Limited_Sources_JA.v4_Final.pdf

41 U.S.C. § 3102 and 40 U.S.C. § 501, Services for Executive Agencies as implemented by FAR Subpart 8.405-6, “Limiting Sources.”

Pursuant to the requirements of 41 U.S.C. § 3102 and 40 U.S.C. § 501, Services for Executive Agencies as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 8.4, and in accordance with the requirements of FAR Subpart 8.405-6, the justification for the use of the statutory authority under FAR Subpart 8.4 is justified by the following facts and rationale required under FAR Subpart 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C).

1. Agency and Government Activity.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Office of Acquisition Management (OAQ), proposes to enter into a contract on a basis of other that full and open competition utilizing FAR Subpart 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C) “Limiting Sources.”

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

DHS ICE has a requirement to add work to the Analysis of ERO Air and Ground Transportation Networks, Contract Number GS-10F-0466N Task Order (TO) HSCEDM-15-F-00085. The purpose of this contract is to obtain a current situation analysis of the ICE Air and Ground Operations (IAGO) within all 24 ICE Areas of Responsibility (AORs) and internationally, assess the efficiency of current IAGO, and analyze alternatives. Additionally, ICE asked the contractor to propose tradeoffs between various removal methods and to recommend ways to optimize ICE’s transportation network for both domestic and international operations.

The additional work being proposed is program support for the acquisition of air and ground transportation. The contract award did not require an in-depth analysis, only that the selected vendor provide a future framework for recommendations. The additional work would allow PwC not only to provide the framework for better utilization air and ground transportation services, but it would also allow them to follow up on its effectiveness.

The estimated value of the additional work is $990,000.00. The period of performance for the additional work in Phase 3 and new work (Phase 4) would occur from the estimated award date through 09/30/2017. The estimated award date is 01/23/2017.

The Contractor for these services is PricewaterhouseCoopers Public Sector LLC (PwC). The business address for this company is: 1800 Tysons Blvd., 6th Floor, McLean, Virginia 22102- 4257.

3. Description of Supplies and/or Services.

This limited sources justification adds additional work and Contractor Man-Year Equivalents (CMEs) to the ICE Air and Ground Operations (IAGO) project for ERO at a total cost of $990,000.00.

The additional work will occur concurrently with the work done in Phase 3, from the award date to 09/30/2017. Phase 3 of the TO involves providing a future-state framework for the most effective and efficient use of the IAGO network for the transfer and removal of aliens to CONUS and OCONUS locations by utilizing air charter services, commercial aviation and ground transportation. The existing contract requires only providing a high-level implementation plan for the recommended solutions. Adding the work will allow PwC to provide support and analyze the effectiveness of actually implementing the recommendations. This includes continual monitoring of ground trip data and program support for upcoming ground transportation requirements.

The new work for ground transportation will include the design and development of a “proof of concept” database to be validated in 1-2 AORs to aid in ground data collection and reporting.

This database will eventually allow ICE to collect and monitor ground transportation data across all AORs. This capability does not easily exist within the current ICE transportation network.

ICE is unable to efficiently proceed with the expansion of this project without the assistance of the PwC team due to the team’s intimate knowledge of the transportation data collection process.

In the proposal submitted by PwC, Phase 3 coincided with a draw-down in personnel, as the only outstanding deliverable was the final contract report. This report is scheduled to be delivered at the end of Phase 3, which occur on March 31, 2017. Given that ICE is set to re-compete the daily air charter contract, PwC would not be able to provide acquisition support without adding this work. The additional assistance provided by PwC is considered crucial to ICE optimizing the savings available with the daily charter contract. The ICE Air and Ground group, which is made up of government personnel and contractors, estimates that ICE could save $6.5 million per year on the daily charter contract.

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

The statutory authority permitting other than full and competition is 41 U.S.C. § 3102 and 40 U.S.C. § 501, Services for Executive Agencies, implemented by FAR Subpart 8.405- 6(a)(1)(i)(C), “Limited Sources.”

5. Demonstration that the Contractor’s Unique Qualification or the Nature of the Acquisition Requires the Use of the Authority Cited.

It is in ICE’s best interest to extend the current TO by six (6) months for additional work concerning the ICE Air and Ground initiative. The new work is a logical follow-on to the previously competed Federal Supply Schedule order, and the original order was placed in accordance with the applicable Federal Supply Schedule ordering procedures.

For the past year, the PwC IAGO team has been gathering ERO transportation data, conducting detailed analysis on that data, and conducting interviews across ERO HQ and the 24 field offices. This effort has provided its team members with an in-depth knowledge that makes them valuable ERO transportation operations subject matter experts. Given the steep learning curve associated with ERO transportation operations proficiency, the process of finding, hiring, and training a new contractor to replace PwC through an open competition at this stage would unavoidably and unacceptably slow several on-going transportation procurements. It is in the interest of economy and efficiency to avoid the delays associated with open competition of an advanced phase of existing work and to avoid the duplication of cost that would be incurred while a new contractor re-acquires the knowledge PwC already has.

Given the steep learning curve associated with ERO transportation operations proficiency, introducing a new contractor at this critical juncture would seriously delay this effort’s execution, consequently depriving ERO of the opportunity to save money by implementing contract recommendations. The savings have been estimated at $16 million.

6. Description of Market Research Obtained.

Market research for the additional work was not obtained by the Government. The desired additional PwC analysis will facilitate procurements that are already ongoing, so time is more than usually of the essence. Also, although market research is often helpful in identifying potential vendors and providing cost estimates, it is less effective at estimating the speed of integration of a new contractor. In addition, integrating any new contractor into the current procurements would be less efficient than simply expanding the existing relationship for a few additional months, since, as explained above, the expansion of the existing relationship does not require re-learning the intricacies of ICE’s transportation programs. Finding a new contractor would result in substantial duplication of cost to the Government and will also provide unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements. Therefore, the Government did not obtain market research in this instance since it could not lead to a quicker or more efficient result in this instance than awarding the additional work as a logical follow-on.

7. Any Other Facts Supporting Limited Sources Justification.

N/A

8. 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.

With the approval of this additional work, the PwC contract is set to expire on September 30, 2017. At that time, the work with PwC under this contract will end. The work being done under this contract will produce multiple data collection tools for air and ground transportation data.

These tools will aid ICE in collecting, analyzing and distributing transportation data to DHS headquarters, Congress, the various ICE program offices and the general public. The tools, once created, need not be re-created, and thus there is little to no likelihood that the agency would again face a need to extend the existing contract. ICE anticipates that any future efforts concerning transportation analysis will be separately competed.

BHarrel Typewritten Text

BHarrel Typewritten Text