NOTICE OF INTENT FOR SOLE SOURCE The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in Research Triangle Park, NC, intends to award a sole source purchase order under authority of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures to Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) to perform Research for "Coupling Pesticide Exposure Assessment in a Plant Nursery Setting to Direct Measures of immunocompetence and colony condition in Bumble Bees". Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station is the only organization suitably located in the New England region that possesses the unique combination of skills and experience. The requirement involves ongoing relationships with large commercial plant nurseries, expertise in conducting honey bee and bumble bee studies and analyzing pollen for pesticide residues. In addition, this project requires available analyzed pollen collected during previous studies conducted at the same plant nurseries to serve as diet for bees during this study. Access to these samples will also enable EPA to make year-to-year comparisons (i.e., pesticide stability and palatability of pollen following long-term storage) that would not otherwise be possible. CAES is the only source of these materials. The requirements for this study are immediate and no other researcher or research center located in this region possesses the existing networks of collaborators to support such research other than the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. The circumstance permitting is FAR 13.106-1(b) "Soliciting from a single source". All interested parties who believe they can provide the required services should fully explain their capabilities and qualifications in writing within 10 days from the date of this announcement and provide itemized pricing that is sufficient to make a determination that competition is feasible. The intent of this notice is to determine if any other source(s) exist, and therefore, no solicitation is available. Consequently, anyone failing to provide the aforementioned and instead chooses to merely submit a routine letter requesting a copy of the statement of work or more information about the project will be ignored. The information received to this notice will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct a competitive procurement. Please submit response ONLY to Sammie Jones at [email protected]. No telephone or faxed requests will be honored.

Bid Protests Not Available