Sol_140L3723R0003.pdf

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BLM FY23-1 Spring Consolidated Seed Buy.
Solicitation number
140L3723R0003
Issued by

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This solicitation is for a Bureau of Land Management spring consolidated seed buy. The BLM is seeking certified, pre-qualified, and source-identified seed varieties for delivery between May 22nd and June 12th, 2023. Seeds will be delivered to warehouses in Boise, Ely, and Shoshone. Offerors must meet licensing requirements and provide documentation for certified, pre-qualified, and incentive seed varieties by the April 24th closing date. Pricing will be evaluated based on pure live seed cost per pound. Successful offerors must meet packaging, labeling, sampling, and testing requirements specified in the solicitation.

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Att_2_AOC_collection.docx DOCX document
Attachment-1-Bid_Sheet_Spring_2023.xlsx XLSX spreadsheet
Att_3_Seed_Analysis_Request_Form_Revised_2023.docx DOCX document
Attachment_4_Itemized_Delivery_Sheet.xlsx XLSX spreadsheet

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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

04/24/2023 1300 MD

03/13/2023

(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

140L3723R0003

5. SOLICITATION NUMBER

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

1 65 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

$20.5

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.

FY23-1 Spring Consolidated Seed Buy.

The Solicitation closing date is 4/24/2023 at 1300 MT (Boise local time)

The BLM National Seed Program 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 May 22, 2023 through June 12, 2023.

(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.

Pre-bid Conference Call is scheduled for 4/6/23 at 1100 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 that are not associated with the BLM National Buy.

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

65 2 of

ITEM NO. SUPPLIES/SERVICES QUANTITY UNIT UNIT PRICE AMOUNT

NAME OF OFFEROR OR CONTRACTOR

3 65

CONTINUATION SHEET

REFERENCE NO. OF DOCUMENT BEING CONTINUED PAGE OF

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

140L3723R0003 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 incentive seed.

Period of Performance: 05/22/2023 to 06/12/2023

00010 See Attachment 1 for Bidsheet showing Requested 1 LS

Seed Types.

Deliveries locations will be Boise, Ely, and

Shoshone.

Product/Service Code: 8730

Product/Service Description: SEEDS AND NURSERY

STOCK

Period of Performance: 05/01/2023 to 05/23/2023

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

23-1 Spring Seed Buy

SOLICITATION # 140L3723R0003

Diane Barker, Contracting Officer Date revision 02/2023

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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:

4/6/23 at 11:00 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 24, 2023 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.

Awards released by 5/16/2023

Delivery Schedule: 5/22/2023 - 6/12/2023. New Harvest Sage Brush and Forage Kochia delivery schedule is: NA on Spring Buy

Deliveries will be to the Boise, Ely, and Shoshone warehouses.

Estimated quantities have been added to the Attachment 1 Bid Request. The quantities represent known projects before the Solicitation posting date and potential seed types and pounds the warehouses wish to pre-stock for the upcoming fire season. The quantities are subject to change depending on seed types and pounds available on the Buy, prices, and project changes. **I encourage you to bid the seed types and pounds you have available.

1.) All seed offered must meet all requirements of the Federal Seed Act (FSA) (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.

Section D J 4 FSA Germination test requirements. Seed varieties that are listed in the Federal Seed Act (FSA) are required to have a germination result listed on the Analysis Tag for interstate shipments. The test results showed on the Analysis Tag shall be provided to the BLM and shall show germination, purity, and noxious weed examine results per the FSA. The result shall be fully readable, and all information will be reviewed to determine any discrepancies. For previous harvest seed, the test shall be supplied prior to delivery with the itemized shipping document via email to the BLM_ID_Seed_All@blm.gov address. For new harvest seed, the USDA has agreed to allow the germination test to be started prior to shipping and provided to the BLM when complete via the same email address. Acceptance of seed will not occur until germination results are received, exceptions to this may occur depending on specific circumstances. How the BLM will utilize the germination results will only be on seed lots that test below the offered PLS or at or below the BLM minimum. The PLS on the vendor test and the germination test will be averaged to determine the tested PLS rate.

