CTR BTRP ETFO Liberia NRL Construction_Amend 2_Redacted.pdf

Defense Threat Reduction Agency 8725 John J. Kingman Road, Stop 6201

Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-6201

JUSTIFCATION FOR AN EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY

1. Nature and/or Description of the Action

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Biological Threat Reduction Program (BTRP) seeks an exception to fair opportunity (ETFO) for continuation of specific work on a follow-on task order performing construction and equipping at the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) in Monrovia, Liberia. This action will provide a Statement of Work (SOW) reflecting remaining requirements to complete outstanding construction at the NRL facility as well as relevant procurement and installation of equipment necessary for the facility to be operational and ready for hand-over to the Government of Liberia (GoL). The completion and hand-over of this facility will improve the GoL’s Biosafety and Biosecurity (BS&S) posture as well as enhance diagnostic and bio-surveillance capacities. This facility will also serve as the premier biorepository for highly infectious pathogens.

As the incumbent contractor, CH2M Hill Inc., herein referred to as CH2M, will be the only source solicited to perform the activities outlined in the SOW. This ETFO will apply to all remaining laboratory construction and equipment procurements and installation at the NRL.

This ETFO is an amendment (“Amendment 2”) to the ETFO approved by the Competition Advocate on March 10, 2021 and ETFO Amendment 1 approved by the Competition Advocate on April 15, 2021. The expected value of the previously approved ETFO was approximately

. The expected dollar increase of this ETFO is approximately . The revised expected total dollar value of this ETFO is . The ETFO authority, rationale, and period of performance has not changed and the market research conducted for this effort remains valid and unchanged.

2. Description of the Supplies/Services Required

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) provided Sub-Saharan Africa engagement guidance to BTRP in October 2010, with subsequent validation in August 2015, to secure and consolidate select biological agents; enhance BS&S standards; and strengthen Liberia’s abilities to detect, diagnose, surveil and report emerging and re-emerging diseases of international biosurveillance (BSV) concern. The U.S. DoD has been engaged in Liberia since the 2014 Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa. Initial engagement was conducted through the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR), Biological Threat Reduction Program (BTRP) and focused on supporting disease detection and BS&S efforts during the outbreak response. As a result of National Security Council guidance, DTRA BTRP awarded a project in Liberia as part of a larger Biological Threat Reduction Integrating Contract (BTRIC) task order (TO) in West Africa in August 2016. This project at the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) in Monrovia included the design, construction, and equipping of a new National Reference Laboratory (NRL), as well as provision of laboratory mentorship/training to strengthen Liberia’s ability to detect, diagnose, surveil, and report emerging and re-emerging diseases of international security concern. These objectives align with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) and World Health Organization for Animal Health Guidelines (OIE) for international best practices, by consolidating select agents and enhancing overall BS&S standards. In accordance with this guidance, BTRP awarded task order HDTRA1-08-D-0008-0011 under the fair opportunity process on 8 August 2016 to CH2M as the prime contractor to conduct site assessments, design development, site construction, mentorship, training, and equipment and consumable materials procurement in Liberia. CH2M has completed site assessments, design, and partial facility construction of a new NRL in Monrovia, Liberia. Additionally, CH2M has provided consumables for training and mentorship for current NPHIL/NRL staff operating out of the existing NRL in Charlesville, Liberia through Global Biorisk Management Curriculum (GBRMC) training, laboratory diagnostics training, and mentorship support via regular subject matter expert (SME) deployments to facilitate laboratory personnel and operations support and best practices. Due to protracted schedule delays as a result of operational challenges encountered in Liberia, some of the previously scoped/planned construction and equipping activities were unable to be completed. Some examples of the factors driving schedule delays include: scope change, design delays due to limitations of the local Liberian architectural and engineering firm, site preparation delays due to lack of permits and delayed removal of a squatter camp, numerous economic and politically driven protests, a lack of institutional governance and continuity within the GoL stakeholders and lastly, the impact of COVID-19 on the international supply chain, delaying essential procurement activities necessary for completion of multiple building systems.

