RFAAP - Industry Day 2 Question-Answer.docx

1. Radford Army Ammunition Plant (RFAAP) Contract Scope - The current RFAAP contract includes operations, maintenance, support functions, and modernization scope. The USG recently released two Requests for Information (1. Design/Build Modernization, 2. Operation, Maintenance, and Modernization PWS RFI). These RFIs could indicate the Government’s interest or intention to separate the current RFAAP contract into multiple separate scopes during the next procurement. Is separating the RFAAP contract into multiple and disparate scopes the USG’s intention?

USG: Acquisition plan is currently being staffed. This will be addressed in the Draft RFP.

2. Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) - If the RFAAP contract is separated into two or more contracts, does participation in any one contract create an OCI for participation in any other contract? If any OCI is possible, please share specific OCI issues or concerns. What is the anticipated future modernization spend over the life of the new GOCO contract?

USG: The USG does not intend to separate the RFAAP contract into more than one (1) contract.

3. What are the Government’s plans to allow contractors to tour the rest of the units and buildings that were not part of Industry Day #2 tour?

USG: RFI was sent to industry on 28 March requesting industry input on areas of interest to tour. Tour will be built around industry’s feedback.

4. Will access be given to view all equipment and operations needed to produce the propellants (utilities, infrastructure, storage, process/manufacturing)? If so, will bidders be able to witness all of the equipment/operations running?

USG: Government is addressing this request to the best our ability. Safety may prevent witnessing all equipment in operation.

5. Will the Government provide the list of equipment permanently out of service, and if so, when?

USG: Virtual Technical Library (VTL) will provide status of all equipment.

6. Will the Government provide the max/surge operational capacity for each production operation (to include EC, NC, NG, solventless propellant, solvent based propellant- multi and single base, rocket grain)? Will the equipment necessary to meet this max/surge capacity be operational at the time of contract transition?

USG: Yes, will be included in the VTL.

7. The industry day #1 answers stated that the Baseline Facility Assessment would be provided on the VTL. Verification of the conditions stated in this report will be necessary to adequately put together a proposal. Can the Government provide information on what process will be used to allow bidders to verify these conditions?

USG: More to follow once these documents have been posted to the VTL.

8. Will the Government provide the list of buildings in caretaker status (building number and prior service), and if so, when?

USG: Yes, will be provided in the VTL. VTL documents will begin being posted in June/July 2025.

9. What are the Government’s plans to demolish the buildings that are in caretaker status? Will the Government provide the funding budgeted and planned in the out years to demolish the buildings in caretaker status?

USG: Government has a plan that is based on funding availability that goes across the POM and outyears. The Government will not provide funding budgeted and planned in the outyears due to it being predecisional.

10. The draft Maintenance PWS (PWS 7), states “Maintenance requirements of inactive facilities are outlined in a separate Task Order (TO 0008).” Will a draft of this task order be made available prior to the RFP being released?

USG: No. Information will be released in the draft RFP.

11. When will the Government release the RFAAP VTL?

USG: Documents will begin being posted in the VTL in June/July 2025.

12. What is the responsibility of the contractor in support of the ALTESS program on-site at RFAAP?

USG: PWS 15 requirements will be released with the RFP. Typical requirements are janitorial, environmental and supply of utilities but the RFP will have specific requirements.

13. Are the plant utilities (water, air, steam, power, gas) adequately sized to support the new plant capacity? Are there projects being executed, budgeted, or planned for plant utilities? Will the Government provide information on these projects, to include planned funding and objectives?

USG: Utilities were designed to be adequately sized.

14. Which CMMS system is currently in used at RFAAP and is it Government owned?

USG: Maximo

15. Does RFAAP have a Laboratory Information Management System? If so, is it Government owned?

USG: Yes RFAAP has a laboratory info management system that is currently utilized by the operating contractor. The Government has unlimited rights to this system and it would be transferred if a transition takes place.

16. Does the Government intend for all 4 electrical generation turbines that were included in the Industry Day 2 tour to be operational before contract transition?

USG: Yes.

17. Are there significant water losses from leaks in the filtered water and/or the drinking water distribution systems? What should bidders assume will be the loss rate from the water distribution systems (both filtered water and drinking water)?

USG: Current water use information to calculate expected water plant operations will be provided in the VTL.

18. Is there modernization funding planned to support long-term reliability of the plant fire water distribution system?

USG: Yes.

19. The settling pits throughout the acidic industrial sewer seemed to be nearly filled with NC. What is the volume of each settling pit (including equalization basins) throughout the acidic wastewater system? What state does the Government intend for these basins to be in at contract transition?

USG: Will be released with the Draft RFP.

