SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Planning & Coordination of Remote Sensing Projects Related to the Production of Crop Acreage Estimates
- Notice Date
- 8/23/2005
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 541370
— Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Acquisition and Property Division, Acqusition Branch (DC), 1280 Maryland Avenue, SW Suite 580C, Washington, DC, 20024-2142
- ZIP Code
- 20024-2142
- Solicitation Number
- 05-3K06-570
- Response Due
- 9/6/2005
- Archive Date
- 10/6/2005
- Small Business Set-Aside
- Total Small Business
- Description
- This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. This solicitation #05-3K06-570 is issued as a Request for Proposals (RFP). This acquisition is being issued as a 100% Small Business Set-Aside. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 541370. The contractor shall provide support services to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) for the planning and coordination of remote sensing projects related to production of crop acreage estimates related to the NASS mission. The duration of the contract/order shall be twelve (12) months from the date of award and the contract/order shall include four (4) 1-year options to be exercised at the sole discretion of NASS pursuant to Clause 52.217-9, Option to Extend the Term of the Contract-Mar: 2000. This solicitation and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Circular 2005-05. Terms and conditions applicable to this solicitation are FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors - Commercial Items-Jan 2005; 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Items-Jan 1999; 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items-Mar 2005. Offerors must include a completed copy of this provision with their offer [this form is available on the internet at http://www.arnet.gov/far]; 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items-Oct 2003; 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statues or Executive Orders-Commercial Items-Jul 2005. Specifically, the following clauses cited are applicable to this solicitation: FAR 52-217-9, Option to Extend the Term of the Contract-Mar: 2000: a) The Government may extend the term of this contract by written notice to the Contractor provided, that the Government shall give the Contractor a preliminary written notice of its intent to extend a least 30 days before the contract expires. The preliminary notice does not commit the Government to an extension. b) If the Government exercises this option, the extended contract shall be considered to include this option provision. c) The total duration of this contact, including the exercise of any options under this clause, shall not exceed 60 months; FAR 52.219-8, Utilization of Small Business Concerns-May 2004; FAR 52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities-Feb 1999; FAR 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity-Apr 2002; FAR 52.222-35, Equal Opportunity for Special Disabled Veterans, Veterans of the Vietnam Era, and Other Eligible Veterans-Dec 2001; FAR 52.222-36, Affirmative Action for Workers with Disabilities-June 1998; FAR 52.222-37, Employment Reports on Special Disabled Veterans, Veterans of the Vietnam Era, and Other Eligible Veterans-Dec 2001; FAR 225-13, Restrictions on Certain Foreign Purchases-Mar 2005; FAR 232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer-Central Contractor Registration-Oct 2003. All quotes are to be sent to the attention of Mr. Stephen Schaefer, USDA, ARS, AFM, APD, 1280Maryland Avenue, SW, Ste. 580 C, Washington, DC 20024. All proposals must be received no later than 3:00 pm on September 6, 2005. Proposals may be e-mailed to sschaefer@ars.usda.gov. Enclosed is RFP No. 05-3K06-570 for contractor support services for the planning and coordination of remote sensing projects related to production of crop acreage estimates related to the NASS mission. You are requested to submit a proposal in accordance with the following instructions and attachments: This cover letter with Instructions to offerors; Attachment I - Price schedule, Clauses, Specific terms and conditions; and Attachment II - Statement of Work (SOW). I. Basic Instructions: Proposals must be prepared in two parts: technical and price. Each of the parts shall be separate and complete in itself so that evaluation of one may be accomplished independently from evaluation of the other. A. Technical Proposal Instructions: Proposals must clearly convey an understanding of the requirements as set forth in the Statement of Work. Offerors must submit an original and two copies of a technical proposal. Proposals shall include the following: Section I - detailed explanations and descriptions that demonstrates the approach they will use to provide all the services stated in this statement of work. Section II ? detailed information demonstrating that they have the experience and knowledge in performing the same or similar required services and the ability to communicate the experience and knowledge. For each past performance experience within the past three years, offerors are to submit the following: 1. Name of project; 2. Name of Customer/Organization; 3. Name, address, telephone number of project contact; and 4. Dollar value of project. Evaluations may include telephonic reference verification of the past performance information. B. Price Quote Instructions: Offerors must submit an Original and two (2) copies. This section shall