Hydrographic Surveying Request for SF330s.pdf

IDENTIFICATION NO.: REQUIREMENTS-24-1611

NOS/OCS/HSD Hydrographic Surveying Services

CONTRACT INFORMATION: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Acquisition and Grants Office, Eastern Acquisition Division, on behalf of the National Ocean Service (NOS), Office of Coast Survey (OCS), Hydrographic Surveys Division (HSD) is seeking firms highly qualified to provide hydrographic surveying services to support NOAA’s mission to acquire hydrographic survey data to support the creation and maintenance of nautical charts. This acquisition is being solicited on a full and open competition basis with two awards reserved for small business. This acquisition will be conducted in accordance with the procedures outlined in the Selection of Architects and Engineers Statute and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 36.6 for Architect-Engineer Services and will be on the basis of demonstrated competence and qualifications of prospective firms.

The primary mission of the HSD is to acquire and qualify hydrographic data for use in creating and maintaining NOAA nautical charts and other products. Hydrographic surveying is vital in maintaining current and highly accurate nautical charts. The work is highly technical in nature and requires specialized technical expertise. Acquisition of bathymetry features, and other hydrographic data is essential for HSD to meet the needs of NOAA’s charting program. This proposed acquisition will consist of, but will not be limited to, the following services:

i. Acquiring multibeam sounding data;

ii. Acquiring side scan sonar data;

iii. Capability to produce ellipsoidally referenced surveys;

iv. Capability to conduct surveys to International Hydrographic Organization S-44 Edition 6.1.0

Exclusive Order Standards;

v. Acquiring and processing time series acoustic backscatter data;

vi. Investigating shoreline and other charted features;

vii. Installing, operating, and removing water level (tide) stations and global navigation satellite system (GNSS) stations for establishing vertical and horizontal control;

viii. Acquiring related supporting data (e.g., water surface elevation data, sound speed through the water profiles, vessel offsets, draft, and heave/pitch/roll data, etc.);

ix. Processing the hydrographic and auxiliary data;

x. Performing quality control during data acquisition and processing;

xi. Developing and incorporating uncertainty estimates into delivered products;

xii. Producing gridded surfaces of the bathymetry data that has been cleaned of erroneous soundings, and fully corrected for water levels, sound speed, vessel offsets, draft and dynamic draft.

xiii. Providing critical metadata alongside digital data products. Producing accompanying descriptive reports that supplement the survey data with information that cannot be depicted or described in the digital data

All work will be performed to NOAA specifications and the data provided in NOAA specified formats according to NOAA’s Hydrographic Surveys Specifications and Deliverables (HSSD). The most recent version can be found at https://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/publications/standards-and-requirements.html. The final Project Instructions provided by NOAA at the task order level will tailor the HSSD specifications for each task order issued as needed.

https://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/publications/standards-and-requirements.html

The Government anticipates awarding a multiple-award Indefinite-Delivery Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract. The contract will be for a five-year ordering period. The combined maximum ordering value across all awardees shall not exceed the threshold of $350,000,000 over the five-year period. The contract minimum guarantee for all awardees will be $25,000. The North American Industry Classification System code is 541370 “Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services,” which has a small business size standard of $19.0 million in average annual receipts for its three previous fiscal years. Large businesses must comply with FAR 52.219-9, Small Business Subcontracting Plan (SEP 2023), regarding the requirement for a subcontracting plan. Once awarded, services will be ordered by negotiating firm-fixed price task orders in accordance with the selection procedures outlined in FAR Subpart 36.6, Architect-Engineer Services, and as detailed in the IDIQ contract.

SELECTION CRITERIA: The award selection criteria in accordance with FAR Subsection 36.602-1, listed in descending order of importance are provided below.

1. Professional Qualifications necessary for satisfactory performance of required services. In order to be qualified, the proposed team as a whole (prime and subcontractors) shall have all of the labor categories identified in Attachment B Labor Categories, (including key personnel), on payroll.

Firms shall demonstrate this by identifying each labor category title, from Attachment B, in the Standard Form (SF) 330, Part I, Section D and SF 330, Part II. Firms must provide resumes for all proposed key personnel in SF 330, Part I, Section E in order to demonstrate the key personnel meet the minimum education, experience qualifications, and experience requirements as identified in Attachment B. Key personnel include the labor categories of Principal, Project Manager, Lead Hydrographer, and Senior Hydrographer. In order to be qualified, firms must also have on payroll at least two NSPS-THSOA Level Two certified hydrographers (any combination of Senior Hydrographer, Lead Hydrographer, Principal or Project Manager). Firms will also be evaluated on the ability of proposed personnel to perform the work required under this contract, including participation in example projects as outlined in the SF 330 Part I, Section G.

2. Specialized Experience and Technical Competence in the type of work required as outlined in Attachment A, Statement of Work. In order to be qualified, firms shall demonstrate successful experience in the following: acquiring, processing, evaluating, and creating products and deliverables from data derived from shallow and mid-water multibeam systems, side scan sonar systems in addition to multibeam backscatter and shoreline feature data; acquiring, processing, and evaluating ellipsoidally referenced surveys; installing, maintaining, and removing tide gauges to acquire water level data; processing water level data to compute tidal datums; applying water level and other correctors to determine true depths; compiling reports, final products, and digital data;

and, performing quality control during acquisition and processing. Provide a maximum of eight projects completed or substantially completed (defined as 80% of the project invoiced), in the SF 330, Part I, Section F, within the past five years immediately preceding the date of issuance of this notice that best demonstrate specialized experience of the proposed team in the areas outlined above. All projects provided must contain a contract/task order number. Furthermore, base level ordering vehicles such as indefinite delivery contracts and blanket purchase agreements shall not be referenced as a project, as no work is completed at this base level.

