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

Subtitle C—Provisions Relating to Other Transaction Authority

P. L. 117-81

Joint Explanatory Statement

(a) Procedures for Identifying Certain Acquisition Agreements and Activities.--The Secretary of Defense shall establish procedures to identify organizations performing on individual projects under the following types of awards:

(1) Other transaction agreements pursuant to the authorities under section 2371 and 2371b of title 10, United States Code.

(2) Individual task orders awarded under a task order contract (as defined in section 2304d of title 10, United States Code), including individual task orders issued to a federally funded research and development center.

(b) For initial agreements covered under subsection (a), the procedures required under subsection (a) shall include, but not be limited to--

(1) the participants to the transaction (other than the Federal Government);

(2) each business selected to perform work under the transaction by a participant to the transaction that is a consortium of private entities;

(3) the date on which each participant entered into the transaction;

(4) the amount of the transaction; and

(5) other related matters the Secretary deems appropriate.

(c) For follow-on contracts, agreements, or transactions covered under subsection (a), the procedures required under subsection (a)
shall include, but not be limited to--

(1) identification of the initial covered contract or transaction and each subsequent follow-on contract or transaction;

(2) the awardee;

(3) the amount;

(4) the date awarded; and

(5) other related matters the Secretary deems appropriate.

(d) The Administrator of the General Services Administration shall update the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) within 180 days to collect the data required under this section.

(e) Reporting.--Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and not less than annually thereafter, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the use of agreements and activities described in subsection (a) and associated funding.

(f) Publication of Information.--Not later than one year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall establish procedures to collect information on individual agreements and activities described in this section and associated funding in an
online, public, searchable database, unless the Secretary deems such disclosure inappropriate for individual agreements based on national security concerns.

The House bill contained a provision (sec. 820) that would require the Department of Defense to provide recommendations to make other transaction authority data more accessible and improve the reporting structure.

The Senate amendment contained a similar provision (sec. 817) that would require the Department of Defense to establish procedures for identifying individual projects awarded using other transaction agreements and individual task orders under task order contracts. The provision would also require the Department to make certain information about these awards publicly available.

The agreement includes the Senate provision with an amendment that would clarify the reporting procedures for certain agreements.

H. R. 4350--House Report 117-118

Section 820--Other Transaction Authority Information Accessibility

This section would require the Department of Defense to provide recommendations to make other transaction authority data more accessible and improve the reporting structure.

S. 2792--Senate Report117-39

Reporting requirement for defense acquisition activities (sec. 817)

The committee recommends a provision that would require the Secretary of Defense to establish procedures to identify all agreements awarded to entities through the use of an Other Transaction (OT) consortia, OTs, individual task orders awarded under a task order contract, and individual task orders issued to a federally funded research and development center. For example, the committee notes that the Department of Defense
(DOD) Inspector General found that ``the [DOD] did not properly track and could not readily account for all OTs awarded through consortiums'' in an April 2021 report (DODIG-2021-077). Additionally, the committee is concerned about the lack of transparency on these types of awards. As such, the provision would also require the Secretary to establish mechanisms to publicize awards, similar to those currently in place for contracts.