tlEFENSE AEUTIUZATION ANO MARKETING SEAVIC~ 

MULTI-YEAR SALE OF SCRAP AT LOCATIONS NATIONWIDE 

DEFENSE REUTILIZATION AND MARKETING SERVICE 

REQUESTFORTEC~CALPROPOSALS 

STEP ONE OF TWO- STEP SOLICITATION 

RFTP NO. 99-4001 

MARCH2004 

REQUIREMENTS AND CRITERIA FOR TEC~CAL PROPOSALS 

PROPOSAL RECEIPT DEADLINE: 9:00 am EST on TUESI)AY, MAY 04, 2004 
MULTI-YEAR SALE OF SCRAP AT LOCATIONS NATIONWIDE 

REQUIREMENTS AND CRITERIA 

FOR 

TECHNICAL PROPOSALS 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...•..........•...••......•...•....•....•....••.......•...•....•....•.•.•.•.••••..•......••...• 2 

II. REQUIREMENTS AND CRITERIA FOR TECHNICAL PROPOSALS ................. .4 

A. FORMAT ..........•................•••....•...•..............•.......•.........•..•.•••.•....•..........•............... 4 

B. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......•..................................•............•........................... 5 

C. OPERATIONAL PLAN .......................................................................................... 5 

1. Procedures Demonstrating Capability .....................•.......•..•.................... 5 

2. Removal and Facilities/Storage ................................................................. 6 

3. Safety Procedures, Licenses, Permits ....................................................... 6 

4. Accountability .............•..........................................•.........•......................... 7 

5. Softw'are ....................................................................................................... 7 

6. Internal Controls ...............•.....•.................................................................. 7 

7. Post-Award Period and Phase-In Period ................................................. 7 

8. Small Business Sales Plan .................................................•........................ 8 

D. BUSINESS PLAN ...•.....................•...............................................................•.•...... 8 

E. 

F. 

1. Management and Organization ................................................................ 8 

2. Project Organization .................................................................................. 8 

3. Key Personnel and Staffing ....•......••..•......•....•...........•.•.•.••........•..••.•......•.• 8 

4. Risk Factors ................................................................................................ 9 

5. Financial Plan ............................................................................................. 9 

6. Financial Capacity ..................................................................................... 9 

7. Experience ...............•.•..............................................•................................. 9 

APPENDICES •...•...•........•.......•••••..••..•..•......•.......•.....•••.....•..........•...........•......•..• 10 

IDENTIFICATION OF MARKETING CONSULTANTS/ADVISORS ....... 10 

1. Definitions ................................................................................................. ! 0 

2. Use of Marketing Consultants or Advisors ........................................... 11 

III. SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS, LATE SUBMISSIONS AND MODIFICATIONS 

OF TECHNICAL PROPOSALS UNDER TWO-STEP FORMAL ADVERTISING ........... 12 

IV. 

v. 

VI. : 

VII; 

EVALUATION CRITERIA .................•..•......•••.•...•••.•....•....•...••....•......•.............•.....•.... 13 

ORAL OR w·RITTEN DISCUSSIONS ...............................•......................................... 13 

NOTICE OF UNACCEPTABLE PROPOSALS .......................................................... 13 

ATTACHMENT: DRAFT IFB (PROVIDED FOR INFORMATION ONLY) ........ 14 
I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

The Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) is planning to offer current 

and future generations of Scrap Property on a "proceeds sharing" basis. This contract will 

provide exclusive access to this material (ferrous, non-ferrous, and non-metallic material) for a 

minimum of eighty-four (84) months, subject to both DRMS's and the Contractor's option to 

cancel the contract earlier if the Contractor does not achieve an objective minimum performance 

threshold. Property locations include multiple Department of Defense (DoD) installations 

throughout the United States (including Alaska but excluding locations in Hawaii, Tennessee, 

North Carolina and South Carolina). 

