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TITLE VIII--ACQUISITION POLICY, ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT, AND RELATED MATTERS

Subtitle B--Amendments to General Contracting Authorities, Procedures, and Limitation

P. L. 111-

House Conference Report 111-288

    (a) Authority.--A contract initially awarded from the competitive selection of a proposal resulting from a general solicitation referred to in section 2302(2)(B) of title 10, United States Code, may contain a contract line item or contract option for--

    (1) the provision of advanced component development or prototype of technology developed under the contract; or

    (2) the delivery of initial or additional prototype items if the item or a prototype thereof is created as the result of work performed under the contract.

    (b) Limitations.--

    (1) MINIMAL AMOUNT.--A contract line item or contract option described in subsection (a)(2) shall require the delivery of the minimal amount of initial or additional prototype items to allow for the timely competitive solicitation and award of a follow-on development or production contract for those items.

    (2) TERM.--A contract line item or contract option described in subsection (a) shall be for a term of not more than 12 months.

    (3) DOLLAR VALUE OF WORK.--The dollar value of the work to be performed pursuant to a contract line item or contract option described in subsection (a) may not exceed the lesser of the amounts as follows:

    (A) The amount that is three times the dollar value of the work previously performed under the contract.

    (B) $20,000,000.

    (4) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.--A military department or defense agency may not exercise a contract line item or contract option pursuant to the authority provided in subsection (a) after September 30, 2014.

    (c) Report.--The Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the use of the authority provided by subsection (a) not later than March 1, 2013. The report shall, at a minimum, describe--

    (1) the number of times a contract line item or contract option was exercised under such authority, the dollar amount of each such line item or option, and the scope of each such line item or option;

    (2) the circumstances that rendered the military department or defense agency unable to solicit and award a follow-on development or production contract in a timely fashion, but for the use of such authority;

    (3) the extent to which such authority affected competition and technology transition; and

    (4) such recommendations as the Secretary considers appropriate, including any recommendations regarding the modification or extension of such authority.

   The House bill contained a provision (sec. 819) that would authorize the use of a contract option to extend, subject to certain limitations, a basic research contract awarded on a competitive basis pursuant to a broad agency announcement, as described in section 2302(2)(B) of title 10, United States Code.

   The Senate amendment contained a similar provision (sec. 801).

   The Senate recedes with an amendment combining the two provisions. Under the conference agreement, a covered contract may be extended for the purpose of providing advanced component development and prototyping, subject to strict limitations on time and cost. The authority to so extend contracts would expire on September 30, 2014.

House Report 111-166 - NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2010

SECTION 819--CONTRACT AUTHORITY FOR ADVANCED COMPONENT DEVELOPMENT OR PROTOTYPE UNITS

This section would provide temporary authority to award a contract option for a `bridge' between the end of the science and technology portion of a contract awarded under a Federal Acquisition Regulation Broad Agency Announcement and the competitive award of a contract under a new acquisition for advanced component development or prototyping. The authority would be limited, in the case of a contract option awarded for prototyping, to the minimum number of prototype items necessary to allow for the timely competitive solicitation and award of a follow-on development or production contract for such items. In the case of a contract option awarded for advanced component development, the authority would be limited to a term of not more than 12 months. Each military department would be authorized to exercise such a contract option not more than four times per year. The Secretary of Defense would be authorized to approve up to four total additional options a year for projects supported by defense agencies. The authority would expire on September 30, 2014. This section would also require the Secretary to submit a report to the congressional defense committees on the use of such authority by March 1, 2014, describing the use of the authority to date, the extent to which the authority has increased competition and improved technology transition, and any recommendations the Secretary may have about the modification or extension of such authority.

Senate Report 111-035 - NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2010

The committee recommends a provision that would authorize the Department of Defense (DOD) to include a contract line item or an option to extend a contract for advanced research for a limited period of time, or for the production of a limited number of prototype units. This authority, which was requested by DOD, would provide a temporary `bridge' between the time that a program is no longer eligible to receive science and technology funding and the time that a new contract can be awarded for advanced component development, or production, on the basis of full and open competition.