105 STAT. 2024 PUBLIC LAW 102-240—DEC. 18, 1991 23 USC 106 note. SEC. 1091. STUDY OF VALUE ENGINEERING. (a) STUDY.— The Secretary shall study the effectiveness and benefits of value engineering review programs applied to Federal-aid highway projects. Such study shall include an analysis of and the results of specialized techniques utilized in all facets of highway construction for the purpose of reduction of costs and improvement of the overall quality of Federal-aid highway projects. (b) REPORT. —Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall report to Congress on the results of the study under subsection (a), including recommendations on how value engineering could be utilized and improved in Federal-aid highway projects. 23 USC 112 note. SEC. 1092. PILOT PROGRAM FOR UNIFORM AUDIT PROCEDURES. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— The Secretary shall establish a pilot program under which any contract or subcontract awarded in accordance with section 112(b)(2)(A) of title 23, United States Code, shall be performed and audited in compliance with cost principles contained in the Federal acquisition regulations of part 31 of title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The pilot program under this section shall include participation of not more than 10 States. (b) INDIRECT COST RATES.—In lieu of performing their own audits, the States participating in the pilot program shall accept indirect cost rates established in accordance with the Federal acquisition regulations for 1-year applicable accounting periods by a cognizant government agency or audited by an independent certified public accountant, if such rates are not currently under dispute. Once a firm's indirect cost rates are accepted, all the recipients of such funds shall apply such rates for the purposes of contract estimation, negotiation, administration, reporting, and contract payment and shall not be limited by administrative or defacto ceilings in accordance with section 15.901(c) of such title 48. A recipient of such funds requesting or using the cost and rate data described in this subsection shall notify any affected firm before such request or use. Such data shall be confidential and shall not be accessible or provided, in whole or in part, to any other firm or to any government agency which is not part of the group of agencies sharing cost data under this subsection, except by written permission of the audited firm. If prohibited by law, such cost and rate data shall not be disclosed under any circumstances. (c) REPORT.— Each State participating in the pilot program shall report to the Secretary not later than 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act on the results of the program. SEC. 1093. RENTAL RATES. Within 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall complete a study on equipment rental rates for use in reimbursing contractors for extra work on Federalaid projects. Such study shall include an analysis of the reasonableness of currently accepted equipment rental costs, adequacy of adjustments for regional or climactic differences, adequacy of consideration of mobilization costs, loss of time and productivity attendant to short-term usage of equipment, and approvals of rental rate costs by the Federal Highway Administration.
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