[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 13 (Tuesday, January 21, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3428-3429]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00783]
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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
Office of Federal Procurement Policy
Procurement Administrative Lead Time (PALT)
AGENCY: Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), Office of
Management and Budget (OMB).
ACTION: Notice and request for public comments.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) is requesting
public comment on a proposed definition of the term ``Procurement
Administrative Lead Time'' (PALT) and a plan for measuring and publicly
reporting government-wide data on PALT for contracts and orders above
the simplified acquisition threshold (SAT). This action is being
undertaken in accordance with section 878 of the National Defense
Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY 2019.
DATES: Interested parties should submit written comments to the address
shown below within 30 days of this notice.
ADDRESSES: Please submit comments only and cite ``Procurement
Administrative Lead Time'' in all correspondence. Comments may be
submitted by any of the following methods:
Online at http://www.regulations.gov,
Facsimile: 202-395-5105.
Mail: Curtina Smith, Office of Federal Procurement Policy,
725 17th St. NW, Washington, DC 20503.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Curtina Smith, [email protected],
202-395-3301.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 878 of the NDAA for 2019, Public Law
115-232, requires the Administrator of OFPP to develop and make
available for public comment a definition of the term PALT. Section 878
further requires that
[[Page 3429]]
the Administrator develop a plan for measuring and publicly reporting
data on PALT for Federal Government contracts and orders above the SAT.
OFPP is proposing to define PALT as ``the time between the date on
which an initial solicitation for a contract or order is issued by a
Federal department or agency and the date of the award of the contract
or order.'' Section 878 includes this language as a suggested
definition. Furthermore, this definition was adopted by the Department
of Defense (DoD) pursuant section 886 of the NDAA for FY 18 and DoD
implementing instructions. See ``Reporting `Solicitation Date' in the
Federal Procurement Data System'' June 14, 2018, available at https://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/policy/policyvault/USA001458-18-DPAP.pdf.
In instances where draft solicitations are issued generally for the
purpose of seeking input from interested parties to assist the
Government in finalizing its solicitation, the issuance date for the
``initial solicitation'' for purposes of the PALT would be the date on
which the final solicitation seeking offers, bids, or proposals is
issued by the Government. In cases where no solicitation is required,
`the date on which an initial solicitation is issued' would be guided
by the following instructions, which promote consistent implementation
across both civilian and DoD agencies:
For awards resulting from unsolicited proposals, `the date
on which an initial solicitation is issued' is the date on which the
Government notifies the offeror of proposal acceptance.
For orders placed against indefinite-delivery contracts
where pricing is based on pre-priced line items included in the
indefinite-delivery contract and no elements of the order's delivery or
performance require negotiation, `the date on which an initial
solicitation is issued' is the date of the award of the order.
For the award of a contract under a Broad Agency
Announcement (BAA), `the date on which an initial solicitation is
issued' is the date when a final combined synopsis/solicitation is
issued except:
[ssquf] For two-step BAAs, including white paper submissions for
review, selection, and subsequent request for full proposals, `the date
on which an initial solicitation is issued' is the date when the
Government signs the proposal request.
[ssquf] Under BAAs with calls, `the date on which an initial
solicitation is issued' is the date when the individual call is issued.
[ssquf] For open BAAs, when white papers and/or proposals are
accepted for review over an extended period (typically open for a year
or longer), the `the date on which an initial solicitation is issued'
is either the date when the Government signs a proposal request (white
papers) or the date on which the proposal is submitted, whichever is
earlier.
To support measuring and public reporting of PALT, OFPP proposes
leveraging publicly available data in the Federal Procurement Data
System--Next Generation (FPDS-NG), i.e., the authoritative source for
Federal Government procurement award data. The General Services
Administration's Integrated Acquisition Environment has included in its
June 2019 enhancement of FPDS-NG a change to add the ``solicitation
date'' data field as a mandatory reporting requirement for all
contracts or orders valued above the SAT. Now that data are centrally
collected in FPDS-NG, agencies and the public will be able to use these
data to obtain PALT information for any contract or order issued by the
Federal Government that is valued above the SAT. In addition, FPDS-NG
data can be used to evaluate PALT for specific types of acquisitions
and to determine how timelines are impacted by the use of specific
authorities, such as FAR Subpart 6.302-2, Unusual and Compelling
Urgency, as well as other authorities that permit limited competition
or noncompetitive awards. The public is invited to submit comments on
both the proposed definition and plan for measuring PALT.
Establishing a common definition of PALT and a plan for measuring
and publicly reporting PALT data are important steps in helping the
Federal Government to understand and better address causes of
procurement delays. PALT can help to drive continual process
improvement and the pursuit of more innovative procurement practices,
especially when the data are used in combination with other inputs for
evaluating the overall effectiveness of the acquisition process in
delivering value to the taxpayer, such as cost and the quality of the
contractor's performance. PALT can also create incentives to drive
greater efficiencies in the requirements development process, which has
long been recognized as one of the most significant sources of delay in
the acquisition lifecycle. For example, increased emphasis on PALT
should encourage agencies to take greater advantage of facilitated
requirements development workshops, where a trained facilitator leads a
multi-functional integrated project team in the development of a
mission critical acquisition requirement in days. Use of this practice
has largely been limited to DoD but its promise makes it worthy of
broader consideration across the Federal Government.
It is expected that as technology improves and the ability to
capture better and more comprehensive procurement and requirements data
becomes easier, there will be opportunity to collect and track
additional data points and timeframes beyond those covered by the
proposed definition. For example, the ability to capture data routinely
on various aspects of requirements development could significantly
enhance the insight derived from measuring PALT. Agencies that may
already collect and track additional data points and timeframes outside
of the proposed definition, such as from the time a complete
requisition package is received by the procurement office, will be
encouraged to maintain their broader efforts, as they are able, to
assist in the management, support, and evaluation of agency procurement
operations.
Michael E. Wooten,
Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy.
[FR Doc. 2020-00783 Filed 1-17-20; 8:45 am]
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