SOURCES SOUGHT: This is a SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is conducting a MARKET SURVEY to determine the interest and capability of any firm eligible to compete under NAICS code 326160 Plastic Bottle Manufacturing with a Small Business size standard in number of 1,250 employees for an upcoming requirement of Polyethylene Bottles and Caps. Information and Background: The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), National Water Quality Laboratory (NWQL), located in Lakewood, CO, has a requirement for polyethylene bottles and caps for use in the Water Resource Discipline (WRD) water sampling and testing programs. The bottles and caps are shipped from the NWQL to USGS Water Science Centers (WSC) throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. The WSC¿s fill the bottles with water samples and ship the full bottles back to the NWQL for analysis. Scope: This specification covers the requirements for high density polyethylene (HDPE) bottles and caps. The Government may add or delete items from the contract based on the changing needs of its sampling and testing programs throughout the period of performance of the contract. Requirements: (a) The Contractor shall supply high density polyethylene bottles (HDPE), which shall have a thickness of .30 inches or 1 millimeter (mm). The bottles shall be: (1) Narrow mouth with a neck size of 28-410 (mm) and of a shape known in the industry as 'Modern Round" (wide sloping shoulders) for the 125, 250, 500, and 1,000 milliliter (ml) sizes. (b) The Contractor shall supply high density polypropylene bottles, which shall have a thickness of .060 inches or 2 millimeter (mm). The bottles shall be: (1) Wide mouth with straight sides¿ size 89-400 natural color. The polypropylene bottle (jar) shall have the standard Society Plastics Industry (SPI) 400 thread finish able to withstand a torque application of 36-53 pounds per square inch. Note: The recycling code shall be imprinted on the bottom of each bottle. (c) The Contractor shall supply a polypropylene bottle closure with a foam liner for all 28-410 bottles in colors of black and natural (clear). The cap for the 89-400 bottles shall be a phenolic type, black in color. The liner for each shall mold itself around sealing areas of the finish as it is screwed on and shall be secured to closure so it cannot become dislodged or fall out. The physical properties of the foam-lined cap shall be as follows: Thickness Range--.045" to .055", Standard Density-22 lb. /ft. 3 yield, 1.70 yd.2/lb. to .90 yd.2/lb., Structure co-extruded polyethylene, with no adhesives, chemically fused into a single polymeric product. Co-extruded facings doubly insure that the closed cell foam is sealed. Cap/Closure sizes shall be as follows for: 125 ml (4 oz.) modern round - 28-410 250 ml (8 oz.) modern round - 28-410 500 ml (16 oz.) modern round - 28-410 500 ml (16 oz.) straight side - 89-400 1,000 ml (32 oz.) modern round - 28-410 (d) Pre-cleaned bottles shall be shipped capped with a pre-cleaned clear (natural) colored polypropylene cap on the 28-410 sizes and the black phenolic cap on the 89-400. Un-cleaned bottles shall be shipped without caps. When black polypropylene caps size 28-410 or extra phenolic caps 89-400 are required, they shall be ordered separately as the line items dictate in the requirements. All contents contained within the packaging for shipment shall be protected with a closed clear plastic liner to maintain cleanliness of bottles. Quality Assurance (QA): The Contractor shall insure that the bottles and caps meet the quality standards, in terms of the quality analysis stated below. The NWQL will randomly perform a quality analysis of the bottles and caps received from orders placed against the contract. The Contractor shall allow for a thirty (30) day QA inspection and acceptance period after the bottles and caps have been received by the USGS/NWQL. This is necessary to ensure the quality standards have been met. Bottles or caps not meeting the QA acceptance criteria will be returned to the Contractor at no charge to the Government. Bottles or caps that meet the acceptance criteria shall be re-shipped to the NWQL at no charge to the Government. The re-shipment of bottles or caps shall be accomplished within thirty (30) days of being notified of the receipt of unacceptable bottles or caps by the Government. The following will be the criteria for the QA analysis: UN-CLEANED BOTTLES: (a) Amber Bottles - Analysis for Nutrients Contamination 1. A statistically valid number of bottles will be randomly selected by NWQL from several shipping cartons. 2. These bottles will be rinsed 3 times with filtered deionized water, filled with 120 ml of filtered deionized water, and analyzed for the following nutrients. At least one control sample from another approved shipment will be added. 3. Analyst will run standard solutions and commercially prepared reference materials along with this group of samples to check for accuracy. 4. All notes on the preparation will be recorded in a permanent notebook. 5. If any nutrients are found in excess of the acceptable limits, the outlying samples will be rerun first, and then a check analysis will be performed on an additional statistically-valid sampling of bottles from the shipment. The above analytical procedure (2-4) will again be followed on the additional set of bottles. 6. The data will be kept on file in the NWQL¿s Quality Assurance Section. Acceptance Limits-Nutrients Parameter Maximum Concentration (mg/L) Ammonia as N (NH4) DA 0.02 Phosphate-Ortho as P (PO4) DA 0.004 Nitrite as N (NO2) DA 0.001 Nitrite + Nitrate as N (NO2+NO3) CFA 0.01 Total Phosphorous (P) CFA 0.003 Total Nitrogen (N) CFA 0.07 DA=Discrete analyzer CFA=Continuous Flow analyzer (b) Clear Bottles - Analysis for Alkalinity and Anion Contamination 1. A statistically valid number of bottles will be randomly selected by NWQL from several shipping cartons. 2. These bottles will be rinsed 3 times with filtered deionized water, filled with filtered deionized water, and analyzed for the following anions at the specified limits. At least one control sample from another approved shipment will be added. 