consist of the offeror?s total, firm, fixed price for providing the required services. The total price shall be broken down to show the individual pricing elements that go into the total fixed price proposed. II. Evaluation Methodology: Offeror?s technical proposals will be evaluated against the following criteria. They are stated in descending order of importance: a. Offeror?s past performance in performing similar or related services and unique experience working with NASS image processing and geographic information systems software, Peditor and Remote Sensing Project; b. Offeror?s knowledge of remote sensing/geographic information systems to develop programs, process data, and prepare reports; and Offeror?s knowledge of regression analysis and diagnostics and multivariate clustering and classification techniques to analyze remotely sensed agricultural data; and Offeror?s knowledge of crop production practices, crop development stages and characteristics to analyze remotely sensed agricultural data; and 3. Offeror?s ability to communicate with diverse audiences at all levels; and 4. Price. III. Award Determination: Technical merit plays a significant role in determining award. Past performance is twice as important as knowledge and communication. All evaluation factors other than price, when combined, are significantly more important than price. The Contracting Officer shall determine what trade-off between technical merit and price promises to be the best value to the Government. Award will be made to the proposal which offers the greatest value and is most advantageous to the Government. Price may become the determining factor if proposals become more equal. Attachment I: Price Schedule: PRICE SCHEDULE: The Schedule - Supplies or Service and Prices: Item No., Remote Sensing Support Services, Quantity, Unit, Unit Price, Total Price: 0001 - Base Contract, 10/01/05 - 09/30/06; 0002 - Option I, 10/01/06 ? 09/30/07; 0003 - Option II, 10/01/07 ? 09/30/08; 0004 - Option III, 10/01/08 ? 09/30/09; 0004 - Option IV, 10/01/09 ? 09/30/10; Addendum to 52.212-4: I. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: The Period of Performance is: Base period: 10/01/05 to 09/30/06; If exercised: Option I: 10/01/06 to 09/30/07; Option II: 10/1/07 to 09/30/08; Option III: 10/01/08 to 09/30/09; Option IV: 10/01/09 to 09/30/10. II.CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION The Contracting Officer is the only person authorized to approve changes. This authority remains solely with the Contracting Officer. In the event the Contractor effects any changes at the direction of any person other than the Contracting Officer, the changes will be considered to have been made without authority and NO adjustment will be made in the contract price to cover any INCREASE incurred as a result thereof. A.The Contractor point of contact is: (To be inserted at time of award); B. The Government points of contact are as follows: Contracting Officer: Anthony S. Wimbush; Phone: (202) 720-3998; Fax: (202) 720-3987; C. Contract Administrator: Stephen Schaefer; Phone: (202) 720-7365; Fax: (202) 720-3987; D. Contracting Officer?s Representative (COR): (Name: To be inserted at time of award); Phone: (TBD); Fax: (TBD); III. MONTHLY PROGRESS REPORT REQUIREMENTS: The Contractor shall submit reports as follows: 1. The Contractor shall submit a monthly progress report by the 15th day of each month, covering work accomplished during that period. The progress report shall be brief and factual and shall include the following information: a. COVER PAGE; containing: - Contract number and title; Type of report; sequence number of report, and period of performance being reported; Contractor?s name and address; Author(s); and Date of report; b. A description of overall progress plus a separate description of each task or other logical segment of work on which effort was expended during the report period. The description shall include pertinent data and/or graphs in sufficient detail to explain any significant results achieved; c.A description of current technical or substantive performance, and any problem(s) which may impede performance along with proposed corrective action. 2. One copy of the report will be delivered to the COR and one copy to the Contract Administrator. IV. PAYMENT/ INVOICE PREPARATION: 1. Monthly, the contractor shall submit an Original invoice with 3 (three) copies to the following government office: (To be inserted at time of award) 2. The invoice shall be in accordance with 52-212-4. Note: A courtesy copy of each invoice shall be mailed to the Contracting Officer?s Representative (COR). V.PAYMENTS BY ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER, FAR Clause 52.232-33 ? Oct 2003 is incorporated by reference and requires the submission of information by the contractor to the payment office. Upon award, the contractor(s) shall contact the Miscellaneous Payments Section at the National Finance Center (NFC) to initiate the enrollment process of the Vendor Express Program (VXP), which will result in a number being assigned to the Contractor for payment under EFT. NFC can be reached at 1-800-421-0323. VI. AGAR 452.224-70 CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION (FEB 1988): a. Confidential information, as used in this clause, means (1) information or data of a personal nature proprietary about an individual, or (2) information of data submitted by or pertaining to an institution or organization. b. In addition to the types of