V3142024_SSJ_v2_Redacted.pdf

Request for Quotation (RFQ) No. 6913G620Q300006 Procurement Request No. V3142024

V220T.12 (01/15)

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY

VOLPE NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS CENTER (VOLPE CENTER)

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION HUMAN FACTORS DIVISION (V314)

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

A. Description of Supplies/Services. The Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Office of Safety has tasked the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) with organizing and providing one-day seminars designed to provide essential facts and information to facilitate employers' compliance with DOT's 49 CFR Part 40 and FTA's 49 CFR Part 655. FTA has requested that the Volpe Center provide up to twenty (20) training seminars, and the Volpe Center requires the support of a drug and alcohol testing contractor with specific knowledge in DOT's 49 CFR Part 40 and FTA's 49 CFR Part 655 and in the FTA compliance audit process to assist in meeting this requirement.

B. Market Research. Market research was conducted by Volpe Center V314 technical staff, mainly Michael Redington and Lori DeCoste, during the period beginning May 1, 2019, through September 10, 2019, via internet searches, reviews of marketing materials of known consultants who participate in Drug and Alcohol consulting, and interviews of program managers at FTA and the Office of the Secretary’s (OST) Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy and Compliance (ODAPC). Firms reviewed included Cahill Swift, Foley, and Quest Diagnostics. This market research resulted in the following findings:

• Cahill Swift, a Self-Certified Small Disadvantaged, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned business located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the only known firm to have undergone FTA’s annual Drug and Alcohol Program Auditor Training and achieved “DOT Qualified” status. Foley and Quest Diagnostics have not undergone this training delivered by FTA.

• Updated FTA best practices and regulatory interpretations discussed during this yearly auditor training are incorporated into the twenty (20) one-day seminars that are part of the project Statement of Work (SOW).

• The SOW requires that the firm delivering the seminars be “DOT Qualified” in FTA Drug and Alcohol Compliance Audit procedures and concerns.

• Only Cahill Swift is both a firm capable of staffing the seminar support required and also “DOT Qualified” to deliver the seminars.

C. Supporting Rationale.

(1) Sole Source: Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

(i) In order for the seminars to effectively meet regulatory mandates, it is necessary that the trainers be “DOT

Qualified” completely familiar with the requirements of federal regulations 49 CFR Part 40 and 49 CFR Part 655, including recent revisions of and additions to the regulations and that the trainers be aware of the most common and prominent issues facing FTA-covered employers.

(ii) Since a purpose of the training is to address serious issues of compliance discovered during recent FTA drug and alcohol compliance audits, and to customize the training to address these specific serious issues, it is necessary that the contractor be familiar with personnel and compliance issues with the specific FTA grantees. In most cases the training will be an extension to the compliance audit response currently conducted by FTA. In addition, since collection sites have come under increased scrutiny by OST, it is essential that the trainers have significant experience in conducting DOT reviews and be familiar with the various nuances of the collection process. Cahill Swift is the primary trainer of DOT drug and alcohol testing regulatory requirements for the FTA and has been since the inception of the program in 1995. Cahill Swift conducted similar training in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, and it is important that the lessons learned during this training be incorporated in future seminars.

(iii) The estimated time it would take for another contractor to complete the “DOT Qualified” training at FTA then prepare the seminars on the approved FTA template is 12 months. During this time, many FTA collection sites would fall behind in procedure updates and/or be forced to delay operations, resulting in a backlog. This delay in providing required Drug and Alcohol Testing would result in a high workplace safety costs, and the estimated cost impact to FTA if the Volpe Center cannot provide this required training is $35,000.

(2) Brand Name: N/A.

(3) Unusual and Compelling Urgency: N/A.

Procurement Request No. V3142024

V220T.12 (01/15)