Sol_140L3722R0006.pdf

SEE ADDENDUMIS CHECKED

CODE 18a. PAYMENT WILL BE MADE BY

CODE

FACILITYCODE

17b. CHECK IF REMITTANCE IS DIFFERENT AND PUT SUCH ADDRESS IN OFFER

OFFEROR

LFA

BOISE ID 83705

3833 S. DEVELOPMENT AVE.

BLM FA-NTL INTRAGCY FIRE CTR(FA250)

CODE 16. ADMINISTERED BYCODE

X

X

113210

SIZE STANDARD:

% FOR:SET ASIDE:UNRESTRICTED ORLFA

RFPIFB

10. THIS ACQUISITION ISCODE

RFQ

14. METHOD OF SOLICITATION

13b. RATING

NAICS:

SMALL BUSINESS

04/05/2022 1300 MD

03/11/2022

(208) 387-5544Diane Barker (No collect calls)

INFORMATION CALL:

FOR SOLICITATION 8. OFFER DUE DATE/LOCAL TIMEb. TELEPHONE NUMBER a. NAME

4. ORDER NUMBER3. AWARD/ 6. SOLICITATION

140L3722R0006

5. SOLICITATION NUMBER

SOLICITATION/CONTRACT/ORDER FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS 1. REQUISITION NUMBER PAGE OF

1 80 OFFEROR TO COMPLETE BLOCKS 12, 17, 23, 24, & 30

TELEPHONE NO.

17a. CONTRACTOR/

15. DELIVER TO

BOISE ID 83705

3833 S. DEVELOPMENT AVE.

9. ISSUED BY

7.

2. CONTRACT NO.

EFFECTIVE DATE

$12.00

18b. SUBMIT INVOICES TO ADDRESS SHOWN IN BLOCK 18a UNLESS BLOCK BELOW

ISSUE DATE

DELIVERY FOR FOB DESTINA-

TION UNLESS BLOCK IS

MARKED

11.

SEE SCHEDULEX

12. DISCOUNT TERMS

THIS CONTRACT IS A

RATED ORDER UNDER

DPAS (15 CFR 700)

13a.

SERVICE-DISABLED

VETERAN-OWNED

SMALL BUSINESS

HUBZONE SMALL

BUSINESS

8(A)

BLM FA-NTL INTRAGCY FIRE CTR(FA250)

WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS

(WOSB) ELIGIBLE UNDER THE WOMEN-OWNED

SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAM

EDWOSB

24.

AMOUNT

23.

UNIT PRICE

22.

UNIT

21.

QUANTITY

20.

SCHEDULE OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES

19.

ITEM NO.

FY22-1 Spring Consolidated Seed Buy.

The Solicitation closing date is 4/05/2022 at 1300 MT (Boise local time)

The BLM National Interagency Fire Center has a requirement for the Spring Consolidated Seed Buy for various quantities and varieties of seed to be delivered to multiple locations per the attached spreadsheet (Attachment 1). Delivery dates for all seed is April 29, 2022 through May

(Use Reverse and/or Attach Additional Sheets as Necessary)

HEREIN, IS ACCEPTED AS TO ITEMS:

X

XX

DATED

Diane Barker

. YOUR OFFER ON SOLICITATION (BLOCK 5),

INCLUDING ANY ADDITIONS OR CHANGES WHICH ARE SET FORTH

COPIES TO ISSUING OFFICE. CONTRACTOR AGREES TO FURNISH AND DELIVER

ARE

ARE

31c. DATE SIGNED

27b. CONTRACT/PURCHASE ORDER INCORPORATES BY REFERENCE FAR 52.212-4. FAR 52.212-5 IS ATTACHED. ADDENDA

31a. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (SIGNATURE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER)

30c. DATE SIGNED 31b. NAME OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print)

ALL ITEMS SET FORTH OR OTHERWISE IDENTIFIED ABOVE AND ON ANY ADDITIONAL

SHEETS SUBJECT TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SPECIFIED.

27a. SOLICITATION INCORPORATES BY REFERENCE FAR 52.212-1, 52.212-4. FAR 52.212-3 AND 52.212-5 ARE ATTACHED. ADDENDA

26. TOTAL AWARD AMOUNT (For Govt. Use Only)

OFFER

STANDARD FORM 1449 (REV. 2/2012)

Prescribed by GSA - FAR (48 CFR) 53.212

ARE NOT ATTACHED.

ARE NOT ATTACHED.

AUTHORIZED FOR LOCAL REPRODUCTION

PREVIOUS EDITION IS NOT USABLE

30b. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print)

30a. SIGNATURE OF OFFEROR/CONTRACTOR

28. CONTRACTOR IS REQUIRED TO SIGN THIS DOCUMENT AND RETURN

25. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA

29. AWARD OF CONTRACT:

REF.

32e. MAILING ADDRESS OF AUTHORIZED GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE

32c. DATE 32b. SIGNATURE OF AUTHORIZED GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE

ACCEPTED, AND CONFORMS TO THE CONTRACT, EXCEPT AS NOTED:

32a. QUANTITY IN COLUMN 21 HAS BEEN

RECEIVED INSPECTED

40. PAID BY39. S/R VOUCHER NUMBER38. S/R ACCOUNT NUMBER

37. CHECK NUMBER

FINALPARTIAL

36. PAYMENT

FINALPARTIAL

35. AMOUNT VERIFIED

CORRECT FOR

34. VOUCHER NUMBER33. SHIP NUMBER

COMPLETE

32g. E-MAIL OF AUTHORIZED GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE

42d. TOTAL CONTAINERS42c. DATE REC'D (YY/MM/DD)

42b. RECEIVED AT (Location)

42a. RECEIVED BY (Print)

41c. DATE41b. SIGNATURE AND TITLE OF CERTIFYING OFFICER

41a. I CERTIFY THIS ACCOUNT IS CORRECT AND PROPER FOR PAYMENT

STANDARD FORM 1449 (REV. 2/2012) BACK

24.

