NRCS Minnesota NRI

Amendment 0001

Question:  1.    On page 18 of the Statement of Work, it requests that the contractor have at least Two Years’ Experience in NRI LDSI local data entry. Although we do not have that specific experience with the NRI LDSI, we have extensive experience with data entry into many other government databases. Would a lack of experience in NRI LDSI data entry disqualify a bidder from a possible award?

Answer:  NRI-LDSI requires a specific skill set unique from other data entry projects. The lack of experience in this specific program is not a disqualification, but the experience will be weighed quite valuably to the award.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture is mandated (through the Rural Development Act of 1972, the Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act of 1977, and other supporting legislation) to assess the status, condition, and trends of soil, water, and related resources on the Nation’s non-Federal lands.  Resources inventory legislative authorities, NRCS policy, and responsibilities for conducting the NRI are contained in NRCS General Manual 290, Part 400.  In order to accomplish this task, the NRCS will award one contract that requires the successful contractor to collect associated cropland information for the Natural Resources Inventory (NRI) Local Data Survey Instrument (LDSI) activities in Minnesota. 

ii.    Confidentiality Agreement:
The NRI program is based upon rigorous scientific sample survey protocols.  These protocols include maintaining and protecting the integrity and confidentiality of data gathering sites.  USDA and NRCS policy states that: “The geographic locations of data gathering sites used for USDA’s NRI are not public information and are to be used only for purposes of official NRI data gathering activities or for such purposes approved by the Secretary”.  All of the contractor’s data gatherers shall sign a Confidentiality Statement under United States Code (USC), Title 18, Section 1905; USC, Title7, Section 2276 and USC, Title 7, Section 2240 for non-disclosure of confidential information relative to data site locations and/or private/corporate non-use of composite data.  The Confidentiality Statement shall be signed prior to starting data collection.  The NRI data that identifies owners, operators, or data collection sites are not to be released to the public.