Notice of Intent to Sole Source - Reverse Osmosis (RO) Water Treatment Systems Maintenance - Stoneville, MS

This pre-solicitation is issued by the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Services (USDA-ARS) in accordance with FAR 5.2, Synopses of Proposed Contract Action. The intent of this pre-solicitation is for informational purposes only. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct a competitive procurement. This is a Notice of Intent to Sole Source only.

This is not a Solicitation Announcement, Request for Quotations (RFQ), Request for Proposals (RFP), or Invitation for Bid (IFB). It is also not an announcement for a forthcoming solicitation announcement, RFQ, RFP, or IFB nor does it restrict the Government as to its ultimate acquisition approach. No solicitation, combined synopsis/solicitation, or solicitation package is expected to be issued for this procurement at this time. This pre-solicitation does not constitute any commitment by the Government.

The Government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred in providing a response to this pre-solicitation. The Government will provide no reimbursement for any costs associated with the preparation or submission of any information that is received in response. The USDA-ARS will not make an award on the basis of any responses receive. Responses will be used by the Government to help determine the appropriate acquisition strategy decision for this and any future requirements similar to this one.

Respondents will not be notified of the results of this pre-solicitation. The USDA-ARS Jamie Whitten Delta States Research Center located at 141 Experiment Station Rd., Stoneville, MS 38776 has a requirement for Reverse Osmosis (RO) Water Treatment Systems Maintenance with Statement of Work on the requirements document provided in the “Attachments/Links”. Only a single source was found that can provide the services that have the technical capabilities required to meet the need.

Were a request for competitive quotations issued it is anticipated that only a single technically acceptable quote would be received. As such, the USDA-ARS Contracting Operations Branch (Acquisition and Property Division) intends to make a firm fixed price, sole source award to:

Freeman Water Treatment of MS, LLC 142 Holmar Dr. Brandon, MS 39047 The objective of the intended sole source award is to:

Provide all equipment, labor, parts, and materials necessary to provide Annual Maintenance, provided quarterly or as needed, for Stoneville MS Reverse Osmosis System for NBCL Bldg. #80, Bldg. #2 Boiler Room, and Bldg. #2 Growth Chambers. This service is for One (1) Base Year with an additional Four (4) Option Years, total Five (5) Years. The associated NAICS is 238990 (“All Other Specialty Trade Contractors”).

The applicable PSC is J046 (“Maintenance, Repair, and Rebuilding of Equipment – Water Purification and Sewage Treatment Equipment”).

The proposed award will be made using Simplified Acquisition and Sole Source Justification (SSJ) procedures citing the authority of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.106-1(b)(1) for purchases not exceeding the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT). (i) Contracting Officers may solicit from one source if the contracting officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deems only one source reasonably available.

It is anticipated that the award will be made by no later than Tuesday, September 30, 2025. Any interested and responsible sources that regard themselves as capable of providing products with all of the technical capabilities/features on the requirements document are invited to identify their interests and capability by submitting substantiating documentation in response to this pre-solicitation.

Any submission in response must show clear and convincing evidence as well as be in sufficient enough detail to show that they can provide products capable of meeting the Government’s need and that competition would be advantageous to the Government. To be considered eligible, any who respond to this pre-solicitation must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) with a current and active registration at the time of their response.

A Unique Entity Identifier number (UEI#) is required in order to register in SAM. You can contact SAM by calling 1-866-606-8220. NO EXCEPTIONS. Respondents must include their UEI# on their response. Respondents should also include their SAM status as well as the business size and socio-economic status(es) for the applicable NAICS.

Responses must be submitted in writing via email to the point of contact listed in the “Primary Point of Contact” field and be received by or before the close date/time/time zone stated in the “Response Date” field relative to this notice with all of the requested and required documentation. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this pre-solicitation. Only electronic submissions made via email will be accepted.

Verbal responses made by phone call (including voicemail) and submissions by USPS mail may not be accepted. Failure to submit all of the required information/documentation on time (defined as past the “Response Date” stated in this notice) or meet all of the submission requirements may result in a response being deemed nonresponsive and disqualified from being put into consideration as a potential source. The subject line of all emails related to this pre-solicitation shall include the notice ID number.

The notice ID number corresponds to the “Notice ID” field. It is recommended that the subject include the title as well. Failure to do so may result in any capabilities statement submitted being deemed nonresponsive and disqualified from being put into consideration as a potential source. This pre-solicitation does not obligate the Government to make an award or otherwise pay for the information provided in response.

The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Respondents are also advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of information or provide feedback to the respondents about any of the information received. No proprietary, sensitive, confidential, and/or classified information should be included with your response.

The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information if it is determined that competing the procurement is in the best interest of the Government. Any responses received by or before the deadline shall be considered by the Government. After completing a review and analysis of any responses that are received, the Government will determine whether to compete the procurement or proceed with making a sole source award to a single source.

However, a determination by the Government whether or not to compete this proposed award based on responses to this pre-solicitation is solely at the discretion of the Government.