SRCSGT | F | RFI, to identify Biological Services for support to the Fish Transportation Program. The contractor must have an Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 10 permit from National Marine Fisheries Service.

FBO DAILY ISSUE OF DECEMBER 09, 2005 FBO #1474
SOURCES SOUGHT

F -- RFI, to identify Biological Services for support to the Fish Transportation Program. The contractor must have an Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 10 permit from National Marine Fisheries Service.

Notice Date: 12/7/2005
Notice Type: Sources Sought
NAICS: 541690 — Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services
Contracting Office: US Army Engineer District, Walla Walla, 201 N. Third Avenue, Walla Walla, WA 99362-1876
ZIP Code: 99362-1876
Solicitation Number: W912EF-06-R-SS01
Response Due: 12/15/2005
Archive Date: 2/13/2006
Small Business Set-Aside: N/A
Description: Request for Information for Biological Services to provide quality assistance and fish sampling functions in support of the Northwest Division of the Corps of Engineers' Juvenile Fish Transportation Program. 1.0 SUBJECT This Request for Information, (RFI) is seeking to identify Professional Services Contractors capable of meeting specific criteria established for biological support to the Fish Transportation Program for the Walla Walla District. Responses are due to this RFI by 4:00 PM on 15 December 2005. See Section 6.0 for further information. 2.0 DESCRIPTION The Contractor shall provide biologists to participate directly in the juvenile fish bypass, collection, and transportation programs at Lower Granite Dam (located near Pomeroy, Washington), Little Goose Dam (located near Starbuck, Washington), Lower Monumental Dam (located near Kahlotus, Washington), and McNary Dam (located near Umatilla, Oregon) for specific time periods between March and October 2006. The Contractor shall provide one biologist at each project eight hours per day on a daily basis (seven days per week) through the course of the contract work period. The Contractor's biologists will work closely with the Corps biologist responsible for the juvenile fish collection and transportation facilities at each of the four dams. 3.0 REQUIREMENTS The contractor must have an Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 10 permit from National Marine Fisheries Service which enables the Contractor to anesthetize and sample juvenile fish of all ESA listed stocks that may be encountered at the projects. The permit must authorize the taking of the listed stocks at all four of the Corps' juvenile fish transportation projects and must include a large enough take allowance to cover the anticipated number of listed species handled in the daily samples at each project. Work Items. Specific tasks performed by the Contractor are as follows: 1) Sampling of Juvenile Fish. The Contractor shall be responsible for all handling and sampling of juvenile fish insofar as it affects the welfare of the fish. The Contractor shall participate in the daily project sampling activities along side personnel from various state fishery agencies sampling fish under Bonneville Power Administration's Smolt Monitoring Program. The Contractor shall be responsible for ensuring that fish are sampled according to criteria specified in the Corps' Fish Passage Plan (FPP). The (FPP) can be obtained at the following website: http://www.nwd-wc.usace.army.mil/tmt/documents/fpp/ The Contractor shall anesthetize and handle fish in the daily sample to determine the total number of fish in the sample, species composition, average weight of the fish, and descaling and injury rates. These activities will usually occur simultaneously with other facility activities including truck or barge loading. The sample information will be used by the Corps project biologist to determine adherence to the loading criteria contained in the Corps' FPP. 2) Expanded Facility Collection Counts. During the transportation season, a sample only will be counted on a regular basis (under paragraph 3.a. above). The Contractor shall expand the total and species composition data from the daily sample to estimate total facility collection. At least once per day the Contractor shall also double check the Corps biologist's separator collection sheet to determine if there are any errors in the project's hourly collection estimate and raceway loading. This is a critical part of the facility operation upon which all loading and holding criteria are based. Even slight miscalculations may significantly bias the collection or loading estimate. The Contractor shall also record daily facility and sample mortality and shall calculate the number of juvenile fish transported by either truck or barge by species on a daily basis. 3) Facility Inspections and Project Assistance. The Contractor shall perform daily inspections of the operation and maintenance of the juvenile fish collection and transportation facilities at each project, for all activities directly affecting the welfare of the juvenile fish, and for compliance with the criteria set forth in the Corps' FPP. Activities to be inspected include, but are not limited to: trash accumulation and removal from turbine unit trash racks; turbine unit gatewells; operation and condition of submerged traveling screens and extended-length submerged bar screens; gatewell orifice operation and condition; condition of the juvenile collection channels, dewatering structures, and flumes; condition of counting, sorting, and holding facilities; sampling, inspection, and marking operations; fish crowding and loading operations; and condition of tractor-trailer and tug-barge units. Any deviations from project operating criteria will be reported to the Corps biologist for corrective action. The Contractor shall also assist the Corps biologist with orifice cycling and any fish handling required within the juvenile fish collection system if it is required to be dewatered during the operating season. The Contractor shall also inspect adult fishways at Lower Granite, Little Goose, and Lower Monumental dams, twice per week, for compliance with criteria set forth in the Corps' FPP. The inspection report shall be provided to the Corps biologist at each project after completion of the inspection. 