3. Analyst will run Quality Control Standards along with the group of samples. 4. Determination of alkalinity, bromide, chloride, fluoride, sulfate and silica will be performed on this sample group. 5. If alkalinity or any anions are found in excess of the acceptable limits, the outlying samples will be rerun and if still out of limits, a check will be performed on an additional statistically-valid sampling of bottles from the shipment. The above analytical procedure (2-4) will again be followed. 6. All notes on the preparation will be recorded in a permanent notebook and will be kept on file in the Quality Assurance Section. Acceptable Limits Alkalinity and Anions Parameter Maximum Concentration (mg/L) Alkalinity ALKY 4.6 Bromide IC 0.01 Chloride IC 0.02 Fluoride ISE 0.01 Sulfate IC 0.02 Silica DA 0.06 IC = Ion Chromatography ISE = Ion Selective Electrode DA=Discrete analyzer PRE-CLEANED BOTTLES: (a) Clear Bottles - Analyses for Metals Contamination 1. Bottles and caps will be cleaned by the manufacturer with a minimum of 10% nitric acid solution then thoroughly rinsed with deionized water and capped with clear caps. 2. A statistically valid number of bottles will be randomly selected by NWQL from several shipping cartons. 3. Acid-rinsed bottles will be rinsed 3 times with filtered deionized water, filled with about 200 mL of filtered deionized water, and acidified with 2 mL of Ultrex 7.6 N nitric acid. 4. The leach waters will be analyzed by selected methods for the elements listed below. 5. If any elements are found in excess of the acceptance limits, the sample is re-analyzed and a check analysis will be performed on a statistically-valid sampling of additional bottles from the shipments. The above analytical procedure (3-4) will be followed. 6. Confirmation of systematic elemental contamination by the check analysis will be basis for rejection of that shipment of the vendor's bottles. Metals Contamination Acceptance Limits Parameter Maximum contamination (ug/L) Aluminum cICP-MS 3 Antimony ICP-MS 0.06 Arsenic cICP-MS 0.1 Barium ICP-MS 0.1 Beryllium ICP-MS 0.01 Boron ICP-OES 2 Cadmium ICP-MS 0.03 Calcium ICP-OES 0.02 mg/L Chromium cICP-MS 0.5 Cobalt cICP-MS 0.03 Copper cICP-MS 0.4 Iron ICP-OES 5 Lead ICP-MS 0.02 Lithium ICP-MS 0.15 Metals Contamination Acceptance Limits Parameter Maximum contamination (ug/L) Magnesium ICP-OES 0.01 mg/L Manganese ICP-MS 0.4 Molybdenum ICP-MS 0.05 Nickel cICP-MS 0.2 Potassium ICP-OES 0.004 mg/L Selenium cICP-MS 0.05 Silica (as SiO2) ICP-OES 0.05 mg/L Silver ICP-MS 1 Sodium ICP-OES 0.4 mg/L Strontium ICP-MS 0.5 Thallium ICP-MS 0.04 Tungsten ICP-MS 0.03 Uranium ICP-MS 0.03 Vanadium cICP-MS 0.1 Zinc cICP-MS 2 ICP-MS=Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometry ICP-OES=Inductively Coupled Plasma - Optical Emission Spectrometry cICP-MS=Collision Cell Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometry THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION. ALL COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH PROVIDING INFORMATION AS REQUESTED BY THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE SHALL BE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CONTRACTOR. Submission is voluntary. A scope of work will be provided with any solicitation that may be issued. The Government is not required to issue a solicitation. Responses to this announcement are requested from (A) SBA certified Small Business HubZone firms; (B) Small Business firms certified by a Small Business Administration (SBA) district or regional office for participation in the 8(a) program; (C) Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned small Business firms; (D) Small Businesses; (E) Women Owned Small Businesses; and (F) Large Businesses. In response to this announcement, please indicate your firm's socioeconomic status (e.g. small business, service-disabled veteran-owned, women owned, HUBZone, etc.) This information will assist the Government in determining how small businesses can fit into the acquisition strategy. A firm is considered small under NAICS 326160 code if they have a size standard in number employees of 1,250. Any information submitted is voluntary. If sufficient interest and capability is not received from firms in categories (A) through (E) above, any solicitation may be issued as unrestricted without further consideration. Interested business firms shall submit (1) NAME, ADDRESS, and PHONE NUMBER OF THE FIRM (including DUNS NUMBER); (2) a CAPABILITY STATEMENT including (a) RECENT (within the last three fiscal years) RELEVANT (similar projects to this requirement) performance history (identify the name of the owner and their point(s) of contact with telephone and fax numbers, e-mail addresses; and (b) in what capacity (e.g., prime, subcontractor etc.) they performed the work; and (3) their SIZE STATUS. All responses must be submitted NLT November 24, 2021 at 3:00pm ET via e-mail to:
[email protected]. This is NOT a Request for Proposal (RFP) or Invitation for Bid (IFB) and does not constitute any commitment by the Government. Responses to this sources sought notice will be used by the Government to make appropriate acquisition decisions. All interested sources must respond to future solicitation announcements separately from responses to this market survey. Any solicitation that may be issued will be posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website and no paper copies will be provided. If a solicitation is released, in order to receive an award your company must have a DUNs number and be registered on-line at the System for Award Management (SAM). You will also be required to provide your small business status information either via the RFP or the On-line Representations and Certifications (ORCA) also located at the SAM website before an award to your company can be made. Your on-line ORCA registration will cover any/all of your offers to the Federal Government, and only needs updated annually.