HAZARDOUS MATERIALS (HAZMAT) Aerial Ignition Device, Ping-Pong Balls

PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE

This is a Pre-solicitation Notice announcement ONLY.  This Pre-solicitation Notice is being posted to the Government-wide Point of Entry (GPE) website (https://sam.gov) in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 5.204, Pre-solicitation notices. This pre-solicitation notice is prepared in accordance with FAR 5.207(a).

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, Property and Procurement Services (PPS), Incident Procurement Operations (IPO) intends to issue a Request for Quotation (RFQ) in support of the Prescott Fire Center. Subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 12, Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services, and the Simplified Acquisition Procedures set forth in FAR Part 13. The Resultant contract, if any, will be a Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) purchase order.

PROCUREMENT METHOD: Simplified Acquisition Procedures

SOURCE SELECTION PROCESS: Price and Specifications

TYPE OF CONTRACT: Firm Fixed Price

The USDA Forest Service (FS) has a requirement for commercial items, hazardous materials (HAZMAT).  The places of deliveries are ESTIMATED 3 CACHES (warehouses) which will be identified in the RFQ.  Oversight for this requirement will be Prescott, AZ.

USDA Forest Service has requirements for the following HAZMAT items: 

NFES* 3411 AERIAL IGNITION DEVICE, PING-PING BALLS (*NFES - stands for National Fire Equipment System)

This requirement is for Aerial Ignition spheres (Premo fireballs or salient characteristics) that are Polystyrene balls, 1.25 inches in diameter, containing potassium permanganate. The balls are fed into a dispenser, generally mounted in a helicopter, where they are injected with a water-glycol solution and then drop through a chute leading out of the helicopter. The chemicals react thermally and ignite in 25-30 seconds.

Unit of sale is by the case with each case containing 1,000 spheres.

TERMS OF DELIVERY:  June 30, 2023.

The applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code to be assigned to this procurement is 332994 with an associated small business size standard of 1000 employees.

THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AT THIS TIME.  Submission of any information in response to this pre-solicitation is voluntary.  The Government does not assume any financial responsibility for any costs incurred associated to this pre-solicitation. 

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS: Interested parties, who are qualified and have the capability to deliver the Government’s Hazmat requirements are invited to submit a response to the solicitation within the timeframe stated in the solicitation.  

Request for Quote (RFQ) 1202SC23Q2706 for this acquisition will be released on or about Friday, April 21, 2023, and will close on or about Thursday, May 4, 2023.  It is anticipated that one (1) order will be awarded on or about Friday, May 5, 2023, with a required delivery date of Friday, June 30, 2023.  This acquisition will be competed as a 100% Total Small Business Set Aside. 

IMPORTANT NOTICE:  All prospective offerors must have a current registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) at www.sam.gov associated with NAICS 332994.  You must have an active registration in SAM to do business with the federal government. In accordance with FAR 52.204-7.

This Pre-solicitation Notice seeks to provide information to interested parties about a potential opportunity to provide the HAZMAT stated above.  This Pre-solicitation Notice does not commit the Government to contract for any supply.  Respondents are advised that the United States (U.S.) Government will not pay for any information or administrative cost incurred in response to either this Pre-solicitation Notice or the Solicitation Notice.  All costs associated with responding to either this Pre-solicitation Notice or the Solicitation Notice will be solely at the responding party’s expense.  Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned.  Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the U.S. Government to form a binding contract. The solicitation subsequent to this announcement may be cancelled at any time without warning. After solicitation, and prior to award, all offers may be rejected if in the best interest of the Government or the public.