questions and answers 8.17.2015.pdf

US Geological Survey Broad Agency Announcement for 3D Elevation Program (3DEP)

FedBizOpps #G15PS00558 Grants.Gov #G15AS00123

Responses to Questions submitted to gs_baa@usgs.gov July 20 – August 14, 2015 Page 1

Questions Related to 3DEP Outreach

1. To increase awareness and enable stakeholders to prepare in advance for the BAA opportunity, the USGS hosted a series of public webinars and state and regional workshops related to the 3DEP Program and this funding opportunity. Can you please direct me to the site where the Questions and Answers (Q&A) resulting from these meetings are posted?

Response: Questions and answers resulting from these meetings are posted on:

https://www.geoplatform.gov/elevation/3DEP/PublicMeetings.

2. I just recently found out about the 3DEP program at a Land Surveying conference this past weekend. The details were provided by the [State] Department of Transportation as they are hoping to benefit from the initiative. I am the City Surveyor for the City of [deleted to generalize] and am interested in partnering on the project in the [deleted to generalize] Region. The City [deleted to generalize] consists of 110 square miles and when partnered with other local and state agencies could be a much larger area providing valuable data for FEMA, Water Management Districts, and other Federal, State and Local Agencies. I would appreciate any information I could be provided regarding the [deleted to generalize] Region. I just seen there was an [deleted to generalize] meeting for the [deleted to generalize] in June, are there any future meetings planned?

Response: The 2015 State and Regional Workshops (https://www.geoplatform.gov/elevation/3DEP/PublicMeetings/StateRegionalWorkshops) were held in May and June. No additional meetings are scheduled for this year. However, the workshops made use of the NOAA sponsored Seasketch site: U.S. Federal Mapping Coordination, A Demonstration Site for Federal Mapping Data Acquisition (http://seasket.ch/hwpR3E-MxO). On this site interested parties entered their areas of interest (AOIs), viewable by selecting options in the 3DEP Mapping Areas of Interest section of the site. We would encourage you to visit this site to view the AOIs that overlay your city and /or region. AOIs include POC information to enable interested parties to make contact with each other.

3. I have a client who wants to submit a preproposal for an AOI and they would like to define their area by other agency’s AOIs and would like to obtain shape files for some of the areas that were uploaded to Seasketch. How would they go about doing that?

Response: Shapefiles for the federal areas of interest can be downloaded from the BAA resources page: http://nationalmap.gov/3DEP/BAAReferenceMaterials.html. There is no direct way to download shapefiles for public AOIs. If an applicant is interested in a public area of interest, the 3DEP program suggests that you make use of the POC information within the project metadata to contact the owner of the project AOI to discuss. The status or geographic extent of the AOI may have changes since it was originally submitted.

mailto:gs_baa@usgs.gov https://www.geoplatform.gov/elevation/3DEP/PublicMeetings https://www.geoplatform.gov/elevation/3DEP/PublicMeetings/StateRegionalWorkshops http://www.seasketch.org/#projecthomepage/5272840f6ec5f42d210016e4 http://www.seasketch.org/#projecthomepage/5272840f6ec5f42d210016e4 http://seasket.ch/hwpR3E-MxO http://nationalmap.gov/3DEP/BAAReferenceMaterials.html

Responses to Questions submitted to gs_baa@usgs.gov July 20 – August 14, 2015 Page 2

Questions Related to Attachment A: BAA Pre-proposal Submission Tool

4. I was not able to attend the July 28th Webinar on “Instructions for BAA Proposal Submissions”, however I have reviewed the entire presentation and noted the preference for applicants to use the interactive version of the pre-proposal (slide 17, bottom paragraph).

Personally, I like this approach to simultaneously benefit USGS and afford me the ability to access it remotely, if needed. Unfortunately, I have not been able to determine how it works?

Selecting the “Attachment B - BAA Full Proposal Submission Tool Interactive Version (Uses Microsoft Word 2007 or newer)” from http://nationalmap.gov/3DEP/BAAReferenceMaterials.html#attachmenta results in a dialog to either open the template or save it locally. Perhaps I’m getting confused by the term “interactive” as I assume that means it to be a dynamic, web based tool?

Should the template be saved locally and completed before submitting to USGS or does it get saved to the cloud so it can be accessed remotely? If there is any additional guidance on using the interactive version I have not yet found online I would appreciate any guidance you can supply.

Response: We apologize for the confusion. You are correct in your assumption that the template should be downloaded, saved and completed locally. The completed form along with your shapefile should then be submitted to the Contracting Officer, Vickie Floyd, via the following e-mail address: gs_baa@usgs.gov.

Questions Related to Attachment F: Applicant Validation of Funding Partners

5. On the preproposal submittals for the latest round of 3DEP, do we need to have Appendix F submitted for all of the funding partners, or is Appendix F only required for the full proposal?

Response: Appendix F: Applicant Validation of Funding Partners is only required to be attached to full proposal submissions. It is not required for pre-proposals.

Questions Related to Contract Mechanisms: Geospatial Products and Services Contract (GPSC), Cooperative Agreements

6. Our state typically capitalizes on funding opportunities by means of a Cooperative Agreement;

we have never utilized the Geospatial Products and Services Contract (GPSC) for data acquisition.

