PWS_RAM Permitting Support Contract_2-3-26.docx

Performance Work Statement National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) Alaska Region Professional Services for Restricted Access Management (RAM) Division Permitting Support

I. Background and Objectives

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries), a bureau of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under the Department of Commerce, is a pioneer in quota-based fisheries management programs, which allocate total allowable catch to vessels, groups of cooperating vessels, or catch privileges to individuals. The Alaska Region (AKR) is one of five regional offices that together support marine resource management in all Federal waters.

The Restricted Access Management Division (RAM) in the Alaska Region supports sustainable fisheries and promotes fishing communities by issuing Federal fishing permits and other fishery authorizations to fishery participants. Throughout the calendar year, RAM reviews and issues licenses for the American Fisheries Act (AFA) Program, the Amendment 80 Program, Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) halibut and sablefish, the Rockfish Program, subsistence halibut, charter halibut, groundfish and crab License Limitation Program (LLP) and processes over a thousand IFQ halibut/sablefish, IFQ crab, Guided Angler Fish (GAF), and LLP license transfers, among others. RAM is regularly providing advice and notifications to fishermen and the public on the interpretation of Federal fishing regulations.

This contract is for professional services to support RAM in performing intake of permitting applications, providing first line customer service to the industry inquiries regarding applications and systems/application troubleshooting, and providing training and outreach.

II. Tasks and Deliverables

1. Fishery Application Intake and Processing (50%)– Contractor personnel will support the Restricted Access Management Division by performing intake of fishery applications and permits and inputting the necessary information in the required Alaska Region system for processing. RAM historically processes over 5,000 applications, received both by electronic and hard mail. Contractor personnel are expected to initially intake and enter the majority of these applications into AKR systems for further review. This includes reviewing the applications and submitting the information in the Integrated Fisheries Application (IFA) or legacy system, which involves generating cases and uploading intake documentation to each case.

2. Customer Service/Troubleshooting (30%) – Contractor personnel will provide first-line customer service to the industry through RAM’s public-facing email. This task is similar to a help-desk function. RAM will provide an answer base with standard responses and contractor personnel will respond to routine inquiries and escalate more complex questions to RAM staff for resolution. Inquiries commonly regard eFish or permitting systems, permitting actions, and user authorizations.

3. Outreach and Training (15%) – The contractor will provide outreach and training with external and internal users. This includes developing user guides, documenting process steps, and creating training materials. Contractor personnel may provide informal or formal training on the permitting process.

4. Document Management (5%) – Contractor personnel will support RAM with document management or programmatic records, to include filing.

General Contract Deliverables:

The following is a list of deliverables under the basic contract, including administrative deliverables, required during the period of performance of this contract:

III. Labor Categories This will be a Time-and-Materials contract. The contractor will provide one or more personnel that meet the following description:

Data Technician 5: Collects, reviews, and inputs data into a computer processing system; audits output data. May be expected to code data and input data for computer processing. Identifies and resolves production related errors. Maintains and revises procedural lists, control records and coding schemes to process source data. Must be familiar with a variety of the field's concepts, practices, and procedures. Relies on experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals. Performs a variety of complicated tasks. A wide degree of creativity and latitude is expected.

IV. Performance Requirements Summary This contract includes a Performance Requirements Summary (PRS). The PRS plays an integral role in the administration of the contract. In addition to any applicable inspection clauses or other related terms and conditions contained in the contract, the PRS shall serve as a primary tool for inspection and acceptance of services as facilitated by the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), with support from the Technical Monitor (TM). Evaluation of the Contractor’s overall performance shall be in accordance with the performance standards set forth in the PRS, and will be conducted by the COR. The PRS constitutes a material aspect of the contract and will not be changed or otherwise modified without prior written approval of the Contracting Officer.

The PRS establishes key elements of Contractor performance that represent “mission essential” service requirements or “Deliverables”, which are identified in the table below. The “Performance Objective” column represents the standard against which Contractor performance will be measured in relation to accomplishment of the corresponding service output. The performance objective or “standard” describes the minimum acceptable level of service by the Contractor for satisfactory performance. The “Acceptable Quality Level (AQL)” column displays the maximum allowable deviation from the performance objective, which, if exceeded, evokes the negative incentive specified in the table below.

Performance Objective Performance Threshold

Method of Surveillance Incentive / Disincentive

by the COR and input/discussion with customers and stakeholders Negative performance may be captured in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS)

Acceptable Time = 95%

Contractor shall employ appropriate resources to intake each application in a timely manner

may be captured in

CPARS

The Contractor shall provide complete, accurate and on-time monthly reports which indicate resources deployed, progress and estimated completion date Minimum Acceptable Level = 90% Based on direct observation by the TM and input/discussion with customers and stakeholders Negative performance may be captured in

CPARS

The Contractor’s project leader shall meet monthly with NOAA Fisheries staff to discuss, plan and coordinate tasks Minimum Acceptable Level = 90%

may be captured in

CPARS

The Contractor shall provide acceptable customer service including responsiveness to contract needs and problem resolution Customer Service shall be provided in collaboration, consultation, and partnership with customers and Stakeholders.

