Information Technology Services Chief Information Office Computing Infrastructure Support D10PS40031 Statement of Objectives July 9 September 13, 2010 Amendment 1
Information Technology Services
Chief Information Office
Computing Infrastructure Support
D10PS40031
Statement of Objectives
July 9September 13, 2010
Amendment 1
IT Services Acquisition – Computing Infrastructure Support
Amendment 1 (14 September 2010) Page 2
Contents
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 5
2. Background Information.......................................................................................................... 5
2.1 Statement of Objectives Overview ..................................................................................... 6
2.2 Forest Service Principles..................................................................................................... 6
2.3 General Forest Service Environment .................................................................................. 7
2.4 Information Technology Environment ............................................................................... 7
2.5 Enterprise IT Architecture ................................................................................................ 10
2.6 Network............................................................................................................................. 11
2.7 Network Operations Center (NOC) .................................................................................. 11
2.8 Security Operations ........................................................................................................... 11
2.9 Enterprise Operations Center (EOC) ................................................................................ 12
2.10 Data and Planning Accuracy .............................................................................................. 12
2.11 508 Compliance ................................................................................................................. 12
3. Contract Scope ....................................................................................................................... 12
3.1 Personal Services .............................................................................................................. 13
4. Technical Scope Areas .......................................................................................................... 14
4.1 Computing Infrastructure Support .................................................................................... 14
4.1.1 Server Administration .................................................................................................... 15
4.1.2 Desktop Administration ................................................................................................. 15
4.1.3 Database Administration ................................................................................................ 15
4.1.4 Asset Management ......................................................................................................... 16
4.1.5 User Support ................................................................................................................... 16
4.1.6 User Training .................................................................................................................. 16
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4.1.7 Electronic Messaging and Groupware ........................................................................... 16
4.1.8 Queue Management ........................................................................................................ 17
4.1.9 Deployment of Hardware and Software ......................................................................... 17
5. Relationship Management Scope .......................................................................................... 17
5.1 Relationship Management Services Overview ................................................................. 17
5.2 Relationship Management Services Goals and Objectives ............................................... 18
5.3 Day-to-Day Management .................................................................................................. 18
5.4 Third Parties ...................................................................................................................... 19
5.5 Forest Service Third Parties .............................................................................................. 19
5.6 Contractor Third Parties and Subcontractors .................................................................... 19
5.7 Key Personnel ................................................................................................................... 19
5.8 Training ............................................................................................................................. 20
5.9 Personnel Performance ..................................................................................................... 20
5.9.1 Program Manager ........................................................................................................... 21
5.9.2 Task Order Manager ....................................................................................................... 21
5.9.3 Transition Managers ....................................................................................................... 22
5.9.4 Financial Manager .......................................................................................................... 22
5.9.5 CONTRACT Manager ................................................................................................... 22
6. Work Environment ................................................................................................................ 23
7. Forest Service-Contractor Communications and Meetings ................................................... 25
7.1 CONTRACT Administration Meeting .............................................................................. 26
8. Security .................................................................................................................................. 26
9. Disengagement ...................................................................................................................... 31
9.1 Contractor Disengagement Responsibilities ...................................................................... 32
10. Service Management .......................................................................................................... 3332
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11. Period of Performance ........................................................................................................... 33
12. Place of Performance ............................................................................................................. 33
13. Use and Disclosure of Proposal Information ......................................................................... 33
14. Authorities and Delegations (May 2010) ........................................................................... 3534
15. Ordering Procedures .............................................................................................................. 36
16. Invoice Submittal Procedures ................................................................................................ 36
17. Order Limitations (Oct 1995) ................................................................................................ 38
18. Contractor Teaming Arrangements .................................................................................... 3938
19. Task Order Transitions ...................................................................................................... 3938
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1. Introduction
The purpose of this Contract is to provide a broad range of Information Technology (IT)
infrastructure services for the United States Forest Service (hereafter referred to as ―Forest
Service‖ or ―FS‖).
The IT Services Program will result in the award of three (3) Awards. Each will be awarded
through a separate Request for Quote and competition. The resulting three (3) individual awards
will result in a portfolio of services provided by two (2) separate BPAs and one IDIQ Contract
that will support the entire Forest Service computing, telecommunications, radio, architecture,
engineering, design, testing, and monitoring infrastructure. This portfolio of Awards is being
competed and awarded under an overall IT Services Acquisition Program Umbrella. This
particular Award is restricted to the services supporting: Computing Infrastructure Support
and is being competed as a 100% 8(a) Set-Aside. Bidders for this Solicitation are not required to
hold a GSA schedule.
This Statement of Objectives describes the scope of services to be delivered under the
Computing Infrastructure Support Contract. It provides general information necessary to
understand the Contract concept, scope, and requirements and includes the definitions of success
for the Contract.
For the purposes of this document, the term ―Contractor‖ applies to all employees and sub-
contractor employees performing work under this Contract. Unless otherwise explicitly stated,
the order in which any listed, numbered, or bulleted items appear in this Request for Quote
should not be construed as implying any precedence, priority, or ranking, unless so stated.
2. Background Information
The United States Forest Service (FS) encompasses roughly 42,000 employees distributed across
44 States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. These lands comprise 8.5 percent of the total land
area in the United States. The natural resources on these lands are some of the Nation‘s greatest
assets and have major economic, environmental, and social significance to all Americans. The
Forest Service carries out its mission of "Caring for the Land and Serving People," through five
main activities:
1. Protection and management of natural resources on National Forest System lands;
2. Research on all aspects of forestry, range management, and forest resource utilization;
3. Community assistance and cooperation with State and local governments, forest
industries, and private landowners to help protect and manage non-Federal forest and
associated range and watershed lands to improve conditions in rural areas;
4. Achieving and supporting an effective workforce that reflects the full range of diversity
of the American people; and
5. International assistance in formulating policy and coordinating United States support for
the protection and sound management of the world‘s forest resources.
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2.1 Statement of Objectives Overview
This SOO describes the major goals and overarching performance objectives of the Forest
Service information technology infrastructure support program. In addition to supporting the
Forest Service information processing, IT security, radio and related information technology
requirements, the services procured must also assist the Forest Service to further its broader goal
of improving its overall mission performance.
The activities of the Contractor will be directed by, and coordinated with, those of the Forest
Service Chief Technology Officer (CTO), who is responsible for the architecting, design,
engineering, procurement, installation, maintenance, and operation of the Forest Service‘s
technology infrastructure. In many cases the Contractor‘s responsibility will be to provide
skilled employees who will work alongside Forest Service employees performing the same jobs.
In such cases Contractor employees will be required to perform to the same standards as the
Forest Service employees. In other cases the Contractor will be given responsibility for a
specific area of work and, in those cases, the Contractor will be required to perform to defined
service levels. This support, in either form, will be acquired through the issuance of Firm-Fixed-
Price Level-of-Effort Term and Fixed Price Task Orders.
It is well understood that meeting the information technology requirements of a highly dynamic,
widely dispersed organization represents an enormous task. The Forest Service faces many
challenges, not the least of which is to maintain its IT and telecommunication infrastructure
support and services while incorporating innovation into Forest Service business processes. As
such, the Forest Service requires a world-class Contractor to provide a comprehensive,
enterprise-wide information technology infrastructure support solution to assist in meeting its
responsibilities under Federal legislation and executive orders.
2.2 Forest Service Principles
The following principles guide the Forest Service‘s implementation of information technology:
1. The evolution of information technology will impact the skills needed to support that
technology; both Forest Service and contractor skills must evolve in coordination with
those technology changes;
2. The management and use of information technology resources will adequately address
accountability as it relates to security, privacy and operations;
3. End users will be informed, supported, and trained as information technology and
processes evolve; and
4. As information technology initiatives evolve they will be used to provide more reliable,
cost effective, and consistent information technology services wherever feasible.
A major responsibility of the Forest Service is the control and management of wildland fire. The
National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) is a combined multi-agency Federal response
organization that is heavily supported by the Forest Service with both funds and personnel. The
Forest Service and NIFC plan, prepare, and support both fire and other incidents with highly
trained communications and IT personnel, and specialized communications and computer
equipment.
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The Forest Service is supported by technology in meeting its twin purposes of land stewardship
and forestry research by the Forest Service Chief Information Office (CIO). At present, the
Forest Service CIO is in the process of transforming itself into a leaner, more customer-centric
service organization.
In order to meet the Forest Service CIO mission of providing IT services in an efficient and cost-
effective manner, the FS is requesting quotes from qualified offerors who can offer a broad range
of services and are able to supply Contract personnel who have the skills and management
structure necessary to assist the FS CIO in delivering a coherent collection of services to FS
users nationwide.
Additional information about the Forest Service is available at www.fs.fed.us.
2.3 General Forest Service Environment
The Forest Service is comprised of more than 900 Forest Service office locations and
approximately 3,000 remote field/wildland non-office sites, including unstaffed locations such as
mountain tops and radio repeater sites. These locations range from densely populated urban areas
to sparsely-populated rural and wilderness sites. End User populations at the office sites span a
range from:
1. Large (hundreds of individuals at headquarters, regional or station offices) to
2. Very small (fewer than 10 individuals in small district offices, research labs, or remote
work centers) and include:
3. Individuals working under ‗work at home‘ agreements and teams working in field
locations or ‗on travel‘ away from offices.
2.4 Information Technology Environment
The following sections broadly describe the range of technologies currently being used in the
Forest Service IT environment. Additional details pertaining to the technological environment
for the scope of work identified in this SOO are included in the Attachments. The Attachments
described in Table 1 contain detailed information about the Forest Service technical
environment.
