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Solicitations | 1999
STTR Phase I Solicitation | Chapter
5 |
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Small Business Technology Transfer 1999 Program Solicitation
5.1 Award
5.2 Phase-I Reporting
5.3 Payment Schedule
5.4 Treatment and Protection of Proposal Information
5.5 Government Rights to Data Developed Under STTR Contracts
5.6 Copyrights
5.7 Patents
5.8 Cost Sharing
5.9 Profit or Fee
5.10 Joint Ventures and Limited Partnerships
5.11 Similar Proposals and Prior Work
5.12 Contractor Commitments
5.13 Additional Information
5.14 Property
Both Phase-I and Phase-II awards are subject to availability of funds. NASA has no obligation to make any
specific number of Phase-I or Phase-II awards based on this Solicitation, and may elect to make several or
no awards in any specific technical topic. In 1999, NASA expects to announce the selection of
approximately 20-25 proposals for negotiation of fixed-price Phase-I contracts with values not exceeding
$100,000. Following contract negotiations and awards, contractors will have 12 months to complete their
proposed Phase-I program and to submit their final report.
About 35 percent of the successfully completed Phase-I projects resulting from this Solicitation may be
selected for Phase-II continuations based on the results of Phase-I activities and competitive evaluations of
Phase-II proposals. Phase-II agreements will be fixed-price contracts with performance periods not
exceeding 24 months and funding not exceeding $500,000.
An interim progress report is required when the invoice is submitted at project mid-point in accordance
with the payment schedule (Section 5.3). This report shall document progress made on the project and
activities required for completion to provide NASA the basis for determining whether the payment is
warranted.
A final report must be submitted to NASA upon completion of the Phase-I R/R&D effort in accordance
with contract provisions. It shall elaborate the project objectives, work carried out, results obtained, and
assessments of technical merit and feasibility. The final report shall include a single page project summary
as the first page, in a format provided in the Phase-I contract, identifying the purpose of the R/R&D effort
and describing the findings and results, including the degree to which the Phase-I objectives were achieved,
and whether the results justify Phase-II continuation. The potential applications of the project results in
Phase-III either for NASA or commercial purposes shall also be described. The project summary is to be
submitted without restriction for NASA publication. Language used in the Phase-I report may be used
verbatim in the Phase-II proposal.
Payments in Phase-I can be authorized as follows: one-third at the time of award, one-third at project mid- point, and the remainder upon acceptance of the final report by NASA. The first two payments will be made 30 days after receipt of valid invoices. The final payment will be made 30 days after acceptance of the final report and other deliverables as required by the contract. Electronic funds transfer will be employed and offerors will be required to submit account data if selected for contract negotiations.
5.4 Treatment and Protection of Proposal Information
In the evaluation and handling of proposals, NASA will make every effort to protect the proposals and their evaluations from unauthorized disclosure. NASA does not accept STTR proposals that contain classified information.
5.4.1 Proprietary Information. It is NASA's policy to use information (data) included in proposals for evaluation purposes only. Public release of information in any proposal submitted will be subject to existing statutory and regulatory requirements. If proprietary information consisting of a trade secret, proprietary commercial or financial information, or private personal information is provided in an STTR proposal, NASA will treat it in confidence proprietary information provided the following legend appears on the title page of the proposal:
For any purpose other than to evaluate the proposal, this data shall not be disclosed outside the Government and shall not be duplicated, used, or disclosed in whole or in part, provided that if a funding agreement is awarded to the offeror as a result of or in connection with the submission of this data, the Government shall have the right to duplicate, use or disclose the data to the extent provided in the funding agreement. This restriction does not limit the Government's right to use information contained in the data if it is obtained from another source without restriction. The data subject to this restriction are contained on pages ______ of this proposal.
NASA recommends that offerors do not include proprietary information in their proposals. Do not label the entire proposal proprietary. Form 9B, Project Summary, should not contain proprietary information.
