Single Brand Determination W91QF424Q0089 redacted_Redacted.pdf

- 1 -

Control Number

SINGLE BRAND DETERMINATION

Far Subpart 13.106-1(b)

1. CONTRACTING AGENCY: US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Walla Walla District, Mill Creek Dam, 3244 Reservoir Rd, Walla Walla, WA 99362.

2. DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla

District has a requirement for the purchase of vibrating wire piezometer components that dam safety employees will install in existing instrumentation at the Mill Creek Project.

3. DESCRIPTION OF THE SERVICES/SUPPLIES: Approval is being requested for a new firm-fixed-price, brand name purchase order for the delivery of supplies needed for 12 vibrating wire piezometers. The estimated costs of this purchase are

4. AUTHORITY CITED:

FAR 13.106-1 (b) Soliciting from a single source. (1) For purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, contracting officers may solicit from one source if the contracting officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available (e.g., urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, brand name, or industrial mobilization).

FAR 11.105(a)(1), Items Particular to One Manufacturer. The particular brand name, product, or feature is essential to the Government’s requirements, and market research indicates other companies ' similar products, or products lacking the particular feature, do not meet, or cannot be modified to meet, the agency' s needs.

5. REASON FOR AUTHORITY CITED:

A. JUSTIFICATION: Mill Creek Dam has 82 ground water measuring locations

(comprised of 71 piezometers, 3 man-hole wells, 6 Flumes, 2 Forebay staff gauges) and 12 of those were determined to be critical for real-time monitoring during high water events which typically occur each year. Currently, readings must be taken manually at Mill Creek Dam. The requirement to add Geokon Vibrating Wire (VW) piezometer sensors and Campbell Scientific dataloggers with radios and Campbell Scientific Verizon Cell Modems will automate this process. Dworshak Dam and Lucky Peak Dam currently use Geokon sensors and Campbell Scientific dataloggers as installed under contract for each project. In 2011, Dworshak Dam received Firewall and Network Access approval to use Geokon sensors and Campbell Scientific dataloggers to be connected to the NWW District server (CorpsNet). In 2024, Lucky Peak Dam received USACE Chief Information Officer (CIO) G6 Cyber Change Advisory Board (CAB) approval to use Geokon sensors and Campbell Scientific dataloggers, radios and cell modems on CorpsNet. These two manufacturers must be compatible with each other, must record data at a specified interval or triggered to record, must be able to run on continuous power supplied by

- 2 -solar panels, external batteries and or standard 120V outlets, must be capable of transmitting data (either by radio, ethernet CAT5 connection or cell modem) in real-time using an IP address and must have had prior approval by the G6 Cyber team for use on CorpsNet.

Geokon Vibrating Wire (VW) piezometer sensors, Campbell Scientific dataloggers with radios and Campbell Scientific Verizon Cell Modems are already approved by the USACE CIO G6 Cyber Change Advisory Board (CAB) for use on the NWW District server (CorpsNet) and installed at Lucky Peak Dam. Dworshak Dam has CIO G6 CAB board approval to allow Campbell Scientific dataloggers onto both the Dworshak server and the NWW District server (CorpsNet). When dataloggers are added to the NWW CorpsNet, a Firewall and Network Access request must be submitted, to include the manufacturer, radio type, cell modem type and IP addresses.

These two manufacturers, Geokon and Campbell Scientific, have had prior approval to be connected to the CorpsNet Firewall and Network Access using either a radio, ethernet CAT5 connection or Verizon cell modem.

Geokon Vibrating Wire (VW) piezometer sensors are designed to measure the ground water elevation in units of pounds per square inch (psi) converted to feet of water.

Campbell Scientific dataloggers send power to the Geokon VW sensors, record data and transmit data, utilizing either a Campbell Scientific radio, existing ethernet CAT5 cable connection or Verizon Cell modem, over an IP address to the NWW District server. NWW Division G6 created a virtual application server for the NWW District Dam Safety program to run the Campbell Scientific LoggerNet Administrative server software to receive data being sent in real-time.

B. IMPACT: When any of the individual components or devices fail, they must be replaced with the same or upgraded part from the manufacturer to ensure continued operation. Mill Creek currently doesn’t have an Automated Data Acquisition System (ADAS) installed. Currently, only Dworshak Dam and Lucky Peak Dam have an ADAS network of dataloggers installed. Dworshak Dam, Lucky Peak Dam and Mill Creek Dam are considered higher risk for loss of life and a proven, consistent, compatible ADAS system needs to be implemented. If Mill Creek Dam were to utilize a different programming language, apart from our current standard programming standard, then considerable time and training will be needed which will delay the implementation of ADAS, require a new programming format procedure, and require a new server software package that must have Ace-IT approval for any different type of server software to run any other type of programming language.

If other brands of equipment are to be used for Mill Creek Dam, then the proposed network would have to be redesigned. The main factors being device compatibility, datalogger programming standardization, radio transmission, cell modem transmission, continuous power options, downtime due to repair or replacement and CIO G6 Cyber CAB Board approval. These would include cost impacts that may not be realized upfront during the initial purchase of the product but would certainly add additional cost outside of the purchase. In addition, per AFARS 5139 and UAI 5139,

- 3 -acquisition of information technology (IT), all activities are required to obtain USACE CIO-delegated review and approval prior to submitting acquisition packages requiring procurement of any information management (IM)/IT hardware, services, nonstandard equipment, and software. Redesigning the safety system around different equipment and obtaining CIO G6 approval will cause schedule delays that would impact mission safety.

C. ALTERNATIVES: There is no suitable substitute that will work well within this system. If we attempt to purchase a technically suitable sub from another vendor, the electronic communication between a different device and the existing system will be problematic. The associated parts and components have been identified by Dam Safety personnel as standard equipment that they are comfortable working with, and they understand the systems used.

The datalogger must operate in a one-way data direction only regarding the CorpsNet firewall; data can only be received from the datalogger onto the CorpsNet firewall. If the datalogger relies on two-way communication (both send and receive) for it to operate, then it won’t work correctly. Campbell Scientific has proven to operate by sending data only from Dworshak and Lucky Peak onto the server in a one-way data transmission. The datalogger needs to have an encryption option for sending data; Campbell Scientific offers a Pakbus encryption when sending data over an IP address to the district server.

There is no guarantee that CIO G6 will approve any other network design other than the one we used for Lucky Peak Dam.

6. DETERMINATION OF FAIR AND REASONABLE COSTS: A price analysis will be completed after receipt of quotation based on historical pricing and the IGE. No award will be made unless prices may be determined fair and reasonable.

7. EFFORTS TO OBTAIN COMPETITION: It is anticipated that there are multiple distributors of the Geokon and Campbell Scientific equipment. A sources sought notice was posted to SAM.gov on July 3, 2024 as a small business set aside.

8. MARKET RESEARCH: A sources sought for small business set-aside was posted to

SAM.gov from July 3, 2024, to July 17, 2024 and two responses were received. I also reached out by email to several contractors listed under the commodities BPA to see if they could provide this equipment. Of the 9 contractors I emailed, only one responded and said they could provide the specific equipment.

Technical Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance, which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Name/Title:

Signature: