A copy of the solicitation will be available on or after September 28, 2018, via the Federal Business Opportunity (FBO) system (https://www.fbo.gov).
Secure Documents
As this requirement will be an unrestricted, competitive action, several of the solicitation documents will be posted as "secured" on the Federal Business Opportunity ("FedBizOpps" or "FBO") website. In order to view those documents, vendors will need to obtain special access. The process of obtaining access is somewhat lengthy, therefore all interested vendors are encouraged to begin that process as soon as possible. Instructions for obtaining access are provided below.
Should any party have issues with obtaining access to FBO or the secure documents, they must notify the contracting office no later than September 28, 2018. Notifications to the contracting office of the inability to access secure documents after that suspense will not be a consideration in extensions to the Request for Proposal date. To ensure all parties are able to retrieve secure documents for this solicitation, a test document has been placed under secure package: SP0600-18-R-0800.
Please note that FBO has updated their security requirements, which requires that previously registered users must reactivate their account. See www.fbo.gov for more information.
Instructions for access to the FBO Secure Site
To access the secured, but unclassified, documents in the FBO system, vendors must follow these instructions:
1. Register in the System for Award Management (SAM) database at https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/. For assistance with SAM, please contact the SAM help desk. Contact information is available at https://www.fsd.gov/.
2. Once registered in SAM, go to the FBO website at https://www.fbo.gov/ and log in. Verify your SAM registration within the FBO system. For assistance with FBO, please consult the FBO Vendor Guide, which is available at https://www.fbo.gov/downloads/FBO_Vendor_Guide.pdf.
3. After your SAM registration is verified in the FBO system, please follow the steps as outlined below:
a) Begin by clicking on the secured document link, which should then provide you with the corresponding link for the DD Form 2345, Military Critical Technical Data Agreement. The DD2345 is also available at http://www.dlis.dla.mil/JCP/forms/DD2345Form.pdf.
b) Fill out the DD 2345 and submit a hard copy of the original form, together with all required documentation, to the Defense Logistics Information Service (DLIS), U.S./Canada Joint Certification Program (JCP), at the address listed on the form.
c) JCP will return an approved and signed certified form, which will include your certification and expiration date. Please note that delays may be incurred if forms and/or required documentation are incomplete or incorrect.
d) For assistance with the DD2345, or to inquire about the acceptability of electronic provision of documentation, please contact the U.S./Canada Joint Certification Office, DLIS. Contact information is available at http://www.dlis.dla.mil/jcp/team.aspx. DLA Energy is not involved in the approval process and cannot provide assistance with processing.
e) Once approval is received, it can take up to 24 hours for the JCP information to reach all systems.
4. Once you receive the approved DD2345 from JCP, and have verified your status on the JCP website, enter the FBO system and click on the secure document link. The FBO system will require you to enter your MPIN. If you are not prompted to enter a MPIN, please contact the FBO help desk. Contact information can be found at https://www.fsd.gov/.
a) The MPIN is a mandatory data element created by the SAM registrant which must have nine characters [consisting of at least one letter (upper or lower case) and one number, with no spaces or special characters permitted]
b) The MPIN allows access to related acquisition systems (i.e. ORCA and PPIRS). It also validates access to sensitive, but unclassified, documents associated with a notice posted to FBO.
5. Following verification of the MPIN in FBO, vendors must then submit a request for explicit access to the secure documents through the FBO system by clicking on the secure document line, then clicking the "Request Explicit Access" button. Upon requesting explicit access in the FBO system, vendors should send an email notification to the DLA Energy personnel assigned to the procurement, so that they can approve the request in the FBO system. Vendors will receive an email once the access request has been approved by DLA Energy.
Once the MPIN has been verified in the FBO system and explicit access has been granted, vendors will be able to enter the system and view the secure documents.