[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1795 Introduced in House (IH)]

  1st Session
                                H. R. 1795

             To improve Government procurement procedures.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 8, 1995

   Mrs. Collins of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was 
 referred to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, and in 
  addition to the Committee on National Security, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
             To improve Government procurement procedures.
    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Federal 
Acquisition Improvement Reform Act of 1995''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.
Sec. 2. Competition provisions.
Sec. 3. Simplified procedures for purchases of commercial items.
Sec. 4. Disclosing and obtaining contractor bid or proposal information 
                            or source selection information.
Sec. 5. Value engineering requirements for Federal agencies.
SEC. 2. COMPETITION PROVISIONS.

    (a) Conference Before Submission of Bids or Proposals.--(1) Section 
2305(a) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following paragraph:
    ``(6) To the extent practicable, for each procurement of property 
or services by an agency, the head of the agency shall provide for a 
conference on the procurement to be held for anyone interested in 
submitting a bid or proposal in response to the solicitation for the 
procurement. The purpose of the conference shall be to inform potential 
bidders and offerors of the needs of the agency and the qualifications 
considered necessary by the agency to compete successfully in the 
procurement.''.
    (2) Section 303A of the Federal Property and Administrative 
Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 253a) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsection:
    ``(f) To the extent practicable, for each procurement of property 
or services by an agency, an executive agency shall provide for a 
conference on the procurement to be held for anyone interested in 
submitting a bid or proposal in response to the solicitation for the 
procurement. The purpose of the conference shall be to inform potential 
bidders and offerors of the needs of the executive agency and the 
qualifications considered necessary by the executive agency to compete 
successfully in the procurement.''.
    (b) Description of Source Selection Plan in Solicitation.--(1) 
Section 2305(a) of title 10, United States Code, is further amended in 
paragraph (2)--
            (A) by striking out ``and'' after the semicolon at the end 
        of subparagraph (A);
            (B) by striking out the period at the end of subparagraph 
        (B) and inserting in lieu thereof ``; and''; and
            (C) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
            ``(C) a description, in as much detail as is practicable, 
        of the source selection plan of the agency, or a notice that 
        such plan is available upon request.''.
    (2) Section 303A of the Federal Property and Administrative 
Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 253a) is further amended in subsection 
(b)--
            (A) by striking out ``and'' after the semicolon at the end 
        of paragraph (1);
            (B) by striking out the period at the end of paragraph (2) 
        and inserting in lieu thereof ``; and''; and
            (C) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(3) a description, in as much detail as is practicable, 
        of the source selection plan of the executive agency, or a 
        notice that such plan is available upon request.''.
    (c) Discussions Not Necessary With Every Offeror.--(1) Section 
2305(b)(4)(A)(i) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting before the semicolon the following: ``and provided that 
discussions need not be conducted with an offeror merely to permit that 
offeror to submit a technically acceptable revised proposal''.
    (2) Section 303B(d)(1)(A) of the Federal Property and 
Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 253b) is amended by 
inserting before the semicolon the following: ``and provided that 
discussions need not be conducted with an offeror merely to permit that 
offeror to submit a technically acceptable revised proposal''.
    (d) Preliminary Assessments of Competitive Proposals.--(1) Section 
2305(b)(2) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following: ``With respect to competitive proposals, the head of 
the agency may make a preliminary assessment of a proposal received, 
rather than a complete evaluation of the proposal, and may eliminate 
the proposal from further consideration if the head of the agency 
determines the proposal has no chance for contract award.''.
    (2) Section 303B of the Federal Property and Administrative 
Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 253b) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: ``With respect to competitive proposals, the head of the 
agency may make a preliminary assessment of a proposal received, rather 
than a complete evaluation of the proposal, and may eliminate the 
proposal from further consideration if the head of the agency 
determines the proposal has no chance for contract award.''.
    (e) Federal Acquisition Regulation.--The Federal Acquisition 
Regulation shall be revised to reflect the amendments made by 
subsections (a), (b), (c), and (d).