4) Gatewell Dipping. Periodically during the transport season, changes in fish condition may warrant a detailed inspection of fish in various parts of the collection and transportation facilities. A common inspection practice is to dip gatewells and examine fish that have presumably just entered the bypass system. The Contractor shall assist the Corps biologists in dipping gatewells as necessary to evaluate condition of the fish. A complete record of gatewell dipnetting activity and fish condition data will be maintained by the Contractor biologist. 5) Water Temperature Data Collection. At McNary Dam, the Contractor shall be responsible for collecting water temperature data in the juvenile fish collection channel, turbine unit gatewells, forebay, tailrace, and fish holding facilities. Water temperature data will be collected hourly, and downloaded daily, using data logging probes from June 15, 2006 through August 30, 2006. Temperature data will be collected from the B bulkhead slot, at orifice depth, of all 14 turbine units. The Contractor shall take forebay water temperatures measurements at 7 locations across the face of the powerhouse, approximately in front of every other turbine unit, at 3 locations along the spillway, and in the project tailrace at the barge loading dock. The Contractor will also record water temperatures at 3 locations in the juvenile fish collection channel, in the juvenile fish separator, and in a raceway. The specific location for taking these water temperature measurements will be agreed upon between the Contractor and the Corps biologist at McNary Dam. The Contractor shall maintain the data in a computer spreadsheet. Water temperature data will be included in the weekly summary report prepared by the Contractor (under 3.i.) and in a separate final report summarizing the monitoring effort and data. The summary report shall be provided on the same schedule as the annual report in paragraph 3.i. 6) Activities of Outside Groups. The Contractor shall monitor the activities of groups or individuals engaged in fish research or other activities at the four projects to ensure that the activities of others at the project are not having a deleterious effect on the welfare of the juvenile fish. The Contractor shall keep track of the number of fish handled, marked, or sacrificed by each research group and shall include this information in the weekly report under 3.i. Any problems noticed will be reported to the Corps biologist. 7) Dissemination of Information and Coordination With Biologists at Other Projects. The Contractor will summarize and record daily fish count information and the daily activities of the collection and transportation program and be responsible for dissemination of such information. This does not include the gathering or use of fishery information for management of fish stocks, hatchery or wild, within the waters of the state or for the setting of management criteria therein. Copies of all information collected by the Contractor shall be provided to the Corps biologist at each project. 8) Ice Harbor Fish Condition Sampling. The Contractor shall provide two biologists from either McNary or Lower Monumental dams to sample fish in the juvenile fish sampling system at Ice Harbor Dam 4 hours per day, twice per week, from April 6, 2006 through July 15, 2006. The Contractor shall be responsible for anesthetizing fish collected by the Corps biologist at Ice Harbor project and evaluating the fish for fish condition. The Contractor shall provide the Corps project biologist, on each sampling day, information on the number of fish sampled by species, descaling and injury rates by species, and any information collected on gas bubble trauma symptoms or other fish condition. Fish sampled at Ice Harbor Dam are covered under a Corps ESA Section 10 permit from National Marine Fisheries Service. 9) Reporting. The Contractor shall prepare weekly summary reports for each project on juvenile fish collection and transportation program activities. The weekly reports shall cover the time period from Friday through Thursday and shall be provided to the Corps biologist by the following Monday afternoon. The report shall include numbers of fish collected and transported for the week and season to date, daily and weekly fish descaling rates, daily and weekly sample tank and facility mortality, daily barging and trucking mortalities, general fish condition, daily and seasonal number and condition of ESA listed adult fallbacks, unusual facility operations or deviations from facility operation and maintenance criteria, any unusual or significant events anticipated during the following week, and any other note worthy event concerning the collection and transportation program. Copies of the weekly report shall be distributed to interested parties in the region via electronic mail under item 3.g. An annual summary report shall also be prepared jointly with the Corps biologist and submitted to the Corps in draft by 30 days prior to the end of the work period at each project for a 10-day review and as a final report on the last work day at each project. Format will follow that of the Corps' Annual Juvenile Fish Transportation Program Report and the Contractor's portion will be as shown in Exhibit 1. Both the weekly and summary reports shall be submitted to the Walla Walla District through the Corps biologist at each project. The weekly and annual reports will be provided in electronic form in Microsoft Word format. 