Enhancing the Integration of Drought Impacts and Risk Communication into Regional and National Drought Early Warning

This Sources Sought Notice is for market research purposes only and does not constitute a Request for Proposal or Quotation. It is not considered to be a commitment by the Government to award a contract nor will the Government pay for any information provided; no basis for claim against the Government shall arise as a result from a response to this Sources Sought Notice or Government use of any information provided.

Pursuant to FAR Part 10 (Market Research), the purpose of this notice is to:

1. Determine if sources capable of satisfying the agency's requirements exist.

2. Determine whether the acquisition should utilize any of the small business programs in accordance with FAR Part 19.

Pursuant to FAR Part 6 and FAR Part 19, competition and set-aside decisions may be based on the results of this market research. This notice in no way obligates the Government to any further action.

Requirement: This notice is issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Western Acquisition Division (WAD) and Climate Program Office (CPO) to identify sources capable of providing the following:

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) program was authorized by Congress in 2006 (Public Law 109–430) and reauthorized in 2014 and 2019 with an interagency mission to improve the nation’s capacity to proactively manage drought-related risks by providing those affected with the best available information and resources to assess the potential for drought and to better prepare for, mitigate, and respond to the effects of drought. A key component of the NIDIS Public Law is to integrate information on drought conditions, forecasts and impacts, and communicate this information on an ongoing basis to support better informed and more timely decisions thereby leading to reduced impacts and costs.

Therefore, there is a need to establish a contract to better understand and apply drought risk communication at regional and national scales and improve access and utilization of drought impact information into drought monitoring, communication, planning, and response efforts. Additionally, to improve current efforts at NIDIS on drought early warning and preparedness, there is a need to enhance and accelerate the integration of drought impact information into both drought monitoring and risk communication.

The scope of the work includes the following tasks: organize and implement a Workshop on Drought Risk Communication; conduct an assessment of drought impacts; and provide guidance and content to improve NIDIS communications on drought risk for the U.S. Drought Portal and the regional Drought Early Warning System (DEWS) networks.

Reference the draft Performance Work Statement for additional information.

A Firm-Fixed-Price contract is anticipated for award.

Anticipated Period of Performance: The anticipated period of performance is 19 September 2025-18 September 2027 which consists of a single base period (no options).

NAICS Code/Size Standard: The applicable NAICS Code is 541990 - All Other Professional, Scientific and Technical Services, and the size standard is $19.5M.

Submission of Information: Companies having capabilities necessary to meet or exceed the stated requirements are invited to provide information to contribute to this sources sought notice.

Companies shall respond to this Sources Sought Notice by using the Google Portal Link below.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScAGhg_8GEHjhM3FA9TiNSvER0XZsZhl6WgdXVVDke0MggeFA/viewform?usp=dialog

Responses shall be received no later than July 28, 2025 at 2:00 PM Eastern Time.

Interested parties: Need to be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM). Failure to submit sufficient detailed information may result in considering a company as not a viable source and may influence competition and set-aside decisions. Regardless of the information obtained from this Sources Sought Notice, the Government reserves the right to consider any arrangement as deemed appropriate for this requirement.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response to this Sources Sought Notice. The Government reserves the right to use any information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate, including using technical information provided by respondents in any resultant solicitation.

After a review of the responses received from this notice, a pre-solicitation notice and solicitation may be published on the Governmentwide Point of Entry (GPE). It is the potential offeror's responsibility to monitor the GPE for release of any future solicitation that may result from this Sources Sought Notice. Responses to this Sources Sought Notice will not be considered adequate responses to any resultant solicitation.