Project Labor Agreement Survey: W9128F23SC011

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District is soliciting comments from the construction community addressing the potential use of Project Labor Agreements (PLA) for a large-scale construction project (exceeding $25 million) for the US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, US Dairy Forage Research Center (DFRC) at Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin.

Submit your responses electronically (via email) no later than (NLT) 2:00 PM Central Daylight Time on 08 May 2023 to adam.l.beaver@usace.army.mil. Your response shall be limited to five (5) pages in Times New Roman font of not less than 10 pitch. To ensure proper attention to your submission, please include the following information in your email:

SUBJECT: “PLA Survey W9128F23SC011 – Prairie du Sac replacement Dairy Forage Research Center”.

CONTENT: Business name, address, CAGE code, & a point of contact phone number and email.

A PLA is defined as a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement between a Prime contractor and one or more labor organizations that establishes the terms and conditions of employment for a specific construction project and is an agreement described in 29 U.S. C. 158(f). Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR 22.503) Policy provides that:

(a) Project Labor Agreement (PLA) is a tool that agencies may use to promote economy and efficiency in Federal procurement. Pursuant to Executive Order 13502, agencies are encouraged to consider requiring the use of project labor agreements in connection with large-scale construction projects.

(b) An agency may, if appropriate, require that every contractor and subcontractor, or certain subcontractors, engaged in construction on the project agree, for that project, to negotiate or become a party to a project labor agreement with one or more labor organizations if the agency decides that the use of project labor agreements will:

(i) Advance the Federal Governments interest in achieving economy and efficiency in Federal procurement, producing labor-management stability, and ensuring compliance with laws and regulations governing safety and health, equal employment opportunity, labor and employment standards and other matters; and

(ii) Be consistent with law. Reference: FAR 52.222-33 Notice of Requirement for Project Labor Agreement; FAR 52.222-34 Project Labor Agreement.

Request responses to the following questions:

(1) Do you have knowledge that a PLA has been used in the local area on projects of this kind? If so, please provide supporting documentation.

(2) Are you aware of skilled labor shortages in the area for those crafts that will be needed to complete the reference project? If so, please elaborate and provide supporting documentation where possible.

(3) Are you aware of time sensitive issues/scheduling requirements that would affect the rate at which the referenced project should be completed? If so, please elaborate and provide supporting documentation where possible.

(4) Identify specific reasons why or how you believe a PLA would advance the Federal Governments interest in achieving economy and efficiency in federal procurement.

(5) Identify specific reasons why you do not believe a PLA would advance the Federal Governments interest in achieving economy and efficiency in federal procurement.

(6) Identify any additional information you believe should be considered on the use of a PLA on the referenced project.

(7) Identify any additional information you believe should be considered on the non-use of a PLA on the referenced project.

The information gathered in this survey should include the following information on projects completed in the last 2 – 5 years:

1. Project Name and Location
2. Detailed Project Description
3. Initial Cost Estimate vs. Actual Final Cost
4. Was the project completed on time?
5. Number of craft trades present on the project
6. Was a PLA used?
7. Were there any challenges experienced during the project?

Project Description:

CENWO intends to acquire construction services for the replacement of the US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, US Dairy Forage Research Center (DFRC) at Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin. The project will be fully designed, and a construction design package will be provided in a future solicitation. This project may include, but not be limited to, the construction of a government dairy production and research facility; lactating cow facilities; heifer and calf facilities; breeding areas; intensive animal feeding facility; emission chambers research facility; milking parlor(s); manure management system; feed storage and mixing facilities; data generation and transfer systems; laboratory areas and research rooms; field equipment storage and maintenance facilities; and administration and personnel support facilities.

1. The overall facility will accommodate up to 452 lactating cows (maximum), 144 calves, 1300 acres of crops production, 900 acres of pasture and perennials, 12 permanent researchers and staff, up to 12 operations and maintenance personnel, and up to 8 (maximum 10) student researchers. Water runoff management is a high priority.
2. Construction of approximately 254,003 BGSF of new production, research, operations, and maintenance facilities and supporting infrastructure.
3. Lactating cow facility capable of supporting a total of up to 452 lactating cows plus 44 dry and transitioning cow accommodations. A Robotic Milking (RM) subunit consisting of 4 automated milking system (AMS) modules for 60 cows per module with each module outfitted with instrumentation capable of capturing individual animal dry matter and water intake measurements.
4. An Advanced Animal Nutrition (AAN) subunit that would include 24 stalls of intensive animal feeding facility with housing, care, milking, and monitoring capabilities; an additional 24 similarly equipped tie stalls that would be used for transitioning animals to the experiments; and a “milk in place” inline milking system for the 48 tie stalls.
5. An Animal Emissions (AE) subunit that would include 4 emission chambers for ammonia and greenhouse gas emission monitoring compartments capable of accommodating 1 animal/compartment.
6. A Free Stall Pen (FSP) subunit that would include pens for 8 cows and at least free stalls enough to provide a 100% stocking rate for up to 160 cows (20 pens) and instrumentation capable of capturing individual animal dry matter and water intake measurements
7. A Calf Development (CD) subunit for the rearing of up to 144 calves on-site providing at least 50% of their annual DM intake from pasture and forages grown on non-annual cropland, equipped with animal handling, manure management, and paddocks. It is anticipated that this subunit will be located at the existing research center in renovated/adapted buildings.
8. Animal breeding, treatment, and medical facility.
9. Milking parlor capable of supporting 500 dairy cows.
10. Manure management system with adequate, on-site storage lagoon(s)
11. Laboratories and research rooms capable of facilitating ongoing and future experiments.
12. Field equipment storage and maintenance facilities; fertilizer, pesticide, and non-pesticide storage.
13. Administration and personnel facilities with office space, admin storage, conference, locker/break rooms, and meeting space.
14. A dormitory/kitchenette-type facility for students and/or technicians conducting “round the clock” sampling procedures which would provide them with small desks upon which to work, facilities to prep a meal, and bunks in which they may rest/sleep in between sampling times.
15. Construction of approximately 44,000 BGSF silage and feed storage facilities and supporting infrastructure.
16. Ample and flexible space for bunk silos and bagged silage
17. Tanks for liquid feeds
18. Soybean storage and roasting capabilities.
19. Covered bag feed storage, “feed kitchen” (ration mixing area), and systems capable of providing consistent feed mixing results.

The estimated magnitude of construction cost of this project is between $25,000,000 and $100,000,000 000 Ref. DFARS 236.204 Disclosure of Magnitude.

The estimated period of performance is ~ 820 calendar days from construction notice to proceed (NTP).

REMINDER: Formal responses to this Market Survey must be submitted electronically (via email) with.

SUBJECT: “PLA Survey W9128F23SC011 – Prairie du Sac replacement Dairy Forage Research Center”.

CONTENT: Business name, address, CAGE code, & a point of contact phone number and email.

Submit to: adam.l.beaver@usace.army.mil. NLT: 2:00PM CDT, 08 May 2023

Attachments/Links