5.4.2 Non-NASA Reviewers. In addition to Government personnel, NASA, at its discretion and in accordance with 18 15.413-2 of the NASA FAR Supplement, may utilize reviewers from outside the Government in the proposal review process. Any decision to obtain outside evaluation shall take into consideration requirements for the avoidance of organizational or personal conflicts of interest and the competitive relationship, if any, between the prospective contractor and associated business entities and the prospective outside evaluator. Any such evaluation will be under an agreement with the evaluator that the information contained in the proposal will be used only for evaluation purposes and will not be further disclosed.
5.4.3 Release of Proposal Information. By submission of a proposal, the offeror agrees to permit the Government to publicly disclose the information contained in the Cover Sheet and Project Summary. Other proposal information is considered to be the property of the offeror, and NASA will protect it from public disclosure to the extent permitted by law.
5.4.4 Final Disposition of Proposals. The Government retains ownership of proposals accepted for evaluation, and they will not be returned to the offeror. Copies of all evaluated Phase-I proposals will be retained for one year after the Phase-I selections have been made, after which time unsuccessful proposals may be destroyed.
5.5 Government Rights to Data Developed Under STTR Contracts
5.5.1. Non-Proprietary Data. Some data of a general nature are to be furnished to NASA without restriction (i.e., with unlimited rights) and may be published by NASA. These data will normally be limited to the project summaries accompanying any periodic progress reports and the final reports required to be submitted (see Section 5.2). The requirement will be specifically set forth in any contract resulting from this Solicitation.
5.5.2 Proprietary Data. When data that is required to be delivered under an STTR contract qualifies as “proprietary,” i.e., either data developed at private expense that embody trade secrets or are commercial or financial and confidential or privileged, or computer software developed at private expense that is a trade secret, the Contractor, if the contractor desires to continue protection of such proprietary data, shall not deliver such data to the Government, but instead shall deliver form, fit, and function data.
5.5.3 Non-Disclosure Period. The Government, for a period of 4 years from acceptance of all items to be delivered under an STTR contract, shall use STTR data, i.e., data first produced by the Contractor in performance of the contract where such data are not generally known, and which data without obligation as to its confidentiality have not been made available to others by the Contractor or are not already available to the Government, agrees to use these data for Government purposes, and shall not be disclosed outside the Government (including disclosure for procurement purposes) during the 4 -year period without permission of the Contractor, except that such data may be disclosed for use by support Contractors under an obligation of confidentiality. After the 4-year period the Government has a royalty-free license to use, and to authorize others to use on its behalf, these data for Government purposes, but the Government is relieved of all disclosure prohibitions and assumes no liability for unauthorized use by third parties.
Subject to certain licenses granted by the Contractor to the Government, the Contractor receives copyright to any data first produced by the Contractor in the performance of an STTR contract.
The Contractor may normally elect title to any inventions made in the performance of an STTR contract. The Government receives a nonexclusive license to practice or have practiced for or on behalf of the Government each such invention throughout the world. To the extent authorized by 35 U.S.C. 205, the Government will not make public any information disclosing such inventions for a reasonable time to allow the Contractor to file a patent application.
Cost sharing is permitted, but not required for proposals under this Solicitation. Cost sharing, if included, should be shown in the summary budget but not in items labeled "AMOUNT REQUESTED." If cost sharing is proposed, then these added funds shall be included in the 40/30 work percentage distribution and reflected in the Summary Budget (Form 9C).
Both Phase-I and Phase-II STTR contracts shall include a reasonable profit except where cost sharing is proposed. No profit will be paid under cost-sharing contracts. The reasonableness of a proposed profit is examined by the Contracting Officer during contract negotiations.
5.10 Joint Ventures and Limited Partnerships
Proposals may be submitted in the name of a joint venture or a limited partnership provided the entity qualifies as a small business concern in accordance with the definition in Section 2.3.
5.11 Similar Proposals and Prior Work
If an award is made pursuant to a proposal submitted under this Program Solicitation, the firm will be required to certify that it has not previously been paid nor is currently being paid for essentially equivalent work by any agency of the Federal Government. Failure to acknowledge or report similar or duplicate efforts can lead to the termination of contracts or other actions.
Upon award of a contract, the contractor will be required to make certain legal commitments through acceptance of numerous clauses in the Phase-I contract. The following illustrates the types of clauses that will be included in the Phase-I contract. This is not a complete list of clauses to be included in Phase-I contracts, nor does it contain specific wording of these clauses. Copies of complete provisions will be made available prior to contract negotiations.
