special rules for commercial items) the special simplified procedures for the procurement without regard to (1) any dollar limitation otherwise applicable to the use of those procedures; and (2) the expiration of the authority to use special simplified procedures under section 4202(e) of the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 (110 Stat. 654; 10 U.S.C. 2304 note). (f) FLEXIBLE WAIT PERIODS AND DEADLINES FOR SUBMISSION OF OFFERS OF NONCOMMERCIAL ITEMS. (1) AUTHORITY.—In carrying out a procurement, the PBO may (A) apply a shorter waiting period for the issuance of a solicitation after the publication of a notice under section 18 of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 416) than is required under subsection (a)(3)(A) of such section; and (B) notwithstanding subsection (a)(3) of such section, establish any deadline for the submission of bids or proposals that affords potential offerors a reasonable opportunity to respond to the solicitation. (2) INAPPLICABILITY TO COMMERCIAL ITEMS.—Paragraph (1) does not apply to a procurement of a commercial item. (3) CONSISTENCY WITH APPLICABLE INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS.-If an international agreement is applicable to the procurement, any exercise of authority under paragraph (1) shall be consistent with the international agreement. (g) MODULAR CONTRACTING. (1) IN GENERAL.-The PBO may satisfy the requirements of the PBO for a system incrementally by carrying out successive procurements of modules of the system. In doing so, the PBO may use procedures authorized under this subsection to procure any such module after the first module. (2) UTILITY REQUIREMENT.-A module may not be procured for a system under this subsection unless the module is useful independently of the other modules or useful in combination with another module previously procured for the system. (3) CONDITIONS FOR USE OF AUTHORITY.-The PBO may use procedures authorized under paragraph (4) for the procurement of an additional module for a system if (A) competitive procedures were used for awarding the contract for the procurement of the first module for the system; and (B) the solicitation for the first module included (i) a general description of the entire system that was sufficient to provide potential offerors with reasonable notice of the general scope of future modules; (ii) other information sufficient for potential offerors to make informed business judgments regarding whether to submit offers for the contract for the first module; and (iii) a statement that procedures authorized under this subsection could be used for awarding subsequent contracts for the procurement of additional modules for the system. (4) PROCEDURES.-If the procurement of the first module for a system meets the requirements set forth in paragraph (3), the PBO may award a contract for the procurement of an additional module for the system using any of the following procedures: (A) SOLE SOURCE.-Award of the contract on a solesource basis to a contractor who was awarded a contract for a module previously procured for the system under competitive procedures or procedures authorized under subparagraph (B). (B) ADEQUATE COMPETITION.-Award of the contract on the basis of offers made by (i) a contractor who was awarded a contract for a module previously procured for the system after having been selected for award of the contract under this subparagraph or other competitive procedures; and (ii) at least one other offeror that submitted an offer for a module previously procured for the system and is expected, on the basis of the offer for the previously procured module, to submit a competitive offer for the additional module. (C) OTHER.-Award of the contract under any other procedure authorized by law. (5) NOTICE REQUIREMENT. (A) PUBLICATION.-Not less than 30 days before issuing a solicitation for offers for a contract for a module for a system under procedures authorized under subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (4), the PBO shall publish in the Commerce Business Daily a notice of the intent to use such procedures to enter into the contract. (B) EXCEPTION.-Publication of a notice is not required under this paragraph with respect to a use of procedures authorized under paragraph (4) if the contractor referred to in that subparagraph (who is to be solicited to submit an offer) has previously provided a module for the system under a contract that contained cost, schedule, and performance goals and the contractor met those goals. (C) CONTENT OF NOTICE.-A notice published under subparagraph (A) with respect to a use of procedures described in paragraph (4) shall contain the information required under section 18(b) of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 416(b)), other than paragraph (4) of such section, and shall invite the submission of any assertion that the use of the procedures for the procurement involved is not in the best interest of the Federal Government together with information supporting the assertion. (6) DOCUMENTATION.-The basis for an award of a contract under this subsection shall be documented. However, a justification pursuant to section 303(f) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 253(f)) or section 8(h) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(h)) is not required. (7) SIMPLIFIED SOURCE-SELECTION PROCEDURES.-The PBO may award a contract under any other simplified procedures prescribed by the PBO for the selection of sources for the procurement of modules for a system, after the first module, that are not to be procured under a contract awarded on a solesource basis. (h) USE OF SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES FOR SMALL BUSINESS SETASIDES FOR SERVICES OTHER THAN COMMERCIAL ITEMS. (1) AUTHORITY.-The PBO may use special simplified procedures for a procurement of services that are not commercial items if (A) the procurement is in an amount not greater than $1,000,000; (B) the procurement is conducted as a small business set-aside pursuant to section 15(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(a)); and (C) the price charged for supplies associated with the services procured are items of supply expected to be less than 20 percent of the total contract price. (2) INAPPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN PROCUREMENTS.-The authority set forth in paragraph (1) may not be used for (A) an award of a contract on a sole-source basis; or (B) a contract for construction. (i) GUIDANCE FOR USE OF AUTHORITY. -- (1) ISSUANCE BY PBO.-The Chief Operating Officer of the PBO, in consultation with the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, shall issue guidance for the use by PBO personnel of the authority provided in this section. (2) GUIDANCE FROM OFPP.