This initiative supports the Government's focus on partnering with industry. Under the 

Draft Invitation For Bids (Draft IFB) that accompanies this RFTP, DRMS will provide the 

Contractor exclusive rights to the scrap Property described therein and obtain a share of all net 

proceeds obtained upon resale. (Excluded scrap Property includes hazardous materials, material 

bearing precious metals, certain other material, and electronic scrap (although electronic scrap 

may be offered to the Contractor on a case-by-case basis). The Government anticipates that this 

business arrangement will provide benefit through more effective marketing, higher profits, 

lower costs and an increase in net sales proceeds to the U.S. Treasury. 

This proceeds sharing sale contract will be awarded using a Two-Step sealed bidding 

process consisting of two distinct steps: (1) Step One- solicitation, submission, and evaluation 

of technical proposals to determine acceptability; and (2) Step Two - issuance of an IFB only to 

those firms that submitted acceptable technical proposals under Step One. A ward of the sale 

contract will be made based on the highest Bid Price offered by a responsive and responsible 

bidder. 

The primary Scrap Yard locations offered in this RFTPIIFB are set forth in the attached 

IFB. 

In addition, scrap Property is generated from other Department of Defense (DoD) 

activities located at various other places in the pertinent geographic area and is also being offered 

under this RFTPIIFB. 

Accordingly, you are invited to submit a technical proposal WITHOUT BID PRICE OR 

BID DEPOSIT in accordance with the following Requirements and Criteria for Technical 

Proposal for the sale described in the attached Draft IFB. The Draft IFB is provided for 

information only and is not to be completed or submitted with the technical proposal. This RFTP 

identifies how the technical proposal is to be organized, evaluation factors, and specifics on the 

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Business Plan and Operational Plan that are required to be included in the proposal. Unless 

otherwise indicated, capitalized terms are defined in the Draft IFB. 

Bidders are advised to submit technical proposals that respond to the requirements of this 

RFTP and are complete without additional explanation or information, since the Government 

may make a final determination whether a proposal is acceptable or unacceptable solely on the 

basis of the proposal as submitted and may proceed directly with the second step of this sale 

without requesting or permitting the submission of further information from any bidder. 

This Request for Technical Proposals is not binding on the Government and does not in 

any way commit the Government to pay for any costs incurred in the preparation and submission 

of the requested technical proposal nor does it commit the Government to contract for the 

Property described in the Draft IFB. Proposed contractual requirements (e.g., terms and 

conditions) will be contained in the IFB actually issued under Step Two and are provided in the 

attached Draft IFB for information purposes only. 

Each bidder shall submit two copies of its technical proposal to: 

Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) 

Federal Center, Room 2-4-4 

7 4 Washington A venue N. 

Battle Creek, MI 49017-3092 

ATTN: Ms. Tina Aldrich 

Your technical proposal must be received no later than 9:00am EST on Tuesday, May 04, 

2004. 

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II. REQUIREMENTS AND CRITERIA FOR TECHNICAL PROPOSALS 

A. FORMAT 

To maximize efficiency and minimize the proposal evaluation process, each bidder 

shall submit its technical proposal in accordance with the format provided below. DRMS believes 

that sufficient latitude is provided such as not to prejudice or limit the comprehensiveness of the 

proposal. 

Each bidder shall submit only one technical proposal (two copies) in response to 

this solicitation subject to the following requirements and limitations: 

• Title Page: "Unpriced Technical Proposal." The title page of the technical proposal 

shall include: (1) the solicitation number of the Request for Technical Proposal 

(99-4001); (2) the company name of the bidder; (3) the bidder shall identify those 

portions of its technical proposal that contain copyrighted or proprietary or similar 

proposal data, and shall also clearly mark each page of its proposal that contains 

such data with a restrictive legend indicating the protectible type of data contained 

therein. 

• A table of contents, identifying the major sections of the total proposal as set forth 

below, by volume (if applicable, although multiple volumes are neither required nor 

expected) and by page, shall be placed in the front of each volume. 

