Cultural Resources Services for USACE in the Pacific Northwest

This announcement is a Sources Sought/Request for Information intended for planning purposes only and is not a commitment by the Government, implied or otherwise, to issue a solicitation or award a contract. The purpose of this sources sought is to determine market interest and the socioeconomic status, availability and capabilities of interested parties. The Government intends to use responses to this sources sought notice to develop an appropriate acquisition strategy for this requirement. This is only a request for information, this is not a request for a proposal or quote. The requirement for which we are performing market research is anticipated to be a Multiple Award Task Order Contract (MATOC) to provide Cultural Resource Services for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The area of need is the Pacific Northwest covering the following USACE Districts: Portland, OR; Seattle, WA and Walla Walla, WA areas of responsibility. The geographic area of performance includes Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Western Montana, Southwest Wyoming and Siskiyou County, CA. The 2012 North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code applicable to this effort is 541720: Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities - Archeological Research and Development services. This NAICS code is eligible for a WOSB set aside. The Small Business Administration size standard for this NAICS code is $20.5 million in gross receipts, averaged over 3 consecutive years. The Product Service Code for this work is B503 - Archeological-Paleontological Studies. USACE is interested in hearing from all business sizes with a particular interest in those from the small business community that can perform the work listed below. USACE has a specific interest in the capabilities of Small Disadvantaged Businesses (SDB) - including 8(a), Women Owned Small Businesses (WOSB) - Economically Disadvantaged Woman Owned Small Businesses (EDWOSB), HUBZone and Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB) that can successfully perform the following anticipated services in order of importance: 1. ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE SURVEY: Conduct an archeological reconnaissance surveys of all or part of an area in sufficient detail to make generalizations about the types, distributions, and preliminary significance evaluation of cultural properties that may be present. The KTR may inventory up to 5,000 acres in accordance with the Department of the Interior Standards for Identification and State SHPO fieldwork and reporting standards. The survey is strictly a pedestrian survey. 2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL INTENSIVE SURVEYS: Perform systematic and detailed examination of an area designed to gather information about cultural properties sufficient to evaluate them against criteria of significance within specific historic/prehistoric contexts and for their eligibility for inclusion to the National Register of Historic Places. 3. NEW SITE RECORDATION: Work shall be performed on those sites or portions of those sites located on federal land where access has been approved; however, where portions of sites extend beyond the contracted survey area, this shall be noted on site documentation. KTR shall prepare all new site forms and site update forms in accordance with appropriate State survey and reporting standard guidelines as appropriate. 4. NEW ISOLATE RECORDATION: Work shall be performed on those isolates or portions of those isolates located on federal land. KTR shall prepare all new isolates forms in accordance with State SHPO survey and reporting standard guidelines as appropriate. 5. ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATA RECOVERY: Perform archaeological data recovery research on historic properties that may be adversely altered, damaged or destroyed as a result of a construction, rehabilitation, or maintenance project. 6. ARTIFACT ANALYSIS: Perform artifact analysis on both prehistoric and historic artifacts that may be collected during archaeological data recovery. 7. CURATION PREPARATION: Perform curation preparation of artifacts (both prehistoric and historic) and associated records (including maps, photographs, field notes, etc.) in accordance with the curation guidelines of the accepting museum. 8. SITE CONDITION MONITORING: Site condition monitoring of up to 50 previously recorded sites. The land manager for the Project is gathering data to assess the condition of historic properties located on Project lands and within the Area of Potential Effects (APEs) for Project operations. The objective of this contract is to gather information that can assist in the development of long-term management decisions. 9. SITE EVALUATION/DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY: The KTR shall evaluate a site for eligibility to the National Register of Historic Places utilizing the 36CFR60 and the National Register Bulletin 15, and guidance on. The KTR shall make a recommendation regarding whether the site(s) are eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The evaluation should be based on the most complete and current information available. 10. SUBSURFACE SHOVEL TEST EXCAVATIONS: The Contractor shall conduct a series of 50-cm diameter, subsurface shovel test excavations (SPs) in order to assess site eligibility to the NRHP. 11. DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT PLAN/INTEGRATED CULTURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT PLANS AND/OR PROJECT SPECIFIC ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH DESIGNS: Prepare HPMP/CRMP/ICRMPs which shall establish processes for integrating the preservation, use, and management of historic properties with the mission and programs of a particular federal agency and/or military installation in a manner appropriate to the nature of the historic properties involved, and the nature of the agency and/or installation and its mission, programs, and planning processes. 