SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Advanced Statistical Support
- Notice Date
- 4/2/2008
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 541990
— All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
- Contracting Office
- RTP Procurement Operations Division (D143-01) Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
- ZIP Code
- 27711
- Solicitation Number
- PR-NC-08-10165
- Response Due
- 4/16/2008
- Archive Date
- 5/16/2008
- Point of Contact
- ROBIN S. HARRIS, Placement Contracting Officer, Phone: 919-541-0955, E-Mail: harris.robin@epa.gov
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION (FAR) SUBPART 12.6 "SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS", AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION. QUOTES ARE BEING REQUESTED AND A WRITTEN SOLICITATION WILL NOT BE ISSUED.This solicitation is for Advanced Statistical Support for Geospatial Modeling of Coral Status and Different Stressors and is a SMALL BUSINESS SET-ASIDE. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code is 541990- All Other Professional, Scientific and Technical Services. The Small Business Size Standard is $6.5 million. The solicitation number is PR-NC-08-10165, and the solicitation is being issued as a Request for Proposal (RFP). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 05-24. A firm, fixed-price contract is anticipated to result from the award of this solicitation. The period of performance is anticipated to be 12 months. Prospective offerors must go to the stated EPA website at http://www.epa.gov/oam/rtp_cmd to obtain any additional information relating to this procurement.BACKGROUND: US EPA, NHEERL, Gulf Ecology Division is assessing coral health and environmental data from multiple spatial and temporal scales to evaluate the ecological condition of coral reefs in the South Florida Reef tract and provide forecasts for future risks to the sustainability of reefs. GED has a decade of coral status and environmental primary data from their Florida Keys studies and a variety of secondary data from other studies. SCOPE: The purpose of this effort is to (1) apply advanced geospatial and statistical approaches to determine the geospatial relationships between coral health and environmental and anthropogenic stressors in the South Florida Reef, and (2) support the development of predictive models that link changes in the magnitude and duration of stressor exposures to changes in coral health. All data to be used in this contract is provided by EPA. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS/TASK DESCRIPTIONS: This procurement is for: (a) the conduct of advanced geostatistical and advanced statistical analyses (e.g. multiple logistic regression, nonparametric multivariate methods, Poisson distributions, AICc) of geospatial data on coral status in the Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas using stressor distributions provided by EPA, (b) support for the development of predictive models which link changes in the magnitude and duration of stressor exposures to changes in coral status, (c) interpretation of results from advanced statistical and geostatistical analyses to distinguish which environmental factor or combination of factors, best associate to the presence or changes in coral communities and their status and (d) discussion and demonstration of the advanced statistical methods and approaches used in the analyses to EPA staff, during two onsite visits at the Gulf Ecology Division (GED), 1 Sabine Island Drive, Gulf Breeze, FL 32561. The on-site efforts shall include (1) discussion of additional data needs to strengthen advanced statistical relationships between coral status and potential stressors, (2) additional advanced geostatistical and statistical approaches needed to most effectively evaluate these relationships, and (3) advanced statistical approaches to support predictive model development for coral status and stressor impacts. EPA shall provide use of any available audio\visual electronic equipment required by the Contractor during the on-site visits.DELIVERABLES: Deliverable 1. Within 60 calendar days after the effective date of the contract - An on-site presentation at GED of the proposed work by the Contractor. EPA staff and the Contractor shall discuss all detailed aspects of the project. The Contractor shall make recommendations for a) advanced statistical analyses and approaches to be used, b) additional data which would strengthen advanced statistical relationships, c) models of coral status and potential stressors to be considered, and d) additional advanced statistical analyses recommended to examine relationships between these spatial and temporal associations. The presentation shall occur during an onsite visit by the Contractor to the Gulf Ecology Division. The Contractor shall provide a report after the on-site visit which includes: a) details of the statistical recommendations and approaches agreed upon during the on-site visit; b) developed work plan; and c) proposed work schedule. The Contractor shall provide an electronic report within 15 calendar days after the Contractor departed from the on-site visit. Deliverable 2. Within 180 calendar days after the Deliverable 1 report is approved by EPA - An on-site presentation to EPA staff of the geostatistical results following the completion of the analytical and interpretive work on the data. The results shall include but not limited to: a) completed advanced statistical analyses examining relationships of environmental stressors (provided by EPA) to coral status data, b) completed geostatistical evaluation of additional data that was found to strengthen stressor and coral health relationships, c) evaluation of models recommended for predicting