ASC Sole Sources Justification.Final Signed.pdf

Sole Sources Justification

A. Justification.

1.0 Agency Name.

Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC) of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council

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

The ASC (also referred to as the Government) published a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) in September 2020 for a competitive federal cost-reimbursement cooperative agreement under its grantmaking authority. (12 U.S.C. § 3338(b)(5)). The ASC awarded the competitive cooperative agreement under its grantmaking authority to the Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation (CLEAR) in March 2021 for the development and administration of training for State appraiser certifying and licensing agencies and the performance of research. The Government misunderstood its grantmaking authority, which only authorizes the ASC “to make grants to State appraiser certifying and licensing agencies…” (12 U.S.C. § 3338(b)(5)). The ASC should have entered into a procurement with CLEAR rather than a competitive cooperative agreement under its grantmaking authority.

CLEAR has completed more than 2/3 of the work envisioned in the competitive cooperative agreement, and the ASC has a continued need for the services provided.

This is a logical follow-on contract. The period of performance for this contract will be 12 months.

The Government anticipates the contractor to perform at a level of effort (LOE) that imposes a minimal amount of administrative burden upon either party and promotes a maximal amount of reducing waste and inefficient performance.

A sole source contract will be issued to the incumbent, CLEAR, for the required services.

3.0 A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs

(including the estimated value).

Areas of activities that will be supported under this initiative include, but are not limited to:

Investigator II Training CLEAR will not share this course with the States. The ASC will seek a vendor to teach the course to State investigators.

• Attendance at the kick-off meeting via Microsoft Teams or other video conferencing platforms within two weeks of post-award.

• Delivery of draft Investigator II Training course and materials to be reviewed by the Government.

• Delivery of final investigator II Training course and materials incorporating the Government’s feedback.

• Attendance at the monthly status meetings via Microsoft Teams or other video conferencing platforms.

• Written progress reports (email) with milestones managed by the Contractor.

Transfer of Files for all Courses

• Delivery of SCORM, CSV, PPR, PDF files, branding document, final user report from Tovuti and documentation of course structure and elements pertaining to the Investigator I Training. All CLEAR branding should be removed. All copyrighted images should be removed unless copyright issues are resolved.

• Delivery of any videos, SCORM, CVS, PPR, PDF files, final user reports from Tovuti, and other related files pertaining to (1) the in-person ASC Policy Statements and Appraisal Regulation training course, (2) the remote new board member orientation, and (3) the remote training of the ASC Policy Statements. All CLEAR branding should be removed. All copyrighted images should be removed unless copyright issues are resolved.

Appraisal Profession Survey

• Attendance at the kick-off meeting via Microsoft Teams or other video conferencing platforms within one week of post-award.

• Delivery of draft Candidate Survey Instrument to be reviewed by the Government.

• Delivery of final Candidate Survey Instrument incorporating the Government's feedback.

• Provide support with OMB approval of the Candidate Survey Instrument as part of the Paperwork Reduction Act.

• Delivery of draft Sampling and Analysis Plan to be reviewed by the Government.

• Delivery of final Sampling and Analysis Plan incorporating the Government’s feedback.

• Distribute/conduct the survey in accordance with the Sampling and Analysis Plan.

• Delivery of survey results in a presentation format in accordance with the Sampling and Analysis Plan.

• Delivery of anonymized survey data tabulations in accordance with the Sampling and

Analysis Plan to be presented for further analysis by the Government.

• Attendance at the monthly status meetings via Microsoft Teams or other video conferencing platforms.

• Written progress reports (email) with milestones managed by the Contractor.

The estimated cost for these services is $659,803.

4.0 An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

The authority under which this J&A is made is pursuant to FAR 13.106-1 (b)(1)(i) logical follow-on. The Contracting Officer has determined that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available for the work required. This logical follow-on is urgent to have the work completed in a timely basis, which requires the Government to change the instrument to a procurement rather than a competitive cooperative agreement.

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

CLEAR’s unique qualifications and the nature of the acquisition require the use of the authority cited in section 4 above for the following reasons. CLEAR promotes regulatory excellence through conferences, educational programs, webinars, seminars, and symposia.

The organization provides networking opportunities, publications, and research services for those involved with, or affected by, professional and occupational regulation. As a neutral forum to encourage and provide for the sharing of best practices, CLEAR serves and supports the international regulatory community and its vital contribution to public protection. CLEAR has defined its educator role as proactively identifying critical issues, providing a dynamic, interactive forum for exploring critical issues, and collecting and disseminating relevant information. CLEAR supports four core areas of substantive inquiry through its annual conference and other venues: compliance, discipline, and enforcement;

testing and examination issues; entry to practice standards and continuing competence; and regulatory agency administration.

In addition to the work yet to be completed, CLEAR has completed over 2/3 of the work and services, including the work identified below.

• Conducted a comprehensive needs assessment of State appraiser and appraisal management company (AMC) regulatory programs.

• Conducted a comprehensive and independent review of the Uniform Standards of

Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) and the Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria (AQB Criteria) to ensure neither encourage nor systemize bias and consistently support or promote fairness, equity, objectivity, and diversity in appraisals and appraisers' training and credentialing.

• Procured subject matter experts to advise on curriculum development and professional curriculum writers with expertise in adult education and in-person and remote training delivery.

• Developed a set of courses that will serve to educate State appraiser regulatory program staff and board members in such areas as effective administration and supervision of appraisers and AMCs and specific Title XI requirements, which included an in-person ASC Policy Statements and Appraisal Regulation training course; a remote new board member orientation; a remote training of the ASC Policy Statements; and a remote Investigator I training. Developed a “Draft B” of the in-person Investigator II course available to be shared with the ASC for finalization. Remote training may be either synchronous or asynchronous.

