REQUIREMENTS-24-1656 Sole Source Justification_Redacted.pdf

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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

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1. Agency and contracting activity. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO), Western Acquisition Division (WAD) and Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC).

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

This is a sole source justification for a new requirement. The Government intends to solicit a firm-fixed price contract to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), a Government entity.

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

The NWFSC requires information related to the volume of salmonid species consumed by harbor seals to understand how seal predation varies under different seasonal, ecological, and environmental conditions in Puget Sound. The NWFSC also requires harbor seal behavioral and distribution information to help identify foraging behavior patterns that characterize harbor seal-salmonid predator-prey interactions. Data generated from this requirement will be used to determine harbor seal management actions that will aid the recovery of Endangered Species Act listed salmonid populations in Puget Sound, Washington.

The project is non-severable and the scheduled period of performance is June 1, 2024 through October 31, 2026. The total estimated value is and will be fully funded.

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).

41 U.S.C. 1903, using SAP up to $15M for contingency operations as authorized by FAR 13.500(c) 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:

Only one source The Government has determined WDFW is the only capable vendor. The tasks for this requirement directly involve marine mammal research activities that qualify as “takes”, also known as “to harass, hunt, capture, or kill, or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill any marine mammal” under the United States (US) Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). It is mandatory under the MMPA that researchers obtain a permit in order to engage in any activities that involve “takes” of marine mammals in US waters. The WDFW is the only entity with harbor seal research expertise currently in possession of a federal MMPA permit to

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conduct marine mammal research in Puget Sound, Washington, where the data needs to be collected. The timeline for processing MMPA permit applications is approximately 6-12 months, and applications are processed in November and May of each year. Furthermore, a source sought notice was issued in December 2023, with no responses. As of May 2, 2024, it has been confirmed by the Permits and Conservation Division at the Office of Protected Resources, that there are no pending permit applications on harbor seals in the Puget Sound Washington area. Therefore, there are no other vendors that applied for a permit in response to the source sought notice, leaving any newly identified capable vendors applying for a permit ineligible to meet the required project start date.

In addition to employing the only MMPA permitted harbor seal research group in the Puget Sound area, WDFW also employs the only research group with the specialized expertise and knowledge to conduct harbor seal captures and tagging in Puget Sound. Members of the WDFW who would work on this project have executed harbor seal captures effectively, humanely, and safely for over 30 years. The process of capture and handling is difficult and complex, and the successful practitioner must possess a deep knowledge of both harbor seal behavior and the Puget Sound habitats they reside in, which only comes with experience.

There is no other research group in possession of such knowledge in the Puget Sound region.

Hiring another group to do harbor seal research in Puget Sound would put the project in jeopardy, as seal captures would likely not be as successful as those conducted by WDFW.

Without the seal tagging portion of this project (or if the seal tagging portion was not executed well), the required harbor seal-salmonid consumption estimates would be less accurate and less valid, putting the program's mission at risk of providing accurate information to the research and management community in the Puget Sound region.

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.

On December 28, 2023 a source sought notice (SSN) was issued on SAM.gov with a response due date of January 12, 2024. No questions or capability responses were received. Additionally, a Notice of Intent to Sole Source was posted to SAM.gov May 7, 2024.

7. Determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The contracting officer will follow the procedures set forth in FAR 13.106-3(a) to determine that the costs to the Government are fair and reasonable, including comparison to the independent Government estimate.

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 market research conducted was a SSN on SAM.gov issued in December of 2023.

Additionally, on February 16, 2024, further market research was conducted which included reviewing mandatory sources, and utilizing the Dynamic Small Business Search tool. No responses to the SSN were received and details of findings can be found on the market research report.

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

This project is funded by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and the spending plan was not approved until December, 2023. NOAA posted the SSN as soon as possible, to allow potential vendors as much time to submit a permit request.

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.

The Government intends to award a firm-fixed priced contract to WDFW and will continue to conduct thorough market research to gauge the marketplace capabilities for future requirements. To overcome barriers, we will seek to initiate future projects with enough time to post and encourage other vendors to apply for permits and be eligible for a competition.