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Justificatoin & Approval for other than full and open competition

Contract Service Area 5, of the Intermountain Zone of the USFS, hereby gives notice of intent to award a sole source contract to Synergy Semiochemicals Corportation for the procurement of 12,000 Shields for protection of Douglas Fir trees on the San Juan, GMUG, White River, and Rio Grande National Forests.

Requirement: 1,000-mg MCH Shields

1. Contacting Organization: Rocky Mountain Region, Unites States Forest Service (USDA).

2. Description of Action: Sole source acquistion for the procurement of 12,000 shields. 1,000-mg MCH Double Bubble Shields to Synergy Semiochemicals Corporation.

3. Description of Services: 12,000 MCH bubble shields/caps for the protection of Douglas Fir from the bark beetle. Treatment involves placement of the bubble shields on the trees to prevent the infestation of the bark beetle.

4. Authority: 41 U.S.C 3304(a)(1) and Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1, Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. Per FAR Part 8, Required sources were evaluated. Best in Class mandatory solutions were also reviewed. There is nothing currently available to meet the requirement for this pesticide.

The Buy American act does not apply with respect to articles, materials, or supplies if articles, materials or supplies of the class or kind to be acquired, either as end items or components, are not mined, produced or manufactured in the U.S. in sufficient and reasonably available commercial quantities and of a satisfactory quality. FAR Part 25.103 Exceptions(b) nonavailability.

5. Applicability of Authority: The program and contracting office conducted online searches seeking other companies who manufacture MCH shields. There were two other companies offering similar products. Synergy Semiochemical is the only one that has registration with the EPA for the 1-gram concentration of MCH. The 1-gram bubble shield not only doubles the release rate, but has an additional 20% more MCH. This reduces labor putting them up and provides a longer product life.

6. Efforts to obtain competition: In addition to online searches, the contracting office also performed an SBA Dynamic Small Business search using the NAICS code 325320, Pesticides and Other Agricultural Chemical Manufacturing , with search criteria "methylcyclohexane", which revealed no vendors.

7. Price Fair and Reasonable: Pricing for the current requirement was compared to the previous MCH procurement from 2022. The price has increased from $2.15 per shield to $2.96 per shield. An article written by the Oregon Department of Forestery, MCH for Douglas Fir Beetle Management (March 2017), prices for the shields between $2 and $4 each. Pricing for this requirement is still within this parameter. The contracting office finds the price to be fair and reasonable.

8. Market Research: Market Research for this requirement included online searches, discussions with Program, an SBA Dynamic Small Business Search, and a search of similar procurement files as outlined in sections of this justification and approval.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition: Market research revealed that ConTech and ChemTica only produce the 400-mg bubble caps. The 400-mg caps are available, but can dispense the MCH too quickly on warmer sites and trees can be attacked and killed during the latter part of the beetle flight period. Synergy Semiochemical has EPA registration for the 500-mg cap and the 1000-mg cap. Purchasing a 400-mg cap would require twice the product to be purchased, additional labor to apply, and still not dispense the desired amount of of MCH, which is 1000-mg or 1 gram.

10. Interested Sources: Per market research, Synergy Semiochemical is the only manufacturer currently listed with the EPA that offers a 1000-mg bubble cap.

11. Steps to Foster Competition: MCH Bubble Caps were not found on GSA Advantage or the eLibrary. Sources have been provided by Amy Lockner, Etomologist. Per information provided, there are three manufactures of MCH bubble caps: ConTech, ChemTica Forestry and Synergy Semiochemical Corporation. ConTech and ChemTica have distributors for their products, Synergy Semiochemical Corporation does not. ConTech and ChemTica provide 400-mg bubbles. Synergy provides 1000-mg and 1-g bubble caps. ConTech and Synergy are both located in Canada, while ChemTica is from Costa Rica.

12. Contracting Officer's Certification: I hereby certify that the above justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

//SIGNED// Rebecca Schowalter Purchasing Agent March 16, 2023

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