• Procured a cloud-based Learning Management System for remote training courses.

• Procured a research management firm for the appraisal profession survey that has worked with both CLEAR and the ASC on drafting the Candidate Survey Instrument that will be used to survey the nation’s appraisal professionals. Developed a draft Sampling and Analysis Plan.

The Government accepted the work. The Government has paid in the amount of $1,187,242.

The prior work will be ratified in the contract.

CLEAR has completed more than 2/3 of the work for the Investigator II Training Course and Appraisal Profession Survey, selecting another vendor would result in significant duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition and result in unexpected delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements as competing the award would set the agency’s efforts back 2-3 years.

For the Investigator II Training Course, CLEAR has contracted three subject matter experts (SME) who provided input to develop the course and have a “Draft B” available to be shared with ASC. Once received, ASC staff are to review the draft and provide comments and edits to finalize the course. CLEAR will not share this course with the State appraiser certifying and licensing agencies. The ASC will seek a vendor to teach the course to State investigators.

For the Appraisal Professional Survey project, CLEAR has contracted a research management firm that has worked with both CLEAR and the ASC on finalizing the Candidate Survey Instrument that will be used to survey the nation’s appraisal professionals. CLEAR and the research management firm have also worked on a draft Sampling and Analysis Plan. CLEAR has worked with the ASC on drafting a Candidate Survey Instrument that now needs to be approved by OMB as part of the Paperwork Reduction Act. Once the ASC obtains approval, the survey can be shared externally, results will need to be analyzed, and trends will need to be reported back to the ASC in accordance with the Sampling and Analysis Plan.

The ASC would avoid spending $1.0M+ to implement a new solution, which includes a new vendor and other external contractor implementation services.

The ASC has already invested $1.1M+ with CLEAR to develop the training and census/survey, which would have to be reinvested with a new vendor.

The ASC has sponsored on-site training for State appraiser certifying and licensing agencies since 2012. This training was suspended due to the pandemic and the Investigator II Training is the first opportunity for new State employees to learn the specific requirements and techniques for investigating complaints against appraisers. There has been a substantial staff turnover in the State appraiser certifying and licensing agencies, and ASC staff have found the regulatory programs lacking in their investigations and in need of training. This need is urgent, and the ASC cannot wait 2-3 more years for another vendor to develop training that this vendor has already 2/3 completed.

The Contracting Officer has evaluated the overall price to ensure fairness and reasonableness and the best value to the Government. This vendor has already completed 2/3 of the work, which was originally competed through a competitive cooperative agreement, and ensures the Government avoids duplication of effort and cost.

Combined with the vendor’s technical capabilities and knowledge, as cited earlier in this section, and the price, the Government has determined, in accordance with the requirements as stated above, that the incumbent vendor, CLEAR, offers the best value to the Government.

Additional development costs may be incurred with a new vendor if not awarded to CLEAR and if the required development elements from a new solution are not available or are unavailable or in a different structure than CLEAR.

6.0 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 subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies.

The ASC solicited a competitive cooperative agreement in 2020 through a NOFA, believing that the authority to perform the work was included in the ASC’s grantmaking authority. The ASC now believes the grant was made in error and that the work should have been solicited through a competitive contract solicitation. The ASC has no-year funding.

CLEAR has completed more than 2/3 of the work for the Investigator II Training Course and Appraisal Profession Survey. Selecting another vendor would result in significant duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition and result in unexpected delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements as competing the award would set the agency’s efforts back 2-3 years.

Notice will not be posted pursuant to FAR 5.202(a)(2).

7.0 A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

This work was competed originally, and the price was determined to be fair and reasonable at the time. Further, there would be no way for the Government to get the work done less expensively because 2/3 of the work is completed and paid for. No vendor can produce this outcome without duplicating the work already completed by CLEAR and already paid for by the Government.

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

No additional market research was performed for this portion of the contract. Initial research included a NOFA, which drew three proposals. Subsequent procurements will be fully and openly competed.

Since the work is 2/3 completed, additional market research for the 1/3 remaining work is unnecessary as it would be impossible to conduct the final third of the contract without performing the first 2/3.

Once the work is completed, the ASC does not need further services to fulfill the goals and objectives of the Investigator II Training Course or the Appraisal Profession Survey. For the

Investigator II Training Course, the ASC may choose to deliver the training itself or compete the delivery of the course.

To remove barriers that may lead to restricted consideration before subsequent acquisition for services is made, the ASC will conduct thorough market research if the need for these services is required in the future.

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

ASC would avoid spending $1.0M+ to implement a new solution, which includes a new vendor and other external contractor implementation services.

ASC has already invested $1.1M+ with CLEAR to develop the training which would have to be reinvested with a new vendor.

Additional development costs may be incurred with a new vendor if not awarded to CLEAR and if the required development elements from a new solution are unavailable or in a different structure than CLEAR. CLEAR included a robust plan for conducting the needs assessment and beginning curriculum development in this initiative. They presented a timeline of activities, including check-ins with ASC staff and a proven methodology for course development and evaluation. They also presented plans for synchronous and asynchronous training and demonstrated their capacity to design learning for professional adults through in-person and online training. In addition, CLEAR staff has the administrative, programmatic, and organizational skills to oversee the project, including an instructional designer on staff.

10. A listing of the 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.

The ASC intends to conduct full and open competitions for similar services in the future.

B. Approval.

1.0 Technical/Requirements Personnel.

All supporting data that is the responsibility of technical or requirements personnel and which form a basis for the justification have been certified as complete and accurate by the technical or requirements personnel.

James R. Park Executive Director

2.0 Procurement Staff.

To the best of my knowledge and belief, I certify that this justification is accurate and complete.

Zixta Q. Martinez ASC Chairperson