(i) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, 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.

(ii) The solicitation number is 12569R18Q0026. This solicitation is issued as a request for quotations (RFQ) for a Firm Fixed Price contract. Simplified procurement procedures will be used for this acquisition per Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13. The Government intends to make one contract award.

(iii) This solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular FAC 2005-97. Provisions and clause incorporated by reference have the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. The full text of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Agriculture Acquisition Regulations (AGAR) can be accessed at http://farsite.hill.af.mil/ OR http://www.acquisition.gov/far/ and http://www.usda.gov/procurement/policy/agar.html

(iv) This is a total small-business set-aside. The associated NAICS code is 115310 and the small business size standard is $7.5M.

(v) Contract line items:
001: Provide weeding services for the bareroot seedling beds

(vi) Description of requirements for the items to be acquired:
Firm-fixed price, non-personal services. Contractor shall furnish all labor, equipment, supervision, transportation, quality control and incidentals other than the items specified as Government-furnished, to perform all necessary weeding services for the bareroot seedling beds at J. W. Toumey Nursery located in Watersmeet, Michigan. The Government will provide a restroom facility for the contractor's employees, weeding tools and buckets, and one or more portable dumpsters for the placement of weeds at the ends of the weeding beds. The Government will move and dump the contents of the dumpsters. Performance Incentives available IAW FAR 16.402-2, fees for infractions for negative performance may be assessed as shown in Appendix A Specs Attachment (Pages 7-8).
SEE ATTACHED SPECS APPENDIX A

(vii) The start date for the first project/order will be anticipated in May, June or July with a follow up project planned for June, July, or early August, for each year on any resulting contracting. The period of performance is three (3) years from date of award. Place of performance is located at J. W. Toumey Nursery in Watersmeet, Michigan. From historical data it is estimated but not guaranteed that there is potential for $10,000 minimum in orders each year for the three (3) year contract period, totaling $30,000 minimum over three (3) years. Option years are contingent upon the availability of government funds. It is the governments unilateral right to exercise option periods.

(viii) Provision at 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors -- Commercial, applies to this acquisition.

(ix) Provision at 52.212-2, Evaluation -- Commercial Items is applicable to this acquisition. The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers:
(1) Past performance in the past three (3) years with Government agencies and private clients in terms of cost control, quality of work and delivery schedules.
(2) Experience of the crew(s) and any proposed subcontractors
(3) Technical Approach
(4) Price Evaluation/Fair and reasonable

Experience, Technical and past performances when combined are approximately equal to price.
Contractors shall submit statements of qualifications and experience for personnel that will be providing the services and detailed price quote for each year.
Please provide a breakdown of how the price was calculated. An example of a breakdown would be:
# Laborers (estimated crew size)
## days to complete estimated X,000 LF
8 hour days (7:00 to 3:30pm central time)
$19.30/hr. ($15.26/hr. general forester labor rate + $4.02/hr. health and welfare)
(# laborers) x (## days) x (8 hrs./day) x ($19.30) = $XX,XXX.XX sub total
Subtotal $XX,XXX.XX /X,000LF = $X.XX per Lineal Foot (must be rounded to the nearest cent and totals entered on to pages 1 through 3 of Appendix A)

Contractors that fail to respond accordingly may be considered non-responsive and may not be considered for award. ***SEE ATTACHED EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF REQUIRED ITEMS

(x) Offerors shall include a completed copy of the provision at 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications -- Commercial Items (attachment available in uploaded document package), with its quote. An offeror shall complete only paragraphs (b) of this provision if the offeror has completed the annual representations and certificates electronically via the System for Award Management (SAM) online at www.sam.gov. If an offeror has NOT completed the annual representations and certifications electronically at the online, the offeror shall complete only paragraphs (c) through (o) of this provision. SAM replaces CCR/FedReg, ORCA, and EPLS.

(xi) The clause at 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions -- Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition.