AMOUNT

23.

UNIT PRICE

22.

UNIT

21.

QUANTITY

20.

SCHEDULE OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES

19.

ITEM NO.

18, 2022.

Pre-bid Conference Call is scheduled for 3/22/22 at 1000 MT, see Section A for details.

Vendors will NOT be contacted if items are missing from their offer packages. It is the vendor's responsibility to ensure the offer package is complete.

If any of the items listed below are not in the offer package, the entire offer is considered non-responsive and will not be eligible for award.

Offer packages must include:

1. Offer spreadsheet, correctly filled out.

2. Past performance reference list with a minimum of 3 current references.

3. Signed and dated SF1449.

4. Pre-Qualification & Incentive paperwork

5. Sign and Acknowledge Amendments

6. Seed Dealer Licenses

Submit bids via email to dbarker@blm.gov.

The SPREADSHEET (Attachment 1) should be renamed with the offeror's company name. Offerors should only complete Columns with yellow headers. Do NOT alter any other columns. Delete (don't hide) any

Continued ...

32f. TELEPHONE NUMBER OF AUTHORIZED GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE

32d. PRINTED NAME AND TITLE OF AUTHORIZED GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE

80 2 of

ITEM NO. SUPPLIES/SERVICES QUANTITY UNIT UNIT PRICE AMOUNT

NAME OF OFFEROR OR CONTRACTOR

3 80

CONTINUATION SHEET

REFERENCE NO. OF DOCUMENT BEING CONTINUED PAGE OF

(A) (B) (C) (D) (E) (F)

140L3722R0006 rows that you are not bidding. Price per pound should be offered as 2 decimal places only. Lines where offered seed has more than 2 decimal places will rounded to 2 decimal places.

If offered seed does not meet the exact requirements of the requested seed, that seed will be disqualified from receiving award consideration.

Offerors must be registered in the System for

Award Management website www.SAM.gov and be active when bids are being evaluated.

Commercial item. FOB Destination. IPP Invoicing.

Offeror's bid lines will be evaluated based upon the criteria provided in Section M of the

Solicitation. Vendor bid lines will be ranked by lowest PLS price, then given priority to

Prequalified Annual Brome Free.

00010 See Attachment 1 for Bidsheet showing Requested 1 LS

Seed Types.

Deliveries locations will be Boise and Shoshone only.

Product/Service Code: 8730

Product/Service Description: SEEDS AND NURSERY

STOCK

Period of Performance: 04/29/2022 to 05/18/2022

For questions regarding this Solicitation contact

Diane Barker via email at dbarker@blm.gov.

NSN 7540-01-152-8067 OPTIONAL FORM 336 (4-86)

Sponsored by GSA

FAR (48 CFR) 53.110

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Bureau of Land Management—National Interagency Fire Center—Boise, Idaho

22-1 Spring Seed Buy

SOLICITATION # 140L3722R0006

Diane Barker, Contracting Officer Date revision 02/2022

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Table of Contents

Sections A – Important Information to Offeror B – Bid Schedule/Prices C – General Specifications and Description D - Packaging and Marking (Vendor’s responsibilities before shipping) E - Inspection and Acceptance (Government’s responsibilites after receiving) F - Deliveries or Performance G - Contract Administration Data H - Special Contract Requirements I - Contract Clauses J - List of Documents, Exhibits and Other Attachments K - Representations, Certifications, and Other Statements of Bidders L - Instructions,Conditions, and Notices to Bidders M - Evaluation Factors for Award

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SECTION A – INFORMATION TO PROSPECTIVE OFFERORS

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING CLARIFICATIONS, CHANGES AND REMINDERS FROM PREVIOUS BUYS

IT IS STILL THE VENDOR’S RESPONSIBILITY TO READ THE ENTIRE SOLICITATION AND NOT RELY SOLELY

ON THIS LIST.

***The Master Bidsheet (Attachment 1) Award Document is the governing document and has precedence over the line item information in the contract.***

IMPORTANT: A pre-bid meeting has been scheduled for:

Pre-Bid Conference Call is scheduled for:

March 22, 2022 at 10:00 AM MT Phone # 1 866 581-1353 Passcode # 5201433#

We will be reviewing Section A, Attachment 1 Bidsheet, and required submission documents.

Bid closing date: April 5, 2022 at 1300 MT time

Paperwork due at bid closing: Attachment 1 Bid Offer, Filled out and signed Solicitation form and Amendments if required, PreQualified tests and Incentive documentation, Past Performance references not associated with the Consolidated Seed Buy, and Seed Dealers Licenses are required prior to delivery, can be provided with bid submission.

Delivery Schedule: 4/29/2022 - 5/18/2022, Deliveries to Boise and Shoshone only. There will be no Ely deliveries on the Spring Buy.

1.) The Pre-Qualified (PQ-ABF) Seed Program remains the same as the as the previous solicitation. See Section C- 8 for the full specifications. Here is a list of the primary errors we encounter with Pre-Qualified seed:

A.) The offered PLS percentage is higher than the actual (tested) PLS percentage. Offerors should ensure that test results that they provide are the same test results used to calculate the offered PLS. The offered PLS must be equal to or lower than the actual (tested) PLS.

B.) If the Official Certification Germination Test is older than 6 months of the solicitation issued date (3/14/22), then an updated test is required. The Official Certification Germination Test must be dated after 09/15/22 or updated test will be required.

C.) An official Noxious weeds test must be completed for all Western States with sufficient grams provided.

D.) Any weeds found must be checked to see if they are prohibited or restricted in any of the Western States.

