This special notice is in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation Subpart 5.2, Synopses of Proposed Contract Actions. The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), Acquisition Operations Branch, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), has a requirement to purchase membership in the Herder Burner Joint Industry Program (JIP), in support of the mission of the U.S. DOI, BSEE. Therefore, BSEE is the contracting office for this special notice. The purpose of this special notice is to announce the Government’s intent to negotiate with and award a firm-fixed-price type of contract on a sole source basis to the contractor, Prince William Sound Science and Technology Institute, which is the fiscal administrator for the Prince William Sound Oil Spill Recovery Institute (OSRI), in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation Subpart 13.106-1(b)(1)(i). In-situ burning (ISB) of oil spills at sea is a proven response technique that works with and without the presence of ice. In the past, ISB has relied on the use of fire resistant oil booms that can collect the oil and concentrate it enough to produce the necessary thickness to ignite and burn. Recent research and testing over the past ten years has shown that approved (USEPA) chemical herding agents (used normally in toiletries, hair products, cosmetics, skin care, household cleaners and automotive care products) applied in very small doses around the edges of a spill can thicken the oil without needing to use a boom. This opens up the possibility of developing a new response tool where herding agent and ignitors are both applied from single manned helicopter (or several robotic helicopters). The purpose of the Herder Burner Joint Industry Program (JIP) is to incorporate an existing manned helicopter-mounted herder application system with a new aerial ignition system mounted on the same helicopter. The resulting combination will provide an effective oil spill removal tool that can quickly fly to an offshore site and deal with a spill before it spreads over a large area. The most important benefit of this tool apart from the speed of response, is its ability to operate independently without the need to have vessels at the spill location. The Herder Burner JIP is a unique project in that it is the only project that provides the BSEE a two-pronged benefit to meet the requirements. First Benefit: The project will provide a comprehensive system to respond to oil spills on water, meeting BSEE’s mission to protect the environment. The Herder Burner JIP is expected to be a partnership of industry = ExxonMobil), stakeholders = Oil Spill Recovery Institute (OSRI) and the offshore regulatory agency = BSEE, all of whom are key stakeholders in this spill response effort. Second Benefit: For BSEE to find another organization with a similar expertise and capability of OSRI would come at a considerably larger cost to BSEE and would result in a duplication of work. No organization has the same expertise and capability of OSRI. Thus, the Herder Burner JIP reduces cost to the BSEE because of the cost sharing integral to the structure of the program and the criteria for membership to the program. As a result of membership in the Herder Burner JIP, BSEE will obtain high quality deliverables in a subject matter and mitigate serious knowledge gaps throughout the entire industry. Thus, Prince William Sound Science and Technology Institute/OSRI is the identified only source and the sole source contractor that administers the singular unique research program capable of meeting the requirements. It is anticipated that a contract will be awarded before 9/1/2019 with a 28-month period of performance. The applicable NAICS Code is 541715. This is NOT a request for competitive quotations. This special notice of intent to sole source is for informational purposes only. Nonetheless, any responsible source/interested party may submit a response/capabilities statement of its capabilities to meet the requirements. A response/capabilities statement will be considered by BSEE to vet purported capabilities if received in the e-mail inbox of Mario Gray, e-mail address:
[email protected], by 8/5/2019 (reference Special Notice Number 140E0119Q0079). A determination by the Government not to compete the requirements based on this special notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.