Marshall-Putnam Soil and Water Conservation District

A firm protested the award of a lease under a solicitation issued by the Farm Service Agency, United States Department of Agriculture, for 3,600 square feet of office space, contending that USDA should have rejected the awardee's proposal as unacceptable. GAO held that under the solicitation, the proposal failed to conform to material solicitation requirements for architectural elevation and landscape plans could not form the basis for the award. Accordingly, the protest was sustained and GAO recommend that the USDA hold discussions, request revised proposals from the awardee and the protester, reevaluate these proposals, and document the evaluation. Regarding price adjustments, GAO recommended that the USDA use the most current data available to determine appropriate price adjustments, if necessary. GAO further recommended that the USDA make a new source selection decision based on the results of the technical and price evaluations, and terminate the lease with the awardee if it is not selected for the award. Finally, GAO recommended that the protester be reimbursed the reasonable costs of filing and pursuing its protest.