SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- Soil Survey Services Request for Information
- Notice Date
- 5/22/2006
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Headquarters/Management Services Division, 5601 Sunnyside Avenue Mail Stop 5460, Beltsville, MD, 20705-5000
- ZIP Code
- 20705-5000
- Solicitation Number
- AG-3A75-S-06-001A
- Response Due
- 6/14/2006
- Archive Date
- 6/29/2006
- Description
- This Request for Information (RFI) is not a Request for Proposal (RFP) and is not a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately to award a contract on the basis of this RFI or otherwise pay for the information solicited. Response to this RFI will not serve as proposals, bids, or offers, which could be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is currently conducting market research to examine competitive sourcing alternatives for soil survey services to determine the existence of viable commercial sources capable of providing the necessary services. In support of NRCS field offices, USDA is seeking further information, comments, recommendations, and capabilities from interested parties with relevant experience in any or all of the following areas: administrative support, technical services, soil classification and standards, and soil survey interpretations and investigations. Study scope includes approximately 76 positions (office assistant, research soil scientist, soil scientist, physical science technician/aid, conservation agronomist, forester, rangeland specialist, chemist, and IT specialist) providing services to produce and deliver scientifically-based soil information to help society to understand, value, and wisely manage global resources. The following are sought to support the USDA NRCS mission and operational requirements for full field, laboratory and technical support for NCSS. 1.0 Administrative Support: Support services for typical office administration services to support the mission and operational requirements of the National Soil Survey Center (NSSC) and the National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS) program; maintain contact information for national cooperator soil survey network, and provide administrative assistance for national and regional NCSS meetings and conferences. 2.0 Technical Services: Support services for fully coordinated technical NCSS policy and guidance, program and planning, calibrating and testing, site-specific soil investigations, applying and using soil survey data, designing, evaluating, testing, documenting, and validating soil survey interpretations, testing field methods and procedures for gathering response data for NCSS applications, and development and coordination of NCSS requirements, business analyses and design of information systems services to support the mission and operational requirements. Examples include support and design input to national erosion modeling efforts (includes database management, testing activities, coordination of national test results with erosion model software design engineers to build in national fixes to erosion models prior to NRCS adoption); chairs and coordinates activities of the National Technical Committee for Hydric Soils to meet national mandates; coordinate and collaborate with numerous NRCS Deputy areas in providing NCSS policy input and coordination within National Program Manuals like National Food Security, National Agronomy, National Forestry, and National Engineering Manuals and other handbooks to assure national policy alignment and soil data inputs are correctly designed and delivered in a timely manner by the National Soil Database Manager. 3.0 Soil Classification and Standards: Support services for program support, maintain soil taxonomy to provide the taxonomic keys necessary for soil genesis/ classification nationally and globally; and develop content and quality for precise/current soil standards, manuals and handbooks to guide soil survey services in support of the mission and operational requirements of the NCSS program. 4.0 Soil Survey Interpretations and Investigations: Support services to include laboratory efforts for research and soil survey investigations, problem definition and research design; analytical skills for complex soil/landscape analyses, interpretation of results for verification/mapping; remote data acquisition and interpretation for the spectrum of land uses from agricultural applications to Homeland Security; developing and vetting soil survey laboratory methods, laboratory data analysis/ data verification, quality assurance; archiving of soil samples, laboratory data records maintenance, production and maintenance of Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) software for project and data management; development of field sampling methods, data mining and data applications nationally and internationally; verification of all laboratory results and submission to state soil scientists, assisting field personnel with data laboratory interpretations, development of collaborative research with academic and government collaborators; support to USDA national conservation program requirements for congressionally mandated activities (e.g. Farm Bills and the associated programs like Wetlands Reserve Program , Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, Conservation Reserve Program, etc.); design and delivery of national databases for activities of other USDA agencies like Farm Service Agency; coordinate with other USDA agencies (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Department of Homeland Security, etc) and design custom soil survey interpretations to meet national emergency needs for catastrophic events, terrorist activities, and land management activities. Specific soil survey analyses are indicated as follows: 4.1 Laboratory data analyses and verification: Complete chemical, physical and mineralogical characterization and organic and biological analyses of soils as requested, in accordance with procedures described in Soil Survey Laboratory Methods Manual classification of soils from laboratory data in accordance with Soil Taxonomy; entry of data into LIMS and other NRCS databases. 4.2 National and Standard Interpretations: Includes, but is not limited to, coordination and collaboration among USDA agencies, US Department of Interior, Department of Defense, and others to provide data, definitions, and soil interpretations for requirements of congressionally mandated national activities, programs, homeland security, and Department of Defense needs. 4. 3. Soil Survey Interpretations: Includes providing leadership, coordination and quality control of all NCSS interpretations by chairing multi-agency committees like the National Soil Interpretations Advisory Group (NSIAG) to provide NCSS leadership with recommendations related to emerging and future soil interpretation issues. 4.4 Field and Technical Assistance, and Soil Scientist Training: Includes sending soil survey investigations staff to the field to: 1) demonstrate and conduct training in methods of field sampling in accordance with the Soil Survey manual for submission to the soil survey laboratory; 2) demonstrate methods of determining locations to dig soil pits to capture key soil/landscape attributes in the database using approved concepts of geomorphology and pedogenesis and with complete soil profile descriptions in accordance with Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils 3) provide geomorphic assistance for interpretations of parent material distributions and landscape-scale processes; 4) provide instrumentation to interpret vadose zone hydrological processes and developing hydrologic flow nets; and 5) instrumentation and maintenance of field weather stations. Provide technical assistance to soil science training classes sponsored by the NSSC, including Basic Soil Survey and the Soil Science Institute. Provide technical assistance to the soil survey laboratory and to the requesting field soil scientists, and on an as-needed basis to academic cooperators, other state and federal agency cooperators and field and office NRCS personnel within the NSSC and nationally. Collaborate with U.S. Geological Survey on North American geochemistry database development and interpretations. 4.5 Scientific Investigations: Conduct field research to investigate processes of soil and landscape genesis useful for establishing and maintaining Soil Taxonomy and soil survey interpretations. Publish results in scientific, peer-reviewed journals to establish the scientific credibility of the soil survey. Written responses to this sources sought must contain sufficient documentation to convey organizational capabilities to fulfill the requirements. Interested organizations submitting a capability statement must provide the following: 1) company name and address; 2) point of contact; 3) phone/fax/email; 4) NAICS Codes; 5) business size and status; 6) capability information in response to the requirements / description; 7) clearly indicate specific support services your organization would be willing to offer and whether offerings can be supported Fully, Partially, or None; and 8) past experience describing similar projects. Clearly identify any information considered to be sensitive or proprietary. The closing date for the receipt of responses is June 14, 2006 at 5 PM, Eastern Daylight Time. Send your responses via email to the USDA Point of Contact listed below. POINT OF CONTACT Rhea Jack, Management Analyst Phone: 202-720-3721 Fax: 202-720-0344 Email: rhea.jack@wdc.usda.gov PLACE OF PERFORMANCE Services will be performed at the existing USDA NRCS National Soil Survey Center and Soil Survey Laboratory in Lincoln, Nebraska as well as other negotiable facilities within reason. Consideration will be given for alternate laboratory locations (centrally located) to achieve mission and operational requirements.
- Place of Performance
- Address: 100 Centenial Mall North, Room 152, Lincoln, NE
- Zip Code: 68508-3866
- Country: USA
- Zip Code: 68508-3866
- Record
- SN01054598-W 20060524/060522220212 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
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