[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 123 (Friday, June 26, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34955-34956]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-16762]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
Broad Agency Announcement: Funds Availability for Research
Projects and Technology Advancements Under the Next Generation High-
Speed Rail Program
AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of funds availability: Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)
for research projects and technology advancements under the next
generation high-speed rail program.
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Introduction
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is soliciting pre-
proposal concept papers for various research projects, technology
advancements and/or demonstrations directed at enhancing the deployment
of high-speed rail service in the United States. Technologies most
likely to enhance the deployment of high-speed rail service in the U.S.
are those which will--(a) enhance the revenue-generating capability of
high-speed operations; (b) bring about capital cost reductions and
economy in producing equipment and facilities; (c) reduce operating
costs of high-speed rail service; (d) improve the reliability of
equipment and infrastructure components; (e) improve safety; and/or (f)
enhance the social benefits and/or environmental aspects of high speed
rail.
Eligible Participants
This is an unrestricted solicitation. Any responsible source may
submit a pre-proposal concept paper for consideration including, but
not limited to, states or local governments, or organizations of state
or local governments, institutions of higher education, hospitals or
other non-profit organizations, private individuals, corporations,
businesses or commercial organizations, except that any business owned
in whole or in part by the Federal Government is not eligible. Although
businesses owned in whole or in part by the Federal Government are not
eligible for funding under the Program, they may contract with eligible
participants. Cooperative arrangements (e.g., joint ventures, limited
partnerships, teaming arrangements, or collaboration and consortium
arrangements) are permitted and encouraged. Small, Small Disadvantaged
(SD), and Women-Owned (WO) Business Concerns, and Historically Black
Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and Minority Institutions (MIs) are
encouraged to submit pre-proposal concept papers on their own and/or in
collaboration with others. However, no portion of this BAA will be set
aside exclusively for Small, SD, or WO Business Concerns, or for HBCU
and MIs. Attention: Minority, Women-Owned and Disadvantaged Business
Enterprises (DBEs)! The Department of Transportation (DOT), Short-Term
Lending Program (STLP) offers working capital financing in the form of
lines of credit to finance accounts receivable for transportation
related contracts. Maximum line of credit is $500,000 with interest at
the prime rate. For further information call (800) 532-1169. Internet
address: http://osdbuweb.dot.gov.
Exchanges and Points of Contact
Exchanges of information between interested parties and the
Government, prior to submission of pre-proposal concept papers, are
strongly encouraged. Such informal exchanges may provide would-be
offerors with preliminary information on the Government's level of
interest in prospective works or projects or on the availability of
funds. Any exchanges of information must be consistent with procurement
integrity requirements of section 27 of the Office of Federal
Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 423, as amended) (see Federal
Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 3.104). For technical inquires, interested
parties may contact the BAA primary technical point of contact, Mr.
Robert McCown (Tel: 202/632-3250, Fax: 202/632-3854), or one of the
other, secondary technical points of contact identified in Appendix A
of the BAA 98-01 Pre-Proposal Preparation Package (BAA 98-01 Package),
available from the FRA. All non-technical inquiries should be directed
to the Grants/Contracting Officer, Mr. Thomas Riddle (Tel: 202/632-
3391, Fax: 202/632-3846). Please note that FRA anticipates changing its
telephone service on or about July 10, 1998. New telephone numbers will
be assigned during this change over. For the first 30 days after the
change over, there will be a automatic bridge/link in which the service
provider will furnish callers with the new number of the party they are
trying to reach when an old [replaced] number is dialed. After 30 days,
a caller who dials an old number will be routed to the DOT operator for
assistance/new number, or the caller may dial the DOT information line
direct at 202/366-4000. As of the date this announcement/notice was
submitted for publication, the following numbers have been tentatively
assigned for the points of contact identified above, for usage on or
after July 10, 1998: Mr. McCown--Tel: 202/493-6350, RDV-30 Fax: 202/
493-6333. Mr. Riddle--Tel: 202/493-6149.
BAA Time Line
BAA 98-01 is being published in both the Commerce Business Daily
(CBD) and the Federal Register (FR) in June 1998. (Note: BAA 98-01 is a
single broad agency announcement of the FRA, that is being advertised
and published in these two different media to reach a broad base of
prospective applicants. The description of BAA 98-01 may different
slightly in form between the two publications, but each will be
substantially the same as the other in all material respects.) FRA will
accept pre-proposal concept paper submissions, inquiries and requests
for the BAA 98-01 Package under BAA 98-01, immediately upon its
announcement and appearance in either the CBD, or FR, or June 22, 1998,
whichever single date/event occurs first. However, to allow interested
parties adequate time to prepare pre-proposal concept papers, FRA will
not begin its technical evaluations before July 22, 1998. Unless BAA
98-01 is superceded or canceled, FRA will continue to accept concept
submissions, inquiries and package requests, through April 30, 1999;
however, fiscal year 1999 (FY 99) awards are subject to the
availability of FY 99 appropriations or the continued availability of
unobligated prior no-year funds. Although the BAA is open for an
extended period, interested parties would be well advised to submit
proposals as early as possible.
