Inactive Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) Set-Aside (FAR 19.14)

SOURCES SOUGHT FOR THE COMBAT CAPABILITIES DEVELOPMENT COMMAND, CHEMICAL BIOLOGICAL CENTER (DEVCOM CBC) “CHEMICAL BIOLOGICAL TEST DIVISION LABORATORY TECHNICAL SUPPORT EFFORT” INTRODUCTION: The United... SOURCES SOUGHT FOR THE COMBAT CAPABILITIES DEVELOPMENT COMMAND, CHEMICAL BIOLOGICAL CENTER (DEVCOM CBC) “CHEMICAL BIOLOGICAL TEST DIVISION LABORATORY TECHNICAL SUPPORT EFFORT” INTRODUCTION: The United States Army Contracting Command – Aberdeen Proving Ground, Edgewood Contracting Division (ACC-APG ECD), on behalf of the Combat Capabilities Development Command’s, Chemical Biological Center (DEVCOM CBC), Engineering Directorate Chemical Biological Test Division’s (CBTD), Protection and Decontamination Test Branch (PDTB) and Detection Branch (DB) is issuing this sources sought synopsis as a means of conducting market research to identify certified Small Disadvantaged Veteran’s Owned Businesses (SDVOSB) with an active Chemical Personnel Reliability Program (CPRP) having an interest in and the resources that would be capable of supporting a recurring requirement to provide qualified chemical surety laboratory technical experience and expertise, technical laboratory work, programmatic support for applied research, technology evaluation, methodology development and systems development to defeat chemical/biological threats and to evaluate materials for customer programs that reflect areas of individual and collective protection of the war fighter and first responders. The mission of the CBTD is to provide support to the National Chemical Defense mission and the Warfighter by developing and validating methods for laboratory testing and analyses of chemical warfare agents, emerging threat compounds, experimental agents, and toxic industrial chemicals. Furthermore, the mission of the PDTB and DB include the evaluation of chemical protective equipment used by the nation’s warfighters. The intention is to procure these services on a competitive basis BASED ON THE RESPONSES TO THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE/MARKET RESEARCH, THIS REQUIREMENT WILL BE SET ASIDE FOR SERVICE DISABLED VETERAN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESSES (SDVOSB). Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding their submissions. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: It is anticipated that this effort will primarily take place at U.S. Army laboratory facilities located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Edgewood Area (APGEA). DISCLAIMER “THIS SOURCES SOUGHT IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THIS IS NOT A “REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)” TO BE SUBMITTED. IT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SOLICITATION AND SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT. RESPONSES IN ANY FORM ARE NOT OFFERS AND THE GOVERNMENT IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO AWARD A CONTRACT AS A RESULT OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. NO FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE TO PAY FOR PREPARATION OF RESPONSES TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. ANY INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY RESPONDENTS TO THIS TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION IS STRICTLY VOLUNTARY. RESPONSES WILL NOT BE RETURNED TO THE RESPONDER. NOT RESPONDING TO THIS NOTICE DOES NOT PRECLUDE PARTICIPATION IN ANY FUTURE REQUEST FOR QUOTE (RFQ) OR INVITATION FOR BID (IFB) OR RFP, IF ANY ISSUED. IF A SOLICITATION IS RELEASED, IT WILL BE SYNOPSIZED ON THE GOVERNMENT-WIDE POINT OF ENTRY (GPE). IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF POTENTIAL OFFERORS TO MONITOR THE GPE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMMATION PERTAINING TO THIS REQUIREMENT.” PROGRAM BACKGROUND: The U.S. Army DEVCOM CBC Engineering Directorate, PDTB and DB at APGEA have been performing Chemical Warfare Agent surety testing for over twenty years. The Engineering Directorate of CBC is responsible for the development, testing, and fielding of various systems for support of the chemical and biological defense program. Personnel working under this effort will support the PDTB or DB Branches. The PDTB is the only laboratory in the U.S. certified to test the activated carbon used within every filter in the Department of Defense inventory, only laboratory capable of supporting NIOSH CBRN respirator certification testing and provides support to the National Chemical Defense mission and the Warfighter by developing and validating methods for laboratory testing and analyses of chemical warfare agents, which will enhance national chemical defense programs by providing chemical surety expertise to support the PDTB, DB, and the CBTD mission in the areas of chemical detection, chemical protective materials, decontamination, chemical