SOLICITATION NOTICE
A -- Sentinel Bird Studies
- Notice Date
- 11/4/2004
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- Contracting Office
- Environmental Protection Agency, Rtp Procurement Operations Division, 109 T W Alexander Drive, Rtp, NC 27711
- ZIP Code
- 27711
- Solicitation Number
- RFQ-RT-05-00037
- Response Due
- 11/23/2004
- Archive Date
- 12/23/2004
- Description
- NAICS Code: 541710 THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN FAR SUBPART 12.6, AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION. QUOTES ARE BEING REQUESTED AND A WRITTEN SOLICITATION WILL NOT BE ISSUED. This solicitation is a TOTAL SMALL BUSINESS Set Aside. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code is 541710-Research and Development and the small business size standard is 500 employees. Only offers from small businesses in accordance with this standard will be considered. The solicitation number is RFQ-RT-05-00037, and the solicitation is being issued as a Request for Proposal. (RFP). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 01-25. A firm, fixed-price purchase order is anticipated to result from the award of this solicitation consisting of a twelve month base period. This procurement is for sentinel bird studies. Background. A project funded by the Safe Buildings Program, under the National Center for Homeland Security of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency seeks to determine whether the time-honored use of canaries as sentinels for exposure to airborne terrorist agents is scientifically defensible. Canaries, pigeons and chickens continue to be used as sentinels (recent Gulf wars and 1995 Tokyo subway Sarin release) because of their ability to give an easily readable and interpretable "response" to the user, and because they are not subject to non-toxic agents in the air, such as oil fumes. They appear to have the advantage over purely chemical detectors in that they provide a rapid toxicological assessment of air quality, not just foreign material in the air. Published research supporting the use of canaries in mines dates back to 1912 when the U.S. Bureau of Mines published a paper. In this study, canaries and mice were exposed to carbon monoxide in a simple bell jar. The study noted that the canaries showed visible signs of distress (ruffling of feathers or jumping off perch) within minutes of the beginning of exposure. The same concentration of carbon monoxide that caused this rapid response in a canary did not elicit a sensation in human subjects in mines until about 2 hours had passed, at which time the people became dizzy and disoriented. Mice were also studied, with the conclusion that they did not show as visible a change as did canaries. The 1912 study of canaries and mice needs to be repeated and expanded to additional species and agents and results need to be compared to data obtained using commercial chemical sensors. We hope that the use of birds as sentinels can be eliminated or at least reduced, and that the limitations of using birds as sentinels can be revealed. However, before such conclusions can be reached, data need to be collected on the time and concentration of response of several potential airborne toxicants in birds, and these data need to be compared to similar responses of other species (insects, etc.), and with humans and chemical monitors. Each offeror must link to the web page listed below for a full copy of the Statement of Work.Proposal Instructions and Evaluation Criteria: The Government intends to award a single purchase order to the responsible offeror whose technically acceptable proposal represents the 'best value' to the Government. For this requirement best-value will be determined based on past performance, technical capabilities, equipment and facilities and price. Past performance, technical capabilities and equipment/facilities are of equal importance. All factors when combined are significantly more important than price. A. Past Performance- Proposals shall be evaluated on performance under existing and prior contracts/subcontracts/orders for research work on bird species similar to that described in the Statement of Work. For each project/contract/order, offerors must include in their proposal: (1) a list of contracts performed within the last three (3) years; and (2) brief synopsis which includes the date the work was performed and the client for whom the work was performed (include client name and telephone number). B. Technical Capabilities-Proposal must demonstrate the ability of the contractor to meet the requirements in the SOW. This would include a principal investigator for the study with at least 5 years of experience in the study of bird species, including exposure to toxicants, and technical staff experienced in care and handling of birds. Resume/CVs must be included with the proposal for all key personnel. Key Personnel are: 1) a principal investigator, 2) a biological technician and 3) an animal care technician. An individual may serve as more than one key personnel. C. Equipment and Facilities- Adequacy of equipment and facilities that meets the requirements in the Statement of Work. These include sufficient laboratory and office space, a certified chemical fume hood, bird housing space and bird cages and cage washing equipment. Due to the requirements of tissue collection, transport of fragile equipment, and training of contractor personnel by E.P.A. personnel located at Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, it is preferred that the contractor facility be located within four (4) hours of the EPA RTP facility. D. Price- Pricing information must be submitted in the pricing tables provided for purposes of evaluation. The total fixed price for the entire effort must be included in the initial proposal. The offeror shall propose in accordance with pricing schedule found at the EPA website. The following FAR provisions apply to this solicitation: 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors--Commercial Items. All offerors are to include with their offer a completed copy of provision 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications -Commercial Items. The following FAR clause applies to this acquisition: 28.307-2 Liability; 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items. The following additional FAR clauses which are cited in clauses 52.212-5 are applicable to the acquisition: 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity; 52.222-35, Affirmative Action for Disabled Veterans and Veterans of the Vietnam Era; 52.222-36, Affirmative Action for Handicapped Workers; 52.222-37, Employment Reports on Special Disabled Veterans and Veterans of the Vietnam Era; 52,225-1, Buy American Act, 52.225-3, Buy American Act--North American Free Trade Agreement, 52.232-34, Payment by Electronic Fund Transfer-Central Contractor Registration. Offerors should review any other information posted with this Request for Quotation on EPA's website at the following address: http://www.epa.gov/oam/rtp_cmd. Arrow down to the REQUEST FOR QUOTATION section and click on the solicitation. Please submit two (2) copies of the technical and price proposal to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, RTP Procurement Operations Division (E105-02), Attn: Robin S. Harris, Contract Specialist, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711. The courier delivery address is U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Attn: Robin S. Harris (E105-02), RTP Procurement Operations Division, 4930 Page Road, Research Triangle Park, NC 27703. Technical questions must be submitted to harris.robin@epa.gov no later than November 12, 2004. All offers are due by November 23, 2004, 12:00 p.m., EDT. No telephonic or faxed requests will be honored.
- Record
- SN00704174-W 20041106/041104212435 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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