Notice of Contract Award

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Procurement Operations (OPO), Office of Health Affairs Acquisition Division (OHAAD) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) to acquire title/copyrights and updates to a Food Emergency Response Plan Template previously developed and published by NASDA under a cooperative agreement in 2004. This is not a request for a proposal. A solicitation will not be issued and proposals will not be requested.

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(5) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.302-1 entitled "Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements." As the sole developer of the template and associated supporting documentation (questionnaires, surveys, points of contact lists, etc.) NASDA currently holds title and copyrights to the documents and tools necessary to complete a template update. Under the proposed contract action NASDA will update the template and all supporting documentation and transfer title/copyrights associated with all documentation and intellectual property to DHS. Acquisition of the title and copyrights to the template and supporting documents under the proposed contract action will enable DHS to furnish the intellectual property without restrictions to other sources in the future and conduct a competitive acquisition for any subsequent updates required for the template.

It is anticipated that the updates to the template and associated supporting documentation/tools will require twelve (12) months for completion with an estimated value not-to-exceed $200,000.

Therefore, based on the aforementioned facts and the statutory authority at FAR 6.302-1, the Government intends to make a single non-competitive award to NASDA after September 24, 2010.