Coastal Environmental Group, Inc. (W912DQ-21-R-3004)

B-420390.2,B-420390.3 Jul 27, 2022 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Coastal Environmental Group, Inc., a small business of Patchogue, New York, protests its non-selection for award of an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract under request for proposals (RFP) No. W912DQ-21-R-3004, issued by the Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), for environmental remediation services. The protester challenges the agency's evaluation of its proposal and contends the solicitation was ambiguous concerning how USACE would evaluate past performance. We deny the protest. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of: Coastal Environmental Group, Inc. File: B-420390.2; B-420390.3 Date: July 27, 2022 Aron C. Beezley, Esq., Sarah S. Osborne, Esq., and Gabrielle A. Sprio, Esq., Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, for the protester. Jennifer G. Meyer, Esq., and Alexandria P. Tramel, Esq., Department of the Army, for the agency. Michael P. Grogan, Esq., and Evan D. Wesser, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest challenging agency’s evaluation of the protester’s proposal is denied where the evaluation was reasonable and consistent with the terms of the solicitation. 2. Protest alleging that the solicitation contained a latent ambiguity is denied where the protester’s interpretation of the relevant solicitation language is not reasonable. DECISION Coastal Environmental Group, Inc., a small business of Patchogue, New York, protests its non-selection for award of an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract under request for proposals (RFP) No. W912DQ-21-R-3004, issued by the Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), for environmental remediation services. The protester challenges the agency’s evaluation of its proposal and contends the solicitation was ambiguous concerning how USACE would evaluate past performance. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The agency issued the solicitation on January 29, 2021, pursuant to the procedures in Federal Acquisition Regulation part 15, as a small business set-aside, anticipating the award of multiple IDIQ contracts. Agency Report (AR), Tab 4, RFP at 3.[1] The multiple award task order contracts (MATOCs) include a 3-year base period and a single, 2-year option period, and orders will be issued on fixed-price and cost-reimbursable bases. Id. at 3, 6. The solicitation sought environmental remediation services at hazardous and radiological waste sites. Id. at 10. Specifically, the contractor will provide removal and remedial actions, to include: the excavation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous, toxic, or radiological waste; the construction and operation of groundwater treatment plants and extraction systems; the decommissioning of existing facilities; and the installation and operation of in situ treatment technologies. Id. The RFP explained that USACE intended to award ten MATOCs, but reserved the right to make more or fewer awards. RFP at 75. The solicitation provided for award on a best-value tradeoff basis, considering three evaluation factors, which the RFP listed in descending order of importance: (1) company experience; (2) performance confidence; and (3) cost. Id. The non-cost evaluation factors, when combined, were significantly more important than cost. Id. Under the company experience factor, offerors were to provide no more than seven projects that demonstrate experience performing work relevant to the RFP’s requirements. Id. at 67. The solicitation allowed for the submission of projects that occurred within 10 years of the proposal due date. Id. The RFP provided criteria that the agency deemed “most important in evaluating an offeror’s capability to successfully execute the type of work that the government has determined as most likely to be performed under this contract.” Id. 76. As relevant to this protest, one of the identified criteria USACE would use to assess relevant demonstrated experience was “Construction of Groundwater Treatment Plants and extraction well systems requiring long term operation[.]” Id. The agency would assign a color/adjectival rating under the corporate experience factor, with the following possible combinations: Blue/Outstanding; Purple/Good; Green/Acceptable; Yellow/Marginal; and Red/Unacceptable. Id. at 76-77. Under the second evaluation factor, performance confidence, the solicitation provided that “[f]or each of the projects submitted under Factor 1, Company Experience, the offeror should provide existing documentation of the owner’s opinion of the offeror’s performance by including a [past performance questionnaire (PPQ)].” Id. at 68.