Land Shark Shredding, LLC

B-415785 Mar 06, 2018 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Land Shark Shredding, LLC, of Bowling Green, Kentucky, challenges the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. 36C24718R0021, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for on-site document, hard drive, and electronic media destruction services. Land Shark Shredding argues that the solicitation is unduly restrictive of competition. We deny the protest in part and dismiss it in part. We deny the protest in part and dismiss it in part. View Decision Decision Matter of:  Land Shark Shredding, LLC File:  B-415785 Date:  March 6, 2018 Christine M. Parry, Esq., and Daniel C. McAuliffe, Esq., Whitcomb, Selinsky, McAuliffe, PC, for the protester. Donald C. Mobly, Esq., and Natica Chapman Neely, Esq., Department of Veterans Affairs, for the agency. Young H. Cho, Esq., and Christina Sklarew, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging solicitation requirements as unduly restrictive is denied where the record supports the agency’s position that the requirement is reasonably necessary to meet the agency’s needs. DECISION Land Shark Shredding, LLC, of Bowling Green, Kentucky, challenges the terms of request for proposals (RFP) No. 36C24718R0021, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for on-site document, hard drive, and electronic media destruction services.  Land Shark Shredding argues that the solicitation is unduly restrictive of competition.    We deny the protest in part and dismiss it in part. BACKGROUND The solicitation, set-aside for service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns, was issued on November 24, 2017, under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 12, and contemplated the award of a single fixed-price contract for one 1-year base period and four 1-year options.  RFP at 1, 19, 96.  As relevant here, under the statement of work (SOW) the contractor was to provide all labor, supervision, secure collection containers, equipment, and transportation necessary to perform on-site document destruction and disposal of confidential documents at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center (CNVAMC), its satellite community based outpatient clinics, and other offices serviced by CNVAMC, in accordance with the performance requirements set forth in the solicitation and VA Directive 6371, Destruction of Temporary Paper Records.  Id. at 14, 17.  Of further relevance here, the solicitation stated that for paper destruction “[t]he contractor shall provide equipment that is capable of shredding large volumes of documents per hour that shall produce cross cut shred articles within 1 mm x 5 mm (0.04 in. x 0.2 in.), pulped for recycling and prepare a certificate of destruction per the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) standards for mobile units.”  Id. at 21.  Prior to the solicitation closing date, the protester inquired about the inclusion of this requirement, noting that it was in violation of VA policy as reflected in VA Directive 6371, and requested that the provision be removed.  See Protest, encls. at 137-138 (Land Shark Shredding Nov. 29, 2017 Email to Agency).  This protest followed.    DISCUSSION The protester primarily argues that the solicitation’s requirement for paper destruction is unduly restrictive of competition because it exceeds and contradicts VA Directive 6371,[1] which merely requires destruction “to a degree that definitively ensures that they are not readable or reconstructable to any degree.”  Protest at 2-3; Protester’s Comments at 1‑2.  In response, the agency argues that its requirements are necessary to meet a legitimate need of the agency and do not contradict VA policy or regulatory requirements.  See AR, Memorandum of Law (MOL) at 3-8.  Specifically, the agency argues that CNVAMC has a mission need to ensure documents and electronic media containing veteran medical information are properly destroyed so there is no opportunity for reconstruction or improper disclosure in light of the prevalence of identity theft.  Id. at 8.  In this regard, the agency first explains that VA Directive 6371 establishes agency-wide policy to ensure that all temporary paper records, in particular those that contain personally identifiable information (PII), personal health information (PHI), and VA sensitive information under the jurisdiction of VA, will be handled securely, economically, and effectively in accordance with applicable disposition instructions.  Id. at 5.  The agency further states that the directive sets forth minimum standards and specifically states that “[t]his policy does not preclude the Administrations or Staff Offices from issuing their own more stringent destruction policies.”  Id.