Consolidation memo_Moss Landing.pdf

Moss Landing Harbor Consolidation Memo Page 1 of 5

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY DETERMINATION AND FINDINGS

CONSOLIDATION MEMORANDUM FOR FIRM FIXED PRICE

JETTY REPAIR AND MAINTAINANCE DREDGING FOR MOSS LANDING HARBOR

DETERMINATION AND FINDINGS

As defined in FAR 2.101, “consolidation or consolidated requirements” means “a solicitation for a single contract, a multiple-award contract, a task order, or a delivery order to satisfy . . . two or more requirements of the Federal agency for supplies or services that have been provided to or performed for the Federal agency under two or more separate contracts, each of which was lower in cost than the total cost of the contract for which offers are solicited . . . .” Consolidation of requirements with a total value exceeding $2,000,000 must be justified under FAR 7.107-2(a).

I have reviewed this requirement and the associated market research and determined that, in accordance with 15 U.S.C. 657q and Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 7.107 “Additional requirements for acquisitions involving consolidation, bundling, or substantial bundling,” consolidation is both necessary and justified because the benefits of the acquisition would substantially exceed the benefits that would be derived from identified alternative contracting approaches. My review of this requirement resulted in the following findings.

FINDINGS

1. Introduction: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, South Pacific Division, San Francisco District (SPN), plans to consolidate the maintenance dredging requirement for Moss Landing Channel with the repair of Moss Landing Jetty. The solicitation will be issued under North American Industry Classification Systems (NAICS) Code 237990—Other Heavy and Civil Construction.

Market research demonstrates that consolidation of this procurement is both necessary and justified to meet mission requirements.

2. Description of Procurement Action: The scope of the resulting contract includes maintenance dredging of the Moss Landing Channel and repairing the Moss Landing North and South (option) Jetties. These actions were solicited and awarded separately in the past to two different contractors. Cost and Level of Effort wise, the bulk of the work is for the jetty repair, and dredging is an ancillary requirement. Consolidating the requirements of these activities into one contract will allow for compliance with USACE safety standards, allow completion of both actions within the same Fiscal Year (FY), and allows for one point of contact during performance period. For safety reasons, only one contractor should work actively in the water at any given time within a specific area of water. Due to this restriction and the short environmental window, only one contract (either dredging or the jetty repair) can be completed in one FY. Combining both of these contracts will allow both actions to be completed in the same FY. As described in

Moss Landing Harbor Consolidation Memo Page 2 of 5 section 5 below, no dredging was done at Moss Landing Channel since FY20 and the repair work was put on hold since FY23. This means both the jetty repair and dredging need to be done immediately for safety reasons.

3. Applicable Statutes/Regulations: 15 U.S.C. § 657q, FAR 7.107 Additional requirements for acquisitions involving consolidation, bundling, or substantial bundling, Army FAR Supplement (AFARS) 5107.107-2 Consolidation; and USACE Acquisition Instruction UAI 5107.107-2-100 Consolidation.

4. Results of Market Research (FAR 7.107-2(a)(1)):

Market Research was conducted via SAME Small Business Conference in November 2024.

Participants at the conference were asked about method(s) to fulfill both the dredging and jetty repair requirement with the following conditions:

- Discrete site

- Short environmental window

- Only one contractor can be in-water at a time for safety reasons

- Possibility to complete both repair and dredging in the same FY

One 8a ANC firm responded by confirming that they would be able to fulfill both the dredging and repair requirements between themselves and another similar situated entity (8a subcontractor).. The other contractors provided no negative responses. Based on the market research completed, past procurements, and the Contracting Officer’s experience, there is a reasonable expectation that an 8a Alaska Native Corporations firm can fulfill this requirement.

5. Identification of Alternative Contracting Approaches that Would Involve a Lesser Degree of Consolidation (FAR 7.107-2(a)(2)):

SPN has solicitated the dredging and jetty repair contracts separately in the past.

• SPN has solicited and awarded the jetty repair as a separate contracts in FY23 (W912P723C0004). The jetty repair was solicited by Full and Open Competition, Invitation for Bid (IFB) and awarded to a small business firm with a period of performance of 240 calendar days. A storm in January 2023 caused additional damages to the jetty which changed the design awarded with the contract; therefore, the contract was terminated for the convenience of the Government at the early phase (prior to start of the actual construction work).

