CHEMISTRY & TOXICITY OF HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS IN PETROLEUM LABORATORY ANALYTICAL SERVICES

The United States Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) intends to solicit, negotiate and award a sole source purchase order with Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Science, located in East Boothbay, Maine for continuation of work supporting the on-going NOAA project - Chemistry and Toxicity of Heterocyclic Compounds in Petroleum. Beginning in 2015 the principal investigator at Bigelow, Christoph Aeppli, PhD., developed and optimized the protocols for preparation of mixtures of seawater, dispersant, and crude oil for use in toxicity studies on Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitis), conducting novel analyses to characterize them for a targeted set of heterocycle and oxy-hydrocarbon compounds being studied. The Government intends to utilize the authority under the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services will satisfy agency requirements, unless, as a result of this announcement, acceptable responses to this notice are received and a determination is made by the Government to issue a competitive solicitation. The Government intends to award a purchase order to Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Science since it is the laboratory of record to date for the project. During the continued implementation of this project, additional oil weathering, oil-water-dispersant mixture preparation, fractionation, and analytical chemistry services will be required to improve the understanding of the occurrence and bioavailability of polar compounds in oil-contaminated environmental media, which will guide future studies that test hypotheses relating these compounds to toxicity. As the chemist of record for this project, Dr. Aeppli has intimate knowledge of the ongoing study being conducted in collaboration with the Andrew Whitehead, PhD., of the University of California at Davis, and other members of the study team. Substantial duplication of cost to the Government is not expected to be recovered through a competitive process. Interested firms shall submit in writing, their name, address, point of contact, telephone number, business size and a brief statement regarding their capability to provide the required chemical mixture preparation, fractionation, and analyses for the project above and also any unique qualifications by 4:00 P.M. CDST April 6, 2016. In order to be considered, firms must submit pertinent and specific information on each of the following qualifications. Documentation is limited to 10 pages: 1) Interested firms must provide evidence of experience in the preparation of a variety of forms of water-accommodated fractions (WAFs) of oil, seawater, and dispersant; artificial weathering and fractionation and analyses of polar components of oil in seawater (specifically, heterocycle and oxygenated hydrocarbon compounds including naphthenic acids); and preparation of surrogate lipid passive samplers and conducting solid phase micro-extraction, analyzing for these same target compounds); 2) Provide a list of licensed disciplines within the firm qualified in performance these laboratory procedures; 3) Furnish information that demonstrates in-depth experience and capabilities, including available instrumentation and facilities for conducting the above-described experiments, and point of contact/phone number within the government for verification purposes; and 4) Provide scientific publications from peer-reviewed journals authored by the research team that would be proposed. The period of performance is anticipated from the date of award of the purchase order through approximately 18 months. The intended procurement will be awarded through FAR Part 13 Simplified Acquisition Procedures. Although the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with the only known source, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Science, all responses received prior to the close of this notice will be considered by the Government. This is not a request for proposals and there is no solicitation available at this time. The Government reserves the right either to solicit offers based on the receipt of affirmative responses to this notice or to issue a contract to Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Science, whichever is determined to be more advantageous to the Government, without further notice. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Offerors may send the above requested information to the following email address: jeanie.m.jennings@noaa.gov. The NAICS code for this requirement is 541712. All responsible sources may submit a response which will be considered by the Agency. All contractors doing business with the Government must be registered with the System for Award Management (SAM) website. Vendors can register with SAM at the following website: https://www.sam.gov