NOTE: The attachments have been developed for multiple Requests for Quote (as described in
Section 1), and not all attachments are relevant to each Request for Quote. The below list
includes all attachments, identifying those not relevant to this Request for Quote with the
description ―No‖.
Table 1: Section Attachments
Attachment Description Applicable to this Contract?
1 Forest Service Regions and Research Stations Yes
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Attachment Description Applicable to this Contract?
2 Forest Service Desktop Locations Yes
3 Forest Service Server Locations Yes
4 Forest Service Server Types Yes
5 Forest Service Server Base Image Yes
6 Forest Service Development, Training, and Application Server Locations
Yes
7 Forest Service Software Licenses Yes
8 Acronyms and Definitions Yes
9 Forest Service Current Oracle Databases Yes
10 Forest Service Desktop and Laptop Types and Quantity
Yes
11 Forest Service Software Images Yes
12 Forest Service Network Printer and Multi-function Device Model and Quantity
Yes
13 Forest Service Blackberry and PDA Devices Yes
14 Forest Service Training Facilities Yes
15 Forest Service Telephone Equipment and Locations No
16 Forest Service VoIP Sites No
17 Forest Service RCoIP Sites No
18 Forest Service Radio Inventory No
19 Computing Infrastructure Support - Past Performance Questionnaire
Yes
20 Network and Radio Infrastructure Support - Past Performance Questionnaire
No
21 Integration, Architecture, Engineering and Monitoring Support - Past Performance Questionnaire
No
22 Sample Program Manager Quality Assessment Survey
Yes
23 List of Incumbent Contractors Yes
24 Computing Infrastructure Support - Program Management Task Order
Yes
25 Computing Infrastructure Support - End User Devices Support Task Order
Yes
26 Computing Infrastructure Support - Database Administration Support Task Order
Yes
27 Computing Infrastructure Support - System Yes
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Attachment Description Applicable to this Contract?
Administration and Application Hosting Support Task Order
28 Computing Infrastructure Support – Problem Scenarios
Yes
29 Network and Radio Infrastructure Support - Program Management BPA Call
No
30 Network and Radio Infrastructure Support - Telephone Maintenance BPA Call
No
31 Network and Radio Infrastructure Support - Network Support Services BPA Call
No
32 Network and Radio Infrastructure Support - Radio Support Services BPA Call
No
33 Network and Radio Infrastructure Support – Problem Scenarios
No
34 Integration, Architecture, Engineering and Monitoring Support - Program Management BPA Call
No
35 Integration, Architecture, Engineering and Monitoring Support - EOC and Quality Assurance Support BPA Call
No
36 Integration, Architecture, Engineering and Monitoring Support - Integration Support Services BPA Call
No
37 Integration, Architecture, Engineering and Monitoring Support – Problem Scenarios
No
38 Computing Infrastructure Support - Job Descriptions Yes
39 Network and Radio Infrastructure Support - Job Descriptions
No
40 Integration, Architecture, Engineering and Monitoring Support - Job Descriptions
No
41 Computing Infrastructure Support – Performance Management Plan
Yes
42 Network and Radio Infrastructure Support - Performance Management Plan
No
43 Integration, Architecture, Engineering and Monitoring Support - Performance Management Plan
No
44 Computing Infrastructure Support – Pricing Workbook Yes
45 Network and Radio Infrastructure Support - Pricing Workbook
No
46 Integration, Architecture, Engineering and Monitoring Support - Pricing Workbook
No
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Attachment Description Applicable to this Contract?
47 Computing Infrastructure Support – Corporate Experience Reference Sheet
Yes
48 Network and Radio Infrastructure Support - Corporate Experience Reference Sheet
No
49 Integration, Architecture, Engineering and Monitoring Support - Corporate Experience Reference Sheet
No
50 Compliance Matrix Yes
51 Forest Service Video Architecture No
52 Bidder Question Format Yes
The technology described in these Attachments is not static nor is it considered to be an all-
inclusive list. The mix of technologies will evolve over time as the industry changes.
2.5 Enterprise IT Architecture
The IT component of the Forest Service Enterprise Architecture consists of approximately
33,000 desktop PCs and 8,000 laptops refreshed on a four-to-six-year refresh cycle. These PCs
and laptops are supported by over 1,000 Unix® based (AIX®) servers, over 200 Linux-based X
86 servers, and associated data and voice networks. Desktop and laptop computers connect to
the Forest Service Distributed Computing Environment/Distributed File System (DCE/DFS)
environment through a server operating system component named Fast Connect for AIX, which
enables Microsoft® Windows® clients to access AIX file systems and printers using the Server
Message Block (SMB) networking protocol. The Forest Service is migrating from the Unix®-
based (AIX®) Mid-Range servers, located in over 150 locations, to architecture based on Linux-
based X-86 servers located in two data centers.
The Forest Service also has deployed significant numbers of handheld computers including, but
not limited to, Windows CE® (Pocket PC), Palm®-based systems, and Blackberry OS in both
office and field/outdoor ruggedized configurations. The Forest Service also uses both wireless
(e.g., radio, satellite) and wired facilities to support remote sensing and telemetry applications.
The Forest Service has implemented several components of the Tivoli® Enterprise Management
system for providing Enterprise-wide operational monitoring capability (server and desktop
monitoring, control, and troubleshooting facilities). Components include Tivoli Service Desk,
Tivoli Framework, Tivoli Management Region, Tivoli Trusted Information Systems, Tivoli
Remote Control, and Tivoli Endpoints. Additionally, the Forest Service has deployed Computer
Associates‘ UAPM for Asset Management.
Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software packages are installed as part of the standard image
and include ERDAS® Remote Sensing Software, ESRI® Geographic Information Systems
software, Lotus Notes®/Domino® mail and collaboration software, Microsoft Office® software,
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Oracle® software, Web browsers, and may include other software depending on Forest Service
requirements.
The Forest Service has over 7,000 networked output devices (printers, plotters, and digitizers)
located across the Forest Service. Over 6,000 of these devices are laser printers connected to the
network. The Forest Service deploys its networked output devices only after performing
extensive testing in its integration lab.
2.6 Network
Network assets are distributed across the entire Forest Service. The Wide Area Network (WAN)
consists of a USDA Departmental ATT owned MPLS Network that provides any-to-any
connectivity between 170 FS facilities and Internet Access through two USDA provided Internet
Gateways. In addition, the FS network consists of point-to-point connectivity, provided by Local
Exchange Carriers (LECs) in a hub-and-spoke implementation for more than 800 facilities.
Current circuit counts are in excess of 1,500 circuits consisting of satellite links, T1 circuits, non-
dedicated Internet services (DSL, Broadband, and Satellite), T3, OC3 and OC12 circuits.
Approximately 60,000 IP hosts reside in the FS Enterprise Network.
Remote access is provided to end users by dial-up modem connectivity located in approximately
23 locations throughout the Continental US and Alaska. Remote access is also provided via
Virtual Private Network (VPN).
2.7 Network Operations Center (NOC)
The Forest Service Network Operations function is comprised of two Network Operations
Centers for redundancy – one in Albuquerque, NM and one in Portland, OR. Each NOC has
monitors that display continuous Big Brother and Concord eHealth status. The Forest Service
uses MRTG (Multi Router Traffic Grapher) to check specific connections when troubleshooting
problems. The NOC also utilizes Cable News Network (CNN) to watch for adverse weather
conditions or events. Additional tools in use today include Spectrum and Cisco Works 2000.
Future tools may vary as requirements dictate.
2.8 Security Operations
The Forest Service Security Group is responsible for two distinctly different, yet complimentary,
functions: security operations and computer incident response. The Forest Service Computer
Incident Response Team (CIRT) responds to security incidents that originate from several
sources including the USDA's OCIO, US Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT),
complaints from the public, and from the Security Group's analysis of information collected
through the security operations component of the group. The CIRT is responsible for following
computer incidents from their inception through successful incident resolution. This includes
complying with Federal, USDA, and Forest Service guidelines for incident reporting,
coordinating different lines of service (LOS) groups within the Forest Service and forensic
analysis of both network packet captures and full computer systems. The CIRT must be available
24x7x365 to respond to any security incident as it arises.
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The security operations area is the primary monitor of the Forest Service's network security state.
Currently this is accomplished using a variety of tools including Cisco IDS, NetForensics, ISS
Internet Scanner and Cisco Security agent, although these tools are constantly being reviewed
against current industry offerings to provide the best security cost/benefit for the Forest Service.
These tools are currently monitored from geographically disparate locations in a 10x5 mode of
operation. The Security Group is in the process of migrating this functionality to a 24x7 capacity
for more comprehensive coverage of the Forest Service's security posture
The Security Group is also responsible for the interface between the Forest Service and the
Forest Service's Internet Service Provider (ISP) for security. This includes development of
firewall rules for the Forest Service's ISP using Cisco PIX and CIRT integration for responding
to security incidents.
2.9 Enterprise Operations Center (EOC)
The Forest Service Enterprise Operations Center:
1. Monitors the IT infrastructure including network, services, critical services, business
applications, radio and telephone components;
2. Tracks performance against service levels;
3. Provides 24X7 support through the combined resources of the EOC and Duty Officer
Process; and
4. Provides services including Incident Management, Problem Management, Change
Management, Availability Management, and Release Management.
2.10 Data and Planning Accuracy
Throughout this SOO, the associated Request for Quote, and all Attachments the Forest Service
has described its future plans in the most accurate fashion possible based on current planning.
However, given the nature of the Forest Service IT environment current plans may change. The
Forest Service will work diligently to be transparent and timely in its communication of planning
changes.
2.11 508 Compliance
To comply with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (also known as Section
508), the Forest Service procures a variety of software and hardware devices (―adaptive aids‖).