SEC. 3. SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR PURCHASES OF COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

    (a) Armed Services Acquisitions.--Subsection (g) of section 2304 of 
title 10, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
    ``(g) Simplified Procedures.--(1) In order to promote efficiency 
and economy in contracting and to avoid unnecessary burdens for 
agencies and contractors, the Federal Acquisition Regulation shall 
provide for special simplified procedures for purchases of commercial 
items and for purchases of property and services for amounts not 
greater than the simplified acquisition threshold.
    ``(2) A proposed purchase or contract for an amount above the 
simplified acquisition threshold may not be divided into several 
purchases or contracts for lesser amounts in order to use the 
simplified procedures required by paragraph (1).
    ``(3) In using simplified procedures, the head of an agency shall 
ensure that competition is obtained to the extent practicable 
consistent with the particular Government requirement.
    ``(4) In the case of a purchase of commercial items, if the 
purchase or contract is for an amount in excess of the simplified 
acquisition threshold, the head of the agency shall justify in writing 
the use of simplified procedures under this subsection.''.
    (b) Civilian Agency Acquisitions.--Subsection (g) of section 303 of 
the Federal Property Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 
253) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(g) Simplified Procedures.--(1) In order to promote efficiency 
and economy in contracting and to avoid unnecessary burdens for 
agencies and contractors, the Federal Acquisition Regulation shall 
provide for special simplified procedures for purchases of commercial 
items and for purchases of property and services for amounts not 
greater than the simplified acquisition threshold.
    ``(2)(A) The Administrator of General Services shall prescribe 
regulations that provide special simplified procedures for acquisitions 
of leasehold interests in real property at rental rates that do not 
exceed the simplified acquisition threshold.
    ``(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the rental rate or rates 
under a multiyear lease do not exceed the simplified acquisition 
threshold if the average annual amount of the rent payable for the 
period of the lease does not exceed the simplified acquisition 
threshold.
    ``(3) A proposed purchase or contract or for an amount above the 
simplified acquisition threshold may not be divided into several 
purchases or contracts for lesser amounts in order to use the 
simplified procedures required by paragraph (1).
    ``(4) In using simplified procedures, an executive agency shall 
ensure that competition is obtained to the extent practicable 
consistent with the particular Government requirement.
    ``(5) In the case of a purchase of commercial items, if the 
purchase or contract is for an amount in excess of the simplified 
acquisition threshold, the executive agency shall justify in writing 
the use of simplified procedures under this subsection.''.
SEC. 4. DISCLOSING AND OBTAINING CONTRACTOR BID OR PROPOSAL INFORMATION 
              OR SOURCE SELECTION INFORMATION.

    (a) Amendment of Procurement Integrity Provision.--Section 27 of 
the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 423) is 
amended--
            (1) by repealing subsections (a) through (e) and (g) 
        through (p);
            (2) in subsection (f), by striking out the subsection 
        heading and redesignating the subsection as subsection (i);
            (3) by amending the section heading to read as follows:

``SEC. 27. DISCLOSING AND OBTAINING CONTRACTOR BID OR PROPOSAL 
              INFORMATION OR SOURCE SELECTION INFORMATION AND 
              RESTRICTIONS RESULTING FROM PROCUREMENT ACTIVITIES OF 
              PROCUREMENT OFFICIALS.'';

