DOL Black Lung Program Contract Writer

The Department of Labor established this Master IDIQ for contract writers supporting the Office of Administrative Law Judges' Black Lung Benefits Program on October 1, 2005, with a final ordering deadline of March 30, 2013 — now closed for over thirteen years. This vehicle is no longer active and unsuitable for pursuit.

The vehicle awarded 97 task orders over its four-year active ordering period, heavily frontloaded in 2006 with 65 awards, then tapering sharply to 24 orders in 2007, 2 in 2008, and 1 in 2009. The most recent task order was issued January 15, 2009. The combined potential value across all task orders is $4.5 million, of which $1.2 million (26 percent) has been obligated. Individual task orders typically range from under $1,000 to $15,000 to $21,600 for labor-based writing services, with one standout order to Merlin International, Inc. for $2.996 million in Remedy software maintenance spanning 2005 to 2007.

Competition is concentrated but among individual contractors rather than firms. Merlin International, Inc. dominates by potential value at roughly $4 million across 4 orders covering IT support and software maintenance. Among the remaining work, five smaller primes collectively account for about 40 percent of task orders: Blythe Carol B (9 orders, $64 thousand), Aelion Jeanne K (8 orders, $59 thousand), Adkins Douglas D (8 orders, $52 thousand), Pearl Michael S (7 orders, $61 thousand), and an unresolved vendor entity with 7 orders. The remaining 60 percent of orders dispersed across 17 other primes indicates a long tail of individual contract writers.

Approximately 74 percent of orders carried no set-aside designation; 26 percent were awarded to small business. Funding concentrated within the Department of Labor, with the Office of Administrative Law Judges placing 18 of the 22 tracked top-customer orders. Place of performance is not specified in the source, but task descriptions reference OALJ (the Office of Administrative Law Judges).

The scope comprised draft proposed decisions and orders for black lung claims, contract writing services, and software maintenance for the Remedy case-management platform used by the program. This vehicle is closed to new orders and past task orders have expired; no BD pursuit is warranted.

Contract writers for Department of Labor's Black Lung Benefits Program.