How To Use the NDAA Pages

Back to NDAA Contents

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

Subtitle B — Amendments to General Contracting Authorities, Procedures, and Limitations

P. L. 115-

House Conference Report. 115-404

(a) Pilot Program Required.—The Secretary of Defense shall carry out a pilot program to determine the effectiveness of requiring contractors to reimburse the Department of Defense for costs incurred in processing covered protests.

(b) Duration.—The pilot program shall—

(1) begin on the date that is two years after the date of the enactment of this Act; and

(2) end on the date that is five years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(c) Report.—Not later than 90 days after the date on which the pilot program under subsection (a) ends, the Secretary shall provide a report to the Committees on Armed Services of the House of Representatives and the Senate assessing the feasibility of making permanent such pilot program.

(d) Covered Protest Defined.—In this section, the term “covered protest” means a bid protest that was—

(1) denied in an opinion issued by the Government Accountability Office;

(2) filed by a party with revenues in excess of $250,000,000 (based on fiscal year 2017 constant dollars) during the previous year; and

(3) filed on or after October 1, 2019 and on or before September 30, 2022.

The Senate amendment contained a provision (sec. 821) that would amend chapter 137 of title 10, United States Code, to require contractors who file bid protests with the Government Accountability Office on a contract with the Department of Defense to pay to the Department of Defense costs incurred for processing a protest at the Government Accountability Office and the Department of Defense when such a protest is filed by a party with revenues in excess of $100.0 million during the previous year where all of the elements of such protest are denied in an opinion by the Government Accountability Office.

The House bill contained no similar provision.

The House recedes with an amendment that would create a three-year Department of Defense pilot program to begin two years after the date of the enactment of this Act. The triggering dollar threshold is also amended from $100.0 million to $250.0 million.