        and
            (4) by inserting before subsection (i) (as so redesignated) 
        the following:
    ``(a) A present or former officer or employee of the United States, 
or a person who is acting or has acted for or on behalf of or who is 
advising or has advised the United States with respect to a Federal 
agency procurement and who--
            ``(1) by virtue of that office, employment, or relationship 
        has or had access to contractor bid or proposal information or 
        source selection information, and
            ``(2) other than as provided by law, knowingly discloses 
        that information before the award of a Federal agency 
        procurement contract to which the information relates, is 
        subject to the penalties and administrative actions set forth 
        in subsection (d).
    ``(b) Whoever, other than as provided by law, knowingly obtains 
contractor bid or proposal information or source selection information 
before the award of a Federal agency procurement contract to which the 
information relates, is subject to the penalties and administrative 
actions set forth in subsection (d).
    ``(c) Whoever, other than as provided by law, knowingly violates 
the terms of a protective order, issued by the Comptroller General or 
the board of contract appeals of the General Services Administration in 
connection with a protest against the award or proposed award of a 
Federal agency procurement contract, by disclosing or obtaining 
contractor bid or proposal information or source selection information 
is subject to the penalties and administrative actions set forth in 
subsection (d).
    ``(d) The penalties and administrative actions for an offense under 
subsection (a), (b), or (c), are as follows:
            ``(1) Criminal penalties.--
                    ``(A) Whoever engages in the conduct constituting 
                the offense shall be imprisoned for not more than one 
                year or fined in the amount set forth in section 3571 
                of title 18, United States Code, or both.
                    ``(B) Whoever engages in the conduct constituting 
                the offense for the purpose of either--
                            ``(i) exchanging the information covered by 
                        subsections (a), (b), and (c), for anything of 
                        value, or
                            ``(ii) obtaining or giving anyone a 
                        competitive advantage in the award of a Federal 
                        agency procurement contract, shall be 
                        imprisoned for not more than 15 years or fined 
                        in the amount set forth in section 3571 of 
                        title 18, United States Code, or both.
            ``(2) Civil penalties.--The Attorney General may bring a 
        civil action in the appropriate United States district court 
        against any person who engages in conduct constituting an 
        offense under subsection (a), (b), or (c). Upon proof of such 
        conduct by a
         preponderance of the evidence, the person is subject to a 
civil penalty. An individual who engages in such conduct is subject to 
a civil penalty of not more than $50,000 for each violation plus twice 
the amount of compensation which the individual received or offered for 
the prohibited conduct. An organization that engages in such conduct is 
subject to a civil penalty of not more than $500,000 for each violation 
plus twice the amount of compensation which the organization received 
or offered for the prohibited conduct.
            ``(3) Administrative actions. If a Federal agency receives 
        information that a contractor or a person has engaged in 
        conduct constituting an offense under subsection (a), (b), or 
        (c), the Federal agency shall consider one or more of the 
        following actions, as appropriate:
                    ``(A) Canceling the Federal agency procurement when 
                a contract has not been awarded;
                    ``(B) Declaring void and rescinding a contract in 
                relation to which there has been either--
                            ``(i) a conviction for an offense under 
                        subsection (a), (b), or (c), committed by the 
                        contractor or someone acting for the 
                        contractor, or
                            ``(ii) a determination by the head of the 
                        agency based upon a preponderance of the 
                        evidence that the contractor or someone acting 
                        for the contractor has engaged in such conduct.
                If such action is taken, the United States is entitled 
                to recover in addition to any penalty prescribed by 
                law, the amount expended under the contract;
                    ``(C) Initiating suspension or debarment 
                proceedings for the protection of the Government in 
                accordance with procedures in the Federal Acquisition 
                Regulation. In this regard, engaging in conduct 
                constituting an offense under subsection (a), (b), or 
                (c), affects the present responsibility of a Government 
                contractor or subcontractor; or
                    ``(D) Initiating adverse personnel action, pursuant 
                to the procedures in chapter 75 of title 5, United 
                States Code, or other applicable law or regulation.
    ``(e) For purposes of this section:
            ``(1) The term `contracting officer' means a person who, by 
        appointment in accordance with applicable regulations, has the 
        authority to enter a Federal agency procurement contract on 
        behalf of the Government and to make determinations and 
        findings with respect to such a contract.
            ``(2) The term `contractor bid or proposal information' 
        means the following information submitted to a Federal agency 
        as part of or in connection with a bid or proposal to enter 
        into a Federal agency procurement contract, if that information 
        has not been previously made available to the public or 
        disclosed publicly;
                    ``(A) Cost or pricing data;