confidential information described in (a)(1) and (2) above, information which might require special consideration with regard to the timing of its disclosure may derive from studies or research, during which public disclosure of primarily invalidated findings could create an erroneous conclusion which might threaten public health or safety if acted upon. c. The Contracting Officer and the Contractor may, by mutual consent, identify elsewhere in this contract specific information and/or categories of information which the Government will furnish to the Contractor or that the Contractor is expected to generate which is confidential. Similarly, the Contracting Officer and Contractor may, by mutual consent, identify such confidential information from time to time during the performance of the contract. d. It is established that information to be utilized under this contract is subject to the Privacy Act, the Contractor will follow rules and procedures of disclosure set forth in the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a, and implementing regulations and policies, with respect to systems of records determined to be subject to the Privacy Act. e. Confidential information, as defined in (a)(1) and (2) above, shall not be disclosed without prior written consent of the individual, institution or organization. f. Written advance notice of at least 45 days will be provided to the Contracting Officer of the Contractor?s intent to release findings of studies or research, which have the possibility of adverse effects on the public or the Federal agency, as described in (b) above. If the Contracting Officer does not pose any objections in writing within the 45 day period, the Contractor may proceed with disclosure. g. Whenever the Contractor is uncertain with regard to the proper handling of material under the contract, or if the material in question is subject to the Privacy Act or is confidential information subject to the provisions of this clause, the Contractor shall obtain a written determination from the Contracting Officer prior to any release, disclosure, dissemination, or publication. h. The provisions of paragraph (e) of this clause shall not apply when the information is subject to conflicting or overlapping provisions in other Federal, State or local laws. VII. AGAR 452.237-75 RESTRICTIONS AGAINST DISCLOSURE (FEB 1988): a. The Contractor agrees, in the performance of this contract to keep all information contained in source documents or other media furnished by the Government in the strictest confidence. The Contractor also agrees not to publish or otherwise divulge such information in whole or part, in any manner or form, nor to authorize or permit others to do so, taking such reasonable measures as are necessary to restrict access to such information while in the Contractor?s possession, to those employees needing such information to perform the work provided herein, i.e., on a need to know basis. The Contractor agrees to immediately notify in writing, the Contracting Officer, named herein, in the event that the Contractor determines or has reason to suspect a breach of this requirement. b. The Contractor agrees not to disclose any information concerning work under this contract to any persons or individual unless prior written approval is obtained from the Contracting Officer. The Contractor agrees to insert the substance of this clause in any consultant agreement or subcontract hereunder. VIII. ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: a. The Contractor warrants that, to the best of the Contractor?s knowledge and belief, there are no relevant facts or circumstances which could give rise to an organizational conflict of interest, as defined in FAR Subpart 9.5, or that the Contractor has disclosed all such relevant information. b. The Contractor agrees that if an actual or potential organizational conflict of interest is discovered after award, the Contractor will make a full disclosure in writing to the Contracting Officer. This disclosure shall include a description of actions which the Contractor has taken or proposes to take, after consultation with the Contracting Officer, to avoid, mitigate, or neutralize the actual or potential conflict. c. The Government may terminate this contract for convenience, in whole or part, if it deems such termination necessary to avoid an organizational conflict of interest. If the Contractor was aware of a potential conflict after award and did not disclose or misrepresented relevant information to the Contracting Officer, the Government may terminate the contract for default, debar the Contractor from Government contracting, or pursue such other remedies as may be permitted by law or this contract. d. The Contractor further agrees to insert provisions which shall conform substantially to the language of this clause, including this paragraph (d), in any subcontract or consultant agreement hereunder. ATTACHMENT II, Statement of Work: NASS produces remote sensing regression based state and county acreage estimates and the publically releasable Cropland Data Layer annually in nine states and has contracted to produce thirteen additional states on a one time basis. The project begins each year with the NASS June Agricultural Survey providing the training sites and uses commercially available satellite imagery collected during the growing season for the clustering and classification process. A regression estimator is used for acreage of the major crops grown in a state, and the