The follow-on activities requiring the ETFO are to finish the construction of the NRL and install equipment in order to deliver a fully operational Enhanced BioSafety Level 2 (BSL2+) laboratory facility to improve the overall BS&S posture of the GoL. The expected value of these activities is approximately .

3. Exception to Fair Opportunity

This ETFO will be issued pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i) (G), which exempts fair opportunity if “the order satisfies one of the exceptions permitting the use of other than full and open competition listed in 6.302.” The exclusion per FAR 6.302-1(a)(iii)(A) exempts competition if the “services are deemed to be available only from the original source in the case of follow-on contracts for the continued provision of highly specialized services and when it is likely that award to any other source would result in substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition.”

4. Justification Rationale

Award to any source other than CH2M will result in duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition

The introduction of a new contractor to perform the remaining NRL scope of work presents unnecessary implementation risk to the project. A new contractor will likely require additional time in order to build relationships with local vendors, NRL leadership and technical staff, U.S.

Embassy personnel, and interagency partners. CH2M has an intricate understanding of local vendor availability and capabilities, Liberia-specific laboratory design concepts, GoL health system stakeholders and on-going NRL partnership and research, and in-country logistical support systems. Having operated in-country for the last 4.5 years, CH2M’s team is acutely aware of the risks associated with this project from political, project management, and engineering perspectives and therefore can provide turnkey support. BTRP believes that a change in contractor would result in significant schedule delays and increased costs that is not expected to be recovered through competition. The estimated cost for demobilization and remobilization (including costs for acquiring new work permits, bond insurance, site preparation including associated PMO costs) is approximately $1.6M and will result in a further extension of the estimated period of performance by approximately 6 months.

No appreciable cost or schedule advantage is expected by re-competing the modified NRL scope of work. Re-competition will present the most significant and probable impact to the project's schedule and cost. CH2M is already mobilized in-country, can leverage existing Liberia-specific program management oversight and experience as well as existing relationships with a pool of qualified construction and equipment procurement subcontractors. CH2M possesses the necessary work permits to allow them to continue to work in Liberia. Acquiring work permits based on previous experience is estimated to take approximately 6-9 months. Given the anticipated period of performance of 8 months, a lengthy permit timeline in which no construction activities may be performed is untenable. CH2M currently has two on-site expat construction managers necessary for oversight and coordination of the project. Establishing a new construction management oversight team in-country will negatively impact cost and schedule considerations, especially given the current COVID-19 regulations. Due to CH2M’s existing relationships in Liberia, CH2M was permitted to continue to work on-site due to demonstrated compliance with local health ordinances in light of COVID-19. There is no assurance that the GoL will extend the same permissions in a timely manner to a new contractor.

Therefore, CH2M is well-positioned to promptly resume procurement & installation of equipment and continue construction at the NRL upon execution of this award.

5. Market Research

Market research conducted included considerations for use of small business sources as well as cooperative threat reduction integrating contracts (CTRIC) based on the examination of historical DTRA and DoD data, a review of whole-of-government commercial databases, a review of internet resources, and reliance on personal knowledge of procuring supplies/services of this type. This market research revealed the existence/availability of several performers including small businesses with demonstrated capabilities to design/build and procure/install laboratory equipment. However, most lack broad scope integration experience outside the United States, and only a few were noted to have relevant experience in resource-constrained and diplomatically challenged environments similar to Liberia. One small business, Chenega, demonstrated the capability to execute requirements including construction planning and design integration, operating in a resource-constrained environment; however, it was not readily apparent whether the company possessed the ability to conduct or manage the technical BS&S training components and laboratory transition efforts, which are essential requirements for the exit criteria of the project.

Following market research and a review of the requirement, BTRP determined that CH2M is the only responsible source to fulfill this requirement due to the need to continue the highly

General Counsel Coordination

This justification is legally sufficient.

General Counsel Date

Approval

Based on the above justification, I hereby approve accomplishment of this acquisition through the exception to fair opportunity process.

Competition Advocate Date