3. Capacity To Accomplish The Work In The Required Time (personnel and equipment). In order to be qualified, firms shall demonstrate availability of the following: multiple seaworthy vessels with specially calibrated equipment capable of working in shoal waters near shore and at least one larger seaworthy vessel capable of working 15 days continuously off-shore; uncrewed system(s) capable of working in both the nearshore and offshore environment; hydrographic data acquisition and processing systems; shallow water multibeam capable of measuring depths to 200 meters and detecting a 0.5 meter cube object in areas of strict minimum underkeel clearance and maneuverability criteria; mid water multibeam capable of measuring depths to 2,000 meters; side scan sonar capable of detecting a 0.5 meter cube object or larger; surveying systems capable of collecting point cloud elevation data to resolve shoreline structure and features; GNSS surveying equipment for establishing horizontal control; differential GNSS equipment for vessel positioning;

water level measurement gauges; and, sufficient personnel to execute two hydrographic survey task orders simultaneously.

4. Past Performance. Firms shall demonstrate past performance with Government agencies and/or private industry completing hydrographic data collection and processing to support routine activities and emergency incidents (relevant in size, scope, and complexity to a typical task order under this acquisition) with respect to cost control, quality of work, compliance with performance schedules, stakeholder/customer satisfaction, and regulatory compliance. Evaluating past performance will include information provided in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) for the maximum of eight projects provided in the SF 330, Part I, Section F; Past Performance Questionnaires (PPQs); and may include customer inquiries, Government databases, and other information available to the Government including contact with points of contact provided in the SF 330. PPQs will only be reviewed if CPARS is not available. A PPQ shall not be submitted if a CPARS evaluation has been completed, as the CPARS is the final record and will be the information considered. If a PPQ is utilized, the firm is to complete blocks 1 through 4 and the Client (the agency, private firm that the firm completed work for) is to complete blocks 5 through 8. The Client shall provide the completed PPQ via email to the Contract Specialist, Carley Flaxman at Carley.Flaxman@noaa.gov and carbon copy the Contracting Officer, Nicole Lawson at Nicole.Lawson@noaa.gov. A PPQ shall not be submitted for IDIQ contracts;

only one project shall be included for each PPQ. Therefore, a separate PPQ must be completed for each project.

5. Location and Knowledge. Firms shall demonstrate the knowledge and capacity to work in diverse types of localities throughout the entire U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone to include the entire continental shelf of the East Coast, Gulf of Mexico, West Coast, and Alaskan waters, and the entirety of U.S. waters of the Great Lakes, which are all areas of interest to NOAA as defined by the NOAA Hydrographic Survey Priorities (https://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/publications/national-hydrographic-survey-priorities.html). Firms must also demonstrate data collection extending from full ocean depths to the nearshore and riverine environment, inclusive of the collection of shoreline (non-subaqueous) features.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: Firms having capabilities to perform this work and desiring to be considered shall submit their package electronically, in readable and searchable PDF format, consisting of a completed SF 330 (latest edition) submission to Carley.Flaxman@noaa.gov and Nicole.Lawson@noaa.gov.

https://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/publications/national-hydrographic-survey-priorities.html mailto:Carley.Flaxman@noaa.gov mailto:Nicole.Lawson@noaa.gov

SF 330 Responses are due no later than 12:00 P.M Eastern Time (ET), February 23, 2024. Late responses will be handled in accordance with FAR 52.215-1, Instructions to Offerors – Competitive Acquisition.

The following limitations apply: Section E shall be limited to 15 resumes for key personnel only and no more than 30 pages total. Section F shall be limited to eight projects and no more than 16 pages total.

Section H shall be no more than 30 pages total. The overall submission package (Part I and Part II of SF

330) shall not exceed 90 pages, exclusive of Part (I and II) dividers. The cover letter, table of contents, list of exhibits and list of acronyms are included in the 90 page total. Pages should be 8 ½ X 11. Use no smaller than 9-point font for SF 330 forms and no smaller than 12-point font for non SF 330 pages (Section H). Single line spacing and no less than 1 inch margins are also required. Pages in excess of the maximums listed shall be discarded and not used in evaluation of the selection criteria.

Responding firms are requested to state whether they are a large, small, small disadvantaged, women-owned, Historically Underserved Business Zones (HUBZone), veteran-owned, or service disabled veteran-owned small business. All subcontracting or teaming arrangements must be included in the SF 330, in Part I, Section C, with the business size of each.

Prior to contract award, a large business must submit a subcontracting plan that complies with FAR clause 52.219-9, Small Business Subcontracting Plan (SEP 2023). A subcontracting plan is not to be submitted with the SF 330. The following subcontracting goals are provided for developing subcontracting plans:

Business Category Subcontracting Goals Small Business 70%

Small Disadvantaged Business 1% Women-Owned Small Business 5%

HubZone Small Business 5% Veteran-Owned Small Business 5% Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned 1%

No Pre-Submittal Conference is planned for this award. Interested parties should email any questions concerning this announcement to Carley Flaxman, Carley.Flaxman@noaa.gov and Nicole Lawson, Nicole.Lawson@noaa.gov no later than February 8, 2024. No other notification to firms under consideration for this work will be made. It is the offeror’s responsibility to ensure that any submission transmitted to the specified Government representative(s) is received prior to the due date specified.

Offerors are highly encouraged to contact the Government representative(s) specified above prior to the stated time and date for receipt of SF 330s to ensure the Government has received the submission. SF 330s received after the date and time specified herein may be excluded from consideration.

mailto:Carley.Flaxman@noaa.gov mailto:Nicole.Lawson@noaa.gov