SOLICITATION NOTICE
Q -- NOAA Coral Disease and Health Consortium National Research
- Notice Date
- 8/28/2006
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 541380
— Testing Laboratories
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Acquisition and Grants Office, SSMC4 - Room 7601/OFA61 1305 East West Highway, 7th Floor, Silver Spring, MD, 20910, UNITED STATES
- ZIP Code
- 00000
- Solicitation Number
- NFFK-6-489pla
- Response Due
- 9/12/2006
- Archive Date
- 9/14/2006
- Description
- This is a combined synopsis/solicitation to provide histologic services for the NOAA/National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) Office of Habitat Conservation requires the services to be acquired using simplified acquisition procedures, FAR Parts 12 and 13, as supplemented with additional information in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. Background: Over 35 coral diseases have now been reported from around the world. Limited information is currently available on many of these diseases, including few available data on their abundance, distribution and impact. Furthermore, published reports and grey literature refers to a recent emergence of new conditions, but there are concerns that a number of these diseases are being incorrectly identified. Services are needed to obtain accurate information on the prevalence and impact of diseases and to develop and train teams that are able to respond to unusual disease outbreaks as a part of the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program coral disease efforts and the Coral Disease and Health Consortium=s National Research Plan, to which NOAA has committed its support. This represents three separate tasks, one involves field monitoring and mapping and the other two tasks involve training in coral disease rapid response. Specifically, the contractors will contribute to NOAAs duties under these projects: 1) Conduct surveys off the west and south coast of Puerto Rico four times over one year to assess the population dynamics, condition and prevalence of coral diseases, 2) Map the spatial distribution of Acropora palmata colonies off La Parguera, Guanica, Ponce, Guayanilla, Boquer?n, Mayaguez and Rincon, and assess the condition of these corals, 3) Train a team of researchers to identify diseases in the western Atlantic, and respond to unusual disease outbreaks, including approaches to collect ecological data and to sample affected corals for histology, TEM/SEM, microbiology and molecular biology. The classroom and field activities must be conducted in Puerto Rico and/or the USVI and must involve researchers and/or graduate students based in the U.S. Caribbean, 4) Train a team of researchers to identify diseases in the Pacific, and respond to unusual disease outbreaks, including approaches to collect ecological data and to sample affected corals for histology, TEM/SEM, microbiology and molecular biology. Scope of Work Task 1 - NOAA Coral Disease and Health Consortium -The contractor will establish a program in Puerto Rico to evaluate the abundance and distribution of coral diseases and the condition of Acropora palmata colonies on nearshore and offshore reefs around the west and south coast of the island and the offshore U.S. affiliated islands of Mona and Desecheo. The number of diseases present, the prevalence of these diseases and the species they are affecting shall be identified. The spatial extent, distribution and condition of A. palmata on nearshore reefs shall be characterized by the contractor. 1) Through the use of belt transects and reexamination of tagged corals within permanent sites in different reef environments (e.g., back and fore reef habitats) and different distances from land (nearshore, mid shelf and shelf edge reefs), the prevalence, incidence and impact of coral diseases will be examined. Specific objectives include: i)Characterization of the prevalence of diseases (type of disease, species affected and proportion of the population with active disease signs) on reefs off the south and west coast. Data will be collected on species diversity and size frequency of corals; percent live tissue and extent of recent mortality; and cause of mortality, ii)Characterization of changes in live tissue (planar surface area) and spreading rates of diseases under different environmental conditions (e.g., relationship with depth, temperature, visibility/turbidity and distance from population centers) on tagged corals, iii)Extent of regrowth of coral tissue on colonies affected by disease, which have gone into remission and patterns of recruitment on exposed coral skeletal surfaces, iv)In addition to field surveys, additional corals will be tagged if a disease outbreak is documented, and samples of diseased tissue will be collected for histological examinations. 