10 U.S.C. § 4204 — Milestone decision authority

(a) Service Acquisition Executive^*. For a major defense acquisition program^* that reaches Milestone A after October 1, 2016, the milestone decision authority is the service acquisition^* executive of the military department managing the program, unless the Secretary of Defense designates another official under subsection (b).

(b) Designation of Alternate Milestone Decision Authority. The Secretary of Defense may designate another milestone decision authority for a program if:

(1) subject to subsection (f), the Secretary decides the program addresses a joint requirement;

(2) the Secretary decides a Defense Agency^* can manage the program best;

(3) the program’s unit cost has increased by more than the significant-cost threshold or critical-cost threshold under 10 U.S.C. §§ 4371–4375;

(4) the program is critical to a major interagency requirement or technology-development effort, or has substantial involvement by international partners; or

(5) the Secretary decides an alternate official would best help the program achieve its desired cost, schedule, and performance results.

(c) Return to the service acquisition executive

(1) After designating an alternate under subsection (b), the Secretary of Defense may return milestone decision authority to the service acquisition executive if the Secretary of the relevant military department asks. The Secretary of Defense must decide the request within 180 days after receiving it.

(2) If the Secretary of Defense denies the request, the Secretary must report to the congressional defense committees^* why the Secretary decided that an alternate official would best help achieve the program’s desired cost, schedule, and performance results. Authority may not be returned after the program’s unit cost has exceeded the significant-cost or critical-cost threshold under 10 U.S.C. §§ 4371–4375, except in exceptional circumstances.

(d) Certifications about program requirements and funding. For each major defense acquisition program, the Secretary of the relevant military department and the Chief of the relevant armed force must, in each Selected Acquisition Report required by 10 U.S.C. § 4351:

(1) certify that program requirements are stable and funding is sufficient to meet the program’s cost, schedule, and performance objectives; and

(2) identify and report to the congressional defense committees any increased program risk since the previous report.

(e) Documentation and oversight. The Secretary of Defense must review the oversight process for major defense acquisition programs and must:

(1) keep outside documentation requirements to an absolute minimum for programs where the managing military department’s service acquisition executive is the milestone decision authority; and

(2) ensure that policies, procedures, and activities for oversight outside the military departments^* are carried out in a way that does not unnecessarily raise program costs or obstruct program schedules.

(f) This section refers to subsection (f), but the supplied text contains no subsection (f).