SOL-R5-15-00004_questions_and_answers.pdf

Contractor Question EPA Answer

Will a “neutral rating” on Past Performance be considered as

“Acceptable” with respect to Past Performance in the evaluation of technical acceptability for the overall LPTA determination?

Neutral Rating for Past Performance will be examined in accordance with

(IAW) L.15 (10) of the solicitation.

Should we provide 1 original and 6 copies of the

Technical/Business Proposal or 6 copies total? EPA requires 6 copies total

Should we provide 1 original and 3 copies of the Price/Cost

Proposal or 3 copies total? EPA requires 3 copies total

Should we provide 1 original and 3 copies of the Plans and

Procedures or 3 copies total? EPA requires 3 copies total

Can we use 10 point font for graphics and tables?

No. The 12 point font requirement applies to all documents in the proposal.

On Page 102, 2. Conflict of Interest Plan, the RFP states that the

COI Plan should be included in the technical/business proposal.

The bottom of Page 95 states that the COI Plan should be under a separate binder entitled, “Plans and Procedures.” Page 106, L.19 states that the COI Plan should be part of the Price Proposal.

Under which binder should we submit the COI plan? The COI Plan shall be placed in the binder for "Plans & Procedures".

Should we submit questions through email or FedConnect? or both?

You can submit questions by email or FedConnect within the time frame expressed in the solicitation.

Page 101, (1) General, ii. states that an electronic excel spreadsheet of the proposed cost should be sent by email to the

Procuring Contracting Officer and Contract Specialist. Is this due on June 22 by 2:00 pm?

All required documentation for the proposal must be received by EPA

Region 5 Contracting Officer and Contract Specialist referenced in the solicitation by 2:00 p.m. Central on June 22.

Can completed Past Performance Questionnaires be submitted to

EPA via email or fax?

Past Performance Questionnaires may be submitted via e-mail, in .pdf format, to the Contract Specialist. Faxes will not be acceptable.

Please confirm that the 12 point requirement does not pertain to the Contractor Plans. The 12 point font requirement applies to all documents in the proposal.

Attachment 2 – Field Personnel and Key Personnel Qualifications-

Should all Key personnel belong to the prime contractor? Yes

We recently came across the solicitation for the Superfund

Technical Assessment and Response Team Non-Emergency

(START) IV NE (SOL-R5-15-00004). However, there was not an attached SOW as stated in the announcement. Can you provide us the SOW for this solicitation?

The SOW is included in the solicitation package on FedBizOpps and

FedConnect. The SOW starts on page 112.

Section B.2.5, Payment of Allowable Costs , references EPAAR

1552.232-73 which was removed in its entirety from EPAAR as published in the Federal Register on April 15, 2015; effective date

June 15, 2015 unless adverse comment was received by May 15, 2015. The proposal is due June 22. Can you confirm the applicability of EPAAR 1552.232-73 for this contract.

The clause will remain in the solicitation and contract until the Agency provides formal guidance on clause removal from the EPAAR.

Do equipment rental agreements have to be in place at the time of submitting the proposal?

It is a business decision on the part of the Offeror as to whether to have rental agreements in place. However, rental cost information for the equipment listed in the solicitation must be included in the proposal.

Section L-13.I: States "The following should be included under separate tabs in a binder entitled "Plans and

Procedures"…Conflict of Interest Plan. However, (page 106)

Section L-19 states: "As part of their Pricing Proposal offerors shall submit an Organization Conflict of Interest Plan which outlines procedures in place ..." Does the COI go in the binder with the organizational plans, or with the Pricing Proposal? All plans shall be submitted in a binder entitled "Plans and Procedures."

Is an 11x17 foldout page, counted as one or two pages?

An 11x17 foldout page will be considered one page. However, as noted in the solicitation, 11x17 foldout pages may only be used for maps, figures, tables, or charts.

Section L-14, Submission of Contractor Plans , paragraph 2, states:

"NOTE - In addition to the documents required in the section "L" clause entitled, … , (please note commas) Offerors shall submit a plans that includes…" Is this a requirement for an additional plan, separate from the Conflict of Interest plan? If so, can section L-10 instructions be amended to account for this plan? Or, is this a supplement to the corporate COI; a supplement that is specific to this solicitation?

The COI Plan the offeror must submit under L.14 and L.16 are the same document and must be submitted in the binder under Plans and

Procedures. L.16 is only providing the offeror detailed instructions to prepare its COI plan.

Section M.4, Evaluation of standard operating procedures, discusses the evaluation of five technical/business plans, while at the same time implies that the plans must be acceptable at time of contract award. Specifically, the section states: "The acceptability of these plans will be considered as part of the responsibility determination under undertaken prior to the contract award to determine if the Offeror meets the responsibility set forth at FAR 9.104." Does this mean each plan does not have to be "acceptable" when first presented as part of the proposal? Alternatively, in this criterion for evaluation, as the document do not have to be "acceptable" until the time of contract award, which in turn allows an 8(a) firm time to adjust its existing procedures to meet the unique requirements of the EPA, requirements that may be similar to that of other departments and agencies, but are still being evaluated to specific EPA needs?

Or is this section advisory in nature?

Section M.4 establishes, by identifying various sections, within the solicitation what standards each plan must meet to determine acceptability.

