SB Sources Sought Notice.pdf

SMALL BUSINESS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE (SSN)

Scientific Information Management and Literature-based Evaluations

Agency: NIH/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIIEHS)

Office: Office of Acquisitions (OA)

SSN Document #: NIH-NIEHS-2024-SIM

1 PURPOSE

This announcement constitutes a Sources Sought Notice (SSN) in accordance with FAR Part 15.201(e) – Exchanges with Industry. THIS SSN DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SOLICITATION (e.g., Invitation for Bids (IFB), Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Quotation (RFQ), etc.) nor is it to be construed as a commitment by the Government. The information requested may be used as market research for planning purposes and to facilitate decision making (i.e., acquisition strategy determinations, availability of capable small business concerns, etc.). The information submitted will not be disclosed outside the Government. Proprietary information submitted shall be appropriately marked (see SSN Section 6 – Other SSN Administrative Information for additional information relating to Contractor proprietary information).

Despite being a Small Business Sources Sought / SSN, NIEHS does encourage responses from capable businesses of all sizes (i.e., small and large business concerns), to include all the socioeconomic categories.

NOTE: The Government will not be responsible for any costs incurred by interested parties in responding to this SSN (or any possible Government follow-up questions / meetings relating to this SSN).

Not responding to this SSN does not preclude participation in any potential future solicitation.

2 DESCRIPTION

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is seeking sources that possess the capabilities to support the 9 requirement areas under this contract that support DTT within NIEHS. These requirement areas include project management; scoping reviews of the environmental health literature; systematic review and evidence synthesis; report development;

document preparation and publication; coordination and management of external peer review;

logistical management for advisory group meetings, interagency engagements, and workshops;

provision of scientific or technical consultants with expertise in relevant scientific disciplines; and development and implementation of novel tools and methodologies.

The DRAFT Statement of Work (SOW) has been attached for reference purposes and includes additional requirement details.

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

TBD

ESTIMATED PERIODS OF PERFORMANCE

The anticipated Period of Performance is ten (10) years (a base year with nine (9) option years) with an estimated start date of September 2027.

3 BACKGROUND

3.1 PROGRAM INFORMATION

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), located in the Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, is one of the 27 Institutes and Centers comprising the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The NIEHS is a multidisciplinary research institution with the primary mission of conducting research to discover how the environment influences the development and progression of human disease in order to promote healthier lives. NIEHS focuses on basic science, disease-oriented research, global environmental health, clinical research, and multidisciplinary training for researchers.

The Division of Translational Toxicology (DTT) is an intramural division of the NIEHS, NIH. DTT uses traditional and cutting-edge approaches to better understand how factors in the environment may impact human health. Such approaches include using scientific expertise to identify, collect, analyze, and interpret diverse types of information relevant to the effects of environmental exposures on human health. Information from the fields of toxicology, epidemiology, chemistry, pathology, and other disciplines is used in the design of research programs; in literature based health assessments; and in the development of new tools and methodologies.

3.2 CURRENT CONTRACT

This is not a new requirement. The current contract (GS00Q14OADU417 Order No.

HHSN273201600015U) was awarded in 2016 to ICF Incorporated, LLC, as a R&D Cost Plus Fixed Fee Level of Effort contract, procured under full and open competition. This award includes a base period, multiple option periods, and an optional 6-month extension in accordance with FAR 52.217-8, for a total contract period of performance of 10.5 years. Currently, a Justification and Approval is being reviewed to add an additional two years to this contract, which could extend the contract into September 2027.

4 INFORMATION REQUESTED

Interested Parties in assisting NIEHS with this market research are requested to submit the following information electronically to: mikel.outen@nih.gov and erica.kitzmiller@nih.gov.

Generic capability statements will not be provided to the requirements team for review.

Interested Parties shall provide the following information:

I. COMPANY INFORMATION

a. Company Name

b. CAGE Code

c. Point of Contract Name, Phone Number, and E-mail Address

d. Company Website mailto:mikel.outen@nih.gov mailto:erica.kitzmiller@nih.gov

e. ALL government contract vehicles under which the Company holds contracts (e.g., GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS), NITAAC, OASIS, etc.)

II. BUSINESS SIZE

a. The anticipated NAICS for this effort is 541715, Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology). The Small Business Administration (SBA) small business size standard for this NAICS code is 1000 employees.

b. Based on the NAICS 541715, identify your business size as Small or Large.

c. If a small business concern, identify which, if any, of the below small business socio-economic categories are applicable:

Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB

Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB)

Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB)

Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB)

Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB)

HUBZone Small Business (HZ)

d. If your company is an Other Than Small Business (OTSB) concern (i.e., large business), have you partnered or subcontracted with small business concerns to provide the same or similar services as this requirement?