E.) If a weed is identified with spp at the end, it may need to be further identified to ensure compliance with the Noxious weed standards. Example: Amaranthus spp could be Amaranthus Palmeri which is listed as Noxious, or it could be an acceptable weed seed such as pigweed or waterhemp.

F.) Listing the offer as PQ-ABF when the Official Certification Germination Test identifies a weedy, invasive ANNUAL BROME SPECIES OF SEED (Examples, but not limited to Bromus secalinus, Bromus tectorum, Bromus rubens, and Bromus japonicas) on the test.

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G.) Lab test shows Canadian testing procedures were utilized. If AOSA methods were used along with Canadian, the notes need to indicate that.

2.) New programs added- Sec Section C 9: Incentive Program for Annual Brome Free and 100% Weed Free seed.

If you have weed free (100%WF) seed or Annual Brome Free (100%ABF) seed to offer, identify the seed category in the Program column of the Attachment 1 - Bid Offer. With your bid submission, you shall supply current Field Inspection documentation and for SI collected seed provide two or more test results from different labs (listed as Approved Labs in this solicitation) that shows the seed has no contaminants present. The paperwork shall be scanned together in one document and tab 3 on the Attachment 1 shall be filled out. After the paperwork has been reviewed and approved and the Master Bidsheet has been sorted by PLS price, the offered price will be increased to include the publicized incentive bonus. If the seed is selected, the awarded price will be the incentivized price. After award, samples shall be sent to 2 labs upfront, to vendor’s first and second choice labs utilizing the updated Attachment 3 form that requires Species Check for Annual Bromes.

For 100%WF seed the incentive bonus is 15%. If one seed of a contaminant is found in the lab test results, the 15% incentive will be removed without negotiations. If contaminant(s) of 2 or more seeds are found in the testing, a 20% price reduction will be applied to the awarded price, without negotiations.

For 100%ABF seed the incentive bonus is 10%. The seed shall be free of any Annual Brome species per the definition in Section C, can only have common weeds found at a low rate of no more than 4 seeds per sample, no noxious weeds found including restricted noxious weeds within the allowable tolerance, and no Amaranthus found that would require DNA testing. If one seed (above the allowable) of a contaminant is found in the lab test results, the 10% incentive will be removed without negotiations. If contaminant(s) of 2 or more seeds (above the allowable) are found in the testing, a 15% price reduction will be applied to the awarded price, without negotiations.

Seed offered under these programs shall be well tested seed that no contaminants have been detected.

Preference will be given to these programs during the source selection process. If vendors are repeat offenders of seed not meeting the requirements for this program, the performance will be documented in CPARS.

3.) Bid revision specification added in Section C-10. Doesn’t apply to the Spring Buy. Review for future reference.

4.) Changes to the APPROVED SEED TESTING FACILITIES see Section C 5

i. Approved Facilities include Official State Seed Laboratories in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

ii. Approved Private Seed Laboratories include the following: NONE

iii. Additional labs will be considered if found to be beneficial or required. Any new labs that want to be considered as an approved seed testing facility will have to apply with the following criteria required:

1. Hold an Accredited Seed Lab (ASL) certification from the USDA or be accredited with ISTA.

2. Provide resumes, qualifications, and certifications

3. Perform testing on 4-6 Government supplied samples

iv. Seed Labs may be removed from the approved list at any time, at the discretion of the Government.

v. Contractors with close business connections to an approved private seed lab will not be allowed to use their services for seed lot testing. Offerors are cautioned that they must not include any testing laboratories that are associated with the offerors firm in any fashion such as having a financial interest, controlling interest, or associated interests. Inclusion of any associated laboratories may pose either an actual or potential conflict of interest and may prove detrimental to the evaluation of the offer and subsequent possible awards.

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5.) Before delivery of seed review the specification in Section D concerning:

Paperwork needed before shipping How to setup a delivery appointment Pallets and shipping requirements Samples needed and how to provide to the Government

6.) Source Identified (SI) seed bidding process has changed. All source identified (SI) seed collections shall be offered by Eco-region and Provisional Seed Transfer Zone (STZ), mirroring the Sagebrush process. The Attachment 1-Bidsheet has been updated to include drop-down selections for all Provisional Seed Transfer Zones. You will need to type out the Eco-region information. Sagebrush remains the same with the limited (3) Eco-regions and limited Seed Transfer Zones.

Forage Kochia is an exception to the previous paragraph. Forage Kochia is no longer evaluated based upon collection site location due to it being a non-native, introduced seed that adapts well to a broad range of growing conditions found in the west. On the Attachment 1, offerors still need to identify the SI location site that matches the information on the tags, but the site information can be more generic, including multiple collection sites on one line.

7.) Clarification on Seed Certification category

BLM has encountered a significant number of issues regarding the Seed Certification category. On the Attachment 1 Bid Sheet, the requested seed types, offerors must provide seed of the same certification that are listed on the Bid Sheet. If an offeror’s seed certification doesn’t match what is listed on the Bid Sheet, the offeror must move the item down below in the additional items portion of the spreadsheet and update the certification and classification field to match what is being offered. See Section C 4 for categories and descriptions.

8.) Problems encountered with Seed samples, be sure to review the full specifications in Section D.

A. The quantity of seed in the official sample, shall be fully representative of each lot of seed furnished, must be enough to provide the required samples: ONE sample bag to the first choice Seed Testing Lab listed in the Attachment 1 AND ONE sample bag for retesting to EACH point of delivery. The samples shall be boxed together, easily located, and shipped with the seed. Seed Samples are not required for Pre-Qualified Seed.

B. Samplers MUST USE Seed Analysis Request Form (Attachment 3 revised) to request seed lab tests.

Seed test analysis will include purity (inert, other crop, weed seed), TZ, All States Noxious Weed Exam for Western States, and species check for Downy Brome.

