§ 1018a — Procurement Flexibility

(a) Subject to the authority of the Secretary, the Chief Operating Officer of a PBO may exercise the authority of the Secretary to procure property and services in the performance of functions managed by the PBO. For the purposes of this section, the term “PBO” includes the Chief Operating Officer of the PBO and any employee of the PBO exercising procurement authority under the preceding sentence. (b) Except as provided in this section, the PBO shall abide by all applicable Federal procurement laws and regulations when procuring property and services. The PBO shall— (1) enter into contracts to carry out the functions set forth in section 1018(b)(2) of this title; (2) obtain the services of experts and consultants without regard to section 3109 of title 5 and set pay in accordance with such section; and (3) through the Chief Operating Officer— (A) to the maximum extent practicable, utilize procurement systems that streamline operations, improve internal controls, and enhance management; and (B) assess the efficiency of such systems and assess such systems’ ability to meet PBO requirements. (1) The Chief Operating Officer shall, to the extent practicable, maximize the use of performance-based servicing contracts, consistent with guidelines for such contracts published by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, to achieve cost savings and improve service. (2) The Chief Operating Officer shall, when appropriate and consistent with the purposes of the PBO, acquire services related to the functions set forth in section 1018(b)(2) of this title from any entity that has the capability and capacity to meet the requirements set by the PBO. The Chief Operating Officer is authorized to pay fees that are equivalent to those paid by other entities to an organization that provides services that meet the requirements of the PBO, as determined by the Chief Operating Officer. (1) The PBO may use a two-phase process for selecting a source for a procurement of property or services. (2) The procedures for the first phase of the process for a procurement are as follows: (A) The contracting officer for the procurement shall publish a notice of the procurement in accordance with section 1708 of title 41 and subsections (e), (f), and (g) of section 637 of title 15, except that the notice shall include only the following: (i) A general description of the scope or purpose of the procurement that provides sufficient information on the scope or purpose for sources to make informed business decisions regarding whether to participate in the procurement. (ii) A description of the basis on which potential sources are to be selected to submit offers in the second phase. (iii) A description of the information that is to be required under subparagraph (B). (iv) Any additional information that the contracting officer determines appropriate. (B) Each offeror for the procurement shall submit basic information, such as information on the offeror’s qualifications, the proposed conceptual approach, costs likely to be associated with the proposed conceptual approach, and past performance of the offeror, together with any additional information that is requested by the contracting officer. (C) The contracting officer shall select the offerors that are to be eligible to participate in the second phase of the process. The contracting officer shall limit the number of the selected offerors to the number of sources that the contracting officer determines is appropriate and in the best interests of the Federal Government. (A) The contracting officer shall conduct the second phase of the source selection process in accordance with sections 3306(a) to (e) and 3308, chapter 37, and section 4702 of title 41. (B) Only the sources selected in the first phase of the process shall be eligible to participate in the second phase. (C) The second phase may include a single procurement or multiple procurements within the scope, or for the purpose, described in the notice pursuant to paragraph (2)(A). (4) The procedures used for selecting a source for a procurement under this subsection shall be considered competitive procedures for all purposes. (e) Whenever the PBO anticipates that commercial products or commercial services will be offered for a procurement, the PBO may use (consistent with the special rules for commercial products and commercial services) the special simplified procedures for the procurement without regard to any dollar limitation otherwise applicable to the use of those procedures. (1) In carrying out a procurement, the PBO may— (A) apply a shorter waiting period for the issuance of a solicitation after the publication of a notice under section 1708 of title 41 than is required under subsection (a)(3)(A) of such section; and (B) notwithstanding subsection (a)(3) of such section, establish any deadline for the submission of bids or proposals that affords potential offerors a reasonable opportunity to respond to the solicitation. (2) Paragraph (1) does not apply to a procurement of a commercial product or a commercial service. (3) If an international agreement is applicable to the procurement, any exercise of authority under paragraph (1) shall be consistent with the international agreement. (1) The PBO may satisfy the requirements of the PBO for a system incrementally by carrying out successive procurements of modules of the system. In doing so, the PBO may use procedures authorized under this subsection to procure any such module after the first module. (2) A module may not be procured for a system under this subsection unless the module is useful independently of the other modules or useful in combination with another module previously procured for the system. (3) The PBO may use procedures authorized under paragraph (4) for the procurement of an additional module for a system if— (A) competitive procedures were used for awarding the contract for the procurement of the first module for the system; and (B) the solicitation for the first module included— (i) a general description of the entire system that was sufficient to provide potential offerors with reasonable