The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Eastern Region Acquisitions Division-Kansas City office intends to award, on a sole source basis, under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(1), with Belfort Instrument Company for twenty (20) Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) ASOS Visibility Sensor Field Calibration Kits, Belfort Part Number 32339, for the NOAA Logistics Branch in Silver Spring, MD.

A Sources Sought Notice was posted on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website on July 29, 2014 and closed on August 8, 2014. No responses were received

The purpose of this acquisition is to obtain spare Field Calibration Kits for the ASOS Visibility sensor. All spares for this system are required to be identical to the item which was provided with the original equipment. It is not possible to substitute for this item; any logistical spares must be form, fit, and function identical to the original equipment item. Belfort Instrument considers this item proprietary and so is the only known source of supply. Discussions with Belfort Instrument indicate that Belfort Instrument has no authorized resellers or distributors.

The original equipment was subjected to a stringent qualification test regime which included operational testing, field testing, and environmental qualification testing. Acceptance of any item other than the original equipment would require that testing be completely reaccomplished. This is not in the best interest of the Government as it would require significant funding and time to accomplish and would result in fielded ASOS systems being unavailable during the period.
For this reason, only Belfort Part Number 32339 is deemed acceptable at this time.

Bid Protests Not Available