See attached Scope of Work/PWS for a more detailed description. NOTE: Please provide a detailed description of the personnel who will be working on this contract, there experience and certifications. Please return "Attachment 2" Past Performance Survey with adequate information. Please adhere to RFQ Q&A Dates, and Response Date. RFQ# RFQ1598490 Endangered Species Act Environmental Review Process for FAST-41 Offshore Wind Energy Development Projects RFQ Information and Instructions to Offers: This is a non-personnel services contract to provide environmental reviews under Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7 for FAST-41 Offshore Wind Energy (OSW) Projects on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). I. Background The Ecological Services (ES), Migratory Bird Program, and National Wildlife Refuge System of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (Service) North Atlantic-Appalachian region work together for the benefit of the American people to protect, restore, and conserve populations of fish, wildlife, plants, and the environments upon which they depend. Service biologists assist project proponents, planners, and agency personnel in developing plans that protect species while accomplishing the objectives of industry proposed development. In addition, Service biologists review and provide recommendations on projects and development designs, craft mitigation plans, provide expertise in wildlife and habitat science, and serve as members of planning teams. They fulfill numerous duties under multiple authorities, including the Endangered Species Act (ESA), Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. Our offices need additional support to accomplish Title 41 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41). This support will be utilized to meet the goals of FAST-41 by improving the Federal environment review and authorization process for covered infrastructure projects currently being planned on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). We aim to implement innovative solutions to meet development needs while maintaining ecosystem integrity and protecting fish and wildlife habitats. One specific component of this process involves energy development on the OCS through leases issued by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) for Offshore Wind Development. Type of Contract: The Government anticipates the award of a Firm-Fixed Price contract resulting from this Request for Quote (RFQ). The Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) is issuing this RFQ for services on GSA Schedule MAS and is set aside for 100% for a Small Business under NAICS 541620 Environmental Consulting Services. . Instructions to Offerors: 1) Submission of questions: Interested contractors shall submit all questions concerning the solicitation at the earliest time possible. Questions shall be submitted to Merenica_Banks@fws.gov by Tuesday, December 27, 2022 at 3:00PM ED. 2) Submission of quotes: Quotes shall be submitted to Merenica_Banks@fws.gov , by January 5, 2023, at 3:00PM ED. 3) Quotes shall be in two (2) separate volumes: (1) Technical and (2) Price. 4) Electronic quotes shall be prepared so that if the quote is printed it meets the following format requirements: - 8.5 x 11 inch paper - Single-spaced typed lines, including figures or glossaries - 1 inch margins - 12-point (Times New Roman font) in the text and - 10-point (Times New Roman font) for all tables - All quote pages must be numbered 5) Cover Letter: The quote shall include a cover letter signed by an individual authorized to commit the company to the quote. The cover letter shall identify all enclosures being transmitted as part of the quote. The letter shall reference the solicitation number and acknowledge that it transmits an offer in response to the RFQ. It shall state: The offeror quote is valid for 60 days after submission. Names and telephone numbers of persons authorized to make clarifications or conduct negotiations, as well as the name of the official authorized to bind the Offeror's organization shall be clearly identified. 6) Volume I Technical This volume should address all non-price factors. Volume I shall be limited to 10 pages which includes the cover page, charts, appendix and graphs. 7) Volume II Price There is no page limit for the Price Quote. Contractors are encouraged to offer discounted prices. The Government intends to evaluate quotes and award a contract without discussions with contractors. Therefore, the contractor's initial offer should contain the contractor's best terms from a price and technical standpoint. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if later determined by the Contracting Officer to be necessary or in the Governments best interest. The Government may reject any or all quotes if such action is in the public interest; accept other than the lowest quote; and waive informalities and minor irregularities in quotes received. Basis of Award: A. To determine the best value contractor, a source selection process will be used that involves evaluation of four factors. The evaluation factors are: (1) Technical Specifications, (2) Current standing in SAMS, (3) Past Performance (4) Price. When combined the non-price factors are more important than the Price. B. Award shall be made to the responsible Offeror whose proposal is determined to be the most advantageous to the Government, with appropriate consideration given to the evaluation factors. Pricing shall be evaluated in accordance with completeness and reasonableness criteria that are described below. The technical features of each proposal shall be evaluated against the Request for Quote (RFQ) requirements, assessing the strengths and weakness of each quote in light of evaluation criteria that is described below. Non-pricing features of an offeror's quote shall be evaluated in such a manner as to assess the value of those features as compared to the proposed prices or costs to the Government. Implicit in this process is the Government's willingness to accept other than the lowest priced offer, if the added benefits of a higher priced offer outweigh the additional cost or price involved. C. The non-price factors shall be evaluated using reasoned judgment that results in the assignment of a rating as follows: Outstanding, Good, Acceptable, or Unacceptable. D. The Government intends to award a contract without discussions but reserves the right to hold discussions if determined by the Government to be in its best interests. The Government may communicate with an Offeror