demilitarization, and other military life cycle programs. responsible for production/first article testing of chemically protective materials, surveillance/shelf life extension testing of depot-stored materials, and research to develop new test methodologies to support this testing. The PDTB will support the current capability primarily through the conduct of chemical agent and toxic industrial permeation test and evaluation of various end items, to include first article, production lot acceptance and shelf life extension inspections. In accordance with these assignments, the PDTB provides the following: a. First article, production lot acceptance and shelf life extension inspections b. Measurement of various physical properties, analytical determination of key analyte content and measuring the permeation rate by qualitative and quantitative means that reflect key support functions that allow the PBTD to conduct this testing. The DB supports the growth of enhanced capability primarily through the evaluation, development and methodology aimed at defeating chemical threats and maintains chemical surety agent laboratories for the execution of prototype, first article, third party production verification and acceptance, surveillance, developmental and operational testing and analyses of chemical detection equipment. In accordance with these assignments, the Detection Branch provides the following: a. Supports research and evaluation for detector development and evaluations for chemical demilitarization, decontamination, and other military life cycle programs using agent and non-agent compounds. b. Provides support for Science and Technology (S&T) experimental research to Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) in order to provide critical test data for evaluations of Chemical Detection programs and equipment. c. Supports national chemical defense programs and partners with other Joint Service organizations for evaluation of the performance of chemical biological detection technology. REQUIRED CAPABILITIES: For specific details, please refer to the draft Performance Based Work Statement (PWS) incorporated as an attachment to this announcement (Attachment 1). a. The contractor must have an active Chemical Personnel Reliability Program (CPRP) and provide a fully qualified CPRP staff with requisite experience on day one of contract award. b. The Contractor shall provide hands-on chemical surety expertise, technical interpretations and laboratory test support to the Government on matters dealing with the use and development of surety laboratory testing approaches and methodologies, laboratory instrumentation, analysis and proper waste disposal procedures following the PDTB Quality Manual and the DB Laboratory Quality Assurance Plan listed in Attachment 2. c. The contractor shall provide technical expertise and conduct hands on analyses for Government programs using, but not limited to, the following analytical instrumentation and equipment: Gas Chromatographs (GC) with Mass Selective Detector (MSD), Flame Photometric Detector (FPD), Flame Ionization Detector (FID), Nitrogen Phosphorus (NPD), Halogen Specific (XSD), Electron Capture Detector (ECD) High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with Triple Quad (LC/MS/MS) Ion Chromatograph (IC) Capillary Electrophoresis (CE) Ultraviolet Spectrometer (UV VIS) Inductively Coupled Plasma - Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) Photoacoustic Infrared Spectroscopy (PA-IR) d. The contractor shall provide decontamination, chemical inventory management and waste disposal support. e. The contractor shall be required to use gas and liquid chromatography techniques to analyze samples. The contractor shall select the gas chromatography (GC) mass spectroscopy, GC Flame Ionization Detection (FID), GC Flame Photometric Detection (FPD) or liquid chromatograph mass spectroscopy to detect chemical agent compounds and their potential by products. The contractor shall provide support in testing as it applies to those ASTM methods used to evaluate military surfaces and materials. f. The contractor shall provide administrative support. Please note that the CBTD is accredited under an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 17025 quality system and is looking for administrative support for the successful management of the established quality system. If your organization has the potential capacity to perform these contract services, please provide the following information: 1) Organization name, address, email address, Web site address, telephone number, and size and type of ownership for the organization; and 2) Tailored capability statements addressing the particulars of this effort, with appropriate documentation supporting claims of organizational and staff capability. If significant subcontracting or teaming is anticipated in order to deliver technical capability, organizations should address the administrative and management structure of such arrangements. The Government will evaluate market information to ascertain potential market capacity to: 1) provide services consistent, in scope and scale, with those described in this notice and otherwise anticipated; 2) secure and apply the full range of corporate financial, human capital, and technical resources required to successfully perform similar requirements; 3) implement a successful project management plan that includes: compliance with tight program schedules; cost containment; event and tracking performance; hiring and retention of key personnel and risk mitigation; and 4) provide services under a performance based service acquisition contract. