PUBLIC LAW 105-244 —OCT. 7, 1998 112 STAT. 1611 SEC. 142. PROCUREMENT FLEXIBILITY. 20 USC 1018a. " (a) PROCUREMENT AUTHORITY. —Subject to the authority of the Secretary, the Chief Operating Officer of a PBO may exercise the authority of the Secretary to procure property and services in the performance of functions managed by the PBO. For the purposes of this section, the term 'PBO' includes the Chief Operating Officer of the PBO and any employee of the PBO exercising procurement authority under the preceding sentence. "(b) IN GENERAL. —Except as provided in this section, the PBO shall abide by all applicable Federal procurement laws and regulations when procuring property and services. The PBO shall— "(1) enter into contracts for information systems supporting Contracts, the programs authorized under title IV to carry out the functions set forth in section 141(b)(2); and "(2) obtain the services of experts and consultants without regard to section 3109 of title 5, United States Code and set pay in accordance with such section. ^(c) SERVICE CONTRACTS.— "(1) PERFORMANCE-BASED SERVICING CONTRACTS. —The Chief Operating Officer shall, to the extent practicable, maximize the use of performance-based servicing contracts, consistent with guidelines for such contracts published by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, to achieve cost savings and improve service. "(2) FEE FOR SERVICE ARRANGEMENTS.—The Chief Operating Officer shall, when appropriate and consistent with the purposes of the PBO, acquire services related to the title IV delivery system from any entity that has the capability and capacity to meet the requirements for the system. The Chief Operating Officer is authorized to pay fees that are equivalent to those paid by other entities to an organization that provides an information system or service that meets the requirements of the PBO, as determined by the Chief Operating Officer. "(d) TWO-PHASE SOURCE-SELECTION PROCEDURES. — "(1) IN GENERAL. — The PBO may use a two-phase process for selecting a source for a procurement of property or services. "(2) FIRST PHASE. — The procedures for the first phase of the process for a procurement are as follows: "(A) PUBLICATION OF NOTiCE.The contracting officer for the procurement shall publish a notice of the procurement in accordance with section 18 of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 416) and subsections (e), (f), and (g) of section 8 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637), except that the notice shall include only the following: "(i) A general description of the scope or purpose of the procurement that provides sufficient information on the scope or purpose for sources to make informed business decisions regarding whether to participate in the procurement. "(ii) A description of the basis on which potential sources are to be selected to submit offers in the second phase. "(iii) A description of the information that is to be required under subparagraph (B). "(iv) Any additional information that the contracting officer determines appropriates.
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