9.) Changes to SEED QUALITY from Section E 2

All seed offered must meet or exceed the following seed quality standards:

a) Visual: All seed will be inspected for cleaning requirements as stated in Section C.

b) PLS: Seed must meet offered PLS requirements as stated in the Attachment 1 Bid Sheet.

c) 0.25% or less Weed seed for all types of seed will be accepted. Changed from .50%

d) New requirement- Annual Downy Brome is not to exceed 400 seeds per pound or no more than 6 seeds per sample.

e) 2.00% or less Other crop for all seed except Thickspike Wheatgrass-Critana will be accepted

f) Thickspike Wheatgrass-Critana – up to 10.00% Slender Wheatgrass as other crop seed (per seed certification) will be accepted.

g) NO seed mixes will be accepted.

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10.) Expectation of seed condition.

During the Fall Buy, we had an abundance of seed delivered that didn’t meet our specifications. The seed needs to come in cleaner, meeting the Government specifications. We do not have the manpower or time to deal with the number of lots that needed to be reconditioned and replaced. We have an expectation that non-new harvest seed (previous year crops), the lots will be free of noxious weeds and other issues since you have had time to test the seed and resolve any issues prior to offering and delivering the seed. Seed that is offered and found to not meet our specification, when reconditioning, we expect the seed to be processed immediately. You cannot delay the recleaning process. You offered the seed, you said it could be delivered within our timeframe, you need process the reconditioning immediately.

11.) Issues encountered with Invoices. Review Section G 3 for full details that identifies the requirements for an invoice to be deemed proper and acceptable for payment approval.

A proper invoice has the following required information:

Vendor’s name Invoice date Invoice number Name of Office/Organization that purchased the seed (NOT seed delivery location) BLM-National Seed Program Contract Award Number (140L3722C00XX) Award Line Item Number (line # from contract award document) Spread Sheet ID number (SSID) Description (including, for example, seed species/variety, lot #, price, and quantity of goods rendered in bulk pounds).

Contact name (where practicable), title, and telephone number.

Other substantiating documentation, if required by the order.

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SECTION B - SUPPLIES OR SERVICES/PRICES

B.1 BID SCHEDULE

BID SCHEDULE IS ATTACHED SEPARATELY

File name is Attachment 1 Bid Schedule

A tab has been added to the Attachment 1 document with Instructions on how to fill out the form.

A third tab has been added to the Attachment 1 document that is required to be filled out if bidding Pre-Qualified Annual Brome Free seed and Incentive programs. It provides a document for the offeror to fill out that cross references the offeror’s bid items with the required paperwork per lot number. Offeror’s must scan and email, along with all the other required bid documents, test results for all PQ-ABF line items in one document and Incentive program line items in another document. The scanned document must provide the required paperwork for each line item in bid row order and must match the order in the spreadsheet.

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SECTION C - DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIFICATION INDEX

1. SEED OFFERS

The Government reserves the right to award on any item offered in any category, or a combination of the categories, per the evaluation criteria specified in Section M of this solicitation, “Basis for Award,” if it is in the best interest of the public and the best value for the Government to do so. All awards are contingent upon price reasonableness and the availability of funds at the time of award.

Offerors may offer all available seed. The estimated quantities column on the Attachment 1 bidsheet has been removed. Due to the unpredictability of fires, the estimated amount is an unknown figure.

Substitutions: Do not offer alternate species for substitution within a stated variety. For example, an offeror cannot offer Paloma Indian Ricegrass or any other variety or species of grass under the Item No. XYZ Indian Ricegrass Rimrock. The offeror will need to offer Paloma under its specific item number, or if the variety is not listed, then it can be offered in the Additonals section at the bottom of the bidsheet. If substitutions need to be made individual warehouses will select the species and variety that they wish to substitute for.

Seed bids will be competed on a lowest Pure Live Seed (PLS) price per pound. However, award amount will be for bulk price per pound, expressed with a maximum of two decimal places calculated from PLS price. If one offeror receives award of more than one item, simultaneous performance is required.

All costs of transportation from shipping point(s) to destination shall be paid by the Contractor and included in the price offered for the item(s). The Contractor shall be responsible for any/all damage occurring in transit.

Additional Seed Offered: Vendors may offer additional seed not requested on the spreadsheet. There is no limit to the species nor quantities that are offered. Government makes no guarantee to purchase additional seed.

NOTE: Seed specifications may be included herein for items which are not specified in the seed price schedule.

2. LICENSING REQUIREMENTS

All successful offerors shall comply with the Seed Dealers Licensing requirements of the Pure Seed Law for the State in which seed is delivered (currently Idaho and Nevada). Reference the following sites for the Pure Seed Law by State:

AZ - http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/laws/az.shtml

CA - http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/pe/Nursery/pdfs/SeedLaw2009.pdf

CO - http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/Agriculture-Main/CDAG/1167928162859

ID - http://www.agri.idaho.gov/Categories/Laboratories/Seed/seedlawsrules.php

NV - http://www.leg.state.nv.us/NAC/NAC-587.html

NM - http://nmdaweb.nmsu.edu/animal-and-plant-protection/seeds/

MT - http://agr.mt.gov/crops/seed.asp

OR - http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/CID/seed_services.shtml#Seed_licenses UT - Utah Seed Act http://le.utah.gov/~code/TITLE04/04_16.htm

UT - http://www.rules.utah.gov/publicat/code/r068/r068-008.htm

WA - http://agr.wa.gov/default.htm

WY - http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/seedlab/Seed.pdf http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/laws/az.shtml http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/pe/Nursery/pdfs/SeedLaw2009.pdf http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/Agriculture-Main/CDAG/1167928162859 http://www.agri.idaho.gov/Categories/Laboratories/Seed/seedlawsrules.php http://www.leg.state.nv.us/NAC/NAC-587.html http://nmdaweb.nmsu.edu/animal-and-plant-protection/seeds/ http://agr.mt.gov/crops/seed.asp http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/CID/seed_services.shtml#Seed_licenses http://le.utah.gov/~code/TITLE04/04_16.htm http://www.rules.utah.gov/publicat/code/r068/r068-008.htm http://agr.wa.gov/default.htm http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/seedlab/Seed.pdf

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3. FEDERAL SEED ACT, DESTINATION STATE LAWS, NOXIOUS WEEDS - STATE LAWS

All seed offered must meet all requirements of the Federal Seed Act (7 U.S.C. §. 1551-1610 incl.) and the seed laws of the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, as applicable.