(xii) The clause at 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required To Implement Statutes Or Executive Orders -- Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. The following additional FAR clauses cited in the clause are applicable to the acquisition:
52.203-19, Prohibition on Requiring Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Statements
52.209-10, Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations
52.233-3, Protest After Award.
52.233-4, Applicable Law for Breach of Contract Claim
Also applicable to acquisitions of commercial items:
52.203-13, Contractor Code of Business Ethics and Conduct.
52.204-14, Service Contract Reporting Requirements
52.204-15, Service Contract Reporting Requirements for Indefinite-Delivery Contracts
52.209-6, Protecting the Government's Interest When Subcontracting with Contractors Debarred, Suspended, or Proposed for Debarment
52.209-9, Updates of Publicly Available Information Regarding Responsibility Matters
52.219-6, Notice of Total Small Business Aside
52.219-13, Notice of Set-Aside of Orders
52.219-28, Post Award Small Business Program Rerepresentation
52.222-3, Convict Labor
52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities
52.222-26, Equal Opportunity
52.222-35, Equal Opportunity for Veterans
52.222-36, Equal Opportunity for Workers with Disabilities
52.222-37, Employment Reports on Veterans
52.222-40, Notification of Employee Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act)
52.222-50, Combating Trafficking in Persons.
52.222-54, Employment Eligibility Verification
52.223-18, Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging while Driving
52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer- System for Award Management
52.222-41, Service Contract Labor Standards
52.222-42, Statement of Equivalent Rates for Federal Hires (May 1989)
08250 GENERAL FORESTRY LABORER 15.26 - 20.83
52.222-43, Fair Labor Standards Act and Service Contract Labor Standards -- Price Adjustment (Multiple Year and Option Contracts)
52.222-55, Minimum Wages Under Executive Order 13658
52.222-62, Paid Sick Leave Under Executive Order 13706

(xiii) Additional contract requirement(s) or terms and conditions: All responsible sources may submit a response which, if timely received, must be considered by the agency. Vendors must be registered in Systems for Award Management prior to receiving a government contract (formerly Central Contractors Registration or CCR). See www.sam.gov for details - this may take up to 2 weeks and requires a DUNS number, so it is highly recommended that interested parties register immediately in order to avoid any delays in award. REQUIRED INVOICE INFORMATION - In accordance with USDA/USFS policy, contractors are to submit invoices through the Invoice Processing Platform (IPP). IPP is a Web-based system that provides one integrated, secure system to simplify the management of vendor invoices and is available at no charge to vendors. The system may be accessed at www.ipp.gov. Current Department of Labor Wage Determination applicable to this requirement is: WD 81-0136 (Rev.-48) dated 4/17/2018. If a DOL WD changes prior to award, the newest wage determination will be utilized.
The following additional FAR provisions and/or clauses in their most current version are applicable to the acquisition:
52.204-7 System for Award Management.
52.204-13 System for Award Management Maintenance.
52.211-16 -- Variation in Quantity
(b) The permissible variation shall be limited to: +/- 15%
52.215-8 Order of Precedence - Uniform Contract Format.
52.216-18 Ordering.
52.216-19 Order Limitations.
Minimum order. $3,000
Maximum order $75,000;
52.216-22 Indefinite Quantity.
52.217-5 -- Evaluation of Options
52.217-8 -- Option to Extend Services
52.217-9 -- Option to Extend the Term of the Contract
*********************************************
52.222-22 Previous Contracts and Compliance Reports.
The offeror represents that-
(a) It [] has, [] has not participated in a previous contract or subcontract subject the Equal Opportunity clause of this solicitation;

(b) It [] has, [] has not filed all required compliance reports; and

(c) Representations indicating submission of required compliance reports, signed by proposed subcontractors, will be obtained before subcontract awards.
(End of provision)
*********************************************
52.222-25 Affirmative Action Compliance.
The offeror represents that-

(a) It [] has developed and has on file, [] has not developed and does not have on file, at each establishment, affirmative action programs required by the rules and regulations of the Secretary of Labor (41 CFR 60-1 and 60-2); or