2) To aid in the management and regulatory activities related to ESA listing of two ESA corals (Acropora palmata and A. cervicornis), the extant spatial distribution in south and west Puerto Rico will be mapped and compiled in a GIS database. Specific objectives include: i) Mapping the perimeter of extant stands of A. palmata and specific points of living colonies in areas where they occur as isolated corals or in small aggregates, ii) Assess the condition of corals within each area, characterizing size, percent live tissue and presence of disease or other causes of mortality, iii) Tag representative colonies for long term monitoring, iv) Identify and characterize patterns of recruitment Task 2 - Disease Outbreak Investigative Procedures Training for Pacific Corals: The purpose of this contract is to provide Responder Training in Coral Disease Outbreak Investigation Procedures for Pacific Response Team Members: i) Conduct training in the Pacific Islands, particularly Guam and other Pacific regional U.S. Territories for responders participating in regional Coral Disease Outbreak Investigations. The number of trainees would be limited to 10-12 individuals, per training session, ii) The training would consist of a total of four days: one full day of classroom instruction followed by two full days of field trials and one half day closing discussions to identify strengths and weaknesses of the training and provide an opportunity for review and clarification, in Guam or other appropriate site in U.S. Pacific Territories, iii) Travel and accommodations, will be provided for individuals selected by NOAA for Responder Training. As part of the field training aspect, the vendor will be responsible for logistical support to include transportation to the field site, dive boats charters, scuba equipment, tanks and other incidentals related to field training in coral disease outbreak investigation. Task 3 ? Disease Outbreak Investigative Procedures Training for Caribbean Coral The purpose of this contract is to provide responder training in Coral Disease Outbreak Investigation Procedures for Caribbean Response Team Members: i) Conduct training in Caribbean for responders participating in regional Coral Disease Outbreak Investigations. The number of trainees would be limited to 10-12 individuals, per training session, ii) The training would consist of a total of four days: one full day of classroom instruction followed by two full days of field trials and one half day closing discussions to identify strengths and weaknesses of the training and provide an opportunity for review and clarification, in Puerto Rico or the US Virgin Islands, iii) travel and accommodations will be provided for individuals selected by NOAA for the Responder Training. As part of the field training aspect, the vendor will be responsible for logistical support to include transportation to the field site, dive boats charters, scuba equipment, tanks and other incidentals related to field training in coral disease outbreak investigation. Period of Performance: The contractor shall perform the above tasks during the expected period of performance September 21, 2006 through December 31, 2007. The contractor may choose to include in their quote a different period of performance within this specified period based on subject matter and the solicitation. Deliverables: 1. Evaluation of the curriculum by the students. 2. Report evaluating the training providing recommendations for any modifications or additions that would improve response time or quality of the response. 3. Certification of training for each responder as qualified to participate in or lead a Coral Disease Outbreak Investigation. A contractor may choose to submit a quote to accomplish each of the above tasks or all three of the above tasks. For review purposes, the quotes shall be distinctly different and each shall be designated with the Task number so that each may be compared separately with the evaluation criteria. Any contractor submitting a quote for more than one task may choose to apply a volume discount. The solicitation document and incorporated clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular Number 2005-12. The provisions and clauses may be downloaded at http://www.acqnet.gov/far. The following provisions and clauses shall apply to this solicitation: FAR 52.212-l, Instructions to Offerors - Commercial, applies to this acquisition and there is no addenda to this provision; FAR 52.212-2, Evaluation - Commercial Items. The summed total amount of approximately $64,000 has been budgeted for these requirements. The Government shall award a purchase order resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror conforming to the solicitation that will be most advantageous (best value) to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: (i) approach, (ii) past performance, (iii) price; FAR 52-212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition and there is no addenda to this provision; FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition and there is no addenda to this provision; FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders - Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. The Government reserves the right to make a single award, multiple awards of no award as a result of this solicitation. All interested contractors must be actively registered in the Central Contractor Registration(CCR) at www.ccr.gov .
- Record
- SN01127240-W 20060830/060828220240 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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