Inactive
Notice ID:140M0122R0008
PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY. This pre-solicitation notice is being issued in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 5.204. This procurement is anticipated in being conducted in acc...
PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY. This pre-solicitation notice is being issued in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 5.204. This procurement is anticipated in being conducted in accordance with FAR Part 15, Contracting by Negotiation. The United States Department of the Interior (DOI), Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) intends to competitively award a contract for a requirement for Telemetry, Scientific, Communications, and Engineering Support Services. The Government anticipates awarding a single award indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) type contract. There are no set aside restrictions anticipated. The BSEE Acquisition Operations Branch is the contracting office for this procurement and the resultant contract administrator. All potential Offerors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database at www.sam.gov at the time of submission of an offer. The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 541620, Environmental Consulting Services. The total ordering period of the contract is anticipated to be 5 years with a ceiling of $20,000,000.00. This is a follow on to the contract 140M0121D0004 with the incumbent vendor being Blue World Research Institute. BACKGROUND: The Office of Environmental Programs of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is engaged in several studies and environmental risk assessments which incorporate ecological modeling, animal movement, acoustic ecology, and impact assessments to better understand how they may potentially be impacted by energy or mineral extraction. These efforts require support for procuring and customizing various types of animal telemetry tags, field testing, tag deployments, risk assessment frameworks, expert elicitation as well as support for temporary animal holding, such as the provision of testing facilities as well as scientific communications in support of these objectives. PURPOSE: The objective of this contract is to support ecological modeling, animal behavior, physiological studies, impact assessments, and related environmental risk assessments in relationship to energy and mineral development and alternate use, provide vessel, logistical and where applicable, observational, support in the field, and/or recovery and preliminary analysis of data. The contractor shall perform appropriate Quality Assurance (QA)/Quality Control (QC) and conduct preliminary analysis and interpretation of the data collected in support of the BOEM principal investigator as well as support strategic communications and technology development. SCOPE OF WORK: Below is an overview of the Scope of the IDIQ contract for which task orders may be issued against. BOEM requires technical, logistical and communications support services for ecological research and environmental assessments, including those related to acoustic impact assessments. To accomplish these diverse needs, BOEM requires the provision of, systems modeling and engineering resources which may include logistical, technical and analytical support of animal telemetry and acoustic ecology projects to better understand the baseline and ecological impacts to the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Specifically, BOEM requires logistical support of field studies into the spatial and behavioral ecologies of various vertebrate species. This includes seawater systems, telemetry trials, several models of customized telemetry tags with acoustic recording abilities, oceanographic measuring, as well as logistical, communication and analytical support and customization. BOEM also requires support services for acoustic impact assessment, standards development, field studies related to sound source characterization and propagation, empirical studies on animal hearing and behavioral responses, expert contributions to acoustic impact risk assessments, and science communications support for these activities. This contract implements BOEM¿s Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act mandate to monitor the marine environment adjacent to U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) operations. Understanding animal movement, ecological impacts, and impacts from anthropogenic sound sources, in the OCS is required for everything under BOEM's purview. Information regarding the distribution, behavior and ecological impacts to various species will allow BOEM to effectively evaluate the potential for impacts from offshore energy development and marine mineral extraction for beach renourishment. Telemetry is an important tool to support animal movement and behavior studies to supplement the survey effort. Additionally, animal telemetry can be used to infer movements related to activities in the OCS, such as geophysical surveys, platform construction and demolition. Acoustic risk assessment frameworks also serve as important tools in environmental risk assessments. All of the above activities can provide relevant information for NEPA, MMPA, ESA consultations across program areas such as wind and hydrokinetic placement locations, oil/gas leasing and even used in monitoring impacts of climate change. BOEM requires support services and provisioning of equipment such as the purchasing of animal tags (tags), support for autonomous systems piloting and developing innovative research and communication methodologies which can increase the cost effectiveness of OCS science and environmental risk assessment while improving stakeholder engagement and understanding. UPCOMING SOLICITATION DETAILS: If you are interested in participating in this competition, organizations may monitor SAM.gov for postings related to solicitation number 140M0122R0008. Inquiries must be submitted in writing to the email address william.rilee@bsee.gov. Reference Solicitation No. 140M0122R0008 on all correspondence. Telephone inquiries are strongly discouraged and may not be answered. It is anticipated that the request for proposal will be released on SAM.gov in the late May/early June time frame.