The hardware devices include Braille printers, speech synthesizers, video magnifiers, and other
equipment. Where specified in a Task Order the Contractor shall be required to support 508-
compliant devices.
3. Contract Scope
This Contract will provide the labor-based and project-based support services required by the
Forest Service CIO to deliver the technology and related services used by the Forest Service to
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support mission activities nationwide. The scope of this Contract is defined in Sections 4 and 5
and includes the related skills needed to provide technical, logistical, and clerical support of
performance against these requirements.
The Government believes the scope described by this Contract to be reasonably complete;
however, it is not possible to determine the precise type or amount of services that will be
ordered during the Contract term. Therefore, the Government reserves the right to add, modify,
or delete labor categories as the need arises.
This SOO describes the scope of this Contract in two (2) major areas: (1) technical scope which
describes the extent of the needed technical support (Section 4), and (2) relationship management
scope which describes the extent of the needed Contract management support (Section 5).
It is the Government‘s intent to award a single Contract for IT services Computing Infrastructure
Support with specific needs being described in individually issued Task Orders. Some of the
work in the Task Order can be classified as labor-hour where the contractor will be tasked to
provide skilled employees capable of working side-by-side with Forest Service employees who
are also responsible for performing the same or similar tasks. In these cases, the contractor‘s
responsibility will be to provide the quantity and quality of employees called for in a Task Order
but the Contractor will not have sole responsibility for a specific project. Additionally, the term
labor-hour specifically excludes any personal services.
Additionally, the Contractor shall provide support for various Special Projects as they arise
throughout the year. Special Projects are requirements that are within the scope of this Contract
but not part of day-to-day operations, vary in length and resources, and have a defined endpoint.
In some cases the contractor will have end-to-end responsibility for accomplishing special
projects, including sole responsibility for all phases of project definition, management, and
execution, including any ancillary or support services needed to complete the project. Task
Orders for projects will specifically identify whether the Contractor is expected to augment
Forest Service project efforts or whether the Contractor is expected to take sole responsibility for
the project.
In addition to the specific scope identified in this Contract and associated Task Orders, the
Contractor personnel will also be expected to:
1. Support audit activities by providing performance and other data;
2. Respond to audit results;
3. Assist in activity review of IT functions;
4. Respond to data calls for information;
5. Prepare and submit reports;
6. Create/revise documentation;
7. Assist the Government in its law enforcement investigations; and
8. Assist the Government in its administrative investigations.
3.1 Personal Services
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No personal services shall be performed under this Contract. No Contractor employee will be
directly supervised by the Government. All individual Contractor employee assignments and
daily work direction shall be given by the applicable Contractor supervisor or by an authorized
Government representative for this Contract. If the Contractor believes that any Government
action or communication has been given that would create a personal services relationship
between the Government and any Contractor employee, the Contractor shall promptly notify the
Contracting Officer of this communication or action.
The Contractor shall not perform any inherently governmental actions under this Contract. No
Contractor employee shall hold him or herself out to be a Government employee, agent or
representative. No Contractor employee shall state orally or in writing at any time that he or she
is acting on behalf of the Government. In all communications with third parties in connection
with this Contract, Contractor employees shall identify themselves as Contractor employees and
specify the name of the company for which they work. In all communications with other
Government contractors in connection with this Contract, the Contractor employee shall state
that they have no authority to in any way change the Contract and that if the other contractor
believes this communication to be a direction to change their Contract, they should notify the
Contracting Officer for that Contract and not carry out the direction until a clarification has been
issued by the Contracting Officer.
The Contractor shall insure that all of its employees working on this Contract are informed of the
substance of this requirement. Nothing in this requirement shall limit the Government's rights in
any way under any other provision of the Contract, including those related to the Government's
right to inspect and accept the services to be performed under this Contract. The substance of
this requirement shall be included in all subcontracts at any tier.
4. Technical Scope Areas
This section describes the scope of the Contractor‘s responsibilities for technical services
(―Technical Services‖) provided under this Contract. Technical Services are the services and
activities, as further detailed in the Task Orders that shall be issued under this Contract, detailing
what is required to support the Forest Service‘s Computing Infrastructure. The Government
expects contractors to propose a wide range of technical skills to be able to support the full range
of functions/subject areas described for this Contract. The complete list of all skills offered
should be represented in the Contractor Labor Categories in the Chapter 3 Labor Tables of is to
be placed in Volume 3, Section 1 of the Business Proposal.
4.1 Computing Infrastructure Support
This Contract encompasses Contractor support of the operation of the Forest Service computing
technology infrastructure including technologies such as, but not limited to, servers, desktop and
laptop computers, peripherals such as printers, plotters, scanners, and digitizers, PDAs such as
Blackberry and similar devices, and the management of database management systems. Skills
needed include those related to both hardware and software support.
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4.1.1 Server Administration
1. The scope of this Contract includes maintenance and support of Forest Service servers
including system administration tasks for servers, including but not limited to, related
storage, monitoring, and backup systems for any equipment and infrastructure associated
with servers for which the Forest Service bears any operational or maintenance
responsibility.
2. The scope of this Contract includes developing, reviewing, changing and disseminating
documentation, responding to trouble calls (during and outside business hours), including
troubleshooting and resolving server problems, installing and configuring new server
hardware and software, performing server systems updates and software upgrades,
performing special/on-demand snapshot back-ups, performing backups and restores,
performing server and data location optimization, configuration, monitoring, and tuning,
de-commissioning server hardware, creating, deleting and managing server file systems
and implement file access controls according to Agency policy, configuring and
maintaining print services, creating, modifying, deleting and resetting passwords and
authorities, maintaining access control system records, conducting audits on access
control system records, responding to IT security incidents, and aggregating, correlating,
and archiving all security event data.
4.1.2 Desktop Administration
1. The scope of this Contract includes, but is not limited to, maintenance and support of
Forest Service desktops including system administration tasks for personal computers
including technology such as desktops, laptops, PDAs, Blackberries, and peripherals
attached to these devices. This support includes, but is not limited to, re-imaging,
operating system updates, and/or updates that are too large to be packaged for network
delivery. The scope of this Contract includes any equipment and infrastructure
associated with desktops for which the Agency bears any operational or maintenance
responsibility.
2. The scope of this Contract includes, but is not limited to, provision of Level 2 support for
Enterprise software and software that has obtained Agency technical approval including
troubleshooting and corrective action, including obtaining level 3 support as needed, for
software errors, software failures, non-availability, and slow response times.
3. The scope of this Contract includes, but is not limited to, responding to trouble calls
(during and outside business hours), including troubleshooting and resolving server
problems, performing server systems updates and software upgrades, reimaging
computers, installing upgrading, and configuring desktop software, troubleshooting and
resolving software problems, new hardware installations, field replaceable unit (FRU)
repairs, non-warranty hardware repair, under warranty hardware repair, configuring print
devices, maintaining print devices, installing and configuring desktop software,
responding to IT security incidents, aggregating, correlating, and archiving all security
event data
4.1.3 Database Administration
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1. The scope of this Contract includes support and maintenance of the Forest Service
database management systems (DBMS) provided as part of the image for servers and
desktops including management and administration.
2. The scope of this Contract includes but is not limited to creating or relocating database
instances; administering user access; installing, configuring, and maintaining DBMS
software; loading of data into applications; monitoring, performance tuning, backup, and
recovery of databases; supporting the ESRI ArcSDE software, client side DBMS
software and database consolidations; troubleshooting database technology problems; and
responding to IT security incidents and aggregate, correlate, and archive all security event
data for any equipment and infrastructure associated with databases for which the Forest
Service bears any operational or maintenance responsibility.
4.1.4 Asset Management
The scope of this Contract includes execution, maintenance and support of Asset Management
activities including but not limited to maintaining asset and configuration of information,
performing enterprise software counting, preparing equipment for internal reutilization,
preparing equipment for excess property disposition, and performing other asset management
tasks for any equipment and infrastructure associated with systems for which the Forest Service
bears any operational or maintenance responsibility.
4.1.5 User Support
The scope of this Contract includes execution of User Support activities including but not limited
to providing direct assistance to users as requested through the Forest Service Customer Help
Desk, managing Level 2 and 3 help desk queues, coordinating with vendors to resolve Level 3
tickets, reviewing closed tickets for accuracy and completeness and performing other user
support tasks associated with users for which the Forest Service bears any support responsibility.
4.1.6 User Training
The scope of this Contract includes execution of User Training activities including but not
limited to providing technical support for Government sponsored training courses, preparing and
delivering training courses, maintaining training materials, maintaining training infrastructure
and facilities and performing other user training tasks associated with users for which the Forest
Service bears any support responsibility.
4.1.7 Electronic Messaging and Groupware
The scope of this Contract includes maintenance and support of Electronic Messaging and
Groupware (in all environments) and install, configure and testing of software updates,
monitoring hardware storage space, monitoring size of information store, managing mail
database quotas, creating, maintaining, and configuring collaborative features (including
Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Sharepoint, Lotus Sametime, Quickplace,
Domino Databases (discussion and document libraries), and customized Domino databases such
as Mailroom and correspondence), creating and maintaining mail-in database, validating cross
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certificates, maintaining Domino directory, maintaining Domino enterprise system databases,
creating, maintaining, suspending, and deleting Lotus Notes user accounts and user mail
databases, creating and maintaining Public Distribution Lists (PDL), backing up Domino data
directory and information store, backing up Lotus Notes mail and Domino databases, restoring
Domino data directory and information store, restoring individual mail and Domino databases,
and implementing modified configurations for any equipment and infrastructure associated with
electronic messaging and groupware for which the Forest Service bears any operational or
maintenance responsibility.