in order to clarify, verify, or obtain additional information. Evaluation Factors The Contracting Officer will screen proposals to identify and eliminate any proposals that are so incomplete as to preclude a meaningful evaluation of technical merit. The remaining proposals will be evaluated based upon the following factors listed. Evaluation factors include: Factor 1: Technical Experience Provide a service with the specifications provided make sure it fulfills the data integration and design needs articulated in the SOW/Specifications. (Personnel Qualifications and Company Capabilities) Factor 2: SAMS Registration Status The offeror shall clearly have a positive "active" status in SAMS. Factor 3: Past Performance Date provided must be favorable to the FWS timeline of need. Factor 4: Price The offeror shall submit a firm fixed price quote that includes all labor and materials and delivery cost to provide the product requested. Electronic Invoicing and Payment Requirements - Invoice Processing Platform (IPP)(Apr 2013) Payment requests must be submitted electronically through the U. S. Department of the Treasury's Invoice Processing Platform System (IPP). "Payment request" means any request for contract financing payment or invoice payment by the Contractor. To constitute a proper invoice, the payment request must comply with the requirements identified in the applicable Prompt Payment clause included in the contract, or the clause 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items included in commercial item contracts. The IPP website address is: https://www.ipp.gov/. Under this contract, the following documents are required to be submitted as an attachment to the IPP invoice: Vendor Invoice. The Contractor must use the IPP website to register access and use IPP for submitting requests for payment. The Contractor Government Business Point of Contact (as listed in SAM) will receive enrollment instructions via email from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (FRBB) prior to the contract award date, but no more than 3 - 5 business days of the contract award date. Contractor assistance with enrollment can be obtained by contacting the IPP Production Helpdesk via email ippgroup@bos.frb.org or phone (866) 973- 3131. If the Contractor is unable to comply with the requirement to use IPP for submitting invoices for payment, the Contractor must submit a waiver request in writing to the Contracting Officer with its proposal or quotation. (End of Local Clause) Clauses: 52.203-19 Prohibition on Requiring Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Statements. (Jan 2017) (a) Definitions. As used in this clause "Internal confidentiality agreement or statement" means a confidentiality agreement or any other written statement that the contractor requires any of its employees or subcontractors to sign regarding nondisclosure of contractor information, except that it does not include confidentiality agreements arising out of civil litigation or confidentiality agreements that contractor employees or subcontractors sign at the behest of a Federal agency. "Subcontract" means any contract as defined in subpart 2.1 entered into by a subcontractor to furnish supplies or services for performance of a prime contract or a subcontract. It includes but is not limited to purchase orders, and changes and modifications to purchase orders. "Subcontractor" means any supplier, distributor, vendor, or firm (including a consultant) that furnishes supplies or services to or for a prime contractor or another subcontractor. (b) The Contractor shall not require its employees or subcontractors to sign or comply with internal confidentiality agreements or statements prohibiting or otherwise restricting such employees or subcontractors from lawfully reporting waste, fraud, or abuse related to the performance of a Government contract to a designated investigative or law enforcement representative of a Federal department or agency authorized to receive such information (e.g., agency Office of the Inspector General). (c) The Contractor shall notify current employees and subcontractors that prohibitions and restrictions of any preexisting internal confidentiality agreements or statements covered by this clause, to the extent that such prohibitions and restrictions are inconsistent with the prohibitions of this clause, are no longer in effect. (d) The prohibition in paragraph (b) of this clause does not contravene requirements applicable to Standard Form 312 (Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement), Form 4414 (Sensitive Compartmented Information Nondisclosure Agreement), or any other form issued by a Federal department or agency governing the nondisclosure of classified information. (e) In accordance with section 743 of Division E, Title VII, of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, (Pub. L. 113-235), and its successor provisions in subsequent appropriations acts (and as extended in continuing resolutions) use of funds appropriated (or otherwise made available) is prohibited, if the Government determines that the Contractor is not in compliance with the provisions of this clause. (f) The Contractor shall include the substance of this clause, including this paragraph (f), in subcontracts under such contracts. (End of clause) 52.217-7 Option for Increased Quantity Separately Priced Line Item. (Mar 1989) The Government may require the delivery of the numbered line item, identified in the Schedule as an option item, in the quantity and at the price stated in the Schedule. The Contracting Officer may exercise the option by written notice to the Contractor within at least 30 days before the specified option start date. Delivery of added items shall continue at the same rate that like items are called for under the contract, unless the parties otherwise agree. (End of clause) 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services. (Nov 1999) The Government may require continued performance of any services within the limits and at the rates specified in the contract. These rates may be adjusted only as a result of revisions to prevailing labor rates provided by the Secretary of Labor. The option provision may be exercised more than once, but the total extension of performance hereunder shall not exceed 6 months. The Contracting Officer may exercise the option by written notice to the Contractor prior to contract expiration. (End of clause) SUBPART 42.15 CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE INFORMATION (DIAPR) 2010-14, Amendment 1 (JULY 2010) (a) FAR 