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g WASHINGTON, D. C. 20565 g
j January 8, 1987 CHAIRMAN 4
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 I of the report describes my actions during Fiscal Year 1987 to (1) increase competition for contracts entered into by the NRC on the basis 1
of cost and other significant factors, and (2) reduce the number and dollar value of noncompetitive contracts entered into by the NRC.
Section II provides a summary of the activities and accomplishments of NRC's Competition Advocate (CA) during Fiscal Year 1986.
Section III provides a summary of NRC's procurement actions for Fiscal Year 1986.
Sincerely, dA4fd W.
Lando W. Zec
.i r.
Enclosure:
As Stated 0703030134 O'70226 PDH COMMS NRCC COHRESPONDENCE PDR t
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U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ANNUAL REPORT TO THE CONGRESS ON COMPETITION UNDER SECTION 21, PUBLIC LAW 98-369, COMPETITION IN CONTRACTING ACT (CICA)
SECTION I ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN IN FISCAL YEAR 1987 T0:
A.
INCREASE COMPETITION FOR CONTRACTS WITH THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (NRC) ON THE BASIS OF COST AND OTHER SIGNIFICANT FACTORS:
1.
Appoint Associate Competition Advocates in the major NRC program offices to work in concert with the Competition Advocate (CA) and the NRC contracting staff to develop initiatives to enhance effective competition and limit noncompetitive actions while at_ the same time making procurement more effective in support of mission accomplishment. Appropriate training at the executive level will be provided for the associate CA designees.
The Competition Advocate will also meet with his counterparts from other agencies to exchange information and ideas to increase competition.
2.
Institute a mandatory training program for all staff who serve as Project Officers. Among other advantages, this training will explain the competitive procurement process and make it a more attractive ootion for satisfying agency needs.
3.
Continue reviews of all Advance Procurement Plans for FY 1987 submitted to the NRC Division of Contracts (DC) and encourage NRC Offices to provide early rotification of changes and assess continuing needs beyond FY 1987. Results of market research and indications of interest received in response to announced long-range acquisition estimates will be complementary to and increase the effectiveness of the acercy's advance procurement planning process.
4.
Conduct a review and analysis of all FY 1986 non-connetitive procurements and those competitive ones with limited response to identify circumstances which precluded ennpetition.
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Give increased consideration to use of draft solicitations and specifications for complex procurements to allow for industry comment.
- 6.. Perform market research and solicit industry comments to establish and expand bidder's mailing lists for those repetitive requirements essential for mission accomplishment.
7.
Pursue identification of long-range agency requirements, beyond that provided in the established NRC advance procurement planning procedure, to pennit announcement to industry of long-range acquisition estimates.
8.
Take day-to-day actions to foster competition and solicitation of reconsnendations for innovative techniques to increase competition.
B.
REQUCE THE NUMBER AND DOLLAR VALUE OF NONCOMPETITIVE CONTRACTS ENTERED INTO BY NRC.
1.
The CA together with the NRC contracting staff will review Advance Procurement Plans submitted by NRC offices for FY 1987 to identify early in the acquisition process those actions being considered as candidates for noncompetitive procurement. The contracting staff will work with the program offices to elicit bases for the noncompetitive action, discuss alternative methods of procurement including severing a portion of the effort for competition, explore techniques for locating additional sources, and review draft statements of work to discover barriers to competition.
2.
The CA will conduct on-site visits to the agency's Regional Offices to assess their progress in reducing the number of noncompetitive procurements.
3.
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 contracting officer to independently assess validity of the sole source Justification. The CA approves all written justifications for using other than full and open competition procedures before a Commerce Rusi_ ness Daily (CBD) synopsis is issued.
Further, prior to solicitation issuance, the CA approves the,iustification when the procurement action is considered exempt from CBD Notice requirements. These measures will continue to he used.
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The CA will be 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 will be provided the opportunity to review the preliminary procurement packages and assess t'ae validity of proposed noncompetitive procurements.
5.
The NRC Division of Contracts staff will continue to expand their review and analysis of all in-house sole source actions for possible conversion to competition; increase scrutiny of all,iustifications 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 or supplies which
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they have the capability to furnish; and place emphasis in negotiations on the need for competition in subcontracting.
SECTION II -
SUMMARY
OF THE ACTIVITIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE ADVOCATE FOR COMPETITION DURING FISCAL YEAR 1986 The CA issued a memorandum to the DC staff on February 18, 1986, which outlined the CA's responsibilities and his expectations for the DC staff in increasing competition.
