Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for Innovative Environmental Technologies and Methodologies

This announcement constitutes a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for the Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (NEXWC) under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.102(d)(2) and 35.106. A formal Request for Proposals (RFP), other solicitation, or additional information regarding this announcement will not be issued. This announcement is open for one year from the date of publication. Proposals may be submitted at any time during this period. This announcement replaces N3943019S2143. FAR Part 35 restricts the use of BAAs to the acquisition of basic and applied research, and that portion of advanced technology development not related to the development of a specific system or hardware procurement. Contracts made under BAAs are for scientific study and experimentation directed towards advancing the state of the art and increasing knowledge or understanding. This announcement is not for the acquisition of technical, engineering, or other types of support services. This announcement seeks out technologies and methodologies to reduce environmental impacts from current and past Navy operations, and applies to Navy installations worldwide. NEXWC is interested in environmental technologies and methodologies that are either new, innovative, advance the state-of-the art, or increase knowledge or understanding of a technology or methodology. The technology or methodology shall address one of the following topic areas. NEED TOPIC NO 1: ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT, RESTORATION AND CLEANUP. Services to assess and/or remediate existing pollution generated by military operations, including methodologies for evaluation of ecological risk, risk reduction, and/or establishing risk based cleanup goals. NEED TOPIC NO 2: CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES. (e.g. managing operations impacts, invasive species, erosion, wildfire risk, forestry programs, and agricultural outleases and complying with the Coral Reef Executive Order, Endangered Species and Clean Water Acts). Practices that support habitat both on land and at sea for rare and endangered species, migratory birds or marine mammals, and that comply with environmental legislation and ensure protection of sensitive resources while supporting military operations. NEED TOPIC NO. 3: UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE (UXO). Services for explosive ordnance detection, location, de-energizing, disposal or remediation of UXO generated by military operations. NEED TOPIC NO. 4: TECHNOLOGIES AND METHODOLOGIES ADDRESSING EMERGING CONTAMINANTS (e.g. per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), pharmaceuticals, pesticides, herbicides, and endrocrine disrupting compounds and other chemicals that have been detected in global drinking water supplies at trace levels and for which the risk to human health is not yet known). NEED TOPIC NO. 5: ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE. (e.g. National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Air, Clean Water, and Safe Drinking Water Acts) Process design changes or management practices that facilitate or enhance the Navy's ability to comply with local, state, and federal environmental regulatory requirements. NEED TOPIC NO.6: RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE CRUCIAL FOR ENDURING ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION. (e.g. processes, equipment and facilities designed to minimize environmental impacts affecting installation mission readiness such as contamination of drinking water, industrial wastewater, municipal wastewater, air, soil and groundwater and generation of traffic, noise, light, odor and notices of violations). NEED TOPIC NO. 7: REMOTE SENSING, AND WEB BASED DATA PROCESSING AND REPORTING OF ENVIRONMENTAL DATA. (e.g. drinking water, industrial wastewater, municipal wastewater, storm water, air emissions, dust, ambient air quality, soil and groundwater quality, embodied energy, carbon footprint, traffic, noise, light, odor, notices of violations, etc.) Abstract submittals to this BAA can be made using the abstract form attached to this announcement. Forms should be submitted to: contact@example.gov Submission process: This announcement is for abstracts/white papers only. Abstracts shall identify the specific topic area that the submission addresses. Each abstract must be specific to one of the topic areas. Multiple submissions are acceptable. Abstracts will be evaluated on relevance and merit. The abstract may be supplemented by resumes and lists of relevant publications and prior government projects. Abstracts will be thoroughly evaluated by a Government Technical Evaluation Board (TEB) to select technologies and methodologies that have potential benefits to the Navy. The TEB will consist of engineers, scientists, chemists, environmental specialists, and regulatory agency personnel who have experience in specific environmental technology areas. The abstracts will not be evaluated against each other since each possesses a unique technology with no common work statement. Once the evaluation process has been completed, the abstracts that meet the basic criteria of the BAA are posted on a protected web site available for DoD use only. When an abstract aligns with a customer need and funding, the NEXWC contracting office may request a full proposal. Additional guidance will be provided at that time regarding cost and pricing submittals, in addition to a more comprehensive technical submission. Technical Evaluation: Unsuccessful abstracts will not receive a detailed description of the reasons for abstract rejection due to the anticipated volume of submissions. Unsuccessful full proposals will receive a debriefing in accordance with FAR 15. Awards will be in the form of contracts. Government / Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) / University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) entities interested in responding should read NOTE 8 below. An average contract duration is one (1) to three (3) years. The abstracts will be evaluated based on the following technical criteria that will be of approximately equal weight. When combined, all technical factors are approximately equal to price. 1. The scientific/technical merits and objectives of the abstract, as well as Naval relevance. 