4.1.8 Queue Management
The scope of this Contract includes maintenance and support of queues including but not limited
to managing Forest Service Level 2 and 3 queues (workgroups) to ensure tickets are assigned,
worked on, documented, and properly resolved, identifying ticket management problems,
working with the Forest Service Customer Help Desk contractor to resolve ticket ownership
disputes, and coordinating with vendors to resolve Level 3 tickets for any user issues for which
the Forest Service bears any operational or maintenance responsibility.
4.1.9 Deployment of Hardware and Software
The scope of this Contract includes deployment of hardware and, software, and/or maintenance
agreements when so directed by the Government. The Contractor may be required to work with
third party vendors when a maintenance agreement put in place by the Government is in place.
Where deemed in the best interests of the Government the Contractor may be directed to
research available technologies, perform analysis of their benefits and costs, and/or compare with
other similar products. If so directed, the Contractor may also be required to prepare the
acquisition request package for submission through the Forest Service‘s Washington Office,
Acquisition Management, IT Support Branch for purchase or subscription as required.
5. Relationship Management Scope
This Section describes the scope of the Contractor‘s responsibilities for Relationship
Management Services provided under this Contract. Relationship Management Services are the
services and activities, as further detailed in the Task Orders, required to support the Forest
Service‘s overall relationship with the Contractor.
5.1 Relationship Management Services Overview
The Forest Service recognizes that Relationship Management Services are an essential
component for successful Contract management and ongoing Forest Service - Contractor
relationship satisfaction. The Forest Service requires a relationship with each Contractor, and
between all awarded Contractors under the IT Services Acquisition umbrella, which is based on
key ingredients which include but are not limited to:
1. Mutual trust and respect;
2. Excellent communication between both parties;
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3. Well-defined objectives and service levels;
4. Appropriate governance structures; and
5. Well-defined roles and responsibilities.
5.2 Relationship Management Services Goals and Objectives
The Contractor‘s relationship management team will work with the Forest Service team and
other Contractor teams to achieve a number of Forest Service relationship goals and objectives,
including:
1. Provide high-quality IT labor and project services to support Forest Service business
needs;
2. Provide high end user customer satisfaction in technical and operational delivery;
3. Provide continuous improvement to the functionality, development, and delivery of
Labor and Services—to the extent that Forest Service business objectives would be better
served;
4. Development of the business rationale and benefits of any proposed changes and
communication of these rationale and benefits to the Contractor teams and other Forest
Service stakeholders, as appropriate;
5. Working within the mutually-agreed upon structure of processes and procedures;
6. Assisting the Forest Service in its planning activities as required; and
7. Ensuring sufficient and continued communication.
5.3 Day-to-Day Management
The Forest Service relies on multiple contractors to support the CIO‘s mission. Accordingly, the
Contractor shall follow Forest Service procedural, reporting and communication processes.
Where such processes do not yet exist, the Contractor shall assist in the development and
documentation of those processes. Documentation will be modified and updated by the
Contractor on an ongoing basis to reflect changes to the business and operational relationship.
The Contractor and the Forest Service will agree upon additional points of contact and a
reporting structure covering day-to-day operations and reviews of each Contractor‘s
performance. These may include technical, financial, and service level requirements reviews as
well as the resolution of any other issues that may arise. These reporting schedules will be
documented and maintained by each Contractor in a Government-furnished online repository
accessible to the Forest Service‘s management team. A regular meeting schedule will be
required for the different reporting levels established, with ongoing 24hour access to all
Contractor points of contact when required. In addition, each contractor must provide processes
and procedures acceptable to the Forest Service that can be used to manage day-to-day
relationship processes and shall include:
1. Dispute resolution;
2. Contract change;
3. New business request; and
4. Performance reporting (e.g., Service Level Agreements (SLAs), project status,
outstanding service request status).
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5.4 Third Parties
Third Parties refer to partners of either the Contractor or the Forest Service who provide either
products or services that are related to the delivery of services associated with this Contract. For
the Contractor this includes the use of partners and/or subcontractors that may have Contracts to
fulfill a portion of the services on the Contractor‘s behalf. For the Forest Service this includes
the use of contractors that perform related IT services that require a degree of coordination with
Contractor efforts associated with this Contract.
5.5 Forest Service Third Parties
The Forest Service may utilize Third Parties to deliver IT services whose service delivery may
require a degree of integration with Contractor efforts for the purposes of delivery coordination
and reporting. Any significant system integration, software or hardware costs to integrate Forest
Service Third Parties will be the Forest Service‘s responsibility unless otherwise covered by the
scope and provisions of a Task Order. The Contractor will provide Third Party access and will
coordinate required actions to integrate such Forest Service Third Parties into the Contractor‘s
service delivery processes and systems.
5.6 Contractor Third Parties and Subcontractors
In no event shall the Contractor be relieved of its obligations under this Contract as a result of its
use of or failure to perform by any of its Third Parties or Subcontractors. The Contractor shall
supervise and coordinate the activities and performance of its Third Parties and each
Subcontractor, including the integration of processes, and the reporting of performance as
required to deliver the Services. The Contractor shall monitor the performance of all of its Third
Parties and Subcontractors to ensure the service levels of this Contract are met.
Contractor represents, warrants, and covenants to the Forest Service that such
Contracts/contracts with Partners and/or Subcontractors shall not prohibit or restrict (in any way)
such Subcontractors from entering into direct contracts with the Forest Service.
5.7 AGAR 452.237-74 Key Personnel (FEB 1988)
a. The Contractor shall assign to this Contract the following key personnel:
1) Program Manager
2) Task Order Manager(s)
3) Transition Manager
4) Financial Manager
5) Contract Manager
b. During the first ninety (90) days of performance, the Contractor shall make no
substitutions of key personnel unless the substitution is necessitated by illness, death, or
termination of employment. The Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer within
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fifteen (15) calendar days after the occurrence of any of these events and provide the
information required by paragraph (c) below. After the initial 90-day period, the
Contractor shall submit the information required by paragraph (c) to the Contracting
Officer at least fifteen (15) days prior to making any permanent substitutions.
c. The Contractor shall provide a detailed explanation of the circumstances necessitating the
proposed substitutions, complete resumes for the proposed substitutes, and any additional
information requested by the Contracting Officer. Proposed substitutes should have
comparable qualifications to those of the persons being replaced. The Contracting Officer
will notify the Contractor within fifteen (15) calendar days after receipt of all required
information of the decision on substitutions. The Contract will be modified to reflect any
approved changes of key personnel.
(End of Clause)
5.8 Training
The Contractor shall provide at the Contractor‘s expense, all training to the employees of the
Contractor and its third parties, partners and/or subcontractors that is necessary to perform the
employees‘ respective duties under this Contract. This includes, but is not limited to:
1. Training, to meet the requirements identified in this description of requirements and
respective Task Orders;
2. Training for both the initially assigned personnel and future replacement of such
Personnel;
3. Training conducted on a regular periodic basis to refresh or update Contractor personnel,
Third Parties, and Partners or Subcontractors when materially important changes occur to
these requirements;
4. Training personnel to perform work with respect to specific health, regulatory (including,
without limitation, HIPAA, FDA and other regulations identified by the Forest Service),
security or safety-related expertise;
5. Training personnel in technical and administrative procedures regarding Forest Service-
specific policies, standard operating procedures (SOP), IT environment changes,
Standards and Procedures changes; and
6. Training personnel to conduct themselves (while at Sites) in a businesslike manner; and
comply with the requests and standard rules of the Forest Service regarding safety and
health and personal, professional and ethical conduct (including, without limitation, those
contained in Forest Service employee manuals and other written policies and procedures.
5.9 Personnel Performance
Upon Forest Service notification of unsatisfactory performance or unsatisfactory conduct of any
Personnel, the Contractor shall conduct a review of specific personnel issues and identify and
report the Contractor or third party corrective action to be taken by the Contractor to the Forest
Service. The Contractor shall provide the Forest Service with progress reports at agreed upon
intervals until all corrective actions have been taken and deemed acceptable in writing by the
Government. Should corrective actions be unsuccessful, the Contractor shall replace the
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personnel at Contractor expense. Additionally, the Forest Service reserves the right to have the
Contractor remove any employee from this Contract and have them replaced with another
employee acceptable to the Forest Service.
Each Party shall designate an individual (for the Forest Service, the "Forest Service Program
Manager", and for the Contractor, the "Contractor Program Manager"), who shall be each Party's
primary point of contact relating to coordination, relationship, personnel performance, and other
Contract matters.
5.9.1 Program Manager
The Contractor‘s Program Manager shall:
1. Be the primary Relationship Manager between the Contractor and the Forest Service
2. Be experienced in and knowledgeable of the services and functions of the Contractor‘s
company, and each of its Third Parties, Partners and/or Subcontractors to ensure that
coordination and communication at all levels lead to the fulfillment of FS requirements;
and
3. Experienced at managing services equal in size and scope to those of the Forest Service
The Contractor‘s Program Manager shall have overall responsibility for directing all of the
Contractor's activities, to include those of third parties, partners, and subcontractors; and shall be
vested by the Contractor with all necessary authority to act for, and on behalf of, the Contractor
in connection with all aspects of this Contract.
5.9.2 Task Order Manager
Each Party shall designate individuals (for the Forest Service, the "Forest Service Task Order
Manager", and for the Contractor, the "Contractor Task Order Manager") for each Task Order,
who shall be each Party's primary point of contact for all matters relating to that Task Order.
The primary role of the Contractor‘s Task Order Manager and the Forest Service‘s Task Order
Manager is management of the day-to-day operational relationships between the Contractor‘s
information technology, labor, and project service delivery, and the Forest Service‘s business.
