Project Profile: USGS, National Water Quality Laboratory

The United States Geological Survey (USGS), National Water Quality Laboratory (NWQL) provides a national capability for environmental analytical services, including inorganic, organic, and radiochemical constituents. The Laboratory specializes in environmental analytical chemistry of samples obtained and provided by an infrastructure of trained personnel across the Nation. The Laboratory conducts trace- and ultratrace-level analyses of water, sediment, and tissue, as well as identification and quantification of benthic macroinvertebrates. NWQL, formed in 1986 by consolidating various USGS laboratories, employs approximately 100 people and provides a full-service national laboratory with standardized laboratory methods that enable the USGS to collect, manage, and disseminate scientifically based information that describes the quality of the Nation's water.

MAI supported the competitive sourcing of the services provided by the Laboratory by:

• Participating in the preliminary planning.
• Preparing the Performance Work Statement, Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan and Independent Government Estimate.
• Developing the source selection criteria and evaluation factors.
• Supporting the Source Selection Evaluation Board.
• Developing the Agency Tender (including Quality Control Plan and Phase-In Plan) and the Agency Cost Estimate.

The competition was completed within the milestones established at the start of the study and resulted in an in-house decision.