Vegetation Management Services

The Department of Energy's Western Area Power Administration (Western) ? Upper Great Plains Region (UGP) has identified the need for Vegetation Management Services along electrical transmission line right-of-ways (ROW) in order to provide line clearance and access to the transmission line. The contractor is required to perform Line (ROW) Vegetation Management Services as needed at any location along the Upper Great Plains Region (UGPR) transmission line rights-of-ways in North Dakota, Montana, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska.

THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A REQUEST FOR A FORMAL PROPOSAL OR A PRESOLICITATION NOTICE. THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AT THIS TIME. This request for capability statements does not constitute a request for proposals. Submission of any information in response to this market survey is purely voluntary. The government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred. This announcement is for information and planning purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the government, implied or otherwise, to issue a solicitation or award a contract.

This sources sought notice replaces solicitation number DE-SOL-0007000. Responses from industry have been taken into consideration by the government and a new draft PWS was written to reduce risk to the quoting contractors. See attachment for draft PWS dated August 2014.

The work will include the removal of vegetation (trees and bushes) within the right-of-way that are within 25 feet or could fall within 25 feet of the electric transmission line. The vegetation identified for removal and or trimming is defined as any woody perennial plant having several stems or branches arising from either the base or the trunk of the plant.

The solicitation will have three Contract Line Items consisting of the following: CLIN 0001 is a 2-man crew defined as a Foreman and (1) Journeymen level Trimmer, an Aerial Lift, a Brush Chipper, and a Pickup Truck to trim and/or remove trees as required by Western. CLIN 0002 is a 3-man crew defined as a Foreman and (2) Journeymen level Trimmers, an Aerial Lift, a Brush Chipper, and a Pickup Truck to trim and/or remove trees as required by Western. CLIN 0003 is mobilization which is limited to reimbursement up to the Federal Travel Regulation travel rates. Receipts for travel must accompany any invoices submitted for mobilization costs. Quotes will not be requested against the mobilization CLIN as all costs are only reimbursable up to the federal travel regulation rates. An hourly rate for CLIN 0001 and CLIN 0002 will be requested in the solicitation. Task orders will be issued against the indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract based on the quoted hourly rate in the master contract. For each tree trimming/tree removal and stump treatment activity, Western will originate a work request and convey that request to the Contractor. The Contractor should then visit the applicable work site(s) and submit an estimate containing: 1) mobilization costs and 2) crew size and number of hours the crew will need to accomplish the work. The Contractor will return their estimate to the Western representative for review within a reasonable period of time. If the estimate is acceptable to Western, then a Delivery Order will be prepared and issued to the Contractor with a firm, fixed number of hours to accomplish the work. If the Contractor accomplishes the work in fewer hours than estimated, they will still be paid the negotiated number of hours; if the job takes longer than anticipated, the Contractor must complete t he work for the negotiated number of hours. The hourly rate for each CLIN will be set in the Master Contract.

The contractor may be required to perform concurrent services at multiple locations with multiple crews within the seven state region. The contractor must also be able to comply with the required North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) standards and the Federal Energy Reliability Commission (FERC) requirements in the performance of the contract.

The Statement of Work will include a provision requiring the contractor to be "available for on-site work within 72 hours of receiving notice to proceed from Western". The successful contractor must possess and maintain all required certifications for performing work up to the minimum approach distance to live parts for non-electrical workers as derived from OSHA standard 1910.333(C)(3)(i).

Western is seeking information regarding all firms, both large and small, who have demonstrated experience in Vegetation Management Services along high voltage electrical transmission lines. Western will evaluate the past performance of firms performing this type of work. In addition, Western will evaluate the adequacy of a firm's safety plan for compliance with Western's Performance Work Statement as well as the relevant Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) regulations. Innovative comments/suggestions from industry on how to solicit this requirement are encouraged by the government. The methodology explained in this sources sought notice is only preliminary. The government reserves the right to accept suggestions from industry and solicit in accordance with those suggestions if it?s determined beneficial to do so. This is a preliminary notice only and a separate solicitation-specific synopsis will be published in Federal Business Opportunities in the near future. Business concerns that are capable of performing this type of work as outlined above are invited to provide information by email to mlowe@wapa.gov.

All interested parties must identify whether they are a Large Business, Small Business, HUBZone, 8(a), Small Disadvantaged Business, or a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business when responding to the above Sources Sought Notice.