40 U.S.C. § 502 — Services for other entities

(a) Federal Agencies, Mixed-Ownership Government Corporations, and the District of Columbia. On request, and to the extent practicable, the Administrator of General Services must provide the services listed in section 501 of this title to a federal agency, a mixed-ownership government corporation (as defined in section 9101 of title 31), or the District of Columbia. (b) Qualified Nonprofit Agencies. On request, and to the extent practicable, the Administrator may provide those same services to an agency that is a qualified nonprofit agency for the blind, or for other severely disabled people (as those terms are defined in title 41), and that supplies a commodity or service to the federal government under chapter 85 of title 41. A nonprofit agency receiving these services must use them directly in making or providing the government with a commodity or service that the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled has found suitable for government purchase. (c) Use of Certain Supply Schedules. The Administrator may let state or local governments use GSA's federal supply schedules for: automated data-processing equipment (including firmware), software, supplies, support equipment, and services (supply group 70); and alarm and signal systems, facility management systems, firefighting and rescue equipment, law enforcement and security equipment, marine craft and related equipment, special-purpose clothing, and related services (supply group 84, or any later version of it). A firm that sells through these schedules is never required to sell to a state or local government through them — that participation stays voluntary. "State or local government" includes any state, local, regional, or tribal government or agency, including local school districts and colleges. "Tribal government" means the governing body of a federally recognized Indian tribe, band, nation, or community in the continental United States (not Alaska), or an Alaska Native regional or village corporation. (d) Use of Supply Schedules for Certain Goods and Services. The Administrator may also let state and local governments use federal supply schedules for goods or services used to help recover from a presidentially declared major disaster, to prepare for or respond to a disaster, or to recover from terrorism or a nuclear, biological, chemical, or radiological attack. The Secretary of Homeland Security must decide which goods and services qualify before the Administrator opens up the relevant schedule. As in subsection (c), a participating firm's sale to a state or local government this way stays voluntary. The definitions from subsection (c) apply here too. (e) Use of Supply Schedules by the Red Cross and Other Qualified Organizations. The Administrator may let the American National Red Cross and other qualified organizations use federal supply schedules. The Red Cross must use these purchases to further its own purposes under section 300102 of title 36. Other qualified organizations must use their purchases for emergency preparedness and disaster relief, following guidance the Administrator sets in consultation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. This authority cannot be used to buy supplies for resale. A "qualified organization" is a relief or disaster-assistance organization as described in section 309 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. (f) Duty of Users Regarding Use of Supply Schedules. Everyone who uses federal supply schedules, including non-federal users, must follow the ordering guidance the Administrator of General Services provides.