Gypsy Moth Mating Disruptant Aerial Spraying

This is a Presolicitation Notice announcement ONLY. This Presolicitation Notice is being posted to the Government-wide Point of Entry (GPE) website, (SAM.gov) in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 5.204, Presolicitation notices.  This presolicitation notice is prepared in accordance with FAR 5.207(a).

The United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (FS) cooperative National Gypsy Moth Slow the Spread program (STS) has the need for the aerial application of mating disruptants to control gypsy moth populations subject to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 12, Acquisition of Commercial Items, and the Simplified Acquisition Procedures set forth in FAR Part 13.5.

The United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (FS) cooperative National Gypsy Moth Slow the Spread program (STS) works collaboratively with 11 states [Illinois (IL), Indiana (IN), Iowa (IA), Kentucky (KY), North Carolina (NC), Ohio (OH), Minnesota (MN), Tennessee (TN), Virginia (VA), West Virginia (WV), and Wisconsin (WI)] to reduce the rate of spread of gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar). Aerial applications of mating disruption are annually implemented to suppress newly established gypsy moth populations in the STS program. Two formulations are currently registered for these applications. These disruptant pesticides are formulated to slowly release the active ingredient, racemic disparlure which is a synthetically produced gypsy moth pheromone, over a period of several weeks when gypsy moth adults are active and mating. The cloud of pheromone that is released disrupts the male moth’s ability to locate and mate with female moths, thereby suppressing the following year’s population. Applicators use aircraft suitable for the mission and equipped with dispersal systems that are custom built for the product to be used. The intent of this procurement is to contract for aerial application of mating disruptants during five summer treatment application periods (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026) as part of the FS STS program .

Award(s) resulting from this solicitation will be a Fixed Price, Requirements Contract(s) with a Base Year and four Option Years for the aerial application of mating disruptants to control gypsy moth on up to 353,480 acres per year.  Aviation Fuel will be included as a Cost Reimbursable line item for all Task Orders issued.   

Comparative Evaluation. The Government may perform a comparative evaluation (comparing offers to each other) to select the contractor that is best suited and provides the best value, considering the evaluation factors in this solicitation.

Item 1 includes treatment blocks located in Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia and a treatment window that extends from early June to late July.

Item 2 includes treatment blocks located in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio and a treatment window that extends from mid-June to early July.

Item 3 includes treatment blocks in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin with a treatment window spanning from late June to early August.

The total acres assigned to the Base Year Contract (2022) represent current draft acres and are subject to change depending on federal funding and final planning. The total acres assigned to each Item in the four option years represent the mean (2017 to 2021 data) for each year and not definite quantities. Award(s) will be made to all three items.

Item 4 is established as a Cost Reimbursable line item or aircraft fuel reimbursement at actual cost. No add-on rates are allowed, and invoicing must include receipts for all fuel charges. Items 1 thru 3 should not include fuel costs.

Offers may be submitted for Item 1, Item 2, or Item 3, or for all three items. Four separate price proposals may be submitted if necessary (i.e., Item 1 only, Item 2 only, Item 3 only, and Item 1, 2 and 3). 

The full solicitation, including all materials needed in order to submit an offer, is tentatively scheduled to be posted to this site by December 13, 2021 with offers due January 7, 2022. 

A pre-bid conference call to answer contractor questions about the solicitation is tentatively scheduled for: 
Date: December 29, 2021 
Time: 10 AM Eastern 
Location: Conference Call (call in number will be provided in the solicitation) 
Details for participating in this call will be included in the solicitation. For more information about the solicitation, please contact Amelia Davila at amelia.davila-garcia@usda.gov.