A16 JOFOC revised_1.doc

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN

FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

In accordance with the authority granted under 41 U.S.C. 253(c), this request for award under other than full and open competition is hereby submitted.

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity:

Bureau of Land Management, Alaska Fire Service/ Alaska Interagency Coordination Center. Contract is for continued operation and enhancement of the Alaska Fire and Fuels (AKFF) website, which is utilized by multiple fire management agencies across the state of Alaska.

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

Due to the circumstances described here, request the following be acquired using other than full and open competition in support of the BLM requirement for critical fire management decision support information. The AKFF System was developed and operated by University of Utah researchers from 2014 to the present. This effort has been supported by the BLM Alaska Fire Service (contracts L14PX01779 and L16PX00885) and that support will end on 9 June 2021. This web-based system provides current and forecast fuel conditions using the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS) and is used by the entire fire management community in Alaska via a web interface. It is the only source of this data for wildland fire managers to make decisions about readiness and response, tactical choices, public outreach and resource allocation. The proposed work will extend the capabilities of the AKFF System based on feedback from users throughout the state that has been summarized by the program managers in the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center (AICC), including improvement of data collection abilities, enhancement of graphic, tabular, and map displays, and increasing its inter-software usability.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value):

The Alaska Fire and Fuels website is used by the entire fire management community in Alaska to determine resource movement and availability for potential and existing wildland fire activity. The website was built to help wildland fire managers make decisions about readiness and response, tactical choices, public outreach and resource allocation. It uses the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS), ingesting daily weather and fuels information from over 250 weather stations in Alaska, as well as analyzed and forecasted gridded data to forecast and display expected conditions for up to three days in the future. This, in turn, can be used to display potential fire spread rates and likely fire behavior. AKFF is the only source for such data in Alaska. The proposed work will extend the capabilities of the AKFF System based on feedback from users throughout the state that has been summarized by the program managers in the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center (AICC), including improvement of data collection abilities, enhancement of graphic, tabular, and map displays, and increasing its inter-software usability. With longer and hotter summers in Alaska, changing forest fuels, the expanding Wildland-Urban Interface, and fewer dollars delegated to fire management, this tool is crucial to high quality fire management now and in the future.

The estimated price of this requirement is $110,300. This estimate is based on costs of previous contracts, anticipated time required for programmers using reasonable salaries and benefits, current and increasing data storage fees, and management costs.

4. An identification of the Statutory Authority permitting other than full and open competition:

41. U.S.C. 253(c)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1(a)(2).

5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited:

The University of Utah is the only organization that can perform this unique function for several reasons. The first is that they developed and refined the original web page and thus have the existing code for further development and enhancement. Also, these past 7 years of development have allowed University of Utah staff to have an in-depth understanding of the technical calculations and reasoning behind the fire danger rating system that is used in Alaska. They also have gained a thorough comprehension of why this data is critical to wildland fire management as well as how to best display such data for easy digestion by users. Finally, they have direct access to all U.S. weather data that is gained from a variety of different networks; no additional costs are necessary to obtain that data and they are skilled at extracting the necessary information from the numerous platforms available.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 5.2, and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies:

Though we originally researched using other sources in 2014, we quickly concluded there was no other organization that could provide the support we required other than University of Utah. They had already developed a similar webpage for the Great Lakes States fire management community, and that webpage continues to be operated by University of Utah today.

7. A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable, and the basis for that determination:

The anticipated cost is determined to be fair and reasonable based on historic contract pricing, economic adjustments, IGE, and WDOL.

8. A description of the market research conducted (FAR part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted:

As described in number 6 above, there has been no extensive market research since initial investigation in 2014 as the University of Utah seems to be the only group to fill all requirements, with the experience and skills necessary to do the work, as well as having the proprietary coding and programming development of the existing AKFF webpage.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition

FAR 6.303-2(a) (9)):

The Statement of Work clarifies all the specifics of this contract. Each bullet emphasizes the uniqueness of what is required. It is attached for further support of this sole source request.

10. A listing of sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition:

None

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:

Though there is no clear way to change barriers for this project, we will continue to reach out to other possible vendors annually to assess interest and capability for competition for continued development, maintenance, and enhancement of this unique webpage using highly specialized programming skills and data knowledge.

CERTIFICATIONS:

I, hereby, certify that this requirement does not exceed the Government’s minimum needs or scheduled requirements, and that the basis for award under other than full and open competition is complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief:

Heidi S Strader

12/3/2020 Requisitioner’s Signature Date I, hereby, certify that this justification for other than full and open competition is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief:

/s/ Stacie R Oaks 12/3/2020

Contracting Officer’s Signature Date

Attachment 6