Funding Authority and Related Information
Funds for this program are authorized in the Department of
Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 1998, Public Law
105-66 (October 27, 1997). FRA will make available up to $4.3 million
for awards under the BAA during fiscal year 1998 for research project
and technology advancements in areas of research interest to the FRA,
that are evaluated favorably and determined by the FRA to be consistent
with the objectives of this BAA and of interest to the Government, and
for which adequate funding exist. Awards
[[Page 34956]]
may be of any dollar value within the maximum amounts allowed for each
area of interest (so long as those amounts do not exceed the total
amount available under the BAA), but it is anticipated that most, if
not all, individual awards (or that part of the Government's portion in
a cost sharing arrangement) will have dollar values ranging between
$25,000 and $500,000 each. Prospective offerors are advised that awards
greater than $500,000 will generally require the awardee (except a
small business concern) to already have in place or prepare, at or
before the time of award, an acceptable plan to maximize the
participation of minority, women-owned and disadvantaged business
enterprises. Because the range and diversity of activities that may be
proposed under the BAA does not permit a common work statement, no
single Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code will be issued for
the BAA. SIC codes will be specific to each individual contract award
as determined by the type of activity in which the actual offeror will
be engaged, and as a function of the ownership characteristics of the
prospective offeror. Cost sharing by awardees is not mandatory under
this BAA, however because of the potential for long-term benefits to
those firms or institutions involved in these research and development
activities, offerors are strongly encouraged to consider sharing the
cost of their proposed projects.
Awards
Research projects, technology advancements, and/or demonstrations
proposed under this BAA will be considered for award through a two-step
process. In the first step, interested parties must submit a pre-
proposal concept paper for each research project, technology
advancement or demonstration (by area of interest) the applicant wishes
the FRA to consider. The purpose of the pre-proposal concept paper is
to preclude unwarranted and possibly costly effort on the part of
interested parties whose proposed work may not be of interest to the
FRA under this BAA. Pre-proposal concept papers submitted under this
BAA will be subject to technical review in accordance with the
established evaluation criteria. Based upon its evaluations, the FRA
will subsequently notify each respondent who submits a pre-proposal
concept paper as to whether the Government encourages or does not
encourage the submission of a full proposal. In the second step,
respondents whose pre-proposal concept papers are evaluated favorably
and determined by the FRA to be consistent with the objectives of the
BAA and of interest to the Government, may be requested to submit a
full technical and cost proposal or other information relative to the
initial submission for further consideration. Such a request will NOT
guarantee the applicant that an award will be forthcoming for the
offered work or project, nor otherwise create an obligation on the part
of the Government. Awards may take the form of contracts, grants or
cooperative agreements. Contracts will be used when the principal
purpose is the acquisition of supplies or services (including research
and development) for the direct benefit or use of the Federal
Government. Grants or cooperative agreements will be used when the
principal purpose of the transaction is to stimulate or support
research and development for another public purpose.
Areas of Technology Interest
Technologies which are high-priority research candidates for
evaluation pursuant to this announcement include: (1) Grade crossing
hazard mitigation systems. (2) Innovative, low cost technologies to
improve track and structures. (3) Advance train control systems. (4)
Non-electric locomotives and passenger equipment systems. (5) Other
scientific study, technology adaptation, or demonstration directed
toward advancing the state-of-the-art or increasing the knowledge or
understanding of high-speed passenger rail service in the U.S.
Pre-Proposal Concept Papers and Preparation Instructions
Pre-proposal concept papers should be ten (10) pages or less
(except as otherwise noted). Pre-proposal concept paper submissions
must contain a Technical Concept Section and a Cost or Pricing Section,
and when applicable, should contain a Phased or Follow-on Research
Project Section. Specific content and format requirements and
additional instructions for preparing submissions, as well as further
information on the areas of interest themselves and the evaluation/
selection process, are provided in the BAA 98-01 Package. Interested
parties may obtain a copy of the BAA 98-01 Package by submitting a
written request to U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad
Administration, Office of Acquisition and Grants Services, RAD-30, 400
7th Street, SW, Mail Stop 50, Washington, DC 20590, or via tele-
facsimile request (Fax No. 202/632-3846), to the attention of the
Grants/Contracting Officer, Mr. Riddle. The request should also
reference the Solicitation No. BAA 98-01. The BAA 98-01 Package should
also be available on the Internet in July 1998,
Evaluation Criteria
Pre-proposal concept papers (and later full proposals or other
submissions, if and when requested) will be evaluated using the
following criteria, which are listed in descending order of relative
importance: (1) The overall scientific merit and/or technical merits of
the proposal. (2) The degree to which the overall proposed technical
effort will advance U.S. high-speed rail technology, and the extent to
which its application to railroad operations would improve intercity
passenger operations through improved railroad capital equipment or
infrastructure, traffic control centers, interfaces among these, or
operating methods, and/or its potential for performance improvement in
one or more qualities such as, cost effectiveness, reliability, safety,
availability, or maintainability. (3) The technical qualifications and
demonstrated experience of key personnel proposed to perform the
technical efforts. (4) The administrative qualifications and
demonstrated experience of the proposing organization to support
projects such as those proposed. (5) The reasonableness and realism of
the proposed costs and fee (if any). (6) The degree to which Federal
funds are leveraged by private, non-Federal, and/or Federal funds
available from sources other than FRA programs. (7) The availability of
funds. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION. NO OTHER
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS OR ANNOUNCEMENT WILL BE ISSUED.
Dated: June 18, 1998.
James T. McQueen,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Development.
[FR Doc. 98-16762 Filed 6-25-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P