                    ``(B) Indirect costs and direct labor rates;
                    ``(C) Proprietary information about manufacturing 
                processes, operations, or techniques marked by the 
                contractor in accordance with applicable law or 
                regulation; or
                    ``(D) Information marked by the contractor as 
                `contractor bid or proposal information,' in accordance 
                with applicable law or regulation.
            ``(3) The term `Federal agency' has the meaning given that 
        term in section 3 of the Federal Property and Administrative 
        Services Act (40 U.S.C. 472).
            ``(4) The term `Federal agency procurement' means the 
        competitive acquisition by contract of supplies or services 
        (including construction) from non-Federal sources by a Federal 
        agency using appropriated funds.
            ``(5) The term `protest' means a written objection by an 
        interested party to the award or proposed award of a Federal 
        agency procurement contract, pursuant to section 111 of the 
        Federal Property and Administrative Services Act (40 U.S.C. 
        759) or subchapter V of chapter 35 of title 31, United States 
        Code.
            ``(6) The term `source selection information' means the 
        following information prepared for use by a Federal agency for 
        the purpose of evaluating a bid or proposal to enter into a 
        Federal agency procurement contract, if that information has 
        not been previously made available to the public or disclosed 
        publicly:
                    ``(A) Bid prices submitted in response to a Federal 
                agency solicitation for sealed bids or lists of those 
                bid prices prior to public bid opening;
                    ``(B) Proposed costs or prices submitted in 
                response to a Federal agency solicitation or lists of 
                those proposed costs or prices;
                    ``(C) Source selection plans;
                    ``(D) Technical evaluation plans;
                    ``(E) Technical evaluations of proposals;
                    ``(F) Cost or price evaluations of proposals;
                    ``(G) Competitive range determinations which 
                identify proposals that have a reasonable chance of 
                being selected for award of a contract;
                    ``(H) Rankings of bids, proposals, or competitors;
                    ``(I) The reports and evaluations of source 
                selection panels or boards or advisory councils; or
                    ``(J) Other information marked as `source selection 
                information' based upon a case-by-case determination by 
                the head of the agency, his designee, or the 
                contracting officer that its disclosure would 
                jeopardize the integrity or successful completion of 
                the Federal agency procurement to which the information 
                relates.
    ``(f) No person may file a protest against the award or proposed 
award of a Federal agency procurement contract alleging an offense 
under subsection (a), (b), or (c), of this section, nor may the 
Comptroller General or the board of contract appeals of the General 
Services Administration consider such an allegation in deciding such a 
protest, unless that person reported information to the Federal agency 
responsible for the procurement that he believed constituted evidence 
of the offense no later than ten working days after he first discovered 
the possible offense.
    ``(g) This section does not--
            ``(1) restrict the disclosure of information to or its 
        receipt by any person or class of persons authorized, in 
        accordance with applicable agency regulations or procedures, to 
        receive that information;
            ``(2) restrict a contractor from disclosing its own bid or 
        proposal information or the recipient from receiving that 
        information;
            ``(3) restrict the disclosure or receipt of information 
        relating to the Federal agency procurement after it has been 
        canceled by the Federal agency prior to contract award unless 
        the Federal agency plans on resuming the procurement;
            ``(4) authorize the withholding of information from nor 
        restrict its receipt by the Congress, a committee or 
        subcommittee thereof, the Comptroller General, a Federal 
        agency, or an Inspector General of a Federal agency;
            ``(5) authorize the withholding of information from nor 
        restrict its receipt by the Court of Federal Claims, any board 
        of contract appeals of a Federal agency or the Comptroller 
        General in the course of a protest against the award or 
        proposed award of a Federal agency procurement contract;
            ``(6) prohibit individual meetings between an agency 
        employee and a competitor for or recipient of a contract or 
        subcontract under a Federal agency procurement, provided that 
        unauthorized disclosure or receipt of contractor bid or 
        proposal information or source selection information does not 
        occur; or
            ``(7) limit the applicability of the requirements, 
        sanctions, contract penalties, and remedies established under 
        any other law or regulation.
    ``(h) This section does not apply to the conduct of a Federal 
agency procurement for an amount not greater than the simplified 
acquisition threshold as defined in section 4(11).''.
    (b) Regulations and Guidelines.--Government-wide regulations and 
guidelines deemed appropriate to carry out this section shall be issued 
in the Federal Acquisition Regulation by the Department of Defense, the 
General Services Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration, in coordination with the Federal Acquisition Regulatory 
Council.
    (c) Repeal.--Subsection 32(c) of the Office of Federal Procurement 
Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 28(c)) is repealed.
    (d) Conforming Amendment.--Section 32 of the Office of Federal 
Procurement Policy Act is amended by redesignating subsections (d), 
(e), (f), and (g) as subsections (c), (d), (e), and (f), respectively.