• The unpriced technical proposal shall be submitted in 3-ring notebooks to permit 

removal of sections for the purpose of separate evaluation. The company name of 

the bidder shall appear only at the top of the first page and nowhere else in the 

proposal except in appendices. Each page of the proposal that contains company 

proprietary data shall so state. 

The technical proposal is the primary basis for the evaluation of: (a) the degree to 

which the bidder's claims of performance capacity are supported, and (b) the ability of the bidder 

to perform in accordance with the requirements. The technical factors to be considered are those 

discussed herein. 

Each bidder is cautioned to pay particular attention to the following factors in 

preparing its technical proposal and to provide sufficient detail in the proposal to demonstrate its 

complete understanding of the scope of the work involved, including the requirement to comply 

with all federal, state, and local laws and regulations. 

The technical proposal shall be sufficiently detailed, specific and complete as to 

enable Government personnel to make a thorough evaluation of the proposal and a sound 

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determination that the bidder will have a reasonable likelihood of meeting the requirements and 

objectives of the Government. It is not the Government's objective merely to "privatize" current 

DRMS Scrap functions without obtaining any objective economic benefits. The Government's 

objectives are, instead, to increase proceeds and lower governmental costs through an overall 

change in its business practices while complying with all applicable federal, state and local laws 

and regulations. The technical proposal, therefore, shall clearly and fully demonstrate that the 

prospective bidder has the intent and capability of instituting new business practices, of operating 

cost-effectively, of adding value to and increasing the re--sale price of the Property and of 

minimizing costs. 

The following technical proposal organization is required to facilitate the technical 

evaluation: 

I. TITLE PAGE 

II. TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Ill. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

IV. OPERATIONALPLAN 

V. BUSINESS PLAN 

VI. LIST OF APPENDICES 

VII. IDENTIFICATION OF MARKETING CONSULTANTS/ADVISORS 

B. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

The executive summary shall highlight the bidder's approach and summarize the 

key capabilities and general features of the bidder's resources, its fmanc;ial capacity, its experience 

and its understanding of the business and of the operational efforts required by this solicitation. 

C. OPERATIONAL PLAN 

Provide a description of your technical approach that demonstrates the capability to 

market, transport, store and add value to the scrap material, as well as the quality assurance 

practices planned to ensure compliance with all federal, state, and local laws and regulations. 

Make explicit the assumptions upon which the plan is based. (In developing a technical approach, 

bidders should take particular note of the requirement in the IFB that all Affiliate Transactions are 

forbidden except for the very few Permitted Affiliate Transactions that are expressly identified as 

such in the IFB.) The technical approach should additionally address the following: 

1. Procedures Demonstrating Capability 

Provide procedures to be followed when performing under the contract, including 

how the bidder will process (i.e., sort, shred, bale, etc.), market, transport, store, add 

value to and increase the re-sale price of the property. This should include an 

explanation of how the Property itself will be enhanced, as well as what types of 

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creative processing and/or re-sale marketing methods should be used, including, if 

applicable, e-commerce, and joint ventures or other arrangements with processors, 

brokers or other participants in the Scrap industry. Assume for the purpose of your 

proposal that the DRMS Scrap Yards presently undertake little or no segregation 

(sorting) or processing beyond that provided by the generator that turns the Scrap in 

to DRMS, and that scrap is "turned in" to DRMS both physically at specific Scrap 

Yard locations and received in-place at generating activities. Also assume that 

DRMS presently participates in no e-commerce involving sales of Scrap other than 

to publish Adobe Portable Document File ("PDF") versions of sale catalogs on the 

DRMS Web site, http://www.drms.com. Assume further that, subject to DRMS 

approval, applicable law and host installation requirements, existing DRMS 

equipment will be available for your use and that you will be able to undertake on 

the premises of a particular DRMS Scrap Yard any processing that you determine is 

appropriate using either available DRMS equipment or your own. The description 

of procedures should present the approach to marketing, and to sorting and other 

processing, that you expect to undertake, to highlight the differences in your 

approach compared to present DRMS business practices, to demonstrate the 

bidder's ability to meet the time frames in the contract, and to demonstrate the 

bidder's understanding of the scope of the work effort required and the degree of 

difficulty involved. 

