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JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

USING SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR THE ACQUISITION OF COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS

AND SERVICES

(AUTHORITY: 41 U.S.C. 1901)

142082-26-0084

1. Agency and contracting activity. The NOAA Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO) Eastern Acquisition Division (EAD), proposes to enter into a contract on the basis of other than full and open competition in support of the National Weather Service (NWS), Office of Observations, National Reconditioning Center (NRC).

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

NOAA intends to award a five-year, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ), firm-fixed price (FFP) contract for repair services for the Differential Planetary Gearboxes and, as needed, new Differential Planetary Gearboxes on a sole source basis to Peerless-Winsmith.

3. Description of supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the total estimated value).

This acquisition is for the repair, recondition, and potential purchase of new Differential Planetary Gearboxes. Repairs are to "Like New" operating condition, including external appearance in accordance with the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) specification drawing no.

14636-5003 Rev T. The repair and recondition price shall include the parts, materials, labor, inspection, and return shipping necessary to return the Differential Planetary Gearbox to operational specifications. Estimated $2.3 million over five years.

4. Statutory authority permitting the sole source (including brand name) acquisition.

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 1901 as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 12.102 entitled, Restricting Competition.

5. Demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited. The contracting officer has determined the following circumstances justify the use of a sole source as supported below:

Only one source - Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized.

The Government requires a sole source acquisition specifically with Peerless-Winsmith (5200 Upper Metro PL STE 110 Dublin, Ohio 43017-5378; UEID: NR9DFQKC4EM8) for the required Gearboxes because Peerless-Winsmith owns the proprietary drawing no. 14636-5003 Rev T used in repairing the existing gearboxes. No other vendor owns the right to this drawing or has sought Peerless-Winsmith’s permission to use this drawing. Due to the NWS’ inventory of gearboxes and the amount of time a first-article unit could take, that is not a feasible path forward. As of the date of this justification, there are in stock with a weekly issue rate of

The average repair turn-around time is . Any first article testing capabilities to reverse engineer or acquire other non-proprietary options

142082-26-0084 currently are not available given the severity of risk a lapse in repairs could cause the NWS.

6. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by RFO part 5 and, if not, which exception under RFO part 5 applies.

A Sources Sought notice was posted to SAM.gov on December 10, 2025 and closed on January 7, 2026. Three vendors responded expressing interest. Those vendors were determined not to be capable of fulfilling the Government’s requirement. Additional information is listed below in section 10.

A Notice of Intent to Sole Source to Peerless-Winsmith was publicized on SAM.gov per RFO 5.101 Presolitication notice on April 10, 2026 and closed on April 25, 2026. No comments were received.

Additionally, a redacted version of this justification will be posted on SAM.gov with the solicitation.

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

The Contracting Officer determines that the anticipated price(s) will be fair and reasonable based on a comparison to the IGCE and comparison to the historically accepted reasonable prices of tasks orders issued from the previous sole-source IDIQ. Prior to award of the proposed contract, price information shall be obtained from the contractor and a price analysis will be performed and documented to sufficiently determine that the cost to the Government of the proposed acquisition will be fair and reasonable.

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

Market research was conducted by the Eastern Acquisition Division to identify available sources and to evaluate the availability of the marketplace to meet the requirement as follows: Mandatory sources like Federal Prison Industries and Ability One were all searched with no successful results. Market research primarily consisted of responses to a sources sought notice posted on December 10, 2025 as well as the proprietary letter received from Peerless-Winsmith. Regarding the sources sought notice, three vendors commented they were interested in our requirement, they all stated they did not have access and would need to gain access to be able to conduct any repairs. One vendor suggested they could attempt to reverse engineer a gearbox and do first-article testing to meet our requirement, but could not guarantee success.

Based on the results of market research and the proprietary letter obtained by Peerless-Winsmith, the Government has determined no other vendors exist that are capable of fulfilling the Government’s requirement and that the Government will negotiate on a sole-source basis with Peerless-Winsmith.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of a sole source (including brand name), such as:

All supporting facts have been documented herein.

10. List of the sources that expressed a written interest in the acquisition.

A Sources Sought notice was posted to SAM.gov on December 10, 2025 and closed on January 7, 2026. Three vendors responded expressing interest: Chris Hoaglin (sole proprietor), Elevate Systems, and Clearshot Manufacturing. All three vendors requested access to the OEM’s proprietary drawing, stating this would be required in order for them to complete our requested services. Said drawing is not available to be shared with vendors as Peerless-Winsmith has not granted access to any other vendors. Thus, although these vendors are interested in our requirement, none of them have the capabilities to fulfill the Government’s needs.

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. The Government will continue to conduct thorough market research to gauge the marketplace capabilities for future requirements. If possible, when the urgent need for gearboxes decreases, the Government will investigate the possibility of allowing small business vendors to reverse engineer gearboxes for repairs. So long as the repairs do not violate any warranties or details listed in drawing no. 14636-5003 Rev T.

I certify that this requirement constitutes the Government’s minimum needs and the supporting data provided herein is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Alex Ransom Date

COR

13. Office of General Counsel Review

Date

Review

, Attorney-Advisor)

Office of General Counsel

14. Contracting Officer’s Certification

I certify this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Kevin Buum Date Contracting Officer

15. NOAA Competition Advocate Approval:

Approve

Binita Sharma Date NOAA Competition Advocate

02/17/26RANSOM.DARRYL.AL

EXANDER.1067486613

Digitally signed by

RANSOM.DARRYL.ALEXANDER.1067486613

Date: 2026.02.17 11:01:55 -06'00'

12. Technical/Requirements Representative Certification cleared 2026-03-26Michael Bogomolny Digitally signed by Michael Bogomolny Date: 2026.03.30 09:04:36 -04'00'

4/7/26

BUUM.KEVIN.JAME

S.1383881834

Digitally signed by

BUUM.KEVIN.JAMES.1383881834

Date: 2026.04.07 10:23:56 -05'00'

SHARMA.BINITA.13807

99193

Digitally signed by

SHARMA.BINITA.1380799193

Date: 2026.05.04 10:07:35 -04'00'