The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Eastern Region Acquisitions Division-Kansas City office intends to negotiate, on a sole source basis, under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(1), with Fondriest Environmental, Inc., 2091 Exchange Court, Fairborn, OH, for five YSI Inc., EXO2 multi-parameter water quality sondes with six sensor ports and one wiper port as well as compatible cond/temp, pH/ORP, ODO, turbidity, total algae/fDOM sensors for the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) in Ann Arbor, MI.

Pursuant to HABHRCA Legislation S: 1254; PL-113-124, GLERL is required to monitor harmful algal bloom growth and toxicity in the Great Lakes. To meet this requirement, a Bluetooth requirement exists to limit cabling to the sensors from a vessel on the water, providing for less labor, better safety, and highly accurate readings as part of the Quality Assurance/Quality Control requirements. The algae sensors measure chlorophyll and blue/green an alga, which reports the levels of toxic algae in the water.

YSI Inc., is the only manufacturer of sensors that employ Bluetooth technology in their sondes, as well as internally stored calibration coefficients in their individual sensors. These features make field swapping of sensors and communications accurate. YSI Inc. is the only manufacturer to provide sondes that include a Total Algae sensor.

YSI Inc.'s software interface uses Smart QC quality assurance checks to search for and prevent faults, errors, and lost data before the Sondes are deployed. This is an invaluable service that no other company provides for this type of Sonde and associated sensor suite.

A Sources Sought notice was posted to the Federal Business Opportunities website on June 16, 2016 and closed on June 27, 2016. No responses were received.

Sole Source Justification
YSI Incorporated, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Xylem Corporation, is the only manufacturer of the EXO2 sondes, their compatible sensors and accessories.

Fondriest Environmental is the only authorized distributor for selling the EXO2 sondes and compatible Sensors and Accessories in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, West Virginia, and western Pennsylvania.

Bid Protests Not Available