LaRC CMOE Contract Extension - JOFOC.pdf

Rev.:4/2023

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Langley Research Center (LaRC)

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

(JOFOC)

For Center Maintenance, Operations, and Engineering Contract NNL13AA14C

1. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.303-2(b)(1) – Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Justification for other than full and open competition.”

This document is a justification for other than full and open competition prepared by

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center (LaRC).

The procuring agency is the NASA and the contracting activity is LaRC.

2. FAR 6.303-2(b)(2) – The nature and/or description of the action being approved:

This justification provides the rationale for contracting by other than full and open competition to award an extension to Center Maintenance, Operations, and Engineering (CMOE) contract number NNL13AA14C for up to an additional six months, inclusive of an initial 2-month extension and four additional 1-month option periods, extending the period of performance (POP) no later than January 31, 2025.

The current CMOE period of performance is February 1, 2014 through July 31, 2024, inclusive of a 6-month extension previously exercised pursuant to Option to Extend Services (FAR 52.217-8). It is necessary for LaRC to extend the period of performance in order to align with anticipated effective date of October 1, 2024 of CMOE II which will absorb the work currently performed under CMOE. The CMOE II Source Evaluation Board (SEB) is currently in the process of evaluating proposals and anticipates award by July 1, 2024 with a 90-day phase-in period and contract effective date of October 1, 2024.

This extension will serve as a short-term bridge to allow for continuation of the specialized maintenance, operations, and engineering services provided under the CMOE until CMOE II contract becomes effective. LaRC intends to divide the 6-month time period into an initial 2-month period through September 30, 2024 to align with the current CMOE II anticipated effective date of October 1, 2024, and provide for the ability to extend for up to four additional months to allow appropriate flexibility to accommodate any CMOE II SEB delays or protests.

LaRC does not believe it is reasonable, nor cost effective, to conduct another SEB separate from the ongoing CMOE II solicitation to issue a new contract for the existing CMOE requirements. Therefore, LaRC is issuing this JOFOC and deviation request to the 5-year period of performance limitation, to extend the current contract to cover the potential gap in services and any unforeseen delays in award of the CMOE II contract and will serve to reduce the administrative burdens of submitting another JOFOC if further delays are incurred. Additionally, market research conducted by the LaRC CMOE II Requirements Development Team (RDT) and CMOE II SEB concluded there is no other existing enterprise contract with the specialized contractor expertise to accomplish the CMOE work.

3. FAR 6.303-2(b)(3) – A description of the supplies or services required, to meet the Agency’s needs (including the estimated value):

The CMOE contract is a single-award cost-plus-award-fee (CPAF) contract with a base/core and an Indefinite-Delivery Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) component to issue task orders (TOs) with Jacobs Technology, Inc. (Jacobs). The current maximum contract value is $822.2M with a POP end date of July 31, 2024. The CMOE contract provides core support services in the areas of research operations, maintenance, and engineering. These technical services include:

• Research facilities operations for highly specialized wind tunnels, laboratories, test stands, instrumentation calibration/repair;

• Central utilities operations (e.g., steam, compressed air, electrical power distribution, potable water);

• Technology development and administration for Facility Automation Systems (FAS) and

Data Acquisition Systems (DAS);

• Research and institutional facility maintenance including preventive maintenance, trouble calls, Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM), and Integrated Operations Center (IOC) maintenance; and

• Facility engineering (e.g., design, construction, configuration management, tactical engineering, pressure system recertification, project management/planning support).

The value of the additional 6-month POP is approximately $50M, increasing the contract value from $822.2M to $872.2M; consisting of $10M for the 2-month extension through September 30, 2024 and $5M per month for the 4 additional months if required. Also, $20M is included to cover any additional urgent and an unexpected IDIQ task orders necessary to meet LaRC’s mission. Upon approval of the JOFOC and deviation request, a contract modification will be executed to extend the contract as described in this paragraph.

The proposed extension will allow CMOE to continue providing these specialized support services supporting vital NASA missions until the work can be transitioned to CMOE II.