We also prefer to collect QL1 Lidar. Considering (1) the standard 3DEP base product is QL2 lidar and (2) the BAA states that upwards of 80% of available funding will be awarded to those utilizing the GPSC, is the GPSC capable of acquiring QL1 lidar?

mailto:gs_baa@usgs.gov http://nationalmap.gov/3DEP/documents/Attachment%20B%20-%20BAAFY1516%20-%20FullProposal071515.dotx http://nationalmap.gov/3DEP/BAAReferenceMaterials.html#attachmenta

Responses to Questions submitted to gs_baa@usgs.gov July 20 – August 14, 2015 Page 3

Response: Yes. The GPSC is capable of contracting for the acquisition of QL1 Lidar Data.

The U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Geospatial Product and Service Contracts (GPSC) is a suite of contracts used by Federal, State, and municipal government entities to partner with the USGS for purpose of fulfilling their geospatial data requirements. Photogrammetric and mapping services are primarily awarded under the umbrella of Architect-Engineer (A&E) contracting. The contracts are broad in scope and can accommodate any activity related to standard, nonstandard, graphic, and digital cartographic products.

Services provided include, but are not limited to: imagery and LiDAR data acquisition;

photogrammetric mapping; and aerotriangulation; orthophotography; thematic mapping;

geographic information systems development; surveying and control acquisition; image manipulation, analysis, and interpretation; map digitizing; data manipulations; primary and ancillary data acquisition; metadata production and revision; and the production or revision of geospatial products defined by formal and informal specifications and standards.

The contracts are Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS) and task orders are negotiated directly with selected firms to provide contract services. The GPSC can accommodate the mapping and photogrammetric requirements of all USGS offices and is also available to any Federal, State, or local agency. For additional information on the GPSC:

http://geodatacontracts.er.usgs.gov/gpsc_information_sheet.html.

Questions Related to Funding (Federal Agencies as Funding Partners)

7. Can NRCS state funds, that are included as part of applicant funds, be counted toward the partner's cost share and be matched with 3DEP funds (which may also include NRCS national funds)?

Response: Federal, state and local partners may individually or collectively submit a proposal to the USGS requesting 3DEP funds. Federal agencies (and their proposed funds) listed as a contribution to a specific project will only be considered as input to that specific project and will be considered as a cost share for that project. Federal agencies also have the ability to provide funds to the USGS to apply to any number of projects that overlap with their areas of interest. In the end a project may have both state (regional) and national money from the same agency applied to the project.

8. Do different restrictions, regulations and/or authorities apply to the use of federal funds as a part of an applicant’s cost share if the applicant plans to use their state's lidar contract (applicant requesting financial assistance in the form of a cooperative agreement) as opposed to making use of the USGS Geospatial Products and Services Contract (GPSC) to manage and oversee the acquisition?

http://geodatacontracts.er.usgs.gov/gpsc_information_sheet.html

Responses to Questions submitted to gs_baa@usgs.gov July 20 – August 14, 2015 Page 4

Response: As stated in Paragraph (IV).ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION, (B) Cost Share, Minimum non- Federal match for Cooperative Agreements, Project Scope, (2) Cooperative Agreements:

Requirement for Non-Federal Match (of Solicitation G15PS00558):

“For applicants proposing Cooperative Agreements: Pursuant to CFR § 200.306, State and local applicants requesting an award in the form of a cooperative agreement must commit non-federal sources as their minimum required match. The USGS has set this minimum non-federal match at 25%. Other federal sources may be partners in the application but may not be used to satisfy the minimum 25% state or local match. “Match” should not be confused with “Cost Share”. Federal and Non-Federal Contributions are specified in the grants.gov application package”

Questions Related to 3DEP Specifications

9. Are there USGS LiDAR collection specifications for mean high water (MHW) or low water

(MLLW)?

Response: The USGS Lidar Base Specification (Heidemann, Hans Karl, 2014, Lidar base specification (ver. 1.2, November 2014): U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods, book 11, chap. B4, 67 p. with appendixes, http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/tm11B4.) does not specify the seaward extent of a terrestrial lidar acquisition. Outward extend and the requirements for tidal coordination are project specific and are discussed and determined as the task is being defined.

There is a concerted effort between all partners in the coastal zone to coordinate coastal bathymetric and terrestrial lidar acquisitions to assure the development of an integrated elevation model of the coastal zone. The graphic below (extracted from the DRAFT version of the IWG-OCM’s National Coastal Mapping Strategy, 2015) illustrates that neither the inland extent of bathymetric lidar nor the seaward extent of terrestrial lidar are absolutely defined, it is a zone of blended responsibility. However for any given geographic area, stakeholders resolve to coordinate their acquisitions to set the acquisition boundaries to assure there are no gaps in coverage. Regional stakeholder groups have set regional guidelines.

http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/tm11B4

Responses to Questions submitted to gs_baa@usgs.gov July 20 – August 14, 2015 Page 5

U.S. coastal zone as defined by Interagency Working Group on Ocean and Coastal Mapping (IWG-OCM) and 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) for National Coastal Mapping Strategy (NCMS) (DRAFT, 2015)

For additional information on topobathymetric elevation data please visit the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program Coastal National Elevation Database website:

http://topotools.cr.usgs.gov/coned/.

END OF QUESTIONS ANSWERS

http://topotools.cr.usgs.gov/coned/