Questions and Answers

New Questions and Answers

Question: What documentation/justification does PHMSA require from subcontractors to justify labor rates, and indirect (fringe and overhead/G&A) rates? If they are not DCAA audited, what alternate information can be provided – if any is necessary?

Answer: It is recommended they include a copy of their audits' financial statements for the last fiscal year they have had reviewed and be sure that it includes an opinion (qualified/unqualified) from the accounting firm.

Question: Our white paper for DOT's "Pipeline Safety Research and Development-Alternative Fuels," was selected for further evaluation, and we are currently drafting the full proposal. Is there a budget limit DOT will award for the proposed work? Our proposal is for a single project not a consolidated program.

Answer: There is no set limit per award, although we may request revisions to your full proposal upon evaluation to adjust costs or project focus. The total program is not anticipated to exceed $3,000,000 for all awards.

Question: During negotiations for some of our recent DOT/PHMSA awards, we were asked to add a web-based workshop to communicate results of work at the conclusion of the project and provide a summary and workshop minutes to DOT. Do we need to include a similar workshop in our full proposals in response to this BAA?

Answer: Hosting a web-based workshop to communicate results of the work was not considered a deficiency identified by the merit panel during the White Paper review process. However, if you choose to include it as a task intended to strengthen the transfer of knowledge gained within the scope of work the merit panel will take that under consideration while completing their reviews and recommendations.

Question: Page 3 of Attachment 1 (Guidelines for Full Proposals): Paragraph 1 states that the Title Page must include the Principle Investigator - Name/Address/Phone/Fax/email. In our current Agreements with DOT/PHMSA we identify a Team Project Manager and a Team Technical Coordinator. Should the proposed Principle Investigator be equivalent to the Team Project Manager or the Team Technical Coordinator?

Answer: Some applicants only submit a single application where the Principle Investigator is the main point of contact while others submit multiple applications that could result in multiple awards under the same PHMSA solicitation. Once the merit panel reviews the full proposals and makes their recommendations, if [your organization] like others are recommended for multiple awards PHMSA reserves the right to again request in-place of a Principle Investigator an identification of both a Team Project Manager and Team Technical Coordinator. At the same time if [your organization] chooses to include the Team Project Manager and Team Technical Coordinator with their submission of requested full proposals the merit panel will be advised of the team structure change from their consideration.

Previous Questions and Answers

Question: I understand that a separate white paper must be submitted for each proposed project plus a white paper from the team's lead organization for the consolidated program.

Answer: DOT/PHMSA prefers only white papers for projects only with brief sections addressing the consolidation in each submission. A separate white paper addressing the consolidation is not required.

Question: Do all the white papers need to be submitted from the lead organization (consolidated program Prime) or can the individual project white papers be submitted by each of the project organizations? What it the DOT's preference?

Answer: All submissions must come from the lead organization.

Question: Does PHMSA retain any intellectual rights of discoveries made during the project? (To the best of my knowledge PHMSA match does not come with strings such as IP sharing or royalties - please correct me if I am wrong.)

Answer: That is correct; PHMSA does not retain IP rights. The Government will only have "Government Purpose License Rights," meaning the Government will have a non-exclusive, nontransferable, irrevocable, paid-up license to practice or have practiced on behalf of the United States the subject invention throughout the world for government purposes only.

Question: Is there a requirement for public release of sensitive technical information ?

Answer There is no requirement to release public sensitive or proprietary technical information. In instances such as this, two versions of any report will be produced. One for public release with sensitive information removed and a second provided strictly to the Government for their review.

Question: My question is related to terms, conditions and guidelines of intellectual property treatment. This announcement discusses white paper submission as first stage. The next stage, assuming white paper acceptance, is to submit a detail proposal. Are there standardized or expected intellectual property terms and conditions ? (primarily this is a question on clearly defining IP ownership of outcome) Or are T&Cs meant to be part of the detailed proposal from submitting parties to outline ?

Answer: In any eventual award made through this BAA there will be standard language addressing intellectual property and patent rights. Generally any knowledge gained through efforts funds by USDOT are retained by the Team participants. The detailed proposal does not need to include Terms and Conditions.

