[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 54 (Monday, March 22, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13823-13825]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-6854]


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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET

Office of Federal Procurement Policy


Test Plan of Nuclear Regulatory Commission Pursuant to the 
Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994

AGENCY: Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), OMB.

ACTION: Notice of test plan submitted by the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) under the authority of section 5061 of the Federal 
Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 (FASA).

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SUMMARY: Section 5061 of FASA allows the Administrator of OFPP to test 
alternative and innovative procurement procedures at up to six 
agencies. The total estimated life cycle cost for each test may not 
exceed $100,000,000. NRC has submitted a plan pursuant to section 5061 
to test a focused source selection procedure. The test entails a phased 
process beginning with a streamlined procedure for identifying the most 
competitive sources, followed by a proposal development and evaluation 
effort involving the three most promising sources. NRC's test further 
involves an intense negotiation process where efforts to reach 
agreement are prioritized based on the strength of the offerors' 
proposals.
    Widespread public notice will be provided to announce each 
acquisition conducted pursuant to this test. All interested parties 
will be permitted to participate in the initial phase of any such 
acquisition. Each contract awarded pursuant to this test will not 
exceed $5 million in total value.

EFFECTIVE DATE: The test will begin on December 17, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Susan Hopkins, Contract Policy 
Analyst, Division of Contracts and Property Management, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop T7I2, Washington, DC 20555; E-Mail: 
[email protected]; Telephone: 301-415-6514.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OFPP has authority under FASA section 5061 
to conduct additional test programs. Agencies interested in 
participating in a test program should contact Mr. Nathan Tash, Deputy 
Associate Administrator for Procurement Innovation, Office of Federal 
Procurement Policy, 725 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20503; E-Mail: 
[email protected]; Telephone: 202-395-6167.

    Dated: March 15, 1999.
Deidre A. Lee,
Administrator.

Attachment

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Innovation Test Plan for Focused 
Source Selection Procedures (Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act 
Section 5061)

I. Summary of the Test

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) proposes to test a focused 
source selection procedure under the FASA test authority. The procedure 
has three primary components. The first component entails a streamlined 
process for obtaining comments through the Internet on draft statements 
of work and identifying the most promising interested sources. The 
second involves a proposal development and evaluation effort involving 
the three most highly rated sources. The third component involves an 
intense negotiation process where the focus is prioritized based on the 
ranking of the offerors. The efficiency of many of these processes will 
be further enhanced through the use of electronic commerce (EC).
    For selected acquisitions, NRC will solicit capability statements 
from all interested sources and then request full proposals only from 
the three sources rated most highly based on the capability statements. 
NRC will employ the Internet to issue notices, draft statements of work 
(SOW) and requests for proposals, as well as to receive responses from 
offerors that can provide such electronically. NRC will negotiate 
solely with the highest ranked offeror and will conduct negotiations 
with the second ranked offeror only if agreement cannot be reached with 
the highest ranked offeror. Similarly, negotiations with the third 
ranked offeror will take place only if agreement cannot be reached with 
either of the two higher ranked offerors. To maintain competitive 
pressure, NRC would reserve the right to reopen negotiations with any 
of the three offerors after having tried to negotiate a contract with 
each of them.
    By initiating competitions without the submission of formal 
proposals, NRC believes it will be able to reduce the burden (both on 
the government and interested sources) typically assoicated with 
initially determining which sources are the most competitive. Because 
the down select would be mandatory, NRC believes this initial screening 
process will be more effective than the advisory, multi-step process 
currently authorized by FAR Part 15. NRC further believes that the 
three sources selected to compete further will have a strong incentive 
to perform ``due diligence'' to learn about agency needs, to develop 
more innovative high value solutions that can better fit with those 
needs, and to offer stronger proposals.
    NRC appreciates the benefits of competition generated by 
simultaneous negotiations among the most highly rated offerors. At the 
same time, NRC believes it may also be possible to obtain good deals 
more efficiently and effectively by prioritizing the focus of its 
negotiation efforts based on the ranking of these offerors. In most 
cases, NRC anticipates that it will be able to reach agreement with the 
top ranked offeror without having to undertake further effort. The test 
will offer NRC an opportunity to examine if and when negotiating in a 
successive (versus simultaneous) manner may result in an effective use 
of those resources dedicated to contract negotiations.

