68HERH21D0002 Notice of Intent to Sole Source Bridge

Posted Date: July 31, 2026

This notice of intention of a proposed non-competitive contract action is issued in accordance with the Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Overhaul Subpart 5.201, prepared in accordance with the requirements of Subpart 5.101(c).

(1) Point of contact: 

John Liertz

Contract Specialist

109 T.W. Alexander Drive

RTP, NC 27711

Liertz.John@epa.gov

Heather M. Adams

Contracting Officer

1201 Constitution Ave NW

Washington, DC 20004

Adams.Heather.M@epa.gov

Procurement Office: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Finance and Administration (OFA), Office of Chief Procurement Officer (OCPO), Land, Enforcement, and Air Division (LEAD), Washington, DC 20460

(2) Set-asides: Not applicable

(3) Codes for services or supplies.

Product Service Code (PSC): B510 for Special Studies/Analysis-Environmental Assessment

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code: 541380 for Testing Laboratories and Services

(4) Description:

(i) The proposed non-competitive contract action is intended to be a sole source bridge extension for a maximum of 18 months and commensurate 2% ceiling increase in the estimated value of $581,089.25 to EPA’s indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract 68HERH21D0002 (and associated active Task Orders 68HERH21F0185, 68HERH21F0187, and 68HERH21F0188) beyond their current expiration date of September 1, 2026 to ensure continued support of EPA's on-site chemical analysis capabilities for emergency responses and mission critical ongoing maintenance of the PHILIS labs and instrumentation as the Agency completes the competitive PHILIS follow-on. 

Critical services under 68HERH21D0002 that must continue include the support of the Environmental Response Team and CBRN Division (ERT-CBRN) Portable High Throughput Integrated Laboratory Identification Systems (PHILIS) laboratory systems which provides multidisciplinary technical expertise to the Superfund program including homeland security activities and emergency response. The primary function of ERT-CBRND is to provide expert scientific engineering and technical support for:

• Execution of the Agency’s Primary Mission Essential Function to respond to environmental and health threats:
  • Prevent, limit mitigate or contain chemical, oil, radiological, biological and/or natural or man-made disasters in designated zones of the United States, and provide environmental monitoring, assessment, and reporting in support of overall domestic incident management.
• Providing timely and effective remote and direct field support at contaminated sites (e.g., remedial, removal, and federal facilities).
• Managing operation of deployable national assets and fixed/mobile laboratories, providing analytical support and developing new methods for environmental sampling and testing.

ERT-CBRN owns and operates portable, mobile labs, referred to as the PHILIS program that provides onsite analytical support for chemical contaminants that can be used to inform the first responder during times of need. The PHILIS laboratories are designed to detect Chemical Warfare Agents (CWAs), Pharmaceutical Based Agents (PBAs), and Toxic Industrial Chemicals (TICs). The PHILIS Program provides on-site mobile laboratory capabilities to support EPA’s mission of protecting human health and the environment by responding to chemical natural disasters, terrorist events, and accidental chemical and toxic releases, without the need to transport large numbers of samples to remote locations to add to the Nation’s resiliency under numerous current and future laws, regulations, policies, and Presidential Directive. The PHILIS program also provides contracted commercial laboratory sample analysis for excess capabilities that the other laboratories cannot analyze or do not have the capabilities to perform. The PHILIS laboratories act as the EPA’s mobile assets under the Environmental Response Laboratory Network (ERLN), which participates in exercises and responses within the Inter-agency Consortium of National laboratories (ICLN). Consequently, it must be maintained at the highest operational readiness standard at all times and must apply the highest quality, scientifically vetted analytical methods and data processing for the Agency. Contractor support is required due to the highly specific subject matter expertise required for analytical analysis, operational maintenance, and data analysis, which is not currently available within the Agency. 

The task orders that are currently active under the contract and are being extended under the requested bridge extension are listed below:

• 68HERH21F0185 for Chemical Laboratory Support in analyzing contaminated samples following sample collections for Chemical Warfare Agents (CWAs) and Toxic Industrial Chemicals (TICs) resulting from terrorist events or accidental chemical and toxic releases, without the need to transport large numbers of samples to remote locations through rapid deployment to an affected location to support consequence management
• 68HERH21F0187 for Biological Laboratory Support in analyzing contaminated samples following sample collections for Biological Agents (BIOs), pathogens, and bacteriological samples (BIO) resulting from terrorist events, natural disasters or accidental releases through rapid deployment to an affected location to support consequence management
• 68HERH21F0188 for General Support, providing general administrative and office support for the daily and emergency response operations and maintenance activities of the PHILIS systems on a 24 hour basis.

This proposed sole source contract action does not impact the scope or type of services required under the existing contract. 

(ii) The requested bridge extension is intended to be executed as a bilateral modification to the existing contract and associated task orders for an additional 12 months of performance (September 2, 2026 – August 31, 2027).  This justification also includes an optional extension period of six (6) months (September 1, 2027 – February 28, 2028) and associated ceiling. The Agency anticipates executing the modification prior to the current contract ordering period expiration date of September 1, 2026.

(iii) Not applicable. 

(iv) Not applicable.

(v) Not applicable.

(vi) NO SOLICITATION IS AVAILABLE. This notice is not a request for competitive proposals.  However, pursuant to Subpart 5.101(c)(4)(vi), all responsible sources may submit a capability statement which shall be considered by the Agency.  Capability statements must be received within the time set forth in this announcement to be considered by the Government.  Each response should include the following Business Information:
 

• Unique Entity Identifier (UEI)
• Company Name and Address
• Company Point of Contact, including Phone and Email
• Capability Statement

Responses to this notice must be in writing and provide clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government.  A determination not to compete based upon the responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.  All questions should be directed to Mr. John Liertz, Contract Specialist, ONLY VIA EMAIL at Liertz.John@epa.gov.   

(vii) Proposed Source: Consolidated Safety Services Incorporated (CSS), UEI: DFAEDF67P941

Pursuant to the authority granted by 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1): Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, as implemented by FAR Subpart 6.103-1., the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Chief Procurement Officer (OCPO), Land, Enforcement, and Air Division (LEAD) intends to issue a sole source bridge extension for a maximum of 18 months and commensurate ceiling increase in the estimated value of $581,089.25 to EPA’s indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract 68HERH21D0002 (and associated active Task Orders 68HERH21F0185, 68HERH21F0187, and 68HERH21F0188) beyond their current expiration date of September 1, 2026 to ensure continued support of EPA's on-site chemical analysis capabilities for emergency responses and mission critical ongoing maintenance of the PHILIS labs and instrumentation as the Agency completes the competitive PHILIS follow-on. 

While there are other companies who can perform chemical and biological analyses, there are presently no other contractors capable of supporting the immediate needs of the PHILIS program without causing detrimental and significant impacts to the program’s mission if the bridge extension is not processed to extend performance beyond the current expiration date of September 1, 2026. Accordingly, the Contracting Officer (CO) has determined that the only way to ensure that the mission critical PHILIS laboratory systems services continue uninterrupted is through a continuation of support under 68HERH21D0002 with Consolidated Safety Services Incorporated (CSS).  CSS specializes in the work under this contract and has gained substantial information for on-site chemical and biological analysis capabilities for emergency responses and mission critical ongoing maintenance of the PHILIS labs and instrumentation since contract award that are critical to fulfilling this requirement efficiently and effectively, without undue start-up time and additional costs required for another contractor to gain the knowledge already obtained by CSS. 

(viii) Not applicable.

(d) Timing. Responses to this notice and/or capability statement submissions must be received by August 14, 2026, NLT 4:30 PM EDT