CSP_IDIQ_J and A_Final.pdf

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION (J&A) for USAID/LEBANON COMMUNITY SUPPORT

PROGRAM (CSP) IDIQ

TO: Deborah Broderick, Agency Competition Advocate (ACA) and Approving Officer

THROUGH: Mary Eileen Devitt, USAID/Lebanon Mission Director

FROM:

DATE: May 27, 2021

SUBJECT: Justification and Approval for other than Full and Open Competition (J&A) under AIDAR 706.302-70(b)(5) for USAID/Lebanon Community Support Program (CSP) Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) No. 72026818D00005

1. This document sets forth the facts and rationale justifying the use of other than full and open competition, in accordance with AIDAR 706.302-70(b)(5), which authorizes other than full and open competition for y specialized services when award to another resource would result in substantial additional

This document was prepared to explain how awarding to another resource would result in unacceptable delay.

2. The nature and/or description of the action being approved: CSP is a single award IDIQ Contract implemented by Chemonics International with a total estimated ceiling (TEC) of $80,000,000. The CSP IDIQ was awarded on August 14, 2018, has an ordering period of five years through August 13, 2023 and a duration of seven years through August 13, 2025. Task Order performance may continue up to two years after the ordering period, but must be completed no later than the end of the period of performance of the IDIQ. The CSP IDIQ provides a broad range of technical assistance and support services to help municipalities and underserved and vulnerable communities in providing better public services and enhanced economic opportunities that improve lives and contribute to reducing community tensions components:

Component 1: Community Stabilization Support to assist local communities meet immediate-term stabilization needs to mitigate tensions with activities expected to take up to nine months for implementation.

Component 2: Community Development Support to provide medium to long term support with implementation expected to last up to 18 months to complete activities that meet priority local development needs and fill urgent gaps in access to resources.

Component 3: Technical Assistance Support for Key Essential Services to municipalities and other local partners receiving assistance under Components 1 and 2.

The CSP IDIQ currently has five Task Orders (TOs):

TO1 72026818F00002 in the amount of $19,746,752 for the overall administrative management of CSP.

TO2 72026818F00003 in the amount of $19,654,623 for supporting more than 85 municipalities with equipment and infrastructure needed for public services.

TO3 72026819F00001 in the amount of $10,922,132 for provision of technical assistance and institutional capacity building for supported local partners.

TO4 72026819F00002 in the amount of $7,374,704 for community workforce development in CSP geographic areas.

TO5 72026819F00003 in the amount of $22,251,789 for supporting clusters of communities with sustainable solutions for wastewater treatment.

This is a request to approve a contract modification to the CSP IDIQ to increase the ceiling of the IDIQ by $20 million from the current ceiling of $80,000,000 to a new ceiling of $100,000,000. To date, the total value of the five task orders issued under the CSP IDIQ and described above in section 2 is $79,950,000 and $50,000 is committed under the IDIQ.

Therefore, the IDIQ ceiling has been reached. The period of performance and the ordering period will remain the same and will not be impacted by this request. The proposed modification will increase the ceiling to support additional municipalities with equipment and infrastructure needed for public services under TO2, related technical assistance and capacity building under TO3, related additional time under TO4 (for a period of seven months from July 18, 2022 to February 28, 2023) for increased community workforce development activities, and additional administrative management required under TO1.

3. Description of the supplies or services required, including an estimated value: Lebanon is currently experiencing unprecedented economic and financial collapse, the effects of which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the August 2020 Beirut Port blast, the need for stabilizing and development assistance interventions is increasing and will continue to be a priority for the coming years.

In the past years, CSP has shown itself to be an agile, responsive, and flexible mechanism and is the main community assistance mechanism under the IDIQ. Increasing the CSP IDIQ ceiling will allow USAID/Lebanon to expand TO2, TO3, and TO4 (as well as TO1 for complementary overall management services) to benefit more municipalities and communities to provide needed basic services and workforce development. Additional interventions will include implementing essential interventions that provide much needed back-up electricity, water, recyclables recovery, livelihood opportunities, and relevant technical assistance and capacity building for municipalities and community based organizations to sustain the provided interventions. This will create job opportunities through skills training and job placement activities and alleviate the economic and financial challenges faced by vulnerable communities, in addition to contributing to decreasing tensions faced in communities in the light of the soaring unemployment and poverty levels.