-As part of the consultation required under paragraph (1), the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy shall provide the PBO with guidance that is designed to ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that the authority under this section is exercised by the PBO in a manner that is consistent with the exercise of the authority by the heads of the other performance-based organizations. (3) COMPLIANCE WITH OFPP GUIDANCE.-The head of the PBO shall ensure that the procurements of the PBO under this section are carried out in a manner that is consistent with the guidance provided for the PBO under paragraph (2). (j) LIMITATION ON MULTIAGENCY CONTRACTING.-No department or agency of the Federal Government may purchase property or services under contracts entered into or administered by a PBO under this section unless the purchase is approved in advance by the senior procurement official of that department or agency who is responsible for purchasing by the department or agency. (k) Laws NOT AFFECTED.-Nothing in this section shall be construed to waive laws for the enforcement of civil rights or for the establishment and enforcement of labor standards that are applicable to contracts of the Federal Government. (1) DEFINITIONS.-In this section: (1) COMMERCIAL ITEM.-The term "commercial item" has the meaning given the term in section 4(12) of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403(12)). (2) COMPETITIVE PROCEDURES.-The term "competitive procedures" has the meaning given the term in section 309(b) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 259(b)). (3) SOLE-SOURCE BASIS.-The term "sole-source basis", with respect to an award of a contract, means that the contract is awarded to a source after soliciting an offer or offers from, and negotiating with, only that source. (4) SPECIAL RULES FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS.-The term "special rules for commercial items" means the regulations set forth in the Federal Acquisition Regulation pursuant to section 303(g)(1) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 253(g)(1)) and section 31 of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 427). (5) SPECIAL SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES.—The term "special simplified procedures" means the procedures applicable to purchases of property and services for amounts not greater than the simplified acquisition threshold that are set forth in the Federal Acquisition Regulation pursuant to section 303(g)(1)(B) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 253(g)(1)(A)) and section 31(a)(1) of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 427(a)(1)). SEC. 143. [20 U.S.C. 1018b] ADMINISTRATIVE SIMPLIFICATION OF STUDENT AID DELIVERY. (a) IN GENERAL.-In order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the student aid delivery system, the Secretary and the Chief Operating Officer shall encourage and participate in the establishment of voluntary consensus standards and requirements for the electronic transmission of information necessary for the administration of programs under title IV. (b) PARTICIPATION IN STANDARD SETTING ORGANIZATIONS. (1) The Chief Operating Officer shall participate in the activities of standard setting organizations in carrying out the provisions of this section. (2) The Chief Operating Officer shall encourage higher education groups seeking to develop common forms, standards, and procedures in support of the delivery of Federal student financial assistance to conduct these activities within a standard setting organization. (3) The Chief Operating Officer may pay necessary dues and fees associated with participating in standard setting organizations pursuant to this subsection. (c) ADOPTION OF VOLUNTARY CONSENSUS STANDARDS.-Except with respect to the common financial reporting form under section 483(a), the Secretary shall consider adopting voluntary consensus standards agreed to by the organization described in subsection (b) for transactions required under title IV, and common data elements for such transactions, to enable information to be exchanged electronically between systems administered by the Department and among participants in the Federal student aid delivery system. (d) USE OF CLEARINGHOUSES.-Nothing in this section shall restrict the ability of participating institutions and lenders from using a clearinghouse or servicer to comply with the standards for the exchange of information established under this section. (e) DATA SECURITY.-Any entity that maintains or transmits information under a transaction covered by this section shall maintain reasonable and appropriate administrative, technical, and physical safeguards— (1) to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of the information; and (2) to protect against any reasonably anticipated security threats, or unauthorized uses or disclosures of the information. (f) DEFINITIONS.— (1) CLEARINGHOUSE.-The term "clearinghouse" means a public or private entity that processes or facilitates the processing of nonstandard data elements into data elements conforming to standards adopted under this section. (2) STANDARD SETTING ORGANIZATION.-The term "standard setting organization" means an organization that (A) is accredited by the American National Standards Institute; (B) develops standards for information transactions, data elements, or any other standard that is necessary to, or will facilitate, the implementation of this section; and (C) is open to the participation of the various entities engaged in the delivery of Federal student financial assist ance. (3) VOLUNTARY CONSENSUS STANDARD.-The term "voluntary consensus standard" means a standard developed or used by a standard setting organization described in paragraph (2). TITLE II—TEACHER QUALITY ENHANCE- PARTNERSHIPS STATES AND SEC. 201. [20 U.S.C. 1021] PURPOSES; DEFINITIONS. (2) improve the quality of the current and future teaching force by improving the preparation of prospective teachers and enhancing professional development activities; (3) hold institutions of higher education accountable for preparing teachers who have the necessary teaching skills and are highly competent in the academic content areas in which the teachers plan to teach, such as mathematics, science, English, foreign languages, history, economics, art, civics, Government, and geography, including training in the effective uses of technology in the classroom; and (4) recruit highly qualified individuals, including individuals from other occupations, into the teaching force. (b) DEFINITIONS.-In this title: (1) ARTS AND SCIENCES.-The term "arts and sciences" means (A) when referring to an organizational unit of an institution of higher education, any academic unit that offers |
