Paralegals for ONR FOIA/Privacy/Ethics Program

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This solicitation constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. This solicitation, N00014-08-Q-0012, is issued as a Request for Quote (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2001-09 and DFARS Change Notice 20020730. The associated North American Industry classification System (NAICS) code is 922130 and small business size standard is $7.0 million. This is a 100% small business set-aside. The Office of Naval Research (ONR), Office of Corporate Counsel, has a requirement to procure paralegal services. The paralegal services are needed to support the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)/Privacy/Ethics Programs at the Office of Naval Research. The Contractor will be responsible for performing the following tasks: (1) Under attorney supervision, the Contractor shall manage the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)/Privacy Act (PA) program. The Office of Corporate Counsel receives approximately 120-200 FOIA and PA requests per year. (2) Under attorney supervision, the Contractor shall assist in the management of the FOIA/PA program. (3) The Contractor shall maintain a database that will contain all FOIA and PA requests. The Contractor shall create a new database entry for each new request and update each entry as needed throughout the life of the request. The Contractor will date-stamp any new requests received by mail. (4) The Contractor shall maintain paper files of all requests. (5) The Contractor shall determine whether the request is perfected and whether it falls under ONR's cognizance. (5) The Contractor shall draft all communication to requester, including acknowledgment of receipt, status updates, and final decision letters. The Contractor shall also draft all communication to third parties, including letters to contract information submitters and referrals to other agencies. (6) The Contractor shall communicate with the requester and third parties, as needed, to refine request, negotiate alternate time periods, respond to inquiries, coordinate search, determine releasability of records, and resolve other relevant matters. (7) The Contractor shall conduct a thorough, documented search for requested records. (8) Once records are located, the Contractor shall retrieve the records and analyze them page/by/page to determine releasability in accordance with FOIA and PA law and policy. The Contractor shall consult with an ONR attorney as needed. (9) The Contractor shall send the records with proprietary or business-sensitive information to the submitter for possible objection to release under EO 12600. (10) In consultation with attorney the Contractor shall determine which, if any, disclosure exemptions apply to records and redact any non-releasable portions. (11) The Contractor shall prepare the final package for requester. If a denial is required, the Contractor shall coordinate denial package with Initial Denial Authority for signature. (12) The Contractor shall prepare the correspondence and package responding to any appeals of denial. The Contractor shall also assist the attorney with drafting legal memoranda responding to appeals. (13) The Contractor shall collect information and prepare an annual FOIA and PA report. The report shall contain the annual statistics of open and closed FOIA/PA requests. (14) The Contractor shall assist the attorney with the ONR Ethics and Standards of Conduct program as required. At a minimum, the Contractor shall provide qualified personnel to manage and execute all aspects of this requirement. Proposed personnel should be thoroughly familiar and proficient in the use of commercial software packages such as Microsoft Word, Project, and Excel. Proposed personnel should have a Paralegal Certificate or two (2) years of FOIA/PA experience. Proposed personnel should have substantial experience handling FOIA and PA requests. Proposed personnel should have the ability to act independently; conduct research; quickly and efficiently develop relevant skills and knowledge; exercise attention to detail; communicate effectively orally and in writing; and speak clearly and accurately. The Contractor shall provide two (2) individuals, on a full time basis, to perform the required duties. The level of effort is 1,840 hours per person. The Government reserves the right to make multiple awards against this synopsis/solicitation. For instance, an award could be made to Company A and another award could be made to Company B for one (1) paralegal each. The Government intends to competitively award a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract that represents the best value to the Government in accordance with the evaluation criteria set forth in this solicitation. The Government estimate for this effort is approximately $316,600.00 per year, although lower and higher proposals will be considered. The period of performance will be from the effective date of the purchase order through twelve (12) months thereafter. The award will also include four (4) twelve (12) month option periods. The process will consists of submission of quotes, evaluation of quotes, and interviews via phone and/or on-site at the Office of Naval Research located at 875 North Randolph Street, Arlington, VA. If an Offeror does not submit a quote, it is not eligible to participate in the rest of the process. The purpose of the phone/on-site interview is to give the Government the opportunity to determine (1) if the Contractor clearly understands the requirement, (2) the proposed individuals understanding of FOIA policies and procedures; and (3) the individuals background in working with FOIA requests. Any Offeror whose proposal is selected for personnel interviews will be notified by e-mail no less that three (3) business days prior to the commencement of the interviews. Interviews are tentatively scheduled for the week of September 15, 2008. As soon as the evaluation process is complete each Offeror will be notified via e-mail of the Offeror(s) who have been selected for an award. The clauses at FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items, FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items and FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required To Implement Statutes or Executive Orders--Commercial Items, apply to this acquisition. The additional clauses cited within the last clause cited are applicable: 52.203-6, 52.219-4, 52.219-8, 52.222-3, 52.222-19, 52.222-21, 52.222-26, 52.222-35, 52.222-36, 52.222-37, 52.222-39, 52.225-13, and 52.232-33. The DFARs clause at 252.212-7001, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders Applicable to Defense Acquisitions of Commercial Items applies to this acquisition. The additional clauses cited within this clause are applicable: 52.203-3 and 252.232-7003. The following additional FAR and DFARs clauses apply: 52.204-7 Central Contractor Registration, FAR 52.217-9 Option to Extend the Term of the Contract (insert - 1 day, during the performance period for the notice in paragraph (a) and five (5) years in paragraph (c)), FAR 52.233-3, Protest After Award (AUG 1996) and 252.204-7004 Alternate A. Facsimile and e-mail proposals are not authorized and will not be accepted. The offerors should submit with their proposal the following: (1) Technical proposal; (2) Cost proposal; (3) Completed Representations and Certification in accordance with FAR 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications--Commercial Items and DFARs 252.212-7000 Offeror Representations and Certifications--Commercial Items., which are available electronically at: http://heron.nrl.navy.mil/contracts/repsandcerts.htm, and the offeror must complete the ONR specific representations and certifications found at http://www.onr.navy.mil/02/rep_cert.asp; and (4) An affirmation that it has an active registration on the Central Contractor Registration (CCR), which is at the website www.ccr.gov. The Offeror's proposal should be divided into two sections: (1) Technical Proposal, and (2) Cost Proposal. Information for the technical portion shall be a separate and segregable document from the cost proposal. No cost information should be included in the technical section. The length of the technical proposal shall not exceed five (5) pages, exclusive of resumes. The resumes should be no more than two (2) pages each and there is no page limitation for the cost proposal. There is no limit on the number of resumes an Offeror can provide. The proposal should be written and organized to be compatible with the requirements of this solicitation, company's organization and accounting structure, and proposed cost. The technical proposal should include the Offeror's understanding of and approach to the requirement, resumes of proposed personnel, and the amount of proposed hours for proposed personnel. The Offeror should explain how the quality and timeliness of work performance will be supervised and controlled and how the Offeror will coordinate with the program office. The Offeror should include information relative to previous efforts for the same or similar services provided in the past. The Offeror should submit a cost proposal that identifies the labor category, associated hours, and hourly rate. Each employee of a successful Offeror chosen to provide support services at ONR will be required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) prior to commencing work under this Order. The supervisor/manager of the proposed personnel will also be required to sign the NDA on behalf of the Contractor. A contract will be awarded to the responsible offeror(s) whose offer represent the best value to the Government. All quotes will be evaluated in accordance with the requirements stated above. All quotes will be evaluated on the Offeror's ability to meet the Government's requirement for paralegal services. In order to determine which offeror represents the best overall value, offers will be evaluated in accordance with the following evaluation criteria: (1) Technical - Proposed Personnel, Offeror's Understanding of the Requirement, and Past Performance. (2) Price. Delivery and acceptance of reports is F.O.B. Destination to the Program Officer at the Office of Naval Research, 875 North Randolph Street, Arlington, VA 22203. The Contractor will be required to provide a FOIA/PA Report(s) and monthly Financial Status Report(s). The FOIA/PA Report shall contain the annual statistics of open and closed FOIA/PA requests. The FOIA/PA Report is due on the 15th of each month The Monthly Financial Status Report should include a breakdown of costs incurred during the month, total expenditures to date, hours used, and cost to complete. The Quarterly Financial Status Report is due no later than three (3) months after contract award and every month thereafter. The Contract Specialist must receive any questions concerning the RFQ no later than three (3) business days before the response date of this solicitation. Questions should be emailed to Contract Specialist Kristin Fuller at Kristin.fuller@navy.mil. Quotes must be submitted no later than 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, 11 September 2008. The package should be marked with the solicitation number, due date, and Attention: Ms. Kristin Fuller. The U.S. Postal Service continues to irradiate letters, flats, Express and Priority Mail with stamps for postage and other packages destine to government agencies. Due to potential delays in receiving mail, Offerors are encouraged to use alternatives to the mail, such as delivery services, when submitting proposals. Offerors may also hand-deliver their proposals at the mailing address above, provided they pre-arrange a time and date prior to the closing of the solicitation with the Contract Specialist, Kristin Fuller at (703) 696-4591. No e-mailed or faxed proposals will be accepted. All quotes received must provide resumes which outline qualifications and relevant experience. The Office of Naval Research reserves the right to hold telephone discussions and/or on-site meetings with Offerors if needed. All quotes must include a cost breakout for the base year and each individual option year. The award(s) is anticipated to be made on or before 30 September 2008.