SEC. 5. VALUE ENGINEERING REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES.

    (a) In General.--Federal agencies shall apply value engineering 
consistent with subsection (b)(2) to, at a minimum, identify and 
implement opportunities to reduce capital and operation costs and 
improve and maintain optimum quality of construction, administrative, 
program, acquisition, and grant projects. The head of each Federal 
agency shall require senior management personnel to establish and 
maintain value engineering procedures and processes. Such procedures 
and processes shall, at a minimum--
            (1) utilize qualified value engineering personnel 
        consistent with paragraphs (1) and (4) of subsection (b);
            (2) provide for the aggressive and systematic development 
        and maintenance of the most effective, efficient, and 
        economical arrangement for conducting the work of the agency; 
        and
            (3) provide a sound basis for the reporting of 
        accomplishments to the Office of Management and Budget, the 
        President, the Congress, and the public.
    (b) Agency Responsibilities.--To ensure that systemic value 
engineering improvements are achieved, each Federal agency shall, at a 
minimum, carry out the following:
            (1) Designate a senior management official with a 
        significant, well-documented background in value engineering as 
        the value engineering manager within the agency, to oversee and 
        monitor value engineering efforts and to coordinate the 
        development of criteria and guidelines referred to in paragraph 
        (2).
            (2) Develop criteria and guidelines for both agency 
        employees and contractor employees to identify programs, 
        projects, systems, and products with the greatest potential to 
        yield savings and benefits from the application of value 
        engineering methodology. The criteria and guidelines should 
        recognize that the potential savings are greatest during the 
        planning, design, and other early phases of program, project, 
        system, and product development. The criteria and guidelines 
        shall include the following:
                    (A) Consideration of return on the Government's 
                investment in value engineering, determined by dividing 
                the Government's cost of performing the value 
                engineering function by the savings generated by the 
                function.
                    (B) A dollar amount threshold for requiring the 
                application of value engineering. The threshold shall 
                be designed to ensure that value engineering is applied 
                to--
                            (i) each program, project, system, and 
                        product of the agency that has a dollar value 
                        greater than the threshold; and
                            (ii) those programs, projects, systems, and 
                        products that, in a ranking of all programs, 
                        projects, systems, and products of the agency 
                        according to greatest dollar value, are within 
                        the highest 20th percentile.
                For purposes of applying such a threshold, the dollar 
                values of various programs, projects, systems, and 
                products of an agency that have individual values below 
                the threshold shall be aggregated if they utilize 
                equivalent planning or design elements, are jointly 
                administered, or are functionally equivalent.
                    (C) Criteria under which the value engineering 
                manager of the agency may, on a case-by-case basis, 
                waive the requirement of this Act to conduct value 
                engineering studies, and procedures and requirements 
                for documenting and maintaining records of the 
                justification for each such waiver.
            (3) Provide training (including practical experience) in 
        established value engineering methodology to agency staff 
        responsible for coordinating and monitoring value engineering 
        efforts and to staff responsible for developing, reviewing, 
        analyzing, carrying out, changing, and evaluating value 
        engineering proposals.
            (4) Ensure that funds necessary for conducting agency value 
        engineering efforts are included in annual budget requests to 
        the Office of Management and Budget.
            (5) Document and maintain records of--
                    (A) programs, projects, systems, and products that 
                meet agency criteria for requiring the use of value 
                engineering techniques; and
                    (B) determinations (including the reasons therefor) 
                that the recommendations resulting from a value 
                engineering review should not be implemented.
            (6) Except when inconsistent with this Act, adhere to the 
        acquisition requirements of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, 
        including the use of value engineering clauses in parts 48 and 
        52 for both prime and subcontractors.
            (7) In the case of discretionary grants awarded by the 
        agency, establish value engineering requirements, such as 
        requiring grant applications to include a clause requiring the 
        use of value engineering methodology by qualified value 
        engineering personnel in the performance of the grant.
