R--ST. LOUIS DISTRICT CULTURAL RESOURCES SERVICES CONTRACTS

Request for Information (RFI) St. Louis District Cultural Resources Services Contracts 1. PURPOSE This RFI is being issued for informational and planning purposes. Information gathered will be considered in order to determine the most appropriate acquisition strategy, contract type, the feasibility of a small business providing the necessary support, and whether adequate competition exists to set-aside the competition for small business. The information requested will be used within U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Mandatory Center of Expertise for the Curation and Management of Archaeological Collections (MCX CMAC), St. Louis District to facilitate decision making and will not be disclosed outside the agency. This announcement is not a Request for Proposal/Quote (RFP/RFQ) or solicitation of any kind. MCX CMAC is not seeking or accepting unsolicited proposals for this requirement. This notice should not be construed as a commitment of any type by the Government to take or not take any action. Please note that USACE will NOT be responsible for any costs incurred by interested parties in responding to this RFI. 2. BACKGROUND/DESCRIPTION General: The St. Louis District is considering development of several contracts that would be awarded to qualified bidders. The work includes providing multidisciplinary cultural resource related services for projects undertaken by the USACE, MCX CMAC, St. Louis District. Services will include but are not limited to both terrestrial and marine archeological investigations, historic architectural services, architectural history, archival and knowledge management services, Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) summary and inventory services, Geographic Information System (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) services and related modeling, and historic studies in support of cultural resources investigations. They may also include conservation and curation services required to manage the Veterans Curation Program (VCP). Additionally, contractors would need to be familiar with current federal regulations, guidelines, and procedures related to the types of services required. Finally, the contractor would need to demonstrate an ability both to manage and supervise subcontractors and to handle large volumes of work under strict deadlines. This market research will gather information on cultural resources services to help define the requirement and formulate an acquisition strategy appropriate for the MCX CMAC cultural resources requirements. The NAICS for this effort is 541720, Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities. The Small Business Administration small business size standard for NAICS code 541720, Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities is $20.5 million annual average receipts (total or gross income) over the past three years. Contract Areas: The primary contract areas will be limited to the continental United States (CONUS). Contract Duration: Contract duration shall be based on the type of solicitation (e.g., IDIQ). The determination of contract type will be informed by this RFI. 3. SCOPE Services that may be required under this contract would be detailed in individual Scopes of Work. These services may include, but are not necessarily limited to, the character of services outlined below. a. Background literature, archival, and courthouse record research and informant interviews, including preparation of land use histories, research of federal, state, and local regulatory agencies. Field work might not be necessary to meet this requirement unless specified. b. Geomorphological and environmental reconstruction. c. Reconnaissance and sample surveys. d. Intensive, comprehensive cultural resources surveys. e. Architectural evaluation of standing structures, and structural conservation. f. Assessment, treatment, stabilization, restoration and preservation of historic wood, historic masonry, and mortar materials, including cleaning methods, paint removal, removal of biological growth or other destructive agents, mortar analysis, preparation of mortar joints and re-pointing, forensic evaluation of material conditions, use of protective coatings and water repellants, and the repair and treatment of concrete materials. g. National Register assessments of engineering structures. h. Test excavation of archeological sites for assessment of National Register eligibility and, if significant, preparation of detailed data recovery plans. i. Assessments of project impacts to cultural resources. j. Various types of mitigation including, but not limited to, archeological data recovery, forensic recovery, architectural mitigation measures, Historic American Building Survey/Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) recordation, scaled drawings, popular histories, and collection of oral histories. k. Preparation of research designs, including peer review, for a broad array of data gathering and resource assessment techniques, ranging from regional, to project, to site-specific. l. Construction monitoring. m. Remote sensing techniques, including field work and analyses of data. n. Computerization of data for analyses, and creation or maintenance of data base files and models. o. Scanning and georeferencing of data for GIS manipulation and production of overlays from maps and aerial images. p. Uploading data to existing world-wide-web sites or digital repositories. q. Museum services, design, curation and collections management, of archaeological, natural history, and military collections including transportation, stabilization, preservation, and curation of recovered remains, records, and both macro and micro objects. r. Archives, records, and knowledge assessment and management services, including digitization, and delivery of specialized archival research and classification. s. Preparation of scientific reports and summary reports for professional journals, the lay public, or the management sector. t. Preparation of tutorials and teaching aids for publication and electronic dissemination. u. Design and preparation of descriptive and interpretive displays as well as video productions for public outreach, training, and education. v. Preparation of various types of documentation (including agreement documents) for submission to the State Historic Preservation Officer, the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation as appropriate. w. Maritime/underwater archeological survey and excavation. x. NAGPRA