Attachment_7_-_Brand_Name_Justification_-Sensus.doc

United States Department of the Interior

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

INTERMOUNTAIN REGION

CONTRACTING PROGRAM

Justification for Brand Name Products Date:

2021/10/29 Project:

Rehabilitate the Madison Junction Water Treatment and Spring Collection System

1. Identifications

a. Agency:

National Park Service

b. Contracting Office:

Northern Rockies Major Acquisition Buying Office

2. Description of the action being approved:

The National Park Service (NPS) shall be soliciting for a construction contractor to rehabilitate the Madison Junction water treatment and spring collection system. This work includes construction of a new water collection system and water treatment / pumphouse building, as well as demolition of existing infrastructure. The documents included with the solicitation call for specific brand name products that are peculiar to one manufacturer. This written justification provides approval for limiting competition to the listed brand name products as authorized by the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR).

3. Description of supplies and services:

This project involves construction of a new water treatment / pumphouse building. Equipment to be installed in this building includes a water meter. To maintain compatibility with current park water meters and the associated reading system, these meters need to be Sensus brand. See below for details.

4. Authority:

a. 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1): Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

b. FAR Part 11.105: The Brand Name products are essential to the Government’s requirements, and market research indicates other companies’ similar products do not meet and cannot be modified to meet the agency’s needs.

c. FAR 6.302-1: The use of the name brand products are essential to the Government’s requirements, thereby precluding consideration of a product manufactured by another company. This Brand Name Justification covers only the portion of the acquisition which is brand name or peculiar to one manufacturer, and the approval level requirements will then only apply to that portion.

5. The description of the product’s unique qualifications or the unique nature of the acquisition:

Different brand names of water meters are compatible with different meter readers. In order for a meter to be read and automatically pulled into the park’s data system, meters must be compatible with the park’s existing meters and reading system. This can impact park record-keeping about water use, which is increasingly important as the NPS works to track and reduce its resource consumption.

Meter readings in Yellowstone are very dependent on software and proprietary technology. We have hundreds of meters in the park, so making this process as efficient as possible saves considerable staff time and results in more accurate data.

The entire park uses Sensus meters because we use their technology for meter reads. We have two “meter readers”. To read meters, someone travels around the park with one of the meter readers, and the reader picks up the information from each meter using radio waves. It depends on signals coming from the meters at a certain frequency. The park employee who manages the meter database and resultant billing for the park has worked with Telecomm to ensure that these frequencies are acceptable and do not interfere with other radio equipment in the park. Each meter reader cost about $15,000, so the park has significant capital invested in this system.

Once the person reading the meters has traveled around so that the readers can log data from all of the meters, they upload the reads from the meter reader into proprietary Sensus software. We then have the readings set up to go into the park database from which we can draw information about water use for billing and tracking purposes.

Getting Sensus meters that are compatible with our other meters is important because we read meters through wireless radio connections with meter readers which are brand-specific, and then we are set up to upload them into our existing database using brand-specific software. Having a different brand meter would mean that we would have to develop a different way of reading it, and we would have to start a different database for tracking that particular meter. With the hundreds of meters in the park, tracking is already a challenge even when all of the meters are compatible. Having one incompatible meter would jeopardize our ability to track its readings.

6. Efforts to obtain competition:

a. Efforts to ensure offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable:

For acquisitions over $25,000 the solicitation will be issued on the Government’s Point of Entry, FedBizOpps.gov.

b. Presolicitation notice per FAR 5.2:

For acquisitions over $25,000 a presolicitation notice shall be posted on the Government’s Point of Entry, FedBizOpps.gov unless the exception noted at FAR Part 5.202(a)(13) applies.

7. Determination that costs will be fair & reasonable:

This contract will be bid out competitively, and the general contractor will likely seek parts from different suppliers to obtain competitive pricing. Numerous suppliers sell Sensus/Xylem meters. Additionally, this project only involves one meter, so is a relatively small purchase.

8. Description of the market research conducted:

Utility Systems Operators at Yellowstone routinely order meters and other plumbing items for operations of the water treatment and distribution systems in the park. They operate an array of water and wastewater treatment plants and monitor many distribution systems. In their experience with this, they have settled on using a Sensus meter system to meet their needs and ensure compatibility with their meter readers.

9. Other facts supporting other than full & open competition:

a. Reason why documents suitable for full & open competition have not been developed:

Since meter readers can be dependent on brand and the park system is already set up for Sensus meters, any other brand would not work with our proprietary Sensus meter readers and software so could not meet the “or equal” requirements.

b. Data, estimated costs or other rationale as to the extent or harm to the Government:

See Item 5, above. Additionally, using a different brand of meters on park projects could increase staff time required to read and maintain the meter. Park staff would have to obtain and use a different meter reading system if a meter of a different brand was used; this would increase the materials needed and therefore the cost for this project. Park staff would not have any replacement parts for a different brand of meter if it needed maintenance, increasing wait time for repairs. The additional complication of having a unique meter reading system that only served this building would decrease the chance of the meter being read as faithfully as the other meters or on a comparable schedule. Since the park would be unlikely to invest in an entirely different meter reading system to serve just one meter, the different-brand meter would likely have to be read and recorded by hand. Hand-written meter readings take considerably more time to collect and are prone to errors. This would mean a decrease in understanding of water use at Madison Junction, which reduces park staff’s ability to identify water waste and opportunities for improvement.

10. Interested Sources:

This project will be awarded to a contractor who will look for suppliers for this product.

11. Actions to remove barriers to competition in the future for similar acquisitions:

Brand-name meters may be requested by the NPS at Yellowstone indefinitely into the future until an alternative is found to be compatible with the current system or the current system has become obsolete. If the current system becomes obsolete, then the NPS will use a competitive process to select a new system that meets the park’s needs.

12. Certifications:

Technical / Requirements Certification:

I certify that any supporting data that is the responsibility of technical or requirements personnel (i.e. verifying the Government’s minimum needs or schedule requirements or other rationale for other than full and open competition) and which form a basis for the justification have been certified as complete and accurate:

(Signature)______________________ (Date) _2021/10/29 ________ (Type or Print Name): __Molly M. Ohlen__________________________ (Title):

Up to $25,000

I certify that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief:

(Signature) _______________________________________ (Date) ____04/25/2022_ (Type or Print Name): ___Stacy L. Vallie_______________________________________________ Contract Specialist