Fair Opportunity Exception (SAM.gov).pdf

Fair Opportunity Exception – RCRA FY22

Justification for Exception to Fair Opportunity Exceeding the SAT pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)

1. Agency and Contracting Activity.

The Department of Homeland Security, United States Coast Guard (USCG), SILC, Civil Engineering Unit - Juneau (87) prepared this Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity.

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

USCG intends to award a task order without considering other small business USCG Nationwide Environmental Engineering Multiple Award Task Order Contract (MATOC) awardees pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B).

This effort is to support the USCG Base Kodiak’s Environmental Compliance and Restoration (EC&R) program. The work includes environmental sampling, evaluations, cross-agency engagement and reporting to verify the USCG complies with evolving environmental laws and regulations. The work is performed in remote locations (District 17 - Alaska).

USCG Base Kodiak is the USCG’s largest site and most complex EC&R project with 37 Solid Waste Management Units regulated by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) requiring Corrective Action.

3. Description of Services.

This requirement provides professional environmental engineering services to support the USCG’s compliance with Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Long Term Management (LTM) obligations, facilitiates the RCRA Permit and manages certain Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) throughout District 17 (State of Alaska). The work includes

RCRA Two Year Monitoring (Fiscal Years 2022 & 2023), and RCRA Permit and FUDS - Base Cleanup Program Management Two Years (2022 & 2023), and RCRA Environmental Sampling and Reporting specific to USCG Sites 6B, 23, 32.

Estimated project magnitude is $

4. Identify the exception to fair opportunity and supporting rationale.

Justification for Exception to Fair Opportunity –

__X ______FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B). Only one awardee is capable of providing the services required at the level of quality required because the services ordered are unique or highly specialized.

Only one awardee successfully guided the USCG through the renewal of the RCRA permit. The RCRA permit was issued in 2021. Only one awardee has the specialized technical experience and knowledge obtained during the permit process to direct the USCG through recent changes in environmental requirements essential to USCG’s compliance and its issuance of Corrective Actions. The USCG will rely on this specialized experience to accurately incorporate the Environmental Protection Agency’s revised requirements over the next two years. Only one awardee is in the best position to assist USCG implement the new processes.

5. Determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

Labor categories and rates were established at time of the USCG Nationwide Environmental Services MATOC award. The rates for MATOC Base Ordering Period 4 will be assessed along with historical pricing for similar projects in the same remote site locations to determine a fair and reasonable total cost.

6. Demonstration that the Nature of the Acquisition Require Use of the Authority Cited.

The RCRA permit is a legally binding document which establishes Base Kodiak’s waste management activities that USCG must conduct and the conditions under which they are performed. The permit sets forth requirements for design and operation, lays out safety standards, and activities such as monitoring and reporting.

The USCG’s environmental actions are detailed in USCG Base Kodiak’s RCRA Permit and the Federal Facilities Compliance Agreement (FFCA) established with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The RCRA permit conditions frequently must be revised to address evolving facility conditions in response to USCG’s mission and changes in applicable regulatory requirements.

The EPA re-issued the RCRA Permit for Post Closure and Corrective Action to the USCG in 2021. The new RCRA permit has a 10 year term (expires March 31, 2031). The task order requirements are performed in 2 year term increments.

After conducting a solicitation providing for Fair Opportunity to all 9 MATOC awardees (5 large and 4 small business concerns), a fixed price Task Order was awarded to Brice Engineering, LLC on February 3, 2020 to provide environmental services during Fiscal Years 2020-2021 for

RCRA Two Year Monitoring, and RCRA Permit and FUDS - Base Cleanup Program Management Two Years

Out of 9 MATOC awardees who were provided a fair opportunity to compete, 6 responded (4 large and 2 small business concerns). Brice Engineering was determined to be the most highly qualified based on evaluation of personnel qualifications, technical approach and past performance.

The requirements contained in Brice Engineering’s 2020 Task Order award are essentially the same as this task order which requires similar environmental engineering field services, the same specialized technical expertise within the same USCG District (D17 - Alaska).

