VSE Corporation; Johnson Controls World Services, Inc., B-290452.3; B-290452.4; B-290452.5, May 23, 2005

VSE Corporation; Johnson Controls World Services, Inc., B-290452.3; B-290452.4; B-290452.5, May 23, 2005 TITLE: VSE Corporation; Johnson Controls World Services, Inc., B-290452.3; B-290452.4; B-290452.5, May 23, 2005 BNUMBER: B-290452.3; B-290452.4; B-290452.5 DATE: May 23, 2005 ********************************************************************** Decision Matter of: VSE Corporation; Johnson Controls World Services, Inc. File: B-290452.3; B-290452.4; B-290452.5 Date: May 23, 2005 William W. Goodrich, Jr., Esq., Lisa K. Miller, Esq., and Melissa D. Droller, Esq., Arent Fox, for VSE Corporation; David R. Johnson, Esq., Amy R. Napier, Esq., Amanda J. Kastello, Esq., Vinson & Elkins LLP, for Johnson Controls World Services, Inc., the protesters. Carmody A. Gaba, Esq., Department of Homeland Security, for the agency. Charles W. Morrow, Esq., and James A. Spangenberg, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest of proposed sole-source contract must be filed within 10 days of the publication on the FedBizOpps Internet website of the agency's notice of its intent to enter into the sole-source contract where the notice does not request responses from other potential sources. 2. Protest of award of sole-source bridge contract for storage, maintenance, and disposition services to handle personal property seized by various federal agencies, pending completion of competitive procurement for long-term services, is sustained, where the procuring agency failed to execute a justification and approval for the sole-source award and did not conduct reasonable advanced procurement planning. DECISION VSE Corporation and Johnson Controls World Services, Inc.[1] protests the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Bureau of Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) sole-source award of a contract to EG&G Technical Services, Inc., for storage, maintenance, and disposition services to handle personal property seized by various federal agencies. We sustain VSE's protest and dismiss Johnson Controls' protest. A significant resource of the federal government in its effort to prevent criminal activity has been the moneys derived from the sale of seized and forfeited property belonging to individuals who violated United States laws. To ensure that the moneys derived from the sale of forfeited and seized property involving criminal activity are specifically applied to the expenses of law enforcement programs, the government established several funds, one of which is the Treasury Forfeiture Fund, which is administered by the Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture (TEOAF) in the Department of Treasury.[2] As agent for the TEOAF, the U.S. Customs Service (formerly part of the Department of Treasury) managed the contracts administering the seized property that support the fund, including EG&G's contract with the agency for nationwide services involving the receipt, custody, management, and disposition of seized and forfeited personal property.[3] In March 2000, the Customs Service issued request for proposals (RFP) No. CS-00-007 as a follow-on procurement to EG&G's contract. The RFP contemplated the award of a cost-plus-award-fee contract for a 4-month transition period (from September 19, 2000 to January 18, 2001), a base period (from January 19 to September 30), and nine 1-year options. The RFP provided that [a] transition period will be required, necessitating an overlap of time when both contractors, previous and successor, will be in force. The overlap period will be used by the successor contractor for organizing the task, staffing, acquiring facilities, and accepting the transfer of subcontracts, equipment, records, property, and merchandise. RFP S C.3.12.[4] Prior to receipt of initial proposals, the Customs Service issued several amendments to the RFP that made extensive changes to the RFP involving such matters as the statement of work, the simulated inventory of seized property, and the estimated workload projections. Four offerors--VSE; Day and Zimmerman Services, Inc; Johnson Controls; and EG&G--responded to the RFP by the June 30, 2000 due date. After issuing numerous other amendments and conducting two rounds of discussions, the Customs Service made award to Day and Zimmerman on April 23, 2002, and EG&G protested the award to our Office. In response to that protest, the Customs Service took corrective action by terminating the award to Day and Zimmerman, revising the statement of work, and reopening the competition. Meanwhile, effective May 17, 2001, the Customs Service entered into a sole-source contract extension with EG&G, the incumbent contractor for these services, to cover the services while this competition was being conducted.