A16_JOFOC_Synoptic_AKFF_sro_1.pdf

Attachment 6

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 data which supplies 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, L16PX00885 and 140L0221P0005) and that support will end on 9 Jun 2023. 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 data needed to extend the proposed work through the 2026 Alaska wildland fire season must come from Synoptic Data PBC since all coding in the AKFF system has been built using Synoptic’s data processing platforms. Data from other sources would require new processing algorithms of the data itself, as well as new coding and programming of the AKFF system. This would be very costly.

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.

Based on the needs of the Alaska fire management community, 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 (L14PX01779, L16PX00885 and 140L0221P0005) and that support will end on 9 Jun 2023. There is a new contract to support the AKFF system until October 31, 2026 being submitted at this time. In the past, the cost of the weather data was incorporated into the contract with MesoWest/University of Utah. However, the data itself must now be purchased from a separate vendor, Synoptic Data PBC. It is critical that this is the vendor for the project as the AKFF website has been built around this data stream. Synoptic has taken many different types of weather station outputs and standardized them so that all data can be easily ingested and subjected to mathematical algorithms for the desired outputs. Their front-end calculations save time and money as opposed to using the various data sources in their raw formats. If another vendor were used to acquire the data, it would not be in a standard format, and an extensive amount of preprocessing and recoding of the existing AKFF website would be required. This would be costly and time-consuming.

The estimated price of this requirement is $XXXX over 4 years.

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

41. U.S.C. 253(c) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1. Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

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

Synoptic Data PBC is the only vendor that can provide this unique, focused weather dataset. A lot of weather data is available around Alaska, with data scattered to countless databases and numerous formats. Synoptic maintains one of the most comprehensive real-time and historical archives of surface observation data. and aggregate it into a single data repository for easy access. They also provide quality control of all data elements, within all observations at every time they are taken. In addition, they work closely with University of Utah programmers in the continued development of the AKFF system, the website uses these data formats in its processing and construction of the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System Fire Weather Indices.

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:

A notice will be published on SAM.gov for 10 days prior to the sole source award.

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 pricing with economic adjustments.

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 since the University of Utah has partnered with Synoptic Data PBC in order to get the weather data in an aggregated, standardized data stream. Since the coding of the website has been accomplished using Synoptic as the only data source, it would be costly and time-consuming to consider using a different vendor for the source data. Synoptic seems to be the only group to fill all requirements needed to continue to operate AKFF, with the necessary data and formatting. Since the AICC meteorologists work with weather and forest fuels datasets every day, their expertise makes it clear that there are no other consolidated sources of this data, and no other agency in the country that can organize, provide quality control, and display this data as well as Synoptic Data PBC.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition FAR 6.303-2(a) (9)):

None

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

The Notice of Sole Source will be posted on SAM.gov inviting vendors to reply in writing if they believe their services or products can fulfill the governments requirement.

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 search for and reach out to other possible vendors annually to assess interest and capability.

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 Strader 12/9/2022

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:

Contracting Officer’s Signature Date