ESH Aerial Vegetation Control Spaying

THIS IS NOT A FORMAL SOLICITATION. This announcement constitutes a PRE-SOLICITATION notice in accordance with FAR Subpart 5.2. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District hereby announces its intent to issue a solicitation for AERIAL VEGETATION CONTROL SPRAYING BY HELICOPTER. This solicitation is RESTRICTED TO SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION ONLY, under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 115112. The corresponding SBA size standard is $7.5MIL. A formal solicitation via a Request for Proposal (RFP) in accordance with FAR Part 12, Acquisition of Commercial Items will be issued no sooner than 15 days from the publication date of this announcement. The RFP will be issued as a Single Award Task Order Contract (SATOC) for Aerial Spraying by helicopter. The basis for award and evaluation factors will be in accordance with the evaluation criteria outlined in the solicitation. This requirement will be awarded as firm-fixed price. The Government intends to award one (1) contract as a result of this solicitation. The duration of the resulting contract will include a base year and 4 options years. Task Orders of varying dollar amounts will be awarded within a period extending up to five years. Contractors shall be required to perform to a performance work statement, but in general the type and nature of the requirements will be in accordance with the " Description of Services" section within this announcement below. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES: This is a Services Contract for helicopter spraying of vegetation on sandbars in the Missouri River at Lake Oahe and from Pickstown, SD to Ponca, NE. The aquatic herbicides that need to be applied require helicopter spraying services as opposed to aerial (airplane) spraying services, due to the herbicide label requirements. Many of the areas to be sprayed prohibit the use of ATVs, tractors and other types of spraying equipment. Threatened and endangered shorebirds nest on these sandbars, so spraying must occur after the birds leave, normally around Labor Day. Spraying must also occur before a hard freeze occurs, normally in early October. Therefore, the contractor has approximately one month to render services. Please be advised of on-line registration requirements in the System for Award Management (SAM) database http://www.sam.gov/ and directed solicitation provisions concerning electronic annual Representations and Certifications. Representations and Certifications are required to be updated annually as a minimum to keep information current, accurate and complete. The electronic annual representations and certifications are effective until one year from date of submission or update. Solicitation documents will be posted to the web via Federal Business Opportunities (Fed Biz Ops) (www.fbo.gov). Registration is required to access solicitation documents. Fed Biz Ops provides secure access to acquisition-related information, synopsis or pre-solicitation notices and amendments. Veteran's Employment Emphasis for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Contracts. In addition to complying with the requirements outlined in FAR Clause 52.222-35, Equal Employment Opportunity for Veterans; all U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) contractors and sub-contractors at all tiers are encouraged to promote the training and employment of U.S. Veterans while performing under a USACE contract. While no set-aside, evaluation preference, or incentive applies to the solicitation or performance under the resultant contract, USACE contractors are encouraged to seek out highly qualified Veterans to perform services under this USACE contract. The following resources are available to assist USACE contractors in their outreach efforts: (1) Federal Veteran employment information at http://www.fedshirevets.gov/index.aspx (2) Department of Labor Veterans Employment Assistance http://www.dol.gov/vets/ (3) Department of Veterans Affairs - VOW to Hire Heros Act http://benefits.va.gov/vow/ Contractual questions concerning the solicitation should be directed via email to the Contract Specialist, Katriena Ver Straete at Katriena.r.verstraete@usace.army.mil.