USDA Forest Service Southern Region National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Support Services Blanket Purchase Agreements Scope Summary The USDA Forest Service Southern Region intends to solicit proposals for the award of multiple blanket purchase agreements (BPA) to support our (NEPA) environmental analyses and studies throughout the region. These blanket purchase agreements are intended to include a base ordering period of five (5) years. The work to be performed shall consist of various service categories including but not limited to the following: Program Manager * Interdisciplinary Team Leader/Manager* NEPA/Forest Planning Specialist* Meeting Coordinator/Facilitator* Writer/Editor* Soil Scientist* Hydrologist* Botanist* Wildlife Biologist* Fisheries Biologist* Rangeland Management Specialist* Forest Ecologist Forester* Timber Sale Layout Forester* Fuels Specialist or Fire Ecologist* Air Quality Specialist* Geologist* Heritage or Cultural Resource Specialist* Recreation Specialist* Wilderness/Inventoried Roadless/Wild and Scenic River Specialist* Landscape Architect/Visual Resource Specialist* Road and Facilities Engineer* Logging Systems Engineer Economist* Lands and Specialist Uses Specialist* Biological Technician Archeological Technician Forestry Technician Range Technician Engineering Technician General Forest Laborer Geographic Information System (GIS) Technician* Data Analyst and Statistician Sociologist These agreements shall provide scientific and professional services contributing to integrated forest and rangeland restoration programs, and other professional services used for land and resource management by the USFS. Work under this contract may relate to the following typical subject areas. (This list is not all-inclusive): Forest Planning (National Forest Management Act) Support Project Planning (National Environmental Policy Act) Support Data Collection and Analysis Natural Resource Studies Minerals and Geology Water Resources Soils Resources Air Quality and Smoke Management Climate Change Vegetation Management (Timber, Silviculture, Botany, Fuels) Rangeland Management Terrestrial and Aquatic Invasive Species Travel Management Logging and Transportation System Planning Logging Road Services and Road Analysis Fisheries and Wildlife Scenery Management Landscape Analysis and Watershed Assessments Recreation, Wilderness, Inventoried Roadless Areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers Heritage Resource Surveys and Studies Socio-Economic Studies Lands and Special Uses Development of Communication Site and Transmission Line Corridor Designation Plans Geographic Information System Spatial Analysis and/or Statistical Data Analysis Pricing Instruction Prices provided are to be the maximum price a contractor can bid for those items on a call. Fully loaded rates shall include direct costs, indirect costs, overhead or GA, profit, and incidental materials costs. The offeror shall provide firm fixed price labor rates for all applicable labor categories. Labor Hour rates will be evaluated for the price competition; however orders shall be issued as FFP unless deemed inappropriate by Call Order Contracting Officer. Award Plan This procurement is partial set-aside for small businesses with preference given to 8(a) small businesses and HUB -zone. Subcontracting Plans will be required for large businesses seeking consideration. Teaming Arrangements and Joint Ventures will be considered for award. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes associated with this requirement are: 541620 Environmental Consulting Services. The magnitude of this solicitation is between $5,000,000 and $10,000,000. Basis for award is best value. When determining best value, past performance followed by technical capability and experience is more important than price. Past performance, technical capability and experience when combined are more important than price. The forthcoming solicitation is expected to yield multiple BPA awards that will be made based on procedures set forth in the solicitation. The government reserves the right to make partial awards to more than one vendor if deemed necessary. If a vendor would only like to be considered for specific line items they must specify as such in their technical proposal. BPA Ordering Procedures In accordance with FAR part 13.003, all call orders valued under the simplified acquisition threshold (S.A.T.) shall be set-aside to small business awardees in the applicable service pool. In the event that the small businesses pool is non-responsive or price can not be determined to be fair and reasonable, the Contracting Officer may consider and award a call order at or below the S.A.T. to a large business within the applicable service pool. All vendors in applicable competition pools are eligible for awards above the S.A.T. and must be given fair opportunity to compete using simplified acquisition procedures. Location of Contract Services The Southern Region includes the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Each call will identify the specific location and details of the requirement. Qualifying contracting firms may submit proposals for the entire Southern Region of the Forest Service, or for one or more zones outlined as follows: A. Southern Appalachian Zone - Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee (Cherokee NF) and Georgia; B. Coastal Plains - Piedmont Zone - South Carolina, Florida, Alabama; C. Ouachita - Ozark Highlands Zone - Arkansas, Oklahoma; D. Western Coastal Zone - Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi; E. Cumberland River Zone - Kentucky, Tennessee (Land Between The Lakes). F. Puerto Rico - El Yunque National Forest The estimate for issuance of the solicitation is on or about 13th November 2017. All questions may be emailed to
[email protected] using the subject header R8 NEPA Support BPA Q&A. 1. Submit questions not later than 2:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday Nov 21, 2017 2. Questions may be submitted by e-mail. 3. Responses to questions will be posted through an amendment not later than 2:00 p.m. EST on Nov 28, 2017 Government answers to submitted vendor questions shall supersede terms in original solicitation document in the case of contradiction. Note that the Sample Task Order in Attachment F and the requirements on pg.49 section IV have been removed. Solicitation period shall close December 18th, 2017 by 2:00 PM/ET. All proposals shall be emailed to Christopher Ford (primary point of contact). A copy of the solicitation, scope of work and any amendments will be available for downloading from the internet. You can access the solicitations and attachments on Federal Business Opportunities website.