Technical and Administrative Support to the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT SYNOPSIS FOR WRITTEN INFORMATION ONLY. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT FOR PROPOSALS AND NO CONTRACT WILL BE AWARDED FROM THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO REIMBURSEMENT WILL BE MADE FOR ANY COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH PROVIDING INFORMATION IN RESPONSE TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND ANY FOLLOW-UP REQUESTS. NO TELEPHONE CALLS REQUESTING A SOLICITATION WILL BE ACCEPTED OR ACKNOWLEDGED.



The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Water (OW), requires technical and administrative contractor support to span across OW's Immediate Office (IO), Office of Groundwater and Drinking Water (OGWDW), Office of Science and Technology (OST), Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds (OWOW) and Office of Wastewater Management (OWM). This contract may also support the efforts of other EPA offices when activities intersect with OW Programs.



Specific areas of support may include, but are not limited to:



¿ Technical Support

o Cross-Cutting Activities

o Administrative Record

o Data Collection and Analysis

o Writing and Editing

o Peer Review

o Water Quality Models and Decision Support Tools

o Expanded Authority Under the National Water Program



¿ Program Management and Operations Support

o Facilitation

o Mediation

o Strategic Planning

o LEAN Assessment and Coordination

o Outreach

o Communications

o Translation Services

o Event Planning and Logistics

o Information Management



Technical areas within the PWS will require quality assurance and/or quality control to fulfil EPA systematic planning for environmental information requirements.

o Data Quality Act

o Quality System Requirements

o Customized Quality Management Plan

o Quality Assurance Project Plans

o Reporting Quality Assurance Progress



The acquisition approach has not yet been determined. The Agency is requesting information on current vehicles which may support this requirement. If an existing vehicle is not utilized, the agency anticipates that a Multiple Award, Indefinite Delivery/ Indefinite Quantity contract with a five year ordering period will result from the solicitation. This is a new government requirement; therefore, no incumbent information is available. It is intended that this action will be set aside for SMALL BUSINESSES ONLY. Contract type has not yet been determined; however, a cost type vehicle is being considered. Therefore, interested parties should include a narrative within their Capability Statement to discuss the capability of their accounting system or ability to implement a cost accounting system required of a cost-type contract. If applicable, previous experience with cost-type government contracts should be discussed. The total number of awards anticipated under this solicitation has not yet been determined. The applicable NAICS code for this action is: 541620; Environmental Consulting Services; Size Standard $15.0 (in millions). As part of your response, please include a completed Attachment 1: Company Profile, Attachment 2: Capabilities Matrix, and a Capability Statement.



Attachment 1: Company Profile ¿ This profile shall capture information such as company size status for the above referenced NAICS code, socioeconomic subcategories, GSA Schedule information, other MAC vehicles, etc.



Attachment 2: Capabilities Matrix - This checklist shall capture the manner in which the requirements will be performed. The checklist shall provide the Contracting Officer with knowledge of your intentions regarding specific elements of the Government¿s requirement. Select the appropriate category to explain which elements will be completed by the prime contractor, which elements will be completed by subcontractors, which elements will be completed by a combination of the prime and subcontractors, and which elements require further research in determining an appropriate subcontractor or require additional in-house support. If a subcontractor is proposed, please select whether the subcontractor is a Small Business or Large Business with respect to the size standard for the applicable NAICS code.



Capability Statement: A brief narrative provided to support the information contained in the ¿Capabilities Matrix¿. This statement shall not exceed 10 pages in length. As a reminder, small businesses are required to perform at least 50 percent of the costs of the contract performance with their own personnel (See FAR 52.219 14) under a procurement set aside for small businesses.



A draft copy of the performance work statement (PWS) is also included as an attachment. Standard company brochures will not be considered a sufficient response to this Sources Sought Synopsis.



Capabilities Submissions in response to this Sources Sought Synopsis MUST BE SUBMITTED THROUGH THE FEDCONNECT PORTAL MESSAGE CENTER by 4:00 p.m. EST, on 03/01/2018. Any questions regarding the content of this sources sought synopsis announcement must be submitted through the FedConnect portal via the message center. You must register with FedConnect to submit documents, questions, and to view responses. FedConnect can be accessed at https://www.fedconnect.net/Fedconnect/. FedConnect is a web portal that connects agencies and vendors to streamline the process of doing business with the federal government. Through FedConnect contractors will be able to receive, review and respond to contract pre- and post-award actions and documents such as correspondence, request for proposals, tasking instruments and contract modifications. The use of FedConnect also furthers the EPA's commitment to moving towards a paperless acquisition environment by reducing its carbon footprint and conducting its business in an ecologically friendly manner. There is no charge to use FedConnect. Vendors can register with FedConnect at www.fedconnect.net/FedConnect/. For assistance in registering or for other FedConnect technical questions please call the FedConnect Help Desk at (800) 899-6665 or email at support@fedconnect.net. In addition, all vendors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM), as this facilitates registration for FedConnect. Please note that vendors MUST have their SAM profile set to "public" otherwise FedConnect will not be able to access the SAM information required to validate vendor credentials. Registration may be completed and information regarding the registration process may be obtained at http://www.sam.gov. There is no charge for registration in SAM.



