B08_Brand_Name_Justification.pdf

BRAND NAME JUSTIFICATION

1. Contracting Agency and Activity. The Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey plans to contract by means other than full and open competition. This document sets forth the justification and approval for award of brand name Innovasea acoustic telemetry equipment on a limited source basis as required by FAR 13.106-1.

2. Nature of Action Being Approved. Firm Fixed Price award for purchase of Telemetry Equipment manufactured from Innovasea-Vemco.

3. Description of Supplies or Services. This requisition is needed to supply 3 long-term acoustic receivers with acoustic release mechanisms, one acoustic modem deck box, 20 acoustic receiver, 9 environmental sensors, and 60 acoustic tags for projects focused on the movement and spawning ecology of Grass Carp in Lake Erie.

[1] 3 units: Vemco VR4 Acoustic receivers (69 kHz & 180 k Hz).

[2] 3 units: Vemco Ascent AR-2 (for VR4) acoustic release.

[3] 6 unit: Vemco Ascent AR (for aquameasure) acoustic release.

[4] 3 units: Vemco Aquameasure dissolved oxygen sensor.

[5] 3 units: Vemco Aquameasure Turbidity sensor.

[6] 3 units: Vemco Aquameasure Chlorophyl sensor [7] 25 units: Vemco VR2AR receiver, transmitter, and acoustic release (69 kHz).

[8] 50 units: Vemco V13 acoustic tags (69 kHz)

4. 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.

5. Rationale Supporting Use of Citation in No. 5. The USGS Lake Erie Biological Station is partnering with the Great Lakes Acoustic Telemetry Observation System (GLATOS) to monitor the movement and spawning ecology of Grass Carp in Lake Erie. To date, GLATOS has invested several million dollars in Innovasea-Vemco telemetry equipment to address this task. Use of fish tags and receivers compatible with GLATOS receiver networks greatly reduces government's costs when performing fish telemetry research. Failure to obtain tags and receivers compatible with existing Innovasea-Vemco infrastructure in the Great Lakes risks the GLSC not fulfilling its science mission. Whereas, equipment manufactured by other vendors can detect or be detected by the existing Innovasea-Vemco network, critical information contained in the transmitter signal (e.g., individual fish identification) cannot be decoded by the existing Innovasea network and therefore cannot meet study objectives. No other vendor can supply telemetry equipment compatible with the existing Innovasea-Vemco equipment network.

We intend to make use of the existing Innovasea telemetry network in order to meet the objectives of the funded study. Lake Erie Biological Station requires the additional telemetry equipment (i.e., telemetry receivers, environmental sensors and acoustic tags) specified above in Paragraph 3 in order to successfully complete objectives for this study. Currently, no other vendor can supply receivers or transmitters that are compatible with the existing Innovasea- Vemco equipment already owned by the US Government, which is valued at several million dollars. If the Government were to purchase equipment other than Innovasea-Vemco, the continuity of data would be lost since there is no way to track already existing fish that have been tagged due to the proprietary coding.

6. Other Information. N/A

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

Market research via the Internet indicates competition will be available among Innovasea-Vemco resellers. Extensive market research, field testing of available products, and consultation with other agencies was conducted prior to the recommendation of the equipment specified. The telemetry transmitter coding architecture of the specified telemetry systems is proprietary, and no other manufacturer can provide compatible receivers or transmitters. The immediate need for telemetry systems to address ongoing studies already underway prevents the consideration of new systems or technologies not already available on the market.

8. Actions to Overcome Barriers to Competition. The products specified are proprietary and must be compatible among all study participants. No other manufacturer can provide these items.

Other components of studies that use telemetry, not yet implemented will continue to examine existing and emerging technologies in the application of focused investigations. The products required are proprietary and must work in concert with existing equipment.

9. Recommendation and Certification from Program Office

Based on the above, I recommend this acquisition be conducted on a limited source basis. 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.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) considers employee signatures to be Personal Information, and therefore all employee signatures have been redacted. By posting this document, the Contracting Officer attests all appropriate signatures have been obtained.