This involves managing and coordinating the appropriate resources for Task Order services to
ensure optimal service delivery and to ensure that all issues raised are resolved in accordance
with the applicable procedures and Service Level Agreements.
The Contractor‘s Task Order Manager has overall responsibility for ensuring the Contractor‘s
performance, and the performance of all third parties, partners, and subcontractor‘s meets the
Forest Service‘s business needs. This function includes, but is not limited to:
1. Ensuring that Service Level Agreements are measured and Contractor performance is
assessed in cooperation with the Forest Service Quality Assurance Evaluation (QAE)
group;
2. Reviewing and monitoring performance and facilitating the development of improvement
plans;
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3. Performing data collection and analysis to determine methods for improvement of
performance levels and recommending changes in Service Level Agreements where
appropriate to ensure that they properly reflect business needs, while balancing costs;
4. Acquiring and maintaining knowledge regarding the services of each Contractor (and its
associated Third Parties, Partners, and Subcontractors) providing IT Services to the
Forest Service; and
5. Demonstrating service delivery excellence based on previous experience in operations
and maintenance of information technology systems and networks of a size and scope
approximately equal to that of the Forest Service
5.9.3 Transition Managers
Each transition from one service state to another (e.g., initial transition, introduction of a new
service or transfer of a service) may require the establishment of a transition team(s) with
membership from both the Contractor and the Forest Service. If a transition team is needed the
Contractor shall provide a Transition Manager for the duration of the applicable transition to
manage such teams.
5.9.4 Financial Manager
The Contractor‘s Financial Manager shall monitor and manage financial administration practices
and procedures associated with the Contract ensuring that financial controls are in place and
aligned with the Contract. Financial Management activities include:
1. Acting as primary contact for all billing and financial issues;
2. Reviewing invoices, charges, budget performance, identifying disparities and variances to
plans and recommending corrective action; and
3. Reviewing fee reductions and identifying problem areas and recommending corrective
action.
5.9.5 CONTRACT Manager
The Contractor‘s Contract Manager shall support and facilitate the contractual relationship
between the Forest Service, the Contractor, and all Third Parties. This function includes:
1. Leading, supporting, and facilitating Contract activities from Contract signing through
Contractor transition and ongoing operations;
a. Monitoring compliance with Contract terms and conditions and providing
recommendations to resolve issues related to non-compliance; and
2. Identifying and managing Contractor fee reductions, based on performance information
and Contract terms.
The Contractor‘s Contract Manager will work closely with the Forest Service to:
1. Create, negotiate and incorporate amendments into the Contract;
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2. Coordinate the Contract negotiations/renegotiations to accommodate scope changes or
changes to business requirements utilizing the Request for Change (RFC) process that
will be established upon award.
6. Work Environment
The scope of work described in this Contract will generally be performed at specific Forest
Service locations as identified in each Task Order, or alternatively when allowed by a Task
Order, at the Contractor‘s location. Where a specific Forest Service location is not specified in a
Task Order, and the Forest Service Task Order indicates employees must be at a Forest Service
location, the Forest Service will work with the Contractor to identify a mutually agreeable Forest
Service location where the employee will work.
To properly support the Forest Service field offices, and to support emergency situations and
Continuity of Operations Program (COOP) and disaster recovery operations, the Forest Service
may direct work to temporarily be done at an alternate location, including locations in rural or
remote areas. At times, only very short notice will be provided to the Contractor of the need to
have employees work at an alternative location.
Unless otherwise stated, work hours will coincide with the local office hours where Contractor
employees are located. Overtime will generally not be allowed, and when the Government must
schedule work outside of the normal business hours so as to not affect users at that site, the
Contractor will be expected to adjust their employee‘s work schedule to accommodate work
done in the evenings or on weekends.
Payment for Overtime Premiums (July 1990)
(a) The use of overtime is authorized under this Contract if the overtime premium does not
exceed $0.00 or the overtime premium is paid for work—
(1) Necessary to cope with emergencies such as those resulting from accidents, natural
disasters, breakdowns of production equipment, or occasional production bottlenecks of a
sporadic nature;
(2) By indirect-labor employees such as those performing duties in connection with
administration, protection, transportation, maintenance, standby plant protection, operation of
utilities, or accounting;
(3) To perform tests, industrial processes, laboratory procedures, loading or unloading of
transportation conveyances, and operations in flight or afloat that are continuous in nature and
cannot reasonably be interrupted or completed otherwise; or
(4) That will result in lower overall costs to the Government.
(b) Any request for estimated overtime premiums that exceeds the amount specified above
shall include all estimated overtime for Contract completion and shall—
(1) Identify the work unit; e.g., department or section in which the requested overtime will
be used, together with present workload, staffing, and other data of the affected unit sufficient to
permit the Contracting Officer to evaluate the necessity for the overtime;
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(2) Demonstrate the effect that denial of the request will have on the Contract delivery or
performance schedule;
(3) Identify the extent to which approval of overtime would affect the performance or
payments in connection with other Government contracts, together with identification of each
affected contract; and
(4) Provide reasons why the required work cannot be performed by using multishift
operations or by employing additional personnel.
6.1. OPERATING HOURS
The normal workweek will consist of Monday through Friday, five (5) days a week, 8 hours per
day, equating to 40 hours per week. Regular core work hours are to be scheduled between the
hours of 0600 through 1800, local time as approved by the Government. Changes to core work
hours may be permitted upon prior written approval of the Contracting Officer‘s Representative
(COR).
Work shifts required outside of the regular core work hours shall be requested in writing to the
COR for written approval by the COR prior to working the hours or implementing a change of
shift hours.
The Contractor shall receive the same holidays observed by the Government which are: New
Year‘s Day, Martin Luther King‘s Birthday, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day,
Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veteran‘s Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
The Contractor must coordinate with the Forest Service to identify work areas that will allow for
the Contractor Employees to work from a location other than the Government Site when the
Government Facility is closed and/or Government Employees are on paid Administrative Leave.
If Contractor Employees cannot work when the Government Facility is closed or Government
Employees are not working, then the Contractor must determine whether to pay Contractor
Employees themselves, however, the Government cannot compensate the Contractor for
Administrative Leave time.
Normal hours of operation represent the minimum standard for system and customer support.
Actual hours of operation may increase considerably for non-emergency, IT-related functions
that are performed in response to, or are necessitated by, system failures, malfunctions,
unforeseen delays or problems; the need to minimize disruption to end-users caused by routine
system administration or maintenance operations; or increased customer workload causing
unacceptable production backlogs. Emergency conditions may require the Contractor to be
available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day to provide direct assistance to emergency (incident)
requests, responding with Contractor Employee support within one hour of notification.
Notification processes shall be specified and agreed upon in the Standard Operating Procedures,
which will be provided after award. These emergency conditions include, but are not limited to,
local and national Preparedness Levels 4 and 5, and threats to health, safety, life and property.
During Incident Support, the Contractor may suddenly and unexpectedly have to provide support
outside of normal business hours.
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6.2. SAFETY
The Contractor shall become aware of and observe appropriate safety precautions, OSHA
regulations, and Forest Service safety directives concerning general hazards in working within
the areas involved in performance of this solicitation. Contractors shall have an Employee
Safety Plan that addresses these risk areas and general guidelines, and shall ensure that all
Contractor Employees are aware of and familiar with the Employee Safety Plan associated with
this Contract and any associated Task Orders.
In the event that there are specific safety requirements applicable to a specific Task Order that
are not included in or covered sufficiently by the Contractor‘s existing Employee Safety Plan,
the Contractor shall develop a Supplemental Employee Safety Plan that will be incorporated into
the terms and conditions of the resulting Task Order. The Supplemental Employee Safety Plan
shall be provided with the Contractor‘s Proposal prior to award of the Task Order.
All Contractor employees will complete all on-line Safety training that is required by the Forest
Service Safety Program.
Contractor employees located at Forest Service locations shall attend all local safety briefings
and meetings.
6.3. OFFICE RELOCATIONS.
When emergencies or other situations necessitate, the Forest Service may require the temporary
or permanent movement of on-site Contractor operations from affected locations. Such
relocations would be reviewed and any associated expenses would be negotiated between the
Contractor and the Government.
7. Forest Service-Contractor Communications and Meetings
The Forest Service may require the Contractor to participate in face-to-face meetings. Travel
(other than local travel) to face-to-face meetings will be at Government expense, with the
exception of the Contract Administration Meeting (refer to paragraph 7.1.) All meeting
attendees must be approved by the COR prior to commencing travel. At the Government‘s
discretion, meetings may be held by video or audio conference instead of face-to-face. All
formal meetings, whether face-to-face or video or audio conferences, shall:
1. Have a defined agenda at least three (3) days in advance and have an identified chairman
and Contractor note taker. The agenda should have clear directions of location and/or
medium to be used; date and timings of meeting; topic items to be covered and expected
outcome for each topic; owners of each topic; and any pre-work to be undertaken by
topic owners or attendees;
2. Be documented with minutes by the note taker, such minutes to include high-level
summaries of key discussion points and future actions with timings and persons
responsible for the actions. Minutes should be distributed to attendees and missing
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attendees and any persons with actions to be taken. Contractor notes must be reviewed
and approved by the Government for completeness, accuracy and acceptance; and
3. Identify the person who shall be responsible for organizing the next meeting.
7.1 CONTRACT Administration Meeting
Quarterly, at a location specified by the Forest Service, a Contract Administration Meeting shall
be held to assess Contractor performance, and to address Contract/Task Order administration
issues. The Contract Administration Meeting shall be chaired by the Forest Service Contracting
Officer (CO). Its members shall include the Program Managers, Task Order Managers, FS
Performance Management / Quality Assurance Evaluation, SLA Management lead, Contracting
Officer, and Contracting Officer‘s Representative. During the first six (6) months of this
Contract, this meeting may be held more frequently as determined by the Contracting Officer.