A separate synopsis will be issued for the Request for Proposal (RFP) resulting from this sources sought synopsis.

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT SYNOPSIS FOR WRITTEN INFORMATION ONLY. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT FOR PROPOSALS AND NO CONTRACT WILL BE AWARDED FROM THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO REIMBURSEMENT WILL BE MADE FOR ANY COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH PROVIDING INFORMATION IN RESPONSE TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND ANY FOLLOW-UP REQUESTS. NO TELEPHONE CALLS REQUESTING A SOLICITATION WILL BE ACCEPTED OR ACKNOWLEDGED.



The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Water (OW), requires technical and administrative contractor support to span across OW's Immediate Office (IO), Office of Groundwater and Drinking Water (OGWDW), Office of Science and Technology (OST), Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds (OWOW) and Office of Wastewater Management (OWM). This contract may also support the efforts of other EPA offices when activities intersect with OW Programs.



Specific areas of support may include, but are not limited to:



¿ Technical Support

o Cross-Cutting Activities

o Administrative Record

o Data Collection and Analysis

o Writing and Editing

o Peer Review

o Water Quality Models and Decision Support Tools

o Expanded Authority Under the National Water Program



¿ Program Management and Operations Support

o Facilitation

o Mediation

o Strategic Planning

o LEAN Assessment and Coordination

o Outreach

o Communications

o Translation Services

o Event Planning and Logistics

o Information Management



Technical areas within the PWS will require quality assurance and/or quality control to fulfil EPA systematic planning for environmental information requirements.

o Data Quality Act

o Quality System Requirements

o Customized Quality Management Plan

o Quality Assurance Project Plans

o Reporting Quality Assurance Progress



It is anticipated that a Multiple Award, Indefinite Delivery/ Indefinite Quantity contract with a five year ordering period will result from the solicitation. It is intended that this action will be set aside for SMALL BUSINESSES ONLY. The total number of awards anticipated under this solicitation has not yet been determined. The applicable NAICS code for this action is: 541620; Environmental Consulting Services; Size Standard $15.0 (in millions). As part of your response, please include a completed Attachment 1: Company Profile, Attachment 2: Capabilities Matrix, and a Capability Statement.



Attachment 1: Company Profile ¿ This profile shall capture information such as company size status for the above referenced NAICS code, socioeconomic subcategories, GSA Schedule information, other MAC vehicles, etc.



Attachment 2: Capabilities Matrix - This checklist shall capture the manner in which the requirements will be performed. The checklist shall provide the Contracting Officer with knowledge of your intentions regarding specific elements of the Government¿s requirement. Select the appropriate category to explain which elements will be completed by the prime contractor, which elements will be completed by subcontractors, which elements will be completed by a combination of the prime and subcontractors, and which elements require further research in determining an appropriate subcontractor or require additional in-house support. If a subcontractor is proposed, please select whether the subcontractor is a Small Business or Large Business with respect to the size standard for the applicable NAICS code.



Capability Statement: A brief narrative provided to support the information contained in the ¿Capabilities Matrix¿. This statement shall not exceed 10 pages in length. As a reminder, small businesses are required to perform at least 50 percent of the costs of the contract performance with their own personnel (See FAR 52.219 14) under a procurement set aside for small businesses.



A draft copy of the performance work statement (PWS) is also included as an attachment. Standard company brochures will not be considered a sufficient response to this Sources Sought Synopsis.



Capabilities Submissions in response to this Sources Sought Synopsis MUST BE SUBMITTED THROUGH THE FEDCONNECT PORTAL MESSAGE CENTER by 4:00 p.m. EST, on 03/08/2018. Any questions regarding the content of this sources sought synopsis announcement must be submitted through the FedConnect portal via the message center. You must register with FedConnect to submit documents, questions, and to view responses. FedConnect can be accessed at https://www.fedconnect.net/Fedconnect/. FedConnect is a web portal that connects agencies and vendors to streamline the process of doing business with the federal government. Through FedConnect contractors will be able to receive, review and respond to contract pre- and post-award actions and documents such as correspondence, request for proposals, tasking instruments and contract modifications. The use of FedConnect also furthers the EPA's commitment to moving towards a paperless acquisition environment by reducing its carbon footprint and conducting its business in an ecologically friendly manner. There is no charge to use FedConnect. Vendors can register with FedConnect at www.fedconnect.net/FedConnect/. For assistance in registering or for other FedConnect technical questions please call the FedConnect Help Desk at (800) 899-6665 or email at support@fedconnect.net. In addition, all vendors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM), as this facilitates registration for FedConnect. Please note that vendors MUST have their SAM profile set to "public" otherwise FedConnect will not be able to access the SAM information required to validate vendor credentials. Registration may be completed and information regarding the registration process may be obtained at http://www.sam.gov. There is no charge for registration in SAM.



A separate synopsis will be issued for the Request for Proposal (RFP) resulting from this sources sought synopsis.