05_SSJ_OGC_Fileroom_Redacted.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

FOR OPEN MARKET ACQUISITIONS OVER THE SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD AND FAR 13.5

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This documentation is required for commercial item, limited source acquisitions exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold and acquisitions using FAR 13.5 – Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Products and Commercial Services.

Acquisitions that do not allow for competition to the maximum extent practicable must be documented in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) 6.303-1(a) for open market awards and 13.501(a)(1)(i) for awards utilizing FAR 13.5. The program office shall provide the following information:

Identification Number (purchase request/solicitation number): RQ-33-24-000040/16PBGC24Q0026

1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity.

A. Agency: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC)

B. Contracting activity: Procurement Department (PD)

C. Requiring activity (full name & acronym): OGC Communications Center

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved. (e.g., new contract award or modification expanding the scope of an existing contract)

OGC requests a (select one):

Firm-fixed-price, Time-and-materials/labor hour, Hybrid

Select one:

Contract Contract modification to contract

The Government projects award for April to August 2024 and fiscal year 2024 funds will be used.

Select an option below:

An acquisition plan was approved and signed by all stakeholders.

The required acquisition plan is currently awaiting approval.

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3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs, including the estimated value. (inclusive of all options)

The PBGC General Counsel advises PBGC’s Chief of Negotiations & Restructuring on concerns with protecting the interests of the agency and plan participants and beneficiaries pursuant to ERISA. The Office of General Counsel relies on business processes in the Communications Center for their written and electronic communications within the agency and with all interested parties external to the agency.

Total estimated value:

Period of performance or final delivery date: 4 months

4. An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

When using FAR 13.5 - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Products and Commercial Services, select the below:

This action is being taken under the authority of Simplified Procedures for Commercial Items, 41 U.S.C. 1901, Simplified Acquisition Procedures, as implemented by FAR 13.501.

Check the appropriate box. Only one box may be checked.

FAR 6.302-1

“Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements” (When 6.302-1 is cited for follow-on acquisitions, an estimate of the cost to the Government that would be duplicated and how the estimate was derived shall be included in section 9 below.)

FAR 6.302-2

“Unusual and compelling urgency” (When 6.302-2 is cited, data, estimated cost, or other rationale as to the extent and nature of the harm to the Government shall be included in section 9 below.)

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FAR 6.302-3

“Industrial mobilization; engineering, developmental, or research capability; or expert services”

FAR 6.302-4

“International agreement”

FAR 6.302-5

“Authorized or required by statute”

FAR 6.302-6

“National security”

FAR 6.302-7

“Public interest”

5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited.

a) This is a necessary, short-term follow-on contract to ensure the continuity of required services in support of OGC. The period of performance for the follow-on contract should not exceed four months. A new contract is currently in the process of being procured through full and open competition. This short-term sole source follow-on contract is being procured only to ensure the continuity of necessary legal mailing and filing services for all OGC court and other legal documents. If continuity is not assured, OGC faces the possibility of not having access to contracting services needed to run its Communication Center, which manages incoming electronic and paper records from internal and external parties, including courts, adversaries, and other parties integral to PBGC’s legal process. PBGC expects to award a contract with 4 option years procured through full and open competition by August 2024.

b) The alternative of suspending operations until the new procurement is awarded is unacceptable because of the impact to OGC and its legal case processing. It is mission critical to process incoming court filings and respond timely to any notices.

c) The period of performance will be from April 2024 to August 2024. As discussed above, a new contract is currently in the process of being procured through full and open competition. Given the short time frame needed, it is neither realistic nor cost effective

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Draft Revision Date 06/06/2023 Older versions are obsolete and should not be used to transition to another Contractor given the specialized need for continuity of service and the complexity of requirements.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies.

Choose the applicable statement:

The Contracting Officer shall publish the notices required by FAR 5.201. (OGC Communication Center Bridge)

In accordance with FAR 5.202(a), this action will not be synopsized.

7. A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The Contracting Officer intends to determine fair and reasonable pricing through (select all that apply):

FAR 13.106-3(a)(1) Competitive quotations or offers.