mailto:BLM_ID_Seed_All@blm.gov

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See Section E Seed quality, final acceptance, and Determining PLS for more information on the germination testing. Test results from NST Labs and New Mexico State lab will not be accepted. This will apply to any new tests dated after March 1, 2023

2.) See 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 documents along with any documentation addressing contaminants found and how they will be dealt with or for seed purchased from another grower that you do not have access to the field Inspection reports, then 2 or more test results from different approved labs showing no contaminants were found will suffice For SI wildland collected seed that doesn’t require a site inspection, 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, fill out the Attachment 3 paperwork and ship the incentive seed without samples being pulled, the BLM will pull samples per the AOSA rules and regulation when received at the warehouses, will update the Attachment 3 paperwork, and send samples to the vendor’s first and second choice labs identified on the bidsheet. The vendor will be responsible for payment of both lab tests. The lot must be accepted on the first delivery, reconditioning will automatically remove the incentive.

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.

Applies to the Fall Buy only: On new harvest crops bid/offered before harvest with a late delivery date for Round 1 and a note in the additional information column identifying the seed is pre-harvest and should be weed free, the incentive category can be added/removed BUT only during the first Bid Revision process that the seed is available. The Government prefers the seed be identified upfront as Incentive Seed, then removed if the pre-testing shows if does not meet the program requirements.

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.) Minimum Bid Quantities specification has been added to Section C: Offeror can choose to mark lines as minimum required pounds that need to be selected for award. The line needs to be marked as Minimum Bid (drop-down list in Program Category), the pounds need highlighted, and a note in the Additional information needs to indicate the minimum pounds required. By marking the line as a minimum required bid, your line might be skipped if we require a smaller quantity of pounds.

Take note, during the evaluation process, we go through the master bidsheet from top to bottom multiple times to select the seed types and pounds we need. If you mark it as a minimum quantity requirement, the BLM can skip your bid on each cycle and proceed to the next line if our need is below your minimum pounds. We will not backtrack and select your line once we have met your minimum quantity. It will not be selected until we can fulfil your minimum quantity requirement on one cycle through the bidsheet.

4.) G0 Location see Section C 4 b 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 G0 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

5 | P a g e 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. The G0 information- Eco-region and Seed Transfer Zone must be included on the Attachment 1 bidsheet and it will be utilized as the source location information to select the best material to match the project location.

The seed increase field collection site shall be noted in the additional information column on the Attachment 1.

5.) Problems encountered with Seed samples and Attachment 3 submission, 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 and attachment 3’s shall be boxed together, easily located, and shipped with the seed. Seed Samples are not required for Pre-Qualified or Incentive 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.

F. Samplers MUST USE Seed Analysis Request Form (Attachment 3 2023 revised) to request seed lab tests. A copy of certification tag and vendor analysis tag shall be photocopied/scanned on bottom of Attachment 3 prior to the sampler filling out the form.

J Paperwork required with Attachment 3: The Seed Analysis Request Form (Attachment 3 2023 revised form).

For SI wildland collected seed, the permit/authorization shall be supplied with the Attachment 3 paperwork.

K. The seed shall be shipped as soon after the samples are pulled and shipping arrangements can be made. Offeror shall not delay delivery until seed test results are confirmed. Seed delivery to each Government warehouse must meet contract/order delivery dates.

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

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

Updated spec: All seed, unless prior arrangements are made, must be shipped and delivered on pallets in good order and condition to the point of delivery specified in the contract. If the contractor chooses to ship seed not on pallets, the delivery personnel are required to unload the seed, stack on pallets and wrap. All supplies must be provided by contractor.

7.) SEED QUALITY

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.

d) Annual Downy Brome limitation: Maximum amount allowed is 400 seeds per pound with at least 2 seeds found in the sample.

e) Amaranthus spp, Pigweed, waterhemp found, DNA test is required.

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

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

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h) NO seed mixes will be accepted.

8.) Expectation of seed condition.

During the Fall Buy last year, we had an abundance of seed delivered that did not 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. The seed was offered, you said it could be delivered within our timeframe, you need to process the reconditioning immediately.

