Common Analytic and Support System (CASS) for the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) Tsunami Warning Centers (TWCs)

Amendment / Modification

This amendment (0001) to solicitation 1305M326Q0019, effective February 6, 2026, updates the Phase I submission instructions. Specific details regarding these changes are provided on a continuation page and are denoted by red text.

• Phase I submission instructions.

• The amendment clarifies instructions for Phase I submissions, which are critical for vendor evaluation and potential award. Vendors must ensure their submissions comply with these updated instructions to avoid non-compliance.

Questions & Answers / Clarifications

This document contains questions submitted by potential bidders and the government's responses regarding Solicitation 1305M326Q0019 for the Common Alerting System (CASS).

• Budget: The total budget for the base period is $2,000,823.20. The $124K mentioned is the total value of time-and-materials line items only, not the overall contract value.
• Technical Approach (COTS): While the government requires unlimited rights to all source code, they are open to solutions built upon commercially licensed operational platforms (COTS), provided CASS-specific code is owned by the government. COTS license costs should be included in CLIN 0003.
• Data Availability: CAS v1.0 documentation and source code will only be provided post-award. Access to other technical documents will be coordinated.
• Deployment Environment: The primary goal is on-premise deployment at both Tsunami Warning Centers (TWCs), with an emphasis on exploring cloud resources for specific components like database storage.
• Personnel Access: Routine physical access to TWCs is not required; most work can be remote, with periodic site visits. US citizen personnel have less stringent access requirements for Ford Island.
• Security: The delivered product will fall within the existing FISMA boundary. The contractor must provide detailed design documentation for security risk assessment.
• Phase II Process: Offerors will have approximately two days to opt-in to Phase II after advisory notifications. Oral presentations are expected 1-2 weeks later, with scenario-based questions distributed 24 hours prior. Technical demonstrations are allotted one hour.
• Experience: Both prime contractor and subcontractor experience can be used, but subcontractor experience must be explained and how it will be leveraged.
• Cloud/HPC: The government does not anticipate requiring access to government HPC resources; contractors must provide their own compute infrastructure. The NWS is still exploring cloud service provider (CSP) considerations.

This Q&A document clarifies several key aspects of the solicitation, including budget details, technical requirements, data access, deployment strategies, and evaluation processes. Bidders should review these responses carefully to inform their proposals, particularly regarding COTS integration, data rights, and Phase II submission requirements.

Solicitation / RFP / RFQ

This solicitation (RFQ 1305M326Q0019) is for the development of a Common Analytic and Support System (CASS) for the NOAA/National Weather Service (NWS) Tsunami Warning Centers (TWCs). The CASS aims to provide comprehensive and consistent forecast and alerting guidance to support local network fault tolerance requirements for the two TWCs, located in Palmer, AK, and Honolulu, HI. The system will integrate with the NWS enterprise platform (ATOMS) and incorporate originally-developed code from the Common Analytic System (CAS).

• CLIN 0001 (Baselining Effort): A two-month effort to determine capacity and velocity of sprints, during which the Government and Contractor will mutually agree on team capacity and finalize the quantity and unit price for CLIN 0002.

• CLIN 0002 (CASS Development): Full development of the CASS, including migration activities, testing, evaluation, implementation, and code fixes. Sprint quantity, duration, and firm-fixed-price per sprint will be finalized during CLIN 0001.

• CLIN 0003 (Other Direct Costs): Includes travel.

• Optional CLINs (1001 & 1002): Optional additional development and associated direct costs, to be negotiated prior to exercise.

• Functionality: Includes deep-ocean assessment, data ingest from various sources (seismic, landslide monitoring, GNSS), ensemble modeling, inundation modeling, event simulation, and dissemination capabilities.

• Security: High impact classification system requiring U.S. Citizen employees and adherence to strict IT security standards.

• Contract Type: Firm-Fixed-Price for CLINs 0001 and 0002; Time-and-Materials for CLIN 0003. Optional CLINs are Firm-Fixed-Price and Time-and-Materials respectively.

• Period of Performance: Baselining effort (March 16, 2026 - May 15, 2026); CASS Development (May 16, 2026 - May 15, 2027). Optional development period: May 16, 2027 - May 15, 2028.

• Estimated Value: The ceiling price for time-and-materials line items is $124,000.00, with $108,000.00 allotted.

• Solicitation Issue Date: February 6, 2026

• Offer Due Date: February 17, 2026, 2:00 PM Pacific Time.

• Submission Process: Two-phase advisory down-select strategy. Phase I requires general documents and experience. Phase II includes iterative project management approach, technical demonstration, and price.

• Evaluation: Set Price with Highest Evaluated Ratings (SPHERe) methodology. Evaluation based on Experience, Iterative Project Management Approach, Technical Demonstration, and Price. Price will be evaluated for completeness, accuracy, and reasonableness but will not be a discriminator.

• Set Aside: 100% for small business concerns.

• NAICS Code: 541512 (Computer Systems Design Services)

• Size Standard: $34M

• The document includes numerous contract clauses related to security, compliance, payment, and contract administration.

• Attachment 1 is a Pricing Sheet.

Form / Attachment / Pricing Sheet

This document is the Phase I Submission Form for Request for Quotation (RFQ) 1305M326Q0019. Its purpose is to collect general information from potential quoters and to obtain their Factor 1 (Experience) submission. Completion of this form constitutes the entire Phase I quotation.

• Contact Information: Email, Quoter Name, Address, Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), Name of Representative Authorized to Obligate the Government, Phone Number.
• Small Business Size Standard: A question to determine if the company meets the small business size standard for NAICS code 541512.
• General Documents: Instructions for uploading the signed SF 1449, signed SF 30s for amendments, and Section K representations and certifications. Failure to upload these correctly may result in a non-compliant quotation.
• Factor 1 - Experience: Requires a summary of a company-developed platform/application, development process, or combination thereof, demonstrating the ability to perform work similar to the CASS requirement. This includes experience with High Performance Computing (HPC), Cloud Architecture, combining legacy code, Seismological and Hydrographical Modeling, and Short-Term, High Impact Iterative Project Management. The submission should be in PDF format with a 6-page limit.

This form is critical for any vendor wishing to participate in this RFQ. It outlines the specific information and documentation required for the initial Phase I submission, including detailed experience requirements for Factor 1. Bidders must ensure all fields are completed accurately and all required documents are uploaded correctly to avoid disqualification. Questions regarding this form must be submitted via the SAM.gov announcement.

Form / Attachment / Pricing Sheet

This document is a pricing sheet (Attachment 1) for Solicitation 1305M326Q0019. It provides the structure for bidders to detail their proposed costs.

• CLINs (Contract Line Item Numbers): Includes CLINs for Baselining Effort (0001), CASS Development (0002), and Other Direct Costs (ODC) and Travel (0003).
• Quantities and Pricing: Fields for Unit Price and Total Price are provided. Some quantities and unit prices are TBD (To Be Determined).
• Optional Items: Includes CLINs for Optional Additional Development (1001) and Optional ODC and Travel (1002).
• Totals: Calculates a "Baselining + CASS Development + ODC Set Total," an "Optional Additional Development + ODC Set Total," and a "Total Set Evaluated Price."

Bidders must use this sheet to provide their pricing for the CLINs outlined. The "TBD" entries indicate that specific pricing details for CASS Development and Optional Additional Development will be determined or are subject to negotiation/further information. The "Total Set Evaluated Price" is a key figure for proposal evaluation.