II. Scope of the Test

    The Division of Contracts and Property Management, Headquarters, 
NRC will use focused source selection techniques to procure goods and 
services, in the NRC's administrative program area. NRC decided to 
focus on the administrative program area because NRC has not had the 
same level of success applying existing streamlining measures to 
administrative service requirements as it has to other program areas.
    NRC will review procurement plans for Fiscal Year 2000 to determine 
which procurements may be candidates for use of the innovation. Among 
the considerations NRC will use in selecting procurements for the test, 
NRC will consider the complexity of procurements and whether they 
involve high proposal preparation cost that discourage capable sources 
from participating. A project team of procurement policy and operations 
staff from the Division of Contracts and Property Management (DCPM), 
including those who participated in the development of the innovation, 
will

[[Page 13824]]

make the initial review. Those procurements which are recommended for 
the test program will be discussed in early planning meetings with 
representatives from contracting, the requiring technical offices, 
budget, and the NRC's Office of Small Business and Civil Rights. The 
contracting officer will make the final selection of the procurements 
for the test program.

III. Acquisition Strategy for the Test (Including a Description of (a) 
How Procedures Under the Test Will Differ From Those Currently Used and 
(b) the Activities Anticipated in the Various Phases of the Acquisition 
Cycle Affected by the Test--e.g., Acquisition Planning, 
Presolicitation, Solicitation, Evaluation, Award, Administration)

 Soliciting and Making an Initial Assessment of Interested 
Sources
    Current process. Today, NRC publicizes notices of contracting 
opportunities in the Commerce Business Daily (CBD) and invites 
interested sources to obtain solicitations and submit proposals. 
Offeror submissions, which include full cost and technical proposals, 
are then evaluated by NRC to determine initially which sources are the 
most competitive. For acquisitions of non-commercial administrative 
services (e.g., research and development services), solicitations are 
issued after a waiting period of 15 days. If the acquisition is in 
excess of the simplified acquisition threshold, the solicitation will 
provide a response time of not less than 30 days.
    NRC has come to realize that there is great time and cost involved 
in making an initial assessment of leading contenders based on full 
cost and technical proposals. The multi-step selection process set 
forth in the revised FAR Part 15 provides a helpful means for agencies 
to reduce the burden associated with conducting initial screenings 
(i.e., by requiring interested sources to limit their initial 
submission to information on capabilities, experience, past 
performance, and any additional area specified by the contracting 
officer). However, Part 15 still permits a less competitive source to 
require the agency to review a full proposal. This can be burdensome 
and inefficient (for both parties).
    Test process. Under the test, the NRC will still provide widespread 
notice of its contracting opportunities. NRC will issue an abbreviated 
notice with basic information about the planned procurement, make 
available a draft SOW, request interested parties to provide capability 
statements (e.g., past performance information and resumes) and invite 
comments on the draft SOW. The posting will include simplified criteria 
to be used by NRC to evaluate responses.
    Specifically, interested parties will be required to provide the 
following information:

(1) Name and address of company.
(2) Name, title, Internet address, telephone and fax numbers of person 
providing information, and person authorizing submission of information 
for the firm.
(3) EIN/TIN number.
(4) Qualifications of proposed personnel.
(5) List of (usually up to five) contracts performed by the 
organizational unit of the firm/individual which is proposed to perform 
the subject work for the NRC that are relevant to the proposed NRC 
work. Interested parties will be asked to include:
    a. contract number
    b. brief description of the project
    c. two contacts at the organization which awarded each contract
(6) Conceptual approach to performing the work.
(7) Additional information as necessary (e.g., conflict of interest, 
type of software license).

