High Efficiency Gas Adsorbers

The purpose of this amendment is to extend the solicitation closing date from 7 July 2025, 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time to 14 July 2025, 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time and provide responses to industry as follows: Question 1. Request for an extension for solicitation W91ZLK25R0016, High Efficiency Gas Adsorbers to 14 July 2025. Response 1. Solicitation amendment #1 constitutes an extension to the solicitation W91ZLK25R0016 - High Efficiency Gas Adsorbers from 7 July 2025 to July 14, 2025. Question 2. Industry request for life cycle of medical grade HEPA filters. Response 2. The Government requires specialized High Efficiency Gase Adsorbers (HEGAs) for use in laboratory/chemical agent adsorber filter systems built to strict Government specifications. This is a Request for Quote in accordance with FAR Part 12, Acquisition of Commercial Items and FAR Part 15, Contracting by Negotiation. The U.S. Army Contracting Command - Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG) is requesting quotes for a firm-fixed price (FFP) requirements contract for 16", 18", and 24" depth High-efficiency Gas Adsorber (HEGA) filters in support of the United States Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, Chemical Biological Center (DEVCOM CBC). The Government anticipates the award of a single Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract with delivery orders to be issued on a Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) basis based on the evaluations process listed in Section M of the attached solicitation. The award will be issued for a 60-Months ordering period. The Government also reserves the right to issue up to an additional six (6)-Month extension in accordance with FAR 52.217-8. In order to be considered for award, Offerors must be registered in the System of Award Management (SAM) under NAICS 333413, Industrial and Commercial Fan and Blower and Air Purification Equipment Manufacturing. The offeror's written proposal shall be submitted electronically via email to lenard.b.wright.civ@army.mil and birgit.m.jones.civ@army.mil. The offeror's sample HEPA filter and pre-filter, if required, shall be delivered to CCDC CBC Receiving. Please refer to Volume I, Technical for Sample Adsorber Instructions. PROPOSAL STRUCTURE VOLUME DESCRIPTION PAGE LIMITS Volume I: Technical 10 pages Volume II: Past Performance 20 Volume III: Small Business Participation 20 Volume IV: Price No limit Volume V: Solicitation, Offer, Award Documents and Certification/Representations 25 pages The proposal shall consist of five (5) volumes as listed below. Proposals shall not contain classified data. The use of hyperlinks in proposals is prohibited. Offerors are responsible for including sufficient details to permit a complete and accurate evaluation of each proposal. Proprietary information shall be clearly marked. Please Note: Pages exceeding the required page limitations will not be evaluated. Excess pages over themaximum allowed will be removed or not read and will not be evaluated by the Government. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS 1. Each digital volume shall be clearly labeled with its Title and Solicitation Number W91ZLK-25-R-0016. 2. The electronic submittal shall consist of separate files as set forth and named in the sections and table below. Microsoft Office 2013 software or higher shall be used to create the required files. The size per e-mail cannot exceed 9MB. The proposal shall include all necessary supporting documents and narrative. The Contractor's proposal shall remain valid for a minimum of one hundred and eighty (180) calendar days from receipt by the Government and shall not contain classified data or information. PROPOSAL FILES 1. Format: Each volume shall be properly identified, numbered, clearly indexed, logically assembled, and tabbed. Each volume shall contain clearly identified sections, and all pages shall be appropriately numbered and identified by the complete company name, date, and solicitation number in the header and/or footer. 