Intent to Increase the Ceiling on a Current IDIQ with METI, Inc.

The US Forest Service, Acquisition Operations, Washington Office in accordance with to the authority of 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1) FAR Subpart 6.302-1(a)(2)(ii)(A), (B) - Only one responsible source and no other services will satisfy agency requirements, intends to execute, without competition, a bilateral contract modification under contract AG-3187-C-12-0004 (sole source - Modification 0003) to METI, Inc. to increase the current contract ceiling amount (see details below). The current contract provides a full range of Research and Development Services including, Professional Research and Development Support, Emergency Services, and Administrative funds transfers to support the mission of the Office of International Programs as part of interagency agreement for international humanitarian and diplomatic assistance and environmental initiatives, to ensure continued operations in over 80 countries abroad. a. Under the current IDIQ, METI provides the following support to the Office of International Programs: 1. Provides both short term and long term staffing for USFS/IP with appropriate language skills, overseas experience and technical ability. METI will process security clearances or background investigations for individuals when required for assignments overseas or to enter United States facilities. The individuals may provide technical and administrative services as needed. USFS/IP will require that METI have procedures for handling emergencies associated with international travel; will ensure that individuals working overseas have necessary visas, work permits, and benefits that may include housing allowances, health and evacuation insurance, shipping and/or storage of household effects, and education allowances for children, when required. 2. Wire funds to Forest Service partners overseas on a reimbursable basis according to the conditions in each performance based statement of work and will similarly purchase and deliver equipment to overseas entities as requested. 3. Provide support to Overseas Offices by: a. Transfer funds and ensure they are received at each overseas project office. These wire transfers will facilitate financial operation of the overseas projects and will support the establishment, management, and ongoing implementation of the LRI, PFSI and STEWARD programs. b. The local staff is employed by the respective program office (LRI, PFSI, STEWARD), which are each a US Government sponsored entity. Each program office will retain the services of a local firm in order to ensure compliance with all labor and registration laws, as well as accounting staff. While METI will support the transfer of funds, the full-time program staff in each office, with ongoing contracted support of its local law firm, will be responsible for program management. c. The transfer of funds on an reimbursable basis to support registration and local tax compliance of international and local personnel, administration of local staff, leasing of office space, vehicles and equipment, accounting services and technical support. The following details the requirements for each of those enumerated above. d. The contracted firm must have taken necessary steps to secure in expedited fashion the required work and residency permits for the programs in-country Program Directors. In addition, the contracted firm must be competent to ensure that international staff members, notably the Program Director, continue to work and operate in full compliance with local labor, tax and administrative laws and regulations and that any and all required insurance and indemnification provisions are complied with and maintained for the duration of their presence in Lebanon, Peru or Sierra Leone. The firm must be competent to assist with the declaration and filing of all required local tax and withholding provisions applicable to international staff. e. Each program office administers all human resource issues related to local staff recruited by USFS for the project, including labor law compliance and taxation; payment of salaries, benefits, and social security obligations; hiring and termination paperwork, and other related personnel requirements. Each program office assumes legal responsibility for all staff it hires for the project, subject to the labor and tax laws of the host country (e.g. Lebanon, Peru, or Sierra Leone). The local staff reports to the USFS-IP program leadership. The contractor must be willing to accept the above administrative arrangements associated with personnel management. f. Among other related personnel management, each program office, with ongoing legal counsel of the contracted firm, will be responsible for working with both METI and the USFS to: • Prepare hiring contracts and related personnel documentation; • Register all hired staff with the relevant labor and tax offices in the host country; • Prepare and disburse monthly staff payroll and benefits; • File payroll taxes and other required employee income tax declarations; • Prepare and submit all required employee social security obligations; and • Ensure ongoing compliance with all local labor and tax laws and regulations. Local staff includes technical, administrative, and outreach professional positions. The technical positions include: Silviculture and Nursery Extension Agents, Mapping Technicians, Natural Resource Policy Advisor, Forestry, Biodiversity, Information System, Natural Resource, and Training Program Managers. The administrative positions include: Accountant, Logistician, Driver, Office Manager, Project Coordinator, Administration Manager, and Assistant Administration Manager. The outreach staff includes: Environmental Education Outreach Specialist, a Foundation Development and Outreach Specialist, Communications Specialist, and Communications and Outreach Coordinator. Each program office, through METI and with ongoing legal counsel of its contracted firm, ensure that all necessary insurance and indemnification requirements mandated by law will be provided for under the terms of the lease provisions, including but not limited to office staff liability and indemnification for damage to real and other leased property. Each program office lease all required vehicles for use by program staff and ensure that leased vehicles are maintained in a safe and operable condition under the terms of the lease. Each program office ensures that all needed vehicle insurance and indemnification of vehicle drivers and occupants is maintained. In addition to the basic office future and computers procured for the program office, each program purchases additional computers and program-related software and electronic data needed to carry out the sophisticated mapping components of the project. All equipment will remain the property of USFS during implementation and at the conclusion of each program per agreement with USAID. Each program office employs an accountant to provide all needed local accounting and financial services, including creation and maintenance of a program bank account, tracking and reporting of administrative and program expenditures, and other bookkeeping requirements. The contracted firm will provide ongoing support to the accountant and program office to ensure compliance with all local laws needed to maintain financial compliance and integrity. Each program office utilizes funds to secure facilities, interpretation services and translation for workshops and events related to the program. The programs locally procure materials and equipment at the behest of USAID. Local staff travels domestically to provide extension and outreach services. They travel to the United States for short-term mentoring opportunities with US Forest Service field personnel. In order to carry out the technical goals of each program, local staff conducts workshops, technical trainings, and maintain strong communication between the program staff and participating municipalities and communities. In Lebanon, the program office obtains planting services and equipment, include hiring local guards to monitor the newly planted sites for the first year when seedlings are the most vulnerable and including tree shelters for shading and protecting new seedlings from harsh weather conditions and unwanted animal grazing, specialized planting tools for successful reforestation, bags for transporting seedlings across Lebanon, high quality nursery seedling containers which are not locally available in-country, irrigation, fertilization, and mulching materials and related equipment, and technical probes to measure soil moisture and temperature on selected planting sites. In Peru, for PFSI, workshops and technical training activities are carried out principally in the five Amazon regions and in Lima. Workshops and technical training focus on topics such as development and management of a forest and natural resource information system, design and implementation of forest inventory, data collection and analysis, including use and analysis of remote sensing, and forest and natural resources policy development. Other areas of work include reduced impact logging, community forest management, law enforcement methods and techniques, and management and leadership skill development. In West Africa, the activities supported by the wire transfer support administrative costs for the office in Freetown, the three field offices, and the monitoring of partner implementation in the four countries. Technical activities are carried out by partners that will be contracted by the USFS Grants and Agreement Office and USFS Office of Acquisitions Management. The primary purpose of this notice is to publicize this contract action prior to contract modification, as mandated in FAR Subpart 5.2 (Synopses of Proposed Contract Actions) and FAR Subpart 6.3 (Other Than Full and Open Competition). The contract type will remain Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ), from the original date of award (01/26/2012) through the current period performance 01/25/2013 which will be extended through 4/25/2013. The original contract action was awarded for one year at $17M and this modification will add $4.5M in ceiling to the contract, for total IDIQ contract value at $21.5M This is a notice only. It is not a solicitation or RFP.