4. SEED OFFER CATEGORIES: CERTIFIED/CERTIFIED PRE-VARIETY GERMPLASM/NON-

CERTIFIED/AREA of ORIGIN CLAIMED

A. CERTIFIED SEED: For a definition of the various certified classes refer to the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agency (AOSCA) website at www.aosca.org. Once you enter the site click on programs, then “seed certification”. Also, click on “Native Plant connection” to download the publication entitled “The AOSCA Native Plant Connection”. This publication explains the certified pre-variety germplasm (PVG) program specified in the next section.

i. RELEASED VARIETIES: Certified Seed of released varieties (Letter designator (A) in the schedule) is field cultivated seed of native or introduced species produced according to rules established by AOSCA and official state seed certification programs.

1. Wild collected (e.g. released varieties such as Lassen Antelope Bitterbrush or Hobble Creek Sagebrush, can be classified as certified when specific collection areas have been established).

2. Classes of certified seed are foundation (white tag), registered (purple tag), and certified (blue tag).

ii. All blue, white and purple tag certified seed shall meet the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies (AOSCA) quality standards and/or State standards, whichever is stricter, for the State in which the seed was certified or of seed origin. Visit the website at http://aosca.org.

iii. Seed varieties which have plant variety protection (PVP) shall be tagged with official tags from the company which owns the rights to the variety showing authorization for use of the plant materials.

B. PRE-VARIETY GERMPLASM (SEED LETTER DESIGNATED PVG IN THE SEED PRICE SCHEDULE):

Certified Pre-Variety Germplasm (PVG) seed is either wild collected or field cultivated seed of native or naturalized species produced according to rules established by AOSCA and official state seed certification programs. PVG seed tags include verified source information of county, state and elevation of both the site or original collection and the site of field production, if applicable. Three categories of certified PVG may be accepted:

i. Tested Class (light blue tag) is designated as germplasm for which progeny testing has proven desirable traits to be heritable.

ii. Selected Class (S) (green tag) (Letter designator (S) in the schedule), seed is designated as germplasm showing promise of desirable traits, having been selected either within an accession or plant population or as a common site comparison among accessions or populations of the same species.

iii. Source Identified (SI) Class (yellow tag) (Letter designator (SI) in the schedule), is seed designated as unevaluated germplasm identified only as to species and location of the wild growing parents. The majority of certified PVG wildland collected seed offered is tagged Source Identified.

PVG certification tags shall include the scientific and common species’ names: specific germplasm identification (information applicable); Eco-Region and ProvisionalSeed Transfer Zones; (latitude may be included if customer requests from certifying agency of the seed germplasm source site and whether or not it is indigenous on that site;

the location and generation of a seed increase field from which the seed was harvested (if applicable); and whether the tagged seed is natural –track or manipulated track in status (meaning whether or not the seed germplasm has been altered or manipulated during the original collection or during subsequent cultivated production.

C. NON-CERTIFIED SEED - ONLY IN OTHER OFFERED CATEGORY (Letter designator (B) on the schedule):

http://aosca.org/

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i. All other seed that is not certified.

ii. Seed purchased as non-certified will be labeled with an analysis tag. Refer to Packaging and Marking for Analysis tag requirements in Section D 3.)

D. AREA OF ORIGIN CLAIMED SEED - ONLY IN OTHER OFFERED CATEGORY (Letter designator (AOC) on the schedule):

i. Wildland collected seed that is not certified as Source Identified or another category of PVG seed. Area of Origin Claimed seed shall be delivered with an analysis tag and a signed area of origin and species statement (Attachment 2

- AOC statement). The offeror, by submission of this statement, is claiming that seed meets area of origin location requirements.

ii. Along with Area of Origin and Species Statement, AOC seed shall be delivered with analysis tags Refer to Packaging and Marking for Analysis tag requirements in Section D.

5. APPROVED SEED TESTING FACILITIES

i. Approved Facilities include Official State Seed Laboratories in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

ii. Approved Private Seed Laboratories include the following: NONE

iii. Additional labs will be considered if found to be beneficial or required. Any new labs that want to be considered as an approved seed testing facility will have to apply with the following criteria required:

1. Hold an Accredited Seed Lab (ASL) certification from the USDA or be accredited with ISTA.

2. Provide resumes, qualifications, and certifications

3. Perform testing on 4-6 Government supplied samples

iv. Seed Labs may be removed from the approved list at any time, at the discretion of the Government.

v. Contractors with close business connections to an approved private seed lab will not be allowed to use their services for seed lot testing. Offerors are cautioned that they must not include any testing laboratories that are associated with the offerors firm in any fashion such as having a financial interest, controlling interest, or associated interests. Inclusion of any associated laboratories may pose either an actual or potential conflict of interest and may prove detrimental to the evaluation of the offer and subsequent possible awards.

