DHS JA FY20-00340 AHH RIID Upgrade_Redacted.pdf

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of the Chief Procurement Officer

Justification and Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition Version 3.2

FY20-00340 Page 1 of 5

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION

41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1)

Pursuant to the requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.3 and in accordance with the requirements of FAR 6.303-1, the justification for the use of the statutory authority under FAR Subpart 6.3 is justified by the following facts and rationale required under FAR 6.303-2 as follows:

1. Agency and Contracting Activity. The Department of Homeland Security, Office of

Procurement Operations, on behalf of the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (CWMD), proposes to enter into a contract on a basis other than full and open competition.

2. Nature and/or Description of the Action being Approved.

(a) DHS intends to procure on a sole source basis, technical performance modifications of

CWMD’s current fleet of 77 Advanced Handheld Program (AHH) devices. This upgrade will extend the range of these instruments to 8 MeV to better-identify certain threat materials during secondary search operations.

(b) Name and address of the contractor:

ORTEC / Advanced Measurement Technologies 801 S. Illinois Ave Oak Ridge, TN 37931 http://www.ortec-online.com

(c) Contract type: Firm Fixed Price (FFP)

(d) Estimated total value, including options, is $xxx,xxx as shown below:

Period Unit Price Total

Base Year 12 mo. $x,xxx $xxx,xxx Option Year 1 12 mo. $x,xxx $xx,xxx

Total $xxx,xxx

(e) Type of funding: Procurement, Construction and Improvements (PC&I)

(f) Year of funding: 3-year Fiscal Year 2019-2021 funds

(g) Solicitation number: 70RWMD20Q00000025 http://www.ortec-online.com/ http://www.ortec-online.com/

Justification and Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition

FY20-00340 Page 2 of 5

(h) Background information about the requirement: The Advanced Handheld (AHH) Program, led by the CWMD Office, provides greater radiological/nuclear (rad/nuc) identification capabilities to the DHS, as well as higher radionuclide photon energy spectrum resolution to augment secondary screening and reach back operations as needed. Circa 2010, DHS funded modifications to an ORTEC Micro-Detective commercial system. In 2011, a limited number of these devices were procured. From 2013 through 2017, DHS procured 77 Micro-Detective HXs from ORTEC, Inc. and delivered the devices to the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), US Coast Guard (USCG), and the CWMD Mobile Detection Deployment Program (MDDP) to support counterterrorism missions. A handful of devices are retained at CWMD for internal use, such as supporting testing and research efforts.

3. Description of Supplie s/Services.

The Advanced Handheld Detection Program (AHH) is requesting a sole-source contract to modify the technical performance of CWMD’s current fleet of 77 AHH devices. Components have requested that the capability of these instruments be extended to 8 MeV to better- identify certain threat materials in the device fleet’s spectral output from secondary search operations.

Data gathered at this higher energy range will provide greater detail and understanding of threat materials. The range increase will also provide Department of Energy Triage with more useful information. Physical/system changes (i.e., change of resistor preamp to lower gain;

conversion of multi-channel array from 8K channels to 16K channels) will be needed to affect this upgrade. The only changes made under this proposed action will be to each device’s Multi Channel Array subassembly; no software changes are required. This work will functionally convert the devices’ MCAs to those contained within ORTEC’s current commercial AHH variant.

AHH proposes to award this work to the original manufacturer of these devices, based on their expertise and a lack of other service providers capable of meeting this requirement.

4. Identification of Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open

Competition.

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is U.S. Code 41 U.S.C.3304(a)(1), implemented by the FAR Subpart 6.302-1 entitled “Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.”

5. Identification of Exception to the Buy American Statute.

N/A

Justification and Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition

FY20-00340 Page 3 of 5

6. Demonstration that the propose d contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition re quire s use of the authority cited.