support related to Sections 3, 5, 6, and 7 of the statute. y. Obtain, retrofit, equip, staff, supervise, manage, maintain, and demobilize collections processing laboratories; and z. Furnish expert personnel to attend conferences and furnish testimony in any judicial proceedings involving forensic archeological and historical study, evaluation, analysis, and reports. Delivery orders may require a combination of the above skills or tasks. All work must be able to satisfy current scientific standards for data collection, analysis, and reporting, as well as local, state, and federal requirements. Additionally, there are conservation and curation services required to manage the Veterans Curation Program (VCP). a. Background: In 2009, USACE St. Louis District MCX CMAC implemented a program under which a portion of the legally authorized curation work of the nation would be performed in such a manner as to also assist veterans in achieving both employment and training opportunities. Contractors working on archaeological collections that need to be rehabilitated in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, the Archaeological Resources Protection Act, 36 CFR Part 79, and ER 1130-2-540 have combined teams of professional archaeologists and archivists with veterans to perform this work. This program, which was designed to support the needs of veterans from OEF/OIF theaters of operation, opened its first laboratory in Augusta, Georgia, in October 2009. Two additional laboratories were established in 2010, one in St. Louis, Missouri, the other in Washington D.C. The Washington laboratory relocated to Old Town in Alexandria, Virginia, in August 2011. Funding for the VCP was originally provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) 2009. Funding for the program is currently provided through the USACE. The program has operated continuously since its inception in 2009. The role of MCX CMAC is to provide the collections, equipment, and management, and to design, coordinate, and implement the various program elements in cooperation with the Contractor at these three facilities. The Contractor would provide labor and supervision to run the laboratories. b. Program Requirements: The Contractor would provide a curation/collections supervisory team comprising a total of two (2) to three (3) (FTE) technically qualified laboratory supervisors per laboratory who will be tasked with the training, management, and day-to-day supervision of a staff of between five (5) and twelve (12) (FTE) archaeological laboratory technicians per laboratory, as funding permits. Archaeological laboratory technicians would also be hired by the Contractor when required. Further, the Contractor would designate a technically qualified Program Manager to serve as the Point of Contact (POC) who assumes overall responsibility for the performance of work outlined in individual delivery orders. Training for laboratory supervisors, as well as previously developed training materials and laboratory support materials, including the VCP Guide series, are provided by the Government for the performance of work under VCP delivery orders. Processes and procedures developed by the MCX CMAC are adhered to. The Contractor's management of this work incorporates previously developed protocols and lessons learned. Final delivery of all work products is coordinated with and subject to approval by the Government's representatives. Required Subject Matter Experts: For future solicitations, the contractor will need to be able to provide the services of qualified professionals to minimally include individuals with the following capabilities/responsibilities, principal investigator, field and laboratory supervisors, archaeologist, laboratory assistant and technician, physical anthropologist, paleoethnobotanist, geomorphologist, zooarchaeologist, architectural historian, historian, archivist, archives technician, conservator, curator, underwater archeologist, other professional personnel, and crew members and laboratory staff. While it is understood that firms do not typically maintain all of these specialties, contractors should be aware that locating such specialized services could become part of their requirement for any given investigation. 4. WHITE PAPER (REQUIREMENTS) Given the contracting needs of the MCX CMAC outlined above, interested parties are requested to submit the following information in the format of a White Paper. The White Paper should be concise and address only the information requested below. Please limit your response to not more than 10 pages; some questions may be answered quite briefly. Again, this information will support market research activities within USACE. Provide general company information including a brief background for your firm and information on the size of your business, and its capabilities. 1. Please state what type of firm your business is. For example, is it a Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, 8a, Service Disadvantaged Veteran Owned Small Business, Womens Business Enterprise, or HUB Zone? 2. Please identify what type of contracting vehicles your firm currently has, and whether or not your firm is able to comply with DCAA cost accounting standards for T&M billing? 3. Previous cultural resources IDIQ contracts maintained by the St. Louis District MCX CMAC have covered all aspects of the work described under the section titled Scope, above. Would it be advantageous to separate the work performed to process collections through the VCP from the balance of work typically performed by the MCX CMAC? Please provide a rational for your recommendations. 4. As a Contractor, what advantages for the Government might there be if all three of the current VCP curation laboratories were managed by a single firm? What disadvantages can you identify? Please provide a rational for your recommendations. 5. Regional IDIQs have been awarded in the past, based upon the map at Figure 1. These regions are drawn along Corps of Engineers District boundaries. How might this map be redrawn in the event that your firm were bidding on work for the St. Louis District MCX CMAC? For example, should there be more or fewer regions? (See Uploaded Attachment) 5. RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS Responses to this RFI must be submitted to the POC listed below via e-mail no later than 1600 CT, November 5, 2014. 6. POINT OF CONTACT (POC) Lisa M. White Contract Specialist US Army Corps of Engineers St. Louis District/CEMVS-CT Office: +1 (555) 000-0000 Fax: +1 (555) 000-0000 Email: contact@example.gov