6. DETERMINING PURE LIVE SEED CONTENT

Offerors must insert, in the spaces provided in the Schedule, the percent of purity and germination of the seed offered under each item. Failure to furnish this data for an item on which an offer is made, will result in rejection of that item. For the purpose of determining the percentage of pure live seed (% PLS) and the pure live seed price ($ PLS), the following formula shall be used:

(% Purity) x (% Germination (TZ))

100 = % PLS

Offered Price $

PLS = $ PLS

The PLS rating and PLS price shall be stated to a maximum of 4 decimal places, rounding the 4th place up if the 5 decimal place is 5 and above. In case of mathematical discrepancies between purity, germination, % PLS, and $ PLS, purity and germination will govern along with bulk price.

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7. PRE-QUALIFIED-ANNUAL BROME FREE SEED (PQ-ABF)

PRE-QUALIFIED-ANNUAL BROME FREE SEED: (Letter designator (PQ-ABF) in the schedule) is seed that meets the Government’s need to rapidly expedite the use of the seed within Close of Business (COB) of delivery meeting all of the requirements listed in Section E 2 and 3. There shall not be any reason the seed cannot be used directly from the actual delivery location and date. To qualify as “Pre-Qualified-Annual Brome Free” please read and understand the steps:

STEP 1: The contractor must provide a valid Analysis report which is the Official Certification Germination Test (Germination test is required) from an approved seed testing facility that meets all of the seed quality standards and is WITHOUT ANNUAL BROME SPECIES OF SEED. Annual Brome species are considered to be those which have characteristics that are non-native, invasive and weedy which include the following varieties Bromus secalinus, Bromus tectorum, Bromus rubens, and Bromus japonicas, however the list may not be all inclusive.

The Official Certification Germination Test shall be completed within 6 months of solicitation issued date and up to the date of the bid closing. If the official certification germination test is older than 6 months, then a new Purity, Noxious weed exam, and TZ update is required. The original test result shall be from the same year as the harvest or collection year of the crop.

Seed certification types that are eligible to be bid as Pre-Qualified seed is Certified blue tags (A) only, excluding certified Kochia. To be considered, the seed shall meet the minimum PLS standards, meets the noxious weed standards for ALL WESTERN STATES, meets all other quality standards as listed in Section E 2 Seed Quality, and having no annual Brome seed present. (The Government will exercise its right to perform random seed testing for compliance on pre-qualified seed.)

(Section E).

The Attachment 3 shall be provided on any new test and the sample shall be pulled by a Certified Sampler (Crop Improvement Agency or State Department of Agriculture). The lab test shall state who pulled the sample and their affiliation.

The seed shall be certified only by the legally authorized AOSCA seed certifying agency in each state (i.e., State Department of Agriculture, Crop Improvement Association, etc.). Each bag of seed shall bear the official Blue tag as listed above and the certification tag attached in the approved manner under the supervision of the certifying agency.

i. All bags containing certified seed shall be marked (stenciled or marked with indelible ink) with the lot number under which the lot was originally certified.

ii. Seed purchased under this option will still be labeled with its applicable seed analysis tag.

STEP 2: All appropriate documentation (original test and updated test) must be scanned together in one document for all PQ- ABF line items bid, in numerical order by Bid Row, and submitted with the offer. In the Attachment 1 spreadsheet, there is a tab that contains a spreadsheet that cross-references bid information to test results with lot numbers. The spreadsheet needs filled out and submitted with the attachment 1 Bid sheet. A column has been added to the Attachment 1 document to require harvest year of the seed that is being offered.

STEP 3: Upon review of the initial receipt of documentation, if the test result paperwork identifies that the lot number doesn’t qualify as PQ-ABF seed, the line will be marked as “unresponsive” and may not be evaluated in Round 1. The offeror may be notified and allowed to correct the information and adjust the pricing. The line item will be considered for award in the future rounds of the seed buy. What disqualifies seed offers from PQ-ABF are the following items:

1. Preliminary tests or incomplete items of documentation.

2. Seed tests which are dated prior to 6 months from solicitation issued date and has no updated test

3. PLS rate listed on bid sheet is higher than PLS on test

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4. TESTS THAT REFLECT ANY ANNUAL BROME SPECIES (see definition of Annual Brome above or in Section C 14 Definitions)

5. Or any other issues identified on the test that does not meet the Government specifications.

6. No Germ test submitted, the sample not pulled by State affiliated certified sampler, updated test doesn’t include:

purity, noxious weed exam for all Western States, and TZ.

STEP 4: If after delivery of seed, the offer has been disqualified from Pre- Qualified Annual Brome Free status the

GOVERNMENT MAY ELECT ONE OF THE OPTIONS:

Option 1, the Government may elect to accept the seed as non-prequalified seed with a price reduction for the specifications that was not met or was below the offered bid AND a reduction for non-prequalified status.

Option 2, elect to have the seed reconditioned or replaced with a new seed lot number that meets the offered item, if time allows. The allowable time is solely at the discretion and determination of the government. Seed testing costs shall be the responsibility of the Contractor.

Option 3, elect to reject the seed without replacement. If seed does not meet contract specifications and time does not allow replacement, the seed may be rejected, and the contract terminated for cause. The allowable time is solely at the discretion and determination of the government. Re-procurement charges may be assessed to the Contractor if the seed is still needed, otherwise, actual damages may be assessed as determined by the Contracting Officer.

