RFQ_12441924Q0013.pdf

REQUEST FOR QUOTATION

NEPA ACADEMY

1.0 OVERVIEW

The USDA FS SPOC East Branch is issuing this Notice of Fair Opportunity (NFO) to solicit a quote in response to the attached Statement of Work (SOW). While the government reserves the right to make no award, this NFO is anticipated to result in one (1) single-award, Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) BPA Call Order (Order).

The resultant non-personal services Order will be awarded against USDA-FS BPAs to provide all personnel, equipment, materials, supervision, management, and transportation necessary to aid the Forest Service in implementing the NEPA Academy in accordance with federal and agency regulatory, references and information resources.

Primary Point of Contact: Arthur Courtney Contract Specialist arthur.courtney@usda.gov

Interested vendors are encouraged to submit questions related to the Statement of Work (SOW), technical, and price quotes to the Contract Specialist by the below due dates. Questions submitted in any format other than via email on the attached question and answer (Q&A) form will not be addressed.

RFQ Open Date:

RFQ Close Date:

25 March 2024

10 April 2024 at 5pm EST

Quotes should include a description of company, proposed services in support of the SOW and Objectives below and a brief description of past performance performing similar activities.

Price proposals shall identify fully burdened task costs for this effort.

Anticipated Period of Performance: Base Year: Apr 15, 2023 – Dec 31, 2024 Option Year 1: Jan 1, 2025-Dec 31,2025 Option Year 2: Jan 1, 2026-Dec 31,2026

2.1 General: The Government contemplates award of one (1) Firm Fixed Price Call Order against an eligible BPA in accordance with the attached Statement of Work. This is a Request for Quote (RFQ) in accordance with BPA Schedule Procedures outlined in the Ordering Procedures

The government reserves the right to award only one (1) or no award as a result of this solicitation.

2.1.1 Opportunity under BPA: This solicitation is herein being issued to eligible BPA holders.

2.2 Submission Information:

Offerors shall submit complete quotations in electronic format via email to: Contract Specialist arthur.courtney@usda.gov no later than the time specified in page 1. Vendors are hereby notified that any corrupt or unreadable documents shall not be considered for evaluation purposes. Any files not received by the cutoff date and time shall be deemed late and not considered for evaluation.

2.2.1 Format: No paper (hard copy) quotes shall be accepted. Any subsequent instructions contained herein referring to written requirements shall mean documentation that is submitted electronically via email to the Contract Specialist and Contracting Officer. All documents submitted shall be single-spaced, no smaller than 11 point type font (including font within tables and/or graphics), no less than one-inch margins and shall fit on 8 ½ by 11 inch paper.

The following requirements shall also apply to this RFQ:

1. Technical submissions (Volume I) shall be separate from Pricing submissions (Volume II). No pricing information shall be included in the technical package.

2. All submitted documents shall be compatible with Government computer software.

Acceptable formats include .PDF, .DOC, .DOCX or .XLS files.

3. Technical submissions shall be no more than 8 pages in total.

4. Pricing submissions shall include an unadulterated copy of “Attachment 1 Schedule of Items” filled out by the Contractor.

2.2.2 Minimum Requirements: Contractors submitting quotes under this RFQ shall meet the following requirements in their quote. Quotes that fail to meet any of these minimum requirements shall not be evaluated and shall be deemed ineligible for award.

a. Submit complete information as required in these instructions.

2.3 Quotation Content: All vendors shall adhere to the following instructions to be considered for award. The US Forest Service requires receipt of a detailed quotation as follows not to exceed a total page limit of 8 pages:

Volume I – Technical Capability

Volume 1 shall include the following for a maximum of 8 pages (no pricing data shall be included in Volume I):

Factor 1 – Proposed Personnel-(Resumes,1 page per resume for each proposed personnel) Factor 2 –Corporate Experience- In this section, the vendor shall prepare a summary statement of corporate experience that discusses how the information provided relates to

SECTION II

Solicitation Information the subject PWS and how it’s experience will support the USDA under the ensuing contract. The vendor shall demonstrate its technical experience in performing all task areas of the PWS.

Volume II – Price

Volume II Price shall consist of the following and shall not exceed 2 pages:

1. Cover Letter containing:

a. Completed Attachment 1 Price Schedule (see attached).

b. Identification of any additional discounts to the FSS Contract number.

c. Acknowledgement of all amendments (if any).

d. Confirmation of minimum sixty (60) day quotation guarantee.