III. CAPABILITIES

a. Generally, describe your company’s capabilities in fulfilling the requirements of the attached draft Statement of Work.

b. Specifically, address the questions below:

Note: The questions are intended to provide the Government with feedback about the feasibility of the requirement and broaden the knowledge of vendor capabilities.

Please answer the questions below that describe capabilities and current capacity in the following areas:

1. Is your company currently capable of providing 100% of the requirements and objectives of the subject requirement? (Explain)

2. Please describe capabilities and experience in the following areas:

1) Project management

2) Scoping reviews of the environmental health literature

3) Systematic review and evidence synthesis

4) Report development

5) Document preparation and publication

6) Coordination and management of external peer review

7) Logistical management for advisory group meetings, interagency engagements, and workshops

8) Provision of scientific or technical consultants with expertise in relevant scientific disciplines

9) Development and implementation of novel tools and methodologies

3. What is the feasibility of solutions to accomplish the requirements detailed in the Draft SOW?

Identify any barrier(s) that exist(s). Please include only items that are related to the requirement as described in the Draft SOW documents.

4. Describe your experience in a complex scientific research environment with respect to problem-solving and working with various stakeholders, such as Investigators, Systems Administrators, and Application Developers.

5. Provide up to three examples of projects of similar scope, and complexity to the NIEHS requirement described herein—preferably with the Federal Government. Briefly describe the scope of work, solutions designed/implemented, project management methodology, and best practices/lessons learned. Please be sure to describe any commercial business practices that are unique to your industry (if applicable).

6. Vendors are invited to submit comments on the Draft SOW. The comments should identify any gaps in the SOW including areas requiring clarification, missing or ambiguous requirements, staffing considerations and any other general comments or concerns. Vendors may also provide specific comments and suggestions for refining the SOW to reflect clear guidance to industry and industry best practices, as well as provide additional information that they think is relevant for developing the acquisition strategy for this requirement.

Vendors are invited to submit comments on the anticipated NAICS code, period of performance and anticipated contract type. Standard product brochures will not be considered a sufficient response to this notice. Any additional comments that are not responsive to a particular requirement/question should be separated labeled as “Additional Comments” and included at the end of the response.

5 SSN SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

5.1 QUESTIONS

Questions regarding this SSN shall be received no later than 2:00 PM Eastern Time (ET) on 15 November 2024. Questions received by the due date/time will be answered and provided to all respondents in the form of an SSN Amendment. Questions received after the due date/time may not be answered.

Questions shall be submitted in writing via e-mail to Mikel Outen at mikel.outen@nih.gov and Erica Kitzmiller at erica.kitzmiller@nih.gov, and shall reference this SSN.

5.2 SSN RESPONSES

Responses to this SSN shall be received no later than 4:00 PM Eastern Time (ET) on 22 November 2024 as identified the SSN’s online SAM.gov (formerly FBO) posting. (If there is a difference in SSN response date/time between this document and the online posting, the online posting shall take precedence.)

Responses shall be submitted electronically via e-mail to all parties listed below in Section 5.3 -

SSN Points of Contact and shall reference this SSN.

All SSN responses will be reviewed and utilized for market research.

5.3 SSN POINTS OF CONTACT

Contract Specialist: Mikel Outen @ mikel.outen@nih.gov

Contracting Officer: Erica Kitzmiller @ erica.kitzmiller@nih.gov

6 OTHER SSN ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

All information received in response to this notice that is marked “Proprietary” will be handled accordingly. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary information submitted by, or obtained from, a Respondent in any manner NIEHS determines is appropriate including, but not limited to, the creation of a competitive solicitation. Any proprietary data that is included in the response must be marked appropriately at the paragraph level (or at a more granular level as required; page level is acceptable for full page table, graphs, etc.). Any response marked proprietary at the document level will not be considered.

NIEHS personnel may contact any company responding to this SSN to clarify its capabilities/product/ other matters as part of its market research.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to Responders with respect to any information submitted.

Responses to this notice will not be returned.

7 ATTACHMENT(S)

• DRAFT Statement of Work (SOW)

8 FAR PROVISIONS

The following provision is applicable to this notice and is hereby incorporated by reference:

FAR 52.215-3: Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes (Oct 1997).

The full text of this provision is available at: https://www.acquisition.gov/far/52.215-3.

https://www.acquisition.gov/far/52.215-3