CONTRACT_CONSOLIDATION_D_F__for_ECRS_IDIQ_SBS_redacted_2.pdf

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Department of Interior

Contract Consolidation Determination and Findings

Instructions: Complete each section then remove italicized, red text before finalizing.

1. Purchase Request Number: 40603580

2. Solicitation Number: 140R4023R0023

3. Contracting activity/agency: Bureau of Reclamation/Upper Colorado Basin (UCB) and Missouri Basin (MB) Regions

4. Project Name: Environmental and Cultural Resource Services

5. Description of supplies or services required to meet agency needs.

The Bureau of Reclamation, UCB and MB Regions, have a requirement to procure a full suite of services for Environmental and Cultural Resource Services.

The procurement action will result in up to seven multiple award Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts for projects that fall within the UCB and/or MB region. The scope of this IDIQ includes activities associated with, but not limited to:

● National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

● Geospatial Data Act of 2018

● Endangered Species Act (ESA)

● Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA)

● Clean Air Act (CAA)

● Clean Water Act (CWA)

● National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA)

● Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)

● Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA)

● Recreation and Public Purposes Act

● Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)

● Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act

(CERCLA)

● Paleontological Resources Preservation Act (PRPA)

● Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act

● Safe Drinking Water Act

● National Trail Systems Act

● Architectural Barriers Act

● Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS)

● Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act

● Federal Land Policy and Management Act

● Plant Protection Act

● National Invasive Species Act

● John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act

● Ethnography, Historic Architecture, and History

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● Museum Property Curation

● Invasive Species Management/Integrated Pest Management

● Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

● Economics

● Socioeconomic studies and investigations

● Environmental Justice (EJ)

● Fire Management/Science

The total estimated value award is over the five-year period of performance.

The overarching ceiling limit will be There will be no limit per awardee. The IDIQ will be solicited under NAICS code 541620, Environmental Consulting Services, with an applicable small business size standard of $19 Million.

This requirement is currently replacing a 17-vendor Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) which will expire 9/30/2023 and a 3-vendor IDIQ for Cultural Resources Services for the Navajo Gallup Water Supply Project (NGWSP) that is also expiring. The BPA this vehicle is replacing had the limitation of awarding calls at $250,000.00. The IDIQ was limited in scope to the NGWSP. Additionally, this vehicle adds another geographic region, the Missouri Basin to the current vehicle requirements. Both original Indefinite Delivery Vehicles were total small business set-asides.

This requirement will be a total small business set-aside. This requirement proposes a seven vendor IDIQ that will satisfy all the conditions and limitations posed by the current structures, simplify administration of the larger vehicle that was not able to take on larger procurements, and provide one vehicle that covers two unique requirements. This consolidation will aid the government in meeting mission objectives to streamline the procurement process and ensure awards are made to small businesses. This project covers a large geographically diverse area over 14 states and two regions. By creating a consolidated IDIQ, task orders can be processed efficiently to the most qualified vendors and ensure that projects are awarded quickly. Combining the work into one multiple award IDIQ contract with task orders provides the ability for multiple types of projects, in multiple locations, to be under one contract which will significantly streamline the procurement process. This will aid in a significant reduction in personnel and administrative costs. Additionally, the government will be able to obtain favorable terms and conditions and set pricing structures.

6. Market Research In accordance with FAR 7.107-2, I have reviewed this requirement and associated market research and determined that consolidation of the referenced contract requirements is both necessary and justified. My review resulted in the following findings:

1. FPDS-NG data was reviewed for past environmental and cultural management awards within the UCB and MB regions. Historically, services of this type have been purchased through many types of sources which included Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts, General Services Administration (GSA) Contracts, Open Market

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Contracts, and Bureau and Region-wide Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPA). Examples include 17 Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) awarded in 2018 for Cultural and Environmental Services, and multiple award IDIQs for Cultural Resources for the Navajo Gallup Water Supply Project. A search on FPDS-NG filtered to the last 5 years, work performed, and relative regions reveals 172 original contracting actions were made under various environmental and cultural resource services, equating to over $40M in funding.

The actions include 26 calls from the previous UC BPA, 83 delivery orders from multiple IDIQs, and 58 individual small business contractors.

