Engineering Research and Consulting, Inc. (W91CRB-21-R-0016)

B-420361.6 Mar 09, 2023 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights TRAX International Corporation, of Las Vegas, Nevada, protests the award of a contract to Engineering Research and Consulting, Inc. (ERC), of Huntsville, Alabama, under request for proposals (RFP) No. W91CRB-21-R-0016, for Aberdeen Test Support Services (ATSS) at the Aberdeen Test Center at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. TRAX contends that the Army failed to conduct a reasonable investigation of ERC's alleged violation of the integrity provisions of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act, 41 U.S.C. §§ 2101-07 (hereinafter, the Procurement Integrity Act, PIA, or the Act), despite evidence that ERC personnel, who would be expected to be involved in competitive decision making for ERC in this procurement, had improper access to TRAX's bid or proposal information. We dismiss the protest. View Decision 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: TRAX International Corporation File: B-420361.6 Date: March 9, 2023 Daniel P. Graham, Esq., and Tara L. Ward, Esq., McDermott Will & Emery LLP, for the protester. J. Hunter Bennett, Esq., Evan R. Sherwood, Esq., Chanda Brown, Esq., and Paul Rowley, Esq., Covington & Burling LLP, for Engineering Research and Consulting, Inc., the intervenor. Captain Paula F. Barr, Department of the Army, for the agency. Kenneth Kilgour, Esq., and Jennifer D. Westfall-McGrail, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest that the awardee violated the procurement integrity provisions of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act, 41 U.S.C. §§ 2101-07, is dismissed as legally and factually insufficient where the protester’s allegations, even if unrebutted, fail to establish a violation of law by the agency. DECISION TRAX International Corporation, of Las Vegas, Nevada, protests the award of a contract to Engineering Research and Consulting, Inc. (ERC), of Huntsville, Alabama, under request for proposals (RFP) No. W91CRB-21-R-0016, for Aberdeen Test Support Services (ATSS) at the Aberdeen Test Center at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. TRAX contends that the Army failed to conduct a reasonable investigation of ERC’s alleged violation of the integrity provisions of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act, 41 U.S.C. §§ 2101-07 (hereinafter, the Procurement Integrity Act, PIA, or the Act), despite evidence that ERC personnel, who would be expected to be involved in competitive decision making for ERC in this procurement, had improper access to TRAX’s bid or proposal information. We dismiss the protest. BACKGROUND The RFP, issued on November 24, 2020, sought proposals for the award of a single cost-plus-fixed-fee indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract with fixed-price and cost-reimbursable contract line items. Request for Dismissal, exh. 1, RFP at 170. Award would be made to the offeror whose proposal represented the best value to the government, considering four non-price factors--technical, small business participation, past performance, and experience--and cost/price. Id. at 169-170. Only the technical factor--and its three subfactors--would be adjectivally rated; the other three non-price factors would be evaluated as acceptable or unacceptable. Id. at 170. The technical factor was significantly more important than cost/price; only proposals evaluated as at least acceptable under every factor--and the technical factor’s three subfactors--would be considered for award. This procurement has been the subject of multiple protests; the agency is currently reevaluating offerors’ professional compensation plans, in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provision 52.222-46, prior to making a new award decision. See Jacobs Tech., Inc., B-420361.3, Dec. 12, 2022 (unpublished decision); and TRAX Int’l Corp, Inc., B‑420361.4, B-420361.5, Dec. 13, 2022 (unpublished decision). TRAX has been a competitor in the acquisition throughout.[1] Our Bid Protest Regulations, 4 C.F.R. §§ 21.1(c)(4) and (f), require that a protest include a detailed statement of the legal and factual grounds of protest with evidence or allegations sufficient, if uncontradicted, to establish the likelihood that the protester will prevail in its claims of improper agency action. IBM Corp., B-415798.2, Feb. 14, 2019, 2019 CPD ¶ 82 at 4.