Contractor attendees shall be the Contractor‘s Program Manager, Task Order Managers, Contract
Manager, and others the Government deems necessary for a successful meeting. Travel to this
meeting shall be at the contractor‘s expense. The purpose of the meeting shall be to:
1. Define and recommend innovation and improvement opportunities for more effective use
of IT labor and project services and discuss how such innovative ideas and strategies can
effectively impact services;
2. Address problems, disputes, incidents, and/or Request for Change (RFC) actions;
3. Address the status of projects, each Task Order within the Task Order, and any problems
or difficulties experienced by the Forest Service or the Contractor in transitioning to
and/or delivering the Services;
4. Review Service Level performance, discuss Service Level failures and root causes, and
discuss mitigation strategies for SLA failure;
5. Provide status of planned initiatives and discuss initiatives that may impact capacity
requirements;
6. Adjust plans and projects as directed by the Forest Service (Note: Depending upon
adjustments, Task Order modifications may be required prior to implementation of such
adjustments); and
7. Address other important matters as deemed necessary by either party.
The Contractor may propose items for the CAM agenda, and shall deliver agenda input to Forest
Service at least ten (10) business days prior to the meeting; in all cases, the Government will set
the final agenda.
8. Security
By accepting this Contract/agreement, the Contractor providing Information Technology (IT)
services to the US Forest Service (FS) agrees to comply with the applicable IT security policy as
outlined in this document. The Contractor and other external organizations will be responsible
for IT security for all systems connected to the FS network or operated by the Contractor and
other external organizations for the FS, regardless of location. This clause is applicable to all or
any part of the Contract that includes IT resources or services in which the Contractor and other
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external organizations must have physical or electronic access to FS sensitive information that
directly support the mission of the FS. The term 'information technology', as used in this clause,
means any equipment or interconnected system or subsystem of equipment, that is used in the
automatic acquisition, storage, manipulation, management, movement, control, display,
switching, interchange, transmission, or reception of data or information. This includes both
major applications and general support systems as defined by OMB Circular A-130.
The Contractor shall be responsible for properly protecting all information used, gathered, or
developed as a result of work under this task. The Contractor shall also protect all unclassified
Government data, equipment, etc., by treating information as sensitive business, confidential
information, controlling and limiting access to the information, and ensuring the data and
equipment are secured within their facility.
The Contractor or other external organization will not publish or disclose in any manner, without
the FS Contracting Officer's written consent, the details of any programs, documentation, data, or
safeguards either designed or developed by the Contractor or other external organization under
this Contract or otherwise provided by the Government. Contractor may be required to sign non-
disclosure or other appropriate security agreements. A written agreement between the FS and
any contractors and other external organizations will be entered into before FS data and
information otherwise exempt from public disclosure may be disclosed to the contractors and
other external organizations. The contractor and other external organizations will agree to
establish and follow security precautions considered by the FS to be necessary to ensure proper
handling of data and information. As may be identified elsewhere in this Contract, the Contractor
agrees that:
1. The draft and final deliverables and all associated working papers and other material
deemed relevant by the COTR that have been generated by the Contractor in the
performance of this Contract are the property of the U.S. Government and must be
submitted to the COTR at the conclusion of the tasks.
2. All documents produced for this project are the property of the U.S. Government and
cannot be reproduced or retained by the Contractor.
To the extent required to carry out a program of inspection to safeguard against threats and
hazards to the security, integrity, and confidentiality of Government data, the Contractor will
afford the Government access to the Contractor's or other external organization‘s facilities,
installations, technical capabilities, operations, documentation, records, and databases. The
Contractor will cooperate with Federal agencies and their officially credentialed representatives
during official inspections or investigations concerning the protection of FS information.
Cooperation may include providing relevant documentation showing proof of compliance with
federal and agency requirements, and rendering other assistance as deemed necessary.
If new or unanticipated threats or hazards are discovered by either the Government or the
Contractor or other external organization, or if existing safeguards have ceased to function, the
discoverer will immediately bring the situation to the attention of the other party. The Contractor
will report real or suspected incidents or violations to the FS Computer Incident Response Team
(CIRT), by e-mail, at [email protected].
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The Contractor shall insert these clauses in all subcontracts when the subcontractor is required to
have routine physical access to a Federally-controlled facility and/or routine access to a
Federally-controlled information system. Failure to comply with said requirements will
constitute cause for termination.
The Contractor agrees to –|
a) Comply with the Privacy Act of 1974 (the Act) and the agency rules and regulations
issued under the Act in the design, development, or operation of any system of
records on individuals to accomplish an agency function when the Contract
specifically identifies—
i. The systems of records; and
ii. The design, development, or operation work that the contractor is to perform;
b) Include the Act notification contained in this Contract in every solicitation and
resulting subcontract and in every subcontract awarded without a solicitation, when
the work statement in the proposed subcontract requires the redesign, development, or
operation of a system of records on individuals that is subject to the Act; and
c) Include this clause, including this paragraph, in all subcontracts awarded under this
Contract which requires the design, development, or operation of such a system of
records.
In the event of violations of the Act, a civil action may be brought against the agency involved
when the violation concerns the design, development, or operation of a system of records on
individuals to accomplish an agency function, and criminal penalties may be imposed upon the
officers or employees of the agency when the violation concerns the operation of a system of
records on individuals to accomplish an agency function. For purposes of the Act, when the Task
Order is for the operation of a system of records on individuals to accomplish an agency
function, the Contractor is considered to be an employee of the agency.
Definitions:
a) ―Operation of a system of records,‖ as used in this clause, means performance of any
of the activities associated with maintaining the system of records, including the
collection, use, and dissemination of records.
b) ―Record,‖ as used in this clause, means any item, collection, or grouping of
information about an individual that is maintained by an agency, including, but not
limited to, education, financial transactions, medical history, and criminal or
employment history and that contains the person‘s name, or the identifying number,
symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual, such as a fingerprint
or voiceprint or a photograph.
c) ―System of records on individuals,‖ as used in this clause, means a group of any
records under the control of any agency from which information is retrieved by the
name of the individual or by some identifying number, symbol, or other identifying
particular assigned to the individual.
The contractors and other external organizations will ensure that the following banner is
displayed on all FS systems that contain Privacy Act information operated by the contractors and
other external organizations prior to allowing anyone access to the system:
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“This system contains information protected under the provisions of the privacy act of 1974
(public law 93-579). Any privacy information displayed on the screen or printed must be
protected from unauthorized disclosure. Employees who violate privacy safeguards may be
subject to disciplinary actions, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.”
IT Security Training: The Contractor and other external organizations will ensure that its
employees performing under this Contract fulfill all Forest Service requirements for mandatory
security awareness and role-based advanced security training in accordance with OMB Circular
A-130, FISMA, and NIST requirements, and sign all applicable FS statements of responsibilities.
Background Investigations: All non-government employees with unescorted access to FS
facilities, computer systems and/or FS information must have background investigations
commensurate with the level of risk and magnitude of loss or harm. The FS will determine the
level of background investigation and position classification needed. The Forest Service is
responsible for costs associated with background investigations.
Personal Identity Verification of Contractor Personnel: The Contractor shall be responsible
for ensuring compliance by its employees with all applicable federal regulations, to include those
of GSA, NIST, USDA, FS and HSPD-12. Contractors and their employees are subject to all
Federal laws applicable to Government installations and are under the jurisdiction of the Federal
Protective Service (FPS). The Contracting Officer Representatives (CORs; also known as
Contracting Officer Technical Representatives), or other designated program/project officers, in
conjunction with the FS HCM HSPD-12 staff, will assist the Contractor in processing the
required Security Background Investigations/Clearances.
1) The contractor shall comply with the personal identity verification (PIV) policies and
procedures established by Department of Agriculture (USDA) Directives 3800 series.
2) Should the results of the PIV process require the exclusion of a contractor‘s employee,
the contracting officer will notify the contractor in writing.
3) The contractor must appoint a representative to manage this activity and to maintain a list
of employees eligible for a USDA PIV ID Badge required for performance of the work.
4) The responsibility of maintaining a sufficient workforce remains with the contractor.
Employees may be barred by the Government from performance of the work should they
be found ineligible or to have lost eligibility for a USDA PIV ID Badge. Failure to
maintain a sufficient workforce of employees eligible for a USDA PIV ID Badge may be
grounds for termination of the Task Order.
5) The contractor shall insert this clause in all subcontracts when the subcontractor is
required to have access to a federally-controlled facility or information system.
6) The PIV Sponsor for this Contract is the contracting officer representative (COR), unless
otherwise specified in this Contract. The PIV Sponsor will be available to receive
contractor identity information from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, EST, Monday through Friday at
200 WT Weaver Boulevard, Asheville, North Carolina (or via email at
[email protected]. The Government shall notify the contractor if there is a change
in the PIV Sponsor, the office address, or the office hours for registration.
7) At this time, the Government will pay for and process all required security
investigations/clearances, except as identified differently within this clause.
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8) The Contractor should be aware of any of its employees possibly having had a
background investigation through another government agency. The investigation that
was conducted, if verifiable by the FS HSPD-12 staff and, if it was completed within the
last 5 years, can be accepted by the Government in lieu of a background check.
9) The Contractor shall comply with any facility badging requirements for the issuance of
building access, badges, etc.:
a. Ensure that each of the Contractor‘s employees has been issued either a temporary
or permanent badge from the Government. A permanent badge will not be issued
until the security questionnaire has been completed and favorably reviewed.
Temporary or visitor badges will be provided for persons who are identified as
having an infrequent or temporary legitimate business need for access to the site.