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: Personnel and Facility Security Clearances: Laboratory personnel working within the CBTD must have an active security clearance at time of contract award. A DD Form 254 Contract Security Classification Specification shall apply to this requirement. Enrollment in an active Chemical Personnel Reliability Program (CPRP) ELIGIBILITY: The applicable NAICS code for this requirement is 541715 – “Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)” with a Small Business Size Standard of 1,000 employees. The Product Service Code is AC13 – “National Defense Research and Development; Department of Defense Military; Experimental Development”. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND SUBMISSION DETAILS (CAPABILITIES STATEMENT): A draft Performance Work Statement (PWS Attachment 1) and draft Personnel Qualifications Description (Attachment 2) are attached for review. Interested parties are requested to submit a capabilities statement of no more than ten (10) pages in length in Times New Roman font of not less than 10 pitch. The deadline for response to this request is no later than 3:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time (EST), 05 February 2021. This documentation must address at a minimum the following items: 1.) What type of work has your company performed in the past in support of the same or similar requirement? 2.) Can or has your company managed a task of this nature? If so, please provide details. 3.) Provide documentation of enrollment with an active Chemical Personnel Reliability Program (CPRP) in accordance with Army Regulation (AR) 50-6. 4.) Provide detailed experience with chemical surety laboratory work and the ability to operate under approved Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for hazardous operations. 5.) Can you demonstrate the ability to provide qualified technical CPRP scientists and technicians on the first day of contract award, as well as additional administrative support? 6.) Can or has your company managed a team of subcontractors before? If so, please provide details. 7.) What specific technical skills does your company possess which ensure successful capability to perform the tasks 8.) Please note that under a Small-Business Set-Aside, in accordance with FAR 52.219-14, the small business prime must perform at least 50% of the work themselves in terms of the cost of performance. Provide an explanation of your company’s ability to perform at least 50% of the tasks described in the draft PWS for the Period of Performance of 12 months. 9.) Respondents to this notice must indicate whether they qualify as a Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Concern. Please provide a statement including current status, company name and address, CAGE, Tax Identification numbers and company profile to include number of employees, annual revenue history, office locations, DUNs number, etc. 10.) Include in your response your ability to meet the requirements in the Facility and Safeguarding requirements. The anticipated period of performance consists of one 12 month base period and two 12 month option periods. The contract type is anticipated to be a Cost plus Fixed Fee (CPFF). Your response to this Sources Sought, including any capabilities statement, shall be electronically submitted to the Contract Specialist, Sheila Ramos, in either Microsoft Word or Portable Document Format (PDF), via email at sheila.l.ramos2.civ@mail.mil. All data received in response to this Sources Sought that is marked or designated as corporate or proprietary will be fully protected from any release outside the Government. No phone calls will be accepted. QUESTIONS OR REQUESTS FOR CLARIFICATION: Only electronically submitted questions and requests for clarifications regarding this Sources Sought will be accepted and must be submitted to the contract specialist identified above or the Contracting Officer at brian.e.mazen.civ@mail.mil no later than 3:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST) 28 January 2021. The Government is not committed nor obligated to pay for the information provided, and no basis for claims against the Government shall arise as a result of a response to this Sources Sought.