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Contract Opportunity

Notice Type: A&E Presolicitation/Synopsis Notice:

This is an A&E STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS NOTICE. The U.S. Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) has a requirement for an Architect-Engineering Services (A&E) Statement of Qualifications request for SF 330.

A&E REQUIREMENTS: The Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) is an ecological research center administratively positioned within the Department of Interior, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The facility, located in La Crosse, WI, currently uses 3 high-capacity wells to supply water to the Center for non-contact condenser cooling, the rearing of aquatic organisms, and research. The wells draw water from the existing aquifer at a depth of 75-80 feet. Annual water consumption at the Center is approximately 260 million gallons, with 60 million gallons used for mechanical and process cooling and the remaining 200 million gallons used for aquatic animal rearing and research. To restore the water quality supplied to the Center, an assessment of the facility water infrastructure is needed to determine means of minimizing facility water use without reducing our capacity to rear and hold aquatic animals or reduce our research capabilities. This Project is being developed as an Assessment Phase - to identify and address potential design and budgetary issues related to the site location, perform groundwater modelling and hydrological assessments of the geological formations in the aquifer at the facility site, assess facility water uses and determine applicable measures to reduce use of water for non-contact condenser cooling, the rearing of aquatic organisms, and research. The assessment shall also determine feasibility of providing contaminant-free water to the Center using methods including but not limited to: treatment of surface water, supply of water from local municipal sources, drilling new wells, or redrilling the existing wells to a greater depth to eliminate risks from pollutants present in the shallow aquifer depths.

The Government may require follow-on contracts to include Design, Cost Estimating, Solicitation package, and Construction administration as needed to support the subject requirement depending on the funding availability. Also, the Government may utilize the A&E firm who has successfully performed the assessment work for Design, Cost Estimating, Solicitation package, and Construction administration. The Contractor shall:

1.        Assessment: Provide a comprehensive evaluation of current facility water consumption, provide guidance on reducing non-potable water use in the areas of facility aquaculture, research, and mechanical systems operations, and include an analysis of potential options for providing water free of Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) and Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) compounds and which meet the water chemistry criteria suitable for rearing aquatic animals suggested in Fish Hatchery Management (Piper 2012) to the center.
2.        Water Use Assessment: Develop a comprehensive and detailed evaluation of the current facility water consumption. Propose methods to reduce the Center¿s reliance on the current well water sources. Water use evaluation shall be broken down by the following three categories: aquatic animal rearing and husbandry, indoor and outdoor research capacity, and mechanical consumption.
3.        Water Conservation Measures: Provide measures to reduce facility water use, with the goal of reducing groundwater consumption by 90% without limiting the facility mechanical systems or reducing aquaculture and research capacity.
4.        Municipal Supply: Shall coordinate with the City of La Crosse, Town of Campbell and UMESC senior staff to determine the feasibility of combining the water reduction measures with suppling all or a portion of the Center non-potable water by connecting to the local municipal water infrastructure and dechlorinating the municipal water. Also, determine the feasibility for connecting the facility fire protection main to the City of La Crosse hydrant lines.
5.        Wastewater Effluent: Shall coordinate with the City of La Crosse, Town of Campbell and UMESC senior staff to determine the feasibility of combining the water reduction measures with routing Center process effluent to the City of La Crosse municipal wastewater system.
6.        Partial or Complete Conversion to Surface Water: Shall develop a detailed evaluation of the potential to utilize nearby surface water sources as a full or partial source of the facility water needs.
7.        Groundwater Modelling/Upgrade for Facility Wells: Shall develop a detailed evaluation of the current geologic formation of the aquifer currently supplying water to the UMESC campus. Perform groundwater modelling using existing and future facility pumping requirements to determine the feasibility of either relocating the wells or increasing the well depths of all 3 wells to ensure the water supply to the facility is free from PFOS or PFOA contaminants present at the shallower aquifer depths. Evaluate well sites and perform sample collection at the recommended locations and depths to determine the chemical composition of the water (concentrations of iron, manganese, heavy metals, or other potential contaminants present in the aquifer). If necessary, Contractor shall evaluate optimal well configurations that provide the most cost-effective solution for minimal contamination of supply water while ensuring adequate pumping volume and provide details regarding new mechanical requirements for achieving pump capacity from the new well depth.
This is a Small Business set aside under NAICS code 541330 Engineering Services with a Small Business Size Standard $25.5M for the requirement. Government intends to award a firm fixed price contract. The A&E Services will be procured in accordance with Public Law 92-582 (Brooks Act) and FAR 36.6. The selection(s) of the most highly qualified firm(s) is not based on competitive bidding procedures but rather upon professional qualifications necessary for the performance of the required A&E services.
This is a two-part process: Part I - Offerors will submit their SF330 A-E Qualifications by the response due date. Forms can be found on GSA website https://www.gsa.gov/forms?combine=SF330&field_form_type_value=All&field_form_category_value=All&captcha_sid=11641133&captcha_token=ZITy7IzkNQZ7rAM2-zaTHVDJavurTuVXKEg65E1OtA0. The government will then evaluate and rate them.

