Request for Reconsideration

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requested reconsideration of a prior decision in which GAO sustained a firm's protest of the EPA sole-source purchase of an excess Government-leased, multi-processor computer from another company. Previously, GAO found that the purchase followed an inadequate market survey of possible alternatives. EPA asserted that the survey and subsequent sole-source purchase conformed with the General Services Administration's (GSA) instructions in its delegation of procurement authority to EPA. The EPA market survey consisted of a review of proposals submitted to the Department of Energy (DOE) in response to a DOE request for proposals to supply a similar computer system. GAO ruled that the market survey was defective because DOE and EPA requirements differed significantly with respect to system configuration. The protest record, however, did not contain any evidence that GSA was aware of the differences between the two agencies' requirements when it authorized the EPA procurement; however, it was found that GSA had reviewed both agencies' requirements and was aware of the differences between them. Accordingly, GAO modified its prior decision to the extent that it held that GSA should not have authorized a review of the DOE proposals as an adequate market test under the circumstances.