B12_Attachment_1_Redacted_J_A_Redacted_2.pdf

Requisition # 0040615421

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR ACQUISITION UNDER

THE SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD)

1. Contracting Agency and Activity. The Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey Reston Acquisitions Branch, Reston, VA, plans to contract on a sole source basis. This document sets forth the justification and approval as required by FAR 13-106-1(b)(1).

2. Nature of Action Being Approved. The USGS – Virginia-West Virginia Water Science Center requires a new firm fixed-price purchase order to PP Systems, Inc.

3. Description of Supplies. The requirement is for a PhycoProbe III to be used to continuously measure chlorophyll with quantitative determination of algal classes, and unbound phycocyanin.

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 PhycoProbe III will be used to investigate the harmful algal blooms in Lake Anna and the Shenandoah River in Virginia. The PhycoProbe III is a unique highly sensitive measuring instruments for the analysis of chlorophyll-a with algae class determination and the additional measurement of unbounded phycocyanin, which reflects the release of blue-green algae contents like toxins as well as flavors and odorous substances.

The PhycoProbe III is crucial to meet project and mission objectives because it is the only such instrument currently on the market capable of measuring of the chlorophyll-a concentration and concentrations of the differentiated major algal classes, green algae, blue-green algae, diatoms, and crytophyacae, as well as unbounded phycocyanin (a recently established early indicator of algal blooms) all in concentration units. Other instruments are not capable of making all of these measurements and in concentration units. To study the drivers of harmful algal blooms, being able to measure phycocyanin that is unbounded is crucial to giving us the best possible understanding of early indication of algal blooms which will allow us to better understand the drivers of algal blooms, that is, why they are occurring/persisting. The PhycoProbe III can make these stated measurements at a high frequency of up to 4 measurements per second. The PyhcoProbe III also measures colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) to make automatic corrections to all its measurements which is important to gain an understanding of the concentrations of these algae rather than the values that are not corrected for CDOM which would only provide a relative value which is far less informative. The PhycoProbe III is also capable of attaching either a wiper or flow through unit, which allows for adaptability of our deployments of PhycoProbe III to the different environments and site-specific permissions that they will be deployed in. The PhycoProbe III is also capable of communicating with our other common equipment acquired through the USGS Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility that will be used for these projects such as our data collection platform via RS-485, USB, and capable of

Requisition # 0040615421

Jennifer Kelley, Bureau Competition Advocate