Department of the Interior
Determination and Findings
FINDINGS
1. The Secretary of Defense has determined that as a result of the widespread devastation resulting from Hurricane Katrina, circumstances exist that warrant exercise of authority in accordance with 41 USC 428a, Special emergency procurement authority.
2. 41 USC 428a (a) allows the head of an executive agency to exercise 41USC 428a’s authorities as they apply with respect to any procurement of property or services by or for an executive agency to be used :
(a) in support of a contingency operation; or
(b)
to facilitate the defense against or recovery from
nuclear, biological, chemical, or radiological attack against the
DETERMINATION
1. Based on:
A. Department of Defense directives issued during the week of August 29, 2005;
B. Department of the Interior consultation with the Office of Federal Procurement Policy;
C. Actions taken to date by the General Services Administration with regard to increasing procurement thresholds as identified in 41 USC 428a(b) and (c), to support any agency or instrumentality of the United States in recovery efforts related to Hurricane Katrina; and
2. Pursuant to the authority delegated me under Part 209, Chapter 4 of the Department of the Interior Departmental Manual I, and subject to the requirements contained in the Appendix to this Determination and Findings, I hereby authorize increasing the following procurement thresholds for all Department of the Interior contracting activities in accordance with 41 USC 428a(b) and(c), except for construction subject to the Davis-Bacon Act, 40 USC 276 and limited to direct response to the current Hurricane Katrina disaster relief operations:
(1) Micropurchases: $15,000 in the case of any
contract to be awarded and
performed,
or purchase to be made, inside the
(2) Simplified
Acquisition: $250,000 in the case of
any contract to be awarded
and performed, or purchase to be made, inside the
(3) Simplified
Acquisitions Under the Test Program for Certain Commercial Items: $10,000,000 in the case of any contract to be
awarded and performed, or purchase to be made, inside the
3. The Federal Procurement Data System – Next Generation’s Governmentwide $2,500 procurement transaction reporting threshold remains in force. Contracting personnel shall include the following annotation in the Description line of applicable transaction reports: “Disaster Relief Support.”
4. These increased procurement thresholds are temporary and shall remain in effect until the disaster relief efforts related to Hurricane Katrina are formally terminated.
Signed
P. Lynn Scarlett
_____________________________ ____________________
P. Lynn Scarlett Date
Assistant Secretary – Policy,
Management and Budget
GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTING
INCREASED PROCUREMENT THRESHOLDS IN
SUPPORT OF DISASTER RELIEF EFFORTS RESULTING
FROM HURRICANE KATRINA
Purchases using these temporary procurement authorities must have a clear and direct relationship to the current disaster relief operations. Consequently, you must make your determination(s) in writing by a brief [emphasis added] memorandum to the contract file specifying the product or service being procured and its relationship to the response to Hurricane Katrina. In addition, the Federal Procurement Data System – Next Generation’s Governmentwide $2,500 procurement transaction reporting threshold remains in force. Contracting personnel shall include the following annotation in the Description line of applicable transaction reports: “Disaster Relief Support.”
If you are a micro-purchase card
holder and your supervisor increases your purchase card authority to $15K, no
additional documents are required.
If you have a warrant that
limits your authority to the Simplified Acquisition Threshold, no further
action is required to contract at the higher dollar threshold of $250K.
If you have a warrant that
limits your authority to a specified dollar amount, an interim warrant should
be issued to increase the amount of your authority to the new thresholds.
Remember, we have many tools in
our tool chest to address requirements. While
requirements may dictate limiting competition, where limited competition can be
accomplished in meeting requirements it should be (see Department of the
Interior Acquisition Policy Release 2005 -5, dated September 1, 2005,
Departmental Class Justification and Approval to Limit Competition and Waiver
of Publication Requirements for Acquistions in Response
to Hurricane Katrina). Also, as we choose suppliers keep in mind our small
business goals and the fact that small businesses can play an important part in
meeting our customer agency requirements.
Increases in the purchase card
authority for micro-purchase card holders and for contracting officers must be
coordinated through your bureau/office A/OPC on an individual basis.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: Do the new thresholds apply to purchases in
support of non-disaster relief efforts?
A: No, the increases in the thresholds are
limited to purchases in support of agencies in the disaster relief efforts.
Q: Does a micro-purchase card holder have to
have a warrant to make purchases for good or services over $2,500 up to $15K?
A: No, no warrant is necessary, the designation
as a micro-purchase card holder and the increase in the purchase card dollar
limitation are sufficient.
Q: Does the increased threshold include
construction up to $15K?
A: No, construction purchases on the purchase
card are still limited to $2,000.
Q: Are there any other limitations on purchases
up to $15K using the purchase card?
A: No, there are no other new limitations. Records are still required to be kept. Review by the approving authority is still
required monthly. Purchases above the $2,500 threshold are limited to
government requirements in support of disaster recovery.
Q: Do contracting officers assigned to support
another bureau have to be issued a new warrant?
A: No, they do not need to be issued a new warrant.
However, the purpose of a warrant is to provide information to vendors regarding
the actual authority of the warrant holder.
If a new warrant is not issued, a letter of designation, or some other
indicia of actual
authority, needs to be provided to the contracting officer.
Practically speaking, it will
prove to be simpler to issue all contracting officers working for another bureau
a new temporary warrant, stating the dollar level limitations if any of the
contracting officer and that this delegation is effective until revoked.