R--Analytical Laboratory Support for the Technical Support Center located at the An

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT SYNOPSIS FOR WRITTEN INFORMATION ONLY. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT FOR PROPOSALS AND NO CONTRACT WILL BE AWARDED FROM THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is performing a "market search" for large and small businesses in preparation for a future procurement. The EPA has need for a contractor to provide analytical laboratory support for the Office of Water, Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, technical Support Center (TSC) at the Andrew W. Breidenbach Environmental Research Center (AWBERC) in Cincinnati, Ohio. The principal objective of the TSC is to assure that the drinking water provided to all Americans is of sufficient quality to protect the public health. To be considered a potential source, a firm must demonstrate they are able to provide the necessary personnel and services to support the effort delineated by the Performance Work Statement. (PWS) Important components of the activities to be performed to support TSC's objective are the operation of an on-site chemical and microbiological laboratory. Services to be performed include: conduct development and testing of measurement methods to determine sensitivity, selectivity, reliability, accuracy, precision and quality assurance and control; perform chemical and microbiological analyses of water samples using written methods, and "state of the art" instrumentation and equipment; conduct analyte preservation studies; collect ship, and receive filled samples; conduct both limited and national microbiological and chemical occurrences surveys; design and implementation both a rigorous quality assurance and quality control program for all contractor's activities subject to the inspection of the Project officer; make technical presentations to visitors at the TSC laboratory; and provide statistical support in areas related to the work of the contract. The successful contractor shall provide all necessary labor, materials, and services in support of the efforts. A draft PWS can be obtained from the OAM website, http://www.epa.gov/oam/cinn_cmd/. It is anticipated that the contract will be a Firm Fixed Price Contract starting in August 2011 with a one year Base Period and four Optional Periods of 12 months each. Approximately 17,000 LOE hours are anticipated for each contract period. The applicable NAICS code is 541380 with a size standard of $12,000,000. Any interested firm should submit information which demonstrates the firm's ability to perform the key requirements described above. Standard company brochures alone will not be considered a sufficient response to this Sources Sought Synopsis. The information should include: size status for the above referenced NAICS code, (i.e. large, small) and whether or not they are a certified Hubzone, 8(a), women-owned, small disadvantaged and/or service disabled veteran owned small business concern, point of contact, telephone number, email and interest in proposing on the solicitation when issued. The EPA reserves the right to set this action aside for small businesses if it determines that there are two or more small businesses able to compete in terms of market prices, quality, and delivery. If set aside, a small business would be required to perform at least 50 percent of the direct labor costs incurred under the contract with its own personnel (FAR 52.219-14). Capability statements from small businesses should address their ability to meet this requirement. Responses to the above should be submitted to Donna Reinhart, USEPA, 26 West Martin Luther King Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45268, or contact@example.gov no later than March 8, 2011. A separate synopsis will be issued for the Request for Proposal (RFP) resulting from this sources sought synopsis.