F03_JA_WHB_Ceiling_Increase_1.pdf

United States Department of the Interior

INTERIOR BUSINESS CENTER

Washington, DC 20240

CLASS SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL ITEMS

AUTHORITY: FAR 13.501(a), 41 U.S.C. 1901, 41 U.S.C. 3304(e)

MULTIPLE AWARD BPA

BPA #: 140D8020A0001, 140D8020A0002, 140D8020A0003, 140D8020A0004,

140D8020A0006, 140D8020A0007, 140D8020A0008, 140D8020A0009, 140D8020A0010, 140D8020A0011, 140D8020A0012, and 140D8020A0017

1. Identification of the Agency and the Contracting Activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Sole Source Justification”.

This document is a class sole source justification for the Department of the Interior (DOI), Interior Business Center (IBC), Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD), Division II Branch IV, in support of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for Wild Horse and Burro (WH&B) and Aerial Capture, Eradication, and Tagging of Animals (ACETA) agreements.

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

The purpose of this class sole source justification is to obtain approval to increase the shared ceiling of the 12 Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) under the WH&B/ACETA program, which are:

140D8020A0001, 140D8020A0002, 140D8020A0003, 140D8020A0004, 140D8020A0006, 140D8020A0007, 140D8020A0008, 140D8020A0009, 140D8020A0010, 140D8020A0011, 140D8020A0012, and 140D8020A0017. These agreements were competitively awarded in March 2020 with a five-year ordering period and a shared contract ceiling value of $6,950,000. These contracts are currently in the fourth year. The ceiling of this class of agreements will need to be increased by $3,800,000, from $6,950,000 to $10,750,000 to prevent a break in service for these statutory requirements until follow-on agreements are awarded in July 2024. The agreements must be awarded nine (9) months prior to the time actual performance is needed in May 2025 (when the existing BPAs expire), in order to afford the Office of Aviation adequate time to inspect and card the aircraft and pilots for ACETA missions. The follow-on procurement will be competitively awarded and is currently in the market research stage. There is not adequate time to make the new awards before the current ceiling is reached. The WH&B/ACETA program has had an increased number of projects due to the weather and wildfire emergencies which were not contemplated at time of the initial award, resulting in the need for the ceiling to be increased.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including estimated value).

The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 Public Law that was passed in 1971 (P.L 92-195) requires the Government to manage the wild horse and burro populations. This requirement was delegated to the BLM and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). These agencies are required to manage and maintain current populations and health of these animals on public lands. Under Public

Law 86-234 Wild Horse Annie Act, motorized vehicles are not authorized. The Federal Land and Policy and Management Act of 1976 (Public Law 94-579) authorized the use of helicopters in the management of this program. These laws make it necessary for helicopter support from the DOI to fly the missions for the WH&B/ACETA programs. ACETA must capture wild animals to collar, count, immunize or move those that are a threat to humans and themselves. Utilization of aircraft to accomplish these missions minimizes the threat to both the animal and humans. The helicopters allow the Government to gain access into locations in which these animals live that would not be possible without aerial support. The WH&B/ACETA program require highly qualified trained crews to complete the missions.

This program is currently projected to overrun the initial ceiling in February 2024, based on recent usage. Nearly $6M of the ceiling has been used to date, leaving just under $1M for future usage.

Obligations under these BPAs in the past 12 months have averaged $200,000 per month. Based on this recent usage, it has been estimated that $3,800,000 in additional ceiling will be required to allow time to solicit and award the follow-on agreements, which are planned to be awarded in July 2024.

The ceiling will be increased by $3,800,000, from $6,950,000 to $10,750,000.

4. An identification of the statutory authority permitting sole source acquisition.

This is an acquisition conducted under the authority of the Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items. The statutory authority permitting sole source acquisition is 41 U.S.C. 1901 and 41 U.S.C. 3304(e), as implemented by FAR 13.501(a)(1)(ii).

5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited.

The services rendered by the vendors holding agreements under these BPAs are critical to the customer’s missions and cannot be obtained through any other mechanism. The following table provides a list of each vendor and their associated BPA:

BPA Number Awardee BPA Number Awardee 140D8020A0001 Aero Tech, LLC 140D8020A0008 Guardian Helicopters, Inc.

140D8020A0002 Air Shasta Rotor & Wing Inc. 140D8020A0009 Helicopter Roundup Service, LLC 140D8020A0003 ApexHeli Oregon Inc. 140D8020A0010 Hi Line Helicopters, Inc.

140D8020A0004 Elkhorn Aviation, Inc. 140D8020A0011 JL Aviation, Inc.

140D8020A0006 Brim Equipment Leasing, Inc. 140D8020A0012 Leading Edge Aviation, LLC 140D8020A0007 El Aero Services, LLC 140D8020A0017 Reeder Flying Service, Inc.

As mentioned above, this program is projected to overrun the current ceiling of $6,950,000 in February 2024, and adequate time does not exist to solicit for and award new BPAs before that time.

The BPA enables customers to obtain the aviation services they require within days of their need being realized. No other source is known under which customers can obtain helicopter services vetted by the Office of Aviation Services (OAS) as expeditiously or effectively, as it relates to time and cost, as they can under these BPAs.

The specifications for helicopters on the WH&B/ACETA program require the contractors to modify the aircraft with special cargo equipment and require the crew to maintain specialized training to perform the WH&B/ACETA missions. The pilots on this program are required to be trained in low level flying to complete inventory, classification, herding, eradication/darting, trapping, and net gunning missions which is required in accordance with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM- 33). Typically, this process can take up to nine (9) months from date of award for OAS to complete the vetting process for both the aircraft and the pilots. The aircraft and pilots under the currently awarded contracts have already been vetted and carded by the OAS for these unique qualifications.

The actual number of flights in any given year is unknown and is expected to vary depending on the needs of the BLM. If a modification to increase the ceiling is not accomplished, this will cause a break in service and result in BLM to be in violation of Public Law 92-195 “The protection, management, and control of wild free roaming horses and burros on public lands”.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies.

The intent to increase the ceiling of these multiple award BPAs will be synopsized on the System for Award Management (SAM) website prior to them being modified. As required by the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(e)) and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 416), the class justification made publicly available within 14 days after the BPAs are modified to the Government Point of Entry (GPE) via the SAM website, wherein all federal contract opportunities are now listed. This will allow potential sources the opportunity to respond to the special notice.

7. A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

There is no change in the rates or pricing established in the current agreements. The pricing was determined fair and reasonable at the time of award for a five-year ordering period, in accordance with FAR 13.106-3(a)(1).

8. A description of the market research conducted (see Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

Market research was conducted in August and September 2023 for the WH&B/ACETA program by the Contracting Officer (CO), Austin Carter, the Contract Specialist (CS), Jeanhei Christy, and the BLM. This research indicated that the increase in projects over the last several years has exceeded the Government’s expectations and estimates when the agreements were awarded. Since the Government is in its fourth year of the current agreements, the contractors remain available to support the BLM requirements as stated in the existing contract through April 2025.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition.

All facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition are outlined above.

10. A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

A Request for Information (RFI) was posted on the GPE 2019 to see if there were any interested parties for this requirement. The Government received responses from five (5) vendors, all of whom were awarded a WH&B/ACETA BPA.

11. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required.

The Government will continue to conduct market research and search out new resources to increase the breadth and depth of WH&B/ACETA helicopter services for our customers. No barriers to the follow-on competition exist. These BPAs have typically been solicited as 100% small business set asides due to the type of aircraft and pilots experience required for these types of projects.