NOAA Office of Response and Restoration Environmental Database Support Services

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Eastern Region Acquisitions Division-Kansas City office intends to award, on a sole source basis, under the authority of FAR 13.501(a) (1), with Exa Data & Mapping Services, Inc., a purchase order to provide environmental data management and analysis primarily for contaminant chemistry, toxicity (bioassay) test results, and biological & observational data. These data are managed and used in support of NOAA's capability to evaluate the effects of hazardous substance releases from waste sites or incidents of oil or chemical spills on NOAA's trustee resources and habitats of interest. This contract will also provide support for integrating and maintaining restoration monitoring data in support of ling-term monitoring. Sole Source Justification: Exa possesses the unique suite of specialized skills and qualifications to perform the requirements of this procurement. An open competition to fulfill the data management and analysis effort would cause intolerable delay to the Damage Assessment Remediation and Restoration Program ((DARRP) which includes Offices from National Ocean Service, National Marine Fisheries Service and General Counsel for Natural Resources) due to the time required to review decades of legacy work done by NOAA's DARRP program which has established legal precedent, and the coding and scripting of data conversion processes. In addition, a unique combination of database programming and ecotoxicology expertise is required. Ongoing Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) cases are dependent on the continued high quality and rapid delivery of data and analysis that comes from this effort; a disruption or delay to the Program's ability to integrate new data or generate analysis based on existing data holdings pose a significant risk to the Government. The requirement cannot be modified to increase competition due to the integral function that data integration serves in NOAA DARRP's overall data management process. By using open-source industry standard tools including MySQL, PostgreSQL databases, and Pentaho software to develop data integration routines, NOAA retains the ability to customize and validate its processes. Adoption of a proprietary system or solution for data integration would involve a significant down-time (likely years) to transition, and greatly reduce the ability for NOAA to access and understand data conversion and standardization processes. Additionally, our data management process is based on open-source tools (as opposed to proprietary systems) that allow us to customize and adapt our processes, and expand capacity in the event of an emergency with no additional software costs. There is the additional critical need for specialists with deep knowledge of the NOAA chemistry, bioassay and field observations standards and data usage to make decisions about data conversion and standardization that obviates the ability for a proprietary system to appropriate this function. This special notice is not a request for competitive offers and no solicitation package is available. However, firms that believe they can provide this service may submit substantiating documentation in writing within fifteen (15) days of this notice. Responses can be sent via e-mail to anthony.ciolli@noaa.gov or tyrone.m.lewis@noaa.gov. Documentation will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to conduct a competitive procurement, based upon response to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice. If no documentation is received, award will be made directly to Exa Data & Mapping Services, Inc. DOC, Eastern Region Acquisition Division requires that all contractors doing business with this office be registered with the System for Award Management (SAM). No award can be made to a company not registered in SAM. For additional information and to register in SAM, please access the following web site: www.sam.gov. To register, all contractors must have a Dun and Bradstreet number. A Dun and Bradstreet number may be acquired free of charge by contacting Dun and Bradstreet on-line .