2. A Request for Information (RFI)/Sources Sought was posted on SAM.gov from 4/25/23 to 5/9/23 and resulted in responses from 27 interested vendors. Four businesses indicated interest but never returned a full response package, so their capabilities were not evaluated. Twenty-three businesses provided full response packages, one of which was a large business. Of the 22 remaining responses, 6 were from established sources on the BPA, which was also a small business set-aside. Seventeen of those small businesses are identified as belonging to more than one socio-economic group. See the backup spreadsheet ‘Small Business count as of 8/7/23” for breakdown.

3. A Dynamic Small Business Search was performed and revealed 33 potentially qualified and interested small businesses, which had not been previously identified by the RFI. The businesses identified were emailed a copy of the original RFI on 7/18/23 and were provided seven days in which to respond (7/25/23) Reclamation received 6 responses, four of which are identified as belonging to more than on socio-economic group. See the backup spreadsheet ‘Small Business count as of 8/7/23” for breakdown.

4. The contracting specialist and contracting officer have verified that the service provided under this requirement are not currently under 8(a) set-asides or sole source contracts and that the work has not been previously performed in either of those types of set-asides.

Additionally, Agency and Bureau Category Management Contracts, as part of the mandatory and established source databases were researched. There is not a current source that meets our needs.

5. Based on the market research data, there are sufficient small businesses which can provide the required work within the contemplated geographic locations inside the UCB and MB regions.

Historically, the BPA being utilized by the Upper Colorado Basin, while having 17 vendors available, on average only received three to five quotes per call. Typically, with very few exceptions, the same five vendors responded each time when a call was requested. The IDIQ had three vendors that typically responded with a quotation, except when they were overcapacity on workload. This indicates that three businesses is too small of a number to support a large number of actions, and 17 was too large of a pool to support the number of actions. One vendor, Statistical Research, Inc. was common to both vehicles. Of other historical documents researched, the 173 actions referenced were made to 58 unique small business vendors, which included the vendors on the IDIQ and BPA (7).

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When reviewing the requirements for this potential IDIQ several factors were considered

1. Specific geographic requirements for permitting (NGWSP, New Mexico Cultural

Permitting requirements) that limits the pool of vendors for cultural work in those areas.

2. The BPA award limitations at $250,000.00

3. Combining two unique requirements and adding another geographic region. Both tools had a common set of tasks in Cultural Resources.

4. Ensuring sufficient representation across both regions, covering all of the unique requirements within the vehicle (17 tasks), but limiting the number of vendors to make administration of such a large vehicle possible.

5. Ensuring that vendors, especially where there are certain geographic limitations and permits required, are fully vetted ahead of time will allow us to streamline the vetting process on the call end or order end.

The market research conducted supports the consolidation request by identifying quality vendors that are willing and capable of providing the variety of required environmental and cultural resource services. By consolidating with a multiple award IDIQ, Reclamation will be able to negotiate better terms and conditions and place quality vendors on contract who will be ready for task orders. This will significantly reduce acquisition cycle times, as well as personnel and administrative costs. Furthermore, the market research identifies that there is ample small business interest, allowing for a complete small business set-aside, aiding in the small business goals for Reclamation.

7. Any alternative contracting approaches and rationale for rejection:

Alternative 1: Individual Contracts

Omitting any consolidation and completing individual purchase orders every time there is a need for these services on individual projects requires a significant amount of time and resources, which is saved by use of the IDIQ and providing task orders.

The use of a multiple award IDIQ will streamline much of the process by having preapproved vendors who have the qualifications necessary to do the required work.

Consolidation eliminates the need to start individual acquisition processes every time there is a need. For example, market research requirements are lessened, the cycle time for proposals requests on task orders will be significantly reduced, technical evaluations will be more streamlined, and negotiations simplified as labor rates will already have been agreed upon.

Alternate Approach 2: Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) The most recent arrangement was a 5-year BPA for Upper Colorado Region, with 17 different approved vendors. The need for a full suite of services provided by qualified contractors who can provide services on a timely basis is paramount.

Because of this the determination was made that, due to the breadth of services required, a Multiple Award Blanket Purchase Agreement was the most advantageous method of procuring these services from a variety of vendors who can service several areas and are qualified to perform the services needed. However, over the life of the 5-year agreement it has been realized that the cap of $250,000 per order under a BPA has limited ability to perform all the needed work for a project under one order.

Additionally, the Missouri Basin Region was added to the Upper Colorado Basin for

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Therefore, the dollar limitation per call and wider geographic area makes the use of a BPA the less preferred alternative.

