SOLICITATION NOTICE
B -- SPECIAL STUDIES TO DEVELOP QUALITY ASSURANCE AND PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS FOR THE FEDERAL CROP INSURANCE PROGRAM
- Notice Date
- 11/1/2002
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, Procurement Operations Branch, 381 Elden St, MS2510, Herndon, VA 20170
- ZIP Code
- 20170
- Solicitation Number
- 1435-04-03-RP-87020
- Archive Date
- 12/13/2002
- Point of Contact
- SUSAN L. BENIK, CONTRACTING OFFICER, 703-787-1350
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE NOTICE CAREFULLY, AS IT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY NOTICE THAT WILL BE ISSUED. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Federal Acquisition Regulations Subpart 12.6 and the provisions of Subpart 13.5, Test Program for Certain Commercial Items, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a separate written solicitation will not be issued. Period of Performance for this project is 15 weeks from the date of contract award. The Government reserves the right to unilaterally extend the period of contract performance in accordance with the clause entitled, Option to Extend the Term of the Contract - - Services. The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 97-20. The following provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition and are incorporated by reference: 1) 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial; 2) 52-212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Items; 3) 52.212-3, Offeror, Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items; 4) 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items, with an addendum; and 5) 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items. Solicitation Number 1435-04-03-RP-87020; the solicitation is issued as a request for proposals (RFP). BACKGROUND The Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 created the Risk Management Agency (RMA). Under the act, RMA was established as an independent agency to provide supervision to the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) and oversight of all crop insurance programs. FCIC is a wholly owned Government corporation that issues insurance regulations and manages crop insurance funds. The crop insurance program is a joint effort by the private sector (insurance companies) and RMA to provide crop insurance to qualified producers. RMA works closely with the insurance companies to implement the crop insurance program. However, RMA is responsible for reviewing and evaluating the program. Federal policy states that agencies shall provide reasonable assurance that "both existing and new program and administrative activities are effectively and efficiently managed to achieve the goals of the agency." To implement this policy, RMA has enlisted the help of the insurance companies by creating a self-audit program. Insurance companies review the quality of their performance and evaluate their compliance and correct activities that are not in compliance. Subtitle B of "The Agriculture Risk Protection Act of 2000" (ARPA) directs the Secretary of Agriculture to improve the compliance and integrity of the crop insurance program. ARPA does not mandate the elements of the quality control system, but it does expand the efforts that RMA and the insurance companies currently make under that system. The Guidelines and Expectations for Delivery of the Federal Crop Insurance Program, commonly referred to as Manual 14, establishes the reviews, which include randomly selected samples, that are key to the information RMA now receives in its efforts to ensure the integrity of the crop insurance program. ARPA's mandate for identification of noncompliance by producers or insurance companies and of fraud, waste and abuse will call upon RMA and the insurance companies to commit greater resources than currently used to fulfill the oversight function. Stewardship responsibility over public funds requires that RMA have appropriate policies and procedures to ensure the integrity of Federal program payments and implement its existing responsibilities to minimize erroneous payments. APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS. Documents that apply to this SOW are contained in the FCIC-14010, Guidelines and Expectations for Delivery of the Federal Crop Insurance program, and the Standard Reinsurance Agreement, which are available on RMA's website at http://www.rma.usda.gov. OBJECTIVE. The primary objective of this contract procurement is to secure the services of Performance Management experts to develop and establish a quality control review system capable of evaluating the private sector performance and delivery of the Federal crop insurance program. SCOPE OF WORK. The contractor shall perform the following tasks that are described in greater detail in the SOW Document and meet the standards for successful accomplishment: (A) Develop a quality control review system capable of evaluating private sector performance in delivery of the Federal Crop Insurance program. (B) Provide documentation that would define and describe the quality control review system. (C) Provide a draft of the quality control review system that is written in the format of a proposed rule to be published in the Code of Federal Regulations. (D) Develop and implement a quality control plan that details how the contractor will identify, develop, and maintain quality standards and will keep the project within budget and on time. The contractor shall include quality control standards for the successful accomplishment of the tasks, a method to monitor and report task progress, what corrective actions will be taken to meet deliverable dates if the task is off schedule, and a