Justification Redacted.pdf

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Justification & Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) February 2026

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION

(Cite authority, e.g., 10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(7) or 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(7))

SSJ No.: 26-154

Pursuant to the requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.103, FAR Class Deviation 25-11 and in accordance with the requirements of RFO 6.104, the justification for the use of the statutory authority under

RFO 6.103 is justified by the following facts and rationale required under RFO 6.104-1 as follows:1

1. Agency and Contracting Activity.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Office of the Component Chief

Procurement Officer, proposes to enter into a Purchase Order contract on the basis of other than full and open competition.

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

FEMA has a requirement to provide inbound mail services for disaster survivors. Inbound mail services include providing mail pickup, document preparation, scanning, tracking, filing, preparation of documents for National Archives and Records Administration, temporary storage of archive prepped documents, translation services, and review and splitting of fax documents.

Due to current disaster activity, the Agency is currently on a path to exceed existing inbound mail baseline requirements by mid-July 2026. There is no existing contract vehicle to award new surge task orders for inbound mail operations, and due to current disaster surge activities, an urgent and compelling need has arisen to provide immediate inbound mail surge support for these disasters.

This requested Purchase Order award falls under FAR 6.302-2 unusual and compelling urgency and is the only method of fulfilling the Government’s need without serious injury to the

Government (see paragraph (b) of section 6.302-2).

(a) Name and address of the contractor: Intellectus, LLC; 295 Daniel Island, SC 29492

(b) Contract type: Firm Fixed Price

1 In this document, citations to RFO Part 5, RFO Part 6, RFO Part 8, RFO Part 10, RFO Part 15, RFO Part 25, and HSAR Part 3006 are citations specifically to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Class Deviation 25-

17 for FAR Part 5, FAR Class Deviation 25-11 for FAR Part 6, FAR Class Deviation 25-20 for FAR Part 8, FAR Class Deviation 25-06 for FAR Pary 10, FAR Class Deviation 26-08, Revision 1, for FAR Part 15, FAR

Class Deviation 26-09, Revision 1, for FAR Part 25, and Homeland Security Acquisition Regulation (HSAR)

Class Deviation 25-01 for HSAR Part 3006, which were issued as part of the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul

(RFO), which was implemented in response to Executive Order 14275, Restoring Common Sense to Federal

Procurement, signed April 15, 2025.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Justification & Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC)

(c) Estimated total value (including options). (150 days of performance from the date of the award):

Period Unit Price Total

Base

5 mos.

Total

Note: The inbound mail services were previously awarded to Intellectus, LLC under a competitively awarded Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract in March

2021. This IDIQ contract expired in April 30, 2026 without a new IDIQ contract in place yet, therefore surge task orders can no longer be awarded until a new IDIQ is in place. A new

IDIQ is planned and in process but will not be in place until December 2026 or later due to approval delays at no fault of the Program or Contracting Offices.

(d) Type of funding: Fund Code 6 Disaster Funds - Approved and certified by disasters

(e) Year of funding: Disaster funds are no-year funds; however, the funds were certified in

FY26.

(f) Solicitation number: Email Dated 07/09/2026

(g) Background information about the requirement:

This requirement supports FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program (IHP) by providing surge resources for disaster applicants’ correspondence. The requirement is for a mail operations contractor with adequate infrastructure and qualified, trained staff. The contractor’s operation must be ready at the time of a declared disaster to begin accepting and processing inbound correspondence from disaster applicants in the designated geographical area(s) covered by each Presidential Declaration for Individual Assistance (IA) which is mailed to the FEMA facility in Hyattsville, Maryland. Whenever possible, FEMA will seek to provide the contractor with early notice of impending disaster declarations and projected volumes, but due to the nature of disaster activity this may not always be feasible. Therefore, the contractor shall make all necessary preparations and maintain adequate infrastructure to meet all requirements as they are received.