These devices are based on proprietary technology developed by ORTEC. This modification of a specific device part is not common-enough across the industry to allow for third-party vendors to adequately perform the modification themselves, thus restricting the market for this work to the original manufacturer, based on a review of GSA sources and internet research. ORTEC does not have any third-party approved entities capable of repairing or modifying their products. This type of device is primarily used in governmental and national security-related applications and therefore the market for purchase or modification of it and other device classes is extremely small and very specialized in expertise and capabilities.

The current fleet, aside from this needed upgrade, continue to perform well-within their expected parameters and do not need to be replaced or recapitalized in the foreseeable future. Recapitalization or procurement of new devices would be exorbitantly expensive (i.e., over $100,000 per device) and is not currently warranted at this time. The cost of the upgrades, which can only be performed by the original manufacturer, have been quoted at a level representing a minor fraction of the cost of procurement of new devices and represents the best option in terms of cost, schedule and performance for the government.

If the J&A is not approved such that the contract would not be awarded to ORTEC, the government would likely need to recapitalize the existing fleet of AHH devices with newer models at a much higher cost and at added schedule of approximately one year from the start of procurement planning, and the value of the existing devices (that just need this simple upgrade) would be forfeited. Substantial duplication of cost to the Government would be created that is not expected to be recovered through competition.

This service is deemed to be available only from ORTEC and no other vendor exists that can provide specific upgrades and continued development to these highly specialized devices without significantly altering the specifications of their existing devices to those of CWMD. Furthermore, procurement of new devices or utilizing an unapproved third party not qualified by the original manufacturer or by CWMD to modify these devices would necessitate extensive testing to ensure that the upgrade was performed properly and that device performance and stability was otherwise not degraded; these testing activities and the probability of failed upgrades would needlessly add time and cost to this project at the expense of the U.S. taxpayer.

7. Description of Efforts Made to Ensure that Offers are Solicited from as Many Potential

Source s as is Practicable.

An announcement has already been made in beta.sam.gov on July 21, 2020. No responses were received in response to the notice.

Justification and Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition

FY20-00340 Page 4 of 5

8. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the Anticipate d Cost to the Government will be Fair and Reasonable.

The contracting officer determines that the anticipated prices will be fair and reasonable based on prior acquisition history of radioisotope identification devices (RIID) over the past 10 years.

9. Description of Market Research.

Market research consisted of analyzing the GSA Advantage website and on-line product/service information (rad/nuc detector upgrades and support-specific information) available on known RIID manufacturer websites.

10. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other Than Full and Open Competition.

N/A

11. A Listing of the Source s, if Any That Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the

Acquisition.

A synopsis was issued on beta.sam.gov on July 21, 2020, requesting that parties express their interest in writing to the contracting officer. No responses were received by the closing date of the posting.

12. A Statement of the Actions, if Any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome Any

Barriers to Competition Before Any Subsequent Acquisition for Supplies or Services Re quire d.

It is anticipated that future requirements for AHH devices with new technical requirements will be solicited competitively, thus eliminating barriers to competition.

CWMD actively engages with industry to adopt better and cheaper technology that would also increase competition to the benefit of the government. An Industry Day was held in Apr 2020, followed up by one-on-one discussion with vendors, to obtain their insight, concerns, and feedback on the acquisition strategy to transition technology from the laboratory to the field for future procurements of similar requirements.

(Remainder of this page left blank intentionally)

Justification and Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition

FY20-00340 Page 5 of 5

13. Contracting Officer’s Certification. I certify that the data supporting the recommended use of other than full and open competition is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signed digitally

Contracting Officer Date

14. Technical/Requirements Personnel Certification. I certify this requirement meets the Government’s minimum need and that the supporting data, which forms a basis for this justification, is complete and accurate.

Technical Representative Date

15. Legal Counsel Review. I reviewed this Justification and Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition in accordance with HSAM 3006.304-70 and find it legally sufficient.

Legal Counsel Date

APPROVAL:

Contracting Officer Date

Note: The Contracting Officer is the final approving official when the action does not exceed $700K and must also sign the justification when the contract is awarded under FAR 6.302-7, Public Interest, regardless of dollar amount.