20-0526_Justification.pdf

Version 3.0

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION FOR AN ACTION EXCEEDING THE SIMPLIFIED

ACQUISITION THRESHOLD

USING SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL ITEMS

(AUTHORITY: FAR 13.501(a), 41 U.S.C. 1901)

PR # NWWP4200-20-00150

1. Agency and contracting activity.

Department of Commerce, NOAA Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO), Western Acquisition Division (WAD) and the National Weather Service (NWS) Southern Region Headquarters.

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

This is a sole source justification for a contract award to Alabama Public Television (APT); this is a follow-on acquisition to existing Contract Number RA133W-15-CN-0035. The Government anticipates awarding a firm-fixed price stand-alone contract.

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

NWS is mandated by Presidential Executive Order 13407 to provide uninterrupted Emergency Alert System (EAS) broadcast transmissions 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. To satisfactorily perform this mandate in the state of Alabama, the NWS strategically located the National Weather Radio (NWR) transmitter stations at nine (9) APT sites located at Anniston, Demopolis, Dozier, Florence, Huntsville, Louisville, Mobile, Montgomery and Tuscaloosa/Brookwood. The NWS requires both preventive and emergency maintenance to the NWR transmitters. The required maintenance is to ensure the quality of NWR broadcasts and the issuance of warnings to the listening public are within the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Radio Frequency Authorization (RFA) specifications.. Maintenance will be required to the transmitter system, including the antenna, transmission line, and communication link (telephone line, microwave line, UHF link, or a combination) to ultimately ensure proper transmission between the transmitter stations. The contract will include a 1-year base period and four (4) 1-year option periods.

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

41 U.S.C. 1901, using SAP up to $7M as authorized by FAR 13.500(a) and implemented by FAR 13.501(a).

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 – APT is the only source capable of providing the services at the level of quality required, because the services are unique or highly specialized. Only APT employees can have unlimited 24 hour-a-day, 365 days-a-year access to the NWR transmitter stations at the APT sites, as a result in order to fulfill emergency maintenance requirements, APT is the only capable source. APT’s license for broadcast television systems mandates that the sites remain

NWWP4200-20-00150

secure. Access to outside maintenance providers is limited to daylight hours when they can be monitored by an APT employee. If these services are not provided by APT, NWS SR’s mission to provide uninterrupted Emergency Alert Systems broadcast notifications to citizens in the surrounding area could fail, thus potentially resulting in an unnecessary loss of life and property.

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 FAR Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under FAR 5.202 applies.

A synopsis will be posted to BetaSAM in accordance with FAR 5.2. The synopsis will also include a statement identifying the intended source and a statement justifying the lack of competition as required by FAR 5.207(c)(15).

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

The Contracting Officer anticipates the price(s) will be fair and reasonable based on a comparison of historical pricing, a comparison to the independent government estimate, and a comparison with similar items in a related industry in accordance with the evaluation factors identified in FAR 13.106-3(a)(2).

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 using the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Dynamic Small Business Search in April and May of 2020 and identified one potential company, other than Alabama Public Television. Although there was one company, other than APT, it was determined that they only provided maintenance services and did not offer any towers to support NWS SR equipment for the EAS broadcast notifications.l

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

All applicable facts have been documented.

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

To date, no vendors have expressed written interest in this acquisition. A notice of intent to negotiate a sole source contract with APT will be posted on the BetaSAM website before the solicitation is released.

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.

In order for NOAA to overcome barriers to competition in subsequent acquisitions, NOAA would need to dismantle the equipment from the nine (9) APT controlled sites and purchase, relocate, and install new equipment at less desirable sites and heights, purchase new transmitter buildings, purchase both tower and ground space, and secure and train new maintenance personnel. Such an approach is not cost effective and NOAA does not have funds to accomplish this task.