Disaster declarations and resulting assistance applications create a need to process large quantities of inbound applicant correspondence in a short timeframe. Privacy, accuracy, and timely delivery of services are required to ensure the needs of the disaster applicant are met through the most expedient means possible.

The Inbound Mail Operations Contract is critical to the Agency’s mission because without the processing of survivors’ inbound correspondence, no determination can be made on

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Justification & Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC) survivors’ eligibility for assistance, without this determination no assistance can be granted, and the Agency will not be able to fulfill its mission under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster

Relief Act.

FEMA has determined the most efficient way to manage an inbound mail operation is through contractor support. FEMA does not have the internal capability (existing dedicated facility, mail processing equipment, fully trained personnel, multi-lingual translators, etc.) to provide the necessary inbound mail services. In addition, there is also the need to maintain applicants’ Personally Identifiable Information (PII), which the contractor personnel are already trained to protect. These resources combined are vital for maintaining comprehensive incoming mail services.

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

The requirement provides surge inbound mail operations including daily mail pickup at the

Hyattsville, MD FEMA Recovery Center (RSC), document preparation, scanning, tracking, filing, preparation of documents for National Archives and Records Administration temporary storage of archive prepped documents, translation services, and review and splitting of fax documents printing, inserting, applying postage, and pre-sorting inbound correspondence addressed to disaster survivors. The Inbound Mail Services contract specifically provides a direct avenue for disaster survivors to submit correspondence to include applications and supporting documentation (identification, photos, insurance information, etc.) in order to request for recovery assistance and resources. The contractor shall provide all management, personnel, services, supplies, equipment (except for Government Furnished Equipment), and facilities necessary to operate an inbound mail processing operation in accordance with the requirements of the Statement of Work (SOW).

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

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(2) implemented by the RFO Subpart 6.103-2 entitled “Unusual and compelling urgency.”

5. Identification of Exception to the Buy American Statute

N/A

6. Demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited.

The previous inbound mail operations IDIQ contract was competitively awarded in Mar 2021 to

Intellectus, LLC and was structured to provide annual baseline task orders which would service a monthly volume of up to 50,000 inbound mail images per month, 100,000 fax/e-correspondence images per month, and 400 document translations per month. During the event of high disaster surge activity, monthly volume would exceed this monthly baseline amount and would require the award of surge task orders which would have their own surge CLINs and would cover

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Justification & Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC) additional work beyond the baseline amounts. FEMA needs to place a surge Purchase Order now; rather than later, to ensure surge coverage through hurricane season as it is not possible to fully complete a competitive award at this time. Prior to the expiration of the IDIQ contract, the

Agency issued the final baseline level task order award on April 29, 2026; however, there was not enough time to issue the final surge level task order award before the IDIQ’s April 30, 2026 expiration date.

Beginning in May 2024, the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) team and the Program

Office began a series of planning meetings to prepare for an IDIQ re-compete. Requirements were identified and validated, lessons learned were discussed, and an acquisition timeline was created. Subsequently, acquisition documents were created and routed for approval, and funding was budgeted. In May 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Secretary (S1) memo process for procurements over $100K was active, and concurrent to building the IDIQ acquisition package, the COR team routed the necessary S1 memo for approval. After several months of requested revisions, the inbound S1 memo never received approval, and no alternative solution was offered for meeting this statutorily mandated requirement. Because of the necessity of the requirement and the fact that FEMA would not be able to fully perform this requirement internally due to lack of equipment, personnel, and space, another S1 memo was created in

January 2026 to try to extend the current inbound services while the COR team and Program

Office devised some way of meeting the requirement. This second S1 memo was routed to the

DHS Secretary and was approved during the duration of the second DHS shutdown, which finally ended in April 2026. A final baseline task order was awarded on April 29, 2026, with a Period of

Performance (PoP) through November 30, 2026. However, no surge task order was in place at the end of the IDIQ PoP on April 30, 2026.

