JA_140D8118D0003_Redacted_1.pdf

United States Department of the Interior

INTERIOR BUSINESS CENTER

Washington, DC 20240

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL ITEMS

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

PR/SOL/CONTRACT # 140D8118D0003P00008

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Sole Source Justification.”

This document is a sole source justification for the Department of the Interior, Interior Business Center, Acquisition Services Directorate, Division II, Division 2, Branch 1, in support of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

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

This action is to increase the current Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract ceiling by $250,000.00 from 4,250,000.00 to $4,500,00.00, This contract was awarded to Temsco Helicopters Inc 5411 N Tongass HWY Ketchikan AK 99901-9017, on a competitive basis, with a five-year ordering period from May 1, 2018, through October 31, 2023. Over the course of the current five-year ordering period, BLM has experienced a higher than anticipated operations tempo in support of the efforts described in paragraph 3.

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

This exclusive use contract was awarded to obtain two fully Contractor operated and maintained light size (Type III) helicopters for flight services to support Government natural resource missions. Contractor services include provision of a helicopter, personnel, and all other associated equipment as prescribed in the contract. Missions include, but are not limited to, transport of personnel and cargo for remote radio site maintenance, support of geological and land and water survey, precision grid and low-level survey using precision Global Positioning System (GPS) guidance (1-meter lateral track not to exceed 3 meters) along with other administrative and related resource activities. Includes high and low-level aerial reconnaissance, single-skid, toe-in and hover exit/entry procedures (STEP), confined area, slope and external load (sling) operations.

The awarded value of the contract (ceiling) is $4,250,000.00, inclusive of the 6-month extension. The ceiling on project Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) 00010 is $3,555,475.00 and will need to be increased by $250,000.00 increasing the project CLIN ceiling to $3,805,475.00. The proposed modification will increase the total ceiling amount from $4,250,000.00 by $250,000.00 to $4,500,00.00 (inclusive of the 6-month extension). This increase will provide sufficient capacity for usage throughout the final

PR/SOL/CONTRACT #140D8118D0003P00008

year of the contract period of performance.

The current value of the contract is $3,575,629.40, due to one or more exclusive use (EU) extensions having occurred every year of the contract through present day. The original contract authorized EU extensions, but the award amount did not include estimated extension pricing to contribute toward a realistic total contract or ceiling value.

Every time an extension occurred, value intended to be available for future years of the contract was consumed early; thus, shortening the effective life of the contract. Heavy seasonal demands, combined with weather delays, have contributed to the yearly extensions.

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 41U.S.C. 1901 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 Government would be seriously injured by not increasing the contract ceiling to allow for continual use to complete natural resource missions throughout the entire survey season. Cadastral missions are specialized in such as they are the only Alaska BLM group trained and qualified to accomplish the survey missions. All of which are specialized missions that involve vendor and BLM/Cadastral combined training to be safe and efficient. The BLM’s Cadastral Survey Program provides one of the most fundamental functions of the U.S. Government by creating, defining, marking, and re-establishing the boundaries and subdivisions of the public lands of the United States.

These surveys provide public land managers and the public with essential information needed to correctly determine ownership rights and privileges, and to facilitate good land management decisions.

The uniqueness of the Cadastral mission leads to additional training and experience needed to complete said mission. If the Government was to look to the On Call contract to fulfill the Cadastral mission the Government would be hard pressed to find someone in a timely manner, if at all, with the necessary qualifications. This would lead to additional costs to the Government through the additional time needed for training in the STEP procedures. This qualification (STEP) is unique to the Cadastral pilots. It takes coordination with the agency, the vendor, and OAS to complete, and master said training. Temsco is the only contractor that has this unique qualification; therefore, saving time and costs for the Government.

If adequate ceiling is not added to the current contract, the BLM will not be able to finish its critical survey mission this season. It is determined to be in the best interest of the Government to increase the project CLIN ceiling value of the contract by $250,000.00 from $3,555,475.00 to $3,805,475.00 ($4,500,000.00 overall ceiling inclusive of the 6-month extension) for this season’s survey mission availability and success.

6. 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.

FAR 5.202(a)(11) exception applies as the proposed contract action to increase ceiling is made under the terms of an existing contract that was previously synopsized in sufficient detail to comply with the requirements of 5.207 with respect to the current proposed contract action.

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

The contracting officer determines that the anticipated price will be fair and reasonable based on the competitive pricing that was considered fair and reasonable at the time of award. and will be the same pricing used for this ceiling increase. , Pricing was determined fair and reasonable at time of award 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.

The contracting officer conducted informal market research in July 2022, and determined the BLM will not likely see the low prices that the Government is currently paying on this contract again, as aircraft insurance and other costs have increased significantly over just the past 2 years.

Additionally, the Contracting Officer is actively involved with rotary wing aircraft services and knows that established contract pricing is still considered fair and reasonable based on recently awarded exclusive use and on-call contracts for rotary wing flight services. It is unlikely the BLM will obtain adequate competition, at or near the current pricing. The current pricing is much lower than what would be offered if it were to be recompeted right now.

This requirement was solicited as a 100% small business set-aside in late 2017, receiving only four proposals. Of the four proposals received, Temsco’s proposed price was considerably lower than the rest. Temsco’s exceptional proposal and considerably lower price resulted in a determination that they represented the best value to the Government. Temsco’s performance on this contract during the past four years has ranged from Satisfactory to Exceptional according to CPARS records.

The Government has received exceptional service at a great price from Temsco.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition, such as:

None

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

Not applicable.

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 current effort was solicited as a 100% small business set-aside and future efforts will be competed based on market research result.

12. Contracting officer certification that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of the contracting officer’s knowledge and belief.

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

Heather Sizick Contracting Officer

13. Requirements personnel certification.

I certify that the technical data which forms a basis for this justification is complete and accurate and meets the Government’s minimum needs.

Gilbert Garcia COR

HEATHER SIZICK SIZICK

Digitally signed by HEATHER

Date: 2022.07.26 11:16:13 -04'00'

Digitally signed by GILBERT

GILBERT GARCIA GARCIA

Date: 2022.07.26 12:27:42 -08'00'

MICHAEL FARRELL FARRELL

Digitally signed by MICHAEL

Date: 2022.07.27 08:16:02 -04'00'

14. Reviews and Approvals

Concur

Ron Newlan Branch Chief

Concur

Digitally signed by REBECCA FENTZKE Date: 2022.07.26 17:28:45 -04'00'

Rebecca Fentzke Division Chief

Approve

Michael Farrell Bureau Competition Advocate

RONALD NEWLAN NEWLAN

Digitally signed by RONALD

Date: 2022.07.26 16:43:09 -04'00'

REBECCA FENTZKE