Question: As a sub-contractor, I may be working with different Prime contractors who will be bidding under this announcement. Is there a restriction that the government may impose to a sub-contractor who may be working with multiple Prime contractors?

Answer: It is up to the prime contractor to decide who to sub-contract to, and it will be up to the prime contractor to be aware of any proprietary information issues. The Government does not get involved in allowing or restricting a prime contractor to work with a particular sub-contractor.

Question: Do we actually need a DUNS number in order to submit?

Answer: You do need a DUNS number to submit a white paper. You can get a DUNS number in two ways. You can call D&B at 866-705-5711 to get it, or you can go to the website at http://www.dnb.com/us/ and go to "D&B D-U-N-S Number".

Question: Could you direct me to the definition of "8(a) Firm", as defined by the SBA?

Answer: A company/firm is considered an 8(a) Firm if they are part of the SBA 8(a) program. For more details about this program, please go to: http://www.sba.gov/services/contractingopportunities/contracting/8a/index.html.

Question: Would it be appropriate to submit potential work to identify impacts and develop guidance material for biogas introduction into pipeline and distribution systems under Research Area 5 - "New Fuels Transportation" of the subject BAA?

Answer: Yes. Your White Paper will be considered under the "New Fuels Transportation" focus area for BAA-6 (DTPH56-07-BAA-000002)

Question: Does the no-profit requirement under this BAA apply to sub-contractors?

Answer: This is a business determination/agreement that should be made between the Prime Contractor and the Sub-contractor. The Government does not normally get involved in "fee/profit arrangements" between a Prime and a Sub.

Question: Why is a fee not being allowed on this research type contract? In all other Federal agency contracts we have been awarded a fee to perform the work. We do understand that the sharing of the cost (50% above) is necessary; however, the concept of not being paid a fee is difficult to understand when the Government gets the benefit from the results of the study.

Answer: The goal of this research is to provide "products" that will be of substantial value commercially in the reasonably near term. If this is the case, it is anticipated that your company will benefit from the commercialization of your product(s) and by the visibility that will be given the results of your effort by the Government.

Question: What type of contract is contemplated? Will it be cost type (without fee) or a T & M type contract?

Answer: We anticipate the award mechanism to be an Other Transaction Agreement (OTA). The OTA is often used in our agency for Research efforts and differs from a normal contract in several ways, most notably by the fact that the Federal Acquisition Regulation does not apply. A sample of an OTA will be provided for review prior to award, if your project proposal "passes the next set of hurdles." Also, all payments are based on the (mutual) successful completion of payable milestones. If there are further questions regarding OTAs, contact Carla Cuentas via e-mail.

Question: Does the DOT intend to have a Consolidated Program Manager as the signatory for an Other Transaction Agreement for a number of projects, and to have that Government Consolidated Program Manager let subcontracts or agreements to the performers of the individual research projects? Or does the DOT intend to have separate research contracts with a large number of contractors?
Answer: If any consolidated programs are awarded (and we do intend to do so), there will be a DOT Consolidated Program Manager (within the PHMSA Office of Pipeline Safety) who will serve as the single point of contact for technical issues for all projects within that particular consolidated program. The contractor who is awarded a Consolidated Program will be responsible for issuing "subcontracts" or "sub agreements" to the performers of the individual projects within that Consolidated Program, and that "Contractor Consolidated Program Manager" will be responsible for monitoring and reporting the progress (or lack of it) made on those individual projects. It is anticipated that that the vast majority of direct correspondence on issues associated with any Consolidated Program (including issues on all individual research projects) will be between the Government (either the Technical Program Manager or the Contracting Officer) and the Contractor Consolidated Program Manager. We must emphasize that for a consolidated program, we are looking for not only project management assistance from the Consolidated Program "Prime Contractor." We are also looking for that organization to provide increased value added by adopting a more integrated approach to addressing a known technical challenge to pipeline safety.
Signatory responsibilities will remain with the PHMSA Office of Contracts and Procurement.
We also intend to award separate/individual projects to individual contractors (exact number to be determined after receipt and review/evaluation of full proposals).

We anticipate utilizing Other Transaction Agreements as the award mechanism.

