Limited Source Justification - 89243419AEE000001 Mod P00013.pdf

LIMITED-SOURCES JUSTIFICATION

UNDER FEDERAL SUPPLY SCHEDULES (GSA ORDERS)

CONTRACTING ACTIVITY: GOLDEN FIELD OFFICE (GFO)

1. Nature and/or description of the action being approved:

Boston Government Services, LLC (BGS)

GS-00F-013GA

Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) for Firm-fixed-price, Time-and-material, Labor Hour, Travel, and Other Direct Costs

This Limited Source Justification (LSJ) is to increase the current BPA ceiling. The BPA was originally established with a $112 Million ceiling. On June 23, 2021 the ceiling was increased from $112 Million by $54 Million to $166 Million. The ceiling is currently being increased from $166 Million by $34 Million to $200 Million, to accommodate increased support needed for the various BPA orders issued against the BPA due to unexpected surge and potential new orders to support President Biden’s signing of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).

2. A description of the supplies or services required to meet agency needs (including the estimated value):

This BPA provides mission oriented technical and scientific support services to include:

• Application Evaluation and Selection Support.

• Financial Document, Budgetary Data and Financing Mechanism Support.

• Professional Applied Science and Technology Advisory Support.

• Project Monitoring and Assessment Support for Financial Assistance and National

Laboratory Projects.

• Project Monitoring and Assessment Support for Technical Assistance Projects.

• Merit Review, Peer Review, Technical Training and Technical Information Support.

• Database Population and Maintenance Support.

• Technical Document Review Support.

• Technology Analysis and Evaluation Support.

• Program Planning Support.

• Research and Development (R&D) Analysis Support.

• Project Management Support; and

• Facilitation Services and Meeting Support.

3. The authority and supporting rationale and, if applicable, a demonstration of the proposed Contractor's unique qualifications to provide the required supply or service:

This LSJ supports a procurement action to be conducted under the authority of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(A) – An urgent and compelling need exists and following the procedures would result in unacceptable delays. The procurement action is generated by the Department of Energy (DOE), Golden Field Office (GFO) and supports the DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). The current contractor, BGS, is providing services through the Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) 89243419AEE000001 with a one-year base ordering period and three one-year optional ordering periods which expire on June 15, 2023, if the third and final option period is exercised. This LSJ is to increase the BPA, 89243419AEE000001 ceiling in the amount of $34 million, from $166 million to $200 million. The ceiling increase is needed to provide continuity of services under the established BPA ordering period until DOE can successfully compete the new requirement. Although current options under the contract will allow the contract to extend through June 15, 2023, the requirement for a ceiling increase is the result of higher-than-expected need for services during the initial ordering periods under the BPA and the addition of BIL support.

4. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the BPA represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d):

Increasing the ceiling for the current BPA while a new BPA is successfully competed provides the greatest overall benefit in response to the increased requirement.

As part of the acquisition plan for this BPA, EERE decided to establish a single-award BPA against a General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract, in accordance with FAR Part 8 procedures. This decision was based on the need for the contractor to have a wide range of resources and knowledge of operations for each of the Technology Offices within EERE. Knowledge of the missions and internal processes through work experience within Technology Offices is necessary to successfully perform within and across multiple technology offices over the life of the agreement. The benefit of making multiple-award BPAs was not expected to exceed the administrative burden and potential inefficiency in knowledge transfer across EERE Technology Offices. Multiple awards were not determined to be in the best interests of the Government.

Introducing another contractor to EERE and the Technology Offices and coordinating orders across two BPAs for the last year of performance is not in the best interest of EERE. Obtaining additional support from existing contract vehicles such as the NNSA’s Technical, Engineering, and Programmatic Support (TEPS) II services BPA does not effectively fulfill Technology Office requirements without substantially increasing administrative burden.

The hourly rates included in the GSA Schedule contract have already been determined fair and reasonable by GSA. Furthermore, the contractor offered additional discounts above those in its GSA Schedule when the BPA was established.

5. Description of market research conducted among schedule holders and the results, or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted:

Market research was not conducted for this modification. However, it will be conducted for the new requirement as part of the acquisition planning process.

6. Any other facts supporting the justification:

On November 15, 2021, President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).

According to DOE’s BIL Programs website: “For the next five years, BIL will stand up 60 new DOE programs, including 16 demonstration and 32 deployment programs, and expands funding for 12 existing Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment (RDD&D) programs.” The BIL will increase EERE’s need for Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOA). The support services available under the MOTS BPA covers all phases of FOA development, award and administration. As of March 10, 2022, there are seven BIL-specific FOAs listed on the DOE BIL & Funding Opportunity Announcements website, with numerous additional BIL-funded EERE FOAs in planning stages. Of the seven currently listed, four were posted for EERE. The principal purpose of the MOTS BPA is to support activities related to EERE FOAs. After assessing the impact of the incoming BIL-funded technical support requirements, its apparent the MOTS ceiling value falls well short of EERE’s technical support service needs.

In addition to an increase in support service labor, we anticipate a need for increased travel funds on the existing BPA orders. For the past two years, all travel has been curtailed except for trips that support mission critical activities. In accordance with DOE’s COVID-19 Workplace Safety and Reentry Framework, contractor employees who are fully vaccinated may resume regular, pre-pandemic travel when their position work category is directed to reenter the workplace by their organization or where necessary to accomplish mission essential work.

7. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the restricted consideration before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made:

As indicated in Section 3 above, there is an urgent and compelling need to provide continuity of services under the established BPA ordering period through June 15, 2023 as a result of higher-than-expected need for services during the initial ordering periods under the BPA and the addition of BIL support.

In order to remove any barriers that may lead to restricted competition DOE will issue a new request for quotation to include these services.

8. Certifications:

a. Requesting Office Representative Certification: I certify that the supporting data which forms the basis for the justification are complete, current, and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Sara Wilson Date Acquisition Office Director

b. Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. I recommend approval of this justification.

Synthia J. Archuleta Date------------------------- Contracting Officer

9. Justification Approvals:

a. Procurement Compliance & Analysis Office:

CONCUR ☒ NON-CONCUR ☐

Carol Hellmann Date=============== Director

b. Legal Counsel:

Adam DeDent Date=============== Legal Advisor

c. Acquisition Office Division Director:

Ric Schweitzer Date================ Acquisition Office Division Director

d. Acquisition Office Director:

Sara Wilson Date=============== Acquisition Office Director

e. Competition Advocate:

APPROVE ☒ DISAPPROVE ☐ or RECOMMEND APPROVAL ☐

(if higher level approval required)

Carol Hellmann Date-------------------------- Competition Advocate

f. Head of Contracting Activity (HCA):

APPROVE ☒ DISAPPROVE ☐ or RECOMMEND APPROVAL ☐

(if higher level approval required)

Derek Passarelli Date-------------------------- Head of Contracting Activity (HCA)