ML20149M560
| ML20149M560 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 01/27/1988 |
| From: | Zech L NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Bush G, Jason Wright HOUSE OF REP., SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE, SENATE, PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8802260118 | |
| Download: ML20149M560 (6) | |
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UNITED STATES
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o NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D. C 20555 5 ;j
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CHAIRMAN January 27, 1988 The Honorable George H. W. Bush President of the United States Senate Washington, D. C. 20510
Dear Mr. President:
I am enclosing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC)
"Annual Report on Competition," as required by Section 21 of Public Law 98-369. Section 1 of the report describes the Commission's planned actions durir g Fiscal Year 1988 to: (1) '
increase competition for contracts entered into by the NRC on the basis of cost and other significant factors, and (2) reduce the number and dollar value of noncompetitive contracts entered into by the NRC.
Section 11 provides a summary of t'.1e activities and accomplishments of NRC's Competition Advocate (CA) during Fiscal Year 1987.
Section III provides a summary of NRC's procurement actions for Fiscal Year 1987.
Sincerely, DV. W A Lando W. Ze , Jr.
Enclosure:
As Stated ,
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' WASHINoToN, D. C. 20$55 5,*****j January 27,.-1988 CHAIRMAN The Honorable Jim Wright Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Washington, D. C. 20515
Dear Mr. Speaker:
I am enclosing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) -
"Annual Report on Competition," as required by Section 21 of Public Law 98-369. Section 1 of the report describes the Commission's planned actions during Fiscal Year 1988 to: (1) increase competition for contracts entered into by the NRC on the basis of cost and other significant factors, and (2) reduce the number and dollar value of noncompetitive contracts entered into by the NRC.
Section 11 provides a summary of the activities and accomplishments of NRC's Competition Advocate (CA) during Fiscal Year 1987.
Section III provides a summary of NRC's procurement actions for Fiscal Year 1987.
Sincerely, W.
- Lando W., Ze , Jr
Enclosure:
As Stated l
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U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ANNUAL REPORT TO THE CONGRESS ON C0>' PETITION UNDER SECTION 21, PUBLIC 1.AW 98-369, COMPETITION IN CONTRACTING ACT (CICA) j SECTION I - ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN IN FISCAL YEAR 1988 TO:
A. INCREASE COMPETITION FOR CONTRACTS WITH THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMISSION (NRC) ON THE BASIS OF COST AND OTHER SIGNIFICANT FAC- l TORS:
(1) Conduct a systematic review of NRC competitive procurement procedures to detertnine means by which they may be streamlined. The objective is to reduce both the time and effort demanded of NRC technical program staff in the process and to reduce the lead time required to obtain a competitive contract award. Success in this major initiative will allow the agency to take advantage of the technical and cost benefits of competition as this process will be viewed as a more acceptable alternative to sole source contracting.
(2) Fully institutionalize the Competition Advocate Audit Team which consists of technical program personnel serving as Associate Competition At ocates (ACA) and the Agency Competition Advocate. i e team will review completed j contractor selection decssions with a view toward utilizing lessons learned as a tool for enhancing competition in future procurements. l l
(3) Monitor the mandatory trainin program for project offices to assure that such training is accomplished and to assess its impact on the degree of use and efficiensy of the competitive process.
B. REDUCE THE NUMBER AND DOLLAR VALUE OF NONCOMPETITIVE CONTRACTS ENTERED INTO BY NRC.
Continue and re-esphasize the following initiatives which were begun in previous years and have met with success in reducing noncompetitive contracts:
(1) Perfom early review of Offices' FY 88 Advance Procurement Plans and work with the contracting staff to develop alternatives to identify concompetitive actions. The key to success is the ability to explore alternatives at an early date so that the procurement process is not on the critical path of progrannatic accomplishments.
(2) Procedures are in place to provide one copy of each sole source justification to the CA upon receipt in the Division of Contracts. In addition, the CA meets with the responsible l contracting officer to independently assess the validity of the l l
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sole source justification. The CA approves all written justifications for using other than full ano open competition procedures before a Commerce Business Daily (CBD) synopsis is issued. Further, prior to solicitation issuance, the CA approves the justification when the procurement action is considered exempt frem CBD Notice requirements. These measures will continue to be used.
(3) The CA serves as a member of the NRC Senior Contract Review Board (SCRB) which is responsible for review and approval of all agency projects exceeding $500,000 annually. As a member, the CA has the opportunity to review the preliminary procurement packages and assess the validity of proposed noncompetitive procurements.
(4) The NRC Division of Contracts staff will continue to expand their review and analysis of all in-house sole source actions 1 for possible conversion to competition; increase scrutiny of all justifications for noncompetitive action to confirm their validity; expand use of market research to identify new sources, and actively encourage sources to apply for inclusion in the NRC Solicitation Mailing List System for those services J or supplies which they have the capability to furnish; and place emphasis in negotiations on the need for competition in subcontracting.
