Analytical Laboratory Support for the Technical Support Center

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT SYNOPSIS FOR WRITTEN INFORMATION ONLY. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT FOR PROPOSALS AND NO CONTRACT WILL BE AWARDED FROM THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO REIMBURSEMENT WILL BE MADE FOR ANY COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH PROVIDING INFORMATION IN RESPONSE TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND ANY FOLLOW-UP REQUESTS. NO TELEPHONE CALLS REQUESTING A SOLICITATION WILL BE ACCEPTED OR ACKNOWLEDGED.


The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is performing a ¿market search¿ for large and small businesses in preparation for a future procurement. Information submitted in response to this notice is merely used for internal market research purposes and no feedback will be offered to the interested parties that submit capability statements.

The EPA has need for a contractor to provide analytical laboratory support for the Office of Water, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, Technical Support Center (TSC) at the Andrew W. Breidenbach Environmental Research Center (AWBERC) in Cincinnati, Ohio. The principal objective of the TSC is to assure that the drinking water provided to all Americans is of sufficient quality to protect the public health.

To be considered a potential source, a firm must demonstrate they are able to provide the necessary personnel and services to support the effort delineated by the Performance Work Statement (PWS). Important components of the activities to be performed to support TSC¿s objective are the operation of an on-site chemical and microbiological laboratory. Services to be performed include: conduct development and testing of measurement methods to determine ruggedness, sensitivity, selectivity, reliability, accuracy, precision, and quality assurance and control; perform chemical and microbiological analyses of water samples using written methods and ¿state of the art¿ instrumentation and equipment; conduct analyte preservation studies; collect, ship, and receive field samples; conduct, both, limited and national microbiological and chemical occurrences surveys; design and implementation of, both, a rigorous quality assurance and quality control program for all contractor¿s activities subject to the inspection of the Project Officer; make technical presentations to visitors at the TSC laboratory; and provide statistical support in areas related to the work of the contract.

The successful contractor shall provide all necessary labor skilled personnel, materials, and services in support of the efforts. A draft copy of the Performance Work Statement (PWS) is included as an attachment.

The applicable NAICS code is 541380 with a size standard of $15,000,000. It is anticipated that the contract will be a single award, Firm Fixed Price contract starting in June 2022 with a one year Base Period and four Optional Periods of 12 months each. Approximately 15,000 LOE hours are anticipated for each contract period.

ANY INTERESTED FIRM should submit a capability statement which demonstrates the firm¿s ability to perform the key requirements described above. Standard company brochures alone will not be considered a sufficient response to this Sources Sought Synopsis. Within the capabilities statements, the information should include: size status for the above referenced NAICS code (i.e. large, small) and whether or not they are a certified Hubzone, 8(a), women-owned, small disadvantaged and/or service disabled veteran owned small business concern, point of contact, telephone number, email and interest in proposing on the solicitation when issued.

The EPA encourages small business competition and reserves the right to set this action aside for small businesses if it determines that there are two or more small businesses able to compete in terms of market prices, quality, and delivery. If set aside, a small business would be required to perform at least 50 percent of the direct labor costs incurred under the contract with its own personnel (FAR 52.219-14). Capability statements from small businesses should address their ability to meet this requirement.

Capabilities Statements in response to this Sources Sought Synopsis MUST BE SUBMITTED THROUGH THE FEDCONNECT PORTAL by 4:00 p.m. EST, on October 20, 2021. Any questions regarding the content of this Sources Sought Synopsis announcement must be submitted through the FedConnect portal. You must register with FedConnect to submit documents, questions, and to view responses. FedConnect can be accessed at https://www.fedconnect.net/Fedconnect/ where vendors can register. For assistance in registering or for other FedConnect technical questions please call the FedConnect Help Desk at (800) 899-6665. In addition, all vendors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM), as this facilitates registration for FedConnect. Please note that vendors MUST have their SAM profile set to ¿public,¿ otherwise FedConnect will not be able to access the SAM information required to validate vendor credentials. Registration may be completed and information regarding the registration process may be obtained at http://www.sam.gov. There is no charge for registration in SAM.

A separate synopsis will be issued for the Request for Proposal (RFP) resulting from this Sources Sought posting. The point of contact is Contracting Officer, Brad Werwick; however, as a reminder, phone calls will not be honored.