“A bill to modify other transaction authority, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section revises approval requirements and authorities for prototype projects and related transactions under 10 U.S.C. 4022 (other transaction authority, which allows the Department of Defense to use flexible agreements outside Federal Acquisition Regulation procedures to accelerate prototyping and innovation). Specifically, it (1) consolidates prior tiered approvals for prototype projects over $100 million—previously requiring head of contracting activity approval for $100 million–$500 million, senior procurement executive approval plus 30-day congressional notice for over $500 million, and separate covered official approval for follow-on production over $100 million—into a single written determination by the head of the contracting activity (or agency director for DARPA, DIU, or MDA) that subsection (d) requirements will be met, for any prototype project or follow-on production under subsection (f) or (g) over $100 million (including options); (2) prohibits delegation of such determination authority; (3) revises the definition of "head of the contracting activity" to mean officials managing an acquisition organization with unlimited procurement authority and adds a definition of "follow-on production" as a contract or transaction to further develop, test, produce, deploy, operate, or sustain a successfully prototyped capability; and (4) establishes new authority in added subsection (h) for service or component acquisition executives to award noncompetitive production transactions (with or without competitive procedures) for emergent proven technologies demonstrated in a relevant environment that require no additional development, upon written determination of exceptional circumstances justifying use to address high-priority warfighter needs.