Notice of Intent to Award a Sole Source Purchase Order for management of and online access to the MRL Database. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency?s (EPA) Office of Acquisition Management intends to award a sole source, fixed-price purchase order on behalf of the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP?s) Registration Support Branch. The purchase order will be issued under the authority of FAR Part 13.106-1(b)(1), to Bryant Christie, Inc. for continued maintenance of and access to Bryant Christie?s Minimum Residue Level (MRL) database. The MRL database is a critical resource for EPA to support its mission. It is a resource for Agency officials to access and compare foreign residue standards. As such, it facilitates the development of US Government policy, allows the Agency to respond to constituent inquiries, develop official comments on foreign proposed standards, and identify which foreign standards are inconsistent with international norms and could present a potential barrier to trade. Bryant Christie, Inc. is the sole provider of the MRL database. While other residue databases exist, EPA has identified the MRL database as the most comprehensive and up-to-date. Bryant Christie has relationships with 83 different governments and shares MRLs in a single database. The Agency believes that there is no other database available that contains the volume, detail, and currency of information needed to support its mission. NO SOLICITATION FOR QUOTES IS AVAILABLE FOR THIS PROCUREMENT. Notwithstanding, any firm that believes it is capable of meeting the requirements as stated herein, may submit capability documentation no later than 1:00 PM ET on Wednesday, 22 April 2015 for consideration. A determination not to compete the purchase order based upon the responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Any response to this notice must show clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government. All responses must be sent via FedConnect. FedConnect is a web portal that connects agencies and contractors to streamline the process of doing business with the federal government. There is no charge to use FedConnect. Contractors can register with FedConnect at www.fedconnect.net/FedConnect/. For assistance in registering, or for other FedConnect technical questions, contractors should call the FedConnect Help Desk at (800) 899-6665 or email at
[email protected]. Contractors not registered in FedConnect will not be able to respond to this posting.