[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1151 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1151

To amend the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to streamline the 
               application of cost accounting standards.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 27, 1999

 Mr. Thompson (for himself, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Warner, and Mr. Levin) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                   Committee on Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to streamline the 
               application of cost accounting standards.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Cost Accounting Standards Amendments 
of 1999''.

SEC. 2. STREAMLINED APPLICABILITY OF COST ACCOUNTING STANDARDS.

    (a) Applicability.--Paragraph (2) of section 26(f) of the Office of 
Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 422(f)(2)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (D);
            (2) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(B) The cost accounting standards shall not apply to a contractor 
or subcontractor for a fiscal year (or other one-year period used for 
cost accounting by the contractor or subcontractor) if the total value 
of all of the contracts and subcontracts covered by the cost accounting 
standards that were entered into by the contractor or subcontractor, 
respectively, in the previous fiscal year (or other one-year cost 
accounting period) was less than $50,000,000.
    ``(C) Subparagraph (A) does not apply to the following contracts or 
subcontracts for the purpose of determining whether the contractor or 
subcontractor is subject to the cost accounting standards:
            ``(i) Contracts or subcontracts for the acquisition of 
        commercial items.
            ``(ii) Contracts or subcontracts where the price negotiated 
        is based on prices set by law or regulation.
            ``(iii) Firm, fixed-price contracts or subcontracts awarded 
        on the basis of adequate price competition without submission 
        of certified cost or pricing data.
            ``(iv) Contracts or subcontracts with a value that is less 
        than $5,000,000.''.
    (b) Waiver.--Such section is further amended by adding at the end 
the following:
    ``(5)(A) The head of an executive agency may waive the 
applicability of cost accounting standards for a contract or 
subcontract with a value less than $10,000,000 if that official 
determines in writing that--
            ``(i) the contractor or subcontractor is primarily engaged 
        in the sale of commercial items; and
            ``(ii) the contractor or subcontractor would not otherwise 
        be subject to the cost accounting standards.
    ``(B) The head of an executive agency may also waive the 
applicability of cost accounting standards for a contract or 
subcontract under extraordinary circumstances when necessary to meet 
the needs of the agency. A determination to waive the applicability of 
cost accounting standards under this subparagraph shall be set forth in 
writing and shall include a statement of the circumstances justifying 
the waiver.
    ``(C) The head of an executive agency may not delegate the 
authority under subparagraph (A) or (B) to any official in the 
executive agency below the senior policymaking level in the executive 
agency.
    ``(D) The Federal Acquisition Regulation shall include the 
following:
            ``(i) Criteria for selecting an official to be delegated 
        authority to grant waivers under subparagraph (A) or (B).
            ``(ii) The specific circumstances under which such a waiver 
        may be granted.
    ``(E) The head of each executive agency shall report the waivers 
granted under subparagraphs (A) and (B) for that agency to the Board on 
an annual basis.''.
    (c) Construction Regarding Certain Not-For-Profit Entities.--The 
amendments made by this section shall not be construed as modifying or 
superseding, nor as intended to impair or restrict, the applicability 
of the cost accounting standards to--
            (1) any educational institution or federally funded 
        research and development center that is associated with an 
        educational institution in accordance with Office of Management 
        and Budget Circular A-21, as in effect on January 1, 1999; or
            (2) any contract with a nonprofit entity that provides 
        research and development and related products or services to 
        the Department of Defense.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect 180 
days after the date of enactment of this Act.
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