coral status after exposure to stressors and d) examination of relationships between spatial and temporal association. The Contractor shall provide an electronic report which details the advanced statistical results and interpretation within 20 calendar days after the on-site visit. The timing of this activity shall (1) follow the Contractor completion of the statistical analyses and interpretation of all the provided data for this project and (2) shall be completed within nine (9) months after the effective date of the contract. Deliverable 3. A final report with data illustrations which: characterize and define relationships, discuss the advanced statistical approaches and QA measures used for geospatial data (See Appendix 1), inherent assumptions, strength of the relationships, and provide recommendations regarding (a) additional data that would strengthen data relationships and (b) future analyses that shall more completely examine and characterize these temporal and spatial associations. The final report shall contain all detailed information required for reporting statistical methodology, assumptions, limitations, and interpretations required for developing a manuscript for a peer-reviewed journal. A printed copy and electronic version in Microsoft Word and Excel of the report shall be provided to Project Officer within 11 months after the effective date of the contract. The report shall be reviewed by EPA within 15 calendar days of receipt of final report; specific topics requiring additional clarification shall be noted. The contractor shall have 15 calendar days from receipt of the marked-up report to provide the final report. APPENDIX 1, Quality Assurance Standards for Geospatial DataAcceptance criteria for choosing geospatial data sources for the project shall ensure the use of the ?best available? data. The EPA will accept geospatial data from an existing source if the following elements can be determined from a Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) or equivalent metadata: accuracy, completeness, logical consistency, and lineage. Accuracy: There are two kinds of geospatial data accuracy: 1) positional accuracy which is the closeness of the locations of the geospatial features to their true position and 2) attribute accuracy which is the closeness of attribute values (characteristics at the location) to their true values. Positional accuracy targets apply to the location of sampling points associated with biological data and shall include the Federal Geographic Data Committee?s (FGDC) National Standard for Spatial Data Accuracy Test Guidelines and EPA?s Locational Reporting Standard of within 25 meters.Completeness: The EPA shall accept data from an existing source if both the positional data and attribute data are 80% or more complete. Logical Consistency: Logical consistency is attained when the geospatial database complies with the structural characteristics of the data and is compatible with attribute constraints defined for the system. In this case biological measurements shall be logically consistent with the database of geospatial positioning. The biological/analytical data are keyed to a unique station location (latitude/longitude). This station location is identified within a South Florida regional segment because its location falls within the boundary of that segment. The regional sections were developed and adopted into the FKNMS Management Plan (Fig 1, Klein & Orlando, 1994). Each location is identified with part or all of its boundaries which overlap the boundary of the segment. Precision: Precision of geospatial data is defined as the number of decimal places or significant digits in a measurement. The latitude/longitude coordinates in the database are to reflect the actual locations of the sampling stations. Latitude/longitude coordinates shall be in decimal degrees, with a precision of at least 4 decimals. The original latitude/longitude coordinates are to be converted into a GIS format and displayed on maps without loss of precision or accuracy. Lineage: Data lineage is the description of the origin and processing history of a data set. It includes the name of the organization that produced the data so that its policies, procedures, and methods can be evaluated to see if they were biased in representing geospatial attributes. Lineage also provides references for data accuracy, how accuracy was determined, and corrections made in producing the source map from which the data were derived. We shall accept geospatial data from an existing source if we can adequately document the lineage of the data with metadata. APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS: Upon request the following items shall be provided to the contractor: a) an inventory of available data in Excel? Spread Sheet and/or (b) a DVD containing all available data to be used in the performance of this Contract. The data are stored as electronic files in GIS layers or feature classes and include all metadata for the Florida Keys reef system required for the performance of this Contract (ESRI Arc View?). The Contracting Officer shall, upon request of the interested contractor, provide the necessary items to respond to this request for quotes (RFQ). Before any items shall be released, a signed statement shall be provided in advance to the Contracting Officer that the contractor shall not use the data for any purposes other than for the performance of this contract. The Government intends to award a single contract to the responsible offeror whose technically acceptable proposal represents the 'best value' to the Government. For this requirement 'best value' will be determined based upon five factors- (1) Technical Approach, (2) Past Performance (3) Personnel Qualifications and