A--NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE

In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Biomolecular and Computational Toxicology Division within the Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure (ORD/CCTE/BCTD) has a requirement for its Chemical Safety for Sustainable (CSS) Research Program. More specifically, there is a substantial need for human thyroid tissue recovery and isolation of thyrocytes to be processed by a commercial vendor (LifeNet Health) and transferred to US EPA for non-clinical research purposes. This critical service supports the development and application of an in vitro human thyroid organotypic model for chemical screening, which is a programmatic need of the Office of Research and Development (ORD) as well as the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), Office of Water (OW), Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM). The government intends to award a firm fixed price purchase order to LifeNet Health for a period of one (1) year with an additional four (4) one (1) year optional periods. A determination by the Government not to compete this requirement based on responses to this notice is solely within discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to conduct competitive procurement. The North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this effort is 541715, Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology). All current and potential contractors shall use FedConnect which is available at https://www.fedconnect.net/FedConnect/default.htm. There is no charge to use FedConnect. FedConnect is hosted by Compusearch, all related questions from vendors/contractors will be answered by Compusearch. If having issues with FedConnect or not registered in FedConnect at this time an exception is extended and alternate responses may be received by e-mail: contact@example.gov. This announcement constitutes the only synopsis for this requirement; and is issued for notification purposes only. No known potential alternate sources exist which could satisfy EPA's requirement. This notice of intent is not a request for quote/proposal. Any interested party that believes it is capable of meeting EPA's requirement described herein may identify themselves and must provide evidence of their capability to fulfill this requirement being requested by 0900 CT on November 9, 2020. Responses must be submitted in writing to contact@example.gov no later than the time and date noted above. Telephone responses and requests will not be accepted.