JOFOC_Redacted.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

(REFERENCE FAR 13.501)

1. AGENCY/CONTRACTING ACTIVITY

Department of Commerce (DOC), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Acquisition Management Division (AMD) on behalf of the Office of Facilities and Property Management (OFPM), Facility Services Division (FSD).

2. NATURE AND/OR DESCRIPTION OF ACTION BEING APPROVED

This is a Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition to establish a Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) contract to provide and administer subsidy benefits via mass transportation fare media products. This will directly support the Federal Workforce Transportation Subsidy (FWTS) program for reimbursement of travel costs to federal employees of NIST in Gaithersburg, Maryland who are eligible and participate in the transportation subsidy program.

Executive Order 13150- “Federal Workforce Transportation” (EO-13150) dated April 21, 2000, established the Mass Transportation and Vanpool Transportation Fringe Benefit Program for Federal Agencies in the National Capital Region. The National Capital Region is defined as the District of Columbia; Montgomery, Prince George’s, and Frederick Counties in Maryland; Arlington, Fairfax, Loudon, and Prince William Counties in Virginia; and all cities existing in Maryland or Virginia within the geographic area. Under this program, agencies were mandated to provide their qualified federal employees, transit passes as defined in section 132(f)(5) of title 26, United States Code, in amounts approximately equal to employee commuting costs, not to exceed the maximum level allowed by law (26 U.S.C. 132(f)(2)).

3. DESCRIPTION OF THE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET THE

AGENCY’S NEEDS (INCLUDING ESTIMATED VALUE)

NIST, Office of Facilities and Program Management (OFPM), Facilities Service Division (FSD) has an ongoing requirement to provide and administer fare media products to support the receipt and distribution of the transit benefits provided for in EO-13150. Currently there are approximately 283 employees at NIST that are qualified and participate in the program.

The period of performance for this requirement is February 1, 2021 through January 31, 2026 (a 12-month base period plus four (4) twelve-month option periods). The cost for this requirement is per year for a total of for 5 years.

4. IDENTIFICATION OF STATUTORY AUTHORITY PERMITTING OTHER THAN

FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

In accordance with FAR 13.501, the proposed contractual action is pursuant to the statutory authority of 41 U.S.C.1901(e) (2)- Simplified Acquisition Procedures.

5. DEMONSTRATION THAT THE PROPOSED CONTRACTOR’S UNIQUE

QUALIFICATIONS OR NATURE OF THE ACQUISITION REQUIRES THE USE OF

THE AUTHORITY CITED

During the implementation of EO 13150, the transportation subsidy program was developed at NIST. At that time, there were no other existing subsidy programs within federal agencies located in the Maryland or Washington D.C. area; subsequently, WMATA became the only service provider available to purchase fare media products for employees to use toward their transportation costs. Afterwards, procedures for the subsidy program at NIST were developed around the WMATA contract. Outside of the administration provided by the WMATA contract, NIST developed an in-house participant database to track employee application information and process monthly billing. These processes to include the NIST database continue to be utilized today.

WMATA is uniquely qualified to provide these services for the following additional reasons:

WMATA provides a fee-free mass transportation fare media management service that meets the minimal equipment need of NIST; other provider that service the National Capital Region impose an additional fee for their services; and WMATA is one of two media fare providers in the National Capital Region that allows the use of their SmarTrip Card to use the Montgomery County Ride On for local commuting. This also uniquely qualifies WMATA as NIST is located in Montgomery County.

Additionally, the use of Department of Transportation’s TRANServe program requires an interagency agreement to be put in place prior to establishing a contract. The procedures and steps to enter into an interagency agreement would substantially add additional Procurement Acquisition Lead Time (PALT) to the procurement process causing significant delays. This delay of securing a service provider would directly impact the workforce at NIST and their ability to utilize the subsidy benefits and significantly impact their commute to and from NIST.

6. DESCRIPTION OF EFFORTS MADE TO ENSURE THAT OFFERS ARE SOLICITED

FROM AS MANY POTENTIAL SOURCES AS IS PRACTICABLE

A Notice of Intent was posted to beta.SAM.gov on November 18, 2020 with responses due by November 23, 2020. No responses were received.

7. DEMONSTRATION BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER THAT THE ANTICIPATED

COST TO THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE FAIR AND REASONABLE

Procurement of the fare media from WMATA is a cost savings to the Government when compared to the alternative interagency agreement with DOT and the additional fees. Using recent invoicing documentation (dated 10-10-2020) NIST is only charged cost equal to individuals’ subsidies. NIST manages and collects data from employees to identify their daily commute to work which then determines the amount of the subsidy allocation, not to exceed the maximum (currently $270) available by law. After the data collection, NIST then sends those subsidy estimates to WMATA.

WMATA in turn only invoices the total amount of the subsidy provided for each user. The only additional fee that would be likely with WMATA is the service fee imposed if the invoice is paid using the Government Purchase Card. The DOT interagency agreement (using the TRANServe) imposes a program administration fee of to the Agency in addition to the subsidies provided.