(5) The CA will conduct on-site visits to the agency's Regional Offices to ar.sess their progress in redu.ing the number of noncompetitive procurements. l (6) The CA will take day-to-day actions to foster ccmpetition and solicitation of recomendations for innovative techniques to i increase competition, l l
SECTION II -
SUMMARY
OF THE ACTIVITIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE ADVOCATE FOR COMPETITION DURING FISCAL YEAR 1987 (1) In his July 14, 1987 memorandum to the staff, the hRC's Executive Director for Operations (ED0) demonstrated high level NRC l management connitment to the benefits of competition. The EDO stressed the need for agency program managers to consider source selection alternatives in meeting their programatic needs.
(2) The CA has enlisted the support and participation of Program Offices in the review of contract actions to assure that
.i competitive procurement procedures are utilized whenever feasible.
The mechanism employed is the appointment of Associate Competition Advocates (ACA) in the major NRC program offices. The ACA's will work with the CA to develop initiatives to enhance effective competition while at the same time making procurement more effective in support of mission accomplishment. All affected offices have named ACA's who will work with the CA to corstitute a Competition Advocate Audit Team. The team will review files of
4 l1 completed source selection decisions to detennine whether these decisions were appropriate in view of statutory requirements for competition and in light of contractor selection criteria outlined in NRC Manual Chapter 1401.
(3) During FY 87, the base for consideration of competition has begun to be widened to include work traditionally assigned to the 6
Department of Energy (00E) National Laboratories. While the agency wishes to continue to rely upon the DOE laboratories for the bulk of its contract work, increased consideration is given to utilizing the competitive process when this is appropriate. This new tendency was reflected in the Procurement Executive's call for Advance Procurement Plans in which, for the first time, he instructed the ,
Offices to inclide plans for work to be placed at 00E laboratories i so that these may be reviewed by the CA. In aodition, the CA Audit :
Team will review 00E laboratory placements, as well as noncompetitive I procurements in the private sector, for possible conversion to l competition in the future.
(4) The CA has encouraged NRC program managers, particularly those with research responsibilities, to utilize the Broad Agency Announcement t (BAA) as a means of competing for ideas as an alternative to noncompetitive procurement. One BAA has been issued in the field -
of optical disk technolcgy and a second one is in preparation to support another research need. The CA arranged for agencies with l i
success in using the BAA, such as DARPA, to relate their ameriences to NRC staff. The BAA is now seen as a viable
.ani sm to satif s y contracting needs. .
training staff polled technical managers with responsibility i for contractor selection to determine their greatest training l needs. The results were very informative. The training staff is ,
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working with the CA to modify the agency procurement training course consistent with the study results. Formal classroom ,
procurement training has been made mandatory for all NRC Project Officers. Such training will facilitate the competitive selection 1 process thereby making it a more palatable alternative to sole source contracting. .
SECTION III .SUMARY OF PROCUREMENT ACTIONS IN FISCAL YEAR 1987 ,
Attached is a supmary of NRC procurements for Fiscal Year 1987. The infonnation contained in the summary and the format of the report are in ,
compliance with guidelines contained in the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) memorandum dated December 9, 1985.
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PERCENTAGE PERCENTAGE PROCUREMENT NUMBER OF DOLLAR OF ACTIONS OF AVAILABLE OBLIGATIONS 'AVAILABLE OVER $25,000 ACTIONS ACTIONS (OOO) DOLLARS LActions Available
- For Competition A. Actions C$mpeted !'. 217 64% $32,361 62%
B. Follow-on To - - -
Co,mpeted Actions 2.
C. Actions Not .
Competed 123 36% $19.838 38%
- 0. Total Available 340 100% $52,199 100%
IL Actions Excluded 3 39 XXXX'X $ 7,696 XXXXX lit. Total Actims 379 XXXXX $59,895 -XXXXX PERCENTAGE PERCENTAGE PROCUREMENT NUMBER OF DOLLAR OF ACTIONS OF .
AVAILABLE OBLIGATIONS AVAILABLE UNDER $25,000 ACTIONS ACTIONS (OOO) DOLLARS
- 1. Actions Available For Competition A. Actions Competed 1- 887 29% $2,737- 48%
Be Actions Not 2,204 7M $2,993 52%
Competed '
C. Total Available 3,091 100% $5,730 100% I
!!. Actions Excluded3- 13 XXXXX $ 57 XXXXX It!. Total Actions 3,104 XXXXX $5,737 XXXXX NOTE 1. Includes the following three categories of competed actions under CICA: a) Full and Open Competition; b) Less than Full and Open Competition - more than one of fer/ bid received; and c) Full
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cnd Open Competition - only one responsible offer / bid received. It also includes the pre CICA categories of competition: (i) Two-step Formal Advertising, (ii) Otlier Formal Advertising, and (iii)
Negotiated Competitive.
NOTE 2. ;f not applicable, may be deleted from form.
NOTE 3. Agencies including "other" exclusions (see para. 4(bX6) of OFPP letter) should list each _
category separately as subelements in this item li.
All excluded actions were 8(a) awards.
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