2. Removal and Facilities/Storage 

Provide a plan or description showing how the bidder proposes to handle the 

removal and storage of property. The plan should meet the removal and sale 

deadlines under the contract. Describe the planned arrangement of facilities to 

accommodate the flow of property. Include sufficient information to provide an 

understanding of how the inventory flow will be incorporated into the proposed 

facilities (i.e., when Property will be stored, where and for how long), including 

your plan for processing scrap received in-place at the generators' facilities. 

Assume for the purpose of your proposal that you will have use of the DRMS Scrap 

Yards except for portions thereof required by DRMS for.receiving and 

demilitarization activities, and that, at most Scrap Yards, DRMS will provide 

Government employees who will receive scrap from the generator and turn it over 

to the Contractor. 

3. Safety Procedures, Licenses, Permits 

Provide a plan for compliance with safety procedures required by appropriate 

OSHA standards, describe how you intend to obtain any .necessary licenses and 

permits and address how you intend to comply with the environmental requirements 

identified in Article Seven. Section l(B) of the Draft IFB. (Offerors sh01.1ld not/3 

that a host installation may require safety procedures that exceed OSHA 

requirements.) 

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4. Accountability 

Provide a plan to meet the requirements of the contract for maintaining 

accountability of Property, including, for example: 

a. Tracking Property that has been removed from a Scrap Yard before 

re-sale, if you plan to do so; 

b. Tracking all financial proceeds. 

c. Tracking physical inventory, its location, its sale status, and 

identification of the re-sale buyer; 

d. Controlling and tracking all Demilitarization as a Condition of Sale 

Property until it is demilitarized. ("Demilitarization as a Condition 

of Sale" means that items turned in to DRMS with a 

demilitarization requirement must be demilitarized, either by the 

Purchaser or its resale buyer, as required by DoD regulations, and 

that title to the resulting scrap material does not pass until the 

demilitarization is properly completed.) Scrap material that results 

from demilitarization will be treated similarly to the other scrap 

Property received by the Purchaser under this contract. 

5. Software 

Identify the particular software package(s) that you expect to use or that you are 

considering using for meeting applicable inventory management, accounting and 

reporting obligations, and provide a plan for an interim system to use for these 

purposes until the permanent system is in place. 

6. Internal Controls 

Provide a plan for quality control (internal controls) regarding Property removal, 

accountability, transport of Property, financial flows, and other applicable parts of 

your technical proposal and the requirements of this contract. Include specific 

provisions for managing and approving negotiated sales (or "private treaty sales"), 

i.e., those that do not arise out of an open competitive process such as an auction or 

sealed bid sale, and for approving decisions to accept or reject particular bids in 

auctions, sealed bid sales or other types of sales. 

7. Post-Award Period and Phase-In Period 

Provide a plan for the steps that you will take, including _hiring of personnel, 

acquisition of facilities, equipment and software, and other steps, during the three 

(3) month period between the post-award conference and the initial Pickup Notice, 

and for handling the six (6) month Phase-In Period that follows the initial Pickup 

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Notice. Include any logistical issues that you anticipate with respect to establishing 

procedures and working relationships with field personnel and adapting procedures 

to the initial Property flow. Your plan should be based upon an expectation that you 

will need to cooperate with Government personnel or contractors at each Scrap 

Yard, that your staff must arrange for Delivery (as well as resale and removal) on a 

timely basis of all material referred for sale by DRMS, and that your activities 

should not hinder the DRMS personnel from performing their duties. 

8. Small Business Sales Plan 

Provide the small business sales plan required by the provisions of Article 2A of the 

Draft IFB. 