8. TESTED APPROVED SEED- ONLY APPLIES IN SEED BUYS WITH MULTIPLE ROUNDS

TESTED APPROVED SEED: Letter designator (TAPS) in the schedule is a seed lot that was previously submitted, sampled by a certified sampler, and tested from an approved testing facility during the current contract performance period. The seed lot needs to meet the compliance requirements and specifications in the solicitation to be approved. (This excludes:

(Freezer Stored Sagebrush and Kochia) To qualify please read and understand the steps:

STEP 1: The contractor must provide the same lot number of seed that was offered, awarded, and approved after lab testing, in a previous round of the procurement process without the need for a modification. For example: if the seed lot number was sampled and tested in Round 1 and it met the BLM’s minimum PLS, the vendor’s offered PLS, and met the restricted prohibited noxious weed standards for ALL WESTERN STATES, then the remaining pounds are eligible and shall be offered as tested and approved seed (TAPS) for the Government to accept the seed lot without further sampling and testing of the lot on any rounds during the procurement award process. The line(s) must be identified as TAPS during the bid revision process if already deemed acceptable. If the seed is accepted after the bid revision is due, then after receiving the Attachment 1 awarded lines, any TAPS line must be identified in writing to the Contracting Officer.

STEP 2: The Government will evaluate the Seed Analysis report and will utilize the test for the same lot number of seed that is offered and awarded on any further round or rounds of procurement in the current solicitation process.

STEP 3: If the offered seed lot is found not in compliance with the contract requirements or specifications it will not be approved and will need to meet the compliance requirements for seed certification, seed sampling and seed testing procedures. Inform the Contract Officer (CO) and the Contract Officer Representative (COR) immediately of any issues.

9. Incentive Program for Annual Brome Free and 100% Weed Free seed

If you have weed free (100%WF) seed or Annual Brome Free (100%ABF) seed to offer, identify the seed category in the Program column of the Attachment 1 - Bid Offer. With your bid submission, you shall supply current Field Inspection documentation and for SI collected seed provide two or more test results from different labs (listed as Approved Labs in this solicitation) that shows the seed has no contaminants present. The paperwork shall be scanned together in one document and tab 3 on the Attachment 1 shall be filled out. After the paperwork has been reviewed and approved and the Master Bidsheet has been sorted by PLS price, the offered price will be increased to include the publicized incentive bonus. If the seed is selected, the awarded price will be the incentivized price. After award, samples shall be sent to 2 labs upfront, to vendor’s first and second choice labs utilizing the updated Attachment 3 form that requires Species Check for Annual Bromes.

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For 100%WF seed the incentive bonus is 15%. If one seed of a contaminant is found in the lab test results, the 15% incentive will be removed without negotiations. If contaminant(s) of 2 or more seeds are found in the testing, a 20% price reduction will be applied to the awarded price, without negotiations.

For 100%ABF seed the incentive bonus is 10%. The seed shall be free of any Annual Brome species per the definition in Section C, can only have common weeds found at a low rate of no more than 4 seeds per sample, no noxious weeds found including restricted noxious weeds within the allowable tolerance, and no Amaranthus found that would require DNA testing. If one seed (above the allowable) of a contaminant is found in the lab test results, the 10% incentive will be removed without negotiations. If contaminant(s) of 2 or more seeds (above the allowable) are found in the testing, a 15% price reduction will be applied to the awarded price, without negotiations.

Seed offered under these programs shall be well tested seed that no contaminants have been detected.

Preference will be given to these programs during the source selection process. If vendors are repeat offenders of seed not meeting the requirements for this program, the performance will be documented in CPARS.

10. BID REVISION (used on multi-round Buys only)

The bid revision process is in place for use in multi-round buys with an extended timeframe required to hold the offered price firm, refer to Section F.1. The bid revision process helps to mitigate some of the risk associated with the extended timeframe in regard to the number of pounds offered, not the pricing. The pounds can be reduced due to the crop not performing as expected, quality issues found, or selling the seed outside of the Consolidated Seed Buy; or you can add additional pounds due to the crop performing better than expected. The integrity of the seed buy has to remain intact; the pricing cannot be manipulated.

All offerors will be given the opportunity, between rounds, to update their offer to show the pounds available for the next round. Instructions and examples will be provided on how to submit your bid revision. The pounds can be reduced, terminated (offer removed due to seed no longer available), or additional pounds added. The pounds cannot be shuffled from low priced lines to high priced lines or the opposite, that loses the integrity of the buy due to the pounds being shifted from different price points.

If you terminate or reduce the pounds on a seed type, you cannot add additional pounds to the same variety of seed at a different price point for the remainder of the Seed Buy. If you terminate an awarded line, then all offered lines of the same species must be removed during the bid revision process. If a seed type required a modification for any quality issue and you are offering the same lot, you shall change the price to match the modification and provide a comment on the line.

When adding additional pounds, you may add the pounds to any line that you originally offered.

11. ORIGIN AND SOURCE REQUIREMENTS

a. Certified Seed (variety/cultivar)

i. ORIGIN Requirement:

1. For Certified seed offered under this solicitation ORIGIN (where the seed is grown in a cultivated field) shall only be from a country or state of North America (unless otherwise specified) Classes of certified seed are foundation (white tag), registered (purple tag), and certified (blue tag).

ii. SOURCE Requirements:

1. WITH A VARIETY NAME: Source is not restricted nor does source information have to be provided since seed is a known cultivar.

b. Non-Certified Seed (variety/cultivar)

i. ORIGIN Requirement:

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1. For seed offered under this solicitation ORIGIN (where the seed is grown in a cultivated field) shall be from a country or state of North America (unless otherwise specified)

ii. SOURCE Requirements:

1. WITH A “VARIETY” NAME: Source is not restricted nor does source information have to be provided since seed is a known cultivar.

c. Source Identified and Area of Origin Claimed Seed (Certified PVG and non-certified germplasm respectively)

All geographic site requirements as specified in this section must be met with the seed that is offered on the schedule. Offeror, by submission of its offer, is claiming that seed meets geographic site requirements. The requirement to provide Source Identified (or other category of PVG) Tags or Signed Species Area of Origin Claimed Statement for non-certified wildland collected seed is at time of delivery. Geographic site (New collections require Eco-Region and Seed Transfer Zone) previous collections require COUNTY, STATE, ELEVATION and PRECIP) is required as part of the Bid package.