42.1502 directs all Federal agencies to collect past performance information on contracts. The Department of the Interior (DOI) has implemented the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) to comply with this regulation. One or more past performance evaluations will be conducted in order to record your contract performance as required by FAR 42.15. (b) The past performance evaluation process is a totally paperless process using CPARS. CPARS is a web-based system that allows for electronic processing of the performance evaluation report. Once the report is processed, it is available in the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) for Government use in evaluating past performance as part of a source selection action. (c) We request that you furnish the Contracting Officer with the name, position title, phone number, and email address for each person designated to have access to your firm's past performance evaluation(s) for the contract no later than 30 days after award. Each person granted access will have the ability to provide comments in the Contractor portion of the report and state whether or not the Contractor agrees with the evaluation, before returning the report to the Assessing Official. The report information must be protected as source selection sensitive information not releasable to the public. (d) When your Contractor Representative(s) (Past Performance Points of Contact) are registered in CPARS, they will receive an automatically-generated email with detailed login instructions. Further details, systems requirements, and training information for CPARS is available at http://www.cpars.csd.disa.mil/. The CPARS User Manual, registration for On Line Training for Contractor Representatives, and a practice application may be found at this site. (e) Within 60 days after the end of a performance period, the Contracting Officer will complete an interim or final past performance evaluation, and the report will be accessible at http://www.cpars.csd.disa.mil/. Contractor Representatives may then provide comments in response to the evaluation, or return the evaluation without comment. Comments are limited to the space provided in Block 22. Your comments should focus on objective facts in the Assessing Official's narrative and should provide your views on the causes and ramifications of the assessed performance. In addition to the ratings and supporting narratives, blocks 1 - 17 should be reviewed for accuracy, as these include key fields that will be used by the Government to identify your firm in future source selection actions. If you elect not to provide comments, please acknowledge receipt of the evaluation by indicating "No comment" in Block 22, and then signing and dating Block 23 of the form. Without a statement in Block 22, you will be unable to sign and submit the evaluation back to the Government. If you do not sign and submit the CPAR within 30 days, it will automatically be returned to the Government and will be annotated: "The report was delivered/received by the contractor on (date). The contractor neither signed nor offered comment in response to this assessment." Your response is due within 30 calendar days after receipt of the CPAR. (f) The following guidelines apply concerning your use of the past performance evaluation: (1) Protect the evaluation as "source selection information." After review, transmit the evaluation by completing and submitting the form through CPARS. If for some reason you are unable to view and/or submit the form through CPARS, contact the Contracting Officer for instructions. (2) Strictly control access to the evaluation within your organization. Ensure the evaluation is never released to persons or entities outside of your control. (3) Prohibit the use of or reference to evaluation data for advertising, promotional material, preaward surveys, responsibility determinations, production readiness reviews, or other similar purposes. (g) If you wish to discuss a past performance evaluation, you should request a meeting in writing to the Contracting Officer no later than seven days following your receipt of the evaluation. The meeting will be held in person or via telephone or other means during your 30-day review period. (h) A copy of the completed past performance evaluation will be available in CPARS for your viewing and for Government use supporting source selection actions after it has been finalized. (End of notice) Provision: 52.203-18 Prohibition on Contracting with Entities that Require Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Statements-Representation. (Jan 2017) (a) Definition. "Internal confidentiality agreement or statement," "subcontract", and "subcontractor", as used in this provision, are defined in the clause at 52.203-19, Prohibition on Requiring Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Statements. (b) In accordance with section 743 of Division E, Title VII, of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113-235) and its successor provisions in subsequent appropriations acts (and as extended in continuing resolutions), Government agencies are not permitted to use funds appropriated (or otherwise made available) for contracts with an entity that requires employees or subcontractors of such entity seeking to report waste, fraud, or abuse to sign internal confidentiality agreements or statements prohibiting or otherwise restricting such employees or subcontractors from lawfully reporting such waste, fraud, or abuse to a designated investigative or law enforcement representative of a Federal department or agency authorized to receive such information. (c) The prohibition in paragraph (b) of this provision does not contravene requirements applicable to Standard Form 312, (Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement), Form 4414 (Sensitive Compartmented Information Nondisclosure Agreement), or any other form issued by a Federal department or agency governing the nondisclosure of classified information. (d) Representation. By submission of its offer, the Offeror represents that it will not require its employees or subcontractors to sign or comply with internal confidentiality agreements or statements prohibiting or otherwise restricting such employees or subcontractors from lawfully reporting waste, fraud, or abuse related to the performance of a Government contract to a designated investigative or law enforcement representative of a Federal department or agency authorized to receive such information (e.g., agency Office of the Inspector General). (End of provision)
