PL 110-161
Text of the House
Amendments to Senate Amendment to H.R. 2764 – State, Foreign Operations, and
Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2008 (Consolidated Appropriations Act,
2008)
DIVISION F
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES
APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008
TITLE I
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
MANAGEMENT OF LANDS AND RESOURCES
SEC. 415. (a) LIMITATION ON COMPETITIVE SOURCING STUDIES. -
(1) Of the funds made available by this or any other Act to the Department of the Interior for fiscal year 2008, not more than $3,450,000 may be used by the Secretary of the Interior to initiate or continue competitive sourcing studies in fiscal year 2008 for programs, projects, and activities for which funds are appropriated by this Act.
(2) None of the funds made available by this or any other Act may be used in fiscal year 2008 for competitive sourcing studies and any related activities involving Forest Service personnel.
(b) COMPETITIVE SOURCING STUDY DEFINED. - In this section, the term "competitive sourcing study" means a study on subjecting work performed by Federal Government employees or private contractors to public-private competition or on converting the Federal Government employees or the work performed by such employees to private contractor performance under the Office of Management and Budget Circular A-76 or any other administrative regulation, directive, or policy.
(c) COMPETITIVE SOURCING EXEMPTION FOR FOREST SERVICE STUDIES CONDUCTED PRIOR TO FISCAL YEAR 2006.-The Forest Service is hereby exempted from implementing the Letter of Obligation and post-competition accountability guidelines where a competitive sourcing study involved 65 or fewer full-time equivalents, the performance decision was made' in favor of the agency provider, no net savings was achieved by conducting the study, and the study was completed prior to the date of this Act.
(d) In preparing any reports to the Committees on Appropriations on competitive sourcing activities, agencies funded in this Act shall include all costs attributable to conducting the competitive sourcing competitions and staff work to prepare for competitions or to determine the feasibility of starting competitions, including costs attributable to paying outside consultants and contractors and, in accordance with full cost accounting principles, all costs attributable to developing, implementing, supporting, managing, monitoring, and reporting on competitive sourcing, including personnel, consultant, travel, and training costs associated with program management.
(e) In carrying out any competitive sourcing study involving Department of the Interior employees, the Secretary of the Interior shall (1) determine whether any of the employees concerned are also qualified to participate in wildland fire management activities; and (2) take into consideration the effect that contracting with a private sector source would have on the ability of the Department of the Interior to effectively and efficiently fight and manage wildfires.
* * *
Report Language
35-896
110TH CONGRESS
Report
HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session
110-187
--DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES
APPROPRIATIONS BILL, 2008
Mr. DICKS, from the
Committee on Appropriations, submitted the following
R E P O R T
together with Additional Views
[To accompany H.R. 2643]
The Committee on Appropriations submits the following report in
explanation of the accompanying bill making appropriations for the Department
of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, and Related Agencies for
the fiscal year ending
ADMINISTRATIVE
PROVISIONS,
The Committee is concerned about the huge costs of agency
business process centralization and therefore directs that detailed reports
remain a part of the budget justification and that all expenses be carefully
evaluated and explained, and transparent to the public at large…
The Committee notes that the Forest Service has done a poor job
of implementing its competitive sourcing program. Section 414 in Title IV
general provisions includes bill language providing a one-year moratorium for
the Forest Service on this matter. The Committee notes that its investigations
staff previously found widespread management lapses which required legislative
action. P.L. 109-54 Sec. 422(d) requires the Forest Service to report, `in
accordance with full cost accounting principles, all costs attributable to
developing, implementing, supporting, managing, monitoring, and reporting on
competitive sourcing, including personnel, consultant, travel, and training
costs associated with program management.' This has not been implemented. The
Committee understands that alleged savings are not substantiated. The Forest
Service has inadequately considered the potential impact on its ability to
provide emergency wildfire staffing when engaging in competitive sourcing which
could dramatically alter the Federal workforce.
TITLE
IV--GENERAL PROVISIONS
Section 414 continues a provision which provides guidance on
competitive sourcing activities and clarifies annual reporting requirements to
specify the reporting of the full costs associated with sourcing studies and
related activities. The provision continues the funding cap of $3,450,000 for
the Department of the Interior and also establishes a moratorium for one-year
regarding Forest Service competitive sourcing activities. Forest Service
competitive sourcing is discussed in more detail under the Forest Service,
Administrative Provisions heading.
* * *
36-168
110TH CONGRESS
Report
HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session
110-187
--DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES
APPROPRIATION BILL, 2008
Mr. DICKS of
Washington, from the Committee on Appropriations, submitted the following
SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT
[To accompany H.R. 2643]
The Committee on Appropriations submits the following additional
report in explanation of H.R. 2643, making appropriations for the Department of
the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, and Related Agencies for the
fiscal year ending
Contractors- The Executive Branch also engages
in another practice which steers or directs money to specific entities or
purposes through a process of contracting out various activities and services.
In many important work locations, the number of people working for contractors
exceeds the number of Federal employees in the same building or location. Many
of these, in fact, are non-competitive or sole-sourced. When added together,
the Executive Branch steers or directs far greater spending to specific
projects or corporations than is directed or earmarked by Congress. And the
practice of non-competitive contracting has exploded in the past five years.
For example, the Department of the Interior reported to the Committee that the
value of contracts awarded through processes that were `not fully and openly
competitive' increased from $26 million in 2000 to $167 million in 2005.
* * *
110th Congress 1st Session Senate
Report 110-91
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND
RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS BILL, 2008
JUNE 26, 2007.—Ordered to be printed
Mrs. FEINSTEIN, from the Committee on Appropriations, submitted the following
REPORT
[To accompany S. 1696]
SEC. 415. Continues language restricting the amount of funds available to the Department of the Interior for competitive sourcing activities and prohibits from the Forest Service from spending any funds available to the agency for competitive sourcing and related activities. This restriction shall apply not only to competitions conducted under OMB Circular A–76, but also to associated pre-planning activities, including feasibility studies. The Committee notes that the Forest Service’s lack of demonstrated savings and lack of compliance with congressional directives regarding the program led Congress to request an investigation by the Government Accountability Office. As this investigation is ongoing, the Committee believes it would be imprudent to allow the agency to continue its outsourcing program until GAO’s findings are known.