D. BUSINESS PLAN 

1. Management and Organization 

The proposal shall demonstrate that the corporate and project organizations of both 

the Contractor and the Purchaser (to be fqrmed by the Contractor to satisfy the 

requirements of the contract) support the level of effort required to improve the net 

proceeds received upon re-sale of the Property to be acquired under the proposed 

contract. Make explicit the assumptions upon which the plan is based. 

2. Project Organization 

The bidder shall describe its own, the Purchaser's and any proposed subcontractor 

organizations' plans for managing the contract, including the services to be 

provided by subcontractors, with respect to both Contractor duties and Purchaser 

operations. The relationship of the Purchaser's organization to other Contractor 

management structures up to and including senior management, the responsibilities 

of the Purchaser's management and its authority to commit corporate resources to 

overcome obstacles, the Purchaser's authority to draw upon Contractor funds to 

fulfill the requirements of the contract, the Purchaser's relationship to, and control 

of, major subcontractors, and the proposed method of liaison with the Government 

(apart from required written reports) are examples of issues that could be addressed. 

(Bidders should note, however, that all Affiliate Transactions are forbidden except 

for the very few Permitted Affiliate Transactions that are expressly identified as 

such in the IFB; see IFB Article 23.) If the prospective bidding entity is newly 

formed for the purpose of performing this contract, provide either a copy of the joint 

venture agreement or other organizing documents in the appendices to the technical 

proposal or an organizational description. 

3. Key Personnel and Staffing 

Supply names and resumes of the proposed Chief Executive Officer of the 

Purchaser and all other Key Persons of both the Purchaser and Contractor (including 

employment history with the Contractor and/or prior employers) and principal 

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assistants. Include experience on similar projects. Provide in your plan estimates of 

the number of personnel required by the Purchaser to meet the requirements of the 

proposed contract, by function. Designations of Key Persons will be incorporated 

by reference into the contract, and the Contractor will be permitted to revise such 

designations only with the advance written approval of DRMS. The balance of the 

technical proposal will not be incorporated into the contract. 

4. Risk Factors 

Discuss the important risk factors that you believe are involved in successfully 

completing this contract, such as related to requirements, scheduling, workforce, 

logistics and financial capacity. 

5. Financial Plan 

Provide financial projections for the· contract that demonstrate an understanding of 

the scope of the work and the financial requirements of the contract. Provide an 

estimate (or an estimated range) of the Contractor working capital required to fund 

the financial requirements of the contract. State all important assumptions 

underlying the financial plan. You do not need to include any hypothetical Bid 

Price in your plan. 

6. Financial Capacity 

The bidder must provide as part of its business plan, with reference to its financial 

plan and the bidder's projected working capital requirements for satisfactory 

performance of the contract, evidence of (a) sufficient fmancial capacity to fund the 

Purchaser's operations, and (b) the source( s) of the required capitalization. Your 

demonstration should show that the prospective Contractor has reasonably sufficient 

financial capacity to meet fmancial requirements and contingencies associated with 

performing the contract. Provide as much financial information as is necessary to 

support your demonstration of financial capacity and to assist DRMS in its 

evaluation. 

Prospective bidders should note that DRMS expects the final IFB to provide that, 

ten working days after the date that bids are opened, the apparent high bidder will 

be required to submit a written commitment from a federally insured financial 

institution that, if a contract is awarded by DRMS to the bidder within the 

subsequent four months, and subject to such reasonable conditions that the financial 

institution specifies, such fmancial institution will provide to the bidder a credit 

facility available to finance operations under the contract for a minimum of one year 

in an amount not less than one million dollars ($1 ,000,000). 

7. Experience 

Provide the name, address, phone number, contract number (if applicable) and a 

brief description of comparable services, for commercial clients, government 

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agencies or on the bidder's own account, that the bidder has rendered within the last 

five (5) years. Bidder must provide evidence of demonstrable experience in 

business arrangements involving the removal and re-sale (while adding value) of 

large and varied quantities of scrap material (such as that covered by the Draft IFB). 

