Non-Personal Services For Photopigments HPLC Analysis

THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION’S (NOAA) ACQUISITION & GRANTS OFFICE, WESTERN ACQUISITION DIVISION-BOULDER, OFFICE OF OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH (oar) GREAT LAKES ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABORATORY (GLERL), INTENDS TO NEGOTIATE, ON A SOLE SOURCE BASIS, UNDER AUTHORITY OF FAR 13.106-1(b)(1), WITH OAKLAND UNIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCES LOCATED IN ROCHESTER, MI FOR NON-PERSONAL SERVICES FOR ANALYZING HIGH PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY (HPLC) PIGMENT COMPOSITION.

THE SOLE SOURCE DETERMINATION IS BASED ON NOAA’S REQUIREMENT THAT OAKLAND UNIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCES, IS THE ONLY LABORATORY SOURCE THAT HAS THE EQUIPMENT, RESOURCES, AND ABILITIES TO PERFORM THIS WORK TO ANALYZE HIGH PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY (HPLC) PIGMENT COMPOSITION. PHOTOPIGMENT ANALYSIS IS VERY SPECIALIZED AND ONLY A HANDFUL OF LABORATORIES ACTIVELY DETERMINE CONCENTRATIONS.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OAKLAND UNIVERSITY’S RESEARCH TEAM AND OTHER LABORATORIES IS THAT THEY EXAMINE HOW ACQUATIC ORGANISMS ARE IMPACTED BY NUTRIENTS AND ANTHROPOGENIC STRESSORS. RESEARCH FOCAL AREAS INCLUDE ECO-PHYSIOLOGY AND LIFE-HISTORY TRAITS OF PLANKTON, POPULATION DYNAMICS AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES. NOAA HAS USED THIS METHOD OF ANALYSIS IN THE PAST ON LIMITED SAMPLES FOR THE PAST NINE YEARS, WHEN THE FEDERAL MANDATE WAS INITIALLY ENACTED.

BECAUSE OF THE RESULTS RENDERED IN THE PAST, AND THE OUTSTANDING REPORTING OAKLAND UNIVERSITY HAS RENDERED, IT IS ONLY LOGICAL TO CONTINUE THIS WORK, ON A LARGER SCALE. IT IS CRITICAL TO KEEP THE ANALYSIS AND EXPERIMENTS CONSISTENT AND THIS CAN ONLY BE DONE USING THE SAME PROCESS BY OAKLAND UNIVERISTY, AS THEY ARE THE ONLY SPECIALIZED UNIVERSITY FOR GREAT LAKES PIGMENT ANALYSIS. THIS SERVICE APPLIES DIRECTLY THE THE GLERL SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH CONCERNING HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOM.

IT IS GOVERNED UNDER THE FOLLOWING MANDATE “NOAA HAS BEEN GIVING THE AUTHORITY AND HAS A FEDERAL MANDATE (HABHRCA LEGISLATION S: 1254; 2018 PL 115-423) TO MONITOR HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOM GROWTH AND TOXICITY IN THE GREAT LAKES.” THIS PROCUREMENT APPLIES TO THIS MANDATE.

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: 10/01/2024 THROUGH 09/30/2026

THIS NOTICE OF INTENT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS AND NO SOLICITATION PACKAGE IS AVAILABLE. HOWEVER, FIRMS THAT BELIEVE THEY CAN FULLY MEET THE GOVERNMENT'S REQUIREMENTS MAY SUBMIT SUBSTANTIATING DOCUMENTATION IN WRITING TO THE IDENTIFIED POINT OF CONTACT WITHIN 15 DAYS AFTER PUBLICATION OF THIS SYNOPSIS. SUCH DOCUMENTATION WILL BE EVALUATED SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF DETERMINING WHETHER OR NOT TO CONDUCT THIS PROCUREMENT ON A COMPETITIVE BASIS. A DETERMINATION BY THE GOVERNMENT NOT TO CONDUCT A COMPETITIVE PROCUREMENT, BASED UPON RESPONSES TO THIS NOTICE, IS SOLELY WITHIN THE DISCRETION OF THE GOVERNMENT. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE IN RESPONSE TO THIS NOTICE.