Anders Construction, Inc. v. United States

United States Court of Federal Claims·Decided September 1, 2026·No. 23-759·Published

Opinion

In the United States Court of Federal Claims No. 23-759

(Filed Under Seal: August 27, 2026)

Reissued: September 1, 2026∗

)

ANDERS CONSTRUCTION, INC., )

)

Plaintiff, )

)

v. )

)

THE UNITED STATES, )

)

Defendant. )

)

Jonathan S. Forester, Reiss LeMieux, LLC, New Orleans, Louisiana, for plaintiff. With him on the briefs was Christopher K. Lemieux.

Brendan D. Jordan, Trial Attorney, United States Department of Justice, Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Washington, D.C., for defendant.

OPINION AND ORDER

SMITH, Senior Judge

This pre-award bid protest returns to the Court on remand with instructions to address previously unresolved claims. Plaintiff Anders Construction, Inc. (“Anders”) challenges the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ (“USACE” or the “Corps”) decision to find its offer technically unacceptable. The Court initially held that USACE arbitrarily and capriciously identified deficiencies in Anders’ proposal that rendered it non-compliant with the solicitation. See Anders Constr., Inc. v. United States, 171 Fed. Cl. 300 (2024) (subsequent history omitted) (“Anders I”). However, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed this Court’s Opinion and held that USACE properly determined that Ander’s proposal was deficient. Anders Constr., Inc. v. United States, 2024-2247, 2026 WL 1298183 (Fed. Cir. May 12, 2026) (“Anders II”). The Federal Circuit then remanded this protest for the Court to consider Anders’ arguments that USACE violated multiple Federal Acquisition Regulations (“FAR”). For the following reasons, the Court GRANTS the Corps’ motion for judgment on the administrative record, ECF No. 24.

An unredacted version of this Opinion was issued under seal on August 27, 2026. See ECF No.

43. The Court provided the parties with the opportunity to submit proposed redactions. See Joint Status Report, ECF No. 45. The parties confirmed that the full Opinion may be filed without redactions.

I. BACKGROUND

On July 30, 2021, USACE issued Solicitation No. W912P821R004 as a 100% smallbusiness set aside for professional diving services in New Orleans. See Administrative R. (“AR”), ECF Nos. 21–22 at 31, 36. Services rendered would support “navigation, flood control, environmental,” and other USACE related missions, including to “investigate, survey, and/or remove designated obstructions and sunken vessels.” Id. at 7, 15. The Solicitation contemplated a one-year base period with four option years that carried a maximum capacity of $5 million. Id. at 32. During this procurement, USACE amended the Solicitation fourteen times, both before and after it received initial proposals. Id. at 178, 195–240, 2250, 2258–2400, 2410, 4118, 4172, 4196, 4198, 4539, 4541, 4593.

In September 2021, USACE received proposals from Anders, Lotus USA, Inc. (“Lotus”), and Specialty Diving of Louisiana, Inc. (“Specialty”). Id. at 1693. A Source Selection Evaluation Board evaluated each offeror’s proposal and concluded that Anders submitted the only technical acceptable bid. Id. at 1694–95. That December, USACE sent unsuccessful offer letters to Lotus and Specialty which stated that it “will not consider subsequent revisions” of their proposals. Id. at 1718, 1720. Thereafter, Specialty requested a debriefing from USACE regarding its technical non-compliance. Id. at 1741. Later in January 2022, Specialty insisted that USACE reconsider its offer and deem its proposal as “technically acceptable in all respects.” Id. at 1792–94. USACE obliged and also reevaluated Lotus and Anders’ offers before issuing an updated decision. See id. at 2072–79. While the Corps determined that Lotus and Specialty’s bids remained technically unacceptable, USACE also concluded that Anders’ proposal contained several deficiencies. Id. at 2080–102. Since USACE found all three offers non-compliant, each contractor could amend and resubmit their proposals by March 9, 2022. Id.

After receiving notice of USACE’s decision, Anders filed an agency-level protest alleging that the Corps “manufactur[ed] deficiencies in Anders’ proposal” which “create[d] an excuse to allow bidders to revise their proposals.” Id. at 2118–20. Anders later supplemented its protest with additional proof that its offer was technically acceptable. Id. at 2151. On April 19, 2022, USACE confirmed receipt of Anders’ agency protest and “promptly notified an independent reviewer within the Agency” to inquire into the company’s claims under FAR 33.103(d)(4). Id. at 2248. USACE also issued Amendment 7 to the Solicitation that same day which replaced the “initial solicitation and all of its amendments with” an attached revised Solicitation. Id. at 2258– 400. Amendment 7 modified information related to payments and overtime, the proposal submission schedule, and safe practices manual requirement. Id. In response to USACE’s corrective action, Anders informed the agency that it would file a bid protest at the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”). Id. at 2404–06. At GAO, Anders sought a ruling that it submitted the lowest price technically acceptable bid and should be awarded the contract. Id. at 2414, 2422.

In May 2022, the independent reviewer held that Anders’ protest before GAO which involved identical issues and relief sought made its agency-level protest academic. Id. at 4112– 13. GAO then dismissed Ander’s bid protest and held that USACE retained discretion to take corrective action to promote competition in July 2022. Id. at 4116. The next month, Anders brought another agency-level protest after USACE issued Amendment 10 to the Solicitation. Id. at 4118, 4189. That October, Anders filed a second bid protest at GAO regarding “whether divers

are entitled to payment of prevailing wage rates while performing job duties from mobilization location to the dive site under the Solicitation.” Id. at 4205–13. GAO denied Anders’ second protest in January 2023. Id. at 4616.

II. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Anders sued in this Court on May 23, 2023, asserting that USACE violated numerous FAR provisions and that USACE’s reevaluation of its proposal lacked a rational basis. See generally Compl., ECF No. 1. The parties agreed to resolve this matter on the administrative record and engaged in a full briefing schedule from late July 2023 to early September 2023. See ECF Nos. 22, 24, 26, 27. The Court heard oral argument that November after briefing concluded.

In May 2024, the Court issued its initial Opinion and Order that granted Anders’ motion for judgment on the administrative record. See Anders I, 171 Fed. Cl. at 314. The Court first held that USACE employed unstated evaluation criterion when it found Anders non-compliant for failing to submit a sample completion report. Id. at 309–10. The Court also determined that Anders properly included a “Lost Divers Plan” and a “Sample Repetitive Dive Worksheet” in its offer. Id. at 310–11. Furthermore, USACE unreasonably determined that Anders provided insufficient administrative and record-keeping procedures and that one of its supervisors required diver certification. Id. at 311–12. Anders then moved for a permanent injunction which sought to enjoin USACE from awarding the contract to anyone but Anders. See generally Mot. for Perm. Inj., ECF No. 38. In June 2024, the Court granted Anders’ motion and entered judgment in its favor. See Order Granting Mot. for Perm. Inj., ECF No 38. USACE appealed the Court’s decision to the Federal Circuit in August 2024. See Notice of Appeal, ECF No. 40.

On review, the Federal Circuit held that the Court erred “in concluding that [USACE’s]

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