20. To properly support the USG RDT&E efforts and have a seamless transition focused on potential future technologies can the USG provide their forecasted list of RDT&E projects that will carry over at contract end and RDT&E projects that will commence after Full Operational Control?

USG: The USG has ongoing Life Cycle Pilot Process projects that may support RFAAP, but there are no direct RFAAP-specific RDT&E funded projects.

21. How will the anticipated CMMC regulations be implemented on this contract?

USG: PWS 13 will have CMMC requirements

22. Is Radford currently compliant with the anticipated CMMC regulations?

USG: The answer to that question is sensitive, but PWS 13 will have CMMC requirements for the Contractor to follow to ensure compliance.

23. Regarding CMMC, what level of compliance (Level 1, 2 or 3) is Radford expected to be at?

USG: PWS 13 will have CMMC requirements for the Contractor.

24. Is Radford currently section 889 compliant?

USG: This is a contractor requirement. The USG cannot answer this at this time.

25. Is all equipment currently used in operation of the current Radford contract owned by the Government? If not, will the Government be providing a list of what is and is not owned by the Government?

USG: Government will be providing a property list in the VTL.

26. Does the Government own or have Government purpose rights to all intellectual/digital property currently used in the operation of the current Radford contract? If not, will the Government be providing a list of what the Government does not own or have rights to?

USG: The Government has unlimited rights to IP that is specific to the operation of RFAAP process and those will be provided with the VTL.

27. Is any of the intellectual/digital property in a specific database or software package that will not be transferred to the successful bidder? If so, what software and/or database solutions do prospective bidders need to plan to have in place to retain proper organization of the data such that it is completely retained in a useable form?

USG: The Government has unlimited rights to software that is specific to the operation of RFAAP process and those will be provided with the VTL.

28. Are there any known TSCA changes related to chemicals or products manufactured or used in the manufacturing processes at Radford?

USG: No

29. Are there any active remediation activities currently on-going at the facility and if so, when is planned completion?

USG: PWS 18 includes the Installation Restoration Program which includes requirements for all restoration and remediation activities. This will be included with the RFP.

30. Will the Government be providing historical annual production volumes by operation within each product family?

USG: The Government is still discussing this response. Will provide an update at a later date.

31. Are there any constraints in other areas of the facility that would limit the full utilization of NC capacity?

USG: As with any production facility, the product mix impacts capacities of production lines. Production line capabilities and capacities will be provided in the forthcoming VTL.

32. Will prospective bidders be provided with facility drawings and area maps of the production facilities that follow the process flow for each main product stream?

USG: Government will be providing information in the VTL.

33. Does the Government plan to approve for commercial sales all products included in the price matrix?

USG: The Government is still discussing and evaluating. However, the Government is contemplating an RFP that encourages and incentivizes commercial use of RFAAP.

34. Regarding the requirement to provide actual cost data to the Government on a quarterly or annual basis, this data is typically only provided on a cost type contract. Is the Government considering a cost type contract? Can the Government provide details on how this data will be used and what protections will be afforded to the operating contractor to protect this data?- Reference slide 18 of the Industry Day 1 briefing charts

USG: The Government is still discussing and evaluating.

35. Will the Government be providing a detailed timeline for the solicitation period (to include draft RFP’s, industry days and final RFP timing)?

USG: Yes. Will be provided at a later date.

36. Does the Government intend to continue the annual NC reconciliation as part of the next contract?

USG: The Government is still discussing and evaluating.

37. Can the Government update the Industry Day #1 chart showing Historical Production on slide 8 to include the CY24 production volumes?

USG: The Government is working to verify and provide this data.

38. Will the USG release a list of participants at Industry Day #2 (companies and individuals) to the contractors who attended Industry Day #2?

USG: Yes, the USG is working to post Industry Day #2 attendees.

39. Will the USG provide any information about the explosion on Friday? What area of plant? What was damaged?

USG: A deflagration event in preblocking operations temporarily impacted RFAAP’s ability to manufacture doublebase solvent propellant. This capability has since been restored.

40. Are there any update to the acquisition timeline? When will the Draft RFP be released?

USG: Yes. Will be provided at a later date.

41. Are there any update to the acquisition timeline? When will the Draft RFP be released?

USG: Yes. Will be provided at a later date.

42. Nitrocellulose Quad: What does “commissioning” mean as it relates to the new NC facility? When will the new NC facility be operational?

USG: Commissioning includes qualifying the facility to manufacture military specification NC. Currently targeting project closeout of September 2025.

43. Nitrocellulose Quad: Why is the old NC facility still running?

USG: Old facility is still running, because the new NC facility has not been full commissioned yet. The future of the old NC facility will be determined at a later date.

