U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Contracts Management Division (MD-33), Attn: ORDSC, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711

B -- CHEMICAL ANALYSES ON UP TO 1000 ESTUARINE SEDIMENT AND 1000 TISSUE RESIDUE SAMPLES SOL XQ8E40 POC Ramona G. Evans, Contract Specialist, 919-541-4749 WEB: Click here to visit the site that has information about, http://www.epa.gov/oam/rtp_cmd. E-MAIL: Click here to contact the Contract Specialist via, evans.ramona@epa.gov. 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. The solicitation number is XQ8E40 and the solicitation is being issued as a Request for Quotation (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 97-15. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) anticipates that the contract will be awarded as a result of full and open competition. An IDIQ, firm-fixed-price, purchase order is anticipated to result from the award of this solicitation. The associated Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code is 8731. This procurement requires the contractor to conduct chemical analyses of up to 1000 estuarine sediment and up to 1000 tissue residue samples. The samples will be collected from May 2000 to October 2001 and shipped to the contractor for analyses. The successful contractor must have experience in the analysis of the analytes listed in Table 1 for all samples while the specific analytes to be determined for any sample shall be determined by EPA. The successful contractor shall employ methods equivalent to those utilized by the National Status and Trends (NS&T) Program under NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) or EPA's EMAP (Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program). Samples will require one or more of the following analytical results: (1) All analytes in Table except Dioxins and Furans; (2) Only PCB analysis; (3) Only Dioxin/Furans analysis; or, (4)Only PCB and Dioxin/Furan analysis. The contractor shall provide proposed prices for each of these analysis categories. Prior to contract award, the contractor shall demonstrate the ability to meet the required method detection limits (listed below) and shall also provide applicable reference material results. The contractor is required to submit at the time proposals are due a copy of its Quality Management Plan equivalent to the EPA's document (EPA QA/R-2: EPA Requirements for Quality Management Plans) and a written Quality Assurance Project Plan equivalent to the EPA's requirement document (EPA QA/R-5: EPA Requirement for Quality Assurance Project Plans QAPP) for Environmental Data Operations (category2)) for EPA's review and approval. The referenced documents can be located on line at http://es.epa.gov/necrqa/qa/qa_docs.html. The contractor shall permit QA audit of laboratory and/or data entry procedures by an authorized agent of EPA at any time during the conduct of analyses (given advance notification). Results shall be reported in an electronic format (Word Perfect). The contractor shall also provide a hard-copy output of data files (i.e. spreadsheets) for the purpose of quality assurance. A written report detailing the methods used, and the results of QA measures shall also be provided by the contractor. The report is to be submitted to the EPA Project Officer 150 days after receipt of the samples. Any laboratory notes discussing problems encountered shall be included as an appendix to this report. Original records, such as laboratory notebooks and chromatogram, shall be retained for at least three years following the final report submission, as they may be requested to be sent to EPA. The contractor shall provide EPA with a price estimate for the minimum number of samples projected on a per sample basis for each of the contract line items below. An additional price estimate shall be provided on a per sample basis for batches of 50 samples up to the projected maximum number of samples. These additional samples will be batched and funded separately from the base number. Exercising this option will be at the discretion of EPA. Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) One -- The contractor shall perform chemical analyses on up to 1000 estuarine tissue residue samples (Minimum = 50). The analytes of interestand method detection limit requirements are listed in Tables 1-3 found at the following web site: http://www.epa.gov/oam/rtp_cmd . Note that MDL calculations follow EPA's "Definition and Procedure for the Determination of the Method Detection Limit -- revision 1.11" 40 CFR Part 136, Appendix B. Analytical methods utilized by the NS&T or EMAP Programs (see references) or equivalent shall be utilized in order to meet specified method detection limit and performance criteria. A Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) program shall be in place at the contractor's laboratory, and shall address, at a minimum, the following topics: accuracy and precision, calibration, detection limits; physical processing of samples; analytical methods utilized; QA/QC samples, including all acceptability criteria; data reporting. Routine analysis of Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) is required at a frequency 5% of samples (e.g., with each batch of 20 field samples). The contractor shall take received tissue samples (frozen whole fish and/or invertebrates) and create composite sample from each sampling location/species combination. The sample from a site shall consist of multiple fish or shellfish from the site (up to 10 individuals). The wet weights associated with each individual within the composite sample shall be determined. Percent moisture/percent solids shall be determined and reported by the contractor for each composited sample. Reporting shall include all QA/QC information, weight associated with the composite, percent moisture/percent solids, and analyte concentrations expressed as wet weight. Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) Two -- The contractor shall perform chemical analyses on up to 200 estuarine tissue residue samples (Minimum = 5) for only PCB analyses and/or dioxin/furan analyses. The analytes of interest and method detection limit requirements are listed in Tables 1-3 below. Note that MDL calculations follow EPA's "Definition and Procedure for the Determination of the Method Detection Limit -- revision 1.11" 40 CFR Part 136, Appendix B. Analytical methods utilized by the NS&T or EMAP Programs (see references) or equivalent shall be utilized in order to meet specified method detection limit and performance criteria. A Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) program shall be in place at the contractor's laboratory, and shall address, at a minimum, the following topics: accuracy and precision, calibration, detection limits; physical processing of samples; analytical methods utilized; QA/QC samples, including all acceptability criteria; data reporting. Routine analysis of Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) is required at a frequency 5% of the samples (e.g., with each batch of 20 field samples). The Quality Assurance program shall meet the requirement of GED's Quality Management Plan and shall include a Quality Assurance Plan and Quality Assurance Project Plan. The contractor shall take received tissue samples (frozen whole fish and/or invertebrates) and create composite sample from each sampling location/species combination. The sample from a site shall consist of multiple fish or shellfish from the site (up to 10 individuals). The wet weights associated with each individual within the composite sample shall be determined. Percent moisture/percent solids shall be determined and reported by the contractor for each composited sample. Reporting shall include all QA/QC information, weight associated with the composite, percent moisture/percent solids, and analyte concentrations expressed as wet weight. Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) Three -- The contractor shall perform chemical analyses on up to 1000 estuarine sediment residue samples (Minimum = 50). The analytes of interest and method detection limit requirements are listed in Tables 1-3 found at the following web site: http://www.epa.gov/oam/rtp_cmd . Note that MDL calculations follow EPA's "Definition and Procedure for the Determination of the Method Detection Limit -- revision 1.11" 40 CFR Part 136, Appendix B. Analytical methods utilized by the NS&T or EMAP Programs (see references) or equivalent shall be utilized in order to meet specified method detection limit and performance criteria. Note: the elemental analyses for sediment require a "total digestion" using hydrofluoric acid. A Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) program shall be in place at the contractor's laboratory, and shall address, at a minimum, the following topics: accuracy and precision, calibration, detection limits; physical processing of samples; analytical methods utilized; QA/QC samples, including all acceptability criteria; data reporting. Routine analysis of Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) is required at a frequency 5 % of the samples (e.g., with each bath of 20 field samples). The contractor shall take receipt of sediment chemistry samples as two separate samples: "metals" (in Nalgene containers) and "organics" (in glass containers). Percent solids, (dry wt/wet wt)X100, shall be determined and reported for each sediment sample. Reporting shall include all QA/QC information, weight associated with the sample, percent solids, and analyte concentrations expressed as dry weight. Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) Four -- The contractor shall perform chemical analyses on up to 200 estuarine sediment samples (Minimum = 5) for only PCB analyses and/or dioxin/furan analyses. The analytes of interest and method detection limit requirements are listed in Tables 1-3 below. Note that MDL calculations follow EPA's "Definition and Procedure for the Determination of the Method Detection Limit -- revision 1.11" 40 CFR Part 136, Appendix B. Analytical methods utilized by the NS&T or EMAP Programs (see references) or equivalent shall be utilized in order to meet specified method detection limit and performance criteria. A Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) program shall be in place at the contractor's laboratory, and shall address, at a minimum, the following topics: accuracy and precision, calibration, detection limits; physical processing of samples; analytical methods utilized; QA/QFC samples, including all acceptability criteria; data reporting. Routine analysis of Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) is required at a frequency 5% of the samples (e.g., with each batch of 20 field samples). The contractor shall take receipt of sediment chemistry samples as "organics" (in glass containers) samples. Percent solids, (dry wt/wet wt)X100, shall be determined and reported for each sediment sample. Reporting shall include all QA/QC information, weight associated with the sample, percent solids, and analyte concentration expressed as dry weight. The following FAR provisions apply to this solicitation: 52.212-1, Evaluation-Instructions to Offerors-Commercial; 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Item. Evaluation criteria to be included in paragraph (a) of provision 52.212-2 are as follows: (i) technical capabilities criteria: 1.) QA/QC protocols, including plans for analyzing Certified Reference Materials; 2.) Demonstrated previous experience with sediment and fish tissue samples; 3.) Demonstrated previous analytical experience with NS&T, EMAP, or similar programs; 4.) Explanation of methods used for each CLIN, with references, and expected MDLs; 5.) Experience with similar size/scope projects; 6.) Ability to meet the deadlines for the project; 7.) Plan to submit a final report (electronic format) as required; and 8.) Description of laboratory record management program); (ii) past performance -- provide 3 references (quality of product or service, timeliness of performance -- ability to adhere to deadlines, and overall customer satisfaction); and (iii) price, in decreasing order of importance. Technical capability and past performance, when combined, are significantly more important than price. Award will be made to the offeror whose offer represents the best value to the Government. All offerors are to include with their offers a completed copy of provision 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items. The following FAR clause applies 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: 52.203-6, Restrictions on Subcontractor Sales to the Government, with Alternate I; 52.203-10, Price or Fee Adjustment for Illegal or Improper Activity; 52.219-14, Limitation on Subcontracting; 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity, 52.222-35, Affirmative Action for Special Disabled and Vietnam Era Veterans; 52.222-36 Affirmative Action for Handicapped Workers; 52.222-37, Employment Reports on Special Disabled Veterans and Veterans of the Vietnam Era; 52.222-41, Service Contract Act of 1965, As Amended. Any applicable wage determination(s) will be made a part of the resultant purchase order. Cost and technical information should be submitted in separate proposals. Please submit two copies of the technical proposal and two copies of the cost proposal to Ramona G. Evans, Contract Specialist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, MD-33, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711. Courier Delivery Address is: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Receptionist-Administration Bldg. Lobby, Attn: Ramona G. Evans, 79 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. All offers are due by April 14, 2000, 3:30 p.m. ET. Offers/bids received after the exact time specified will not be considered. No telephonic or faxed requests or offers will be honored. References and tables can be found online at the following address: http://www.epa.gov/oam/rtp_cmd . Posted 03/28/00 (W-SN438874). (0088)

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