2018_NAIP_RFI_Referencing_Draft_RFP.pdf

RFI-USDA-APFO-0008 October 23, 2017 Page 1 of 4

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

This Request for Information (RFI) is being issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute an Invitation for Bids (IFB), a Request for Proposals (RFP), a Request for Quotations (RFQ) or an indication that the Government will contract for any of the items and/or services contained in this notice. In accordance with FAR 52.215-3, Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes, the Government will not pay for any information/items submitted in response to the RFI. Information identified as proprietary will not be released. Only summaries of data provided under this RFI are releasable to the public.

Responses to, or lack of response to, this RFI will not impact consideration for award from responses to future RFP(s) issued for this or related potential requirements.

Introduction Aerial Imagery is one of several critical geospatial datasets the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) uses to complete its mission. Imagery has been collected and used by the Agency for the last 80 years and is currently used millions of times daily by FSA in desktop, web based, and enterprise applications to support FSA’s primary customers, America’s farmers and ranchers. The FSA Aerial Photography Field Office (APFO) has the authority as delegated by the Secretary of Agriculture to the Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services to coordinate and prevent duplication of aerial photographic work of the Department, and among other activities, to coordinate and perform procurement, inspection, and application of specifications for USDA aerial photography, and make reproductions of the photography available upon request. 7 CFR Part 2, Subpart C, §2.16, and 7 CFR 2.42.

While the general FSA mission has remained constant, major business and technological changes have impacted imagery requirements as well as requirements related to imagery delivery mechanisms.

Basic Scope and Intent of RFI The USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) intends to release a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) anticipating award of a single year contract for 2018 only to meet current requirements while the agency explores options for meeting future agency requirements under reduced budgets. This RFP may potentially be awarded to a single contractor with options for additional states and deliverables that may be awarded depending upon funding availability and need. The draft RFP sections that are pertinent to this RFI are attached. Please refer to the map below for the planned priority states for 2018.

The general requirements are for imagery collected during specific agriculture growing seasons, based on a three-year cycle, and delivered in 60cm resolution DOQQ (Digital Orthorectified Quarter Quadrangle) format with four meter horizontal accuracy. Compressed County Mosaics (CCM) will be included as option items that may be awarded depending upon funding availability and need.

FSA is seeking comments and responses to questions pertaining to this RFP, as well as comments and responses pertaining to acquisition strategy, deliverables, pricing, etc.

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Instructions Please answer the following questions and provide any additional recommendations. It is recommended the total response does not exceed 5 pages; however, additional content may be provided in the form of attachment if necessary. Mark each page that has corporate sensitive or proprietary information. If your organization has no input on a particular question, please insert “no response provided” for that question. Not answering any particular question will have no negative impact on competing for future work for the government. All responses should be positioned to help FSA make determinations about future actions to meet Agency business and user requirements generally described above. Digital responses should be in PDF format. Emailed responses shall not exceed 25MB in total size.

Responses should be emailed to michelle.jardine@slc.usda.gov no later than 12:00pm Mountain Time, November 22, 2017 or mailed to:

Michelle Jardine USDA-FSA-Aerial Photography Field Office Contracting Office 2222 W 2300 South Salt Lake City, UT 84119

Questions

1. Contract Type and Acquisition Strategy:

a. The Government has procured this requirement under FAR Part 15 the past several years. Has this requirement become similar enough to commercial requirements to be considered a commercial item that could be procured under Part 12, meeting the definition of a “commercial item” under FAR 2.101?

b. The Government has procured this imagery in the past under a firm-fixed type contract.

Are there other contract types that would be beneficial to both parties?

c. See attached draft RFP, G-7 and H-6. NAICS Code 541922 has been utilized for posting this requirement in the past; is there another NAICS code that would be more pertinent and provide more benefit to the Government?

d. This requirement has been procured under multiple-award IDIQ contracts with option years. What impacts to pricing or performance, etc. are likely with a single year award?

What are the impacts or risks to awarding all work to a single contractor?

e. Other recommendations to procurement strategy.

2. Business Size and Socioeconomic Status:

a. Indicate business size and socioeconomic status of your company and that, if known, of primary subcontracts typically involved in providing the products and services you provide related to this RFI. The list does not need to be comprehensive.

b. Approximate the extent to which small business opportunity would exist (in percentages).

mailto:michelle.jardine@slc.usda.gov

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c. Please provide a recommendation for reasonable small business subcontracting goals for source selection planning purposes.

3. Labor Categories for Wage Determination and Potential Future Pricing Structures: What specific significant labor categories should be included to support this requirement, in addition to airplane pilot, first officer (co-pilot), and aerial photographer?

4. Section 508 Compliance: Please describe where you meet or fall short of Section 508 compliance provisions with respect to potential products in response to this RFI. If you have a current VPAT on file, please provide.

5. Commercially or Otherwise Available Data: Based on the map provided of planned 2018 NAIP states, are there other program acquisition data likely to be available meeting the requirements of the draft RFP? If so, please describe and include any licensing and/or pricing information.

The following questions refer to specific sections of the attached Draft RFP

6. Section C-3.2(e): Does the 20 degree limit on off-nadir angle present any issues or risks for satellite collection?

7. Section C-3.4: What do you recommend for the smallest area covered by a single polygon? Previous NAIP collections was an area of 40,470 square meters.

8. Section C-4.0: How late can the options be awarded? Are the dates different for individual options? Is the pricing for these options state dependent? Can options be exercised for a partial state rather than full state? If so, what would be a minimum size?

9. Section C-4.3(b)(1): Is there an appropriate stereo block file size/structure? Or is this best determined based on the state for which the option would be awarded at the time of award?

10. Section C-4.4(a)(3): Should the DSM sidelap/endlap be different from the sidelap/endlap requirement for the stereo option?

11. Section F-3.1, 3.2, & 3.3: What is the recommended delivery timeframe for each of the options?

Clarifications or questions regarding this RFI should be directed to Michelle Jardine, michelle.jardine@slc.usda.gov or 801-844-2909.

mailto:michelle.jardine@slc.usda.gov