(b) It [] has not previously had contracts subject to the written affirmative action programs requirement of the rules and regulations of the Secretary of Labor.
(End of provision)
*********************************************
52.222-43 -- Fair Labor Standards Act and Service Contract Labor Standards -- Price Adjustment (Multiple Year and Option Contracts)
52.223-1 -- Biobased Product Certification
52.223-2 -- Affirmative Procurement of Biobased Products Under Service And Construction Contracts
52.223-5 Pollution Prevention and Right-to-Know Information.
52.223-6 Drug-Free Workplace.
52.232-1 Payments.
52.232-8 Discounts for Prompt Payment.
52.232-11 Extras.
52.232-18 Availability of Funds.
52.232-25 Prompt payment.
52.232-40 Providing Accelerated Payments to Small Business Subcontractors.
52.237-1 -- Site Visit
52.237-2 Protection of Government Buildings, Equipment, and Vegetation.
52.243-1 Changes - Fixed-Price.
52.244-6 Subcontracts for Commercial Items.
52.245-1 Government Property
52.245-9 Use and Charges
52.246-20 Warranty of Services.
52.246-4 Inspection of Services - Fixed-Price.
52.249-8 Default (Fixed-Price Supply and Service)
52.252-1 Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference.
http://farsite.hill.af.mil/ OR http://www.acquisition.gov/far/ and http://www.usda.gov/procurement/policy/agar.html
52.252-2 Clauses Incorporated by Reference.
http://farsite.hill.af.mil/ OR http://www.acquisition.gov/far/ and http://www.usda.gov/procurement/policy/agar.html

The following Agriculture Acquisition Regulations (AGAR) clauses and provisions in their most current version are applicable to this acquisition:
452.204-70 Inquiries.
452.211-72 Statement of Work/Specifications.
452.211-73 Attachments to Statements of Work/Specifications.
452.211-74 Period of Performance.
May - August 2018 (basic), May - August 2019 (option 1), and May - August 2020 (option 2).
Dates may be flexible and vary depending upon the weather and seasons.
452.211-75 Effective Period of the Contract.
The effective period of this contract is from the date of award (basic award) through one calendar year after award. Option years are effective in one year increments after basic award dates..
452.215-73 Postaward Conference.
The conference will be held at: within 30 days, location: To Be Determined.
452.216-72 Evaluation Quantities - Indefinite Delivery Contract.
452.216-73 Minimum and Maximum Contract Amounts.
During the period specified in FAR clause 52.216-18, ORDERING, the Government shall place orders totaling a minimum of $3000, but not in excess of $75,000.
452.216-74 Ceiling Price.
The ceiling price of this contract is $250,000.
452.219-70 Size Standard and NAICS Code Information.
Contract line item(s): 001
- NAICS Code 115310
- Size Standard $7.5 Million
452.236-74 Control of Erosion, Sedimentation, and Pollution
452.246-70 Inspection and Acceptance.
Inspection and acceptance will be performed at: J.W. Toumey Nursery, E23985 Old US 2 E, Watersmeet, MI 49969.

To be completed and submitted with quote (attachment available in uploaded document package):
452.209-70 Alt I Representation By Corporations Regarding An Unpaid Delinquent Tax Liability Or A Felony Conviction
452.209-71 Alt I Assurance Regarding Felony Conviction Or Tax Delinquent Status For Corporate Applicants Alternate 1
(xiv) N/A.
(xv) INFORMATION REQUIRED IN QUOTE:
 -Appendix A Price Sheet (pages 1-3), plus detailed breakdown
 -Past performance, Experience, Technical Approach (Experience & Capability Questionnaire)
 -Completed 52.222-22, 52.222-25, and 52.212-3
 -Completed 452.209-70 Alt I and 452.209-71 Alt I

The date, time and place quotes are due: If submitting hard copies, please submit complete copies of the above information to: USDA Forest Service, Debra Brinn, LSAT Contracting Officer, 5761 N Skeel Ave, Oscoda, MI 48750. Quotes are due 24 May 2018, not later than 2 p.m. EST. If sending via email to [email protected]
Facsimile only one copy is required.

(xvi) ALL QUESTIONS MUST BE IN WRITING. Please submit all questions to Debra Brinn at [email protected]. Questions and answers will be posted to FBO so please check back often as it is the contractor's responsibility to remain up to date on all available Q&A's as well as any potential resulting modifications. All questions must be received NLT three (3) days prior to solicitation close date, otherwise the government is under no obligation to review and/or address the questions.

Bid Protests Not Available