quality control matrix of the productive hours for each skill type that will be devoted to quality control on each task. Complete records of all inspection work performed by the contractor shall be maintained and made available to RMA during contract performance. All deliverables must be approved and accepted by RMA. FOR AN ELECTRONIC COPY OF THE COMPLETE SOW FOR THIS RFQ, PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL TO susan.benik@mms.gov. Please include with your request your full name, the RFP number & title, your organization, complete address with telephone and fax numbers. HOW TO RESPOND: In order to compete for this contract, interested parties must demonstrate that they are qualified to perform the work by providing, by 3:00 P.M., EST, December 04, 2002: (A) A CAPABILITIES STATEMENT detailing: (1) your key personnel (those who would have primary responsibility for performing and/or managing the effort) with their qualifications and specific experience; (2) your organizational experience and facilities; and (3) past performance including specific references (include contract number & project description, period of performance, dollar amount, client identification with the point of contact & telephone number) for previous work of this nature that your key personnel or organization has performed within the last two years. References will be checked. (B) A TECHNICAL PROPOSAL that includes: (1) Discussion of the background, objectives, and work requirements of the statement of work as analyzed by the Offeror; (2) Discussion of proposed methods and techniques for completing each task; (3) Discussion which supports how each task will be evaluated for full performance and acceptability of work from the Offeror's viewpoint. (4) Discussion of any anticipated major difficulties and problem areas, along with potential recommended approaches for their resolution. The Technical Proposal has a Page Limit of ten (10) pages. Any documentation in excess of the ten (10) page limit will not be evaluated.(C) A COST PROPOSAL, which shall be a separate volume from the written portion of the Technical Proposal. The Cost Proposal shall clearly indicate the proposed labor categories, hours, and rates for this effort. The Government anticipates that a FIRM-FIXED-PRICE order will be issued as a result of this RFQ. (D) The completed OFFEROR REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS-COMMERCIAL ITEMS per FAR subpart 52.212. EVALUATION. Each technical proposal shall be evaluated according to the factors shown below. Factors A, B, C, and D are or equal importance. (A) Technical Approach - Understanding of the work, including creativity and thoroughness shown in planned execution of the project. (B) Past Performance -The organization's history of successful completion of projects; history of producing high-quality reports and other deliverables; history of staying on schedule and within budget, and effectiveness of cost control. (C) Key Personnel Qualifications (i) The currency, quality and depth of experience of individual personnel in working on similar projects. Similar projects are meant to convey similarity in topic, dollar value, duration, and complexity. (ii) Quality and depth of education; experience on other projects which may not be similar enough to include in response to (C)(i) (Immediately above) but may be relevant; and publication history. (D) Organizational Experience (i) The degree of comparability of past projects to the current project, including number of projects, complexity, and dollar amount. Supporting subcontractors, consultants and partners will be considered. (ii) Appropriate mix and balance of education and training of team members. CONTRACT AWARD. Contract award shall be made to the responsible Offeror whose offer, in conforming to this RFQ, provides an overall best value to the Government, technical evaluation factors, and cost considered. The Government's objective is to obtain the highest technical quality considered necessary to achieve the project objectives, with a realistic and reasonable cost. Technical evaluation factors are more important than cost; however, between proposals that are evaluated as technically equal in quality, cost will become a major consideration in selecting the successful Offeror. Please submit six (6) hard copy offers to the following address. PROPOSALS ARE DUE BY 3:00 PM DECEMBER 04, 2002, AT DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR, MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE, MS 2500, 381 ELDEN STREET, HERNDON, VIRGINIA 20170, ATTENTION: SUSAN L. BENIK. Please note that MMS/Gov.Works is located in a secure building. If offers are hand delivered, please ensure that the courier is instructed to use the courtesy phone in the rear of the lobby (to the right of the elevators) to call the Branch on extension 1354. A staff member will meet the courier to receive the submittal. Questions should be sent via fax or Email as soon as possible to: Susan L. Benik, Fax (703) 787-1009 or Email: susan.benik@mms.gov. Please include with your question(s) your full name, the RFP number & title, your organization, complete address with telephone and fax numbers. TELEPHONIC QUESTIONS OR REQUESTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. The referenced provisions and clauses can be viewed at www.arnet.gov.
- Place of Performance
- Address: USDA/Risk Management Agency, Reinsurance Services Division, 1400 Independence Ave SW, Room 6727S, Stop 0804, Washington, DC 20250
- Zip Code: 20250
- Country: US
- Zip Code: 20250
- Record
- SN00197887-W 20021103/021102095157 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
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