2. The digital submission should be clearly indexed and logically assembled. Each volume should be clearly identified and start at the top of a page. All pages of each volume shall be appropriately numbered and identified by the complete company name, date and RFQ number in the header and/or footer. Microsoft Word files shall be used and page setup should be in the format listed below. Margins - Top, Bottom, Left, Right - 1 Gutter - 0 From Edge - Header, Footer 0.5 Page Size, Width - 8.5 Page Size, Height - 11 NOTE: 11 X 17 folded pages are acceptable for tables/graphic representations; however, each 11X 17 page count as two pages. The following additional restrictions apply: i. Price Breakdown Information: All price breakdown information should be submitted in Microsoft Office Excel Read/Write format. ii. Content Requirement: All information shall be confined to the appropriate file. The Offeror shall confine submissions to essential matters and sufficient to define the proposal in a concise manner, to permit a complete and accurate evaluation of each proposal. Proprietary information shall be clearly marked. The following shall be included in the volumes and all information should be confined to the appropriate file, and submissions should be concise and essential to define the proposal. VOLUME I - Technical. The Offeror shall submit the Technical Narrative with respect to the Statement of Work (SOW), Attachment 0001 and shall be organized into the below listed sections. Offerors are cautioned that - parroting of the SOW with a statement of intent to perform does not reflect an understanding of the requirement or indicate the ability to perform any task in the SOW and will be rated unacceptable. Factor 1 - Technical Narrative. The Government will evaluate the offeror's methodology and approach to meeting the requirements the contact, as set forth in paragraph section C.3.0 of the Scope of Work. To be rated as acceptable, the offeror must demonstrate all of the following items: a. A familiarity with the documented referenced in C.2.0 and an understanding of the exceptions to these documents discussed in this solicitation. b. A detailed description of how the offeror will manufacture the required HEGA Adsorbers, to include technical drawings. c. A detailed description of recent contracts where the offeror has produced HEGA Adsorbers similar in design and tolerances to the solicitation. d. A detailed description of how the offeror will ensure timely shipping of delivery orders. e. If the offeror has had their HEGA Adsorbers tested by DEVCOM-CBC's TREB office within one year of the solicitation date, Volume I of the proposal shall also include these test results. Factor 2 - Sample Adsorber. If the offeror is found to be acceptable under Factor 1, the Government will send the adsorbers to CCDC CBC's Test, Reliability & Evaluation Branch (TREB) for acceptance testing, which will be conducted in accordance with MILPRF-32016A. Offerors that have had their HEGA Adsorber tested by CCDCCBC's TREB Office within one year of solicitation date may submit their test results Volume 1 of their proposal, in place of the sample HEGA Adsorber. Offerors shall submit a single - HEGA-TEDA-16 Adsorber along with their written proposal. For offerors that receive an Acceptable rating for Factor 1, the Government will evaluate the offeror's submitted Adsorber. To be rated as - acceptable for Factor 2, the offeror's Adsorber must pass the government's testing. The Adsorber shall be labeled - Sample for Solicitation W91ZLK-25-R-0016 and shipped, at the contractor's cost, to the following address: U.S Army Receiving Attn: David Kline 8222 Blackhawk Road APG-EA, MD 21010 VOLUME II - Past Performance. Offerors must provide evidence of satisfactory past performance and successful contractual completion of relevant projects. Relevant projects are defined as recent efforts that closely align with the scope, size, and complexity of the solicited project. Specifically, scope relevancy pertains to projects demonstrating prior experience in producing high-efficiency gas adsorbers for toxic chemicals or applications within the nuclear industry. All submitted projects must have been awarded or performed within the past five (5) years from the issuance date of this Request for Proposal (RFP). Offerors may include ongoing projects, provided they are at least 75% physically complete. Each Offeror must submit details on a minimum of one (1) and a maximum of five (5) similar projects, with at least one (1) project showcasing the experience of the Primary Offeror. This requirement extends to Joint Ventures. Each Joint Venture partner must submit at least one project demonstrating their relevant experience. Additional projects may represent the past performance of the Primary Offeror or major subcontractors. A major subcontractor is defined as an entity responsible for at least 25% of the labor support costs. When submitting projects on behalf of a subcontractor, the subcontractor must include the final cost of their portion along with all required supporting information. Offerors must complete and submit the - Past Performance Questionnaire form listed in Section J, Attachment 0002. Additionally, copies of any Quality Deficiency Reports and Corrective Actions issued by the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) within the past three (3) years must be provided for all relevant contracts, task orders, and