***The sole source determination is based on the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) requires a service agreement with Qiagen Inc. They are the exclusive vendor for this service agreement, because they have factory certified technicians and repair their own Qiagen Biorobot 8000 instruments. The delivery date will be May 15, 2012.

***This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals and no solicitation package is available. However, firms that believe they can provide equipment that fully meets 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.