A revised fully automated S1 memo process was enacted in April 2026, and the inbound mail re-compete IDIQ is back on and moving forward again. However, there is still a large backlog of memos that still need to be reviewed and approved or rejected and other approval requests that require review and revision. Once approved, the IDIQ procurement will require a full acquisition and source selection process, and the earliest it is projected to be in place is December 1, 2026 under the best case scenario. Unfortunately, FEMA has now had several disaster declarations, and as of the end of June 2026, we are on track to exceed our monthly inbound baseline amounts of 50,000 inbound mail images per month, 100,000 fax/e-correspondence images per month, and

400 document translations per month. This would mean that since we do not have a surge task order in place, once we reach the monthly baseline caps, no additional inbound work could be performed until the following month. This would create an unacceptable gap in coverage and would prevent FEMA from proper registration, communication, and case processing for disaster survivors. It would also leave FEMA unacceptably unprepared for the upcoming hurricane season which has already begun—historically the highest volume time of the year. Since the re-compete

IDIQ will not be in place for 7-12 months, we must have some way of servicing the surge requirement, both now and through the remainder of the hurricane season.

Based on current inbound mail volume, we anticipate the monthly baseline amount for July 2026 will be exhausted by approximately July 15, 2026 which leaves us with no viable way to complete the IDIQ re-compete in time, nor do we have a current IDIQ to award a task order from, and we also do not have time to do a competitive purchase order. Therefore, the only viable option to meet the current surge requirement is to award a purchase order through other than full

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Justification & Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC) and open competition to the current inbound mail operations contractor, Intellectus, LLC. The contractor is already performing baseline services, and they will require no new security clearances, no ramp-up time, and no time for shipment of GFE (laptops, envelopes, etc).

Subsequently, they will be able to begin surge work immediately upon receipt of award. This is the only solution which will allow FEMA to continue operations without an unacceptable gap in service which would prevent disaster survivors from receiving the assistance to which they are due and greatly in need of for their recovery.

7. Description of Efforts Made to Ensure that Offers are Solicited from as Many Potential

Sources as is Practicable.

The contracting officer is planning to post an announcement in SAM.gov, within two weeks of purchase order award, so the estimated date of publication is July 15, 2026.

8. 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 fact that this purchase order will use the pre-negotiated Option Year 4 surge CLIN rates from the recently expired IDIQ. These rates were already determined to be fair and reasonable prior to exercising each option period, including option period 4. In addition, the most recent May 2026 market research has shown that these rates continue to be the least expensive and best value rates available at this time for the required services.

9. Description of Market Research. Market research is required by RFO Part 10, and the results of the market research should be summarized here. Include the following information:

a) To support FEMA’s proposed use of a Purchase Order on the basis of other than full and open competition, the acquisition team conducted targeted market research across DHS and FEMA strategic sourcing vehicles, the Interagency Contract Directory, and relevant GSA resources and contract vehicles, including OASIS and multiple Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative

BPAs, to evaluate key factors such as scope of services, contractor capabilities (infrastructure, staffing, PII handling, multilingual support), pricing relative to FY 2026 industry standards, and the ability to meet urgent surge timelines for inbound mail operations supporting the Individuals and Households Program. This analysis also considered FEMA’s lack of internal capacity, the statutory and procedural delays affecting the re-compete IDIQ, and the operational risk of exceeding current baseline volume caps during an active disaster and hurricane season. Based on this comprehensive review, it is evident that awarding a surge Purchase Order to the incumbent inbound mail operations contractor, Intellectus, LLC, using the statutory authority for unusual and compelling urgency, is the only viable option that can immediately and fully meet the Agency’s mission-critical requirements without an unacceptable gap in service to disaster survivors.

b) Thorough Market Research was performed from April 25, 2026, through May 8, 2026, by reviewing the following sources to confirm what contracts exist and to ensure that FY 2026 rates remain aligned within industry standards (any links provided are for internal recordkeeping):

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Justification & Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC)

i) DHS and FEMA strategic sourcing contracts were reviewed first and the findings did not result in a pre-existing mail operations contract. Link searched:

https://usfema.sharepoint.com/teams/FEMAET/ocpo_tools/fssp/SitePages/FEMA%20Str ategic%20Sourcing%20Program.aspx

ii) Interagency Contract Directory, https://www.contractdirectory.gov/contractdirectory.