A) ORIGIN Requirement:

1. For seed offered under this solicitation ORIGIN (where the seed is grown in a cultivated field) shall be from a country or state of North America.

2. For seed offered under this solicitation geographic site (where the seed is Wildland Collected) shall be from the source requirements as listed below.

B) SOURCE Requirements:

1. GEOGRAPHIC SITE FOR SEED LISTED IN THE SCHEDULE AS NATIVE (N): Native seed will be from AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY. Cultivated fields will be limited to the origin requirements as listed above.

2. If seed categorized as Introduced with a known varietal name but wildland collected, the seed cannot be referred to with the varietal name and the geographic site where collected shall be provided. However, origin must be from North America (i.e. wildland collected in a country or state of North America).

12. INDIVIDUAL SPECIES

a. SANDBERG’S BLUEGRASS SEED

Source Identification (SI) certification and Area of Origin Claimed Specification – All Sandberg’s bluegrass seed (Poa Secunda) delivered under this contract shall be accepted when collected from Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. However, seed will also be accepted when collected from sites in northern Nevada, Utah, or California (north of 40° North Latitude). Seed from collection sites in Nevada, Utah, or California (north of 36° North Latitude and south of 40° North Latitude) will also be accepted if collected from sites between 4,000 feet and 7,500 feet elevation. Ensure each lot number is in compliance with latitude and elevations requirements.

The Area of Origin Claimed Statement shall also include verification that each lot of seed was collected from Poa Secunda plants.

b. BOTTLEBRUSH SQUIRRETAIL SEED

Source Identification (SI certification), and Area of Origin Claimed Specification – All bottlebrush squirreltail seed (Elymus elymoides) delivered under this Contract shall be accepted when collected (source/origin) from collection sites in Idaho, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, or Utah (North of 34° North Latitude and south of 45° North Latitude) will also be accepted if collected from sites between 3,500- and 6,500-feet elevation. Ensure each lot number is in compliance with latitude and elevations requirements. The Area of Origin Claimed Statement shall also include verification that each lot of seed was collected from Elymus elymoides ssp elymoides or Elymus elymoides ssp. Californicus or Elymus elymoides ssp. Brevifolius plants.

Debearding – seed shall be processed and cleaned so that a minimum of 90% of the individual seeds. The remaining 10% of the seeds shall have awns less than ½” in length.

c. BLUEBUNCH WHEATGRASS SEED

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Source Identification (SI certification), and Area of Origin Claimed Specification – All Bluebunch Wheatgrass seed (Pseudoroegneria spicata) delivered under this Contract shall be accepted when collected (source/origin) from Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. Seed will also be accepted when collected North of 40° North Latitude from sites in Nevada, Utah, Colorado, or California. Seed from collection sites in Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado or California (North of 34° North Latitude and south of 40° North Latitude) will also be accepted if collected from sites between 3,500- and 6,500-feet elevation. Ensure each lot number complies with latitude and elevations requirements. The Area of Origin Claimed Statement shall also include verification that each lot of seed was collected from Pseudoroegneria spicata plants.

d. NEEDLE AND THREAD GRASS

Source Identification (SI certification) and Area of Origin Claimed Specification - The Area of Origin Claimed Statement shall also include verification that each lot of seed was collected from Hesperostipa comata plants.

Debearding – Needle and Thread seed shall be processed, and awns cleaned so that a minimum of 90% of the individual seeds have less than 1/8” in length of the awn remaining. The remaining 10% of the seeds shall have awns less than ¼” in length.

e. SAND DROPSEED

Source Identification (SI certification) and Area of Origin Claimed Specification – All Sand Dropseed delivered under this Contract shall be accepted when collected from Idaho, and Oregon. However, seed will also be accepted when collected from sites in northern Nevada, Utah, Colorado, or California (north of 40° North Latitude). Seed from collection sites in southern Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico or California (north of 35° North Latitude and south of 40° North Latitude) will also be accepted if collected from sites between 3,500 feet and 6,500 feet elevation. Ensure each lot number is in compliance with latitude and elevations requirements. The Area of Origin Claimed Statement shall also include verification that each lot of seed was collected from Sporobolus cryptandrus plants.

f. WESTERN YARROW

Source Identification (SI certification), Selected Class (S) and Area of Origin Claimed Specification - Western yarrow (Achillea millefolium var. occidentalis) has a key identifying characteristic: five or six ray flowers are white and surround 25 to 30 white to yellowish disk flowers. The source of Western Yarrow seed will be accepted when collected from naturally occurring sites in New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Nevada, or Utah. The offered seed must be grown (origin) in North America if the SI seed is harvested from field production. Ensure each lot number is in compliance with latitude and elevation requirements. The Area of Origin Claimed Statement shall also include verification that each lot of seed was collected from Achillea millefolium var. occidentalis plants.

g. GLOBEMALLOW SEED

Source Identification (SI certification) and Area of Origin Claimed Specification – All Munroe’s globemallow seed (Sphaeralcea munroana) and gooseberryleaf globemallow (Sphaeralcea grossulariifolia) delivered under this Contract shall be accepted when collected (source/origin) from sites in Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington or from other areas of natural occurrence in the western USA. Desert globemallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua) seed will be accepted when collected from sites of natural occurrence North of 33° North Latitude in Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and California.

Ensure each lot number is in compliance with latitude and elevations requirements. The Area of Origin Claimed Statement shall also include verification that each lot of seed was collected from Sphaeralcea munroana and S. ambigua plants.

h. PENSTEMON

Source Identification (SI certification), and Area of Origin Claimed Specification – All penstemon seed (Penstemon sp.) delivered under this Contract shall be collected (source/origin) from Idaho, Montana, Washington, Oregon, northern Nevada, Utah, Colorado, or California…