U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Acquisition and Grants Services, RAD-30, 400 7th Street, S.W., Room 8222, Washington, D.C. 20590

A -- ASSESSMENT OF FEDERAL HIGH-SPEED GROUND TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT SOL DTFR53-96-R-00013 DUE 031596. POC Contracting Officer, Thomas L. Riddle, 202/366-0565. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) intends to negotiate a cost (no fee) type contract on a sole source basis, with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), Transportation Research Board (TRB), to assemble a panel of experts tasked with issuing periodic reports on the FRA's high speed rail research and development and next generation high-speed rail activities. The duration of the proposed contract is estimated at 36 months. As directed by Congress, the panel will assess the content and inter-relationship of individual projects, management structure, and direction of FRA activities. The primary intent of this assessment is to determine whether the FRA's High-Speed Ground Transportation R&D program activities make up a coherent, well-managed whole, whether the proposed fiscal year 1997 projects are logical extensions of these efforts, whether specific projects in FRA's program are likely to yield useful research results, and the prospect of state and/or private deployment of the technologies derived from these projects. Under the terms of its Congressional charter, the NAS is also called on to act as an official, yet independent, advisor to the Federal Government in any matter of science or technology. Although the Academy is not a Government agency and its activities are not limited to those on behalf of the Government, this provision explains the close ties that have always existed between the Academy and the Government. As the operating arm of the NAS, the TRB consists of a large number (over 300) of technical committees, task forces and panels, each composed of voluntary experts from among more than 3,500 of the nation's top administrators, engineers, social scientists, attorneys, and educators (all concerned with transportation issues) serving on these organizational bodies without compensation. The ability of the TRB to meet its Congressionally chartered objectives derives mainly from its large pool of highly qualified technical committees, task forces, and volunteer experts. Past experience has demonstrated the validity of the Board's Anti-Bias Policy Statement in bringing together experts from government, industry and academia to address problems through open discussion of otherwise sensitive issues. This relationship between the TRB and its members assures the TRB's reputation for objectivity and its role as a scientific advisory body to the Government. The NAS/TRB is singular and distinctive in its organizational structure, versatility in technology dissemination, and accessibility to large and diverse numbers of highly specialized technical committees and task forces comprised of volunteer experts. As a result, in addition to its having been expressly named by the Congress as the contracting source for this proposed effort, the NAS/TRB has been determined to be the only organization capable of fully meeting the needs of the subject contracting action and it is thereby considered the only source capable of satisfying the agency requirements. The applicable authority for this announced intention to solicit and negotiate only with the NAS/TRB is that under 41 U.S.C. 253 (c)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1, ``Only One Responsible Source.'' This is not a Request for Proposals (RFP) and a competitive solicitation is not available. See Note 22. (043)

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