subcontracts. For Government contracts that failed to meet original expectations regarding cost, schedule, or technical performance, Offerors must furnish a brief explanation outlining the causes and any corrective actions taken to prevent recurrence. This information must also be provided for all contracts terminated, either fully or partially, within the past three (3) years'regardless of whether the work aligns with the proposed effort. Any proposed major subcontractors must submit the same documentation. The Government reserves the right to assess past performance of the Offeror and major subcontractors through available sources, including the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) and other Army resources. VOLUME III - SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION. All Offerors (both other than small businesses (OTSB) and small businesses) shall submit a Small Business Participation Commitment Document (SBPCD) as outlined in attached Appendix I - SBPCD and provide substantiating documentation to demonstrate how the Offeror will meet the objective for the Government to use Small Business Concerns to the maximum extent practicable. The Offeror shall follow the instructions set forth below and in the SBPCD. The information that the Offeror provides will be used to evaluate the Offeror's proposed participation /commitment to use U.S. small businesses in the performance of this acquisition (as a small business prime, joint venture, teaming arrangement, and/or small business subcontractors) relative to Section M, Small Business Participation Evaluation Approach. The SBPCD will be incorporated into the base contract vehicle as binding commitments and are considered enforceable contractual requirements. NOTE: The small business participation plan outlines the "specifics" or the "how" or the "details" of the Offeror's firm intentions to maximize the utilization of small businesses within this acquisition. The Offeror shall articulate small business contributions to contract performance at the Prime contract through first tier subcontract levels. Second and lower tier small business subcontractors will not be considered towards the total small business participation percentage. Small Business Participation annotated in the Offeror's SBPCD is a separate requirement from the FAR 19.704 Subcontracting Plan Requirements, which will only be reviewed for acceptability for the Offeror deemed to be apparent awardee. The Offeror shall provide the Prime Offeror's Size as outlined in the SBPCD. a. Pursuant to FAR Part 19, the Government's objective is that Small Business Concerns (SBC) are used to the maximum extent practicable in the Offeror's proposed approach to satisfy the requirements of this solicitation for the entire performance period. The Offeror shall identify SBCs that are to be used in their proposed approach to satisfy the requirements. b. As outlined in the SBPCD, the Offeror shall: Identify the type, variety, and complexity of work to be performed by small business firms in accordance with the SOW. c. Describe and demonstrate a substantive commitment to small business firms. d. The Offeror shall provide the participation percentage of small businesses in terms of the Offeror's value of the total acquisition (total contract value) as outlined in the SBPCD. 1. The Offeror's proposed Total Contract Value for this requirement is the total proposed cost/price for the ordering periods. 2. The Offeror shall provide explanation and documentation to support small business participation percentages. Binding commitments shall become enforceable, contractual requirements. Other than small business contractors may achieve the small business participation requirements through subcontracting to small business. Small business contractors may achieve small business participation requirements through their own performance/ participation as a prime and also through a joint venture, teaming arrangement, and subcontracting to other small businesses. NOTE: All supporting documentation is excluded from the page count. Supporting documents will not be incorporated into any resulting contract. The Offeror shall submit past performance information to demonstrate that it complied with the requirements of FAR 52.219-8, Utilization of Small Business Concerns, for the past five years, as outlined in the SBPCD. Information included here will not be evaluated for the Past Performance Factor. e. Only Other Than Small Businesses (OTSB) shall provide a separate Small Business Subcontracting Plan that contains all of the elements required by FAR 52.219-9. The Small Business Subcontracting Plan shall be submitted separately from the information required above and in the SBPCD that both OTSB and small businesses are required