LSJ_GS-10F-119AA;140D0418F0009.pdf

United States Department of the Interior

INTERIOR BUSINESS CENTER

Washington, DC 20240

LIMITED-SOURCES JUSTIFICATION

AUTHORITY: FAR 8.405-6 and 40 U.S.C 501

(CONTRACT #) New Award

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Multiple Award Schedule Program.

1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Limited-Sources Justification.”

Requiring Activity:

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) Borders & Maritime Security Division (BMD)

Contracting Activity:

Department of the Interior (DOI) Interior Business Center (IBC) Acquisition Services Directorate Division 3

DHS is the requiring activity, though the operational needs are in support of Customs Border Patrol (CBP).

DOI/IBC is an assisted acquisition office providing the contract support to DHS/ S&T for this requirement.

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

This Justification and Approval is in support of the Borders and Maritime Security Division (BMD), which is working in conjunction with Customs Border Patrol (CBP).

This justification is to award a new six (6) month task order of the GSA schedule to continue the level of support currently provided by 3U Technologies, LLC. The current 3U contract is a support contract that expires 10 Aug 2018. The contract provides DHS program level subject matter expert support for the borders & maritime security division. The original contract is a T&M contract, D15PD00096 which was competitively awarded on January 13, 2015, off the Federal Supply Schedule.

This six-month task order award is required to maintain the present level of contractor support. This award is mission critical for the DHS Border Patrol Multiple Energy Program (MEP) because 3U Technologies is heavily participating in the MEP acquisition as a key independent advisory role for proposal evaluation and assisted in the development of the statement of work, performance metrics, and evaluation factors. Unforeseen Government delays to the MEP program have pushed the award schedule to the Jan 2019 timeframe. DOI staggered the release of the three MEP solicitations and is currently reviewing two proposals with one more to come within a few months. The three MEP Systems will be used in the inspection of cargo and conveyances for illegal contraband with a system that allows driver/passenger occupied vehicles to be driven through the system and scan with a Large Scale Non- Intrusive Inspection (LS-NII) system. These acquisitions are critical to DHS and CBP missions. The borders and maritime work is very high profile. Disruption to this specific level of support would have a major negative impact in the success of the MEP program.

The six-months will provide enough time for the MEP program to complete the evaluations for award. DOI anticipates the last award to be completed by the end of Jan 2019. Any support required beyond the February 2019 would be considered a new competitive requirement with full and open competition. As a member of the source selection for MEP, 3U would not be considered for any level of contract support for the MEP program.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs

(including the estimated value).

3U Technologies provides preliminary technical evaluations of emerging technologies to determine their suitability for further examination. Evaluation of the systems may be based on any number of factors including: manufacturer literature; white papers, trade magazines, technical reports and memoranda; and performance measurements gathered during demonstrations or testing events. Technologies will normally be evaluated for potential effectiveness, including factors such as cost, risk, maturity, effectiveness, impact, and timeliness. 3U Technologies is a critical part of the MEP acquisition as they are the subject matter expert for the suitability of the systems and ultimate integration and execution with our current systems. 3U Technologies is a member of the acquisition evaluation team supporting DHS for the MEP awards. The six-month award is estimated cost is $527,144.

4. The authority and supporting rationale (see 8.405-6(a)(1)(i) and (b)(1)) and, if applicable, a demonstration of the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications to provide the required supply or service.

Authority of the Multiple Award Schedule Program, Title III of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 USC 251, et seq.); Title 40 USC 501, Services for Executive Agencies; and Section 803 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2002 (PL 107-107) and implemented FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)B - Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized.

3U Technologies’ has established their unique capabilities by generating Border Port of Entry specifications, requirements and interface control documents (ICDs) leading to the development of Cargo Security Systems for DHS Science & Technology (S&T).

They have provided direction as Project (IPT) Lead, while teaming with other National Laboratories to design and execute demonstrations/pilots highlighting DHS S&T accomplishments. This support level and unique qualification is specific to the MEP acquisition process and as outlined in section 2. 3U Technologies is currently a critically important part of the MEP source selection process.

5. A determination by the ordering activity contracting officer that the order represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d).

3U Technologies did provide a cost proposal for the six-month effort using the established GSA schedule. Per FAR 8.404(d), GSA has already determined the prices of supplies and fixed-price services, and rates for services offered at hourly rates, under schedule contracts to be fair and reasonable. Therefore, ordering activities are not required to make a separate determination of fair and reasonable pricing, except for a price evaluation as required by 8.405-2.

3U Technologies cost are the same labor rates and indirect costs already established in the original contract award. Further price analysis will be conducted to ensure the order represents the best value to the government. It is the contracting officer’s determination this award will represent the Government’s best value because the knowledge loss and disruption to the MEP acquisition phase would jeopardize program success.

6. A description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

Market Research was not performed for this six-month award because the requirement is to continue the same expertise and insight throughout the remaining acquisition evaluation for the DHS MEP program. Only one source is capable of supporting the program without major impact to the successful award. DOI and DHS are planning to competitively award a task order for the long-term support, to begin after February 2019.

7. Any other facts supporting the justification.

None https://www.acquisition.gov/sites/default/files/current/far/html/Subpart%208_4.html#wp1091211