The dollar limitations are the primary issue with this approach. Although it is somewhat consolidated, it was limited by the threshold. Many projects were unable to be performed under the BPA, so had to be completed outside the BPA. Those projects over $250K had to be individual contracts which created the same delays and issues as identified in Alternative Approach 1, above.

8. Any negative impact by the acquisition strategy on contracting with small business concerns has been identified:

Setting this large multi-tasked IDIQ aside for small business will give the small business prime contractors the ability to work with other small businesses under partnerships, joint ventures or subcontracting arrangements. This will provide opportunities for additional small businesses to work on a large complex project that they would otherwise not be able to achieve because of limitations of their own staffing abilities.

Reclamation anticipates, based on the procurement history of the BPA, that small business vendors will seek teaming arrangements. It is highly likely the prime small businesses with take that path, just as the small businesses that participated in the BPA did. So, although this IDIQ will be limited to 7 small business prime contractors, it is believed that the impact will be felt throughout the small business community.

Based on anticipated collaboration of small businesses and the inclusion of FAR 52.219-14, Limitations on subcontracting, as required, it is anticipated that any negative impact to the small business community will be sufficiently mitigated.

9. Considerations, Facts, and Reasoning Supporting the Determination:

The Contracting Officer considered the following in making the determination to consolidate:

1. The scope of the proposed work and the need to have requirements fulfilled quickly and efficiently.

2. Past contract types utilized to fulfill similar requirements.

3. Recent contract history for similar requirements.

4. Customer recommendations and preferences for contract type and quantity.

5. Number of States affected by this requirement.

6. The requirement to set-aside contracts for small businesses.

7. The FAR preference to award multiple IDIQ's.

The Contracting Officer found the following facts in making the determination to

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1. Market Research, including an RFI demonstrated there are sufficient small businesses who can provide the required services in all the states covered under this requirement.

2. Individual Contracts depending on size, scope and complexity can cause excessive timelines which will produce negative impacts and risks to the government, personnel, and visitors to Reclamation Facilities.

3. This requirement covers two different Reclamation regions, including 14 states.

4. FAR clauses that allow similarly situated small businesses to partner/subcontract without negative impact to subcontracting limitation and removes risk to performance.

The Contracting Officer has determined that:

1. A consolidated IDIQ provides several advantages to the government including:

a. Multiple award IDIQ's with set rates will provide cost savings to the government as well as competition.

b. The government achieves the ability to provide task orders in an efficient manner. Vendors can mobilize and mitigate situations more quickly than providing individual contracts.

• This is important because some actions that will be obtained on this vehicle may have larger implications with multiphase projects (i.e., construction) and must be accomplished quickly. Additionally, some projects need to be done very quickly because of an emergent situation that arises, and having a vehicle in place where task orders can be written quickly is to the advantage of the government to ensure that work can be done sooner and thus accomplish the requirements and mission of Reclamation.

• Emergent workload may include, but is not limited to, events like excavation of cultural artifacts during a construction project that needs immediate attention; or in the event of a spill of some kind on Reclamation property, there would be a need for immediate intervention including survey and assessment along with NEPA documentation in order to commence with cleanup efforts.

c. Vendors included on the IDIQ will already be certified and licensed to do the work.

• This is beneficial for the type of work because in certain areas, vendors are required to have special permits that can take many months to obtain. Having a cadre of already qualified vendors will

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d. Having the same vendors work on the environmental compliance and resource managements services over a period of 5 years improves the efficiency as the vendors become familiar with the geology and physical conditions of the locations included in the IDIQ.

2. Multiple award IDIQ's meet FAR requirements, provide adequate competition on task orders, and will ensure contractor availability when task orders arise.

10. Summary:

The ability to use task orders creates a streamlined efficient approach to procurement, as vendors can mobilize quickly and mitigate the risks, thereby reducing harm to the government in lost time, or potential damage to the environmental or cultural aspects that need to be preserved. The ability to have more than one vendor to service two regions and 14 states makes the ability to successfully meet government requirements more achievable.

There are enough small businesses which can fulfill the requirements of the government.

Therefore, the Contracting Officer has determined that consolidation under a multiple award IDIQ Contract, set aside for total small businesses, is in the best interest of the Government.

Approvals All supporting data provided, and the contents of this justification are complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief.

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