C--Architect-Engineer (A-E) Indefinite Delivery Contracts (IDC) For Execution Of The Hazardous, Toxic, And Radioactive Waste (HTRW)/Environmental Mission Of The U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers (USACE) Northwestern Division (CENWD)

The Northwestern Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has a requirement to acquire Architect-Engineer (A-E) Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste HTRW)/Environmental Indefinite Delivery Contracts (IDC) for execution of its environmental mis sion. These A-E contract acquisitions will be conducted in accordance with FAR Part Subpart 36.6. The majority of the work will be located within EPA Region 2 (which includes New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and the Northwes tern Division (including Kansas City, Omaha, and Seattle Districts). In support of this effort, the Government intends to award contracts to as many as five unrestricted firms sharing $120 million in total contract capacity. Contract Information: The Government intends to award up to five contracts from this announcement. This announcement is open to all businesses, regardless of size. The period of performance for each contract will be one year, with four (4) one-year option periods. It is antic ipated that the first contract will be awarded not earlier than April 2008. One or more months may elapse between subsequent contract awards. Task orders will be issued as the need arises during the contract period. Task order assignments will be determi ned with consideration of each firms experience, qualifications, past performance, capability and capacity. These task orders may be either firm fixed-price or cost reimbursement type orders. No single task order will exceed $10 million or five years in duration. Firms receiving award will share an ordering amount of $120 million over the life of the contracts. Large businesses will be required to submit a subcontracting plan. The subcontracting goals for the Northwestern Division, which will be consid ered in the negotiation of the contracts, are: at least 70% of a contractors intended subcontract amount be placed with Small Businesses (SB) which includes: at least 6.2% of a contractors intended subcontract amount be placed with Small Disadvantage Bu sinesses (SDB), at least 7% of a contractors intended subcontract amount be placed with Women-owned Small Business (WOSB), at least 9.8% of a contractors intended subcontract amount be placed with HubZones, at least 3% of a contractors intended subcontr act amount to be placed with Veteran-owned, and at least .9% of a contractors intended subcontract amount be placed with Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned SB. The NAICS Code for this procurement is 541330. For the purposes of this procurement a concern is considered a small business if its average annual gross receipts are $4.5 million or less. More than one contract is being awarded for the same scope of work; however, under the Brooks Act, price competition is not allowed for A-E contracts. Therefore, e ach selected firm will be afforded a fair opportunity to be considered for task orders in excess of $3,000 except as provided by FAR 16.505(b)(2), using the following process. When a requirement is identified the Government Project Delivery Team will firs t determine if it is a new requirement or a follow-on effort to an existing remediation project. Due to the nature of the requirements, projects are completed in phases such as preliminary assessment, remedial investigation, feasibility study and then des ign. If a follow-on requirement, every effort will be made to assign the task order to the original A-E as long as they have the capability to perform. For new requirements, the project scope will be reviewed to determine whether the requirement can be a ccomplished using a firm fixed-price task order or whether uncertainties will require the use of a cost reimbursement task order. The experience, qualifications, past performance, capability and capacity will be considered as well as how we are doing in m eeting our small business goals to determine which firm is best qualified to accomplish the work. The period of performance for the IDC will begin on the date of contract award and will be in effect for one twelve-month base period; in addition there are provisions for four twelve-month option periods; if all options are exercised the length of the contract will be five years. The period of performance for task orders awarded under the IDCs will be determined based upon the work requirement, and will be included in the task order solicitation and negotiated award documents. The Service Contract Act, as amended 1965, is applicable to this solicitation and resulti ng contracts and will be incorporated into same. Selections are expected to be made by 18 April 2008. To be eligible for contract award, a firm must be registered in the Department of Defense (DOD) Central Contractor Registration (CCR). Register via the CCR Internet site at http://www.ccr.gov or by contacting the DOD Electronic Commerce Information Center at +1 (555) 000-0000. Firms are also required to use the Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA). ORCA is a web-based system that cen tralizes and standardizes the collection, storage, and viewing of many of the representations and certifications required by the Federal Acquisition Regulations and previously found in solicitations. Detailed information can be found in the Help section o f the ORCA website at http://orca.bpn.gov. The help section includes ORCA background information, frequently asked questions (FAQ), the ORCA Handbook, and whom to call for assistance. Project Information: Firms must be capable of performing work on a wide variety of HTRW/ environmental sites in a manner that complies with federal, state and local regulations and laws, and within time frames required. A majority of the work to be performed is expected to be for Superfund projects in EPA Region 2. S pecific needs will be determined based upon project requirements as described in each task order. Project assignments will typically require performance on-site and in an office setting. Assignments will include, but not be limited to: site investigation s, subsurface exploration, chemical sampling, testing and analyses, hazard evaluations, feasibility and other engineering studies and reports, archaeological investigations and mitigation, wetlands determination and mitigation studies, groundwater and othe r modeling, contaminant fate and transport analysis, HTRW remedial designs, preparation of plans and specifications, cost estimating, value engineering screenings and studies, field inspections, verification of existing conditions, pilot studies, surveying and mapping, community relations, construction-phase services (engineering design during construction, checking shop drawings), and working on a variety of hazardous waste and other environmental type projects, including radioactive and mixed wastes, ener gy conservation, pollution prevention, waste reduction, use of recovered materials, underground storage tanks and fueling systems, habitat restoration and mitigation, and sites potentially contaminated with military munitions. For on-site investigations, firms