TO1 is the overall management task order encompassing monitoring and evaluation, procurement support, hiring, construction management, environmental compliance, outreach and communication, and other management responsibilities. TO1 has provided essential support and management services for the other ongoing Task Orders.

This additional increase in the IDIQ TEC will allow CSP through TO2, TO3, TO4 and TO1 to implement more of the same needed community support interventions, as described above, which will benefit at least 100,000 additional persons per year. The IDIQ statement of work and performance period and ordering period will remain unchanged. The estimated value of the additional services is $20 million.

4. Statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition: AIDAR 706.302-or otherwise have an adverse effect on programs conducted for the purpose of foreign aid, continued provision of highly specialized services when awarded to another resource would result in substantial additional costs to the government or would resu This request is made because the CSP IDIQ holder is in the best position to implement the additional activities sought without adverse effect and without unacceptable delays, as detailed in Section 5 below.

5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor's unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition that requires use of the authority cited: Implementing the Community Support Program (CSP) IDIQ starts with the identification and selection of vulnerable communities in Lebanon; followed by profiling of these communities to map sources of tension, community dynamics, actors and leaders in the community; and identification of priority needs. When priority needs are identified, the contractor implements assistance interventions including provision of equipment, small scale infrastructure and construction, as well as technical assistance and training. The current CSP contractor, Chemonics, has undertaken in the past three years the identification of vulnerable communities in North Lebanon, the Bekaa, and South Lebanon and has done extensive profiling exercises in these communities, hence has acquired the needed specialized services in terms of staff qualifications and institutional knowledge of all the communities in the North, Bekaa, and South Lebanon. Chemonics has also established close working relationships and extensive knowledge of the socio-political weave within said communities. Chemonics has gained the trust of these communities and has deployed experienced and knowledgeable staff. Chemonics has also been successful in operating and delivering results in a very challenging contexts and has acquired the resources, managerial capacity, and systems to adapt and cope with the complex and challenging situation in Lebanon including the COVID pandemic, the fluid security situation, the challenging financial situation, limitations in the Lebanese banking services, fluctuations in the availability of commodities and construction material on the Lebanese market, as well as challenges in availability of fuel for local transportation. A new contractor would not have the specialized services (including the staff qualifications, extensive knowledge of communities and municipalities in the three regions in Lebanon, and established working relationships) nor existing operating and coping systems readily available without delay; therefore would need additional significant time to re-establish and develop the qualifications, the knowledge, the working relationships and the mechanisms and resources needed for operating within the constrained country context.

To illustrate, it took significant time (more than one and a half years) and effort by the current contractor to profile hundreds of municipalities and communities, identify their socio-economic needs and establish relationships in North Lebanon, the Bekaa, and South Lebanon. If a new contractor takes on the existing database of information, the new contractor will need considerable time to acquaint themselves and their staff with it and re-establish relationships with communities. It would take at least 6 months for a new contractor to assimilate the information once taken from the old contractor and re-establish working relationships in the field whilst the need for the additional assistance at the community level is immediate. Whereas, the current contractor would be able to immediately continue to mobilize needed assistance to vulnerable communities. Furthermore, it would take a new implementer at least an additional six months to hire staff, mobilize, and put in place the resources and mechanisms for operating in the current Lebanese context.

Moreover, the procurement process itself for a new implementer through a competitive process would need at least 12-18 months as lead time for the USAID/Lebanon to design a new activity, obtain the needed approvals, receive and evaluate proposals, and select and award an implementer. This 12-18 months delay in addition to at least 6 more months for a new implementer to hire staff and mobilize, and six months for the new staff to establish working relations and acquaint itself with the targeted geographic areas, would result in unacceptable delays amounting to more than 24 months for USAID/Lebanon to continue to provide immediate needed assistance to vulnerable communities in the light of the rapidly deteriorating socio-economic collapse.

Therefore, awarding to another source would result in unacceptable delays while the need in Lebanon for the assistance interventions is urgent. Such a lengthy gap in provision of assistance to needy communities at this critical time would significantly harm the working relations of USAID/Lebanon with municipalities and vulnerable communities in North Lebanon, the Bekaa and South Lebanon. Through this requested modification, USAID/Lebanon will be able to immediately assist an increased number of vulnerable communities.

