Active Deployment Systems, LLC (70B01C24Q00000074)

B-422424 Jun 17, 2024 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Active Deployment Systems, LLC (ADS), a small business of San Marcos, Texas, protests the terms of request for quotations (RFQ) No. 70B01C24Q00000074, issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), for the construction of, and services supporting, a temporary soft-sided facility used to detain individuals for processing in North Eagle Pass, Texas. The protester contends that the terms of the solicitation provide insufficient information for intelligent competition, are unduly restrictive of competition, and provide an unfair competitive advantage to the incumbent contractor. We deny the protest. View Decision Decision Matter of: Active Deployment Systems, LLC File: B-422424 Date: June 17, 2024 Matthew T. Schoonover, Esq., Matthew P. Moriarty, Esq., John M. Mattox II, Esq., Ian P. Patterson, Esq., and Timothy J. Laughlin, Esq., Schoonover & Moriarty LLC, for the protester. Olivia L. Lynch, Esq., James G. Peyster, Esq., and Roxanne N. Cassidy, Esq., Crowell & Moring LLP, for Deployed Resources, LLC, the intervenor. Joseph M. Barbato, Esq., Department of Homeland Security, for the agency. Uri R. Yoo, Esq., and Alexander O. Levine, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest that solicitation provides insufficient and misleading information is denied where the record shows that the agency provided, through the solicitation and a required site visit, information sufficient for vendors to compete intelligently and on a relatively equal basis. 2. Protest that solicitation is unduly restrictive of competition and provides an unfair competitive advantage to incumbent contractor is denied where the requirement is reasonably necessary to meet the agency’s needs and the record does not show any unfair action or preferential treatment. DECISION Active Deployment Systems, LLC (ADS), a small business of San Marcos, Texas, protests the terms of request for quotations (RFQ) No. 70B01C24Q00000074, issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), for the construction of, and services supporting, a temporary soft-sided facility used to detain individuals for processing in North Eagle Pass, Texas. The protester contends that the terms of the solicitation provide insufficient information for intelligent competition, are unduly restrictive of competition, and provide an unfair competitive advantage to the incumbent contractor. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND As relevant to the requirement being solicited here, CBP has a critical operational need to process and hold migrants crossing the southwest border. Memorandum of Law (MOL) at 1. To fill this need, the agency requires temporary soft-sided holding facilities, ancillary structures, services, and amenities to provide accommodations for holding and processing up to 1,125 detainees at the agency’s property in North Eagle Pass, Texas. Id. at 1‑2. The requirement was previously performed by Deployed Resources, LLC, pursuant to a task order issued under a competitively awarded CBP blanket purchase agreement (BPA) for temporary facilities. Id. at 1 n.3. On February 22, 2024, ahead of the approaching expiration of the predecessor task order, the agency issued the RFQ to holders of a DHS multiple‑award BPA for temporary facilities and services, seeking a vendor to construct and operate a temporary soft-sided holding facility in North Eagle Pass, Texas.[1] Id. at 1; Agency Report (AR), Exh. 4a, RFQ at 1, 7‑8. The solicitation contemplates the issuance of a fixed-price task order with a 30‑day stand-up period, a 4‑month base period, and thirty‑two 1-month option periods. Id. at 70. The statement of work (SOW) provides, as background, that “CBP requires additional capacity to accommodate the processing and holding” of individuals arriving at the southwest border, and that “[t]emporary soft-sided (tent) holding facilities, ancillary structures, and equipment are required to detain these individuals while other solutions are being developed.” Id. at 16. The solicitation seeks a vendor to “provide all structures, materials, supplies, supervision, labor, equipment, services, and amenities to provide a fully‑serviced turnkey solution for the stand-up and operation of temporary holding facilities.” Id. As part of the facility mobilization requirement, the contractor is required to perform site preparations to “ensure a firm, flat, and stable base for the deployment of the soft‑sided structures, ancillary equipment, access, and parking/maneuvering of all vehicles around the site.” Id. at 19. The SOW describes the site as “approximately 61.5 acres . . . as shown on Attachment A” and directs vendors to the aerial map “identifying the location and existing conditions relevant to the New Build and Period of Performance.” Id.