10) Safety. All Contractor employees shall attend a project orientation meeting prior to the collection and transportation season and weekly safety meetings while they are working at the projects. All project rules and regulations as well as all safety standards, EM 385-1-1, will be adhered to. 4.0 RESPONSE GUIDELINES / EVALUATION Please do not Submit Budget Proposals. This RFI serves as an initial procurement step for these requirements. Contracts will not be awarded through this RFI. A Request for Proposal will be issued. 1) Past Performance and References. a) The offeror shall submit evidence of performance on all contracts involving similar or related services over the past five years with th e Corps of Engineers and other organizations (both commercial and Governmental). This evidence shall include: (1) Name and address of the organization for which services were performed. (2) Current telephone number of a responsible technical representative of the organization. (3) Contract number, if applicable. (4) The type of contract performed, and (5) A brief description of the services provided, including the length of performance. (6) Documentation that the Contractor holds the required Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 10 permit. b) The offeror shall list any contracts that were terminated for convenience of the Government within the past three years, and any contract that was terminated for default within the past five years. Briefly explain the circumstance in each instance c) Failure to provide complete information regarding previous similar and/or related contracts may result in eventual disqualification. The Contracting Officer may consider such performance information along with other factors in determining whether the offeror is to be considered responsible, as defined in FAR 9.101. d) Maximum consideration will be awarded if the references substantiate prior experience of the offeror, and the clients indicate that offeror's performance was excellent, products were produced on time, budgets were not exceeded, and quality control was excellent. Lesser consideration will be assigned for average or sub-par overall performance, schedules not met, budgets exceeded through no fault of the client, or some problems with quality control. 2) Individual Staff Experience and Qualifications. Offerors shall submit publications, education, training and areas of expertise/specialization of all staff who may be assigned to projects under this contract. The offeror shall specify the education levels and fields of study for proposed personnel. 3) Experience with State and Federal Resource Agencies. Offerors shall submit evidence to demonstrate experience working with the State and Federal resource agency personnel, including specific project activities, agencies contracted, contractor role and responsibility and period of performance. 5.0 DISCLAIMER This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation. Responses to the RFI will not be returned. In accordance with FAR 15.202, responses to this notice are not an offer and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. 6.0 CONTACT INFORMATION Following is the Point of Contact (POC) for this RFI. Contract Specialist Mr. Gary Dahl 201 North Third Street Walla Walla, WA 99362-1876 (509) 527-7216 gary.h.dahl@nww01.usace.army.mil Please submit responses as described in Section 4.0 via e-mail attachments, or hard copy by 4:00 PM on 15 December 2005. Exhibit 1. Outline of Final Report for Juvenile Fish Transportation Program Topic Responsibility A. Introduction/River Conditions Corps & Contractor B. Modifications Corps C. Collection of Juveniles 1. Migration and Collection Corps & Contractor 2. Adult Fallback Corps 3. Separator Efficiency Contractor 4. Sampling Contractor 5. Transportation Corps & Contractor 6. Bypass Corps & Contractor D. Fish Condition 1. Descaling Contractor 2. Mortality Corps & Contractor E. Research Summary Contractor F. Facility Operations and Maintenance 1. Debris/Trashracks Corps & Contractor 2. Submersible Traveling Screens Corps 3. Collection System Corps 4. Distribution/Sampling System Corps & Contractor G. Recommendations for Next Year 1. Operations Corps & Contractor 2. Facility Modifications Corps & Contractor
Place of Performance: Address: US Army Engineer District, Walla Walla 201 N. Third Avenue, Walla Walla WA; Zip Code: 99362-1876; Country: US
Record: SN00947597-W 20051209/051207212429 (fbodaily.com)
Source: FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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F -- RFI, to identify Biological Services for support to the Fish Transportation Program. The contractor must have an Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 10 permit from National Marine Fisheries Service.