notice of the general scope of future modules; (ii) other information sufficient for potential offerors to make informed business judgments regarding whether to submit offers for the contract for the first module; and (iii) a statement that procedures authorized under this subsection could be used for awarding subsequent contracts for the procurement of additional modules for the system. (4) If the procurement of the first module for a system meets the requirements set forth in paragraph (3), the PBO may award a contract for the procurement of an additional module for the system using any of the following procedures: (A) Award of the contract on a single-source basis to a contractor who was awarded a contract for a module previously procured for the system under competitive procedures or procedures authorized under subparagraph (B). (B) Award of the contract on the basis of offers made by— (i) a contractor who was awarded a contract for a module previously procured for the system after having been selected for award of the contract under this subparagraph or other competitive procedures; and (ii) at least one other offeror that submitted an offer for a module previously procured for the system and is expected, on the basis of the offer for the previously procured module, to submit a competitive offer for the additional module. (C) Award of the contract under any other procedure authorized by law. (A) Not less than 30 days before issuing a solicitation for offers for a contract for a module for a system under procedures authorized under subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (4), the PBO shall publish in the Commerce Business Daily a notice of the intent to use such procedures to enter into the contract. (B) Publication of a notice is not required under this paragraph with respect to a use of procedures authorized under paragraph (4) if the contractor referred to in that subparagraph (who is to be solicited to submit an offer) has previously provided a module for the system under a contract that contained cost, schedule, and performance goals and the contractor met those goals. (C) A notice published under subparagraph (A) with respect to a use of procedures described in paragraph (4) shall contain the information required under section 1708(c) of title 41, other than paragraph (4) of such section, and shall invite the submission of any assertion that the use of the procedures for the procurement involved is not in the best interest of the Federal Government together with information supporting the assertion. (6) The basis for an award of a contract under this subsection shall be documented. However, a justification pursuant to section 3304(e) of title 41 or section 637(h) of title 15 is not required. (7) The PBO may award a contract under any other simplified procedures prescribed by the PBO for the selection of sources for the procurement of modules for a system, after the first module, that are not to be procured under a contract awarded on a single-source basis. (1) The PBO may use special simplified procedures for a procurement of services that are not commercial services if— (A) the procurement is in an amount not greater than $1,000,000; (B) the procurement is conducted as a small business set-aside pursuant to section 644(a) of title 15; and (C) the price charged for supplies associated with the services procured are items of supply expected to be less than 20 percent of the total contract price. (2) The authority set forth in paragraph (1) may not be used for— (A) an award of a contract on a single-source basis; or (B) a contract for construction. (1) The Chief Operating Officer of the PBO, in consultation with the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, shall issue guidance for the use by PBO personnel of the authority provided in this section. (2) As part of the consultation required under paragraph (1), the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy shall provide the PBO with guidance that is designed to ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that the authority under this section is exercised by the PBO in a manner that is consistent with the exercise of the authority by the heads of the other performance-based organizations. (3) The head of the PBO shall ensure that the procurements of the PBO under this section are carried out in a manner that is consistent with the guidance provided for the PBO under paragraph (2). (j) No department or agency of the Federal Government may purchase property or services under contracts entered into or administered by a PBO under this section unless the purchase is approved in advance by the senior procurement official of that department or agency who is responsible for purchasing by the department or agency. (k) Nothing in this section shall be construed to waive laws for the enforcement of civil rights or for the establishment and enforcement of labor standards that are applicable to contracts of the Federal Government. (l) In this section: (1) The term “commercial product” has the meaning given the term in section 103 of title 41. (2) The term “commercial service” has the meaning given the term in section 103a of title 41. (3) The term “competitive procedures” has the meaning given the term in section 152 of title 41. (4) The term “single-source basis”, with respect to an award of a contract, means that the contract is awarded to a source after soliciting an offer or offers from, and negotiating with, only such source (although such source is not the only source in the marketplace capable of meeting the need) because such source is the most advantageous source for purposes of the award. (5) The term “special rules for commercial products and commercial services” means the regulations set forth in the Federal Acquisition Regulation pursuant to sections 1901 and 3305(a) of title 41. (6) The term “special simplified procedures” means the procedures applicable to purchases of property and services for amounts not greater than the simplified acquisition threshold that are set forth in the Federal Acquisition Regulation pursuant to sections 1901(a)(1) and 3305(a)(1) of title 41.