2. The qualifications, capabilities, and experience of the principal investigator, team leader, and/or key personnel who are critical in achieving the objectives of the abstract. Principle Investigators and key personnel should be identified in the proposal as such. 3. Safety: NEXWC requires the offeror to provide their Experience Modification Rate (EMR), Days Away from Work, Restricted Duty, or Job Transfer (DART) rate, and Total Recordable Case (TRC) rate for the previous three years. Safety is an integral and important part of NEXWC contracting. If an offeror cannot submit an OSHA DART and TRC rates, for any year, affirmatively state so and an explanation must be provided. Any extenuating circumstances that affected the OSHA, DART, and TRC rate data negatively must be addressed as part of this factor submission. The technical approach for safety shall describe the plan that will be implemented to evaluate safety performance of potential subcontractors as part of the selection process for all levels of subcontractors. The offeror shall submit a narrative that fully describes the safety management system that they will use to oversee the safety compliance and performance of self-performed and subcontractor performed work. The offeror will describe any innovative methods that will be employed to ensure and monitor safe work practices at self-performed and all subcontractor levels. Additionally, the contactor will describe their methodology to execute an effective program that facilitates sound mishap prevention techniques and processes, employee reporting of unsafe conditions, unsafe activities, and near-miss mishaps. The technical approach to safety narrative shall be limited to two pages. 4. The contractor's capabilities, related experience, techniques, or unique combination of these that are integral factors in achieving the contractors proposed objectives. This equates to past performance, and will be assessed based on both relevance and confidence. 5. The cost relative to the proposed scientific/technical approach. NOTES: 1. An eligible abstract does not guarantee a contract. NAVFAC EXWC reserves the right to select for award any, all, or none of the proposals received. NEXWC also reserves the right to select for award a portion of the work proposed in any single proposal. 2. An offeror is required to register with the system for award management (SAM). No contract award will be made to any offeror that is not registered. Registration may take up to three weeks. SAM may be accessed at https://www.sam.gov or https://beta.sam.gov 3. The preceding data should be sufficient for completing the abstract. 4. There are no solicitation documents applying to this BAA, other than the submission form. Request for a solicitation package will not be acknowledged. Those interested in participating in the BAA program must follow the instructions described herein to submit an abstract. 5. There is no commitment by the Navy either to make any contract awards or to be responsible for any money expended by the offeror before a contract award. 6. As no funding for contracts has been reserved in advance, NAVFAC EXWC will be sharing qualified abstracts with other Federal Government activities to seek demonstration sites and/or funding. Some Federal Government activities may employ civilian contractors to determine the applicability of an offered technology to specific environmental projects. Technical and cost proposals submitted under this BAA will be protected from unauthorized disclosure in accordance with FAR 3.104-4 and 15.207. The cognizant Program Officer and other Government scientific experts will perform the evaluation of technical proposals. Restrictive notices notwithstanding, one or more support contractors may be utilized as subject-matter expert technical consultants in accordance with FAR 37.204. However, proposal selection and award decisions are solely the responsibility of Government personnel. Each support contractors employee having access to technical and cost proposals submitted in response to this BAA will be required to sign a non-disclosure statement prior to receipt of any proposal submissions. An offeror may require the non-government personnel to execute a supplemental non-disclosure agreement by including a copy of the NDA with their proposal. However, note that a failure to come to an agreement may impact the ability to make an award. 7. Responders are advised not to include Personally Identifiable Information (PII). Business proprietary or competition-sensitive information shall be marked as such. The offeror should expect to receive notification of receipt of the abstract by the Government within one week of submission. If the contractor does not receive a notification of abstract receipt, the contractor should e-mail NEXWC at contact@example.gov 8. Historically Black Colleges/Universities and Minority Institutions (HBCU/MI) will be recognized according to Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) Part 226.3. All responsible sources from academia and industry may submit proposals. No portion of this BAA will be set aside for HBCU/MI participation, due to the impracticality of reserving discrete or severable items of this research for exclusive competition among the entities. Non-DoD Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) including Department of Energy National Laboratories, are not eligible to receive awards under this BAA. However, teaming arrangements between FFRDCs and eligible principal bidders are allowed so long as they are permitted under the sponsoring agreement between the Government and the specific FFRDC. DFARS 235.017-1 allows DoD FFRDCs which function primarily as research laboratories to apply. Naval laboratories and warfare centers as well as other DoD and civilian agency laboratories are not eligible to receive awards under this BAA and should not directly submit an abstract response to this BAA. As with the FFRDCs, these organizations may team with other responsible sources from industry and academia that are submitting proposals under the BAA. University Affiliated Research Centers (UARC) are eligible to submit proposals under this BAA unless precluded from doing so by their DOD UARC contract or an organizational conflict of interest. 9. Do not call the Contracting Office for verification, as the abstract is not received or reviewed by the Contracting Office. 10. FAR 16.301.3(a) states that a cost-reimbursement contract may be used only when the contractors accounting system is adequate for determining costs applicable to the contract. It also requires Government surveillance during performance to provide reasonable assurance that efficient methods and effective cost controls are used. A cost reimbursement contract will not usually be awarded until a determination can be made that the contractors accounting system is adequate. An operable accounting system that is under general ledger control is of paramount importance when performing Government cost-reimbursement contracts. If assistance is needed in determining the cognizant DCAA office, contractors may call DCAA Headquarters at 703) 767-3274. If the DCAA auditor finds an accounting system unacceptable, the auditor will promptly notify the contractor of the deficiencies and may identify recommendations for correcting the deficiencies. However, DCAA will not develop the new system, as this is the contractors responsibility. A new company may benefit by employing personnel or consultants who understand rules and regulations applicable to accounting for costs incurred on Government contracts in developing their contract cost accounting system.