N6945018C0905_JA_EHW1_N69450-18-0277_-_Redacted.pdf

Contracting Activity. Department of the Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast (NAVFAC SE), Jacksonville, Florida. The requiring activity is Strategic Weapons Facility Atlantic (SWFLANT), Naval Submarine Base (NSB), Kings Bay, Georgia. Description of the Action Being Approved. The action being proposed under this Justification and Approval (J&A) is to limit the competition under solicitation N69450-18-R-0905 Explosive Handling Wharf 1 (EHW1) Phases II & III to two potential responsible proposers identified during the initial solicitation. As both offerors are un-awardable under the current Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) evaluation criteria, approval is requested to issue an amendment directly to the two offerors who submitted proposals, as opposed to cancelling and re-soliciting. This solicitation amendment will allow the offerors to rely on the experience of their specialized subcontractor pool to meet the requirements stated in revised evaluation criteria. Description of Supplies/Services. The EHW1 Facility was built in the late 1980’s and is required to load and off-load D5 Strategic Missiles for TRIDENT Submersible Ship Ballistic Missile Nuclear powered submarines and Tomahawk Missiles for TRIDENT Submersible Ship Guided Missile Nuclear powered submarines. It is an essential facility for successful support of SWFLANT mission at NSB Kings Bay. This project repairs the EHW1 which is used by SWFLANT, Kings Bay NSB. Work includes repair of structural deficiencies, panel replacement, ventilation repair, gutter system replacement, painting, electrical repair and repair of the two cranes. Statutory Authority Permitting Other and Full and Open Competition. The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(2), as implemented by FAR 6.302-2 – Unusual and compelling urgency. Rationale Justifying Use of Cited Statutory Authority. Delay in awarding the EHW1 Phase II and III project would have catastrophic effects on the overall beneficial occupancy date of EHW1 and subsequent operations for SWFLANT. SWFLANT’s mission is to “safely assemble, maintain, and protect strategic weapons systems for the U.S. and U.K. Navies.” NSB Kings Bay is SWFLANT’s only installation where they have the ability to perform strategic weapon on-load and off-load operations. With only two EHW’s at SWFLANT’s disposal for strategic weapons loading and unloading, one of the two EHW’s being non-operational for an extended period of time is a critical risk to SWFLANT’s mission.

SWFLANT’s need for timely award of the EHW1 project is of such an unusual and compelling urgency that the United States Government could be seriously harmed if the project is re-solicited for a future award. Delay in the award of this contract would cause serious negative impacts critical not only to the United States’, but also the United Kingdom’s National Defense.

EHW1 and EHW2 at NSB Kings Bay are in direct support of the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet of ballistic and guided missile nuclear submarines. They are the only facilities of their type on the East Coast of the United States. EHW1 and EHW2 are required to on-load and off-load D5 Strategic Missiles for TRIDENT SSBN submarines and Tomahawk Missiles for TRIDENT SSGN submarines. They are the very definition of mission essential facilities. Two offers were received on 17 August 2018 in response to solicitation N69450-18-R-0905, which was advertised as full and open competition utilizing the LPTA selection methodology. Neither offeror met the minimum evaluation requirements of the solicitation, however both have been determined responsible sources with experience with similar types of waterfront work. Both offerors have demonstrated the ability to address the uniqueness of the size and complexity of such a large, complex project. Given the importance and urgency of this project, sufficient time is not available to amend the solicitation and re-advertise under full and open competition beyond the two offers received. The solicitation will be amended and the government will open discussions with the two offerors. Per FAR 6.302-2 the U.S. Government has the authority to “limit full and open competition” when there is an “unusual and compelling urgency” where a “delay in award of a contract would have serious injury, financial or other, consequences to the Government”. Description of Efforts Made to Solicit Offers from as Many Offerors as Practicable. Due to the unusual and compelling nature of the requirement, offers will not be further solicited from other sources. Other sources were considered, and this solicitation was issued under full and open competition utilizing the LPTA selection methodology. By issuing the solicitation as full and open competition, the Government made every effort to draw in as many potential sources as practicable from the nation-wide construction industry, however proposals were only received from two contractors, and although the proposals were both from reputable contractors who are notionally qualified to complete the work, the solicitation’s requirements, as written, proved too stringent for any of the Offerors to meet. Due to the unique nature of the work and lessons learned from EHW 2 repair, specific elements of work were incorporated into the technical factors for evaluation, and because the solicitation required offerors to meet all critical elements of work by demonstrating work as a prime contractor, no contractors were able to demonstrate this experience. This Justification and Approval limits the competitive pool as allowed under FAR 6.302-2(a)(2) to the two Offerors who have currently proposed. Minor revisions will be made to the evaluation factors allowing the two Offerors to revise their proposals and rely on the experience of their specialized subcontractor pool to meet the requirements stated in the revised request for proposal. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost. The Contracting Officer has determined the anticipated cost to the Government of the supplies/services covered by this J&A will be fair and reasonable. Actions to Remove Barriers to Future Competition. This procurement was solicited under full and open competition.

Paragraphs 5 and 6 detail the specific considerations relative to the nature of the immediate action and associated competition barriers. New projects that meet the requirements based on scope, location and dollar value will be solicited among all appropriate contractual tools (including full and open competition) available. NAVFAC SE will continue to take appropriate actions that promote competition in accordance with processes that are in the best interests of the agency, stakeholders, and expenditure of tax payer dollars. The justification will be posted to FedBizOps/NECO.