4. FAR 6.303-2(b)(4) – An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition:

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 10 U.S.C. 3204(c) 1, as implemented by FAR 6.302-1, Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

5. FAR 6.303-2(b)(5) – A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited:

The rationale supporting the use of 10 U.S.C. 3204(c)(1) is that the services needed are available only from one responsible source and no other type of service will satisfy the needs of the Agency as described below.

In accordance with FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii), services may be deemed to be available from only the original source in the case of follow-on contracts for the continued provision of highly specialized services when it is likely that award to any other source would result in substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition or unacceptable delays in fulfilling the Agency’s requirements.

In considering the diverse and specialized requirements as described in paragraph 3 above, the CMOE prime contractor, Jacobs, is the only contractor that can provide uninterrupted services without substantial duplication of effort or costs that would otherwise be incurred if NASA LaRC were to attempt to procure a brand-new contract for these services. Competing and awarding an interim (bridge) contract to a new contractor for a 6-month period until the award of the CMOE II contract is not practical nor in the best interest of the Government nor the contractor community. The cost of competing, awarding, and administering a brand-new bridge contract would create a substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition.

Further, transitioning specialized research operations and institutional facility-related maintenance and engineering support services in an ad-hoc manner and/or twice in a short time period would be highly disruptive to current mission workflows. The CMOE contract supports the following LaRC organizations: Center Operations Directorate (COD), Research Directorate (RD), Engineering Directorate (ED), Science Directorate (SD), Safety and Mission Assurance Officer (SMAO), and Research Services Directorate (RSD), along with other NASA Centers and government agencies. Without the extension, the consequences would result in capability gaps and major impacts to LaRC infrastructure and its unique research facilities including:

• LaRC is home to several wind tunnels and aeroscience facilities, including the National

Transonic Facility (NTF), Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT), 8-Foot-High Temperature Tunnel (HTT), 14-by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel and the Langley Aerothermodynamics Laboratory (LAL). These facilities have a rich history of significant design contributions for many commercial transports, launch vehicles, military aircraft, and spacecraft. They also play a critical role in the development of future aircraft, the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, and advanced subsonic, supersonic, and hypersonic vehicles.

• City Environment for Range Testing of Autonomous Integrated Navigation (CERTAIN) is an FAA-approved urban environment drone test range that allows researchers to reduce the risk of integrating unmanned aircraft systems into our national airspace.

• The Air Traffic Operations Laboratory (ATOL) is used to test technologies to help improve air traffic management.

• Scientific missions that collect data on Earth’s atmosphere and answer vital questions about our planet are facilitated through the Aerospace Flight Hardware Assembly and Integration facility, as well as the Flight Research Facility.

• The Measurement Systems Laboratory, Building-2104, provides a 175,000-square-feet of world-class facility for research and development (R&D) of new measurement concepts, technologies, and systems. It houses 40 modular labs, including a state-of-the-art laser/lidar and electromagnetics lab.

• The Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility, Building-2103, improves data center efficiency and effectiveness by consolidating data centers, server rooms, and personnel into a 40,000-square-foot building.

Successful implementation of LaRC’s 20-year revitalization strategy would also be compromised if this extension is not approved. As LaRC continues to implement a 20-year revitalization strategy, which includes new, state-of-the-art facilities; renovation of critical infrastructure; and demolition of non-essential assets, all of which enable LaRC to respond to the strategic and infrastructure challenges of the Agency. The overarching goal of this 20-year plan is to sustain or enhance the Center’s core capabilities through repair-by-replacement or rehabilitation of existing buildings based on a credible business case. The goals include reducing the footprint of the Center, incorporating a healthy pedestrian-friendly environment similar to a college campus, and transforming the remaining infrastructure to be energy efficient, sustainable, and adaptable to changing mission and societal needs. These goals are fundamental to ensuring LaRC remains a critical R&D Center for NASA and the Nation well into the 21st Century.

In addition, the CMOE contract employs a highly specialized workforce that has unique knowledge of LaRC’s research facilities. Due to the age of the facilities, this specialized knowledge is essential for maintenance and particularly when complex repairs are necessary.

