V--Airplane Services Palmyra Atoll NWR

The Department of the Interior (DOI), National Business Center (NBC), Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD), Boise, Idaho plans to issue a commercial item solicitation on behalf of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (US FWS), evaluate offers under Part 15 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, and award a contract for a contractor operated and maintained, on-call, multi-engine, turbine airplane to transport personnel and cargo between Honolulu, Hawaii and Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) for 4-6 roundtrips per year. Palmyra Atoll NWR is a remote atoll in the Line Islands about 1,000 miles south of Honolulu. The US FWS and The Nature Conservancy co-manage the refuge. The Palmyra runway is primarily constructed from crushed coral binded with soil cement to make a relatively hard surface; however, loose coral, other debris, or animals may be present on the runway. The runway is about 6,000 feet long and about 6 feet above sea level. Aircraft can only operate from the runway during the daytime. Daytime operations present the hazard of bird strikes. There can be over 1 million seabirds on Palmyra at a given time during the year. Many are large birds such as frigate birds and boobies (cs. 3-6 pounds) which are present during much of the year. The contractor also may be needed to occasionally provide on-call aircraft services to other Pacific locations (i.e. Johnston, Wake, and Midway islands), but only on a voluntary basis. The contractor shall provide a multi-engine turbine aircraft and two member flight crew(s) as required by the solicitation. A typical operation involves flying from Honolulu International Airport to Palmyra and back to Honolulu; however, the aircraft and crew may be required to overnight on the island(s). The contract airplane must have sufficient fuel capability to make the round trip to Palmyra and back to Honolulu. The Government will award an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract. The contract period is one year with four one-year option periods. The minimum guarantee is one roundtrip per year. Aircraft services will be ordered by the issuance of individual orders. The NAICS Code is 481211, Nonscheduled Chartered Passenger Air Transportation. The small business size standard is 1,500 employees. This action is 100% set aside for Small Businesses. An electronic copy of the solicitation will be available for download at www.fedconnect.net on or before July 23, 2012. Any apparent successful offeror must be registered in CCR (www.ccr.gov) in order to be awarded the contract.