2.4 Technical Evaluation Criteria: The following describes each Evaluation factor and its required submission requirements in detail. Any quotation that fails to address any area will be deemed unacceptable and ineligible for award.

Factor 1 – Proposed Personnel: The Quoter shall provide resumes for all personnel needed to support this BPA call order in accordance with the SOW.

The resumes shall clearly demonstrate how each of the proposed Personnel meet the technical requirements and project tasks in accordance with the SOW.

The submitted resumes for all proposed personnel shall document (a) the role the proposed personnel will serve under the resultant call order and labor category Number SIN 541611 Labor Categories, b) the specific crucial skillset that is being met by the proposed personnel and c) level of effort for all periods of performance which will be associated with the proposed personnel.

Factor 2- Price: Vendors shall complete all sections of Attachment 1 Schedule of Items. If any part of Attachment 1 Schedule of Items is returned incomplete, the submission will be deemed ineligible and may not be evaluated further.

Price will be evaluated for reasonableness but will not be assigned a rating. The Forest Service will evaluate the Total Proposed Price to determine overall best value when conducting trade-offs with technical factors.

2.5 Evaluation Criteria and Selection Process: Evaluations shall be conducted in accordance with FAR Part 8.4. The resultant BPA Call Order will be awarded to the Contractor(s) whose quotes represent the best value to the Government based on the evaluation criteria set forth herein. The Forest Service will determine the best value to the Government based on evaluation of Total Quoted Proposed Price when trading off against evaluated Technical Rating.

The Government will not award a BPA Call Order to a Contractor at a significantly higher or evaluated price to achieve only slightly superior performance capabilities. Likewise, the Government will not award to a Contractor simply because it is technically acceptable and also is the lowest price.

This method does not use any aspects of FAR subpart 15.3. The use of this fair opportunity process does not obligate the government to determine a competitive range, conduct discussions with any contractors, solicit proposals or revisions thereto, or use any other source selection techniques associated with subpart 15.3.

2.5.1 Best Value Evaluation:

This requirement will be evaluated in accordance with FAR 8.4. Factors 1 and 2 are in descending order of importance. Technical evaluation factor is more important than cost or price. However, cost or price may become more important in selecting the successful firm as a technical quotes become more comparable.

2.6.2 Comparative Analysis: The Government may perform and comparative evaluation (comparing offers to each other) to select the contractor that is best-suited to fulfill the requirements, based on the contractors’ quotations to the factors outlined in this RFQ.

2.6.3 Award on Initial Response: The government anticipates selecting the best-suited contractor from initial quote, without engaging in exchanges with contractors. Therefore, the Quoter’s initial quote should contain the Quoter’s best terms. After receipt of quote, the Government will conduct an evaluation. However, during the evaluation process, the Government may, solely at its discretion, communicate with Quoters regarding quote elements.

Factor 1: Proposed Personnel: The Government will assess the extent to which the Quoter identifies and commits personnel with appropriate experience and qualifications. Resumes will be evaluated based on the currency, quality, and depth of experience of individual personnel working on similar projects (size, scope, magnitude, duration, and complexity).

The Government will use the following rating scale to determine confidence:

Rating Description

High Confidence

The Government has high confidence that the quoter understands the requirement, proposes a sound approach, and will be successful in performing the work.

Some Confidence

The Government has some confidence that the quoter understand the requirement, proposes a sound approach, and will be successful in performing the work.

Low Confidence

The Government has low confidence that the offeror understands the requirement, proposes a sound approach, or will be successful in performing the work.

Factor 2. Price: The Government will assess a Total Proposed Price based on the submitted Attachment 1 Schedule of Items.

The Government will evaluate for fair and reasonableness of the total proposed price to perform all services, in accordance with FAR 15.404-1 using price analysis techniques such as price comparison with other quotes and schedule discounts offered, the Forest Service estimated cost, available industry pricing and/or past Forest Service history pricing. The Forest Service reserves the right to obtain additional information concerning cost and price as necessary to determine price fairness and reasonableness.

2.5.2 Dialogue Prior to Award: The Government intends to issue award without engaging in discussions. Consequently, Contractors are highly encouraged to submit their best quote with their initial submissions. The Government does reserve the right to review quotes with Contractors if it is determined to be advantageous to the Government. The Government is not obligated to conduct conversations with any Contractor.

