Department of Homeland Security

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Logistics Management Directorate

Transportation Management Division

Disaster Operations for Transportation Support for

American Samoa, Guam, and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has developed this Request for Information (RFI) to solicit market research information from industry. FEMA’s mission is helping people before, during, and after disasters. One of FEMA’s responsibilities are to ensure the effectiveness of emergency response personnel in responding to emergencies and disasters.

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. This notice is not a Request for Proposal, a Request for Quotation, an Invitation for Bids, a Solicitation, or an indication that the Government will contract for the services detailed herein. This RFI is part of government market research efforts to determine the scope of industry capabilities and will be utilized for informational purposes only. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responses to this RFI are strictly voluntary and the Government will not pay respondents for information provided in response to this RFI. Responses to this RFI will not be returned and respondents will not be notified of the results of the review. If a Solicitation is issued, the Government does not guarantee that it will be issued to RFI respondents. The Government is also requesting that restrictive or proprietary markings not be used in response to the RFI. Please note that this RFI does not restrict the Government's acquisition approach on a future Solicitation.

NO PROPOSALS ARE BEING REQUESTED OR ACCEPTED AND NO CONTRACT

SHALL BE AWARDED AS A RESULT OF THIS RFI.

No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this RFI or any follow up information requests.

The purpose of this RFI is to receive responses to the list of questions provided by FEMA. Information regarding this specific requirement is included in this notice for reference.

PROPRIETARY INFORMATION AND DISCLAIMERS: Respondents shall identify any proprietary information in its response. Information submitted in response to this RFI will be used at the discretion of the Government. Further, the information submitted will remain confidential insofar as permitted by law, including the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts.

FEMA reserves the right to utilize any non-proprietary technical information in the anticipated PWS or solicitation.

Although it is not necessary to address in their response, respondents shall be aware of any potential, actual, or perceived organizational conflicts of interests. Any real or potential conflicts must be sufficiently mitigated prior to a contract award. For further guidance, refer to the FAR Part 9.5.

BACKGROUND

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has the responsibility of supporting the disaster response and recovery efforts for the severely impacted United States territories of American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.  Past major hurricanes have brought unprecedented damages intensifying the response and recovery effort challenges that affected FEMA’s response to survivors located throughout the islands, specifically to those secluded areas like the mountain and inland regions.  Accessibility issues due to damaged transportation infrastructure has survivors waiting longer periods of time to receive life sustaining supplies. 

A major part of the response and recovery effort revolves around supplying the affected area with Initial Response Resources (IRR).  These include life supporting and life sustaining IRRs such as but not limited to water, meals, cots, tarps, plastic sheeting, blankets, sandbags, generators, and fuel which are needed to lessen damage before or after a disaster.  FEMA has limited readiness on these islands due to the deficiency in warehousing space and minimum full time FEMA/CORE personnel in American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to support the magnitude of this response. FEMA is also tasked with the movement of Inter-agency resources and support functions into the affected areas to support critical needs such as infrastructure, electricity, an