44. Nitrocellulose Quad: Is there cellulose-cutting equipment/capability in the new facility?

USG: Yes. The new NC facility has cellulose-cutting equipment and there is a design for a new hammermill currently underway.

45. Nitrocellulose Quad: An entirely new process at the new facility will replace the Jordan Beaters in the Beating House. Who pays to ensure that they are free from explosive material?

USG: Assuming that this is referencing the disposal of old Jordan Beaters. This equipment will be disposed of via the LIF program while the facility is demolished.

46. Nitrocellulose Quad: Is the future Operator expected to decommission this plant as an O&M obligation? If so, will it be detailed in the RFP?

USG: This equipment will be maintained in layaway status and ultimately disposed of via the Government-funded MIF/LIF program. This will not be a Contractor-funded maintenance requirement in the RFP.

47. Nitroglycerine: NG2 has been in operation since the 1980s and construction for NG3 is underway. However, NG1 appears to be active. Is this correct and, if so, what is it being used for?

USG: NG-1 is officially in active status so that RFAAP can harvest spare parts from that facility. NG-1 will be demolished prior to the construction of NG-3.

48. Solvent Plant: Can you provide the historical fire safety response metrics to the Slitter Bay/Rolled Powder area?

USG: Response times are typically 8-10 minutes to 4th rolled powder.

49. Open Burning Grounds: The modernization of a new burn chamber is underway. Is this part of the Energetics Waste Incinerator project?

USG: Yes, this is part of the contaminated waste processor project.

50. Environmental Remediation: Inactive buildings and equipment on the site will require “significant” treatment before being demolished. Ex. Equipment in building #407 – Water Intake Facility. Who pays for the treatment and/or the removal– is that the Army or the Operator?

USG: This would be funded by the Government under the MIF/LIF program.

51. Environmental Remediation: Is the cost of remediation placed on the product?

USG: Remediation related to maintenance/layaway of inactive facilities would be funded by the Government under the MIF/LIF program.

52. Environmental Remediation: Does the insulation on the drying tanks in the Solvent recovery house (B-1610) contain asbestos and, if so, how is this permitted and controlled?

USG: RFAAP has asbestos on site and the asbestos is remediated and replaced when a maintenance effort occurs in or around that asbestos. The Government is unsure if those specific tanks have asbestos insulation and it likely varies per tank. If that information is important to developing bids for the facility contract, the Government can include that information in future RFIs

53. Facilities Maintenance: Hurricane Helene did a significant amount of damage to several of the buildings and flooded the river warehouses. Under the current contract structure, who pays to fix the damages? What steps are being taken to move some of the buildings to higher ground and who pays for that?

USG: The Operating Contractor is required to perform work in a safe an efficient manner following natural disasters such as the flood. In this instant, there was additional funding pay for the fix of some areas but the majority was covered under the Operating Contractor’s insurance.

54. Facilities Maintenance: Did Hurricane Helene flood the Wastewater Treatment facility Bldg. #470?

USG: Yes, and the facility is currently operational.

55. Facilities Maintenance: Will the Wastewater Treatment facility be able to handle any surge requirement? Has there ever been a study conducted to assess if it can handle surge?

USG: Yes, the facility can handle any surge requirements. Specific information about its capabilities will be included in the VTL.

56. Facilities Maintenance: Will the government provide historical energy/utility usage data to Contractors as part of the virtual or on-site reading room materials?

USG: The Government is still discussing this response. Will provide an update at a later date.

57. Facilities Maintenance: Who negotiates the contract with the Utility companies – is that the Army or the Operator? Is this market pricing or some other arrangement?

USG: The Operating Contractor negotiates these contracts with the utility companies.

58. Facilities Maintenance: Were there any incidents when H20 was not available?

USG: No

59. There were bags of cotton linters in the legacy NC plant. Does legacy NC plant use baled cotton while the new NC plant uses sheeted cotton?

USG: Both plants use sheeted cotton

60. Are there unions at RFAAP? If so, how many?

USG: Yes, 1 union. USW

61. How many decommissioned buildings are at RFAAP? What are the key factors preventing the Government or the operator from removing those buildings and repurposing the space for other uses?

USG: 671 inactive facilities. These buildings require LIF funding to execute the demolition so funding is the constraint in removing the buildings. There is currently a demo project that will remove 100+ buildings in 2025.

62. What is the size of the available space in the RFAAP ARMS area today for future tenants?

USG: There are no move-in ready sites at RFAAP. However, multiple buildings totaling >21,000 sq ft of space have been identified as easily renovated to provide space for a potential ARMS tenant.

63. What is the average maintenance interval for the major production facilities such as NC, single-base propellant, … ? Overhaul cycle?

USG: That varies by area and difficult to answer as an average. Maintenance information will be included in the VTL.