The U.S. Geological Survey has awarded purchase order # G13PX01418 for the Operation of Field-Based Precipitation Collection Station #OH71 (water sampling and recording in support of research efforts) to Mr. Charles Vrotney as a sole source requirement. The USGS has determined that there is no other source that can provide the above services (see sole source justification below); therefore, the USGS has made award to Charles Vrotney for a base year and four option years. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) considers employee signatures to be Personal Protected Information, and therefore all employee signatures have been redacted. By posting this document, the Contracting Officer attests all appropriate signatures have been obtained. SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION STATES THE FOLLOWING PART: Sole Source Justification for USGS Award G13PX01418 The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) considers employee signatures to be Personal Protected Information, and therefore all employee signatures have been redacted. By posting this document, the Contracting Officer attests all appropriate signatures have been obtained. JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition (FAR 13) 1. Contracting Agency and Activity. The Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey, Office of Acquisition and Grants plans to contract by means other than full and open competition. This document sets forth the justification and approval for use of one of the exceptions to full and open competition allowed under the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) of 1984. 2. Nature of Action Being Approved. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Water Resources Discipline, Office of Water Quality requests a sole source acquisition with the following provider of atmospheric deposition station operation services for a cooperatively supported station between the USGS and the site owner and operator in support of the interagency National Atmospheric Deposition Program, National Trends Network (NADP-NTN): Mr. Charles Vrotney for station operation: The station, designated site OH71 in the NADP-NTN network, is located in Wayne County near Wooster, Ohio, latitude 40.7813, longitude -81.9197 on land owned by the Ohio State University at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. 3. Description of Supplies or Services. Operation of an NADP/NTN wet atmospheric monitoring station. Operation requires weekly site visits to the site to collect, process, and ship the precipitation sample, collect, process and transmit associated data with the site including the precipitation gage record and perform routine instrument checks, maintenance and repairs as needed. NADP site operations is described in detail in the document National Trends Network Site Operations Manual at http://nadp.sws.uiuc.edu/lib/manuals/opman.pdf 4. Estimated Dollar Value. [Information redacted] 5. Statutory Authority. The proposed action may be awarded without full and open competition under 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1) as implemented in FAR 13.106-1(b)(1): Only One source is reasonably available - the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available (e.g., urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, brand name or industrial mobilization). 6. Rationale Supporting Use of Citation in No. 5. Charles Vrotney holds emeritus professor status with the Ohio State University system. As such he has retained permission to access and conduct research and monitoring on this University research area owned by the University on land where the NTN site OH71 is located. He also services a University weather station collocated with the USGS equipment which enables activities to be combined at a significant savings to all parties. The additional and immediate cost to the USGS to train new site operator(s) other than those requested would be approximately [Information redacted] for travel and training. The analytical laboratory is located in a University building. Some field and analytical equipment is owned by the University, and is not open to the public for use by other contractors. 7. Other Information. The NADP is a public, nonprofit, unincorporated, interstate association of parties interested in atmospheric deposition and its effects. It is structured as a cooperative program that represents coordinated efforts of many Federal, state, academic, and private organizations and individuals to operate monitoring sites, report data, and oversee research activities related to atmospheric deposition. Membership in NADP is open to individuals and institutions interested in participating in any aspect of atmospheric deposition monitoring and/or research stemming from NADP data. This organizational structure is consistent with State Agricultural Experiment Station (SAES) Guidelines for Multi-state Research Activities. The contracts the USGS seeks to award represent partnerships to support sites in the most efficient manner with organizations and individuals that own and control the local site locations. Under the interagency National Acidic Precipitation Assessment Program established in 1981, the USGS is the designated lead agency for the monitoring of atmospheric deposition and NADP is the operational organization through which the USGS and other participating organizations accomplish this national-scale monitoring in the most efficient and cost-effective manner. 8. The Efforts to Identify Additional Sources Including the Market Research Conducted. Where a USGS-supported site can be potentially operated by any number of interested individuals or organizations, we offer those site duties via a competitive process. This document describes the situation where we have sites that cannot be competed due to the cooperative partnership aspect of these sites location and ownership. No other source is known in the Wooster, Ohio, area that is qualified to complete the requirement. 9. Future Plans to Permit Competition. Although these cooperative sites have typically been operated for many years often by the same organization or individual, when and if the opportunity arises to either relocate the site or have the operation of the site turned over to another organization, the USGS has and will in the future use a competitive process to select a new site operation partner. 10. Recommendation and Certification from Program Office Based on the above, I recommend this acquisition be conducted on the basis of other than full and open competition. I certify that technical data which form a basis for this justification that are the responsibility of technical or requirements personnel are complete and accurate. _____Mark A. Nilles____ ___ [signature redacted]___ _____08-06-13____ National Program Manager Signature Date Office of Water Quality 11. Certifications from the Contracting Officer: The Contracting Officer has determined that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable based on the stated cost [Information redacted] from this rural and undeveloped region of the United States. This price is within range of other precipitation station site collection fees, such as those seen on previously awarded USGS purchase orders [Information redacted]. All of the requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act, (41 U.S.C. 253), as implemented in the Federal and Interior Acquisition Regulations, have been considered in preparing this justification. This justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. 13. Approvals [signature redacted] ____________________________________ _08/21/2013__ Katherine Vultaggio, Contracting Officer Date