    Interested parties will be informed that their total response 
excluding qualifications of proposed personnel, must not exceed text 
which would fill five 8\1/2\ x 11 inch pages in WordPerfect or ASCII, 
in no smaller than 10-point print. Oral presentations may be used in 
lieu of written responses.
    Because less detailed information is being sought, NRC will permit 
response times as few as 15 days (rather than the 30 days typically 
required for non-commercial goods and services above the SAT). A longer 
period may be authorized by the NRC contracting officer, if warranted.
    NRC will score each response based upon an evaluation of past 
experience of the firm and proposed personnel in performing the same or 
similar work. Only the three top ranked responses will be permitted to 
proceed further in the competition. Those excluded from further 
participation will save the wasted effort of developing proposals that 
would not likely be selected. This process also should encourage more 
participation by firms that have successfully performed in the private 
sector, but because of the high cost, have not previously chosen to 
compete for government contracts. NRC will save the time spent 
evaluating detailed proposals when a simpler submission could 
effectively permit the government to select those sources that are 
likely to submit the most competitive offers.
    NRC recognizes the growing benefit EC offers to improve the ease, 
efficiency, and effectiveness of interactions between NRC and its 
vendors.
    Like other agencies, NRC has been making its notices of open market 
contract opportunities above $25,000, that would otherwise be published 
in the paper version of the CBD, available to the public free-of-charge 
through ``CBDNet.'' Under the test, NRC will make its abbreviated 
notices available through CBDNet. In addition, simultaneous to the 
publication of these notices, NRC will post the draft SOW on the 
``Contracting with the NRC'' Internet site. This posting will include a 
``Summary Sheet for Solicitations'' with basic information about the 
planned procurement and criteria for evaluating offeror's capabilities. 
(As a general matter, the Internet site will provide ``help and 
information'' including an explanation of the test procedures and a 
glossary of terms.) Interested firms will be invited to submit 
responses via the Internet, facsimile or in hard copy. Because 
interested parties will be able to access a draft SOW electronically 
through the NRC's Internet homepage at the same time the CBDNet notice 
is posted, the 15-day waiting period described above will be 
eliminated.
    NRC is aware that a pilot effort is under way to test an electronic 
posting system (EPS) that would distribute acquisition-related 
information to industry more quickly and economically. That system is 
designed to permit buyers to post solicitations and other pertinent 
information, in addition to notices, directly to the Internet, thus 
giving sellers access to this information through a single, government-
wide point of entry. NRC will consider migrating to EPS during the test 
if it determines that EPS is capable of providing efficient and 
effective access to acquisition-related information.
 Issuance of Request for Proposals (RFPs), Proposal Submission, 
and Evaluation
    Current process. As noted above, all interested sources are offered 
an opportunity to submit cost and technical proposals. This is also 
true under the advisory, multi-step process currently authorized by FAR 
Part 15.
    Test process. Only the three top ranked respondents will be 
provided an RFP (which will include the final SOW and all applicable 
terms and conditions). The RFP will give each of these firms an 
opportunity to submit a technical and cost proposal. The NRC

[[Page 13825]]

will score and rank these three responses using the evaluation criteria 
that were included in the initial posting on the Internet.
    Because only three sources will be offered the opportunity to 
submit proposals, NRC believes these scores will have a strong 
incentive to perform ``due diligence'' to work with NRC's integrated 
product team, end-users, and others to learn about agency needs, to 
more effectively and efficiently develop high value solutions that can 
better fit with those needs, and to offer stronger proposals.
 Negotiation and Award
    Current process. Currently, if discussions are to be conducted, a 
competitive range is established comprised of all of the most highly 
rated proposals. Discussions are conducted by the contracting officer 
with each offeror within the competitive range. The discussions are 
tailored to each offeror's proposal.
    Test process. NRC will negotiate with the offeror ranked highest 
based on an integrated cost/technical assessment. If both parties are 
unable to reach agreement, NRC may end negotiations with that firm and 
begin negotiations with the next highest ranked firm. The NRC may re-
open negotiations with one or more firms if agreement cannot be reached 
with one of the next highest ranked firms. If agreement cannot be 
reached with any of the three firms, the solicitation will be canceled.
    NRC recognizes that the recent rewrite of FAR Part 15 will better 
focus the government's resources on obtaining the best value through a 
more intensive negotiation process with those that are the most highly 
rated. However, NRC believes it may also be possible to obtain good 
deals by focusing its negotiation efforts on one offeror at a time, 
beginning with the highest technically qualified offeror--trying to 
reach agreement with that offeror. To maintain competitive pressure, 
NRC would reserve the right to reopen negotiations with any of the 
three offerors after having tried to negotiate a contract with each of 
them. If agreement can be reached with the top ranked offeror without 
having to undertake further negotiation, as NRC anticipate will often 
be the case, NRC believes it may save time and administrative expense 
in the negotiation process without sacrifices to the value received 
under the contract. The test will offer NRC an opportunity to examine 
if and when negotiating in this successive (versus simultaneous) manner 
may hold benefit. For comparative purposes, NRC may also conduct, where 
appropriate, simultaneous discussions with the three highest ranked 
offerors for selected procurements.

