3 JEFO NR-MAH000-21-00154_Redacted.pdf

Version 3.0

JUSTIFICATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

FOR AN ORDER EXCEEDING THE SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD

(AUTHORITY: FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i))

Purchase Request NR-MAH000-21-00154

1. Agency and contracting activity. Department of Commerce, NOAA Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO), Western Acquisition Division (WAD), and the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL).

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

This is a justification for an exception to fair opportunity for a new order under the NOAA Professional and Technical Support services (ProTech) Fisheries Domain Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity multiple award contract vehicle. This will be a firm-fixed price order to Saildrone, Inc. under contract number 1305M418DNFFK0006.

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

PMEL and the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) are conducting a multi-year project to investigate how to use Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) to observe air-sea interaction under Tropical Cyclone (TC) conditions as well as in their ambient environment for improving TC intensity forecast.

The requirement is for USV services in order to fulfil the project mission. The contractor will provide the services of five (5) USVs during Phase-2 and three (3) during Phase-3, to include the use of USV equipment, maintenance, setup, and piloting services. Further, the contractor will deliver data recorded during the sailing days. The services will be required as “Sailing Days” for line item and billing purposes.

This project will determine the feasibility of using USVs in hurricane observations. This feasibility analysis includes the mobility, sustainability, and accuracy of USVs under TC conditions. It is expected the platforms will experience various combinations of wind, current waves, and submersion, and understanding how they, as well as the instruments they carry, perform in these conditions is crucial in determining the long term viability of USV use in TC forecasting.

Because of COVID-19, NOAA could not conduct the Phase-1 research under real TC conditions.

Therefore, NOAA decided to complete the research under North Pacific winter storm conditions, which can be similar to TC conditions. This research was undertaken in a 2020-21 North Pacific Winter Storm mission using USVs provided by Saildrone, Inc. under order number 1305M320FNRMA0131 issued against ProTech contract number 1305M418DNFFK0006. In this Phase-1 mission, data of mobility, sustainability, and validation have been collected and analyzed.

The data recorded during this mission has been compared against National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) buoy data.

The second and third follow-on phases of the project, which comprise this requirement, are hurricane missions occurring during the 2021-2022 Atlantic hurricane seasons. The operation plan and data quality control/analysis plan for this mission must be designed based on data collected from the Phase-1 research. The Phase-2 and Phase-3 research will provide NOAA additional

NR-MAH000-21-00154

experience operating multiple USVs for hurricanes, while simultaneously feeding this data to hurricane prediction systems.

The Phase-2 surveys are scheduled to occur during the 2021 Hurricane season, between July and November 2021, with the Phase-3 to occur during the 2022 Hurricane season. In order to allow for planning and post-survey analysis, the base period of performance for Phase-2 is estimated to be 1 April 2021 to 31 January 2022, with the optional Phase-3 period of performance occurring from 1 February 2022 to 31 January 2023. The estimated value for the base and all options is

4. Authority and supporting rationale. The contracting officer has determined the circumstances of the acquisition meet the following statutory exception under FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i) as supported below:

Only one awardee is capable - FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B) – Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized.

The three-phase project must be conducted with the same type of USVs in order to deliver compatible and consistent data. Switching the type of USV in between the three phases would break the data continuity and jeopardize the scientific objective of the project.

Further, if NOAA uses a different type of USV for the Phase-2 and Phase-3 research, there would be no first-hand data of its mobility, sustainability, and validation. The risk is too high to trust the vendor data (if there is any) that has not been recorded and analyzed first-hand by NOAA scientists. The Phase-1 research for a different type of USV would have to be conducted by PMEL/AOML scientists to collect its mobility, sustainability, and validation data. This would lead to the delay of the hurricane mission in 2021 and in consequence miss the hurricane field campaign in 2022.

Finally, NOAA has discovered from the 2020-2021 Phase-1 research that the USV water speed is a critical factor of mobility. Any USV with an average water speed less than three (3) knots would be rendered unfeasible for a hurricane mission. NOAA is not aware of any technologically proven USV with average water speed equal to or greater than three (3) knots other than those provided by Saildrone, Inc.

Based upon these considerations, a sole source order with Saildrone, Inc. is necessary

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

The base ProTech award established fair and reasonable pricing for the required sailing days.

The quote received from the contractor will be compared to the ProTech prices to determine if they are less than or equal and thereby fair and reasonable.

6. Any other facts supporting the justification.

All supporting facts have been documented herein.

7. Actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the exception to fair opportunity before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made.

Prior to any future activities or studies related to USVs, new market research on the open market, as well as within the ProTech pool will be conducted to determine if additional vendors are capable of performing the work. If so, the opportunity to compete would be likely.

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8. Technical/Requirements Representative Certification.

I certify 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.

Ben Carlson Date PMEL Contracting Officer’s Representative

9. Office of General Counsel Concur.

Concur

Rebecca Jacobsen Date Office of General Counsel

CARLSON.BENJAMIN.A

LLAN.1100211722

Digitally signed by

CARLSON.BENJAMIN.ALLAN.1100211722

Date: 2021.02.09 09:12:16 -08'00'

REBECCA JACOBSEN Digitally signed by REBECCA JACOBSEN Date: 2021.02.10 17:35:42 -05'00'

10. Approving Official Determination of Circumstance Applicability.

In accordance with FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)(10), the undersigned approving official for this justification hereby determines the circumstance cited above at #4, Authority and supporting rationale, applies to this order.

Contracting Officer’s Certification

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

Darrin Moore Date

Contracting Officer

11. Approval for Justifications >$700k.

NOAA Competition Advocate:

Approve

Jeffrey S. Thomas Date NOAA Competition Advocate

MOORE.DARRIN.SCOTT.1523880221

2021.02.17 12:16:00 -07'00'

2/19/21

MABE.KELLY.

D.1229305057

Digitally signed by

MABE.KELLY.D.1229305057

Date: 2021.02.19 07:19:05 -05'00'