to submit. The plan, at a minimum, shall address the elements set forth in FAR Clause 52.219-9(d)(1) through (15). Subcontracting Plans shall reflect and be consistent with the commitments offered in the SBPCD. OTSB Firms shall submit acceptable subcontracting plans to be eligible for award. Subcontracting plans will only be reviewed for acceptability for the Offeror deemed to be apparent awardee. The Small Business Subcontracting Plan will be incorporated into the resultant contract and is excluded from the small business page count limit. f. The work to be performed directly by a small business Prime Offeror shall be evaluated as Small Business Participation. Small business Prime Offerors shall include their information in the above requested subparagraphs and SBPCD as required. g. The SBPCD, which is an enforceable, contractual requirement, shall require periodic progress reporting to facilitate government monitoring in the event of an award. The Offeror shall propose annual reporting of the requirements set forth in the SBPCD paragraphs 1-3 (contractor format is acceptable) in accordance with Contract Data Requirements List (CDRL) - Small Business Utilization Report. Offerors that have enforceable agreements shall provide fully executed copies (i.e., the entire agreement and not just first and last pages). An enforceable commitment is defined as a written and signed agreement (by both parties) detailing that all parties have agreed to a business relationship for this procurement; the agreement shall be specific in nature. The agreement shall be clear that both parties have defined and agreed to the extent of the relationship to include types of work the subcontractors/partners shall perform. These agreements are excluded from the small business page count limit. VOLUME IV - Price. The total proposed price for this factor is the basis for the Price proposal. Price Proposal shall consist of the following document files: - xxxxPRICENARRxxx.PDF; - xxxxPRICExxxx.PDF; - xxxxPRICExxxx.XLSX; and - xxxxSANITIZEDxxxx.XLSX. Offerors shall replace - xxxx with the Offeror's name and the date of the proposal. Example, OfferorPRICE052925.xlsx. VOLUME DOCUMENT FILE NAME NOTE Price Narrative xxxxPRICENARRxxxx.pdf Price Narrative - No Page Limit Price Proposal xxxxPRICExxxx.pdf xxxxPRICExxxx.xlsx Price Proposal - Offerors shall submitted in both versions: Adobe PDF (.pdf) and Excel format (.xlsx) with all formulas visible in each cell. Proposals submitted which do not adhere to the format or cell requirements may not be further considered for award. Price Sanitized File xxxxSANITIZEDxxxx.xlsx Sanitized Price Proposal - DELETE all prices from the price proposal. This document will be provided to the technical evaluators for evaluation purposes only. a. An excel spreadsheet titled - Price Proposal HEGA LINE ITEMS describing required Adsorbers by CLIN in Section B - Supplies or Services and Prices and items as a minimum for accomplishment of the task order has been provided to this solicitation. Please refer to Section J, Attachment 0003. FAR 15.403-5(b) allows the Contracting Officer to specify the format of other than cost or pricing data to facilitate and enhance determination of the proposed price reasonableness. b. It is anticipated that competition exists; therefore, certified cost and pricing data is not required. However, if the only one offer is received in response to this RFP, the Government may request additional information supporting the proposed prices. c. Offerors shall ensure that the total level of effort proposed in the Technical section for the Task Factor is included in the xxxxSANITIZEDxxxx.xlsx and the xxxxPRICExxxx.xlsx documents. VOLUME V - Solicitations, Offer and Award Documents and Certifications/Representations. Certifications and Representations - Each offeror shall complete (fill-in and signatures) the solicitation sections indicated below using the file (without modification to the file) provided with the RFP. An authorized official of the firm shall sign the SF 1449 and all certifications requiring original signature. Offerors are required to acknowledge all amendments (SF 30) in accordance with FAR 52.215-1. Offerors also must complete Online Representation and Certifications Application registration IAW FAR 52.212-3. An Acrobat PDF file shall be created to capture the signatures for submission. Section A - Standard Form 1449 (SF 1449), Solicitation, Offer and Award. Section K - Representations, Certification and Other Statements of Offerors. Proposals and Attachments must be sent in writing via electronic mail only to Lenard Wright, lenard.b.wright.civ@army.mil and Birgit M. Jones, birgit.m.jones.civ@army.mil and must be submitted by 12:00 Noon Eastern Standard Time (EST) on or before, 7 July 2025.