[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 36, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2008]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 36CFR51]

[Page 290-294]
 
              TITLE 36--PARKS, FORESTS, AND PUBLIC PROPERTY
 
      CHAPTER I--NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
 
PART 51_CONCESSION CONTRACTS--Table of Contents
 
         Subpart C_Solicitation, Selection and Award Procedures


Sec. 51.4  How will the Director invite the general public to apply for 
the award of a concession contract?

    (a) The Director must award all concession contracts, except as 
otherwise expressly provided in this part, through a public solicitation 
process. The public solicitation process begins with the issuance of a 
prospectus. The prospectus will invite the general public to submit 
proposals for the contract. The prospectus will describe the terms and 
conditions of the concession contract to be awarded and the procedures 
to be followed in the selection of the best proposal.
    (b) Except as provided under Sec. 51.47 (which calls for a final 
administrative decision on preferred offeror appeals prior to the 
selection of the best proposal) the terms, conditions and determinations 
of the prospectus and the terms and conditions of the proposed 
concession contract as described in the prospectus, including, without 
limitation, its minimum franchise fee, are not final until the 
concession contract is awarded. The Director will not issue a prospectus 
for a concession contract earlier than eighteen months prior to the 
expiration of a related existing concession contract.


Sec. 51.5  What information will the prospectus include?

    The prospectus must include the following information:
    (a) The minimum requirements of the concession contract. The minimum 
requirements of the concession contract, include, but are not limited to 
the following:
    (1) The minimum acceptable franchise fee or other forms of 
consideration to the Government;
    (2) The minimum visitor services that the concessioner is to be 
authorized to provide;
    (3) The minimum capital investment, if any, that the concessioner 
must make;
    (4) The minimum measures that the concessioner must take to ensure 
the protection, conservation, and preservation of the resources of the 
park area; and
    (5) Any other minimum requirements that the new contract may 
specify, including, as appropriate and without limitation, measurable 
performance standards;
    (b) The terms and conditions of a current concession contract, if 
any, relating to the visitor services to be provided, including all fees 
and other forms of compensation provided to the Director under such 
contract;
    (c) A description of facilities and services, if any, that the 
Director may provide to the concessioner under the terms of the 
concession contract, including, but not limited to, public access, 
utilities and buildings;
    (d) An estimate of the amount of any compensation due a current 
concessioner from a new concessioner under the terms of an existing or 
prior concession contract;
    (e) A statement identifying each principal selection factor for 
proposals, including subfactors, if any, and secondary factors, if any, 
and the weight and relative importance of the principal and any 
secondary factors in the selection decision;
    (f) Such other information related to the proposed concession 
contract as is provided to the Director pursuant to a concession 
contract or is otherwise available to the Director, as the Director 
determines is necessary to allow for the submission of competitive 
proposals. Among other such necessary information a prospectus will 
contain (when applicable) are the gross receipts of the current 
concession contract broken out by department for the three most recent 
years; franchise fees charged under the current concession

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contract for the three most recent years; merchandise inventories of the 
current concessioner for the three most recent years; and the 
depreciable fixed assets and net depreciable fixed assets of the current 
concessioner; and
    (g) Identification of a preferred offeror for a qualified concession 
contract, if any, and, if a preferred offeror exists, a description of a 
right of preference to the award of the concession contract.


Sec. 51.6  Will a concession contract be developed for a particular 
potential offeror?

    The terms and conditions of a concession contract must represent the 
requirements of the Director in accordance with the purposes of this 
part and must not be developed to accommodate the capabilities or 
limitations of any potential offeror. The Director must not provide a 
current concessioner or other person any information as to the content 
of a proposed or issued prospectus that is not available to the general 
public.


Sec. 51.7  How will information be provided to a potential offeror 
after the prospectus is issued?

    Material information directly related to the prospectus and the 
concession contract (except when otherwise publicly available) that the 
Director provides to any potential offeror prior to the submission of 
proposals must be made available to all persons who have requested a 
copy of the prospectus.


Sec. 51.8  Where will the Director publish the notice of availability 
of the prospectus?

    The Director will publish notice of the availability of the 
prospectus at least once in the Commerce Business Daily or in a similar 
publication if the Commerce Business Daily ceases to be published. The 
Director may also publish notices, if determined appropriate by the 
Director, electronically or in local or national newspapers or trade 
magazines.


