J_A_iaw_FAR_13_5_Caterpillar_Dozer_redacted.pdf

United States Department of the Interior

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

Utah State Office

440 West 200 South, Suite 500

Salt Lake City, UT 84101-1345

INTERIOR REGION 7 • UPPER COLORADO BASIN

COLORADO, NEW MEXICO, UTAH, WYOMING

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND

SERVICES IN ACCORDANCE WITH FAR 13.5

This document sets forth the justification and approval as required by FAR 13.5.

1. Identification of the Agency and the Contracting Activity.

The Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) West Desert

District/Fillmore Field Office requests the BLM, Utah State Office to contract on a limited or sole source basis.

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

This requirement is to obtain one (1) Caterpillar D7 dozer on a brand name basis. The dozer is an item peculiar to one manufacturer, Caterpillar, Inc. located at 14009 N Old Galena RD

Chillicothe, Illinois 61523-9554, United States. No other supplies will satisfy the agency’s requirements.

3. A description of the Supplies or Services required meeting the Agency’s needs, including the estimated value.

The estimated value of this requirement is $679,800. Delivery is FOB Destination, 12 months after receipt of order (ARO).

4. An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

FAR 13.5 Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items. The statutory authority for applying the Simplified Procedures for Commercial Items of FAR 13.5 is 41 U.S.C. § 1901 and is implemented by FAR 13.106-1(b)(2) for restricting competition on this procurement.

Competition is restricted on this procurement for the reason below: only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

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

The West Desert District covers 7.7 million acres in Utah. The land throughout the area is made of hard and rocky soil. The Fillmore Field Office is responsible for installing water systems for recreation and range programs. These systems are installed at a frost depth of 40 inches.

The unique characteristics of the Caterpillar D7 dozer are 1) its significant horsepower, weight and drawbar pulling force to lay water system pipes in tough terrain; and 2) its readily available field service technicians in proximity to the West Desert to perform routine maintenance or repairs and avoid loss of productivity.

Additional details:

Caterpillar is the only manufacturer producing a dozer built with a “high” track design. This design moves the final drives vertically just under the cab and provides the following benefit:

more track in contact with the ground that provides for the large difference in draw bar pull.

Other manufacturers are not producing a dozer meeting draw bar pull capability.

Caterpillar has field service technicians in proximity to the Fillmore Field Office to conduct on-site or field service calls. Technicians are 30 minutes from the office or within 1-hour drive to 90% of all project sites. Service from other manufacturers is a minimum 2-hour, one-way drive to Salt Lake City or St. George, Utah. Caterpillar’s availability and proximity of field service technicians reduce administrative time and avoids excess cost in transporting another manufacturer’s equipment two plus hours for service or repair.

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

This requirement will be publicized on SAM.gov in accordance with FAR 5.2 under NAICS

333120 Construction Machinery Manufacturing. This requirement is not covered by a Small

Business Administration (SBA) Non-Manufacturer Waiver, and therefore, the requirement will be advertised as an unrestricted. This approach will allow for maximum competition among small and other than small businesses. Small businesses and authorized resellers have been identified.

6. A determination By the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the

Government will be fair and reasonable.

The Contracting Officer anticipates that price will be determined fair and reasonable based on competition. It is expected that at least two quotes will be received in response to the solicitation. Previous market research shows that there are at least two small businesses that are interested in this requirement. Prior to award, price analysis of the proposed price will be performed and documented to sufficient determine that the cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

7. A description of the Market Research conducted (see FAR Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason Market Research was not conducted.

Market research was conducted to assess a wide range of comparable dozers. Research revealed the John Deere 950K dozer as the closest in horsepower and weight. The primary reasons this machine cannot meet the Field Office’s needs is due to 1) lack of drawbar pull, and 2) lack of readily available field service technicians to perform maintenance or repairs when needed. The Field Office operations staff utilize the rear tool 80% of the time which makes it the primary requirement for needing the Caterpillar D7 dozer. The specifications for the drawbar pull of the D7 dozer shows that forward gear 1 (2.2 mph) of the D7 provides

118,000-foot-pounds of drawbar pull. The specification for a John Deere 950K shows that it provides only 35,000-foot-pounds of drawbar pull on each side for a maximum amount of

70,000-foot-pounds. The additional 48,000-foot pounds of drawbar pull is very significant, and anything less than 115,000-foot-pounds would not allow the Field Office to install water lines for the Recreation and Range departments at the required depth of 40 inches to be below frost depth. Another advantage that the D7 provides is that the layout of the cab allows for the operator to view previous track marks. This is important because it allows the operator to keep the dozer in the correct path when laying the pipe. The layout of the cab in the 950K prevents the operator to view the prior tracks, which can reduce the efficiency of the operation due to having to backtrack to keep the dozer on the right path.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of Other Than Full and Open Competition

The Fillmore Field Office is unique in the fact that it is responsible for maintaining large water infrastructure systems in various recreation areas and range improvement projects. A large percentage of the water systems are used through the winter months which requires the water pipeline to be installed at a depth of 40 inches minimum (which is frost depth). The office engineering staff have experience using other brands of equipment to assess its capability of meeting the office’s needs. Based on the research, experience of staff and reasons mentioned above, no other manufacturer’s product can meet the office’s needs.

Anticipated mission impact of non-approval: The immediate impact is the inability to rip the pipelines in at a depth that will guard against frozen water lines through the winter months.

BLM provides water service to a wide range permit holders who are the end users of BLM’s water systems. These users rely on water sources for their livestock through the winter expect this service to reliably continue well into the future.

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

- Wheeler CAT located at 1345 S. State St. Salina, Utah 84654-1699

- Federal Contracts Corp located at 12918 N. Nebraska Ave. Tampa, Florida 33612-4446

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.

As stated above, the barriers to competition have been eliminated to fullest extent possible.

The Caterpillar D7 dozer is the only dozer that meets the specifications. Due to the fact that bulldozers are not listed on the SBA Non-Manufacture List, this requirement cannot be solicited as anything other than “unrestricted” under NAICS 333120. Competition will be achieved by allowing both Small Businesses and Other Than Small Businesses to quote on this requirement. The government will consider any alternate offers, and those offers will be technically evaluated for acceptability.

12. Program Office Certification.

I certify that the facts and representations under my cognizance, which are included in this justification, and which form a basis for this justification, are complete and accurate.

//Signature on File// Date

West Desert District Office

13. Contracting Officer’s Certification.

The ordering activity Contracting Officer’s certification that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of the Contracting Officer’s knowledge and belief and evidence that the supporting data that form a basis for the justification have been certified as complete and accurate by technical/program personnel.

I certify that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief: