SPECIAL NOTICE
R -- Notice of Intent to Sole Source Biodetection SETA Support
- Notice Date
- 11/1/2018
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 541690
— Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services
- Contracting Office
- Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, Washington, District of Columbia, 20528, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20528
- Solicitation Number
- PR-ROHB-19-00002
- Archive Date
- 11/28/2018
- Point of Contact
- Marcus Datcher, Phone: 2024470343, Jennifer A. D'Addio, Phone: 202-447-0879
- E-Mail Address
-
marcus.datcher@hq.dhs.gov, jennifer.daddio@hq.dhs.gov
(marcus.datcher@hq.dhs.gov, jennifer.daddio@hq.dhs.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This is a Notice of Intent to Award a Sole Source Contract under the authority of FAR 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services will Satisfy Agency Requirements. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Procurement Operations (OPO), Domestic Nuclear Detection Office and Office of Health Affairs Acquisition Division (DNDOHAAD) intends to award a non-competitive, sole source contract to Hassett & Willis Associates, LLC (HWC), 1100 New York Ave NW, Washington, DC 20005 to provide Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA) services to maintain critical support for early detection and response to a biological terrorism event for the Office of Health Affairs (OHA) BioWatch Program. It is necessary to acquire SETA services for biodetection on a sole source basis due to OHA's recent merger with the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) and the formation of the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) Office. This reorganization directed by the Secretary of DHS has resulted in realigning requirements to meet the new organizational structure. As this realignment is proceeding, a bridge contract is needed while a new comprehensive acquisition strategy and Statement of Work (SOW) for the procurement of SETA services for the CWMD Office is being developed and competed. The current contract with HWC was competitively awarded, and it is now necessary to have HWC continue to provide services for up-to an additional 12 month period, including options, in order to allow for the continuity of critical biodetection services, to include the BioWatch Program, and other biodetection support services required by the CWMD Office. HWC is the only source capable of providing the required SETA support services during this period of transition within the CWMD Office. It is critical to the success of the CWMD biodetection mission that the Contractor be capable of providing personnel with sufficient prior expertise and educational background to effectively support the broad range of program requirements. The services required under this acquisition support the maintenance of current operations testing, evaluation, and deployment, as well as operations and maintenance of non-commercial biodetection technology In support of this requirement SETA contractors assist in operating a 24/7 program in over 30 jurisdictions, and require subject matter expertise in many technical areas including micro-biology, macro-biology, laboratory analysis techniques inclusive of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and multiplexing, environmental science, and environmental sampling methods. Moreover, the required SETA support will eventually assist in preparing CWMD to transition these biodetection capabilities to the newly formed CWMD Office. Under the BioWatch Program, each jurisdiction receives direct support from the CWMD Office, and such support differs across jurisdictions. The processes, procedures, responsible agencies, paths of communication, and response plans are unique to each jurisdiction. Further, a contractor with specialized knowledge as to how each of these jurisdictions operate under the BioWatch program, in addition to the specialized knowledge of scientific subject matter, is necessary to continue support. A new contractor could not execute these complexities without a sufficient transition period, which the anticipated competitive acquisition is expected to include. The incumbent currently maintains the necessary number of trained and experienced staff with the necessary security clearances and specialized knowledge of the BioWatch Program and biodetection technology for continued support while the agency goes through an organizational merger. The incumbent's familiarity and experience with the BioWatch Program will alleviate the substantial risk of contractor non-performance that may occur should these support services be rendered by a new contractor without adequate transition time and subject matter expertise. This support is critical to the continued successful execution of the BioWatch Program, and, again, will assist CWMD to prepare for transitioning biodetection capabilities to the newly formed CWMD Office under a competitive acquisition. This notice of intent is NOT a request for competitive proposals; however, all responsible sources may identify their interest and capability to meet this requirement. Any response to this notice must show clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct a competitive procurement. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon response to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Any costs associated with providing capability information will be solely at the interested party's expense. Responses shall be emailed to the Contract Specialist Marcus Datcher at Marcus.Datcher@hq.dhs.gov and cc the Contracting Officer Jennifer D'Addio at Jennifer.Daddio@hq.dhs.gov no later than November 13, 2018 at 12:00 pm ET.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DHS/OCPO/DHS-OCPO/PR-ROHB-19-00002/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Multiple Locations, United States
- Record
- SN05140124-W 20181103/181101230613-886eaf25825d48d6634442abc11e87a7 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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