The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service (USFS) East Zone and Regions 3 and 8 anticipate issuing a Request for Quotes (RFQ) for Vehicle with Driver for use in Regions 3 and 8. Resources awarded under this solicitation may be used for local, regional, and national fire suppression, all-hazard incidents, and RX prescribed project work. Section D.2 of the solicitation will outline all equipment and personnel requirements. Contractors will be responsible for providing all equipment, materials, supplies, transportation, lodging, and fully managed, supervised, trained, and certified personnel necessary to meet or exceed agreement specifications. Resources may be used for the protection of lands, including severity, fire suppression, all-hazard response, and prescribed project work.
Optional use of awarded agreements by interagency cooperators (DOI, NPS, BIA, State agencies, etc.) is permitted but subject to each agency’s payment and administrative terms.
Each year, the USFS Fire and Aviation Management (F&AM) Regional Program Office Representatives will determine whether it is in the Government’s best interest to initiate an open-season onboarding period to add additional contractors and/or resources during the annual Contracting Officer (CO) review, as described in Section C.3.1 of the solicitation.
Rates: Proposed rates must reflect up to a 16-hour daily shift and include all pricing elements identified in Section B.2, Pricing and Estimated Quantity. Per Section D.21.8.1, Rates of Payments, payment will be made at the rates in effect at the time of order issuance.
Dispatch Centers: Agreements will be competitively awarded within the advertised and available regional dispatch centers. Vendors are strongly encouraged to select the dispatch center closest to the physical location of their resources to ensure timely response to incident needs and to provide best value to the Government regarding travel costs for potential dispatches/BPA Calls. Because wildland fire locations cannot be predicted at the time of award, selecting a host dispatch center or zone far from the resource’s actual location may reduce dispatch opportunities and hinder the Government’s ability to meet critical response timelines. Dispatch center information is available at: https://www.nifc.gov/nicc/
Set-Asides: The Government anticipates awarding multiple preseason Incident Blanket Purchase Agreements (I-BPAs) under a total Small Business set-aside, with additional consideration applied per Section B.6, Socioeconomic Status Advantage Applicable to DPL Ranking.
****The solicitation will be issued using the Virtual Incident Procurement (VIPR) Next Gen System****
The solicitation will be issued through the Virtual Incident Procurement (VIPR) Next Gen System. Vendors must meet the following requirements:
1. Maintain a valid email address for all VIPR communications, including rate negotiations, technical evaluations, photo uploads, and award notifications.
2. Possess a valid Unique Entity ID (UEI), obtainable at no cost through the System for Award Management (SAM): https://sam.gov/content/entity-registration 3. Maintain an active SAM registration: https://sam.gov/content/entity-registration
4. Have a Login.gov account to conduct official electronic business transactions and to create a VIPR Next Gen account. Information: https://www.eauth.usda.gov/eauth/b/usda/faq?gid=PublicCustomer&qid=PublicCustomerComingSoonFaqItemId12
5. Submit quotes electronically using the VIPR Next Gen Vendor Application: https://www.fs.usda.gov/business/incident/vendorapp.php?tab=tab_d