Experience, (4) Adequacy of Quality Assurance/Quality Control Program and (5) Price. For the purpose of this best value solicitation, all evaluation factors other than cost or price when combined are significantly more important than cost or price. This procurement shall be awarded based on the following 'best value' criteria: 1. Technical ApproachDemonstrated technical approach to accomplish delineated tasks in the Statement of Work, including a description of the types of data comparisons proposed and the advanced statistical methods and geospatial approaches to be used. 2. Past Performance Proposals shall be evaluated on performance under existing and prior contracts/subcontracts/orders for services similar to that described in the Statement of Work. For each project/contract/order, offerors must include in their proposal: (1) a list of contracts performed within the last three (3) years and those in process for similar work; and (2) brief synopsis which includes the date the work was performed and the client for whom advanced geostatistical and statistical analysis, and support of biological model development work was performed (include client name, telephone number and valid email address if available). The Government's evaluation shall focus on demonstrated ability to complete the tasks in a timely manner by meeting deadlines, quality of service, cost effectiveness and overall level of customer satisfaction. 3. Personnel Qualifications and Experience Demonstrated qualifications and experience of the proposed personnel including advanced degrees in geostatistics and mathematics, experience in survey design, geostatistics, logistical regression, and other advanced statistics, teaching experience in experimental design and statistical approach to analyzing geospatial data, peer reviewed journal publications in the statistical analysis of geospatial data, and working with geospatial data on reef-building corals. For each proposed personnel, the offeror shall submit a current resume that demonstrates the contractor?s knowledge and experience in conducting such (1) geostatistical and advanced statistical analyses (2) supporting predictive model development and (3) working with geospatial data on reef building corals. 4. Adequacy of Quality Assurance / Quality Control Program The offeror shall submit a brief Quality Management Plan (QMP) for this contract that clearly describe the offerors compliance with Quality Assurance Standard Criteria used for geospatial data specified in Appendix 1. The QMP shall demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the applicable scientific quality assurance program and outline how these requirements will be implemented. 5. Price An itemized breakdown of the proposed firm-fixed-price for the entire project. The breakdown should include direct labor hours, other direct cost inclusive of any travel, supplies, etc, indirect cost and profit. The Government reserves the right to require additional pricing information if necessary to determine that the proposed price is reasonable.NOTE: The following FAR provisions apply to this solicitation: 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors--Commercial Items. The following FAR clauses apply to this acquisition: 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items. The following additional FAR clauses which are cited in clauses 52.212-5 are applicable to the acquisition: 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity; 52.222-35, Affirmative Action for Disabled Veterans and Veterans of the Vietnam Era; 52.222-36, Affirmative Action for Handicapped Workers; 52.222-37, Employment Reports on Special Disabled Veterans and Veterans of the Vietnam Era; 52.225-1, Buy American Act, 52.225-3, Buy American Act--North American Free Trade Agreement, 52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Fund Transfer-Central Contractor Registration. All offerors must complete online Representations and Certifications in accordance with FAR 52.204-8 . In accordance with FAR 52.204-7(b)(1)Central Contractor Registration, all prospective awardees shall be registered in the CCR database prior to award, during performance, and through final payment of any contract or purchasing agreement resulting from this solicitation. In accordance with FAR 52.227-17, Rights in Data - Special Works, the contractor shall NOT use the data provided under this synopsis/solicitation and any resulting contract for any purpose other than the performance of this contract. Offerors should review any other information posted with this Request for Quotation on EPA's website at the following address: http://www.epa.gov/oam/rtp_cmd. Arrow down to the CURRENT SOLICITATIONS section and click on the solicitation. Please submit two copies of the technical and price proposal to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, RTP Procurement Operations Division (E105-02), Attn: Robin S. Harris, Contract Specialist, 4930 Page Road, Durham, NC 27703. All offers are due by April 16, 2008, 12:00 p.m. (noon), ET. No telephonic or faxed requests will be honored. E-mail proposals are acceptable and should be e-mailed to: harris.robin@epa.gov NOTE: THIS NOTICE WAS NOT POSTED TO FEDBIZOPPS ON THE DATE INDICATED IN THE NOTICE ITSELF (02-APR-2008); HOWEVER, IT DID APPEAR IN THE FEDBIZOPPS FTP FEED ON THIS DATE. PLEASE CONTACT fbo.support@gsa.gov REGARDING THIS ISSUE.
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Link To Document
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/EPA/OAM/CMD/PR-NC-08-10165/listing.html)
- Record
- SN01546352-F 20080404/080403042657 (fbodaily.com)
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FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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