DHS S&T CBD OBAA for Chemical and Biological R&D related areas of interest

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science & Technology (S&T) Directorate is announcing to business and academia its intent to solicit research and development proposals under this Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). This BAA is contemplated in Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) 6.102(d)(2) and 35.016. This announcement does not request any proposals at this time. Requests for Proposals (or Calls) will be accomplished via amendments to this BAA.

The over-arching strategy of this BAA involves the use of this 3.5-year Open BAA (OBAA) to quickly and efficiently execute research and development to deliver practical solutions to urgent chemical and biological defense priorities. This strategy will provide DHS an acquisition tool with the flexibility to solicit proposals and make awards to perform rapid prototyping of technical solutions to meet present and compelling chemical and biological defense needs, as ever-changing urgent operational issues and capability gaps are identified.

The BAA will remain "open" for 3.5 years; however, proposals will only be solicited and accepted during calls. Each call will identify topics and contain a common cut-off date for proposal submission. Proposals received after the specified due date and time shall be governed by the provisions of FAR 52.215-1(c)(3).

Calls for proposals (made by amendments to this BAA) will occur periodically throughout the life of this over-arching BAA. Each call will: (1) identify specific topic areas; (2) identify any changes to the standard evaluation criteria or proposal preparation instructions, and; (3) contain common cutoff dates for proposal submissions.

It is anticipated that calls issued under this BAA will be unrestricted. Small businesses are encouraged to propose on all of the calls. The NAICS code, unless otherwise stated in the BAA amendments, shall be 541712 (i.e., Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences except Biotechnology), and the size standard is 500 employees. Proposals submitted shall be in accordance with this BAA and its appropriate amendment(s).

Interested offerors should be on alert for any BAA amendments that call for proposals, permit extensions to the proposal submission dates, or otherwise change the requirements of this BAA or its subsequent amendments.