Secure Room Temperature Storage of Marine Mammal Tissue

Synopsis:  Notice of Intent to Award a Sole-Source Contract

Announcement Number: 143015-26-Q0021

Project Title: Secure Room Temperature Storage of Marine Mammal Tissue.

The US Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Office of Protected Resources (OPR), Delegated Procurement Authority intends to negotiate on a sole source basis, under the authority of Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul (RFO) Part 12, with EPL Pathology Archives LLC, Sterling, VA, for secure room temperature storage of paraffin blocks and wet formalin fixed tissues from marine mammals. The required work scope will ensure the security of archiving and storing samples. The North American Industry Classification Code (NAICS) for this acquisition is 493190, Other Warehousing and Storage, with a business size standard of $36.5M.

Sole Source Justification

NMFS Office of Protected Resources has a need for secure room temperature storage of paraffin blocks and wet formalin fixed tissues from marine mammal cases submitted by the NMFS Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Program network members, especially during Unusual Mortality Events (UME), to further our understanding of health, health trends, and diseases of marine mammal populations in the wild

NMFS/OPR works throughout the United States and abroad to detect, investigate, and respond to marine animal health and emergency response issues. Specifically, the archiving and storage capabilities of EPL Pathology Archives LLC will be used for health and disease investigations of stranded and live captured wild marine mammals including UME investigations.

The EPL Archives LLC is uniquely qualified to assist with the secure room temperature storage of paraffin blocks and wet formalin fixed tissues from marine mammals. EPL Archives LLC currently houses 116 boxes of paraffin blocks and wet formalin fixed tissues and 2 boxes of data from marine mammals. They have significant expertise and experience in archiving and storing paraffin blocks and wet formalin fixed tissues including maintaining samples in limited access areas under Chain-of-custody (COC) for law-enforcement investigations. They also have the ability to pull samples from storage for additional research on cases as needed.

If EPL Archives LLC is not used then these samples will have to be moved to a different location incurring both additional transport and storage costs prior to establishing a new contract with a different vendor. If the samples need to be transported to another facility, there is a risk that the current tissue samples may become lost, damaged, or destroyed. This could result in the loss of valuable data. It is crucial to minimize the frequency of relocating these items.

Special Notice

This special notice is not a solicitation for competitive quotes, nor will one be posted on SAM.gov Contract Opportunities.  However, if an interested party believes that it is capable of meeting the requirements and be in compliance with the above justification, they may submit substantiating documentation in writing within the open period of this notice.  Responses can be sent via e-mail to natasha.thieman@noaa.gov.  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 response to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government. Telephone communications are not acceptable in response to this notice.

All responsible sources may submit a Capability Statement in accordance with the solicitation, which shall be considered by the agency if received on or before 11:00 AM EDT on September 3, 2026.  The Capability Statement must contain material in sufficient detail to allow NOAA to determine if the party can meet all of the requirements. 

All electronic correspondence shall have the subject line read: 

Announcement Number: 143015-26-Q0021

Project Title: Marine Mammal Diagnostic Testing and Histopathology Services.

It is the Offeror’s responsibility to ensure that any submission transmitted to the specified Government representative(s) is received prior to the due date specified herein. 

Offerors are highly encouraged to contact the Government representative(s) specified above prior to the synopsis’ stated time and date for receipt of offers to ensure the Government has received the submission. Information received after the date and time specified in this solicitation may be excluded from consideration.   

DOC/NOAA/NMFS requires that all contractors doing business with this agency be registered with the System for Award Management (SAM). Awards cannot be made to a company not registered in SAM. For additional information and to register in SAM, please access the following web site: www.sam.gov. To register, all contractors must have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number. A UEI may be acquired free of charge by registering at https://sam.gov/content/entity-registration or by telephone at (866) 606-8220.

The notice will remain open from 8/24/2026-9/3/2026.