As noted above, periods that exceed 180 days will require a permanent badge.
The badge must be worn at all times while in the facility. It must be displayed
above the waist. The individual will retain possession of the badge as long as
continued admittance to the site is needed.
b. Ensure the safekeeping, wearing, and visibility of Government furnished badges.
c. Immediately return all badges and permits to the Government when such need
ceases to exist.
10) The Contractor shall comply with any facility security requirements for access to the
facility.
11) The Contractor shall comply with all applicable rules governing parking at USDA
locations.
Secure Coding Skills: Contractor certifies that at least one member of each programming team
working on any code (including C, Java, .Net, ASP.NET, Visual Basic) to be delivered to the
Forest Service has earned the Global Information Assurance Certification for Secured Software
Programming or equivalent.
Source code testing, binary code testing, application scanning, and penetration testing: At
least one week prior to delivery of any code due under this Contract, Contractor will deliver to
the COTR the following reports covering all code that will be delivered:
A. Source code testing results showing all potential security flaws identified by at least one
of the commercial source code testing tools approved by the Office of the Chief
Information Officer of USDA. On the report, the contractor will highlight all
vulnerabilities rated "critical" and "high". The contractor must then correct the
vulnerabilities, resend the code and ensure delivered source code health.
B. For web-applications, web application scanning test results showing all potential security
flaws identified by at least one of the commercial web application scanning tools
approved by the Office of the Chief Information Officer of USDA. On the report, the
contractor will highlight all vulnerabilities rated "critical" and ―high‖.
C. For all applications: application penetration results.
Copyright Management and Responsibility: By delivering applications or programming code
to the Federal Government, the vendor or Contractor certifies that they have the proper authority
to transfer the property and will defend the government against copyright or other lawsuits and
related actions resulting from the application or programming delivered.
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8.1 Confidentiality of Information (FEB 1988)
(a) Confidential information, as used in this clause, means --
(1) information or data of a personal nature, proprietary about an individual, or (2) information
or data submitted by or pertaining to an organization.
(b) In addition to the types of confidential information described in (a)(1) and (2) above,
information which might require special consideration with regard to the timing of its disclosure
may derive from studies or research, during which public disclosure of primarily invalidated
findings could create an erroneous conclusion which might threaten public health or safety if
acted upon.
(c) The Contracting Officer and the Contractor may, by mutual consent, identify elsewhere in
this Contract specific information and/or categories of information which the Government will
furnish to the Contractor or that the Contractor is expected to generate which is confidential.
Similarly, the contracting Officer and the Contractor may, by mutual consent, identify such
confidential information from time to time during the performance of the contract. Failure to
agree will be settled pursuant to the "Disputes" clause.
(d) If it is established that information to be utilized under this Contract is subject to the Privacy
Act, the Contractor will follow the rules and procedures of disclosure set forth in the Privacy Act
of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a, and implementing regulations and policies, with respect to systems of
records determined to be subject to the Privacy Act.
(e) Confidential information, as defined in (a)(1) and (2) above, shall not be disclosed without
the prior written consent of the individual, institution or organization.
(f) Written advance notice of at least 45 days will be provided to the Contracting Officer of the
Contractor's intent to release findings of studies or research, which have the possibility of
adverse effects on the public or the Federal agency, as described in (b) above. If the Contracting
Officer does not pose any objections in writing within the 45 day period, the contractor may
proceed with disclosure. Disagreements not resolved by the Contractor and Contracting Officer
will be settled pursuant to the "Disputes" clause.
(g) Whenever the Contractor is uncertain with regard to the proper handling of material under the
contract, or if the material in question is subject to the Privacy Act or is confidential information
subject to the provisions of this clause, the Contractor shall obtain a written determination from
the Contracting Officer prior to any release, disclosure, dissemination, or publication.
(h) The provisions of paragraph (e) of this clause shall not apply when the information is subject
to conflicting or overlapping provisions in other Federal, State or local laws.
9. Disengagement
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Upon any termination or expiration of this Contract or the termination of individual Task Orders
the Contractor and Forest Service shall engage in a Disengagement process. If so requested by
the Forest Service, the Contractor shall execute a transition of any terminated Services from the
Contractor, its Third Parties, and Subcontractors associate with the Forest Service Contract, its
Affiliates and/or to any successor provider(s) designated by the Forest Service without causing
any unnecessary interruption of, or causing any unnecessary adverse impact to, the Services,
and/or any Projects or services provided to the Forest Service by Third Parties.
9.1 Contractor Disengagement Responsibilities
To accomplish Disengagement, Contractor is responsible to:
1. Continue to provide the Services and maintain all obligation under the Contract until a
Disengagement is completed to the satisfaction of the Forest Service;
2. Cooperate with Forest Service, its Affiliates and/or the successor provider to accomplish
a seamless transition of services without service disruption;
3. Provide to the Forest Service, its Affiliates and/or the successor provider all information
regarding the Services as needed for Disengagement including, without limitation, data
conversions, interface specifications, programs, tools, utilities and other resources used
to provide the Services, and knowledge transfer with respect to all such information in
order to enable the Forest Service, its Affiliates and/or the successor provider's personnel
(or that of Third Parties) to fully assume, become self-reliant with respect to, and
continue without interruption, the provision of the Services;
4. Provide to the Forest Service, its Affiliates and/or the successor provider, all procedures,
standards and operating schedules held by the Contractor which are used to deliver the
Services. These documents, when delivered, become the property of the Government;
5. Provide to the Forest Service within ten (10) business days of notification of the
termination of this Contract or any Task Orders issued under this Contract a complete and
accurate list of all items and/or Government furnished property that will be subject to
conveyance or re-conveyance to the Forest Service;
6. Remove from Forest Service premises any Contractor assets that the Forest Service, its
Affiliates and/or the successor provider elect not to purchase or otherwise acquire;
7. Continue to provide dedicated Contractor Key Personnel during the Disengagement
period;
8. Provide for the prompt and orderly conclusion of all work, as the Forest Service may
direct, including completion or partial completion of Projects, documentation of work in
process, and other measures to provide an orderly transition; and
9. Provide a detailed transition plan to the Forest Service within twenty (20) days of
commencement of Disengagement, or as otherwise specified in the Disengagement
notice, for determining the nature and extent of the Contractor's Disengagement
obligations and for the transfer of Services in process.
To preclude disengagement problems warranties will be registered in the name of the
Government; Contractor will be listed as an authorized user of the warranty.
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10. Service Management
A key objective of this Contract is to achieve performance as described in SLAs. SLAs are
identified in each Task Order; however the Contractors‘ performance on individual Task Orders
will be considered in assessing overall performance on this Contract. The Contractor shall
provide written reports to Forest Service regarding Contractor‘s compliance with the SLAs.
In addition, the Contractor‘s performance in attaining Service Level targets shall be factored into
the disincentive component of the Contractor‘s invoice for each Task Order. The manner in
which the disincentive shall be calculated is described in general in the Performance
Management Plan and shall be described in detail in each Task Order.
11. Period of Performance
The Period of Performance of this Contract is:
BASE: One (1) year
OPTION: Seven (7) one-year options
TOTAL PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: Eight (8) years
12. Place of Performance
The Place of Performance of this Contract is at Contractor and Government sites and is
stipulated in each Task Order.
13. Use and Disclosure of Proposal Information
USE AND DISCLOSURE OF PROPOSAL INFORMATION -- DEPARTMENT OF THE
INTERIOR (APR 1984)
(a) Definitions. For the purposes of this provision and the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C.
552), the following terms shall have the meaning set forth below:
(1) "Trade Secret" means an unpatented, secret, commercially valuable plan, appliance, formula,
or process, which is used for making, preparing, compounding, treating or processing articles or
materials which are trade commodities.
(2) "Confidential commercial or financial information" means any business information (other
than trade secrets) which is exempt from the mandatory disclosure requirement of the Freedom
of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552. Exemptions from mandatory disclosure which may be
applicable to business information contained in proposals include exemption (4), which covers
"commercial and financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential,"
and exemption (9), which covers "geological and geophysical information, including maps,
concerning wells."
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(b) If the offeror, or its subcontractor(s), believes that the proposal contains trade secrets or
confidential commercial or financial information exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of
Information Act, (5 U.S.C. 552), the cover page of each copy of the proposal shall be marked
with the following legend:
"The information specifically identified on pages ______ of this proposal constitutes trade
secrets or confidential commercial and financial information which the offeror believes to be
exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. The offeror requests that this
information not be disclosed to the public, except as may be required by law. The offeror also
requests that this information not be used in whole or part by the government for any purpose
other than to evaluate the proposal, except that if a Contract is awarded to the offeror as a result
of or in connection with the submission of the proposal, the Government shall have the right to
use the information to the extent provided in the contract."
(c) The offeror shall also specifically identify trade secret information and confidential
commercial and financial information on the pages of the proposal on which it appears and shall
mark each such page with the following legend:
"This page contains trade secrets or confidential commercial and financial information which the
offeror believes to be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act and which
is subject to the legend contained on the cover page of this proposal."
(d) Information in a proposal identified by an offeror as trade secret information or confidential
commercial and financial information shall be used by the Government only for the purpose of
evaluating the proposal, except that (i) if a Contract is awarded to the offeror as a result of or in
connection with submission of the proposal, the Government shall have the right to use the
information as provided in the contract, and (ii) if the same information is obtained from another
source without restriction it may be used without restriction.
