Q--LABORATORY ANALYSIS OF SOIL SAMPLES

THIS IS A PROPOSED SOLE SOURCE PROCUREMENT NOTICE. Interested parties may respond to this notice by contacting Michael Fatale at 267-528-1421 prior to 29 May 2013. The National Park Service intends to issue a purchase order to the University of Maine Soil Testing Laboratory on a sole source basis for certain forest soil testing analysis services up to a maximum quantity of 250 samples. The Northeast Region (NER) Inventory and Monitoring Program (I&M) require analysis of forest soil samples in network parks in order to support long term monitoring of forest ecological integrity. This monitoring is in accordance with network Vital Signs Monitoring Plans and a monitoring protocol specific to forest health monitoring. The NPS will collect, dry, and label all soil samples, and pay for shipping charges to and from the lab. 2. TASK DESCRIPTION The soil lab shall: a) Sieve O horizon samples through 6mm mesh and B horizon samples through 2 mm mesh. b) Analyses will use the nutrient extraction procedures specifically developed for acidic New England soils, and will include: pH measured in water Organic matter by loss on ignition at 550 C Exchangeable acidity, extracted in 1N KCl and measured by titration Exchangeable cations, extracted in 1N NH4Cl and measured by ICP-OES, to include Calcium, Potassium, Magnesium, Phosphorous, Aluminum, Iron, Manganese, Sodium, and Zinc Effective Cation Exchange Capacity by summation of base cations and KCl-acidity Total Nitrogen and total Carbon by dry combustion The Government, therefore, intends to solicit, negotiate, and/or purchase this requirement on a sole source basis under the authority of FAR 6.302-1 as only one responsible source is available to provide this service. This notice of intent is not a request for proposals; however, any and all responses must be received within 15 days of this notice. A determination by the Government not to open this requirement to competition based on the responses received to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.