Request for Information on Nationwide CLEAR 30 Pilot Conservation Reserve Program

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION/SOURCE SOUGHT ON NATIONWIDE CLEAR 30 PILOT CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM INTRODUCTION The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) is investigating the interest from contractors that will undertake conservation maintenance of the land(s) enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) for the Clean Lakes, Estuaries, and Rivers (CLEAR 30) pilot program to ensure the conservation practice performs according to the required standards. The CLEAR 30 pilot program was introduced in the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 as a component of the Commodity Credit Corporation's (CCC) Conservation Reserve Program's (CRP). The CRP CLEAR 30 pilot program offers program participants and owners of expiring CRP contracts with water quality practices to be re-enrolled into 30-year contracts with the option of having a government-managed contractors provide conservation activity plan directed maintenance to the acres under the CRP CLEAR 30 contract. Currently, the CRP CLEAR 30 pilot program is available in all counties and county equivalents nationwide, including U.S. territories and tribal lands. This Request for Information (RFI)/Source Sought is being issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute an Invitation for Bids (IFB), a Request for Proposals (RFP), a Request for Quotations (RFQ) or an indication that the Government will contract for any of the items and/or services contained in this notice. In accordance with FAR 52.215-3, Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes, the Government will not pay for any information/items submitted in response to the RFI. No determination as to the viability of this requirement has been made at this point and there is currently no solicitation for this effort. Any solicitation resulting from this RFI will be announced separately. BACKGROUND The Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018, also known as the 2018 Farm Bill, created a pilot program, known as Clean Lakes, Estuaries, and Rivers 30 (CLEAR 30), on certain land devoted to specific practices which are limited to those that provide water quality protection by helping to reduce sediment loadings, nutrient loadings, and harmful algae blooms. This pilot program addresses land devoted conservation practices including grass sod waterway, contour grass sod strip, filter strip, riparian buffer, wetland or a wetland buffer, and wildlife habitat buffer. See references: CRP CLEAR 30 pilot program in the Federal Register: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/12/06/2019-26268/conservation-reserve-program. CRP CLEAR 30 FACT Sheet: https://www.fsa.usda.gov/Assets/USDA-FSA-Public/usdafiles/FactSheets/crp-clear30-pilot.pdf CRP Notice announcing FY2021 CRP CLEAR 30: https://www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_Notice/crp_934.pdf To assist CRP CLEAR 30 participants, FSA will enter into a contract with contractors who will undertake conservation maintenance of the land to ensure the practice performs according to the required standards. Maintenance includes but is not limited to activities that help maintain the land's compliance with its conservation practice. Maintenance activities must relate to practice establishment/re-establishment, activities needed to maintain the conservation practice, and are included in the participant's conservation activity plan. They can be traditional CRP management activities or operation and maintenance activities as determined by Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) or a Technical Service Provider (TSP). NRCS will complete a monitoring site visit in year 2 and recommend maintenance activities for years 3-5 followed by a monitoring site visit every 3 years following the year 2 visit, with recommended activities for the years in between the visits, throughout the 30-year CRP contract with the participant. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION For purposes of the RFI/Source Sought, FSA seeks contractors with the ability to service the projects nationwide, including territories and tribal lands, that will address conservation maintenance activities as outlined in the participant's CRP CLEAR 30 contract conservation activity plan. Additional maintenance activities may be deemed necessary by contractor to meet compliance requirements with the CRP CLEAR 30 conservation activity plan. Types of maintenance activities include, but are not limited to, site preparation, temporary cover, seasonal cover, seeding and re-seeding, controlling weeds, including noxious weeds, mowing of brush and herbaceous weeds, prescribed burning, and maintenance of installed structures, including fencing and barriers. For the CRP CLEAR 30 pilot, the offerors will be responsible for all contracting maintenance activities, whether directly providing the service or subcontracting the services, and permits, licenses, tools, equipment and/or infrastructure required to support contractual specifications. FSA is issuing this RFI/Source Sought for information to: (1). Gather industry input on the referenced Performance Work Statement (PWS). (2). Request information on any industry changes or improvements that the Government should consider when looking to achieve best value by improving quality and reducing costs. Please respond to the following questions: Conservation Maintenance Service Questions: What services do you or your company provide for the following? Site Preparation Seeding/Planting Grading/Shaping Cover Maintenance Spot treatment (chemical, mechanical) Prescribed burning Interseeding Do you plan to complete the required maintenance activities as yourself, yourself as a company, or will you be subcontracting