            (8) Develop annual plans for using value engineering in the 
        agency, which, at a minimum, identify--
                    (A) the agency and contractor projects, programs, 
                systems, and products to which value engineering 
                techniques will be applied in the next fiscal year; and
                    (B) the estimated costs of such projects, programs, 
                systems, and products.
            (9) Report annually to the Office of Management and Budget 
        on value engineering activities in accordance with subsection 
        (c).
    (c) Reports to Office of Management and Budget.--
            (1) In general.--The head of each Federal agency shall 
        submit to the Office of Management and Budget an annual report 
        on the results of using value engineering in the agency. The 
        report shall be submitted by February 15 of each year.
            (2) Contents.--The report required by this subsection shall 
        include the following:
                    (A) The name, job title, address, telephone number, 
                and any additional job titles of the agency's current 
                value engineering manager.
                    (B) The Government's return on investment in value 
                engineering achieved through actual implementation by 
                the agency of recommendations adopted as a result of 
                value engineering, calculated by dividing the amount of 
                savings achieved through such implementation by the 
                cost of performing value engineering reviews.
                    (C) The Government's potential return on investment 
                achievable through value engineering, calculated by 
                dividing the amount of savings achievable through the 
                adoption of recommendations as a result of value 
                engineering by the cost of performing value engineering 
                reviews to produce those recommendations.
                    (D) A description of the application of value 
                engineering to the agency's programs, projects, 
                systems, and products, including the net savings and 
                quality improvements achieved through use of value 
                engineering in those programs, projects, systems, and 
                products.
                    (E) A listing of the criteria adopted by the agency 
                pursuant to subsection (b)(2)(C) for waiving the 
                application of the value engineering requirements of 
                this Act, and documentation of any waivers granted 
                under the criteria.
    (d) Inspector General Audits.--The Inspector General of each 
Federal agency shall audit the savings reported by the agency in the 
second annual report submitted under subsection (c). Thereafter, the 
Inspector General of each Federal agency shall audit the reported 
savings every second year.
    (e) Use of Savings.--Of amounts available to a Federal agency for a 
fiscal year for a program, project, or system or development of a 
product that are unobligated at the end of the fiscal year as a result 
of the application of value engineering in accordance with this Act--
            (1) 50 percent shall be available to the agency for--
                    (A) use in the next fiscal year for that program, 
                project, system, or development; and
                    (B) use for programs in effect on the date of the 
                enactment of this Act under which incentives are 
                provided to employees of the agency to identify and 
                implement methods for achieving savings in programs, 
                projects, systems, and product development of the 
                agency; and
            (2) 50 percent shall be deposited in the general fund of 
        the Treasury and used to reduce the Federal debt.
    (f) Review.--The Director of Management and Budget shall review the 
policies contained in this Act 5 years after the date of the enactment 
of this Act and shall report the results of such review to Congress.
    (g) Definitions.--For purposes of this Act, the following 
definitions apply:
            (1) The term ``Federal agency'' has the meaning the term 
        ``agency'' has under section 551(1) of title 5, United States 
        Code.
            (2) The term ``savings'' means a reduction in, or avoidance 
        of, expenditures that would be incurred if programs, projects, 
        systems, and products were not evaluated using value 
        engineering techniques.
            (3) The term ``value engineering'' means a team effort, 
        performed by qualified agency or contractor personnel, directed 
        at analyzing the functions of a program, project, system, 
        product, item of equipment, building, facility, service, or 
        supply for the purpose of achieving the essential functions at 
        the lowest life-cycle cost that is consistent with required or 
        improved performance, reliability, quality, and safety.
            (4) The term ``life-cycle cost'' means the total cost of a 
        program, project, system, product, item of equipment, building, 
        facility, service, or supply, computed over its useful life. 
        The term includes all relevant costs involved in acquiring, 
        owning, operating, maintaining, and disposing of the program, 
        project, system, product, item of equipment, building, 
        facility, service, or supply over a specified period of time.
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