FAR 13.106-3(a)(2)(i) Market Research.

FAR 13.106-3(a)(2)(ii) Comparison of the proposed price with prices found reasonable on previous purchases.

FAR 13.106-3(a)(2)(iii) Current price lists, catalogs, or advertisements.

FAR 13.106-3(a)(2)(iv) A comparison with similar items in a related industry.

FAR 13.106-3(a)(2)(v) The contracting officer’s personal knowledge of the item being purchased.

FAR 13.106-3(a)(2)(vi) Comparison to an independent Government estimate.

FAR 13.106-3(a)(2)(vii) Any other reasonable basis.

8. A description of the market research conducted (see Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

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As described above, this is a necessary follow-on contract to ensure the continuity of required services in support of OGC. A new contract is currently in the process of being procured through full and open competition. Market research was performed for that procurement.

Additional market research was performed for this follow-on contract, including: a review of PBGC’s expiring contracts chart; a review of the Small Business Administration Dynamic Business Search website; and the posting of requests for information on sam.gov. This market research was conducted to determine what possible contractors were in the market that could meet the Government’s needs. An RFI was posted on September 18,2023 with a response date of September 29th, 2023. Three responses were received with two responses being determined to be able to meet the needs of the Government.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition, such as:

i. Procurement History:

The current contract is 16PBGC19C0005 and was awarded utilizing full and open competition.

As described above, this requirement is a necessary follow-on contract to ensure the continuity of required services in support of OGC. A new contract is currently in the process of being procured through full and open competition.

ii. Explanation of why technical data packages, specifications, engineering descriptions, statements of work, or purchase descriptions suitable for full and open competition have not been developed or are not available.

As described above, this is a necessary follow-on contract to ensure the continuity of required services in support of OGC. A new contract is currently in the process of being procured through full and open competition. A new Statement of Work has been drafted for that procurement; to ensure continuity of services, this follow-on contract will use the Statement of Work from the contract expiring on April 16, 2024.

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iii. When 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1) is cited for follow-on acquisitions as described in 6.302- 1(a)(2)(ii), an estimate of the cost to the Government that would be duplicated and how the estimate was derived.

This action is a follow-on to contract 16PBGC19C0005 which was competed under full and open procedures. Awarding to any other source would result in duplicated efforts with the RFQ that has been released for the re-compete of this requirement.

This follow-on is put in place because the re-compete is not anticipated to be awarded until after the POP of 16PBGC19C0005 ends. PBGC still requires the services and cannot have a lapse in service. Awarding to any other source would cause unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements as an interim vendor would have to be solicited, onboarded, and trained and then potentially those efforts would be repeated when the re-competed contract is put in place.

iv. When 6.302-2 is cited, data, estimated cost, or other rationale as to the extent and nature of the harm to the Government.

N/A

10. A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

Select applicable statement:

See Paragraph 6 for synopsis information. To date, no other sources have written to express interest in the acquisition.

See Paragraph 6 for synopsis information. To date the below listing of sources have written to express an interest in the acquisition. Information received from interested vendors has been analyzed to determine the validity of the sole source action.

Responses from the synopsis described in Paragraph 6 only amounted to requests for the solicitation and no additional information was provided. The below vendors requested copies of the solicitation but provided no information to determine whether these firms can satisfy this requirement. These firms will be provided a copy of the solicitation and their offers considered if submitted in an appropriate and timely manner.

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The below vendors provided responses with information sufficient to conduct a preliminary evaluation:

Preliminary technical information submitted by the interested sources in response to the notice has been reviewed by the requiring activity who have advised that the source(s) do not appear to meet the requirements in the RFP due to.

OR

Preliminary technical information submitted by the interested sources in response to the notice has been reviewed by the requiring activity who has advised that the source(s) may be acceptable; however, final determination will be made after evaluation of any formal proposal when submitted.

11. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required.

As described above, this is a necessary follow-on contract to ensure the continuity of required services in support of OGC. A new contract is currently in the process of being procured through full and open competition.

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