must provide personnel with current health and safety training, as required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Selection Criteria: (A) Selection of as many as five unrestricted firms will be based on the following pr imary criteria, listed in descending order of importance: (1) Specialized experience and technical competence of the firms team demonstrated during the past five (5) years in the broad range of environmental work required for this contract including (a) I nvestigation, planning, design, and construction phase services for a variety of hazardous, toxic, and radioactive waste cleanup projects. Experience must demonstrate wide-ranging capabilities for diverse projects with differing contaminants in various me dia. EPA Region 2 Superfund projects will have greater importance; (b) Knowledge of and adherence to regulations and practices pertaining to hazardous waste sa mpling, handling, transportation and disposal including RCRA, CERCLA, CWA, TSCA, and NEPA. Experience within EPA Region 2 jurisdiction will have greater importance; (c) Oversight of Remedial Investigation, Feasibility Study, Remedial Design, Remedial Acti on, and Long Term Response Action projects performed by other parties, in conformance to their respective consent decrees or administrative orders negotiated with EPA; (d) Demonstrated quality management procedures. The effectiveness of the proposed proje ct team (including management structure, coordination of disciplines, offices and/or subcontractors; and prior working relationships) will be considered within quality management. Firms will be evaluated for the degree in which their team possesses experi ence and competence in these four areas (a through d, above). The most highly qualified firms will have extensive experience in all of these areas; (2) Professional qualifications of firms staff and team consultants to be assigned to this contract. The education, training, registration, overall and relevant experience, longevity with the firm, and experience of personnel working together with key management and other technical personnel will be considered. This criterion is primarily concerned with the qualifications of the key personnel and not the number of personnel, which is addressed under the capacity criterion below. Responding firms should demonstrate the professional qualifications of their staff in these primary disciplines, which are listed i n descending order of importance. List professional registrations, if applicable, for the disciplines: (a) Environmental engineering; (b) Chemical process engineering; (c) Chemistry; (d) Risk Assessment; (e) Hydrogeology; (f) Civil Engineering; (g) Geotec hnical engineering; (h) Industrial hygiene; (i) Health physics; (j) Cost engineering; (k) Geology; (l) Archaeology; (m) Biology; (n) Mechanical engineering; (o) Electrical engineering; (p) Architecture/Landscape Planning; and (q) Structural Engineering; (3 ) Past performance on DOD and other contracts with respect to cost control, quality of work, and compliance with performance schedules. ACASS is the primary source of information on past performance. ACASS will be queried for all firms submitting a propos al. When deemed appropriate by the evaluation board, performance evaluations for any significant team subcontractors who have previously been prime A-E contractors may also be considered. The board may seek information on past performance from other sourc es, but is not required to seek other information on the past performance of a firm, if none is available from ACASS. The board will consider the relevancy of each performance evaluation to the proposed contract, including the type of work, performing off ice, age of the evaluation, and whether subsequent evaluations indicate a change in a firm's performance. A firm that has earned excellent evaluations on recent DOD A-E contracts for similar projects will be ranked relatively high on past performance; (4 ) Capacity. The board will consider available capacity of key disciplines from the prime firm and its team consultants to perform work in the required time; (5) Knowledge of the locality. The board will evaluate a firm's familiarity with local conditions . Examples include knowledge of, and experience dealing with, the state and local regulatory agencies, geological features, climatic conditions or local construction methods that are unusual or unique. Work under these contracts may be in a widely dispers ed geographic area, therefore, responding firms should demonstrate the extent of their capabilities to serve projects located in both EPA Region II and the USACE Northwestern Division. (B) Secondary Selection Criteria. The following secondary criteria wi ll only be used as a tie-breaker, if necessary, in ranking the most highly qualified firms. The secondary criteria will not be co-mingled with the primary crite ria in the evaluation. The two secondary selection criteria are listed in descending order of importance: (1) SB and SDB Participation. The extent of participation of SB, SDB, historically black colleges and universities (HBCU), and minority institutions ( MI) will be measured as a percentage of the total anticipated contract effort, regardless of whether the SB, SDB, HBCU, or MI is a prime contractor, subcontractor, or joint venture partner; the greater the participation, the greater the consideration. Larg e businesses will be expected to place subcontracts to the maximum practical extent with Small and Small Disadvantaged firms in accordance with Public Law 95-507. For informational purposes, the small business size is defined by the limits of NAICS Code 5 41330. (2) Volume of DOD Contract Awards. The overall most highly qualified firms will not be rejected solely in the interest of equitable distribution of contracts. Responding firms should cite all contract numbers, award dates and total negotiated fees f or any DOD contract awarded within the past twelve (12) months. Please indicate all task orders and modifications awarded your firm by DOD agencies within the last twelve (12) months under an indefinite delivery type contract. Indicate date of task orders and fee for each. Submittal Requirements: Interested firms having the capabilities to perform this work must submit one (1) original plus five (5) copies of SF330 (06/2004 edition) for the prime firm and all team consultants. Include the firm's ACASS number in SF 330, Part I, Section B, Block 4. Section H of the SF 330 is limited to twenty (20) pages with double-sided sheets counting as two pages. For all SF 330 sections, use no smaller than 10 pt. font. A contract-specific Quality Control Pla n will be prepared and submitted by the A-E after contract award, but is not required with this submission. Solicitation packages are not provided. This is not a request for proposal. Submittals must be mailed or delivered to the following address not la ter than 21 March 2008, 2:00 p.m. local time: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District, Attn: CENWK-CT-H (Thomas), 757 Federal Building, 601 East 12th Street, Kansas City, MO 64106-2896. No faxed or other electronic submittals will be accepted. Contact Ms. Shelley Thomas, Contract Specialist, at contact@example.gov if you have any questions regarding this announcement.