DTRA Scientific and Technical Engagement Partnership (STEP) 2.0 Program   4

21 May 2024

Purpose: Posting of solicitation

This notice informs industry that the STEP 2.0 RFP has been posted to PIEE (https://piee.eb.mil/sol/xhtml/unauth/search/oppMgmtLink.xhtml?solNo=HDTRA124R0042) with a subsequent notice also posted to SAM.gov (https://sam.gov/opp/dc0793e8caca44658ed52d048bf4ab18/view#).

15 April 2024

Purpose: Posting of Q&A from Draft RFP

This notice informs interested parties that the Government has responded to all questions received in response to the draft STEP 2.0 RFP and posted the responses on the PIEE Solicitation module as an attachment under HDTRA123R0003 (same posting that contained the draft RFP documents from July 2023).

11 April 2024

Purpose: Synopsis of STEP 2.0

This notice satisfies the requirement to synopsize the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Scientific and Technical Engagement Partnership (STEP) 2.0 contract action IAW FAR 5.201(a) and (b)(1)(i) as well as represents the pre-solicitation notice IAW FAR 5.204. It has been posted to the Governmentwide Point of Entry (www.sam.gov) IAW FAR 5.201(b)(1). This notice does not constitute the solicitation; proposals are not requested at this time.

STEP 2.0 represents the follow-on effort to the majority of the requirements that fell under the STEP 1.0 contract HDTRA1-17-C-0019 with Leidos, Inc., which ended in November 2022. A sources sought notice was previously published on www.sam.gov related to the effort on 05 August 2021 under HDTRA121R0046. A Virtual Industry Day was held between 19-21 October 2021 after being announced on www.sam.gov. Then, a draft Request for Proposals (RFP) was posted on the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE) Solicitation Portal with a cross-posting on www.sam.gov on 11 July 2023 under HDTRA123R0003. The notice ID for STEP 2.0 has since changed to reflect the intended solicitation number of HDTRA124R0042.

Scope Description: The STEP 2.0 scope is similar to what was described in the draft Statement of Work posted with the draft RFP under HDTRA123R0003 and is summarized as follows.

The Scientific and Technical Engagement Partnership (STEP) 2.0 Program builds from the previous STEP effort, continuing to advance the BTRP mission by establishing and leveraging a robust pool of scientific and technical expertise to efficiently, and effectively execute planned and emerging BTRP requirements. BTRP utilizes international engagements to promote science and technical collaborations with partner nations; regional and international organizations; and the global scientific community to foster and maintain ethical, constructive, and sustainable partnerships that address health security threats.

STEP 2.0 activities promote best practices in biological safety and security (BS&S); improve partner countries' capabilities to safely, rapidly, and accurately detect and report infectious diseases; and establish and enhance international partnerships. The purpose of STEP 2.0 is to establish a network of biosurveillance and biorisk management (BRM) expertise spanning a variety of domestic and foreign collaborators and sectors, including academic institutions, non-governmental organizations, scientists, mentors, and commercial entities.

The Government intends to release the solicitation as a request for proposals (RFP) under FAR Part 15 with the goal of awarding a single, standalone C type contract to one vendor.

Per FAR 5.207(a), this notice contains the required information as follows:

1. Action Code: Synopsis_Presolicitation_Notice_
2. Date: 11 April
3. Year: 2024
4. Contracting Office ZIP Code: 22060
5. Product or Service Code/NAICS: U004/541990
6. Contracting Office Address: 8725 John J. Kingman Road, Fort Belvoir, VA
7. Subject: Synopsis and Pre-solicitation Notice for STEP 2.0
8. Proposed Solicitation Number: HDTRA124R0042
9. Closing Response Date: Proposals are not requested at this time. Proposals will be due approximately 30 days from RFP release IAW FAR 5.203(c); the RFP is expected to be posted sometime in FY2024.
10. Point of Contact: dtra.belvoir.al.mbx.al-acc-step-acquisition@mail.mil
11. Contract Award and Solicitation Number: Award number is TBD; see #8 for solicitation number.
12. Contract Award Dollar Amount: TBD
13. Line Item Number: TBD see draft RFP for tentative CLIN structure, note this is subject to change
14. Contract Award Date: TBD
15. Contractor: TBD
16. Description: See scope description above. The period of performance is expected to be a 3-year base period plus a 2-year option period.
17. Place of Contract Performance: Performance will primarily occur OCONUS on non-USG facilities/locations. Some program management activities are expected be performed CONUS at contractor facilities.
18. Set-aside Status: This effort is being competed on a full and open basis, with an intended small business subcontracting goal of 25%.

The Government intends to post the solicitation (RFP) on the PIEE Solicitation Portal with a cross-posting on www.sam.gov IAW FAR 5.102(a)(1). To search for solicitations available on the PIEE Solicitation Portal, vendors can click the following link: https://wawf.eb.mil/sol/xhtml/unauth/index.xhtml .

Per FAR 5.207(c)(16)(i), all responsible sources may submit a proposal, once the RFP has been released, which shall be considered by the agency.

The Government intends to post answers to questions received from the draft RFP from last summer (previously under notice ID HDTRA123R0003) soon.