Bluehorse Corporation

B-413533 Oct 28, 2016 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Bluehorse Corporation (Bluehorse), of Reno, Nevada, a small business, protests the award of a contract to Recon Oil Co., Inc., of Window Rock, Arizona, by the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), under solicitation No. A16PS01057 to supply diesel fuel to the Mariano Lake Community School, a Navajo District school operated by the Bureau of Indian Education, in Crownpoint, New Mexico. Bluehorse argues that the BIA improperly limited competition for the contract by failing to publicize the solicitation properly. We sustain the protest. We sustain the protest. View Decision Decision Matter of:  Bluehorse Corporation File:  B-413533 Date:  October 28, 2016 Akenaten Bluehorse, for the protester. Charles B. Wallace, Esq., and Sherry Kinland Kaswell, Esq., Department of the Interior, for the agency. Paul N. Wengert, Esq., and Tania Calhoun, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest that agency failed to properly publicize and solicit quotations for diesel fuel requirement valued between $15,000 and $25,000, and thereby failed to obtain maximum practicable competition, is sustained where the agency placed the solicitation in a binder in a closed building on Saturday, seeking quotations by Monday, and one of three sources solicited was a propane supplier that was thus unlikely to be able to submit a quotation for diesel fuel.  DECISION Bluehorse Corporation (Bluehorse), of Reno, Nevada, a small business, protests the award of a contract to Recon Oil Co., Inc., of Window Rock, Arizona, by the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), under solicitation No. A16PS01057 to supply diesel fuel to the Mariano Lake Community School, a Navajo District school operated by the Bureau of Indian Education, in Crownpoint, New Mexico.  Bluehorse argues that the BIA improperly limited competition for the contract by failing to publicize the solicitation properly.  We sustain the protest.  The BIA issued the solicitation on Saturday, July 30, 2016, as a request for quotations (RFQ).  The RFQ was prepared under the procedures for the streamlined acquisition of commercial items, as provided in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 12.6.  RFQ at 1; Dismissal Request at 1.  The RFQ set forth a contract “[p]erformance period of delivery [of] August 2, 2016 thru April 30, 2017,” and described the agency’s requirement as follows: 1-6000 gallon tank: Diesel Fuel #2 = $____ per gallon X 9000 gallon = $____ RFQ at 1.[1] The RFQ stated that due to an “emergency requirement,”[2] the deadline for receipt of quotations would be Monday, August 1, at 2:00 p.m. local time, and that a contract would be awarded “to the lowest priced offeror, who[se] quote conforming to the requirements herein, will be most advantageous to the Government, and is fair and reasonable.”  RFQ at 1.  The RFQ also stated that it was set aside for Indian small business economic enterprises (ISBEE) pursuant to the Buy Indian Act and 48 C.F.R. § 1480.401.[3] Since the contracting officer expected the value of the contract to be around $20,000, she did not post the solicitation electronically.[4]  Instead at 11 a.m. on July 30, she sent the solicitation by separate emails to three firms that she had identified as eligible Indian Economic Enterprises.  Agency Report (AR) at 2 & exh. B (copies of emails).  She also placed a copy of the solicitation into a three-ring binder that is kept at a reception desk in the contracting office at the BIA Navajo Region Contracting Office in Gallup, New Mexico.  AR at 2.  Dismissal Request at 3.  By the deadline on Monday, August 1, the contracting officer received quotations from two of the firms that had received the RFQ by email, and awarded a contract to the lowest-priced vendor, Recon Oil, at a price of $20,800.  Contracting Officer’s Statement at 2.  Bluehorse learned of the contract award from an online contracting database on August 8, and filed this protest on August 9.[5] ANALYSIS Bluehorse argues that it is an eligible ISBEE contractor that has supplied fuel to agency locations under multiple contracts in the past year, but was unjustifiably denied the opportunity to compete for this requirement.  Protest at 1.  In particular, Bluehorse argues that the contracting officer failed to publicize the requirement properly, which effectively excluded Bluehorse from submitting a quotation.  Protest at 1-2.  As a result, Bluehorse argues, the BIA has violated the Competition in Contracting Act of 1984, as amended, in awarding the contract.  Id.