ETFO EM1 _1_Redacted.pdf

DEFENSE THREAT REDUCTION AGENCY

8725 JOHN J. KINGMAN ROAD,

STOP 6201 FORT BELVOIR, VA

22060-6201

EXCEPTION TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY JUSTIFICATION

1. Nature and/or Description of the Action Being Approved

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) contracting activity proposes to procure, without requesting proposals from all six (6) contractors under the Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ). for an effort entitled “DTRA Effects Manual I (EM-I), Update [Chapters 3, and 11 Technical Revisions], Project Integration Support.” Applied Research Associates, Inc. (AR\) will be the onLy contractor soLicited to provide the required technical effort.

2. Description of the Supplies/Services Required

The identified requirement aims to secure the services of subject matter expertise for editing and publication services to update engineering and scientific content as well as perform a technical and security classification review to support the update of the information that is provided in the Nuclear Weapons Effects Manual (EM-I), published incrementally and initially distributed to U.S. Government stakeholders circa 1968. The intent is to provide supplemental Chapter support complementing the services that were provided by ARA, and its corporate predecessors, under the previous DTRIAC IDIQ contract (DTRAO 1 -03-D-0022, T as k orders 0041, 0051, and 0109) completing and allowing authorized distribution of the previous work. The twenty-two chapters comprising the EM-i represent over 700 pages (each) that document the Department of Defense, authenticated, state-of-science and technology regarding effects nuclear weapons detonation. In this effort the Contractor will take the lead in assisting DTRAJJ9NT in finalizing the EM-I Chapters 3 and Ii to ensure that the chapters’ document(s) and their derivative tools continue to meet current user needs and technoLogy requirements.

3. Exception to Fair Opportunity

The statutory authority for this non-competitive action is:

FAR I 6.505(b)(2)(i)(B). only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized.

4. Justification Rationale

Of the six (6) current DTRA CWMD IDIQ contract holders, ARA is the only qualified performer capabLe of providing the EM-I update for Chaperts 3 and ii and technical review services at the requisite level of quality due to their extensive knowledge of and exclusive experience in of the phenomena of nuclear ground shock and cratering as well as transient radiation effects on electronics (TREE). Previous work on EM-I was performed under expired DTRIAC IDIQ contract DTRAOI-03-D-0022 Technical Area Task (TAT)150, and this work was subcontracted to ARA because their subject matter experts (SMEs) are the only nationally recognized authorities that could provide authenticated contributions to that effort. When evaluating the capabilities statements submitted from the two contractors in response to the April 2019 request for information (RFI), no contractor other than ARA indicated expertise in the subject areas of ground shock or transient radiation effects on electronics, which revealed ARA’s unique resource of SMEs as the only nationally recognized authorities that could provide the authenticated content of EM- 1 Chapters 3 and 11,

5. Market Research

The market research effort for the EM-I project included a solicitation for capable vendors on November 14, 2014, an RFI was posted to the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) for statements of capabilities for the integration management services required for publication of “EM- F’ (FBO Sources Sought Number NTE-EM I). In total only two respondents indicated the authority to handle information classified at the level of SECRET RESTRICTED DATA (Applied Research Associates (ARA) and Exelis). On May 26, 2015, an emailed RFI was sent to the prime contractors that perform work on the Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction (CMWD) Research and Technology Development IDIQ from which we received responses from the same vendors. More recently, on April 9, 2019, a RFI was sent to the prime contractors that perform work on the CWMD Research and Technology Development IDIQ.

This request, again, resulted in responses from ARA and Peraton in which the vendors confirmed their subject matter expertise in chapters 2, 3, 11, 151 18 and 1, 5, 6, 9, 19.

6. Other Supporting Facts

ARA, has performed as publishers, integrators and subject matter for “EM-I,” under the DTRJAC IDIQ, for many years. ARk was also the performer on EM-I Revision Integration efforts under DTRJAC task orders as well. ARA was the lead integrator of subcontractor and consultant SME’s to perform necessary’ technical revisions and integration beyond the ARk institutional subject matter expertise. The SME’s employed by ARA have specific expertise with the technical content of EN’I-I Chapters 3 and 11.

7. Subsequent Actions

Completion of the effort to EM-1 Chapters 3 and 11 is the final action of DTRA’s strategy to complete the classification review of six recent updates to the twenty two EM-I Chapters and will require no further action.

Technical Certification

I certify that the data and information forming the basis for this justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Contracting Officer Certification and Determination

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belieL Additionally, I determine that the order represents the best value consistent with Federal Acquisition Regulations.

N ELSON.LESLI E. Digitallysigned by

NEISON.LESLIE.5.1 271017873

5.1271017878 Date: 2019.09.0415:32:58-0400

9/4/2019

Leslie S. Nelson Date Contracting Officer