NF-FR7000-22-02163 3. Sole Source Justification FE REDACTED.pdf

Version 3.0

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

FOR AN ACTION EXCEEDING THE SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD

USING SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL ITEMS

AUTHORITY: FAR 13.501(a), 41 U.S.C. 1901

PR: NFFR7000-22-02163

1. Agency and contracting activity.

Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO), Western Acquisition Division (WAD) located in Seattle, Washington, proposes to enter into a sole source contract in support of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Fisheries Research and Monitoring Division (FRMD), West Coast Regional Office (WCR).

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

NOAA intends to award a firm fixed price (FFP) contract on a sole-source basis with Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC) for services in support of program operations critical to the needs of the FRMD programs. This acquisition is a new requirement and will provide support to facilitate the design, development, deployment, maintenance, and support of a suite of data collection, quality control, and reporting applications.

3. Description of supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the total estimated value).

This contract is to provide services to support the PIFSC FRMD fisheries-dependent data collection and reporting programs including the Western Pacific Fishery Information Network (WPacFIN) program. FRMD and WPacFIN collaborate with partner agencies and provide services including data collection and verification, database and application systems development, data analysis, data reporting, and fulfilling data requests in support of fisheries management in the Pacific Islands Regions under the Magnuson�Stevens Fishery Conservation Act. Historically, FRMD performed this work under a granting mechanism, however a recent review of fishery-dependent data collection activities by the Grants Management Division (GMD)/Federal Assistance Law Division (FALD) deemed contracting to be the appropriate mechanism for this type of work.

FRMD manages information collected (paper-based and electronic formats) from longline fisheries based out of Hawaii, American Samoa, and California along with purse-seine fisheries under the South Pacific Tuna Treaty (SPTT). WPacFIN partners with agencies in Hawaii, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), and Guam, to provide modern information technology solutions and applications for data entry (paper-based and electronic reporting), perform quality control, maintain data systems, and summarize fisheries dependent data to estimate the total landings and effort of management unit, ecosystem component, and bycatch species. The PIFSC and WPacFIN have cooperative agreements with the State of Hawaii and with the territory agencies (American Samoa’s Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources (DMWR), Hawaii’s Department of Land & Natural Resources, Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR), Guam’s Department of Agriculture, Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources (DAWR), Guam’s Bureau of Statistics and Plans (BSP), and CNMI’s Department of Lands and Natural Resources, Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW)).

NFFR7000-22-02163

The period of performance will be from October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2027, which includes a 12 month base year and four (4) 12 month option years. The total price is approximately $400,943.00 in the base year and a total anticipated price of $2,085,925.00 over the life of the contract.

4. Statutory authority permitting the sole source (including brand name) acquisition.

X 41 U.S.C. 1901, using SAP up to $7.5M as authorized by FAR 13.500(a) and implemented by FAR 13.501(a).

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

The contracting officer has determined the following circumstances justify the use of a sole source as supported below:

The nature of this action is authorized by statute, Section 402(d) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), codified at 16 U.S.C. § 1881a(d), which provides NOAA with authorization to enter into sole source contracts under limited circumstances. The MSA permits NOAA to enter into a contract on a sole source basis with a Marine Fisheries Commission for the purpose of carrying out information collection or other programs, if the recipient has “customarily” been such a Marine Fisheries Commission. The Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (the Commission) is a recognized Marine Fisheries Commission that was established in 1947 by consent and approval of Congress under Public Law 232, 80th Congress, 61 Stat. 419, with a mission to promote the better utilization of fisheries and to promote and support policies and actions to conserve, develop, and manage fishery resources. PSMFC has historically provided these services under grants.

The Commission already provides sole source data services to the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) and the West Coast Region handling electronic reporting and electronic monitoring (ER/EM) applications, database design, data management, data quality control, and data reporting services similar to what is requested by PIFSC. WPacFIN cooperates and supports its partner agencies in the state of Hawaii and the U.S. Pacific Island Territories (American Samoa, CNMI, and Guam) similar to how the Alaska Fishery Information Network (AKFIN) supports Alaska-based fisheries and the Pacific Fishery Information Network (PacFIN) supports west coast-based fisheries. WPacFIN can benefit greatly by partnering with the other Pacific FINs and the Commission. The PIFSC FRMD is restructuring after a GMD/FALD review of granting for fishery-dependent data collection activities and a contract is the more appropriate vehicle. Given the statutory authorization, the Commission’s history of successfully supporting NOAA Fisheries, and the nature of the requirement as a first-time contract transitioning from a grant, a sole source award to the Commission under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Act is appropriate and in the best interest of the Government.

6. Description of 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 FAR Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under FAR 5.202 applies.

Based on FAR 5.202(4), the Contracting Officer is not required to post a notice required by FAR

5.201 when the proposed action is expressly authorized by statute when being acquired from a specific source. In accordance with FAR 6.503, a copy of the redacted SSJ will be posted at sam.gov within 14 days of contract award.

7. 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(s) will be fair and reasonable based on a price analysis conducted in accordance with FAR 13.106-3(a)(2). Specifically, per FAR 13.106-3, the price analysis techniques anticipated to be used are comparison of the proposed price with prices found reasonable on previous purchases and comparison to an independent Government Estimate. Prior to award of the proposed contract, price information shall be obtained from the contractor and a price analysis will be performed and documented to sufficiently determine that the price to the Government of the proposed acquisition will be fair and reasonable.

In the event that a fair and reasonableness determination cannot be made, no award will be made.

8. Description of the market research conducted (see Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

The Commission has been successfully performing similar services as those defined in the scope of work requested by FRMD. FAR 6.302-5 states that full and open competition need not be provided for when a statute expressly authorizes a specified source. While there are commercial vendors who are capable of performing the work, engaging industry in market research when intending to award a sole source contract is not necessary. There is no requirement to identify alternate sources, and for this reason no additional market research was conducted.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of a sole source (including brand name), such as:

None.

10. List of the sources that expressed a written interest in the acquisition.

None.

11. A statement of the 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.

This contract will be awarded for a maximum of five (5) years, during which time the program and Western Acquisition Division (WAD) will analyze the success of the contract and whether a sole source award to the Commission remains suitable for future acquisitions.

12. Technical/Requirements Representative Certification

I certify that this requirement constitutes the Government’s minimum needs and the supporting data provided herein is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Date

Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center

13. Office of General Counsel Concurrence

Concur

Attorney Date Office of General Counsel

14. Contracting Officer’s Certification and Approval

I certify this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Date

Contracting Officer

15. NOAA Competition Advocate Approval:

Approve

Jeffrey S. Thomas Date NOAA Competition Advocate and Director, Acquisition and Grants Office

GARNETT.STEPHANIE.M.13

65876394

Digitally signed by

GARNETT.STEPHANIE.M.1365876394

Date: 2022.07.20 07:33:51 -10'00'

REBECCA JACOBSEN Digitally signed by REBECCA JACOBSEN Date: 2022.07.25 11:31:12 -04'00'

Director, Acquisition and Grants Office

JUBIE.CRYSTINA.RAE.136588482

Digitally signed by

JUBIE.CRYSTINA.RAE.1365884826

Date: 2022.08.04 11:44:00 -07'00'

THOMAS.JEFFREY.

SCOTT.1512665264

Digitally signed by

THOMAS.JEFFREY.SCOTT.1512665264

Date: 2022.08.05 14:08:51 -04'00'

8/5/22