B-310708; B-310708.2, T. F. Boyle Transportation, Inc., January 29, 2008

B-310708; B-310708.2, T. F. Boyle Transportation, Inc., January 29, 2008 TITLE: B-310708; B-310708.2, T. F. Boyle Transportation, Inc., January 29, 2008 BNUMBER: B-310708; B-310708.2 DATE: January 29, 2008 ************************************************************************ B-310708; B-310708.2, T. F. Boyle Transportation, Inc., January 29, 2008 DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of: T. F. Boyle Transportation, Inc. File: B-310708; B-310708.2 Date: January 29, 2008 Jonathan T. Cain, Esq., and Helen Guyton, Esq., Mintz Levin, for the protester. H. Jack Shearer, Esq., Young H. Cho, Esq., and Renee Holland, Esq., Department of Energy; and John W. Klein, Esq., and Kenneth Dodds, Esq., Small Business Administration, for the agencies. Charles W. Morrow, Esq., and James A. Spangenberg, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Provision in solicitation that required offeror to demonstrate its capability of passing a Department of Energy Office of Transportation "Motor Carrier Evaluation Program" audit did not constitute a definitive responsibility criterion because it does not contain specific and objective standards. 2. Protest challenging affirmative responsibility determination is denied where the protester's allegations do not establish that the contracting officer failed to consider available relevant information. DECISION T. F. Boyle Transportation, Inc. protests the award of a contract to Visionary Solutions, LLC under request for proposals (RFP) No. DE-RP30-06EW20001, issued by the United States Department of Energy (DOE), for transportation of transuranic (TRU) waste. Boyle contends that Visionary was improperly determined to be a responsible contractor. We deny the protest. The DOE operates a "Waste Isolation Pilot Plant" (WIPP) near Carlsbad, New Mexico, which is an underground repository for radioactive waste generated from the research and production of nuclear weapons at DOE sites. The RFP, issued January 6, 2006, sought proposals to provide the facilities, personnel, equipment, and services to transport TRU waste from various DOE sites to the WIPP across designated highway routes. It contemplated the award of two indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity, fixed-price contracts for a base period, with four 12-month and one 2-month option periods. One award was based on full and open competition and the other award was set aside for small businesses. The award in question here was under the set-aside portion of the RFP. The awards were made on a best-value basis considering technical and management approach, past performance, and price. As initially issued, the RFP required the offeror identified for the award to undergo a "Motor Carrier Evaluation Program" (MCEP) audit as a precondition to receiving the award.[1] RFP sect. M.6. Amendment No. 0004 to the RFP, issued March 10, deleted this requirement and incorporated the following: The contractor shall undergo and pass the [MCEP] Audit. The MCEP Audit that is conducted by DOE is an extensive audit of all facets of a carrier's business operations including an extensive on-site physical review of records and equipment. . . . If the Contractor does not pass the Audit, the Government reserves the right to terminate the contract for default. RFP amend. 4, sect. H.21. This amendment also amended the proposal instructions to state, "[i]t is the offerors responsibility to demonstrate its capability to pass the MCEP Audit through completing and submitting the MCEP Audit Prescreening Forms" with its proposal. Id. sect. L.27.b.iii. Amendment No. 0006 to the RFP, issued March 23, further amended this section of the proposal instructions to add: In addition it is the Offeror's responsibility to demonstrate the capability of its teaming partners and/or members, if a newly formed entity, members of the newly formed entity, and subcontractors responsible for transporting TRU waste, to pass the MCEP Audit. Forms shall be submitted for the Offeror, its teaming partners and/or members, if a newly formed entity, members of the newly formed entity, and subcontractors responsible for transporting TRU waste, and shall be submitted with the Offeror's proposal. RFP amend. 6, sect. L.27.b.iii. Three proposals, including Boyle's and Visionary's, were received in response to the set-aside portion of the RFP by the March 31, 2006 closing date. Following discussions, DOE received final proposal revisions from the offerors in November 2006.