SOURCES SOUGHT: This is a SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE. The U.S. Geological Survey is conducting a MARKET SURVEY to determine the interest and capability of any firm eligible to compete under NAICS code 541380 with a Small Business Size Standard $14.0 M for an upcoming requirement for the National Water Quality Lab, in Denver, CO to provide low-level tritium analysis. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION. ALL COST ASSOCIATED WITH PROVIDING INFORMATION AS REQUESTED BY THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE SHALL BE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CONTRACTOR. Submission is voluntary. This requirement is for Low-Level Tritium Analysis of Aqueous Environmental Samples. Samples are to be analyzed using electrolytic enrichment and gas counting to reach minimum detectable concentration of 0.3 pCi/L at the 95% confidence level. Some samples may require the 10 pCi/L MDC. Performance Objective: Contract Quality Assurance/Quality Control Requirements Performance Testing Studies The Contractor shall participate in external performance testing studies. The results of the Contractor¿s participation shall be furnished to the COR when received by Contractor. The Contractor must participate in the International Atomic Energy (IAE) tritium comparison study (Last study was in 2012) Internal Quality Control The Contractor shall maintain a quality system for the laboratory. The Contractor shall supply the COR with a copy of its quality assurance and quality control procedures. The Contractor shall not deviate from the stated quality control procedures without approval from the COR and CO. The Contractor shall obtain and maintain a set of radioisotope standards that are traceable to National Institute Standards and Technology (NIST). These standards are to be used to daily calibrate instrumentation and prepare internal quality control standards. The Contractor shall analyze a blank sample, a laboratory control sample, and a replicate sample with every analytical batch. These QC results are to be reported with the sample results. Analysis of these QC samples shall be at no cost to the Government. The blank shall be less than the sample specific Critical level (ssLc). The LCS¿at the upper end, the result ¿ 2x CSU shall be less than or equal to the known value. The recovery shall not be less than 80% at the lower end. The Contractor shall inform the COR verbally immediately upon discovery that any performance requirement is not being met. The Contractor shall; follow the verbal notification with a written explanation and corrective action plan? External Quality Assurance Approximately five percent of samples delivered to the Contractor will be USGS quality assurance samples. These may include blanks, standards (spiked samples) or replicate samples. The results of the analyses of the standards and replicate samples will be used by the COR to judge overall performance by the Contractor. The USGS may request rerun analyses on as much as 5 percent of the yearly sample total. The reruns will be performed at Contractor expense. If the rerun requests exceed 5 percent of the yearly sample load, the Contractor will not be paid for the rerun if the new value is outside of the 1-sigma combined standard uncertainty of the first value. The USGS will pay for the rerun if the rerun value lies within the 1-sigma combined standard uncertainty of the first value. On-site laboratory audits may be conducted at the discretion of the Government. It is anticipated that these audits will be conducted annually. The COR will give advance notice to the Contractor of at least one month prior to the on-site audit. However, advance notice is not required. A scope of work will be provided with any solicitation that may be issued. The Government is not required to issue a solicitation. Responses to this announcement are requested from Small Businesses. In response to this announcement, please indicate your firm's socioeconomic status (e.g. small business, service-disabled veteran-owned, women owned, HUBZone, etc.) This information will assist the Government in determining how small businesses can fit into the acquisition strategy. A firm is considered small under NAICS code 541380 if their AVERAGE annual receipts for the preceding three (3) years were less than or equal to $14.0 million. Any information submitted is voluntary. If sufficient interest and capability is not received from small business firms, any solicitation may be issued as unrestricted without further consideration. Interested small business firms who feel that they can provide the analysis (based upon the criteria specified herein), are invited to submit in writing an affirmative response to this announcement. An affirmative response must include a copy of the laboratory¿s NELAC accreditation certificate, results of all PT/PE results for the previous two years, literature, brochures, and such other materials which correspond to the required analyses stated herein. References with contact names and phone numbers must also be listed. These references are to be for contracts similar in scope and with the same technical and QA/QC requirements as the contract under consideration. This information will be evaluated and used to determine if competitive opportunities exist. PT samples may be sent to the responders for analysis, if deemed necessary. These samples are to be analyzed at no cost to the Government. Interested small business firms shall also provide a spreadsheet listing at least four (4) blanks, four (4) LCS¿s and four (4) sample results. Each result is to be accompanied by the corresponding 1 sigma combined standard uncertainty. The sample specific critical level and the sample specific MDC. The Government may send PT samples to interested laboratories. These PT sample are to be analyzed at no expense to the Government. There will be no subcontracting of analytical work under this contract. Small business firms who feel they can provide the analysis shall also submit (1) NAME, ADDRESS, and PHONE NUMBER OF THE FIRM (including DUNS NUMBER); and (2) their SIZE STATUS. Your company must have a DUNs number and be registered on-line at the Contractor's Central Registration (CCR). You will also be required to provide your small business status information either via the RFP or the On-line Representations and Certifications (ORCA) website before an award to your company can be made. Your on-line ORCA registration will cover any/all of your offers to the Federal Government, and only needs updated annually. All responses must be submitted NLT December 5, 2014 at 3:00pm MST via e-mail to:
contact@example.gov. This is NOT a Request for Proposal (RFP) or Invitation for Bid (IFB) and does not constitute any commitment by the Government. Responses to this sources sought notice will be used by the Government to make appropriate acquisition decisions. All interested sources must respond to future solicitation announcements separately from responses to this market survey. Any solicitation that may be issued will be posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website and no paper copies will be provided.