Question: Is the contractor registration form used only for this current BAA, and we have to resubmit the form for each BAA? Or is it good for a period of time?

Answer: You will need to register for each BAA. However, for this BAA, you only need to register once, no matter how many white papers you submit.

Question: If we use the consolidated approach, a reviewer may be receptive to some of the projects but not all. Would there be any objection to having individual white papers with a cover letter stating that the enclosed projects could very easily be managed by us as a consolidated program? This would give the option for the reviewers to approve the whole program or just certain individual elements (i.e., the projects) of it.

Answer: There is no objection to that approach.

Question: If our projects cover several DOT focus programs, would it be more acceptable to have individual white papers or is it more acceptable to consolidate them into one white paper (hence a consolidated project)?

Answer: One white paper must be submitted for each proposed project whether it is for a single project or a part of a consolidated project/program. i.e. if you have 4 separate projects which you intend to propose as one consolidated project, you must submit 4 white papers.

Question: Is this call for white papers for U.S. companies only or can companies based elsewhere also participate (particularly the U.K.)?

Answer: Companies based elsewhere can participate.

Question: Do all parties in a project have to be well defined at this point (White Paper submission) or can a member of the project team be selected later?

Answer: Ideally all parties are defined; however, we recognize this is not possible in all cases. Team members can be selected later but must be identified by time of full proposal submittal.

Question: With regard to a Consolidated Program, will PHMSA approve or reject a proposed program in its totality, or does it have the option of accepting selected projects and rejecting others?

Answer: PHMSA retains the option of selecting certain projects and rejecting others even if they were proposed as part of a consolidated program.

Question: Assuming we are interested in participating in the Consolidated Program, do we need to propose specific projects at this time or is it acceptable to just propose a general program in a certain area, with specific projects to be defined later?

Answer: Specific projects need to be identified and described in an appropriate statement of work. We do not expect detailed timetables/schedules or budgets at this time but we would expect the work statements to be relatively well defined.

Question: Is there a group of pipeline companies that sit on the board of this proposal who might be able to preliminarily read my paper with the thoughts of co-funding or do I need to find someone who will fund the additional 50+% myself?
Answer: As stated in the solicitation "Each proposal must include a cost sharing contribution of at least fifty percent of the proposed project's cost in order to be considered."
It is a requirement the applicant of the proposal identify where their 50% cost share is coming from.

Members on the review panel are not allowed by law to be a part of any white paper under consideration by this solicitation.

Question: Will the same committee members review the complete consolidated R&D program documents or will the documents be reviewed on a piecemeal basis?

Answer: Yes, the same committee members will review the complete consolidated R&D program documents.

Question: For a consolidated R&D program, as the white papers are submitted as individual electronic files, how will these files be linked in a consolidated R&D program?

Answer: All white papers that are identified as a "combined submittal" will be grouped with the other white papers that are submitted under the same register and identified in the merit review process under consolidated R&D program.

Question: Are all "budgets" accompanying White Papers to be considered as "drafts"?

Answer: Yes. We do not expect detailed budgetary information to be included in the White Paper submissions. Page limitations will not allow it. Also, there are too many unknowns regarding a project at the White Paper stage.

Question: Should projects be submitted individually when part of a consolidated program?

Answer: ALL projects submitted require a separate White Paper, whether they are for a single project or a part of a consolidated program.

Question: Does the sum of the cash and in-kind total cofunding apply to each individual project within a consolidated proposal or can all the cofunding be distributed across the total consolidation program?

Answer: A White Paper must be submitted for each individual project and each White Paper/Proposal must include a cost sharing contribution of at least 50% of the proposed project's cost in order to be considered. This is a requirement for each individually submitted White Paper or a consolidated program that may include multiple project White Papers.

Question: How does the half million dollar maximum apply in a consolidation program? If a large program is proposed, is this a maximum for any individual project within the program, or the upper limit for the proposed program?

Answer: Each individual project cannot exceed $500K in Federal Government funding. Federal funding for consolidated programs may not exceed $5M.

Question: Is there a mechanism for the PI to create the proposal and the Institutional Representative to approve it online?
Answer: We are expecting that when a white paper is uploaded to PHMSA it will already have been through your internal approval process.