Despite the unprecedented and challenging contextual factors that continue to plague Lebanon, has been very good. To illustrate, CSP through more than 95 community support interventions is working with more than 130 communities and municipalities to implement essential interventions that provide much needed back-up electricity, water, recyclables recovery, livelihoods opportunities, and wastewater management for more than 1,000,000 persons. Chemonics is a very responsive and flexible contractor which demonstrated in the past years the ability to adapt and accommodate country challenges and successfully continues to design and implement a wide range of stabilization, development, technical assistance, and emergency response assistance interventions.

Chemonics is also well managing the contract, ensuring the use of resources in an efficient manner, adhering to the budget, and meeting contract requirements and timelines. Therefore, Chemonics is a significant contributor t underserved communities.

6. Description of the efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 5.202 [AIDAR 705.002). The original CSP IDIQ was awarded to the current IDIQ holder competitively in 2018 as required by FAR 5.202 [AIDAIR 705.002]. Further, in accordance with FAR5.201 and AIDAR 706.302-70(c)(l) a Notice of Intent was published on July 8, 2021 and was open response for 15 days in an effort to ensure that offers were solicited from as many potential sources as practicable.

7. A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable: The Contracting Officer (CO) has determined that awarding this CSP IDIQ TEC increase of $20 million to Chemonics will be fair and reasonable in comparison to holding a new full and open competition, when additional services are needed without delay. The anticipated cost is based on a study of current market rates, and historical costs from prior projects, which have been found to be fair and reasonable based on market value. Prior to signing the modification, the CO will evaluate and negotiate a detailed cost proposal to ensure the costs are most economical, fair, and reasonable. By signing the below, the CO determines that the anticipated cost will be fair and reasonable, and in the best interest of the U.S. Government.

8. Description of the market research conducted, and the results or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted:

Market research was conducted on service providers for administrative management, municipalities with equipment and infrastructure for public services, for provision of technical assistance and institutional capacity building for supported local partners, for community workforce development in CSP geographic areas, and for communities with sustainable solutions for wastewater treatment. The market research included researching US small businesses, local organizations and local contractors. The market research was conducted on the USAID Development Experience Clearinghouse (dec.usaid.gov), the local portal of NGOs and local contractors at Daleel Madani (daleel-madani.org), Government-wide database of contracts and other procurement instruments intended for use by multiple agencies at (https://www.contractdirectory.gov/contractdirectory/), and the list of current and past USAID/Lebanon implementing partners. The results of that research revealed that Chemonics has the unique capability to provide the services currently required without delay. The CSP IDIQ was awarded through full and open competition. Since contract award, Chemonics has proven to be an efficient implementer with unique capability that has developed through the CSP IDIQ Task Orders. There are other contractors that exist with the potential skill required, but there are none with the existing skills that match the unique capabilities Chemonics has developed in implementing the CSP IDIQ in the challenging circumstances of the operating context. It would be unacceptably difficult to obtain the skills required in a reasonable timeframe to take advantage of the existing momentum within the targeted CSP IDIQ communities.

9. Other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition: USAID/Lebanon believes procuring the services through another contract would impose unacceptable delays and harm to USAID/Lebanon as described above and would impede the timely mobilization of additional assistance to vulnerable communities in the light of the continuing socio-economic collapse in Lebanon. Therefore, it is preferable and time effective to use the existing CSP IDIQ, whose scope well allows for the required services. The unwarranted costs to the Government that will be duplicative of the current contract include approximately $2.7 million to hire a new contractor and the required approximately six months it would require for a new contractor to restart the program and establish relationships with the vulnerable communities.

These costs were estimated based on historical costs of prior projects, market value for salaries, and other needed mobilization costs.

10. Sources, if any, which expressed an interest, in writing, in the acquisition: As required by FAR 5.2, a Notice of Intent pertaining to the proposed additional activities was published on www.SAM.gov on July 8, 2021 in an effort to solicit from as many sources as practicable.

No responses were received and no other sources expressed interest for this action.

11. The actions the Agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required: If any subsequent requirements beyond the scope and the duration of this award are needed, the action will be competed in a full and open competition. USAID/Lebanon will also duly consider the use of a Best in Class (BIC) mechanism to comply Category Management.

12. Technical or requirement personnel certification: In accordance with FAR 6.303-2, I hereby certify that the technical statements included above and which form a basis for the justification are complement and accurate.

Date

13. I hereby certify that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Contracting Officer Date

14. Approval/Disapproval:

Approved:

Deborah Broderick, Agency Competition Advocate Date