B01_Redacted_Sole_Source_Redacted_1.pdf

PR 0040584666

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION FOR ACQUISITION UNDER THE

SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD

1. Contracting Agency and Activity. The Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey, plans to contract on a sole source basis. This document sets forth the justification and approval as required by FAR 13.106-l(b)(l).

2. Nature of Action Being Approved. The procurement in question is for continuing maintenance support of the Emergency Data Distribution Network (EDDN) located at Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center near Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The vendor, Microcom Design, Inc., is the proposed provider of the maintenance.

3. Description of Supplies or Services. The National Water Information System Program is seeking the creation of an ongoing maintenance contract to maintain the radio receiving systems of the EDDN https://eddn.usgs.gov. This system receives over 900,000 Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Data Collection System (GOES DCS) messages a day on behalf of thousands of users. There is a secondary antenna and downlink which is part of the EDDN. The secondary antenna is located in Reston VA as of August 2022. The secondary antenna is expected to relocate to the USGS Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility (HIF) in Tuscaloosa AL in fall of 2023 and will require technical support for transitioning the antenna to this new location.

This maintenance contract will cover an annual on-site preventive maintenance visit of the USGS EDDN System, year-round remote technical support, and the planning and preparation for the Tuscaloosa, AL USGS HRIT System.

4. Estimated Dollar Value.

5. Statutory Authority. The proposed action may be awarded on a sole source basis under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(1) - only one source reasonably available.

6. Rationale Supporting Use of Citation in No. 5. The EDDN receives vital data that is used to protect life and property throughout the Western Hemisphere. The USGS Water Science Centers are all connected to this receive system to acquire real-time data to perform their mission. This maintenance contract ensures a healthy operational system that needs to be available 24 x 7 x 365.

Microcom Design, Inc., is the only vendor that can perform this maintenance. The receivers and demodulators used in the EDDN are their design. They are not commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) radios but were purpose-built by Microcom engineers specifically for GOES DCS message reception.

Microcom Design, Inc., technology, components and patents are all proprietary. They make COTS but specialize in custom designing/engineering. Previous awards dating back to 2008/2009 confirm that Microcom Design, Inc. has custom built equipment for other bureaus to include this contract. They hold patents and copyrights to their equipment and software, and therefore are the sole providers of the maintenance. No other technology and software are compatible.

The USGS has spent over $1.5 million dollars on this system. To replace with a competitor's product would cost the USGS over $400,000 and two to three months of down time while the systems were replaced and integrated into the existing infrastructure. The EDDN is a 24 x 7 x 365 system that is relied upon by numerous Federal agencies, state organizations, and foreign governments in the Western hemisphere. A two or three-month interruption in service is not acceptable. Further, savings hoped to be achieved through competition on maintenance would not exceed the replacement value of the overall system. Even if the system were replaced, sole source maintenance would be required of the new system in short order.

7. Other Information. All the hardware and software for the Microcom Design system were created by Microcom.

8. The Efforts to Identify Additional Sources Including the Market Research Conducted.

No other companies work in this sector of satellite telemetry receivers. The design and software of the Microcom System is unique. No one else can provide the system or operational knowledge of the Microcom receivers as this knowledge is company proprietary. As of right now Microcom has no resellers available.

9. Future Plans to Permit Competition. Competition may be allowed at the end of this contract as the radio system could be at the end of its operational life. Nevertheless, future needs will be competed to the maximum extend practicable.

10. Recommendation and Certification from Program Office. Based on the above, I recommend this acquisition be conducted on the basis of other than full and open competition. I certify that technical data which form a basis for this justification that are the responsibility of technical or requirements personnel are complete and accurate.

11. Certification and Approval from the Contracting Officer:

a. Determination of price and reasonableness is based on historical data with a 3% rate of inflation. The

3% is found to be within the accepted range for inflation. Based on the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics the average inflation rate since 2012 (when contract was awarded) has fluctuated between 3% and 8.5% as of April 2022. The Base Year and historical data shows a consistent 3% increase for each option exercised. In addition, the CO will compare to the vendor s quote to the posted rates on the vendor s GSA FSS schedule.

b. All of the requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act, (41 U.S.C. 253), as implemented in the Federal and Interior Acquisition Regulations, have been considered in preparing this justification. This justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

12. Approvals