IV. Test Objectives and Metrics

    NRC expects to achieve time savings, cost savings, and increased 
customer satisfaction through use of its focused source selection 
procedures.
    Time savings. Time savings will be measured by comparing overall 
procurement acquisition lead times (i.e., the time that elapses from 
the point when the procurement request is received in the procurement 
office to the time of award) experienced prior to the test versus under 
the test for similarly scoped acquisitions. If practicable, NRC will 
attempt to identify time savings associated with key phases of the test 
(e.g., identification of the three top ranked offerors, conduct of 
negotiations).
    Cost savings. Value received under contracts awarded under the test 
will be compared to the value received under similarly scoped contracts 
awarded prior to commencement of the test. Where a close match does not 
exist, a comparison of individual categories of work and cost elements 
will be made where feasible.
    Customer satisfaction. A customer service survey will be used to 
measure customers' (i.e., program offices') satisfaction. NRC is 
currently developing a survey for general use. This survey will be 
reviewed to determine if it is suitable for the test or needs to be 
modified. In addition, NRC will survey participating organizations to 
obtain their feedback.
    Small business participation. Participation by small businesses in 
test procurements will be compared with small business participation in 
similar procurements conducted prior to the test innovation. 
Participation will be measured by evaluating the value of prime 
contract awards.

V. A List of Regulations, Including Those Required by Law, for Which a 
Waiver is Necessary for the Successful Completion of the Test Program

    NRC seeks to waive the following regulatory requirements.
    1. For those cases where non-commercial contracts will result, the 
time standards set forth in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 5.203, 
which implements the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 
U.S.C. 416(a)(3)) and the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(e)(3)) in 
order to waive the 15-day period and structure a process which allows 
for flexible deadlines for preparation and submission of materials by 
interested parties.
    2. FAR 5.207(c)(2)(xv), which implements the Office of Federal 
Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 416(b)(4)) and the Small Business Act 
(15 U.S.C. 637(f)(4)) which requires that Commerce Business Daily 
notices include a statement that, ``all responsible sources may submit 
a bid, proposal, or quotation (as appropriate) which shall be 
considered by the agency.''
    3. FAR 6.003, which defines ``full and open competition'' to mean 
that all responsible sources are permitted to compete, implementing the 
Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403(6)), and FAR 
6.101, implementing the policy of full and open competition set forth 
in the Federal Property and Administrative Procedures Act (41 U.S.C. 
253).
    4. FAR 15.306(d), which requires negotiations with all offerors in 
the competitive range implementing the Federal Property and 
Administrative Procedures Act (41 U.S.C. 253b(d)(1)(A)).
    5. FAR 15.306(c) which effectively requires consideration of cost 
in making down select decisions.

VI. Anticipated Impact on Small Businesses, Particularly Small 
Disadvantaged Businesses (Including a Description of Actions To Be 
Taken To Mitigate Any Anticipated Negative Impacts)

    Small businesses may better be able to compete because they will 
have an opportunity to comment on the SOW, and they will not have to 
expend large amounts of resources to determine if they are among the 
three most highly ranked offerors. The NRC will continue to set aside 
procurements exclusively for small businesses when conditions permit 
after consultation with the NRC Office of Small and Disadvantaged 
Business Utilization.

[FR Doc. 99-6854 Filed 3-19-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3110-01-P