Description
The Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District, is soliciting comments from the construction community addressing the potential use of a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District, anticipates a future procurement for the EDR water treatment and system design and construction activities including but not limited to the Design Build of a 6.0 million gallons per day (MGD) EDR water treatment plant. The Plant will treat all contaminants found in Fort Irwin's ground water in accordance with (IAW) federal and state requirements (i.e.: arsenic, fluoride, and total dissolved solids). The Plant will include an Electro-Dialysis Reversal (EDR) system as primary treatment. The project also includes the construction of the EDR facility with pumps, EDR stacks, filters, and an EDR waste equalization tank. The Plant also includes treatment of the waste stream to achieve 99.8% potable water recovery rate with reject discharge to evaporation ponds. Construction also includes a 1 million gallon (MG) pretreatment tank and a 1 MG clear well tank. Project also includes control building, chemical building, treated water pump station, process drain pump station, standby generator, process piping, and SCADA. The project includes supporting utilities and infrastructure upgrades to the water plant include electric service, site improvements, communications, water, sewer, gas, storm water drainage and antiterrorism measures. Commissioning of the water treatment plant is also included. The water system improvements include pipelines connecting the water plant to Bicycle Lake booster station, replacement of expired pipe and equipment, and water supply /distribution system expansion. Other system improvements include improvement of fire flow, installation of a new water well at Langford Lake and connecting Irwin basin wells to raw water transmission lines. Tank construction includes rehabilitation of existing welded steel water storage tanks and repair/replacement of a 1 MG above ground water storage tank. Sustainable Design and Development (SDD), Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007, and Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct05) features will be included. The PA for this project is $115M. The cost of design and construction for this project ranges from $100-$250M. The proposed project duration is 36 months. Sources are being sought for firms with a North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code of 221310 with a Small Business Size Standard of $33,500,000.00. The location of this work is on Fort Irwin, in San Bernardino County, California. A PLA is defined as a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement with one or more labor organizations that establishes the terms and conditions of employment for a specific construction project and is an agreement described in 29 U.S. C. 158(f). Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Policy: (a) Project Labor Agreement (PLA) is a tool that agencies may use to promote economy and efficiency in Federal procurements. Pursuant to Executive Order 13502, agencies are encouraged to consider requiring the use of project labor agreements in connection with large scale construction projects. (b) An agency may, if appropriate, require that every contractor and subcontractor engaged in construction on the project agree, for that project, to negotiate or become party to a project labor agreement with one or more labor organizations if the agency decides that the use of project labor agreements will (1) Advance the Federal Government's interest in achieving economy and efficiency in Federal procurement, producing labor-management stability, and ensuring compliance with laws and regulations governing safety and health, equal employment opportunity, labor and employment standards, and other matters; and (2) Be consistent with law. Reference: Provision: 52.222-23 "Notice of Requirement for Project labor Agreement Clause 52.222-32 "Project Labor Agreement." The construction community is invited to comment on the use of PLAs. Of particular interest to the Government are responses to the following questions: (1) Should PLAs be executed on selected large dollar contracts in San Bernardino County, CA? (2) Are there concerns by prime contractors on the availability of skilled construction labor? (3) Would a PLA benefit a project which contains a unique and compelling mission-critical schedule? (4) What type of project should not be considered for PLA clauses? (5) What is the time impact to the completion of the contract due to a PLA? (6) What is the cost impact to the bid/proposal due to a PLA? (7) What other factors should the Corps consider before deciding to include a PLA provision in a Los Angeles District contract? This is NOT a Request for Proposals and does not constitute any commitment by the Government. Responses to this labor market survey will be used by the Government to make appropriate acquisition decisions. All interested parties must respond to future solicitation announcements separately from responses to this market survey. Responses should be received prior to 2:00 PM local time on 28 February 2012. Responses should be sent to: US Army Corps of Engineers Contracting Division ATTN: Lucia A. Carvajal P. 0. Box 532711 Los Angeles, CA 90053-2325