3.1 General: See the attached Statement of Work titled “Attachment 2. Statement of Work (SOW)”.

SECTION III

Statement of Work

4.1 General: The terms and conditions of this Request for Quote shall be incorporated into any resultant award. In the event of an inconsistency between documents, the following order of precedence shall apply:

1. Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA)

2. BPA Call

3. Schedule

4. Statement of Work

5. Contractor’s Quotation Package.

4.2 Clauses: The following additional clauses shall be incorporated into any resultant BPA awarded under this RFQ.

4.3.1 Clauses Incorporated by Reference:

FAR 52.217-5 Evaluation of Options. (July 1990)

Except when it is determined in accordance with FAR 17.206(b) not to be in the Government’s best interests, the Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. Evaluation of options will not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s).

FAR 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services (Nov 1999)

The Government may require continued performance of any services within the limits and at the rates specified in the contract. These rates may be adjusted only as a result of revisions to prevailing labor rates provided by the Secretary of Labor. The option provision may be exercised more than once, but the total extension of performance hereunder shall not exceed 6 months. The Contracting Officer may exercise the option by written notice to the Contractor within 30 days.

FAR 52.217-9 Option to Extend the Term of Contract (MAR 2000).

(a)The Government may extend the term of this contract by written notice to the Contractor within 30 days; provided that the Government gives the Contractor a preliminary written notice of its intent to extend at least 60 before the contract expires. The preliminary notice does not commit the Government to an extension.

(b)If the Government exercises this option, the extended contract shall be considered to include this option clause.

(c)The total duration of this contract, including the exercise of any options under this clause, shall not exceed three years.

FAR 52.252-2 Clauses Incorporated by Reference (FEB 1998)

This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at these addresses.

(a) Federal Acquisition Regulation: https://www.acquistion.gov/far/

(b) Agriculture’s Acquisition Regulation: https://www.acquisition.gov/agar/

The following clauses are hereby incorporated into by reference, and made a part of, the resultant

SECTION IV

Terms and Conditions

Blanket Purchase Agreement:

52.252-6 Authorized Deviations in Clauses (NOV 2020)

(a) The use in this solicitation or contract of any Federal Acquisition Regulation (48 CFR Chapter 1) clause with an authorized deviation is indicated by the addition of “(DEVIATION)” after the date of the clause.

(b) The use in this solicitation or contract of any Agriculture Acquisition Regulation (48 CFR 4) clause with an authorized deviation is indicated by the addition of “(DEVIATION)” after the name of the regulation.

452.204-70 Modification for Contract Closeout (DEVIATION JUL 2022)

Upon contract closeout for contracts utilizing Simplified Acquisition Procedures (SAP) according to FAR 13:

(a) If unobligated funds in the amount of $1000 or less remain on the contract, the Contracting Officer (CO) shall issue a unilateral modification for de-obligation. The contractor will receive a copy of the modification but will not be required to provide a signature. The CO shall immediately proceed with contract closeout upon completion of the period of performance, receipt and acceptance of supplies or services, and final payment.

(b) If unobligated funds of more than $1000 remain on the contract, the CO shall issue a bilateral modification for de-obligation. The contractor will receive a copy of the modification and will be required to provide a signature. (The CO may also request a Release of Claims be completed by the contractor, although not required for contract and orders using SAP procedures.) If the bilateral modification and Release of Claims are not returned to the CO within

60 days, the CO shall release the modification as unilateral and proceed with contract closeout upon completion of the period of performance, receipt and acceptance of supplies or services, and final payment.

452.211-74 Period of Performance (FEB 1988) The period of performance of this contract is from:

Base Year: Apr 15, 2023 – Dec 31, 2024 Option Year 1: Jan 1, 2025-Dec 31,2025 Option Year 2: Jan 1, 2026-Dec 31,2026

FAR 52.214-15 Period of Acceptance of Bids (APR 1984)

In compliance with the solicitation, the bidder agrees, if this bid is accepted within 60 calendar days (60 calendar days unless a different period is inserted by the bidder) from the date specified in the solicitation for receipt of bids, to furnish any or all items upon which prices are bid at the price set opposite each item, delivered at the designated point(s), within the time specified in the Schedule.

1 – Schedule of Items

2 – Statement of Work

END OF REQUEST FOR QUOTE

SECTION VI

Attachments