Description
See www.epa.gov/etib for Modification 1 to the Request for Quote. The attached questions and answers amend the RFQ as appropriate and are now part of the RFQ. All other terms, including timeframes, remain unchanged. Final questions and answers, if any, will be posted no later than Tuesday, July 11, 2006. This RFQ was formerly identified as RFQ-DC-05-00355. AMENDMENTS TO THE SOLICITATION 1. The attachment entitled "7/6/06 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS" has been added. The text is as follows: U.S ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY Expanding the Industry base (ETIB) blanket purchase agreement (BPA) PR-HQ-06-15070 (previously RFQ-DC-05-00355) Questions and Answers Question #1: Can you modify the RFQ with regards to the term ?Certified Industrial Hygienist? in order to include experienced Industrial Hygienists or Registered Professional Industrial Hygienists of the American Professional Industrial Hygiene Association? Answer #1: The RFQ is modified to include Certified Industrial Hygienists or the equivalent in regards to certification, experience, education, and/or membership in a professional organization. Question #2: Can a company submit a quote for a labor category/line item that is not listed in the RFQ? Answer #2: No, that portion of such a quote would be considered nonresponsive. Question #3: How many awards will the EPA make? Answer #3: The number of awards made per line item will depend upon the number and content of the quotes received. Question #4: Are teams that incorporate a Small Business, an 8(a) company, Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), and a Large Business preferable to making an award to one company? Answer #4: The EPA has no preference. Please note that the socio-economic status of the prime contractor is the relevant status for the line items? socio-economic set-aside categories. Question #5: If a team approach is chosen, does one of the team members need to be designated the prime contractor? Or, if the team is comprised of companies with different socioeconomic statuses (e.g., 8(a), SDVOSB), can the team submit quotes for all line items in all the applicable set-aside categories? Answer #5: One entity needs to be the prime with whom the EPA actually holds the BPA. The socioeconomic category of that entity is the one that counts. Of course, some categories are subsets of others, in which case the company qualifies for both (e.g., an 8(a) is also a small business). Question #6: Is the three-page limit for items a ? f of the RFQ per line item or does the page limitation apply to a company?s entire submission? Answer #6: The three-page limit applies per line item. Therefore, a company submitting quotes for two line items can submit three pages for each of the two line items addressed (for a total of six pages). Question #7: Under Section 6, Evaluation Criteria, do the listed criteria have a weight distribution (percentage)? Answer #7: The criteria have been given no specific weight; however, they are listed in the order of importance. Question #8: If awarded a BPA under this solicitation, will there be a competition between all vendors that were awarded a BPA for a particular line item? Answer #8: The intent of awarding to multiple firms per line item is to have the ability to rotate work among available vendors as outlined in Section 4, BPA Ordering Procedure, of the RFQ: ?Under this BPA, work may be allocated among multiple vendors per line item. Allocation of work will be based on a vendor?s availability, capacity, response speed, and equitable distribution among vendors.? Question #9: Which size standard applies to NAICS code 562910: $13 Million or 500 employees? Answer #9: The size standard for the ETIB BPA is 500 employees. The SBA outlines its exception to the $13 million size standard as follows: ?the general purpose . . . must be to restore a contaminated environment and also the procurement must be composed of activities in three or more separate industries with separate NAICS codes.? In this case, the RFQ line items define multiple separate industries, of which the combined purpose is environmental restoration. See: http://www.sba.gov/size/sizetable2002.html#fn14. Question #10: Can the EPA send me a list of small businesses interested in this procurement? Answer #10: The EPA cannot release that information. Question #11: Section 4, BPA Ordering Procedure, indicates that all the EPA regions may order work from this BPA. Does this mean that the regions will need to put funding into the BPA before they can order work? Answer #11: Yes, that is correct. Question #12: Are electronic email submissions allowed? Answer #12: Yes. Question #13: If a company is a small business subcontractor under a START contract, is the company precluded from submitting a quote under this RFQ? Answer #13: Yes, pursuant to Section 1, Description, of the RFQ. Question #14: This BPA consists of many response action tasks. If a BPA is awarded to a vendor, does this preclude that vendor from bidding on work where there is a response action restriction? Answer #14: Generally speaking, any activities under the BPA would not result in a waiver of any existing response action restrictions, e.g., a vendor being restricted from participating in both the site investigation and the response work. Question #15: Can years of experience replace degree requirements? Answer #15: No.