Brice Engineering successfully supported USCG efforts to renew the RCRA permit on April 1, 2021. As a result, the incumbent understands the history behind the recent regulatory agencies’ rulings and changes. The incumbent understands how the modified environmental oversight requirements impact the USCG’s obligation to treat, store, and dispose hazardous waste. It is in the government’s best interest to seamlessly apply knowledge gained during the renewal process and immediately implement those learnings as certain tasks shift from RCRA permit renewal to RCRA permit maintenance by monitoring and providing environmental corrective action recommendations under the revised regulations.

Given the fact that Brice Engineering performed the services over the past 2 years and instrumental in the EPA’s re-issuance of the RCRA permit to the USCG, they are in the best position to help the USCG navigate through regulatory changes and assure continued compliance this year. This is a critical transition point in the project. Brice Engineering possesses the unique experience and knowledge that no other contractor in the MATOC pool has. That distinct specialized experience is what makes them uniquely qualified to justify an exception.

A task order issued to Brice Engineering for RCRA 2022-23 will maintain engineering and operational integrity plus provides a technical standard acceptable to advise the USCG on corrective environmental actions without a decrease in quality, continuity of service, mandatory cross-agency reporting cadences or compounding knowledge of technical experts.

A task order issued to Brice Enginnering for RCRA 2022-23 can minimize inefficiencies and mitigate the risk of delays caused by not meeting EPA required timelines due to a complex learning curve, lack of first hand knowledge of 2020-2021 work, or missing revised terms and conditions meant to control damage that hazardous waste may cause.

The RCRA permit requirements have changed, however the EPA direction and reporting cadence has not. Introducing a firm unfamiliar with the current data collection, validation techniques, complex intricacies of this project or the new RCRA permit requirements at this stage, will not allow adequate time to provide qualitative or quantitative reporting in accordance with the new RCRA permit within the regulatory review period stipulated by the EPA.

Institutional knowledge, familiarity with USCG sites and established coordinated efforts with Alaska Dept. of Environmental Conservation (ADEC), USCG installations, Environmental Protection Agency and US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is a benefit to the government.

The compounding knowledge to record observations, fine tune analyses and produce reliable conclusions within an expedited timeline established by the EPA is something the incumbent can execute immediately.

A requirement within this task order includes providing environmental corrective action recommendations to the USCG. Because the subject matter pertains to how the USCG treats, stores and disposes hazardous waste, it is imperative to capture the regulatory changes made with the re-issuance of the RCRA permit. It is in the best interest of the government to maintain the continuity of knowledge and service quality through this transition by issuing this task order to Brice Engineering for 2022-2023 and prepare for the anticipated competitive solicitation to MATOC awardees in FY24.

Brice Engineering is an Alaska Native Corporation, 8(a) business concern that has the experience, record of successful past performance, established relationships with state and federal regulatory agencies critical to contract performance, and specialized technical knowledge to successfully complete the work during FY22-23.

Should the Fair Opportunity Exception not be approved, and the service not provided by the incumbent, the USCG will have increased risk to receive notices of violation issued from EPA and increased noncompliance with the FFCA. Such violations can result in increasingly strict environmental requirements across Alaska, delayed USCG post closures and higher project costs across USCG Civil Engineering Unit – Juneau.

7. USCG intends to post this requirement on Contract Opportunities pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D).

8. Sources, if Any That Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition.

• For the RCRA FY20-21 Monitoring and Permit, an Acquisition Planning Forecast Record, #F2019045986, was published in May 2019. A request for interested party’s written qualifications was issued to MATOC awardees in August 2019. Six of the nine awardees responded with Statements of Capability and Qualifications.

The RCRA FY22-23 Monitoring and Permit requirement was posted via Acquisition Planning Forecast System, record #F2021054125, in April 2021. APFS Record #F2021052904 was published November 2020. No specific inquiries for the RCRA FY22-23 requirements were received.

9. 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 Required.

The USCG intends to provide a fair opportunity to consider all USCG Nationwide Environmental Engineering MATOC small business awardees for the next RCRA Long Term Monitoring and RCRA Permitting project in FY24.

10. 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.

USCG, CEU Juneau Contracting Officer

11. Technical/Requirements Personnel Certification.

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

Technical Representative

APPROVAL:

Level Above

USCG

Chief of the Contracting Office

DHS/ USCG

Command Procurement Activity Competition Advocate (CPACA)