MITIGATION BANK AND/OR STATE OF LOUISIANA IN-LIEU FEE CREDITS, New Orleans to Venice Freshwater Marsh Coastal Zone, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District

W912P818R0044 - Synopsis

99-Miscellaneous

MITIGATION BANK AND/OR STATE OF LOUISIANA IN-LIEU FEE CREDITS, New Orleans to Venice Freshwater Marsh Coastal Zone, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District

This will be an UNRESTRICTED procurement. All qualified business concerns may submit proposals.

The New Orleans District, US Army Corps of Engineers (CEMVN) seeks to purchase Freshwater Marsh (hereinafter "Fresh Marsh") mitigation bank and/or State of Louisiana In-Lieu Fee (ILF) credits located in the Barataria Basin watershed, as specified below, to compensate for unavoidable habitat losses caused by the construction of the New Orleans to Venice (NOV), Louisiana Project within the Louisiana Coastal Zone (CZ).

As part of CEMVN's plan to mitigate for unavoidable impacts to Fresh Marsh and Wet Pasture habitats caused by the construction of the NOV Project, CEMVN will purchase Fresh Marsh mitigation bank and/or ILF credits able to mitigate CZ impacts (LDNR approved) in the Barataria Basin. The bank(s) and/or ILF project from which credits will be purchased will be selected through a competitive solicitation/award process. Any mitigation bank or ILF project meeting the eligibility requirements and having the appropriate resource type of credits may submit a proposal to sell credits. CEMVN may enter into one or more contracts to purchase the amount of credits necessary to meet 100% of CEMVN's need at the time of purchase; however, CEMVN is not obligated to purchase a lesser quantity of credits than it requires. A separate contract shall be executed for each bank and/or ILF credit purchase. Award will be made based on low-price.

A mitigation bank and/or ILF project must meet all of the following qualifications to be eligible to sell credits to satisfy the NOV Project mitigation requirements. For the proposal to be considered responsive and for the offeror to be considered responsible, the mitigation bank and/or ILF project shall:
• be approved by CEMVN and in full compliance with its Mitigation Banking Instrument or ILF Instrument, as applicable, its other legal instruments (such as its conservation servitude and its financial assurances), and the standards set forth in 33 CFR Part 332;
• provide the habitat type that matches the habitat type being mitigated;
• have credits assessed using version 1.0 of the Wetland Value Assessment (WVA) Community Model available to compensate for the impacts to the particular habitat to be mitigated;
• have a duly-recorded perpetual conservation servitude/easement; and
• be physically located within the Barataria Basin, which is coextensive with Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) 08090301.

Models used for Civil Works projects are required to be certified by Headquarters United States Army Corps of Engineers Model Certification Panel and comply with the certification criteria presented in EC 1105-2-412. Version 1.0 of the WVA Fresh Marsh Community Model has been certified and was used to assess construction impacts. Accordingly, this model will be used to assess compensatory mitigation credit values.

To facilitate the solicitation process, CEMVN, in conjunction with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has run version 1.0 of the WVA on the approved banks in the Barataria Basin with available Fresh Marsh (LDNR) credits, and on the ILF Program, based on information provided by their respective sponsors during the instrument approval process. The Value Model results will be included in the solicitation package.

NAICS: 523910. A Request for Proposal (RFP) will be issued on or about July 3, 2018, with a proposal due date established. Actual issue date will be shown when the solicitation is issued. The solicitation documents for this procurement will be posted on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website and can be accessed from a link located on this FedBizOpps site (www.fbo.gov). You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader for .pdf files (www.adobe.com) in order to open most files posted by the New Orleans District. You are encouraged, for marketing purposes, to register as an Interested Vendor in FedBizOpps (www.fbo.gov). This can be done by clicking on the solicitation title and clicking on the button that says Register as an Interested Vendor and entering your business information.

Offerors shall be registered with the System for Award Management (SAM), in order to receive a Government contract award. To register, the SAM Internet address is: https://www.sam.gov. The Contracting Officer for this solicitation is Lauren Gandolfi, 504-862-2340; or by e-mail at lauren.a.gandolfi@usace.army.mil.