The Contractor shall acknowledge customer inquiries and customers are apprised of the status of the inquiry and when to expect resolution

1. Inquiry is acknowledged promptly

2. Contractor provides expected resolution time within 24 hours.

3. Inquiry is resolved within resolution time provided by the Contractor

4. Inquiry is adequately resolved to the customer’s satisfaction

may be captured in

CPARS

may be captured in

CPARS

may be captured in

CPARS

Candidates possess the skills sets necessary to perform work as described in the PWS and skill sets are equivalent to the labor category for which they are proposed.

may be captured in

CPARS

V. Period of Performance

Base Period: September 30, 2026 – September 29, 2027 Option Year 1: September 30, 2027 – September 29, 2028 Option Year 2: September 30, 2028 – September 29, 2029 Option Year 3: September 30, 2029 – September 29, 2030

VI. Place of Performance Contractor work will be performed either at the NOAA Fisheries, Alaska Region office at 709 West 9th Street in Juneau, AK, or at a location of the Contractor’s discretion and agreed to by the government.

VII. Operational Hours The Contractor is responsible for conducting business, between the hours of 0800-1700 AKST Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

VIII. Removing Contractors for Misconduct or Security Reasons The Government may, at its sole discretion (in coordination with the Contracting Officer where practical), direct the Contractor to remove any Contractor employee from NOAA facilities for misconduct or security reasons. Removal does not relieve the Contractor of the responsibility to continue providing the services required under the contract. The Contracting Officer will provide the Contractor with a written explanation to support any request to remove a Contractor.

IX. Post-Award Conference The Contractor shall attend a post-award conference with the Contracting Officer, COR, and Project Lead/Technical Monitor no later than 10 business days after the date of award. The purpose of the purchase order conference is to set the standards of performance, clarify details, place of performance, building access time, communication channels, required training, and progress report and invoicing details. The Post-award conference will be held at the Government’s facility or via teleconference.

X. Government-Furnished Resources If contractor personnel choose to work onsite, the Government will provide the facilities, equipment, utilities, and/or services listed below:

· NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region will furnish access to computer equipment, telephone and work space for contractor personnel working on-site, as required and under the latest set of security regulations. All utilities, printing and standard office use of the facility will be available for the Contractor’s in performance of duties outlined in this PWS. The Contractor shall be responsible for operating under conditions that preclude any undue waste.

· The Government will provide required software, software licenses, and replacement components for IT equipment as necessary.

· The Government will provide access to relevant systems, allowing Contractor personnel to view, edit, and add documentation to site and projects as needed.

The Government will provide to the Contractor the following equipment, supplies, and similar, necessary to conduct these services and anticipates facility and security access as follows:

Description of other access or equipment requirements not already addressed above:

XI. Travel, and Training Training:

Training is authorized for NMFS/NOAA/DOC specific systems and requirements. Completion certificates must be submitted to the COR. The following training is currently required to be completed under this Contract.

· NOAA IT security

· Records Management 101

· Contractor-provided Sexual Assault/Sexual Harassment Prevention and Response Training IAW NAM 1330-52.222-70(b)(6) In general, all training for Contractor resources shall be provided by the Contractor. The only exception will be for NOAA specific training that is not available on the open market. If a Contractor needs training on NOAA specific software, the training shall be approved and coordinated in advance with the COR and Technical Monitor.

Travel:

Travel is not anticipated under this contract.

XII. Security Requirements The suitability or risk level for this work has been determined to be Low. As such, the Contractor shall pre-screen their employees to disqualify anyone who does not meet the following criteria: Individuals on this contract must be eligible for approval of a Common Access Card (CAC) credential and be able to comply with the security requirement set forth in CAR 1352.237-70. Each Contractor employee that is devoted to this task will be required to provide fingerprints and a background investigation.

Contractor personnel will be required to obtain a Common Access Card (CAC) and maintain a NOAA.gov email account. The security process can take from two to eight weeks to complete before a CAC can be issued, and therefore it is imperative to respond to government requests quickly and completely. New resources to the contract shall provide the requested information within 5 days of notification.

The Contractor must meet the Department of Commerce Enterprise Cybersecurity Policy (found at https://connection.commerce.gov/collection/it-security-policy-and-fisma-reporting-program) XIII. Special Requirements

a. Confidentiality and Data Privacy This contract may require that services contractors have access to Privacy Information. Service contractors are responsible for maintaining confidentiality of all subjects and materials and may be required to sign and adhere to a Non-disclosure Agreement (NDA).

b. Intellectual Property Rights The Government has unlimited rights to all documents/material produced under this contract. All documents and materials, to include the source codes of any software, produced under this contract shall be Government owned and are the property of the Government with all rights and privileges of ownership/copyright belonging exclusively to the Government. These documents and materials may not be used or sold by the Contractor without written permission from the Contracting Officer. All materials supplied to the Government shall be the sole property of the Government and may not be used for any other purpose. This right does not abrogate any other Government rights.

c. IT Security The contractor must meet the Department of Commerce IT Security Program Policy and Minimum Implementation Standards and also adhere to NOAA and NMFS security policies. Information can be found https://sites.google.com/a/noaa.gov/ocio-itso/home/department-of-commerce-policies.

d. Section 508 Compliance

Pursuant to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d) as amended by P.L. 105-220 under Title IV (Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998), all Electronic and Information Technology (EIT) developed, procured, maintained and/or used under this contract shall be in compliance with the “Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards” set forth by the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (also referred to as the “Access Board”) in 36 CFR Part 1194. The complete text of Section 508 Standards can be accessed at http://www.access-board.gov/ or at http://www.section508.gov.

XIV. Required Knowledge and Experience:

Contractor personnel must have experience with Alaska commercial fishery permitting and application processes. Required skills and experience include:

· Knowledge and experience with Alaska commercial fisheries and operations, including a minimum of three years experience working in Alaska fisheries permitting

· Technical IT knowledge, including the ability to provide system support, technical and customer service IT support

· Advanced administrative skills

· Experience with training and outreach in public communications, ideally with fishing industry XV. Project Lead:

To be determined at Contract award.