5.12.1 Standards of Work. Work performed under the contract must conform to high professional standards. Analyses, equipment, and components for use by NASA will require special consideration to satisfy the stringent safety and reliability requirements imposed in aerospace applications.
5.12.2 Inspection. Work performed under the contract is subject to Government inspection and evaluation at all reasonable times.
5.12.3 Examination of Records. The Comptroller General (or a duly authorized representative) shall have the right to examine any pertinent records of the Contractor involving transactions related to the contract.
5.12.4 Default. The Government may terminate the contract if the contractor fails to perform the contracted work.
5.12.5 Termination for Convenience. The contract may be terminated by the Government at any time if it deems termination to be in its best interest, in which case the Contractor will be compensated for work performed and for reasonable termination costs.
5.12.6 Disputes. Any dispute concerning the contract that cannot be resolved by mutual agreement shall be decided by the Contracting Officer with right of appeal.
5.12.7 Contract Work Hours. The Contractor may not require a non-exempt employee to work more than 40 hours in a work week unless the employee is paid for overtime.
5.12.8 Equal Opportunity. The Contractor will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, age, sex, or national origin.
5.12.9 Affirmative Action for Veterans. The Contractor will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because he or she is a disabled veteran or veteran of the Vietnam era.
5.12.10 Affirmative Action for Handicapped. The Contractor will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because he or she is physically or mentally handicapped.
5.12.11 Officials Not to Benefit. No member of or delegate to Congress shall benefit from the STTR contract.
5.12.12 Covenant Against Contingent Fees. No person or agency has been employed to solicit or secure the contract upon an understanding for compensation except bona fide employees or commercial agencies maintained by the Contractor for the purpose of securing business.
5.12.13 Gratuities. The contract may be terminated by the Government if any gratuities have been offered to any representative of the Government to secure the contract.
5.12.14 Patent Infringement. The Contractor shall report to NASA each notice or claim of patent infringement based on the performance of the contract.
5.12.15 American-Made Equipment and Products. Equipment or products purchased under an STTR contract must be American-made whenever possible.
5.13.1 Precedence of Contract over Solicitation. This Solicitation reflects current planning. If there is any inconsistency between the information contained herein and the terms of any resulting STTR contract, the terms of the contract are controlling.
5.13.2 Evidence of Contractor Responsibility. Before award of an STTR contract, the Government may request the offeror to submit certain organizational, management, personnel, and financial information to establish responsibility of the offeror.
5.13.3 Limitations on Awards. This Solicitation is not an offer by the Government to make any specific number of awards under either Phase-I or Phase-II. NASA is not responsible for any monies expended by the offeror before award of any contract resulting from this Solicitation. Awards under this Program Solicitation are contingent upon the availability of funds.
5.13.4 Classified Proposals. NASA will not accept proposals containing information marked “classified”, “confidential” or “sensitive”.
5.13.5 Unsolicited Proposals. Unsolicited proposals will not be accepted under the STTR program in either Phase-I or Phase-II.
In accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Part 45, it is NASA's policy not to provide
facilities (capital equipment, tooling, test and computer facilities, etc.) for the performance of work under
contract. The presumption is that an offeror will furnish their own facilities to perform the proposed work
as an indirect cost to the contract. Special tooling required for a project may be allowed as a direct cost.
When an offeror cannot furnish their own facilities to perform required tasks, an offeror may propose to
acquire the use of commercially available facilities. Rental or lease costs may be considered as direct costs
as part of the total funding for the project.
If unique requirements force an offeror to acquire facilities under a NASA contract, they will be purchased
as Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) and titled to the Government.
An offeror may propose the use of unique or one-of-a-kind NASA facilities if essential for the research.
Their availability, however, cannot always be guaranteed, and non-availability may lead to non-selection.
Offerors requiring a NASA facility must clearly describe why use of such facilities will accelerate Phase-III
commercialization. Should an offeror propose the use of unique or one-of-a-kind NASA facilities, an
agreement with the responsible installation is required and costs for their use will be determined by the
installation. These costs may be chargeable in accordance with the Government property clause of the
contract.