R -- Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Confidentiality Advice and Services

This is a SOURCES SOUGHT SYNOPSIS. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 541110 THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME. REQUESTS FOR A SOLICITATION WILL NOT RECEIVE A RESPONSE. This Sources Sought is in support of market research being conducted by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) to identify capable potential sources interested in providing services for the - Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Confidentiality Advice and Services. This Sources Sought is in support of market research being conducted by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) to identify capable potential sources interested in providing services for the - Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Confidentiality Advice and Services. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office of Chief Counsel requires professional services related to the processing and resolution of requests for confidentiality received by the agency. Specially, the Contractor will be required to review documents and produce draft responses to confidentiality requests that are consistent with law and agency's regulation on confidentiality. Requirements The Contractor is required to perform all work necessary to evaluate the sufficiency of each confidentiality request in accordance with 49 CFR Part 512 (a copy of the regulation is provided in the Appendix) and the FOIA and produce a draft response. Successful Contractor performance includes producing timely and effective responses to confidentiality requests and a consistently high-value work product. Contractors must also have a demonstrated ability to review documents in a quick manner and determine whether their release would result in substantial competitive harm to the requester. The agency anticipates the need for one on-site specialist for a period of 12 months to assist in clearing the confidentiality request backlog the agency currently faces. The agency's current backlog averages around 100 unprocessed requests. Confidentiality requests can be divided into two levels of efforts. Approximately 95% of the requests will require review of a limited amount of material consisting of less than a few hundred pages of materials. The review of this material and drafting a response to the request averages around 1-5 labor hours. Approximately 5% of the requests consist of multiple boxes of material and thousands of pages of documents. The amount of documents involved makes the review and response sufficiently complex to warrant additional time in responding. Due to the varying sizes of these requests, the agency plans to work with the Contractor to establish specific deadlines for this type of work. Contractor personnel providing professional services under this contract shall be fully qualified to provide high quality advice and services in all of the subject areas described above. Each Contractor employee providing professional services under this contract must also have prior experience, for a minimum of one year, in addressing issues of confidentiality under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for a federal agency at a professional level comparable to that called for in this solicitation. Each Contractor employee shall also have a basic understanding of competitive concerns in a regulated industry such as the automotive industry. All submitted information should be limited to no more than 15 pages, one-sided, minimum font size 10 and should be sent to Lamont O. Norwood, Small Business Specialist, via e-mail at lamont.norwood@nhtsa.dot.gov by xx May 2005 no later than 2:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. A responder may request clarification in writing for any requirement that is unclear from Lamont O. Norwood, Small Business Specialist Contracting Officer, at (202) 366-8573 or by sending an e-mail tolamont.norwood@nhtsa.dot.gov . Any requests for clarification must be received no later than three (3) business days prior to the close of this sources sought announcement in order to receive a timely response. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. All routine communications regarding this announcement should be directed to the contractual points of contact listed above. All responsible sources may submit information that shall be considered by the agency.