Sec. 51.9  How do I get a copy of the prospectus?

    The Director will make the prospectus available upon request to all 
interested persons. The Director may charge a reasonable fee for a 
prospectus, not to exceed printing, binding and mailing costs.


Sec. 51.10  How long will I have to submit my proposal?

    The Director will allow an appropriate period for submission of 
proposals that is not less than 60 days unless the Director determines 
that a shorter time is appropriate in the circumstances of a particular 
solicitation. Proposals that are not timely submitted will not be 
considered by the Director.


Sec. 51.11  May the Director amend, extend, or cancel a prospectus 
or solicitation?

    The Director may amend a prospectus and/or extend the submission 
date prior to the proposal due date. The Director may cancel a 
solicitation at any time prior to award of the concession contract if 
the Director determines in his discretion that this action is 
appropriate in the public interest. No offeror or other person will 
obtain compensable or other legal rights as a result of an amended, 
extended, canceled or resolicited solicitation for a concession 
contract.


Sec. 51.12  Are there any other additional procedures that I must 
follow to apply for a concession contract?

    The Director may specify in a prospectus additional solicitation 
and/or selection procedures consistent with the requirements of this 
part in the interest of enhancing competition. Such additional 
procedures may include, but are not limited to, issuance of a two-phased 
prospectus--a qualifications phase and a proposal phase. The Director 
will incorporate simplified administrative requirements and procedures 
in prospectuses for concession contracts that the Director considers are 
likely to be awarded to a sole proprietorship or are likely to have 
annual gross receipts of less than $100,000. Such simplified 
requirements and procedures may include, as appropriate and without 
limitation, a reduced application package, a shorter proposal submission 
period, and a reduction of proposal information requirements.

[[Page 292]]


Sec. 51.13  When will the Director determine if proposals are 
responsive?

    The Director will determine if proposals are responsive or non-
responsive prior to or as of the date of selection of the best proposal.


Sec. 51.14  What happens if no responsive proposals are submitted?

    If no responsive proposals are submitted, the Director may cancel 
the solicitation, or, after cancellation, establish new contract 
requirements and issue a new prospectus.


Sec. 51.15  May I clarify, amend or supplement my proposal after it is 
submitted?

    (a) The Director may request from any offeror who has submitted a 
timely proposal a written clarification of its proposal. Clarification 
refers to making clear any ambiguities that may have been contained in a 
proposal but does not include amendment or supplementation of a 
proposal. An offeror may not amend or supplement a proposal after the 
submission date unless requested by the Director to do so and the 
Director provides all offerors that submitted proposals a similar 
opportunity to amend or supplement their proposals. Permitted amendments 
must be limited to modifying particular aspects of proposals resulting 
from a general failure of offerors to understand particular requirements 
of a prospectus or a general failure of offerors to submit particular 
information required by a prospectus.
    (b) A proposal may suggest changes to the terms and conditions of a 
proposed concession contract and still be considered as responsive so 
long as the suggested changes are not conditions to acceptance of the 
terms and conditions of the proposed concession contract. The fact that 
a proposal may suggest changes to the proposed concession contract does 
not mean that the Director may accept those changes without a 
resolicitation of the concession opportunity.


Sec. 51.16  How will the Director evaluate proposals and select the 
best one?

    (a) The Director will apply the selection factors set forth in Sec. 
51.17 by assessing each timely proposal under each of the selection 
factors on the basis of a narrative explanation, discussing any 
subfactors when applicable. For each selection factor, the Director will 
assign a score that reflects the determined merits of the proposal under 
the applicable selection factor and in comparison to the other proposals 
received, if any. The first four principal selection factors will be 
scored from zero to five. The fifth selection factor will be scored from 
zero to four (with a score of one for agreeing to the minimum franchise 
fee contained in the prospectus). The secondary factor set forth in 
Sec. 51.17(b)(1) will be scored from zero to three. Any additional 
secondary selection factors set forth in the prospectus will be scored 
as specified in the prospectus provided that the aggregate possible 
point score for all additional secondary selection factors may not 
exceed a total of three.
    (b) The Director will then assign a cumulative point score to each 
proposal based on the assigned score for each selection factor.
    (c) The responsive proposal with the highest cumulative point score 
will be selected by the Director as the best proposal. If two or more 
responsive proposals receive the same highest point score, the Director 
will select as the best proposal (from among the responsive proposals 
with the same highest point score), the responsive proposal that the 
Director determines on the basis of a narrative explanation will, on an 
overall basis, best achieve the purposes of this part. Consideration of 
revenue to the United States in this determination and in scoring 
proposals under principal selection factor five will be subordinate to 
the objectives of protecting, conserving, and preserving the resources 
of the park area and of providing necessary and appropriate visitor 
services to the public at reasonable rates.