With the CMOE II procurement planned award in 2024, repetitive contract transitions that are not intentionally planned nor offer sufficient time to effectively transition specialized knowledge could result in the loss of key senior technical workers, which would affect the continuity of the mission.

6. FAR 6.303-2(b)(6) – A description of the 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 Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies:

Based on the requirements of this action, FAR 6.302-1(a)(2), Only one responsible source and no other supplies and services will satisfy agency needs, full and open competition need not be provided for. Therefore, following the approval of this JOFOC, a notice to the Government Point of Entry (GPE) website (SAM.gov) will be published in accordance with FAR Subpart 5.2. This posting will inform potential sources of NASA’s intent to award a sole-source modification to Jacobs under the current LaRC contract.

7. FAR 6.303-2(b)(7) – A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable:

The Contracting Officer’s (CO) signature on this document indicates a determination that the anticipated cost to the government will be fair and reasonable. Each contract year, the Contractor submits an ASP proposal that is based on O&M requirements (core support services) for LaRC. In addition, Jacobs submits proposals for all IDIQ tasks. Price and cost analyses, as appropriate, and negotiations will be performed on each proposal to ensure the final agreed-to price for each contract action is fair and reasonable. In addition, LaRC will leverage cost data available from the prior nine years of performance under the CMOE contract to support the Contractor’s cost and pricing for both core support services and IDIQ tasks.

8. FAR 6.303-2(b)(8) – Description of the market research conducted, and the results, or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted:

NASA recognizes that market research would produce offerors capable of providing the necessary research operations, maintenance, and engineering support services. However, as discussed in detail in paragraphs 5, it is not practical, feasible, or cost effective to conduct a competition at this time to onboard a brand-new contractor, and satisfactorily ensure performance of a bridge contract without great risk of disruption or degradation of the mission. The costs and disruptions are greatly exacerbated since the follow-on CMOE II contract will absorb these requirements pursuant to the CMOE II procurement strategy.

Additionally, extensive market research was conducted by the LaRC CMOE II RDT and it determined that none of the existing or forecasted General Services Administration (GSA) schedule offerings or the contracts listed on the Acquisition Gateway are suitable to fulfill the requirements of the CMOE because a portion of the agency’s requirements fall outside the scope of the existing Best-in-Class (BIC) or other Government-wide contracts.

9. FAR 6.303-2(b)(9) – Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition:

None. The requirements of FAR 6.303-2(b)(9)(iii) are detailed in paragraph 5 above.

10. FAR 6.303-2(b)(10) – A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed an interest in writing in the acquisition:

In accordance with FAR Subpart 5.201(b)(1)(ii), NASA intends to synopsize this modification to an existing contract for additional services wherein additional sources may respond. In addition, NASA recognizes that market research would produce offerors capable of providing the necessary research operations, maintenance, and engineering support services. However, as discussed in detail in paragraphs 3 and 5, services are deemed to be available only from the original source in the case of this contract modification for the continued provision of highly specialized services when it is likely that award to any other source would result in substantial duplication of cost and unacceptable delays. Therefore, it is not practical, feasible, or cost effective to conduct a competition for this short effort to satisfactorily ensure performance without substantial duplication of cost, and significant risk of unacceptable delays, disruption, and degradation of the mission.

11. FAR 6.303-2(b)(11) – A statement of 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:

Following the transition of the work being conducted under CMOE to the CMOE II contract, NASA will continue to examine the market in the future for alternative solutions or new sources before executing any subsequent acquisitions.

Rev.:4/2023

CMOE

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

SIGNATURE PAGE

Technical Representative: I certify that the facts presented in this justification are accurate and complete.

Margaret G. Gillikin Technical Representative

Contracting Officer: I hereby certify that the above justification is complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Curtis M. Hyman Contracting Officer

CONCURRENCES:

Jeffrey N. Davenport Office of the General Counsel at Langley Research Center

Teresa M. Hass Competition Advocate at Langley Research Center

APPROVAL:

Todd J. Pospisil Director, Office of Procurement NASA Research Center