the maintenance out? If subcontracting efforts are done, what procedures do you/your company have in-place to ensure requirements are met in the RFI? Describe what federal or state guidelines you/your company will use for compliance with maintenance? What licenses pertaining to the regulated activities listed in section C are currently held by you/your company? Do you have the appropriate licenses and training required to apply herbicide? Please explain how you will meet the needs if herbicide spraying is needed to control weeds. If any permits would be needed, do you/your company have experience or knowledge in obtaining the appropriate permits or post required notices? How would you/your company go about keeping the CRP CLEAR 30 participant updated on when you will arrive at the site to complete the required maintenance activities and how long it will take to complete the required activities? Describe the equipment currently owned or leased that will assist in completing the list of activities in section C above. Contract/General Questions: What states would you/your company be able to provide the services? Have you worked nationwide program? If not, what is your plan to meet this nationwide requirement? If not, what is your recommendation to meet this nationwide requirement? Describe any experience you/your company may have working with federal conservation programs. In what manner will you/your company communicate with FSA and the participant? How many projects are you/your company able to service in a month? Describe ownership and strategic partnerships of the business that will assist in completing the activities listed in section C above? Would you/your company be willing to supply references, and if so, may those references be contacted? Describe how you/your company handle customers that are not satisfied with the work completed? How long between notification of a required activity and mobilization to start the activity? Describe how you/your company will protect participants information during and after the contract is over. How would you/your company go about keeping FSA informed on the work completed and any issues you've run into or discovered at the site? Please describe how the security of contract information will be controlled due to personal information. Describe how you/your company will show that the maintenance activities have been completed. Do you/your company have insurance if damage is done to the CRP acreage or the CRP participant's property? The Government is planning to award Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) to multiple vendors to address the Clear 30 requirement. Individual task order tailored to the unique program requirements will be competed among the vendors with an active IDIQ. Based on the multiple IDIQ approach, what are the risks and/or impacts associated with this proposed action? The Government is considering IDIQ awards by regional area. What evaluation factors should the Government consider when evaluating contractor's capabilities for the program? What are the risks and/ or impacts associated with this approach? The Government intends to use a firm-fixed type contract. Are there other contract types that would be beneficial to both parties? Pricing Questions: What is your recommended approach for pricing? For example, by state or by project area? Could you provide a sample pricing table/structure (using simulated pricing data) showing your recommended approach? Business Size and Socioeconomic: Indicate business size based on NAICS codes of 237990 & 115112 and socioeconomic status of your company and that, if known, of primary subcontracts typically involved in providing the products and services you provide related to this RFI/Sources Sought. The list does not need to be comprehensive. Indicate whether your company has an active registration in SAM.gov. INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPONDENTS Responses to this RFI/Source Sought are due no later than 1 P.M. ET on August 09, 2021. Questions pertaining to this RFI/Source Sought is due by 12 P.M. ET on July 30, 2021. Please submit all responses electronically via email to Nancy.Harris@usda.gov with the words - USDA Nationwide CLEAR 30 RFI Response in the email subject line by the due date. The following instructions establish the acceptable minimum requirements for the format and content of the responses: Please address all questions and requirements and include feedback on all related topics, including application implementation costs, licensing costs, schedules, and risks. In addition, please feel free to provide other recommendations or suggestions on related subjects or issues. The electronic copy of your responses must be in an Adobe Systems(R) PDF (Portable Document Format) format and readable by the Adobe Acrobat Reader . The first page of the submission must state the RFI title and provide the name, e-mail address, and telephone number for the individual that can be contacted for clarification or questions regarding this submission. To aid in Government review, the total pages for the entire submission are limited to not more than 10 pages and file size shall not exceed 2 MB. Any proprietary data that is included in the response must be marked appropriately at the paragraph level (page level is acceptable for full page table, graphs, etc.). Any response marked proprietary at the document level will not be considered. CONTACT INFORMATION Clarifications or questions regarding this RFI must be submitted in writing via email to Nancy.Harris@usda.gov or bumjoon.pak@usda.gov. All clarifications or questions must reference this RFI. Please use the words - USDA Nationwide CLEAR 30 RFI Question in the email subject line. See the attached Performance Work Statement and Request for Information for detailed information concerning this requirement.