cost Volume Instructions provision.

Offerors are encouraged to complete the conversion from PDF format to Excel format upon receipt of the RFP. Should any issues arise with the conversion, please contact the undersigned.

NASA HQ appreciates the comments received in response to the release of the Draft RFP.

These comments resulted in improvements to the quality and content of the overall RFP.

Offerors should review the RFP in its entirety, as its content has changes from the Draft RFP version. The following list identifies some areas where enhancements have been made from the Draft RFP to this final RFP that may not have been addressed in the Draft RFP questions and responses:

B.2 – increased maximum ordering value to $212M

L.11(a)(1) – changed to accommodate an electronic proposal delivery process

L.11(b)(2) – added clarifying language about font size regarding diagrams, schedules, charts, tables, artwork, and photographs

L.12(c)(10) – added OCI Plan to the list of additional information to be provided in the

Offeror volume

L.13(c)(A.2) – corrected typo that the Task Ordering Procedures Clause is found in Section I

L.13(c)(C.8) – made “Reviewer Profiles and Past Peer-Review Performance” its own evaluation section, instead of being a part of Task Order Management

L.15 – changed to accommodate an electronic past performance delivery process

L.16 - changed to an electronic proposal delivery process

M.3(a)(A.2) – corrected typo that the Government will evaluate RTOs 1 and 2 under this subfactor

M.3(a)(C.8) - made “Reviewer Profiles and Past Peer-Review Performance” its own evaluation section, instead of being a part of Task Order Management

Attachment G (GFI) – revised and updated

Attachment L (Wage Determination) – updated to most recent WD

Enclosure 2 (GPM) – revised and updated to more closely match contract historical data

Exhibit 14 (RTO #3) – revised and updated

This list is not intended to cover all changes nor describe all RFP requirements. Offerors should carefully review the RFP in its entirety.

All documents related to this procurement, including this letter, the solicitation, attachments, exhibits, and any amendments will be attainable electronically from the World Wide Web at https://beta.sam.gov/.

Additional information can also be found on the NRESS-II online Reference Library at:

https://elibrary.gsfc.nasa.gov/.

Potential offerors are requested to periodically monitor the website for updates.

NASA FAR Supplement (NFS) clause 1852.215-84, OMBUDSMAN, is applicable. The

Center Ombudsman for this acquisition can be found at http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/pub/pub_library/Omb.html.

Offerors are encouraged to refer to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provision 52.215-

1, INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS–COMPETITIVE ACQUISITION, in particular paragraph (f)(4) which discusses the Government’s right to award a contract without discussions.

This RFP does not commit NASA HQ to pay any proposal preparation costs, nor does it obligate NASA HQ to procure or contract for these services. This request shall not be construed as authorization to proceed with, or be paid for charges incurred by performing any of the work called for in this solicitation.

Proposals submitted in response to this solicitation shall be due no later than May 18, 2020, 3:30 PM local time. Proposals shall be submitted electronically via NASA’s secure Large

File Transfer (LFT) in accordance with Provision L.16 (Proposal Delivery). Offerors interested in submitting a proposal in response to this RFP shall request a LFT invitation email from the Contracting Officer no later than 10 days prior to the proposal due date. Be advised, in accordance with Provision L.15, Offerors need to encourage their references to submit their Past Performance Questionnaires directly to the Contracting Officer no later than the closing date of this solicitation.

The Source Selection Authority (SSA) and voting members for the Source Evaluation Board

(SEB) will be posted as soon as possible on the eLibrary. The names will be provided for informational purposes only and other than the Contracting Officer, Amanda Heslep, these individuals shall not be contacted regarding this procurement. The Government may change personnel associated with this acquisition at its discretion.

Offerors are reminded that a “Blackout Notice” for this procurement was distributed to all applicable NASA HQ personnel concurrently with the release of the Final RFP to Industry.

Therefore, all communications pertaining to this procurement shall be directed only to the

Contracting Officer listed below.

All questions regarding this RFP should be submitted in writing, electronically to Amanda

Heslep, Contracting Officer, at amanda.j.heslep@nasa.gov on or before April 24, 2020.

Offerors are encouraged to submit questions as soon as possible for consideration.

Thank you for your support. We look forward to receiving your proposals.

Amanda J. Heslep

Contracting Officer

Attachments

Attachment A - Statement of Work

Attachment B - Direct Labor Rates, Indirect Rates, and Fixed Fee Matrices

Attachment C - Financial Management Reporting Requirements

Attachment G - Government Furnished Information

Attachment H - Government Furnished Property

Attachment I - IT Security ADL

Attachment J - Contract Historical Data

Attachment K - PIV Card Issuance Procedures

Attachment L - Department of Labor, Wage Determination (WD)

Enclosures

Enclosure 1 – IT Security Management Plan Template

Enclosure 2 – GPM-Specified Non-Management Direct Labor Categories, Direct Labor

Hours and Position Descriptions

Enclosure 3 – Incumbent Contract Historical Data

Enclosure 4 – Past Performance Questionnaire

Enclosure 5 – Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP)

Exhibits

Exhibits 1-11 – Cost Charts

Exhibit 12 – RTO #1

Exhibit 13 – RTO #2

Exhibit 14 – RTO #3