6 U.S.C. § 393 — Special streamlined acquisition authority

submitted 24 years ago by Pub. L. 107-296 to r/title-6-DOMESTIC-SECURITY · 749 words · no verdicts yet

in plain englishAI-generated · not legal advice

This law gave the Secretary of Homeland Security temporary special powers to speed up procurement. It raised dollar thresholds for simplified purchasing and let certain items count as commercial. These powers ended September 30, 2007, with a report due afterward.

(a) Authority: The Secretary could use the powers in this section for any purchase made between this chapter's effective date and September 30, 2007 — but only if the Secretary determined, in writing, that the Department's mission would be seriously hurt without using these powers. Only the Secretary could make that written determination; it could not be handed to any Department officer who was not appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Within 7 days of making the determination, the Secretary had to tell the House Committee on Government Reform and the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs about it and explain why it was made. (b) Increased micro-purchase threshold for certain procurements: The Secretary could pick certain employees to make the purchases described in (a). For those employees, wherever the law (section 1902 of title 41) set a dollar amount for micro-purchases, that amount would count as $7,500 instead. The number of employees picked had to be: fewer than the number of Department employees already allowed to buy things without getting competing price quotes; enough to spread this purchasing power across locations considered likely terrorist targets; and small enough that these employees could be carefully monitored. A designated supervisor had to review these purchases at least once a month, and each supervisor could oversee no more than 7 employees making these purchases. (c) Simplified acquisition procedures: For purchases described in (a), the Secretary could treat the "simplified acquisition threshold" set in section 134 of title 41 as $200,000 for a contract or purchase performed inside the United States, and $300,000 for one performed outside the United States. (A second paragraph here was omitted from the law's text.) (d) Application of certain commercial items authorities: For purchases described in (a), the Secretary could treat any item or service as a "commercial item" for federal procurement law purposes. A $5,000,000 limit found in two other laws (sections 1901(a)(2) and 3305(a)(2) of title 41) would instead be treated as $7,500,000 for property or services used under this authority. Authority under those two laws that would normally expire under a 1996 law (the Clinger-Cohen Act) would keep applying to purchases described in (a), despite that expiration rule. (e) Report: No later than 180 days after the end of fiscal year 2005, the Comptroller General had to send a report to the same two congressional committees named in (a), covering the use of these special powers. The report had to include: an assessment of how much the property and services bought this way helped the federal workforce carry out the Department's mission; an assessment of whether prices paid this way reflected the best value; how many employees each agency designated under (b); an assessment of whether the Department properly monitored the use of this authority under (b); and any recommendations from the Comptroller General for making this authority work better.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

(a) Authority

(1) In general

The Secretary may use the authorities set forth in this section with respect to any procurement made during the period beginning on the effective date of this chapter and ending September 30, 2007, if the Secretary determines in writing that the mission of the Department (as described in section 111 of this title) would be seriously impaired without the use of such authorities.

(2) Delegation

The authority to make the determination described in paragraph (1) may not be delegated by the Secretary to an officer of the Department who is not appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate.

(3) Notification

Not later than the date that is 7 days after the date of any determination under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Government Reform of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate—

(A)

notification of such determination; and

(B)

the justification for such determination.

(b) Increased micro-purchase threshold for certain procurements

(1) In general

The Secretary may designate certain employees of the Department to make procurements described in subsection (a) for which in the administration of section 1902 of title 41 the amount specified in subsections (a), (d), and (e) of such section 1902 shall be deemed to be $7,500.

(2) Number of employees

The number of employees designated under paragraph (1) shall be—

(A)

fewer than the number of employees of the Department who are authorized to make purchases without obtaining competitive quotations, pursuant to section 1902(d) of title 41;

(B)

sufficient to ensure the geographic dispersal of the availability of the use of the procurement authority under such paragraph at locations reasonably considered to be potential terrorist targets; and

(C)

sufficiently limited to allow for the careful monitoring of employees designated under such paragraph.

(3) Review

Procurements made under the authority of this subsection shall be subject to review by a designated supervisor on not less than a monthly basis. The supervisor responsible for the review shall be responsible for no more than 7 employees making procurements under this subsection.

(1) In general

With respect to a procurement described in subsection (a), the Secretary may deem the simplified acquisition threshold referred to in section 134 of title 41 to be—

(A)

in the case of a contract to be awarded and performed, or purchase to be made, within the United States, $200,000; and

(B)

in the case of a contract to be awarded and performed, or purchase to be made, outside of the United States, $300,000.

(2) Omitted

(d) Application of certain commercial items authorities

(1) In general

With respect to a procurement described in subsection (a), the Secretary may deem any item or service to be a commercial item for the purpose of Federal procurement laws.

(2) Limitation

The $5,000,000 limitation provided in section 1901(a)(2) of title 41 and section 3305(a)(2) of title 41 shall be deemed to be $7,500,000 for purposes of property or services under the authority of this subsection.

(3) Certain authority

Authority under a provision of law referred to in paragraph (2) that expires under section 4202(e) of the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 (divisions D and E of Public Law 104–106; 10 U.S.C. 2304 note) shall, notwithstanding such section, continue to apply for a procurement described in subsection (a).

(e) Report

Not later than 180 days after the end of fiscal year 2005, the Comptroller General shall submit to the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Government Reform of the House of Representatives a report on the use of the authorities provided in this section. The report shall contain the following:

(1)

An assessment of the extent to which property and services acquired using authorities provided under this section contributed to the capacity of the Federal workforce to facilitate the mission of the Department as described in section 111 of this title.

(2)

An assessment of the extent to which prices for property and services acquired using authorities provided under this section reflected the best value.

(3)

The number of employees designated by each executive agency under subsection (b)(1).

(4)

An assessment of the extent to which the Department has implemented subsections (b)(2) and (b)(3) to monitor the use of procurement authority by employees designated under subsection (b)(1).

(5)

Any recommendations of the Comptroller General for improving the effectiveness of the implementation of the provisions of this section.

Source credit: (Pub. L. 107–296, title VIII, § 833, Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2225.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

2002Enacted · Pub. L. 107-296 · 116 Stat. 2225

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 107-296 on 2002-11-25.

all 0 arguments · sorted by: best

no arguments yet — make the first case