(e) If a request under the Freedom of Information Act seeks access to information in a proposal
identified as trade secret information or confidential commercial and financial information, full
consideration will be given to the offeror's view that the information constitutes trade secrets or
confidential commercial or financial information. The offeror will also be promptly notified of
the request and given an opportunity to provide additional evidence and argument in support of
its position, unless administratively unfeasible to do so. If it is determined that information
claimed by the offeror to be trade secret information or confidential commercial or financial
information is not exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, the offeror
will be notified of this determination prior to disclosure of the information.
(f) The Government assumes no liability for the disclosure or use of information contained in a
proposal if not marked in accordance with paragraphs (b) and (c) of this provision. If a request
under the Freedom of Information Act is made for information in a proposal not marked in
accordance with paragraphs (b) and (c) of this provision, the offeror concerned shall be promptly
notified of the request and given an opportunity to provide its position to the Government.
However, failure of an offeror to mark information contained in a proposal as trade secret
information or confidential commercial or financial information will be treated by the
Government as evidence that the information is not exempt from disclosure under the Freedom
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of Information Act, absent a showing that the failure to mark was due to unusual or extenuating
circumstances, such as a showing that the offeror had intended to mark, but that markings were
omitted from the offeror's proposal due to clerical error.
14. Authorities and Delegations (May 2010)
(a) The Contracting Officer is the only individual authorized to enter into or terminate this contract, modify any term or condition of this contract, waive any requirement of this contract, or accept nonconforming work.
(b) The Contracting Officer will designate a Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) at time of award. The COR will be responsible for technical monitoring of the contractor's performance and deliveries. The COR will be appointed in writing, and a copy of the appointment will be furnished to the Contractor. Changes to this delegation will be made by written changes to the existing appointment or by issuance of a new appointment. The COR for this Contract will be:
Ann P. McDonough. She can be reached by phone at (828) 257-4333 or by email at amcdonough @fs.fed.us
(c) The COR is not authorized to perform, formally or informally, any of the following actions:
(1) Promise, award, agree to award, or execute any contract, Contract modification, or notice of intent that changes or may change this contract;
(2) Waive or agree to modification of the delivery schedule;
(3) Make any final decision on any Contract matter subject to the Disputes Clause;
(4) Terminate, for any reason, the Contractor's right to proceed;
(5) Obligate in any way, the payment of money by the Government.
(d) The Contractor shall comply with the written or oral direction of the Contracting Officer or authorized representative(s) acting within the scope and authority of the appointment memorandum. The Contractor need not proceed with direction that it considers to have been issued without proper authority. The Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer in writing, with as much detail as possible, when the COR has taken an action or has issued direction (written or oral) that the Contractor considers to exceed the COR's appointment, within 3 days of the occurrence. Unless otherwise provided in this contract, the Contractor assumes all costs, risks, liabilities, and consequences of performing any work it is directed to perform that falls within any of the categories defined in paragraph (c) prior to receipt of the Contracting Officer's response issued under paragraph (e) of this clause.
(e) The Contracting Officer shall respond in writing within 30 days to any notice made under paragraph (d) of this clause. A failure of the parties to agree upon the nature of a direction, or upon the Contract action to be taken with respect thereto, shall be subject to the provisions of the Disputes clause of this contract.
(f) The Contractor shall provide copies of all correspondence to the Contracting Officer and the
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COR.
(g) Any action(s) taken by the Contractor, in response to any direction given by any person acting on behalf of the Government or any Government official other than the Contracting Officer or the COR acting within his or her appointment, shall be at the Contractor's risk.
15. Ordering Procedures
(a) Any supplies and services to be furnished under this Contract shall be ordered by issuance of
delivery orders or Task Orders by the designated individuals or activities designated in the
Schedule. Such orders may be issued from anticipated date of award, September 1, 2010January
3, 2011 through the end of the performance period defined in Section 11 of this SOO.
(b) All delivery orders or Task Orders are subject to the terms and conditions of this contract. In
the event of conflict between a delivery order or Task Order and this Contract, the Contract shall
control.
(c) If mailed, a delivery order or Task Order is considered ―issued‖ when the Government
deposits the order in the mail. Orders may be issued orally, by facsimile, or by electronic
commerce methods only if authorized in the ScheduleContract.
(End of clause)
16. Invoice Submittal Procedures
16.1. This section provides specific Forest Service invoicing requirements.
16.2. Invoices shall not be submitted directly to CSC-FS (previously known as NFC).
16.3. Invoices shall be submitted electronically
Invoices shall be submitted electronically via email to the Contracting Officer's Representative
(COR) assigned to this Contract via the FS CIO Invoices central mailbox, which has an email
address as follows:
The following standard Subject format shall be used when submitting Invoices via email to
ensure the assigned COR can readily identify invoices and expedite the processing for each
vendor under contract.
Subject: Contract Number, Vendor Name, COR Name, Invoice Number
The COR assigned to this Contract is Ann P. McDonough and should you have any questions
she can be reached by phone at (828) 257-4333 or by email at amcdonough @fs.fed.us
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Emailed Invoices shall include electronic copies of all supporting documentation required to
verify labor hours claimed, travel expenses claimed, etc. These documents may include, but
shall not be limited to Time Sheets for Contractor Employee hours claimed, Copies of Receipts
for Travel Expenses Claimed, etc.
16.4. Upon implementation of a Government electronic invoicing process, vendors will be
required to submit invoices via a designated process. Details will be provided upon
implementation via modification to the contract.
16.5 FAR Subpart 32.9 – Prompt Payment shall apply to invoices submitted against all Task
Orders issued under this Contract.
16.6. In accordance with FAR 32.905, invoices must include the following items:
1. Name and Address of the Contractor
2. Invoice date and Invoice Number
Note: Contractors should date invoices as close as possible to the date of
submission, and shall not include expenses not yet incurred.
3. Contract Number, and Task Order Number
4. Costs shall be invoiced by the Task Order Line Item Number
5. Each Cost Shall Include:
Description
Quantity
Unit of Measure
Unit Price
Extended Price of Supplies Delivered or Services Performed
Shipping and Payment Terms if Applicable
Name and Address of Contractor Official to Whom Payment is to be Sent
Name, Title, Phone Number, and Mailing Address of Person to Notify in Event of
a Defective Invoice
Contractor ID Number from First Page of Task Order
16.7. The Forest Service requires that the Contractor provide invoices as described above, and
that supporting documentation be provided to substantiate each invoice. Supporting
documentation shall include, but may not be limited to:
Time Sheets for all Labor Hours invoiced on a Time and Materials or Labor Hours
Task Order
Note: Each time sheet is to be signed by the Inspector or Task Manager, and
shall include a legible, printed name and title of the individual signing the
time sheet.
Approved overtime authorizations
Receipts for Travel Expenses Claimed
Note: Each trip taken by each employee must be itemized separately. A
cover page that itemizes expenses and provides the grand total of cost to
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be reimbursed shall be provided by each employee for each episode of
travel. All supporting receipts shall be attached.
Receipts for any Other Direct Cost(s) Claimed
16.8. Invoices not properly completed or substantiated will be returned to the Contractor as an
improper invoice. The Contractor must make the necessary corrections and resubmit the invoice
and supporting documentation to the Contracting Officer‘s Representative (COR), with the date
of the revised submission annotated on the revised invoice submission.
16.9. A separate invoice is required as detailed above for each Task Order issued under this
Contract.
16.10. Disincentives - The invoice must reflect the applicable disincentives developed and
included in the Standard Operating Procedures Manual, which will be provided after award.
Disincentives will be immediately credited in the current invoice in which they are reported.
17. Order Limitations (Oct 1995)
(a) Minimum order. When the Government requires supplies or services covered by this
Contract in an amount of less than $1,000.00 the Government is not obligated to purchase, nor is
the Contractor obligated to furnish, those supplies or services under the contract.
(b) Maximum order. The Contractor is not obligated to honor—
(1) Any order for a single item in excess of $100,000,000.00
(2) Any order for a combination of items in excess of $100,000,000.00, or
(3) A series of orders from the same ordering office within 30 days that together call for
quantities exceeding the limitation in paragraph (b)(1) or (2) of this section.
(c) If this is a requirements contract (i.e., includes the Requirements clause at
subsection 52.216-21 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)), the Government is not
required to order a part of any one requirement from the Contractor if that requirement exceeds
the maximum-order limitations in paragraph (b) of this section.
(d) Notwithstanding paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, the Contractor shall honor any
order exceeding the maximum order limitations in paragraph (b), unless that order (or orders) is
returned to the ordering office within 15 days after issuance, with written notice stating the
Contractor‘s intent not to ship the item (or items) called for and the reasons. Upon receiving this
notice, the Government may acquire the supplies or services from another source.
18. GSA Schedule Transition
An award made as a result of this RFQ, which shall result in a Contract, is based on the vendor‘s
current GSA 70 schedule contract. In the event that the awardees‘ of this RFQ has their current
GSA 70 schedule contract canceled or expires and is awarded a new GSA 70 schedule contract.
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Then this Contract shall automatically transfer to the new GSA 70 schedule contract as long as
the newly awarded GSA 70 schedule contract is the same scope as the canceled or expired GSA
70 schedule contract.
The above language applies to both the prime contractor and all subcontractors. The use of
subcontractors requires prior approval by the Government.
189. Contractor Teaming Arrangements
Offerors may form Contractor team arrangements as defined in FAR Part 9.6 in response to the
requirements of this solicitation. All proposals submitted, regardless of whether submitted by a
single contractor, a prime contractor with subcontractors or a partnership must clearly identify
the company who will be responsible for contract performance. This company will be held by
the Government to be fully responsible for contract performance, regardless of any team
arrangement between the prime contractor and its subcontractors.
19. Task Order Transitions
Unless explicitly stated otherwise in the Task Order a thirty (30) calendar day transition is applicable to
all Task Orders. Accordingly, Contractors shall be at full staffing levels within that timeframe.