Because of an absence of information, the researchers determined that this requirement could not be satisfied by entering into an Interagency Agreement.

iii) General Services Administration, Buyers Guidance and Resources | GSA: The below GSA site was also researched, the results did not find one vendor who could provide the entire requirement.

https://www.gsa.gov/buy-through-us/products-and-services/professional-services/buy-services/oasis-and-oasis-small-business/buyers-guidance-and-resources

iv) After reviewing several contract vehicles such as FSSI Domestic Delivery Services

Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA), FSSI Office Supply BPA II, and the FSSI Print

Management BPA, the researchers found that the requirement is not within scope of a strategic sourcing contract vehicle.

v) Based on the length of time to procure as well as the length of the security clearance process, this requirement could not be met through a GSA contract such as OASIS.

vi) Based on the Market Research techniques, sources, and findings, there are a variety of products/services, and contractors available from GSA that could provide some of the required services, however, not all products/services were available from the same vendor. In addition, none of the vendors could sufficiently meet the timeline associated with the current requirement.

vii) Due to the extreme urgency of this surge requirement which would not allow for a lengthy acquisition process and contractor phase-in actions such as recruiting, hiring, operator training, IT training, security requirements, as well as the better pricing that is available under the existing rates from the previous IDIQ compared to other sources, and also the fact that other potential sources do not offer all the needed services, the recommendation is to proceed with awarding a purchase order for this surge requirement.

c) Describe the market research results that support the sole source determination.

The market research reviewed multiple federal procurement avenues to see whether the inbound mail surge requirement could be met through existing contracts at acceptable FY

2026 rates. The Agency first checked DHS/FEMA strategic sourcing tools to determine whether there was already a mail operations vehicle; none existed. They then used the

Interagency Contract Directory to evaluate whether any other agency had a suitable contract

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Justification & Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC) that FEMA could access via an interagency agreement, but the directory lacked usable options. The team next examined GSA guidance and vehicles, including OASIS/OASIS

Small Business and several Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative BPAs (Domestic Delivery, Office Supplies, Print Management), to assess scope, service components, and whether any single vendor could provide the full range of inbound mail services: daily pickup, document preparation, scanning, tracking, filing, NARA prep, translation, fax splitting, printing, inserting, postage, and presort. While GSA and related vehicles showed that various contractors could provide portions of these services, no contract vehicle offered a single vendor that could deliver all required services within the scope needed, nor did any option fit squarely within strategic sourcing parameters. The team also evaluated the time and security clearance requirements for GSA vehicles such as OASIS and concluded that, even if technically possible, those paths could not satisfy the operational timeline for an imminent surge.

When the Agency combined these market research results with the broader program and acquisition context, all other options were determined to be unacceptable. FEMA’s IHP mission requires timely processing of high volumes of protected applicant correspondence, and FEMA lacks the internal facility, equipment, multilingual staff, and PII-trained personnel to perform the work itself. Market research showed that there are either no option or no single vendor that can perform in this timeframe. By contrast, the incumbent contractor is already operating, needs no additional clearances or ramp-up, and can start surge work immediately. The anticipated cost is also supported as reasonable as the 2026 market research confirms these rates remain the least expensive and best-value option. Taken together, the mission-critical nature of the requirement, FEMA’s internal constraints, the timing and scope limitations of alternative vehicles, and the established pricing justify using the “unusual and compelling urgency” authority to issue a surge purchase order to

Intellectus, LLC through other than full and open competition.

d) If market research was not conducted, a reason for its absence must be cited here.

