Taxonomic Identification and Enumeration. ..

The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Water Quality Planning, through the Nevada State Purchasing Division on behalf of Churchill County, is soliciting proposals for taxonomic identification and enumeration of aquatic macroinvertebrates and quality assurance/quality control services for periphyton samples. The procurement encompasses up to four service components: identification and enumeration of aquatic benthic macroinvertebrates to SAFIT Level II resolution (approximately 45-50 samples annually), identification and enumeration of periphyton samples (approximately 45-50 samples annually), quality assurance/quality control re-identification of macroinvertebrate samples (approximately 5-10 samples annually), and quality assurance/quality control re-identification of periphyton samples (approximately 5-10 samples annually). All services must include processing, digital photography where applicable, internal quality assurance/quality control, data formatting, metric and index calculation, and sample shipping. The State intends to award up to two contracts with a four-year term anticipated to begin April 15, 2026, and expire April 30, 2030, with proposals acceptable for all four service components or any combination thereof. Vendors must submit proposals by February 10, 2026, at 1:00 PM Pacific Time, with questions due by January 22, 2026, and reference submissions due by February 9, 2026, at 5:00 PM. Evaluation criteria consist of technical qualifications (30 percent), data compliance and quality assurance (40 percent), methodology (20 percent), and cost (10 percent). Qualified laboratories must demonstrate expertise in aquatic biological sample analysis, familiarity with standardized identification protocols, and the capability to maintain rigorous quality control standards throughout the contract period.

A five percent preference is available to Nevada-based businesses as defined in Nevada Revised Statutes 333.3351 to 333.3356, while vendors from states imposing in-state preferences may qualify for inverse preferences. Mandatory minimum requirements include Nevada business license registration, active registration on the System for Award Management (sam.gov), compliance with the State's standard form contract and insurance schedule requirements, and certification regarding non-boycott of Israel. All contractors must maintain Commercial General Liability insurance with $2,000,000 General Aggregate and $1,000,000 per Occurrence limits, Automobile Liability with $1,000,000 Combined Single Limit, Workers' Compensation at statutory limits, and Professional Liability (Errors and Omissions) with $1,000,000 per Claim and $2,000,000 Annual Aggregate, with the State of Nevada named as an additional insured. Contractors must maintain data encryption in transit and at rest, with all data assets maintained within the United States, and no incumbent contractor is referenced in the solicitation. Vendors must provide itemized costs per sample for all deliverables based on the maximum number of samples across the four-year contract period, with the option to propose percent adjustments for years 2027 through 2030; however, the RFP does not specify a total contract value or pricing thresholds, requiring vendors to submit their best offer initially while allowing the State to request presentations or best and final offers at its discretion.