Failure To Submit Resumes With Bid Does Not Justify Rejection for Nonresponsiveness

The Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station of the Forest Service awarded a contract for the conduct of workshops and writing of handbooks on the Surface Environment and Mining Program relating to resource management and the environmental impact of surface mining. The low bidder, Science Applications, Inc., protested when the contracting officer rejected its bid for failure to establish that the protester would furnish a senior writer as required by the solicitation and did not demonstrate minimum experience as specified. GAO found that neither the failure to submit resumes nor the lack of experience requirements justified rejection of the bid as nonresponsive. However, in view of the stage of the procurement, no recommendation was made for corrective action. The Secretary of Agriculture was advised to take appropriate steps to preclude a recurrence of the situation which gave rise to the protest.