Ferric Hydroxide JOTFOC.pdf

Justification– Ferric Hydroxide

General Services Administration Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), General Supplies and Services (GSS)

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR

OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

N6247A3219704F

IDENTIFICATION OF THE AGENCY AND CONTRACTING ACTIVITY

The requiring agency is the Naval Air Weapon Station, located in China Lake, CA. The contracting activity is the General Services Administration, Federal Acquisition Service, General Supplies and Services, located at 819 Taylor St., Fort Worth, TX 76102.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION BEING APPROVED

The Naval Air Weapon Station, contracting through the FAS General Supplies and Services, has a requirement for 238 cubic feet of Ferric Hydroxide, GEH p/n GEH 102.

This Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition (JOTFOC) serves to support the brand name procurement of 238 cubic feet of Ferric Hydroxide, manufactured by GEH. This equipment will be delivered to China Lake, CA.

This acquisition will be sourced through a RFQ on SAM.gov. The result will be a one-time purchase order, totaling 238 cubic feet of Ferric Hydroxide.

DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES REQUIRED TO MEET THE AGENCY’S NEEDS

Granulated Ferric Hydroxide Media, GEH part number 102, with the following salient characteristics:

1. Particle Size must be between 0.5 – 2.0 mm.

2. Must meet ANSI / NSF61, Certified for use in Potable Water Applications.

3. Must meet or exceed 70% porosity.

4. Must meet a minimum of Fe(OH)3 content.

5. Must have the ability to absorb at least 10%.

6. Must be NSF/ANSI 61 rated

The estimated cost of this procurement is: $80,000.00.

IDENTIFICATION OF STATUTORY AUTHORITY

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of Section 201 of the Federal Property and Administration Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 501). The circumstances and rationale for restricting consideration of contractors is FAR 6.302-1, “only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.”

DEMONSTRATION THAT THE PROPOSED CONTRACTOR’S UNIQUE

QUALIFICATIONS OR THE NATURE OF THE ACQUISITION REQUIRE THE USE

OF THE AUTHORITY CITED

FAR 6.302-1 allows restricting consideration of contractors whenever the supplies or services required by the agency are available from only one or a limited number of responsible sources, and no other type of supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

In an emailed dated January 29, 2024, the customer stated the following:

Bayoxide requires 100% freeboard. GEH requires 50% freeboard. Our filters have barely more than 50% freeboard so that rules out the Bayoxide. Per specification requirement, product must be NSF/ANSI 61 rated.

GEH 101 is not, GEH 102 is. That leaves GEH102 as the only acceptable product we can use. It doesn’t matter if GEH 101 is identical to 102. What matters is if it has the ANSI/NSF 61 certification so that it can be used for drinking water and meet federal and state requirements.

California AB 1953 requires NSF 61 compliance for drinking water. Federally, the Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act (effective 1/4/2014) amended Section 1417 of the Safe Drinking Water Act to make it unlawful for non-compliance with NSF 61 standards, so all products must be in compliance with NSF61 as of January 2014.

DETERMINATION BY THE CO THAT THE ANTICIPATED COST TO THE

GOVERNMENT WILL BE FAIR AND REASONABLE.

As stated above, GEH is the developer of Ferric Hydroxide, p/n GEH 102. Therefore, no other source can meet the Government’s requirement at this time. However, any authorized distributors of GEH 102 will be allowed to participate.

The Contract Specialist will use a variety of price analysis techniques to substantiate the price reasonableness of the items requested in the award decision document. These techniques include, but are not limited to the following:

- requesting recent commercial and Government sales history

- making indirect pricing comparisons to:

- the same or similar items in the marketplace,

- competitive published price lists, and

- Independent Government Estimates.

IAW FAR 5.2, the Contracting Officer will synopsize and post the solicitation and Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition to SAM.gov.

DESCRIPTION OF THE MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED

On December 21, 2023, the Contract Specialist posted an RFQ through SAM.gov, based on the salient characteristics of the item, minus the NSF/ANSI 61 rating requirement. The RFQ was open through December 28, 2023. All responses received were for GEH p/n 101, which the customer then identified as unacceptable due to the lack of NSF/ANSI 61 rating. Therefore, it can reasonably be concluded that there are no other known products capable of meeting the Government’s requirements, thereby precluding consideration of products manufactured by other companies.

DESCRIPTION OF ANY OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE JUSTIFICATION

Please see DEMONSTRATION THAT THE ACQUISITION REQUIRES THE USE OF THE AUTHORITY CITED for details.

STATEMENTS OF ACTION TO OVERCOME BARRIERS TO COMPETITION

BEFORE ANY SUBSEQUENT ACQUISITION

Not Applicable. See DESCRIPTION OF THE MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED for details.

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION

The contracting officer has determined that the actions taken under this acquisition meet the conditions described in FAR 6.302-1. Based on the circumstances described in this document, it is in the best interest of the Government to solicit quotes only from the original source.

The information contained in this Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition for this acquisition is accurate and complete to the best of the Contracting Officer’s knowledge.

PREPARED BY:

Alan Craig Date Contracting Officer (QSCCBC-C3)