Opportunity

The Department of Agriculture (USDA), US Forest Service (USFS), Pacific Northwest Region 6 (Oregon and Washington) is soliciting quotes (RFQ) for Chippers for use during Local, Regional, and Nationwide fire suppression and all-hazard incidents. The Contractor is responsible for all equipment, materials, supplies, transportation, lodging, trained/certified personnel, and supervision and management of those personnel, necessary to meet or exceed the Agreement specifications. The resources may be used in the protection of lands to include, but not limited to, severity, fire suppression, and all-hazard incidents. The agreement will be competitively awarded within Region 6. The Government anticipates awarding multiple Incident Blanket Purchase Agreements (I-BPA) using set asides for Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), 8(a), and standard Small Business as defined under NAICS Code 115310. The Small Business size standard is $19.0 million. Only small businesses (with active SAM account verifying small business status under advertised NAICS 115310) will be considered for award. Awards will not be made to vendors designating Equipment City and State location(s) more than 450 miles from their selected Dispatch Center. (D.5.1) The solicitation will be issued using the Virtual Incident Procurement (VIPR) system. To use VIPR you must have access to a computer with internet capabilities. Basic information about the VIPR system and a Vendor User Guide is located at: http://www.fs.fed.us/business/incident/vipr.php. 1) Vendors must have a valid e-mail since VIPR communications are conducted via e-mail. An e-mail address is also required for the registrations applicable to the VIPR Vendor Application. 2) Vendors must have a valid DUNS number. Request a free DUNS Number from Dun and Bradstreet on the web at: http://iupdate.dnb.com/iUpdate/companylookup.htm 3) Register in the System for Award Management (SAM) as stated in the solicitation. Vendors can access SAM at https://www.sam.gov/. IMPORTANT: Contractors account must be active in SAM as it is directly related to receiving an award under this solicitation and any payment for orders placed under the awarded Agreement. SAM must be updated annually. Registering in SAM is FREE. 4) Vendors are required to have a USDA Level 2 eAuthentication account that provides the ability to conduct official electronic business transactions. Information for obtaining a Level 2 eAuthentication account is available on the web at http://www.fs.fed.us/business/incident/eauth.php 5) Vendors must use the VIPR Vendor Application to view and respond to the solicitation. Vendors must register in this application on the web at http://www.fs.fed.us/business/incident/Vendorapp.php. The Solicitation will only be available electronically and will be posted to the FBO website on approximately January 25, 2018. Electronic responses must be transmitted in the VIPR Vendor Application (http://www.fs.fed.us/business/incident/Vendorapp.php) no later than 4:00 PM PST, on March 5, 2018. Failure to meet the date and time will result in no award. 6) R6 will hold seven public meetings to discuss the upcoming 2018 fire season, VIPR Agreement changes or modifications, and other information related to fire contracting in the Pacific Northwest. For dates and locations of the meeting visit our website at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r6/workingtogether/contracting/?cid=FSBDEV2_027111