• There was an intention to solicit the FY24 maintenance dredging by IFB using Small

Business Set-aside, but the requirement was postponed to FY25 due to multiple issues (dense material not characterized to get assurance on the equipment, delay in environmental permits from resources agencies to take material to SF-12 and amendment

Moss Landing Harbor Consolidation Memo Page 3 of 5 to the permit is needed to include clamshell with disposal at SF-14, CDFW berms construction not complete). The previous dredging contract at Moss Landing was solicited in FY20 as Full and Open Competition IFB, and was awarded to a small business.

Two solicitations and contracts would need to be issued to provide these construction services.

Each new contract may take 45 days each to execute. Due to safety reasons, sequencing of construction, and a constrained channel to work in, it is highly unlikely for the repair and dredging works to be done within the same FY if two separate contracts were awarded. This approach would involve a lesser degree of consolidation, but it would not provide additional opportunities for small businesses.

5. Coordination with Office of Small Business Programs (FAR 7.107-2(a)(3)): The USACE Small Business Liaison has been informed of this consolidation and supports the requirement.

Mr. Simpkins of SPK encourages the use of small businesses, and this is an opportunity to award the jetty repair and maintenance dredging to an 8a firm.

6. Negative Impact by the Acquisition Strategy on Contracting with Small Businesses (FAR 7.107-2(a)(4)): As stated above, the combined contract is likely to be suitable for award to an 8a firm. Market research shows that the work can be done by 8a firms. Even if the contractor needs to subcontract out a portion of the work, market research indicates this could be subcontracted to an 8a firm as well. There is little to no negative impact on contracting to small businesses.

7. Steps Taken to Include Small Business Concerns in the Acquisition Strategy (FAR 7.107- 2(a)(5)): The FY24 Market Research done for dredging supports the decision for a small business set-aside Moss Landing Harbor. The previous jetty repair contract was awarded to small business. The additional market research performed for this consolidation resulted in an 8a ANC firm responding, stating that they could fulfill both the dredging and repair requirement between themselves and another similar situated entity.

8. Benefits

The benefits of consolidating these requirements are as follows:

a. For safety reasons, only one contractor should be performing work in the channel at a time. By consolidating the jetty repair with the dredging contract, all work will be performed by one contractor. This will allow the requirement to meet USACE safety standards. As a result, this would yield a quality improvement enhancing performance.

Moss Landing Harbor Consolidation Memo Page 4 of 5

b. This will reduce the labor cost of multiple procurements within SPN. There are multiple Divisions that work these procurements, and reducing the contracts from two to one will decrease the cost and oversight required to solicit, award, and administer the contracts. The jetty repair that was terminated in FY23 was approximately $7.8M. The dredging contract for FY20 was approximately $1.4M. Consolidating the jetty repair and dredging into one contract may save a lot of costs for both procurement and labor. As a result, this would yield a quality improvements that will save time, enhance efficiency, and reduce acquisition cycle times.

9. Bundling: FAR 2.101 states that bundling is a subset of consolidation that combines requirements previously performed under separate, smaller contracts into a single contract that is likely unsuitable for award to a small business concern is considered bundling. As market research shows this work can be solicited together and awarded to an 8a ANC firm, the proposed consolidation does not constitute bundling.

10. Circumstances, Facts, and Reasoning Supporting the Determination: Consolidation assures that SPN will meet the USACE safety standards for dredging and in-water work. There has been an increased awareness on safety over the last year due to multiple accidents occurring across USACE. SPN has a high standard for safety and this will only assist in keeping those high standards. Consolidation also supports the procurement time for these requirements. Dredging solicitations and awards are completed in approximately 45 calendar days. Same duration for the jetty repair solicitation and contract. Consolidation shortens the time preparation of solicitation package and increases efficiency within the Engineering, Contracting, and Construction branches. Not consolidating the requirements will delay, if not risk, the jetty repair not being awarded timely and delay the repair by another year, and may delay the start of dredging. The environmental work window for Moss Landing is short and any delay in dredging or jetty repair can be detrimental to the project. Separate contracts put the burden of managing the construction schedules and work activities on the government. Separate contracts will result in additional costs for construction administration and contracting.

11. Summary: The proposed consolidation is necessary and justified because the benefits of the acquisition would substantially exceed the benefits that would be derived from each of the alternative contracting approaches identified in paragraph 5 above. This consolidated procurement action is intended to provide the least amount of risk to the government considering the project. No other alternative would allow the Government to provide these facilities within the cost and performance parameters required to assist SPN in meeting its mission.

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CONCURRENCE

The following signatures indicated concurrence with the contents of the Consolidation Memo.

Courtney Anderson Project Manager

Allison Carmody Assistant District Counsel

Mary Fronck District Contracting Chief Contracting Officer