Notice of Intent - Sole Source, Maintenance of Hypoxia Monitoring Ulti-Buoy System

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Acquisition & Grants Office, Western Acquisition Division, intends to negotiate and award a blanket purchase agreement, on a sole source basis, under authority of RFO FAR 6.103-1, with Soundnine Inc., UEI JMZ6B4FLREP7, for maintenance, calibration, and replacement parts for the existing Soundnine hypoxia monitoring Ulti-Buoy system. NOAA maintains this 10 buoy station system located within the waters of the Chesapeake Bay for real-time hypoxia monitoring of water quality and fish habitat assessments. The system was deployed as an integral tool in the Chesapeake Bay Program and is supported through an interagency agreement with the U.S. EPA.

No set aside is to be used for this sole source requirement. The associated NAICS code is 811210.

The sole source determination is based on Soundnine, Inc. being the only vendor that produces the products currently used in the existing hypoxia monitoring system maintained by NOAA. The 10 buoy system in its entirety is a closed loop system of communication and resource data gathering. NOAA requires the user to be able to swap sensors at different depths without reconfiguring the database. Soundnine is the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of the instruments, which are proprietary to Soundnine. Soundnine does not train, authorize or certify third party service providers for preventative maintenance services and updates. Because Soundnine does not have distributors or service partner agreements for their instrumentation, there are no vendors trained and equipped to conduct calibration and maintenance on the sensors and controllers currently in inventory. 

The period of performance is anticipated to be 9/1/2026 through 8/31/2031. 

This presolicitation notice 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 or a request for additional information in writing to the identified point of contact within 15 days after publication of this pre-solicitation notice. Such requests and 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.