Notice of Intent The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in Research Triangle Park, NC, intends to award a sole source purchase order under authority of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.302-1, Other Than Full and Open Competition Procedures and FAR Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures to Illumina, Inc. for a Maintenance Service Agreement to maintain Illumina HISeq2500 and NextSeq500 instruments. Illumina is the manufacturer of the NextSeq500 and HiSeq2500 instruments and is the only vendor with the expertise to ensure proper operation of the instruments. Illumina has exclusive rights to the software, hardware, and operating licenses for this equipment. It would therefore be impossible to maintain proper functioning of the instrument without Illumina support. In addition, it is neither possible nor cost effective to identify additional sources for hardware or software replacements in the event of a problem. Therefore the service contract is recommended to be processed through Illumina without full and open competition. The circumstance permitting is FAR 6.302-1 "Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements". All interested parties who believe they can provide the required services should fully explain their capabilities and qualifications in writing within 10 days from the date of this announcement and provide itemized pricing that is sufficient to make a determination that competition is feasible. The intent of this notice is to determine if any other source(s) exist, and therefore, no solicitation is available. Consequently, anyone failing to provide the aforementioned and instead chooses to merely submit a routine letter requesting a copy of the statement of work or more information about the project will be ignored. The information received to this notice will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct a competitive procurement. Please submit response ONLY to Sammie Jones at
[email protected]. No telephone or faxed requests will be honored.