Carbon Flux Sensor and Tower

This document is Amendment 0002 for federal solicitation 1232SA26Q1354, issued by the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Acquisition and Property Division in Beltsville, Maryland. The purpose of this amendment is to update the requirement specifications and provide clarification on the scope of work. Specifically, the amendment introduces "AMD 0002 Attachment 1 Specifications.pdf," which supersedes the previous version by adding Section 2.8; no other changes were made to the specifications. Additionally, it clarifies that the requirement does not include field installation, commissioning, or training. Vendors are required to submit a signed copy of this Standard Form 30 (SF30) amendment to acknowledge receipt and ensure their offers are considered.

This document is Amendment 0001 for solicitation 1232SA26Q1354, issued by the USDA ARS Acquisition and Property Division in Beltsville, Maryland. The amendment makes key revisions to the solicitation requirements, primarily increasing the required quantity for CLIN 0001 from one to two units. Additionally, the original "Attachment 1 Specifications.pdf" is superseded by "AMD 0001 Attachment 1 Specifications.pdf." To be considered for award, offerors must acknowledge receipt of this amendment by signing and emailing the completed SF30 document with their quote submission. When preparing the pricing quote on the base SF1449 form, offerors must populate CLIN 0001 block 23 with the unit price and block 24 with the total amount for both units. All other terms and conditions of the original solicitation remain unchanged.

This federal Request for Quotation (RFQ), solicitation number 1232SA26Q1354, is issued by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Stoneville, Mississippi. The agency is seeking to procure one Carbon Flux Sensor and Tower. This procurement is structured as a firm-fixed-price purchase order with a performance period requiring delivery within 60 days after receipt of order. The acquisition is unrestricted, falling under North American Industry Classification Standard (NAICS) code 334516. Offers must be submitted via email to Contracting Officer Christopher Turner by September 16, 2026, at 9:00 AM ET. All deliveries are designated as F.O.B. Destination to the SEA Stoneville Location Support facility. Evaluation will be conducted using the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) method. To be considered responsive, vendors must submit completed Standard Form 1449 blocks, completed Buy American and Place of Manufacture certificates, and a Technical Capability Narrative not exceeding five pages. The solicitation incorporates standard Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) commercial item clauses and specific Agriculture Acquisition Regulation (AGAR) clauses. Key provisions include AGAR 452.203-71, which mandates compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws and equal protection principles concerning Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and AGAR 452.203-72, which outlines unenforceable supplier terms and restrictions on artificial intelligence and automated decision-making tools. Procedures for filing agency-level protests with the USDA are also established.

This federal procurement document outlines the technical specifications for a USDA solicitation to acquire two compact, state-of-the-science Carbon Flux Sensors and towers for deployment in Stoneville, Mississippi. The systems will be installed in large-scale agricultural fields to perform real-time monitoring of crop growth, canopy-scale photosynthesis, and carbon assimilation by measuring fluxes of carbon dioxide, sensible and latent heat, momentum, and key biometeorological variables. The procurement requires a single-mast installation system (minimum 5 meters tall) designed to minimize crop disturbance, complete with integrated solar panels for power generation. Key technical requirements include high-speed carbon dioxide and water vapor measurements, an open-path non-dispersive infrared analyzer, environmental robustness for all-weather continuous operations, and low power consumption. Additionally, the sensors must feature integrated on-site flux computation capabilities, diverse data output options (such as Ethernet and RS-232), and include a minimum two-year software license.

FAR Provision 52.225-2, "Buy American Certificate" (October 2022), is a standard federal solicitation provision requiring offerors to certify the origin of their proposed end products. By submitting an offer, the offeror certifies that each end product is a domestic end product and indicates whether domestic end products contain any critical components. For products that do not qualify as domestic, the offeror must list them as foreign end products, specify their country of origin, and indicate if non-COTS items exceed 55 percent domestic content. Offerors must also separately list line items of domestic end products that contain critical components as defined under FAR Part 25. The government utilizes this completed certificate to evaluate proposals in compliance with the Buy American Act and the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

This document outlines Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provision 52.225-18, "Place of Manufacture," which is prescribed for federal solicitations to gather statistical data on the origin of manufactured goods. The provision defines a "manufactured end product" as any item falling under product and service codes (PSCs) 1000-9999, excluding specific raw materials, agricultural goods, timber, live animals, and minerals. It defines the "place of manufacture" as the location where components are assembled or raw materials are processed into the final product, explicitly noting that simple product disassembly and reassembly does not qualify. Under this provision, offerors must self-certify for statistical purposes whether the end products they plan to provide will be manufactured predominantly inside or outside the United States. Predominance is determined by whether the total anticipated price of products manufactured within the U.S. exceeds those manufactured abroad.