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

Subtitle I - Other Matters

P. L. 115-

House Conference Report. 115-404

(a) In General.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall develop, make available for public comment, and finalize—

(1) a definition of the term “Procurement Administrative Lead Time” or “PALT”, to be applied Department of Defense-wide, that describes the amount of time from the date on which a solicitation is issued to the date of an initial award of a contract or task order of the Department of Defense; and

(2) a plan for measuring and publicly reporting data on PALT for Department of Defense contracts and task orders above the simplified acquisition threshold.

(b) Requirement For Definition.—Unless the Secretary determines otherwise, the amount of time in the definition of PALT developed under subsection (a) shall—

(1) begin on the date on which the initial solicitation is issued for a contract or task order of the Department of Defense by the Secretary of a military department or head of a Defense Agency; and

(2) end on the date of the award of the contract or task order.

(c) Coordination.—In developing the definition of PALT, the Secretary shall coordinate with—

(1) the senior contracting official of each military department and Defense Agency to determine the variations of the definition in use across the Department of Defense and each military department and Defense Agency; and

(2) the Administrator of the General Services Administration on modifying the existing data system of the Federal Government to determine the date on which the initial solicitation is issued.

(d) Use Of Existing Procurement Data Systems.—In developing the plan for measuring and publicly reporting data on PALT required by subsection (a), the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, rely on the information contained in the Federal procurement data system established pursuant to section 1122(a)(4) of title 41, United States Code, including any modifications to that system.

The House bill contained a provision (sec. 871) that would require the Secretary of Defense to develop, make available for public comment, and finalize a definition of the term “Procurement Administrative Lead Time” or “PALT”, to be applied Department of Defense-wide, that describes the amount of time from the date on which a solicitation is issued to the date of an initial award of a contract or task order of the Department of Defense; and a plan for measuring and publicly reporting data on PALT for Department of Defense contracts and task orders above the micro-purchase threshold.

The Senate amendment contained no similar provision.

The Senate recedes with an amendment that would focus the scope of the provision to contracts and task orders above the simplified acquisition threshold and would require coordination with the Administrator of the General Services Administration.