Description
This is a resubmission of a failed transmission to FBO from the week of 29 September 2014. Limited Source Justification for Ceiling Increase to EPA Task Order EP10H000898 under GS-10F-0061N 1) Identification of the Agency, Contracting Activity, and Document being approved: a. Agency/Procurement Office: U.S.Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)/Office of Acquisition Management b. Organization: Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) c. Modification 56 to EP-10-H-000898 d. Contractor: Industrial Economics, Inc. (IEc) 2) Description of action being approved: This Limited Source Justification is for an increase to the ceiling of the current performance period of the referenced Task Order in the amount of $400,000. This ceiling increase is necessary because work under the prior option period of the order proceeded at an unusually slow rate as a result of the federal government sequestration and the shutdown of the government in October, 2013. Funds for non-severable services under this order - that would have normally been utilized if not for such unusual circumstances - had to be moved into the current period, thereby creating a reduced capacity for new tasking and necessitating the need for the described increase. 3) Description of Supplies or Services Required: The purpose of the task order is to provide OECA with corporate finance, municipal finance, and accounting expertise to allow the agency to determine 1) the economic benefit of the non- compliance of environmental violators, 2) violators ability to pay for compliance, clean-ups, and civil penalties, 3) the value of supplemental environmental projects (SEPs), and 4) the value of compliance. The Contractor provides support in updating the computer models used to make the aforementioned determinations, develops new models as appropriate, and educates enforcement staff on the models. The Contractor also provides expert advice to enforcement personnel regarding financial issues that impact enforcement litigation and, when directed, provide support for enforcement negotiations, and provide expert witness testimony at hearings and trials. 4) Authority and Supporting Rationale: Authority for this action is provided by FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C): the work is a logical follow-on to the effort provided under the referenced Federal Supply Schedule order and it would not be in the interest of economy and efficiency to obtain the services from any other source. The procurement of the current task order was conducted as a Federal Supply Schedule competitive acquisition using ordering procedures contained in FAR 8.4. It is critical for the support of ongoing enforcement actions that the delay in the execution of earlier taskings, detailed in item #2, not prevent the agency from obtaining support for forthcoming needs. 5) Determination by the ordering activity contracting officer that the order represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d): The ordering activity has determined that increasing the ceiling price represents a best value (as defined by FAR 2.101) and results in the lowest overall cost alternative (considering price and administrative costs). The rates for work under this Task Order have already been deemed fair and reasonable in accordance with FAR 8.404(d). 6) A description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted: Market research was not conducted for this ceiling increase action as it was not in the interest of economy or efficiency for the agency to consider other sources for the effort being performed under the current task order. 7) Other facts supporting this justification: IEc has been successfully providing the discussed services to the EPA and is the only vendor that can provide any potential additional support in excess of the current order ceiling without causing unnecessary burden to the government. 8) A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the restricted consideration before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made: The increase in the total potential ceiling price is necessary to ensure that critical agency enforcement actions are not impeded. Restriction of sources will be eliminated in the future by the competitive procurement of services, currently provided under the current Task Order, using FAR 8.4 procedures. 9) The ordering activity contracting officer's certification that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of the contracting officer's knowledge and belief: This is to certify that the Limited Sources Justification has been reviewed and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, the information provided to support the rationale and recommendation for approval is accurate and complete. Michael Gilham 9/29/14 Contracting Officer Office of Acquisition Management 10) Technical or Requirements Personnel Certification: This is to certify that the provided supporting information which is the responsibility of the undersigned program representative is accurate and complete. Jackson Schad 9/29/14 Task Order COR, OECA