Sec. 51.17  What are the selection factors?

    (a) The five principal selection factors are:
    (1) The responsiveness of the proposal to the objectives, as 
described in the prospectus, of protecting, conserving, and preserving 
resources of the park area;

[[Page 293]]

    (2) The responsiveness of the proposal to the objectives, as 
described in the prospectus, of providing necessary and appropriate 
visitor services at reasonable rates;
    (3) The experience and related background of the offeror, including 
the past performance and expertise of the offeror in providing the same 
or similar visitor services as those to be provided under the concession 
contract;
    (4) The financial capability of the offeror to carry out its 
proposal; and
    (5) The amount of the proposed minimum franchise fee, if any, and/or 
other forms of financial consideration to the Director. However, 
consideration of revenue to the United States will be subordinate to the 
objectives of protecting, conserving, and preserving resources of the 
park area and of providing necessary and appropriate visitor services to 
the public at reasonable rates.
    (b) The secondary selection factors are:
    (1) The quality of the offeror's proposal to conduct its operations 
in a manner that furthers the protection, conservation and preservation 
of park area and other resources through environmental management 
programs and activities, including, without limitation, energy 
conservation, waste reduction, and recycling. A prospectus may exclude 
this secondary factor if the prospectus solicits proposals for a 
concession contract that is anticipated to have annual gross receipts of 
less than $100,000 and the activities that will be conducted under the 
contract are determined by the Director as likely to have only limited 
impacts on the resources of the park area; and
    (2) Any other selection factors the Director may adopt in 
furtherance of the purposes of this part, including where appropriate 
and otherwise permitted by law, the extent to which a proposal calls for 
the employment of Indians (including Native Alaskans) and/or involvement 
of businesses owned by Indians, Indian tribes, Native Alaskans, or 
minority or women-owned businesses in operations under the proposed 
concession contract.
    (c) A prospectus may include subfactors under each of the principal 
and secondary factors to describe specific elements of the selection 
factor.


Sec. 51.18  When must the Director reject a proposal?

    The Director must reject any proposal received, regardless of the 
franchise fee offered, if the Director makes any of the following 
determinations: the offeror is not a qualified person as defined in this 
part; The offeror is not likely to provide satisfactory service; the 
proposal is not a responsive proposal as defined in this part; or, the 
proposal is not responsive to the objectives of protecting and 
preserving the resources of the park area and of providing necessary and 
appropriate services to the public at reasonable rates.


Sec. 51.19  Must the Director award the concession contract that is 
set forth in the prospectus?

    Except for incorporating into the concession contract appropriate 
elements of the best proposal, the Director must not award a concession 
contract which materially amends or does not incorporate the terms and 
conditions of the concession contract as set forth in the prospectus.


Sec. 51.20  Does this part limit the authority of the Director?

    Nothing in this part may be construed as limiting the authority of 
the Director at any time to determine whether to solicit or award a 
concession contract, to cancel a solicitation, or to terminate a 
concession contract in accordance with its terms.


Sec. 51.21  When must the selected offeror execute the concession 
contract?

    The selected offeror must execute the concession contract promptly 
after selection of the best proposal and within the time established by 
the Director. If the selected offeror fails to execute the concession 
contract in this period, the Director may select another responsive 
proposal or may cancel the selection and resolicit the concession 
contract.


Sec. 51.22  When may the Director award the concession contract?

    Before awarding a concession contract with anticipated annual gross 
receipts in excess of $5,000,000 or of more

[[Page 294]]

than 10 years in duration, or, pursuant to Sec. 51.24(b), the Director 
must submit the concession contract to the Committee on Resources of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources of the Senate. The Director must not award any such concession 
contract until 60 days after the submission. Award of these contracts 
may not be made without the Director's written approval. The Director 
may not delegate this approval except to a Deputy Director or an 
Associate Director. The Director may award a concession contract that is 
not subject to these or other special award requirements at any time 
after selection of the best proposal and execution of the concession 
contract by the offeror.