The experience of the bidder and Key Persons should be described. 

E. APPENDICES 

Provide a five (5) year fmancial history (annual income statements and balance 

sheets) and any other supplemental or supporting technical or financial information deemed 

necessary by the bidder. If your business structure is such that additional financial information is 

necessary to establish the requisite financial capacity, such as fmancial statements of general 

partners or joint venturers for a newly formed entity, include that information. 

F. IDENTIFICATION OF MARKETING CONSULTANTS/ADVISORS 

To assist DRMS in screening for potential organizational conflicts of interests, 

including conflicts of interest with any non-Governmental employee who may provide review, 

analysis, or verification of data in connection with the evaluation of technical proposals, all bidders 

must identify any marketing consultant or advisor used in the preparation of its proposal, as 

addressed below, or state that no such advisor or consultant participated in the preparation of the 

proposal. All offerors submitting technical proposals are required to complete the certification 

below. This information will not be used in the process of evaluating technical proposals. 

1. Definitions 

"Marketing consultant" and "advisor" are used interchangeably herein to mean any 

independent contractor who furnishes advice, information, direction, or assistance to a 

bidder/offeror in support of the preparation or submission of a proposal, bid, or offer for a 

Government contract by that bidder/offeror. An independent contractor is not a marketing 

consultant/advisor when rendering 

( 1) Routine engineering and technical services (such as 

installation, operation, or maintenance of systems; 

equipment, software, components, or facilities); 

(2) Routine legal, actuarial, auditing, and accounting services; or 

(3) Training services. 

A finn or individual is not an independent contractor within the :eontext of this provision if 

the advice, information, direction, or assistance rendered is offered within the context of its/his 

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own independent analysis and due diligence regarding whether to extend credit, fmancial services 

or support, or bonding to the bidder/offeror. 

Organizational conflict of interest means that because of other activities or relationships 

with other persons, a person is unable or potentially unable to render impartial assistance of advice 

to the Government, or the person's objectivity in performing the contract work is or might be 

otherwise impaired, or a person has an unfair competitive advantage. 

The term "solicitation" as used in this provision includes use of the RFTP and IFB to solicit 

bidders for the sale of scrap Property proposed by this RFTP. 

2. Use of Marketing Consultants or Advisors 

An individual or firm that employs, retains, or engages contractually one or more marketing 

consultants or advisors in connection with a solicitation or contract, shall submit to the contracting 

officer, with respect to each marketing consultant or advisor, the information requested below, with 

respect to this DRMS RFTP. 

Name(s) of marketing consultant/advisor: (If none, so state; if more than one, use a separate 

sheet, if necessary.) 

Taxpayer Identification Number of the marketing consultant/advisor. 

Name, address, and telephone number of a responsible officer or employee of the marketing 

consultant who has personal knowledge of the marketing consultant or advisor's involvement in 

the contract. 

A description of the nature of the services rendered or to be rendered by the marketing 

consultant or advisor. 

The name, address, and telephone number of the client or clients, and the name of a 

responsible officer or employee of the marketing consultant/advisor who is knowledgeable about 

the services provided to such client(s), and a description of the nature of the services rendered to 

such clients, if, based on information provided to the bidder/offeror by the marketing consultant, 

any marketing consultant is rendering, or has in the twelve months preceding the closing date of 

this RFTP, rendered services respecting the same subject matter of the instant solicitation, or 

directly relating to such subject matter, to the Government or any other client (besides the 

bidder/offeror). 

In the event that it is determined that a conflict of interest may exist, the DRMS 

Sales Contracting Officer (SCO) may require the apparent successful bidder to provide a certificate 

signed by the marketing consultant stating that the consultant has received the guidance contained 

in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 9.5 and Office of Federal Procurement Policy 

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Letter 89-1, and the marketing consultant has made inquiry, and to the best of the consultant's 

knowledge and belief, the consultant has provided no unfair competitive advantage to the 

bidder/offeror with respect to the services to be rendered in connection with the solicitation, or that 

any unfair competitive advantage that, to the best of the consultant's knowledge and belief, does or 

may exist, has been disclosed. (Note: Although this RFTP and IFB will result in a proceeds sharing 

sales contract and is not subject to the FAR, the guidance ofFAR 9.5 is relevant to a consideration 

of any potential conflicts of interest as addressed in this clause .and will be considered by DRMS in 

evaluating any potential conflicts of interest.) 

III. SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS, LATE SUBMISSIONS AND MODIFICATIONS 

OF TECHNICAL PROPOSALS UNDER TWO-STEP FORMAL ADVERTISING 

Technical proposals and modifications thereof must be delivered by 9:00am EST on Tuesday, 

May 04, 2004 to Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service, Federal Center, Room (2-4-4), 74 

Washington Avenue N., Battle Creek, MI 49017-3092, ATTN: Ms. Tina Aldrich. Any technical 

proposals or modifications thereof received after 9:00am EST on Tuesday, May 04, 2004 will not be 

considered. Technical proposals and modifications sent by facsimile are not acceptable. 

The only acceptable evidence to establish the time of receipt by the Government is the 

time/date stamp at the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service Office of National Operations. 

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IV. EVALUATION CRITERIA 

The evaluation of the Operational and Business Plans will consider completeness and clarity, 

degree of compliance with the RFTP, and the likelihood that the approach will meet the Government's 

objectives. The Operational and Business Plans are considered to be of equal importance. Each factor 

will be rated as acceptable, reasonably susceptible of being made acceptable, or unacceptable. The 

introduction and any supplemental information provided will be evaluated only in conjunction with the 

whole technical proposal and only to the extent that they support the individual plans discussed above. 

A technical proposal will not be technically acceptable unless it is determined technically acceptable 

for each plan. If a proposal contains a significant deficiency for a plan, it will not be considered 

technically acceptable for that specific plan. A deficiency is defined as that part of a bidder's proposal 

that would not meet the Government's objectives on this contract. Acceptability of each technical 

proposal will be based upon (1) compliance with the requirements of the foregoing paragraphs 

concerning content of the technical proposal including, at a minimum, information satisfying the 

elements in each paragraph or subparagraph of the operational and business plans, and (2) the technical 

proposal, clearly demonstrating that the bidder understands the scope and nature of the Draft IFB 

requirements. 

V. ORAL OR WRITTEN DISCUSSIONS 

The Government may request clarifying or supplemental inform~tion and/or conduct oral or 

written discussions with bidders whose technical proposals are rated reasonably susceptible of being 

made acceptable. The Government may, however, make a final determination whether a proposal is 

acceptable or unacceptable solely on the basis of the proposal as submitted and proceed directly to the 

second step of this sale without requesting or permitting the submission of further information from 

any bidder. Therefore, each initial technical proposal submission should contain the bidder's best 

terms from a technical standpoint. 

VI. NOTICE OF UNACCEPTABLE PROPOSALS 

When a technical proposal is rated unacceptable (~ither initially or after 

clarification/discussions), the DRMS Sales Contracting Officer will notify the bidder of the basis of the 

determination and that a revision of the proposal will not be considered 

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VII. ATTACHMENT: DRAFT IFB (PROVIDED FOR INFORMATION ONLY) 

Attached is the draft proposed Invitation for Bids (IFB) to be issued under Step Two. Your 

technical proposal should comply with the requirements set forth therein. The proposed IFB is 

provided for information only. You are not to complete any forms herein nor are you to provide 

any actual bid price with submission of your Step One technical proposal. 

The Government fully intends to offer the proposed solicitation as contained herein. However, 

the Government reserves the right to make changes to the proposed solicitation if such changes are 

deemed in the best interest of the Government. Any such changes from the proposed IFB will be 

highlighted in the final IFB. Should any such change make an otherwise acceptable technical proposal 

unacceptable that bidder will be contacted for further clarifying information. 

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