12. LITERATURE REVIEW: The KTR shall locate and review pertinent records, cultural resources studies, and archeological/historic site surveys within the study area. Recommended sources for this information include: State Department of Archeology and Historic Preservation/State Historic Preservation Office. 13. ETHNOGRAPHIC ARCHIVAL REVIEW: The KTR shall conduct an ethnographic overview of previous ethnographic research within the study area. This study will require a review of resources located at the archives thought to contain data relevant to properties within the study area. 14. ARCHITECTURAL RECONNAISSANCE SURVEYS: Conduct an examination of all or part of an area (for example the John Day Project), set of structures, or buildings in sufficient detail to make generalizations about the types, distributions and initial potential significance of historic properties that may be present. 15. CONDITION ASSESSMENT SURVEYS: Perform systematic and detailed examination of an area, set of structures, or buildings designed to gather information about properties or certain structural elements sufficient to evaluate them against criteria of significance within specific historic contexts. 16. MITIGATION AND TREATMENT PLANS: Perform historic architectural research/mitigation on historic properties that may be adversely altered, damaged or destroyed as a result of a construction, rehabilitation, renovation, demolition, or maintenance-related project. 17. HABS/HAER AND HISTORIC LANDSCAPE INVESTIGATIONS: Establish standards for and perform appropriate methods and kinds of recordation and documentation for eligible historic buildings and/or engineering structures, and landscape(s) prior to their demolition, alteration, rehabilitation, or ownership transfer in consultation with appropriate representatives of the proprietary installation, Historic Preservation Officer, and HABS/HAER Division of the National Park Service. 18. NATIONAL REGISTER (NR) FORM PREPARATION: Prepare NR forms for historic properties, districts, and/or landscapes in accordance with existing standards, criteria, and guidelines in an effort to document all available information of the historic properties, district, and/or landscapes for decisions regarding their eligibility for inclusion into the National Register of Historic Places. 19. GIS DATA: The contractor shall collect, edit, and differentially correct GPS files and then prepare projected ESRI geodatabase feature classes with tabular information and FGDC metadata as a deliverable. The required metadata format is ESRI ArcCatalog Metadata using the FGDC standard: North American Profile (NAP) of ISO 19115 2003. The ESRI ArcCatalog Metadata will have these fields populated; Tags, Summary, Description, Credits, Citation Contact(s), Resource Citation Date(s). 20. CONSTRUCTION MONITORING: The KTR shall conduct construction monitoring within a known site, adjacent to a known site, or in a high probability area where there may be a subsurface site not yet recorded and produce a monitoring report. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS TO BE INCLUDED IN RESPONSES TO THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE: 1. Point of Contact name, email address, and phone number. 2. CAGE Code and DUNS number. 3. Business Size (large or small) under NAICS 541720 (SBA size standard - $20.5 mil). If you are a small business, include your socioeconomic classification (SDB, 8(a), Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB), EDWOSB, HUBZone, Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB) or Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) if applicable. 4. Statement of Capability - Provide a brief background summary of your firm's capabilities to include a statement that addresses your firm's expertise for those services that you have prepared and received a State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) approval when appropriate. Please provide up to 2 examples for each item that you have expertise in covering as many of the areas of performance as you have experience. Your submittal must clearly identify the required items that are covered in each SHPO approved report. Since most of these documents have many pages, we ask that you only provide a bibliographic reference of the report with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) report number. USACE will access the report references through the SHPO office for review. Response deadline: 2:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time Wednesday, 24 May 2017. Submit to: Brian.K.Wing@usace.army.mil and Sue.Jones@usace.army.mil via E-mail, with the Subject Line: W9127N-17-R-SS28 Cultural Resources Market Research - Capability Statement. An acknowledgement of receipt of your submittal will be sent by reply email. It is the potential Offeror's responsibility to monitor FedBizOps for release of any future solicitation that may result from this Sources Sought Notice. You must be registered in System for Award Management (SAM) Database to receive a Government contract award. You may register at for SAM at: https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/ . The primary point of contact for this requirement is Mr. Brian K. Wing, Contract Specialist. All questions should be submitted by E-mail to Mr. Wing at Brian.K.Wing@usace.army.mil. All answers will be posted on www.FBO.gov. The Government reserves the right to use only the internet as notification of any amendments to this sources sought notice. Point of Contact for small business questions or assistance is the Portland District's Small Business Specialist, Carol A. McIntyre; Carol.A.McIntyre@usace.army.mil or (503) 808-4602.