The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (SBNMS) is issuing notice of intent to award a time and materials type contract for technical services related to the location, documentation, assessment, management and interpretation of maritime heritage resources in the sanctuary. The required tasks include: (1) Work location: Approximately 70% of the work shall be conducted at the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary office in Scituate, MA. Approximately 20% of the work will be field work (remote sensing cruises, ROV/AUV investigations, and diving operations) and 10% will be off-site for outreach activities (attending meetings/events and giving presentations). There are several reasons for this: (1) close interaction with staff is necessary to effectively coordinate the various tasks involved with this project, (2) access to the proprietary GIS database located at the SBNMS is required, (3) regular availability for weather-dependent research expeditions to the site, (4) regular availability to participate in or advise SBNMS with management issues, (2) Chain of command: The Contractor shall report to the maritime heritage coordinator, but work closely with the education/outreach coordinator particularly on interpretive efforts, (3) Travel: The Contractor shall attend the annual 5-day Society for Historical Archaeology conference and the annual 5-day NOAA Maritime Heritage Program coordinators meeting. The Contractor shall also conduct 10-days of research at regional and national museum/archives in Bath, ME, Portland, ME, Waldoboro, ME, Boston, MA, Salem, MA, Provincetown, Mystic, CT, and Washington, DC. An additional 10-days of travel shall be required to participate in fieldwork in Woods Hole, MA, Gloucester, MA and Provincetown, MA, (4) Diving: The Contractor shall conduct approximately 20 dives per year on maritime heritage resources in coldwater offshore environments. Scuba diving will be conducted on sites located between 65 and 120 feet and between 22-30 miles from Scituate, MA using Nitrox gas. The Contractor shall archaeologically document the sites using measured sketches, video and still photography. Data collection will focus on information required for National Register of Historic Places nominations, management, and interpretive materials. All diving fieldwork shall have a research design and be documented in the form of field logs, post-dive logs, and post-dive reports, (5) Remote Sensing: The Contractor shall plan, coordinate, and conduct side scan sonar, magnetometer, ROV, and AUV field work. Fieldwork shall include three 1 to 14 day research cruises on NOAA and non-NOAA research vessels to locate, document, and assess maritime heritage resources. All remote sensing fieldwork shall have a research design and be documented in the form of field logs and post-cruise reports, (6) Historical Research: The Contractor shall conduct historical research to identify located sites, potential maritime heritage resource locations, and develop the historical context for the sanctuary. The research will be focused on collecting information for National Register of Historic Places nominations and interpretive materials, (7) Databases: The Contractor shall enter all data acquired through historical research and archaeological fieldwork into SBNMS GIS and historic shipwreck databases, (8) National Register of Historic Places: The Contractor shall prepare one draft National Register of Historic Places nomination per contract period for maritime heritage resources in accordance with National Historic Preservation Act guidelines, (9) Interpretive Materials: The Contractor shall draft maritime heritage content and select imagery and video for the SBNMS website as well as for sanctuary documents, exhibits, kiosks, publications, and presentations, and (10) Management Plan Review: The Contractor shall participate and provide advice to the sanctuary as part of the management plan review process. The period of performance for the intended time and materials type contract is 16 September 2006 through 15 September 2007 with two one-year options. It is NOAA’s intent to conduct this procurement in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 12, Acquisition of Commercial Items, and FAR Subpart 13.5, Test Program for Certain Commercial Items. This procurement is being issued as a 100% Small Business set-aside in accordance with FAR 52.219-6. The applicable NAICS is 541720 and the small business size standard is $6.5 million annually. The Request for Quotation (RFQ) will be issued on or about June 2, 2006 with responses due on or about June 20, 2006. The RFQ will be issued via electronic posting at Federal Business Opportunity (FEDBIZOPPS) web page www.eps.gov. Hard copies of the RFQ will not be issued. It is incumbent upon contractors to monitor FEDBIZOPS for the release of the RFQ, specification, drawings and all subsequent amendments. For information concerning the procurement, please forward inquiries via e-mail to Sandie Wallace at
[email protected] or via telephone at (757) 441-6563.