Section L.13, Cost/Pricing Proposal Instruction , Item (5)

Subcontracts (i) states "Identify the subcontractors, State the amount of service estimated to be required and quoted daily or hourly rates". Should the subcontractor(s) submit the background information such as OH, G&A, etc. used for calculating the Fully

Burdened Rates?

Section L.13 under Cost/Pricing Proposal Instruction, Item 5 entitled, "Subcontracts is not applicable to this solicitation. Offerors are instructed not to respond to L.13., Item 5 "Subcontracts". Mark your response as N/A per instruction of the CO.

Section E, subsection E2, A. Pre-award documentation , states

"The offeror must submit the following quality system documentation as a separate and identifiable part of a binder entitled "Plans and Procedures". Quality Management Plan;

Programmatic Quality Assurance Project Plan for the entire program. Section L.14 (Submission of contractor plans ) states the submission of the following three other plans, in addition to the above two plans: Conflict of Interest Plan; Corporate Health and

Safety Plan; Professional Employee Compensation Plan. Please clarify the type of plans that must be included in the proposal.

Also, should they be a part of the "Technical proposal (Vol. 1) under separate Tabs or in a standalone binder (Vol. 3)?

The Offeror shall submit a Quality Management Plan, Programmatic

Quality Assurance Project Plan, Conflict of Interest Plan, Corporate Health and Safety Plan, and Professional Employee Compensation Plan. These plans shall be submitted in a binder entitled "Plan and Procedures."

Conflicting references in the solicitation will be corrected.

In section B, Other Direct Costs , the SOW states "The total amount for Other Direct Costs allowable under this contract for the Base Period is estimated at $1,621,714, exclusive of General

& Administrative (G&A)/Material Handling (MH) (if applicable)."

Would it be possible to get clarification on the EPA's definition of material handling as it pertains to this SOW and contract?

Material handling costs are comprised of indirect costs, including, when appropriate, general and administrative expense allocated to direct materials in accordance with the Contractor's usual accounting practices consistent with Subpart 31.2 of the FAR

We also request EPA Region 5 to extend the due date for the submission of this proposal by 10 business days. The due date will not be extended.

There are more labor category descriptions listed in Attachment

10 (pages 187-194) than in section B.2.(pages 7-9). Is it possible for the EPA to provide a matching labor category list and list of descriptions?

The Hazardous Waste Specialist position was omitted from the tables in

B.2. This has been corrected. The labor categories in B.2 and attachment

10 now match.

In Section L, page 97, under A. Instructions, Required Format, 2nd bullet, the RFP states, “Include a brief Executive Summary…”

Because this is an LPTA selection process, could you please consider removing the Executive Summary requirement as it is not part of the technical acceptability evaluation?. Exective summary will not be removed.

If the Executive Summary is still required, what is the page limit for the Executive Summary and where should it be included?

The executive summary page shall be no longer than two pages under the same formatting parameters established in the solicitation.

Page 107 L.21 states that the QMP shall be part of the technical proposal. The bottom of Page 95 states that the QMP should be under a separate binder entitled, “Plans and Procedures.” Under which binder should we submit the QMP plan? The COI Plan shall be placed in the binder under "Plans & Procedures".

Section L.13.II.B, Technical/Business Content , paragraph 1.4

Mobilization states: "The Mobilization Plan should include a schedule for all actions." Do you mean "should" or "must"? Also, does the term "all actions" refer only to the activities needed to

"fully mobilize the START contract (emphasis added)", or are you referring to mobilizing to go into the field under a TO or TDD?

The mobilization Plan shall compose the offerors action to accomplish B.1 of the solicitation.

Section L.14, Submission of Contract Plans , paragraph 5: States

"QAAPS shall be prepared in accordance with the Uniform Federal

Policy for Quality Assurance Project Plan (EPA-505-B-04-900A)."

The document is dated March 2005. The EPA website

(http://www2.epa.gov/fedfac/assuring-quality-federal-cleanups;

retrieved May 29, 2015) referring to EPA Requirements for

Quality Assurance Project Plans EPA QA/R 5 (EPA-240/B-01/003), date March 2001, states "Although the document is being revised, the general quality standard tenets that it lays out are sound, and the Optimized QAPP worksheets that refer to it are still acceptable for use." Is the evaluation based only on the criteria and elements as written in EPA-505-B-04-900A?

As stated in M.4 , QAPPs will be reviewed for compliance with the

Uniform Federal Policy for Quality Assurance Project Plans (EPA-505-B-04-

900A).

On page 20, E.2.A., Pre-award Documentation , is the binder entitled, Plans and Procedures , this sections contains the following document specifications: [X] Quality Management Plan:

EPA Requirements for the Quality Management Plans (QA/R-2)

[dated 03/20/01]; [X] Programmatic Quality Assurance Project

Plan for the entire program: EPA Requirements for Quality

Assurance Project Plans (QA/R-5) [dated 03/20/01](contract) and

EPA-505-B-04-900A (dated 2005). Which reference document takes precedence for developing the Programmatic QAPP? EPA

QA/R-5 or Uniform Federal Policy/EPA-505-B-04-900A.

As stated in M.4 , QAPPs will be reviewed for compliance with the

Uniform Federal Policy for Quality Assurance Project Plans (EPA-505-B-04-

900A).