U. S. Department Of Commerce, NOAA, Central Administrative Support Center, 601 East 12th St., CC31, Rm. 1756, Kansas City, Missouri 64106

R -- COLLECTION OF SCIENTIFIC DATA SOL NCND6012000007 POC Sheila Anderson, Contract Specialist, 816-426-7267, ext. 240 Sources Sought. The U.S. Department of Commerce, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary(FKNMS) intends to contract services with Mr. Benjamin Richards of Marathon, Florida, to update the FKNMS website monthly, provide monitoring support, and to provide computer support services. The FKNMS was designated on November 17, 1990. After its establishment, the Sanctuary Advisory Council worked with the public and Sanctuary staff for several years to create a comprehensive management plan for the 2800 square nautical miles that encompass the FKNMS. This Final Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (FMP/EIS) became effective on July 1, 1997. The FMP includes 10 action plans that detail specific actions for protecting Sanctuary resources. Three of the action plans relate to the requirement: Education/Outreach, Research and Monitoring, and Zoning. With 2.5 million visitors per year and over 85,000 permanent residents, education and outreach by the FKNMS is essential in order to prevent careless damageto natural and cultural resources. The World Wide Web (WWW) offers an excellent medium through which to disseminate information to the public and is increasingly being used by the FKNMS to do this. A major aspect of the implementation was the establishment of 23 no-take zones which are designed to protect important habitat and biodiversity. As a condition of signing on to the co-management of the Sanctuary (65% of the Sanctuary are State waters) the State of Florida required that the effectiveness of the zones be reevaluated after 5 years or the year 2002. Therefore, in July of 1997, the Sanctuary implemented a Zone Monitoring Program (ZMP) to evaluate the performance of the zones in order to provide a report on zone performance in the year 2002 to State and Federal Managers. In addition, the FMP mandates the implementation of a new ecological reserve in the Tortugas region within two years of the effective date of the final plan. A planning process for this ecological reserve is outlined in the FMP. An essential tool for the planning process is the development and maintenance of a World Wide Web (WWW) site for disseminating timely information about the ecological reserve. The contractor shall produce work related to activities of the Education/Outreach, Research and Monitoring, and Zoning Action Plans and assist with computer maintenance. Specifically, the contractor will implement the targeted marine life rapid survey (TMLS) of the no-take zones, maintain and improve the FKNMS WWW site, assist with the Tortugas Ecological Reserve process and troubleshoot computer problems. The work will result in: 1) the collection of data on targeted invertebrates and reporting of those data to the interested public; 2) monthly updates of the WWW document for the FKNMS including the Tortugas Ecological Reserve; 3) publishing the draft supplemental environmental impact statement for the proposed Tortugas Ecological Reserve; and 4) improved computer performance. The minimum requirements for this acquisition include the following: 1) detailed knowledge of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act; 2) detailed knowledge of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and Protection Act; 3) detailed knowledge of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary's Final Management Plan and Research and Monitoring Action Plan; 4) intimate knowledge of the computer hardware and software utilized by the Sanctuary and the ability to develop WWW sites in HTML format; 5) background in marine science and underwater biological survey techniques; 6) current certification in scientific diving and detailed knowledge of NOAA's diving policies and procedures; and 7) detailed knowledge of the Sanctuary office policies and procedures, current programs, and research and monitoring goals. This is not a request for proposal and there is no solicitation available at this time. The Government reserves the right to solicit bids based on receipt of affirmative responses to this notice or issue and order to Mr. Benjamin Richards, which ever is determined to ve more advantageous to the Government without further notice. All interested parties must respond to this announcement within 15 calendar days of its publication. All responses to this announcement must include the following: 1) contractor name and phone number, 2) a brief statement detailing capabilities to provide such items, 3) a list of the names and phone numbers of three references whom you have provided like or similar services. Failure to provide the information identified above when responding shall be considered non-responsive to the requirements of this announcement. You may fax your responses and information required to 816-426-7530 to the attention of Sheila Anderson. This acquisition is being conducted pursuant to the guidelines set forth in FAR part 13. This requirement is 100% set-aside for small business. Posted 12/29/99 (W-SN412064). (0363)

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