The most highly qualified firms will then be slated for consideration under Part II. Part II - Only the most highly qualified firms, not to exceed 3, will be provided the Request for Proposal (RFP), with responses required by the date indicated in the RFP. The qualifications will be evaluated and ranked in numerical order for award. As stated above, this is a total Small Business set-aside. The NAICS code is 541330 Engineering Services with the size standards of $25.5M.

SELECTION CRITERIA: Qualifications submitted by each firm for A&E Site Assessment, Groundwater Modelling, and Evaluation of Existing Water Use at UMESC will be reviewed and evaluated based on the following criteria and are listed in descending order of importance:

1.        Proposed Design Team: The qualifications of the individual team members and their respective discipline to include the Project Manager, key personnel and any consultants that will be used for the design services. The specific disciplines which will be evaluated are architectural, engineering, and estimating. The offeror is responsible for ensuring that the customer references cited in Section F of the SF 330 are received and completed for each member.

2.        Specialized Experience: This criterion is based on the experience and technical competence in the type of work required in this project. This would include the firms experience in being a primary, along with performance as a primary throughout the life of a project. The firm shall include experience in Environmental Remediation, Hydrologic/Hydrogeomorphology, Environmental Impact Analysis, Environmental Measurements, Fisheries Sciences, Monitoring and Compliance, Permitting and Regulatory Compliance and Water Quality Monitoring.

3.        Capacity: This criterion is based on the overall staffing and current workload of the firm. This directly effects the firm¿s ability to accomplish the work in the required time, and ability to take on additional projects.

4.        Past Performance/Reputation: Standing of the firm and its principal officials with respect to professional performance, general management, and cooperativeness on contracts with the Government agencies and private industry in terms of cost control, quality of work, and compliance with performance schedules. This factor shall be evaluated based on the firms past performance on similar contracts, within the past 5 years involving water reduction measures at fish hatcheries or aquatic research centers and performing hydrologic/hydrogeologic investigations. Additionally past performance involving assessment or design of similar facilities: aquatic species research facilities, aquatic rearing and aquatic organism holding facilities, fish hatcheries or water science research centers. Alternative projects where the core focus was on reduction of water consumption, hydrologic/hydrogeologic investigations for determination of alternate or alteration of existing facility water sources for aquatic research or aquaculture-related facilities would also be acceptable.

Note: Government will obtain past performance records through the Contract Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS).
The following ratings will be based on the offeror's performance record(s):
Neutral: The firm does not have any past performance history.
Acceptable: The Government has a reasonable expectation that the offeror will successfully perform the required effort, or the offeror's performance record is unknown.
Unacceptable: The Government does not have a reasonable expectation that the offeror will be able to successfully perform the required effort.

Note: Relevancy Rating will be included in the comments only in Past Performance: Very Relevant, Relevant, Somewhat Relevant, Not Relevant.
Very Relevant: Past Performance effort involved is essentially the same scope and magnitude of effort and complexities of this design requirement.
Relevant: Past Performance effort involved similar to the same scope and magnitude of effort and complexities of this design requirement.
Somewhat Relevant: Past Performance effort involved some of the same scope and magnitude of effort and complexities of this design requirement.
Not Relevant: Past Performance effort involved little to none of the same scope and magnitude of effort and complexities of this design requirement.

PRICING: A current wage determination will be incorporated in the contract. All wages and benefits of service employees performing under the contract must be at least equal to the applicable wage rate.

Auditing Requirements: In accordance with FAR Clause 52.215-2, the Contracting Officer or an authorized representative of the Contracting Officer shall have the right to examine and audit all records, including authorizing any auditor acting on behalf of Federal, State, City and County governments. The contractor agrees to submit to audits and investigations by any authorized State auditor in connection with any and all state funds received pursuant to any award issued. The contractor is not required to keep records or submit to audits of any records that are not required to be retained or audited under this federal contract.

Your company must have a Unique Entity ID (UEI) number and be registered in SAM.GOV. Only firms with an active registration in SAM will be acceptable.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: Firms having the capability to perform this work and desiring to be considered shall submit an SF330 completed in its entirety. All subcontracting or teaming arrangements must be included in the SF330. Include the business size and estimated percentage of involvement of each firm (prime, subcontractors, teaming partners). Address all items in the selection criteria paragraph below. Submittals from consortium/teaming arrangements are permitted, but only one submittal by any one member of that consortium/teaming arrangements as prime will be considered. Interested firms shall respond with the following documents and information above, by email to the individual identified in this notice:

1.        SF 330 Parts I and II (all participants must complete) and
2.        General Capabilities Statement (no more than 10 pages).
3.        Confirmation of SAM.gov registration is current.
This notice does not constitute a Request for Quote (RFQ)/Invitation for Bid (IFB)/Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFQ, IFB or RFP in the future. This notice does not commit the U.S. Government to contract for any construction or design service. Further, the U.S. Government is not seeking quotes, bids or proposals at this time and will not accept unsolicited proposals in response to this notice. The U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this notice.

Mailed or physical/hard copies will not be accepted. All questions must be submitted by April 12, 2024.

All responses must be submitted NLT April 19, 2024 at 05:00 PM EST via e-mail to: Beth Wilson at bwilson@usgs.gov. Please specifically address the selection criteria above using Section H of the SF330. Section H is limited to 50 pages.

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