California Industrial Facilities Resources, Inc. v. United States

100 Fed. Cl. 404, 2011 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1330, 2011 WL 2725899
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJuly 8, 2011
DocketNo. 11-299C
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 100 Fed. Cl. 404 (California Industrial Facilities Resources, Inc. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
California Industrial Facilities Resources, Inc. v. United States, 100 Fed. Cl. 404, 2011 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1330, 2011 WL 2725899 (uscfc 2011).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

WHEELER, Judge.

In this bid protest, Plaintiff California Industrial Facilities Resources, Inc. (CIFR) challenges the Government’s award of a sole source contract for sixteen 50-man bare base shelter systems to Alaska' Structures, Inc. (AKS). The bare base shelter systems are large tent-like structures that serve as living quarters for United States military troops arriving in Afghanistan. CIFR alleges that the Government violated statutory competition requirements when it failed to consider suppliers other than AKS in awarding the contract, and acted unreasonably by delaying the public posting of the sole source award until after contract performance to avoid possible bid protests. CIFR asserts that it would have submitted a proposal for the contract if given an opportunity, and that its price would have been significantly lower than the price offered by AKS.

By the time the protest was filed in this Court, AKS had nearly performed the entire contract, and the Court denied the application for a temporary restraining order (TRO). The contract is now fully performed, but CIFR nevertheless requests a declaratory judgment to prevent the Government from acting as it did here on future procurements. In response, Defendant argues that the case should be dismissed as moot because CIFR’s requested relief cannot redress any actual injuries. Both Defendant and AKS also argue that the Government’s actions were reasonable and in compliance with governing law.

In brief summary, the Court finds that this case is not moot because the Government’s violation of statutory competition require-[406]*406mente for the war effort in Afghanistan is capable of repetition, and could again evade review. The challenged actions were too short in duration to be fully litigated prior to completion, and there is a reasonable expectation that the complaining party will be subject to the same actions in the future. Fed. Election Comm’n v. Wis. Right to Life, Inc., 551 U.S. 449, 462-63, 127 S.Ct. 2652, 168 L.Ed.2d 329 (2007); Humane Soc’y v. Clinton, 236 F.3d 1320, 1331 (Fed.Cir.2001); Ameron, Inc. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 787 F.2d 875, 880-81 (3d Cir.1986). The Court has jurisdiction of this matter under 28 U.S.C. § 1491(b) (2006).

On the merits, the Court finds that the Government’s award of a sole source contract to AKS violated the competition requirements in 10 U.S.C. § 2304(e) (2006) and Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-2(c)(2). Even when confronted with unusual and compelling urgency, the Government still must request offers from as many potential sources as is practicable. The Government was well aware that other sources would have been interested in competing for the contract, but the Government made no effort to contact any source other than AKS. The Government had 26 days between its awareness of the shelter system requirement (April 1, 2011) and the award of the contract to AKS (April 27, 2011), and it easily could have obtained competitive prices from other sources. The Government’s failure to do so was in violation of law.

The Court also finds that the Government’s delay in publicly posting the Justification and Approval (J & A) of the award until after performance was done intentionally for the purpose of avoiding a bid protest, and therefore was arbitrary and capricious. Even though FAR 6.305(b) affords the Government 30 days after award to post the J & A, the Government’s actions were calculated to obstruct the interests of those who might object to the sole source award. The Government must at all times strive for “maintaining the public’s trust,” and cannot conduct its business in a manner that undermines “integrity, fairness, and openness.” See FAR 1.102-2(c). The Government did not meet this standard here. Accordingly, Plaintiffs motion for judgment on the administrative record is granted, Defendant’s motion to dismiss or in the alternative for judgment on the administrative record is denied, and Defendanb-Intervenor’s motion for judgment on the administrative record also is denied.

Background

On April 1, 2011, the Secretary of Defense ordered the deployment of a 690-member infantry battalion to support the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan. (Administrative Record (AR) 67.) The latest expected arrival date for this infantry battalion was June 1, 2011. Id. The United States military in Afghanistan needed sixteen 50-man bare base shelter systems to house these troops. Id. Bare base shelter systems are large tents that provide troops with space for sleep, work, and storage. (AR 267.) Two contracting officials, Lieutenant Commander Kevin B. Morris and Captain Pak Sa Dewhurst, were responsible for conducting this procurement. See AR 268. Captain Dewhurst was redeployed on April 24, 2011, and Technical Sergeant Chad Ober-miller replaced him. (AR 95,163.)

By April 2, 2011, one day after the announcement of the troop deployment, LCDR Morris already had contacted AKS and obtained a price quotation for the sixteen shelter systems. (AR 24.) LCDR Morris asked AKS for a “repeat customer discount” and received [...] price reduction. Id. He also had completed within one day 85 percent of the J & A. Id. LCDR Morris used a J & A from a previous contract to prepare the J & A for this procurement. (AR 48, 75.) When preparing the J & A, LCDR Morris and Captain Dewhurst were well aware that a sole source contract award might result in a bid protest. In an e-mail sending a draft of the J & A to LCDR Morris, Captain De-whurst suggested that the J & A needed to be revised to avoid a protest, stating “[y]ou may need to beef up some language throughout the document. It has to be significantly stronger than the first J & A for obvious reasons.” (AR 48.) Further, Patricia Babi-da, a senior contracting official for the CENTCOM Contracting Command, suggesb ed a policy review of the award package [407]*407because “these Alaska structures are pretty protestable items.” (AR 241.)

Lt. Col. Lavonne Shingler, an Air Force Special Competition Advocate, approved the sole source J & A on April 26, 2011. (AR 269.) In a paragraph describing efforts to obtain competition, the J & A states that the Government contacted the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) and the General Services Administration (GSA) on April 3, 2011, but that neither was able to meet the expedited delivery requirements for the shelter systems. (AR 267.) The Government explains in the J & A that it turned to two proven commercial suppliers, ADS Inc., a distributor of Alaska Structures equipment, and Alaska Structures itself. Id. The Government determined that, because ADS was only a distributor, it was more advantageous to contact AKS directly. Id. In a paragraph describing interested sources, the J & A states “[ojther sources can provide bare base systems.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Per Aarsleff A/S v. United States
123 Fed. Cl. 147 (Federal Claims, 2015)
Hymas v. United States
117 Fed. Cl. 466 (Federal Claims, 2014)
Distributed Solutions, Inc. v. United States
104 Fed. Cl. 368 (Federal Claims, 2012)
BayFirst Solutions, LLC v. United States
104 Fed. Cl. 493 (Federal Claims, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
100 Fed. Cl. 404, 2011 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1330, 2011 WL 2725899, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/california-industrial-facilities-resources-inc-v-united-states-uscfc-2011.