Synopsis:Solictiation notice, START V   3

Amendment 1 responds to questions to this NOTICE: This is a Request for Proposal (RFP) solicitation notice. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) intends on making TWO AWARDS from this ANNOUNCEMENT. NO REIMBURSEMENT WILL BE MADE FOR ANY COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. No telephone calls requesting a solicitation will be accepted or acknowledged. This announcement intends on fulfilling upcoming Superfund Technical Assessment Response Team (START) requirements in Region 4 and Region 5 of the US EPA. The Superfund Division, Emergency Response branches in Region 4 and Region 5 require contractor support to provide environmental consulting services in the environmental clean-up industry. These services primarily support Region 4 (AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN) and Region 5 (IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, and WI). The RFP is NOT set-aside for small businesses, as two or more small businesses were not determined able to perform the requirements. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this requirement is 541620, Environmental Consulting Services, with a small business size standard of $15 Million. This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in providing advice and assistance to businesses and other organizations on environmental issues, such as the control of environmental contamination from pollutants, toxic substances and hazardous materials. These establishments identify problems, measure and evaluate risks and recommend solutions. They employ a multidiscipline staff of scientists, engineers, and other technicians with expertise in areas, such as air and water quality, asbestos contamination, remediation and environmental law. The attached RFP potentially may limit competition from vendors with organizational conflicts of interest. These services require performance in accordance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (also known as CERCLA or Superfund) as amended, the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan and other environmental statues. Most of the technical support that the contractor shall be tasked as applicable for nationally consistent advisory and assistance to EPAs On-Scene Coordinators (OSCs) and other federal officials implementing EPAs responsibilities under the national response system. The prospective contractor will be required to provide services to support response and site assessment activities related to the release or threat of release of oil, petroleum products, hazardous substances, weapons of mass destruction or pollutants and contaminants that pose an actual or potential threat to human health and welfare, or to the environment. If an offeror chooses to respond to this solicitation, then an offeror may choose one of the three Proposal Options. Option A is one Proposal (three volumes) submitting an offer for Region 4 only, and no offer for Region 5 will be submitted. Option B is one Proposal (three volumes) submitting an offer for Region 5 only, and no offer for Region 4 will be submitted. Option C is one Proposal (three volumes), submitting two individual offers, one for each region, with regional information distinctly separated from each other. Submission of a combined proposal does not guarantee an award will be made for both regions. Offerors are cautioned the due dates for submitting Volume specific proposals are staggered, refer to solicitation instructions. The Proposal Volumes have staggered due dates, with the Business Proposal required first on November 8th, 2018 2:00 PM CDT, and the Technical Proposal and the Price/Cost Proposal submitted after the initial Business Proposal before November 21st, 2018, 2:00 PM CDT. Any volume submitted late may force the entire proposal to be considered late. The overall instructions, evaluation criteria, pricing, as well as general guidance for the RFP are listed under sections L & M of the solicitation. Once awarded, solicitation sections L & M and attachments #11 through #14 will be removed. While performing the services, prospective vendors may use scientific equipment to measure/monitor environmental conditions and activities to further the Agency's primary mission: The protection of human health and the environment. The requirement limits several scientific equipment to specific brand names for purposes of compatibility with the ER national responder system, compatible with EPA specific hardware and software, and equipment capable of measuring at EPA response action levels. Please send any questions regarding this procurement to Thomas Harrison and Sara King by FedConnect, the method of correspondence. Consistent with "EPA-L-15-102 TECHNICAL QUESTIONS", only those technical questions posted through FedConnect will be accepted. EPA must receive technical questions no later than fourteen (14) calendar days after the issuance date of this solicitation [Close of Business on October 24th, 2018]. If you experience any technical difficulties with the site, contact the Fedconnect service desk and submit questions to Thomas Harrison and Sara King at the following email addresses: Harrison.Thomas@epa.gov and king.sara@epa.gov. When technical difficulties with the site are resolved, submit the questions through Fedconnect. Verbal questions will not be accepted.