categorized output is orthorectified and released as the Cropland Data Layer. The contractor will be one of several analysts working on these projects. Some of the analysts are NASS employees and others work with NASS through cooperative agreements. All of these projects must be processed through standardized NASS procedures and software resulting in identical output file formats under strict time constraints and due dates. The use of NASS image processing (Peditor) and training site management (Remote Sensing Project) software is required. The nine annual states are as follows: Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wisconsin. The thirteen one time only additional states are: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia and West Virginia. The contractor shall plan and coordinate remote sensing projects for the production of crop acreage estimates related to the NASS mission. The contractor shall participate with the NASS assigned supervisor in setting time frames for accomplishing specific tasks in this area of work. The contractor will use NASS developed software Peditor for image processing purposes and the software application Remote Sensing Project for ancillary training data management. The contractor will comply with standardized production practices, file formats, naming conventions and project file structures. The contractor shall provide training and assistance to NASS field personnel assigned to assist with remote sensing work using the NASS developed software called Peditor and the Remote Sensing Project. This includes training to professional support staff in repetitive preparatory tasks as well as professional staff in problem resolution. The contractor shall provide feedback and report back any software application failure or program bugs to the NASS assigned supervisor and request enhancements/improvements of software functionality or performance for the benefit of the program. The contractor shall recommend and conduct, if approved, new procedures and techniques to provide more accurate and timely crop area estimates and forecasts through the use of remotely sensed data. The contractor shall review and analyze available crop season satellite imagery and provide recommendations to NASS which imagery will best meet the needs of the project. The contractor shall review and analyze the project at major milestones, such as; ground truth verification and finalization, statistics file generation, extra signature collections, image clustering/classification, accuracy assessment, small and large scale acreage estimation and mosaic creation to assure optimal results. The contractor shall produce a geographic information system (GIS) ready data layer of categorized crop cover inventory called the Cropland Data Layer. The contractor will solicit for and integrate ancillary data layers collected from external customer sources and collect additional signature categories to enhance the categorized output. The contractor will mosaic multiple categorized satellite images into a seamless state level Cropland Data Layer in a standard UTM projection and coordinate system. The contractor shall create non-standard projection parameters when states are bisected by two UTM zones. The contractor shall build Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) compliant metadata files relating to the GIS data layer and associated accuracy assessments. The contractor shall be familiar and competent in creating/editing .html files. The contractor shall prepare and present status reports to management on a monthly basis. The contractor shall be available to represent the project for NASS at remote sensing/GIS conferences or with outside local, state, or regional governmental agencies. The contractor shall be required to prepare and deliver presentations and may be required to write professional papers for journal publication or internal NASS reports. The contractor shall participate in the NASS June Agricultural Survey to assist the local NASS State Statistical Office to edit questionnaires and digitize training sites to resolve acreage discrepancies. The contractor shall be available for potential infrequent field level survey work; including field enumeration and GPS survey assignments. The contractor shall travel to one of the nine annually participating Cropland Data Layer State NASS Field Offices during the first two weeks of June and assist with questionnaire editing and field level digitizing for the June Agricultural Survey. The contractor may be required to travel to one of the participating Cropland Data Layer State NASS Field Offices on a regular basis to meet with NASS field personnel and state cooperators to review progress and present results. The Contractor shall also produce the annual state and county acreage regression estimates in one of the nine annually participating Cropland Data Layer State NASS Field Offices during the month of December. Deliverables: June Agricultural Survey, June 1; December State Estimates, Mid-December; March Cropland Data Layer, March 1; Monthly Reports, 15th of Month. Travel: Any travel will be determined by NASS and will be in accordance with the Federal Travel Regulations. Travel is expected not-to-exceed $4,200 per contract year.
- Place of Performance
- Address: Various NASS Field Offices
- Country: USA
- Country: USA
- Record
- SN00876693-W 20050825/050823211650 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
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