Initiatives to foster competition were included as an element in the evaluation of employee perfonnance.
Procedures were instituted to direct copies of all requests for sole source procurements to the CA for review concurrent with that of the Contracting Officer (CO). Procedures were also instituted for CA review (and approval) of all written justifications for using other than full and open competition procedures before a CBD synopsis is issued or prior to solicitation issuance when the procurement is exempt from the CBD notice requirement. The CA regularly met with the C0s to independently assess validity of noncompetitive justifications.
The CA monitored FY '86 Advance Procurement Plan submissions and placed a call in February 1986 for updates to assure adequate time for full and open competition. Several significant procurement actions initially identified as noncompetitive were subsequently removed from this category after discussions between the Program Office and the DC staff.
Those actions are expected to be resubmitted as candidates for full and open competition. A ma.ior accomplishment during the fiscal year was conversion of agency training requirements from placement under a single source to full and open comoetition for each training requirement submitted. Through the agency Procurement Executive, the CA initiated a formal call in July 1986 'or submission of FY '87 Advance Procurement Plans by August 1, 1986
i b In addition to the CA's work with the SCRB, a member of the contracting staff representing the CA attends meetings of the Waste Management Review Group whose function is similar to that of the SCRB but specifically for review of proposed projects for waste management.
In March 1986, the SCRB initiated a study of the NRC process for acquisition of goods and services to assure that NRC's administrative and program support funds are managed in the most efficient manner. To provide background for the review, an overview of the rules, regulations and policies of the Federal Acquisition process as they are applied in current NRC procurement practice was presented April 1,1986, to the SCRB members, advisors and representatives of the major NRC program offices. The awareness of the benefits of greater competition in contractual projects is present at the most senior level of the agency.
The CA has been tasked by senior management to develop initiatives to assure that full and open competition for contractual projects is accomplished wherever possible.
For projects that do not reach the SCRB threshold, the CA has met periodically with the program offices to encourage them to use competitive means.
During the Fiscal Year,110 project managers, supervisors, and senior management attended the NRC sponsored " Project Manager's Acquisition Training" course. The course covers the policies and requirements regarding the need for full and open competition and emphasizes the benefits to be derived from such competition. The course text was reviewed by the CA who is also consulted regarding proposed changes.
The course is now included as a part of the mandatory training for agency supervisors.
SECTION III
SUMMARY
OF PROCUREMENT ACTIONS IN FISCAL YEAR 1986 Attached is a summary o# NRC procurements for Fiscal Year 1986. The information contained in the sumary and the format of the report are in compliance with guidelines contained in the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (0FPP) memorandum dated December 9, 1985.
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- SECTION III -
SUMMARY
PERCENTAGE PERCENTAGE
. PROCUREMENT NUMBER OF DOLLAR OF ACTIONS OF AVAILABLE OBLIGATIONS AVAILABLE OVER $25,000 ACTIONS ACTIONS (000)
DOLLARS LActions Available For Competition A. Actions Competed.
136 67%
$22,543 66%
t B. Follow-on To Competed Actions 2.
C. Actions Not Competed 66 33%
$11,813 34%
D. Total Available 202 100 %
$34,356 100 %
l II. Actions Excluded 3 XXXX'X
$7.316 XXXXX 31 1
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Total Actions 233 XXXXX
$41,672 XXXXX j
PERCENTAGE PERCENTAGE PROCUREMENT NUMBER OF DOLLAR OF ACTIONS OF AVAILABLE OBLIGATIONS AVAILABLE UNDER $25,000 ACTIONS ACTIONS (OOO)
DOLLARS I. Actions Available i
For Competition i
A. Actions Competed.
774 26%
$1,551 28%
l B. Actions Not Competed 2,161 74%
$4,018 72%
C. Total Available 2,935 100 %
$5,569 100 %
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lI. Actions Excluded -
12 XXXXX 53 XXXXX III.
Total Actions XXXXX XXXXX 3,947
$5,622 l
NOTE 1.
Includes the following three cctegories of competed actions under CICA: a) Full and open Competition; b) Less than Full and vpen Competition - more than one offer / bid received; and c) Full end Open Competition - only one responsible offer / bid received. It also includes the pre CICA j
l categories of competition: (i) Two-step Formal Advertising, (ii) Other Formal Advertising, and (iii) l N gotiated Competitive.
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NOTE 2.
If not applicable, may be deleted from form.
NOTE 3.
Agencies including "other" exclusions (see para. 4(b)(6) of OFPP letter) should list each category separately as subelements in this. item II.
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