Justification and Approval - MNA Slot Filler - Paint Ingredients_Redacted.pdf

Control Number: 25-0002

Justification & Approval for Other than Full and Open Competition (Brand Name)

1. CONTRACTING AGENCY: US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Walla Walla District (CENWW-CT) 201 North 3rd, Walla Walla, WA 99362.

2. DESCRIPTION OF ACTION: The McNary Powerhouse Turbine Draft Tube Slot Filler project requires a brand name justification and approval (J&A) for ingredients within the vinyl paint formula as outlined in the Department of Defense (DoD) Unified Facilities Guide Specifications (UFGS), UFGS 09 97 02 Painting: Hydraulic Structures. The identified ingredients that make up this vinyl paint system are the only ones tested and approved by USACE Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) for use as protective coating on underwater steel structures. The vinyl paint system will be applied to a newly fabricated steel structure.

Although the vinyl paint system can be procured from multiple manufacturers, certain ingredients within the paint system are limited to the brand name options from the specific manufacturers listed below. Decades of performance testing indicates altering the paint formulation to use options other than the specific brand name ingredients would result in an unacceptably inferior protective coating system. The ingredients listed in part 3 below mitigate the risk of an inferior protective coating and any unforeseeable costs, including repairs and future maintenance, and maintain the integrity of the premier protective coating system with decades of testing and approval from the USACE Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL).

These ingredients make up a small portion of the overall paint system. The specific ingredients required in the paint formulas are estimated at $6,600.

3. DESCRIPTION OF ITEMS: Ingredients for Special Paint Formulas as outlined in

UFGS 09 97 02 include the items in the following table.

Ingredient Product Supplier Titanium Dioxide

Kronos 2160 Kronos, Inc.

Titanium Dioxide

Kronos 2101 Kronos, Inc.

Titanium Dioxide

Ti-Pure 960 E.I. Dupont DeNemours and Co., Inc.

Suspending Agent E

MPA-14 Elementis Specialties

Suspending Agent F

Bentone 27 Elementis Specialties

Vinyl Resin, Type 3

Vinnol H 15/50 Wacker Chemie AG

Vinyl Resin, Type 4

Vinnol H 15/45 M, Wacker Chemie AG

Silane B Silane A-1120 Momentive Performance Materials Inc.

Silane B Silane Z-6020 Dow Corning Corporation

4. AUTHORITY CITED: FAR 6.302-1; 10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(1) (When the supplies or services required by the agency are available from only one responsible source [ …] and no other type of supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, full and open competition need not be provided for).

REASON FOR AUTHORITY CITED:

a. BACKGROUND: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers developed formulations for vinyl coatings in the early 1950’s for the protection of the hydraulic structures on the Mississippi River, as well as other navigation and hydropower structures throughout the country. In addition to providing needed corrosion protection to these critical structures, vinyl coatings are especially resistant to damage by the floating ice and debris commonly encountered on navigable waterway structures. These coatings can be applied by small business contractors using common application equipment.

The ability to apply these coatings over a wide temperature and humidity range results in a long painting season. Formulations for alternative coatings as well as extensive testing of proprietary products over the decades has not identified any alternatives with comparable application properties or service lives. Commercially available products commonly used for the protection of immersed structures, such as water storage tanks, typically exhibit 20-25% of the service life of vinyl coatings when exposed to the harsh environment of a Corps navigation structure. Vinyl coatings do contain a high percentage of solvents (often referred to as VOC) but are allowed for use by the national VOC emission standards for architectural coatings (40 CFR Appendix Table 1 to Part D of Part 59) as well as by the Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) model rule for marketing and use on structures with impacted immersion service.

Vinyl coatings are based on formulations developed specifically to enhance their performance on hydraulic structures. The resins used have a very high molecular weight to attain the ultimate combination of hardness and elasticity.

Resins can be manufactured by either an emulsion-based or a more costly solution-based process but for the required water resistance, only the solution-based process resins are acceptable. This limits the number of potential manufacturers who can supply the resin. The specification identifies a specific manufacturer’s resins that can be used to meet the various salient requirements for the finished product. Paint manufacturers who opt to evaluate the resins produced by alternate resin manufacturers may do so as specified in UFGS 09 97 02.

b. JUSTIFICATION:

The special paint formulas, namely, the specific product names and suppliers identified in Section 3 above, are supplies that are only available from one responsible source and no other type of supplies will satisfy USACE’s requirements. A vinyl paint system using those formulas must be applied to the new fabricated steel structures required by the McNary Powerhouse Turbine Draft Tube Slot Filler project. Formulations for alternative coatings, as well as extensive testing of proprietary products over the decades, has not identified any alternatives with comparable application properties or service lives.

c. IMPACT: Substitution for the specified products would:

i. Increase the amount of time required to test each batch of paint potentially delaying painting contracts.

ii. Increase the potential for coating failures resulting in significantly shorter repaint schedules and higher maintenance costs.

iii. Necessitate new costs for research to evaluate potential alternative raw materials.

d. ALTERNATIVES: The proprietary raw materials are critical to the performance of the vinyl paint systems. If they are not available, alternate coating systems (i.e, non-vinyl paint systems) would need to be used. At this time, the available alternative coating systems would result in greater life cycle costs for the corrosion protection of Corps hydraulic structures.

i. Although resins used to make the vinyl paint systems may be available from one alternate supplier, initial laboratory evaluations have indicated problems with quality control. Providing paint manufacturers with the name of a raw material supplier having products with non-reproducible properties would be counterproductive. No other potential suppliers have been identified.

ii. The 3 proprietary TiO2 products are all premium products from their respective manufacturers. Alternative products may be available, but identifying suitable products would require additional cost and time-consuming research, resources that are not expected to be recovered through competition.

iii. The additives used in paints and many other commercial products are highly proprietary. Research has shown that only clay-based materials can be used without adversely affecting the adhesion properties of the VZ-108 paint; however, even the clay type materials have proprietary surface treatments that affect their performance in the finished paint. Alternative sources of these materials have not been identified.

5. EFFORTS TO OBTAIN AND INCREASE COMPETITION: The CERL (the

USACE paint technology center) in conducting ongoing research to evaluate commercially available alternatives to the vinyl paints.

6. FAIR AND REASONABLE COST DETERMINATION: The cost of the specific brand name ingredients contained within this J&A are estimated to be $6,600.

Because multiple sources are capable of supplying the vinyl paint systems that contain the proprietary ingredients, a fair and reasonable price determination will be made based on competition at the time of award.

7. MARKET RESEARCH: Market research has not uncovered alternative acceptable sources of supply for the vinyl paint system ingredients.

8. OTHER FACTS: None

9. INTERESTED SOURCES:

Northwest Steel Fab Inc. / Cage Code: 5J7C8 YOY Inc. (dba Verdis) / Cage Code: 6A1F9 Thompson Metal Fab / 9H513

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: Jarrod Milligan / Signature:

Structural Engineer

I certify that the information supporting this brand name determination is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge based on the supporting data provided by technical or requirements personnel.

Prepared by: Alan Inglis Title: Contract Specialist Signature:

DETERMINATION: In accordance with the authority of 10 U.S.C. 3204(e), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1 and based upon the foregoing, I hereby determine that a brand name procurement is authorized and is in the best interest of the Government.

Reviewed for legal sufficiency: Michaela Murdock Title: Deputy District Counsel Signature:

Approved by: Brooke Moore Title: Contracting Officer

Signature: