B--Chiral Pyrethroids Pesticide Method Development

THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION (FAR) SUBPART 12.6 "SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS", AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION AND QUOTATIONS ARE HEREBY BEING REQUESTED. A WRITTEN SOLICITATION WILL NOT BE ISSUED. This solicitation number is RFQ-RT-12-00111 and the solicitation is being issued as a 100% small business set-aside competition Request for Quotation (RFQ) using FAR Part 12 Commercial Items and FAR Part 13 Simplified Acquisition Procedures. The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 05-55, effective February 2, 2012. The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 541380, Testing Laboratories, which has a size standard of $12.0 million, is applicable. A firm fixed-price contract is anticipated to result from award of this solicitation. A. SCOPE - This contract will support human exposure and regional methods program studies in the area of pesticide method development. The pyrethroid pesticide family is of interest due to their common usage in residential environments. Due to the complexity of these molecules, each is present in commercial products in several isomer and enantiomer forms. Single enantiomer standards are crucial for method development activities to determine the elution order from chromatographic columns. The information regarding enantiomer elution order is also imperative for calculating enantiomer fractions, comparing data to that of other researchers and conditions. Enantiomers and isomers are important to human exposure and Region 9 research because each can exhibit different toxicity and therefore impart different risk. Prior to the award of this contract, the contractor shall provide documentation of their Quality System by submitting objective evidence of quality systems (e.g., an existing quality manual, management plan, or policy). Additionally, the contractor shall submit documentation of the application of QC to this project specifically. Upon completion of the project, the contractor shall submit certificate of analysis documentation supporting the purity quality objectives described in the statement of work . Several methods of preparation of the stereoisomers of cypermethrin are feasible and acceptable, including but not limited to: 1) separation by preparative HPLC or SFC, 2) stereoselective synthesis, 3) antibody or other biologically mediated preparations. Technical cypermethrin is composed of 4 isomers (generally 51% cis- and 49% trans-) and 8 stereoisomers. Alpha-, beta-, theta-, and zeta-cypermethrin exist as mixtures of 6 stereoisomers (see Statement of Work Table 1). Upon request, the EPA will provide the contractor with ~1g of 95% purity technical cypermethrin for research uses. The Statement of Work Figure 1 shows the chemical structure of cypermethrin with chiral centers marked by an asterisk. It is important to note that the a-cyano stereocenter is unstable and may enantiomerize in certain environments, such as protic solvents (water and many alcohols) and high temperatures (>200 ?C) (refs. 7 and 12 in section 5). One alcohol that has proven to not enantiomerize cypermethrin is 2-butanol (1-methyl-1-propanol). Care must be taken during enantiomer preparation not to enantiomerize this chiral center to ensure purity. Each single stereoisomer shall be of >90% optical purity. Each stereoisomer shall also be of >97% compound purity. The contractor shall provide a certificate of analysis for the two purity criteria that lists the method of determination, and also document the optical rotation of enantiomers with measurement conditions. Each separate enantiomer shall be clearly identified as shown in the Statement of Work Table 1 , and the optical rotation (+ or -)(See Revised Statement of Work with Table 1 added at www.epa.gov/oam/rtp_cmd). Delivery of at least 50 mg of each stereoisomer is not to exceed 6 months from award date. Preparation conditions shall be disclosed to the Project Officer in the form of a report no later than 1 month after the delivery of the chemical products, but the contractor shall retain the right to publish t hese details. If problems or delays occur during the development, the contractor shall send a status report to the Project Officer in writing stating the problem, what steps are being taken to resolve the problem, and an estimated delay in product delivery if applicable. B. PROVISIONS - This requirement is being solicited with a proposed Period of Performance from September 1, 2012 thru August 31, 2013. FAR provisions and/or clauses referenced are available online at http://wwwarnet.gov/far. Solicitation Provision FAR 52.212-2, Evaluation - Commercial Items is hereby incorporated by reference with the fill-in for paragraph (a) of ?Price, Timeliness, Quantity of Promised Chemical Products, Quality/Purity of Promised Chemical Products, Quality/Accuracy of Described Method of Purity Analyses, and Sustainable Practices.? In accordance with FAR 15.304, all evaluation factors when combined will be equal to price. In accordance with FAR 52.204-7(b)(1) Central Contractor Regis tration, all prospective awardees shall be registered in the CCR database prior to award, during performance, and through final payment of any contract or purchasing agreement resulting from this solicitation. All offerors are to include with their offers a completed copy of provision 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items. The following FAR provisions apply to this acquisition: 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors - Commercial Items; and 52.212 4, Contract Terms and Conditions Commercial Items. The following additional FAR clauses which are cited in clauses 52.212 5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items are applicable to the acquisition: 52.219-28, Post Award Small Business Program Representation; 52.222-3 Convict Labor (E.O. 11755), 52.222-21 Prohibition of Segregated Facilities, 52.222 26, Equal Opportunity; 52.222 35, Affirmative Action for Disabled Veterans and Veterans of th e Vietnam Era; 52.222 36, Affirmative Action for Handicapped Workers; 52.222 37, Employment Reports on Special Disabled Veterans and Veterans of the Vietnam Era; 52.217-9, Option to Extend the Term of the Contract, 52.222-50 Combating Trafficking in Persons; 52.225-13 Restrictions on Certain Foreign Purchases; 52.232 33, Payment by Electronic Fund Transfer-Central Contractor Registration (31 U.S.C. 3332), 52.239-1, Privacy or Security Safeguards (5 U.S.C. 3332), and EPAARS 1552.211-79, Compliance with EPA Policies for Information Resources Management. Also within the solicitation are additional clauses for the Period of Performance and Option Periods. All technical questions should be forwarded via email to the Contract Specialist, Louis C. Williams, Jr., no-later-than August 13, 2012 at the following email address: contact@example.gov. Offerors should review any other information posted with this Request for Quotation on EPA's website at the following address: http://w ww.epa.gov/oam/rtp_cmd. Arrow down to the CURRENT SOLICITATIONS section and click on the solicitation. ALL FURTHER INFORMATION RELATED TO THIS SOLICITATION WILL BE LOCATED AT THE EPA WEBSITE. Signed and dated quotes referencing the number RFQ-RT-12-00111 must be submitted, no later than August 24, 2012, 12:00 PM (noon), Local Time to Louis C. Williams, Jr. at contact@example.gov . Louis Williams is the point of contact regarding this solicitation and can be reached at +1 (555) 000-0000, or email contact@example.gov.