9.) REJECTED SEED:

If seed delivered under the contract is rejected, and a replacement is required, the Contractor must promptly REPLACE such seed within 10 calendar days of written notification. The contractor shall also remove or cause to be removed the rejected seed within ten calendar days.

If the rejected lot is removed to be reconditioned and redelivered, the lot will require a new lot number-- A NEW LOT NUMBER MUST BE ASSIGNED to that seed by the Contractor. On a rejected lot being reconditioned, the lot shall be returned as soon as possible or no more than 25 days without CO approval. Testing shall be performed prior to redelivery to ensure the quality issue has been resolved.

The same delivery requirements apply for delivery and pick-up of replaced and reconditioned lots, see Section F for shipping requirements.

10.) 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 (140L3723C00XX) 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.

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.

Minimum Bid Quantities: Offeror can choose to mark lines as minimum required pounds that need to be selected for award. The line needs to be marked as Minimum Bid (drop-down list in Program Category), the pounds need highlighted, and a note in the Additional information needs to indicate the minimum pounds required. By marking the line as a minimum required bid, your line might be skipped if we required a smaller quantity of pounds.

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 Category (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) Category (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 G0 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. The G0 information- Eco-region and Seed Transfer Zone must be included on the Attachment 1 bidsheet and it will be utilized as the source location http://aosca.org/

10 | P a g e information to select the best material to match the project location. The seed increase field collection site shall be noted in the additional information column on the Attachment 1.

Offeror must indicate one (1) Omernik Level III Eco-Region and one (1) Provisional Seed Transfer Zone per offer on the bid sheet.

Link to TRM Seed Zone Applications:

https://usfs.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=229eb45b7cc2456db6d1ad866145d397

Link to Provisional Seed Transfer Zones http://fs.bioe.orst.edu/web_maps/Seed_Zones.html

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

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 shall insert, in the space provided in the attachment 1 Bid Schedule, the Pure Live Seed (PLS) rate which is a calculation of the percent of purity and germination/TZ 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. The following calculations shall be utilized to determine pure live seed percent (% PLS) and the pure live seed price ($ PLS), the following formula shall be used:

http://fs.bioe.orst.edu/web_maps/Seed_Zones.html

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(% 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.

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 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.

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.

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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

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:

New requirement for 2022: For a lot to be considered as TAPS in later rounds, the entire lot must be sampled on original purchase. Example: You have 10,000 lbs offered in one seed lot, we award 500 lbs in Round 1, the Round 1 sample must be an official certified sample pulled from the 10,000 lbs. This requirement ensure that the sample tested represents the entire lot, not just the first 500 lbs.

STEP 1: The contractor must provide the same lot number of seed that was offered, sampled, and approved after lab testing, in a previous round of the procurement process. 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. If the lot required a price reduction modification for a

13 | P a g e quality issue, the modification information must be provided with the TAPS identification and the BLM will determine if the lot is approved as a TAPS line.

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 documents along with any documentation addressing contaminants found and how they will be dealt with or for seed purchased from another grower that you do not have access to the field Inspection reports, then 2 or more test results from different approved labs showing no contaminants were found will suffice For SI wildland collected seed that doesn’t require a site inspection, 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, fill out the Attachment 3 paperwork and ship the incentive seed without samples being pulled, the BLM will pull samples per the AOSA rules and regulation when received at the warehouses, will update the Attachment 3 paperwork, and send samples to the vendor’s first and second choice labs identified on the bidsheet. The vendor will be responsible for payment of both lab tests. The lot must be accepted on the first delivery, reconditioning will automatically remove the incentive.

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.

Only applies to the Fall Buy: On new harvest crops bid/offered before harvest with a late delivery date for Round 1 and a note in the additional information column identifying the seed is pre-harvest and should be weed free, the incentive category can be added/removed BUT only during the first Bid Revision process that the seed is available. The Government prefers the seed be identified upfront as Incentive Seed, then removed if the pre-testing shows if does not meet the program requirements.

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 regarding 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

14 | P a g e 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:

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 require the Eco-Region and Seed Transfer Zone information be provided 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:

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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).

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