R--On-Site Lab Support for TSC

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. NO REIMBURSEMENT WILL BE MADE FOR ANY COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH PROVIDING INFORMATION IN RESPONSE TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND ANY FOLLOW-UP REQUESTS. NO TELEPHONE CALLS REQUESTING A SOLICITATION WILL BE ACCEPTED OR ACKNOWLEDGED. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is performing "market research" to identify the capabilities of firms that can provide analytical laboratory support to EPA's 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: Developing and validating analytical methods for the analysis of drinking water; providing assistance with the statistical and experimental aspects of project planning; performing chemical and microbiological analyses; monitoring proficiency tests; performing statistical treatment of data; supporting laboratory certification efforts; providing Cryptosporidium laboratory technical support; writing reports of the results and producing videos, PowerPoint presentations, online courses and webinars. It is anticipated that the contract will be a Firm Fixed Price contract starting in February 2017 with a one year Base Period and four Optional Periods of 12 months each. Approximately 5 Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) are anticipated for each contract period with 2.5 additional optional FTEs each contract period. The applicable NAICS code is 541380 with a size standard of $15 million in average annual receipts. The $15 million in average annual receipts is effective February 26, 2016 and is applicable to this sources sought announcement. The successful contractor shall provide all necessary labor, materials, and services in support of the efforts. A draft copy of the PWS is included as an attachment in FedConnect. Interested parties with the capability of providing any of the services described in the draft PWS posted at the FedConnect website: https://www.fedconnect.net/ are invited to submit a ten (10) page document, in writing, with sufficient information that clearly demonstrates their ability to provide the services described in the draft PWS, including personnel, experience and qualifications. A description of similar services previously or currently provided shall be provided. Standard company brochures 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. Capabilities Statements in response to this Sources Sought Synopsis MUST BE SUBMITTED THROUGH THE FEDCONNECT PORTAL by 4:00 p.m. EST, on March 1, 2016. Any questions regarding the content of this sources sought synopsis announcement must be submitted through the FedConnect portal. You must register with FedConnect to submit documents, questions, and to view responses. FedConnect can be accessed at https://www.fedconnect.net/Fedconnect/. FedConnect is a web portal that connects agencies and vendors to streamline the process of doing business with the federal government. Through FedConnect, contractors will be able to receive, review and respond to contract pre- and post-award actions and documents such as correspondence, request for proposals, tasking instruments and contract modifications. The use of FedConnect also furthers the EPA's commitment to moving towards a paperless acquisition environment by reducing its carbon footprint and conducting its business in an ecologically friendly manner. There is no charge to use FedConnect. For assistance in registering or for other FedConnect technical questions please call the FedConnect Help Desk at +1 (555) 000-0000 or email at contact@example.gov. In addition, all vendors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM), as this facilitates registration for FedConnect. Please note that vendors MUST have their SAM profile set to "public" otherwise FedConnect will not be able to access the SAM information required to validate vendor credentials. Registration may be completed, and information regarding the registration process may be obtained at http://www.sam.gov. There is no charge for registration in SAM. A separate synopsis will be issued for the Request for Proposal (RFP) resulting from this sources sought synopsis. Any resulting contract from the RFP will be a follow-on to contract EP-C-12-013 with CB&I Federal Services LLC.