N/A; market research was conducted

e) If patents, copyrights, and/or intellectual property are applicable to the acquisition, describe the circumstances for acquiring a patented or copyrighted product on the representation of the intellectual property holder that has not been licensed for resale.

In conclusion, Market research was conducted by reviewing FEMA and DHS sites, GSA schedules, acquisition history and interviewing knowledgeable vendors in the industry such as

Xerox, Federal Solutions, Image World, and Viaduct. While there are a variety of products/services, and contractors available on GSA to satisfy certain aspects of the

Government’s requirements, not all products/services were available from the same vendor.

FEMA requires a contractor who can provide all services and can do so within the security parameters required due to the large amount of PII data involved. This surge level requirement cannot be modified or piecemealed to multiple contractors. In addition, the Agency is already in hurricane season, and the recent unprecedented circumstances (i.e. S1 Approval process) and

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Justification & Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC) disasters leave inadequate time to transition to and stand-up a new contract. This surge Purchase

Order is narrowly tailored to continuity needs as we move towards recompeting the inbound mail operations requirement. For these reasons, we conclude that this is the best route forward and is in the best interest of the Government.

10. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other Than Full and Open Competition.

11. A Listing of the Sources, if Any That Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition.

12. 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.

FEMA is conducting a re-compete of the inbound mail IDIQ which will be subject to full and open competition. Awarding a sole source purchase order will allow the Agency time to conduct the full acquisition process and ensure that the maximum amount of competition can offer proposals for the follow-on IDIQ as soon as practicable. Time was lost to an S1 approval process, which has continually changed since its implementation. Now the process has been fully automated, reviews are coming more regularly. However, there is still a large backlog of memo reviews that still need to take place and it is impossible to determine where in the queue our current S1 memo is.

(Remainder of this page left blank intentionally)

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Justification & Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC)

13. Contracting Officer’s Certification. I certify that the data supporting the recommended use of other than full and open competition is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Contracting Officer Date

14. Technical/Requirements Personnel Certification. I certify this requirement meets the

Government’s minimum need and that the supporting data, which forms a basis for this justification, is complete and accurate.

Technical Representative Date

APPROVAL:

Contracting Officer Date

Note: The Contracting Officer is the final approving official when the action does not exceed $900K.

N/A

Procuring Activity Advocate for Competition Date

Note: The Procuring Activity Advocate for Competition (PAAC) is the final approving official when the action exceeds $900K but is less than or equal to $20M.

Approval by the PAAC is not required if the J&A is reviewed and approved by an official designated by the Component who is a member of the armed services at the general or flag officer level or a civilian in a grade above the GS-15 (or equivalent) level. However, this exception does not apply to justifications citing that cite RFO

6.103-2 Unusual and Compelling Urgency as the authority.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Justification & Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC)

Head of Contracting Activity Date

Note: The HCA is the approving official when the action exceeds $20M but is less than or equal to $90M (less than or equal to $150M for USCG). The HCA is not required to approve the justification if the Component PAAC is a member of the armed services at the general or flag officer level or is a civilian in a grade above the GS-15 (or equivalent) level. HCA may also delegate approval to a member of the armed services at the general or flag officer level or a civilian in a grade above the GS-15 or equivalent level. However, this exception does not apply to justifications that cite RFO 6.103-2 Unusual and Compelling Urgency as the authority per HSAR 3006.104-270 (HSAR Class Deviation 25-01).

Chief Procurement Officer Date

Note: The Chief Procurement Officer is the final approving official when the action exceeds $90M (exceeds $150M for USCG) and must also sign the justification when it results in the invocation of the exception to the Buy

American statute at RFO 25.103(b)(2) or 25.202(a)(2), regardless of dollar amount. When CPO approval is required only because RFO 25.103(b)(2) or

25.202(a)(2) is applicable to the procurement, the J&A shall be routed for review and approval using the Buy American Reporting Tool in OCPO’s Enterprise

Reporting Application.