SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Technical Support for RSAC meetings
- Notice Date
- 1/11/2006
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 488210
— Support Activities for Rail Transportation
- Contracting Office
- Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Office of Acquisition and Grants Services, 1120 Vermont Avenue, NW Mail Stop 50, Washington, DC, 20590
- ZIP Code
- 20590
- Solicitation Number
- 2106370011
- Response Due
- 1/25/2006
- Archive Date
- 2/9/2006
- Description
- It is the intention of the Federal Railroad Administration?s (FRA) Office of Safety to enter into a Sole Source Contract/Purchased Services Vendor agreement with John F. Sneed to record minutes for Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) meetings. This procurement is being conducted under Simplified Acquisition Procedures, FAR Part 13. Mr. Sneed is uniquely qualified because of his expertise and knowledge of railroad safety issues discussed at the meetings, his acquaintance with the railroad management, union, industry, and Government officials who participate on the RSAC, and his good writing skills. FRA does not require, or desire a verbatim transcript, i.e., a court reporter/stenographer rendition of RSAC meeting proceedings. However, the recorder must be able to accurately reflect positions taken by key participants and agreements reached by the group. The minutes must include technical details, where necessary, to understand fully the positions and agreements articulated by the group. The minutes must filter out non-germane conversations between members, which have no bearing on the positions or agreements reached. Mr. Sneed has a keen understanding of the complexity and sensitivity of the issues before RSAC. Mr. Sneed?s longstanding involvement with RSAC has provided continuity to this important railroad safety process. FRA now uses RSAC as its principal resource for developing new safety rules for the railroad industry. FRA believes that greater compliance with rules is being achieved by rules that are jointly developed under the collaborative efforts of FRA, labor and management. Mr. Sneed has unique expertise and the ability to successfully complete the responsibilities of this contract/purchased services vendor agreement. In 2006, FRA now uses RSAC as its principal resource for developing new safety rules for the railroad industry. FRA believes that greater compliance with rules is being achieved by rules that are jointly developed under the collaborative efforts of FRA, labor and management. If progress cannot be achieved in developing new Agency rules under RSAC, FRA can remove a Task from RSAC and proceed with Agency rules under a conventional rulemaking process. When this occurs, FRA finds that it has benefitted greatly from having heard and understood the positions of the parties during the RSAC Working Group and Task Force deliberations. To propose a regulatory agenda item to RSAC, FRA first makes a presentation to the full RSAC and requests that the full RSAC accept a Task to propose new rules. Once a Task is accepted by the full RSAC, it is assigned to an RSAC Working Group. The RSAC Working Group may further divide the Task into segments, which are examined by RSAC Task Forces. Examples of RSAC Tasks include: (1) Revision of Freight Power Brake Regulations; (2) Revision of the Track Safety Standards; (3) Railroad Communications; (4) Tourist, Excursion, Scenic and Historic Service Railroads; (5) Revision of Steam-Powered Locomotive Inspection Standards; (6) Revision of Qualification and Certification of Locomotive Engineers Regulations; (7) Safety Standards for Track Motor Vehicles Self Propelled Roadway Equipment; (8) Locomotive Crashworthiness and Working Conditions; (9) Locomotive Cab Working Conditions; (10) Revision of Locomotive Event Recorder Requirements; (11) Positive Train Control Systems?Technologies, Definitions, and Capabilities; (12) Positive Train Control Systems?Implementation Issues; (13) Standards for New Train Control Systems; (14) Definition of Reportable ?Train Accident;? (15) Railroad Operating Practices?Blue Signal Protection of Workmen; (16) Accident/Incident Reporting/Conformity; (17) Review of Passenger Safety Issues; (18) Review of Roadway Worker Protection Issues; and (19) Reduce Human Factor-Caused Train Accident/Incidents. Scope of Work: The full RSAC meets approximately three times a year. RSAC Working Groups and RSAC Task Forces may meet monthly. The Contractor/Purchased Services Vendor may be requested to attend full RSAC, RSAC Working Group, or RSAC Task Force meetings at least two times a month. Meeting minutes must be kept of the full RSAC proceedings and are part of the RSAC Docket. Meeting minutes must also be kept of each RSAC Working Group and RSAC Task Force meeting, to enable a review of RSAC activities by FRA, the U. S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General, and the U.S. Government Accountability Office. These are posted on the RSAC Internet Web Site. The minutes should include: (1) The time, date, location, and attendance of the meeting. (2) A summary of matters discussed, by whom, and conclusions reached. (3) Identification of reports received, issued, or approved by the Committee, or various working groups of the Committee. (4) A description of the extent to which the meeting was closed to the public, if authorized under 41 CFR 101-6.1023. This award will be made on or about January 25, 2006 under the Simplified Acquisition threshold. The NAICS code for this acquisition is 488210. A determination by the Government to not compete this proposed effort on a full and open competitive basis, based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Oral communications are not accepted in response to this notice, reference FAR subpart 6.3.
- Place of Performance
- Address: Meeting locations are determined by RSAC Working Group and RSAC Task Force members and could change unexpectedly.
- Record
- SN00964556-W 20060113/060111211821 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
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