PMC NEWS ON-LINE (Issue 07-04, March 2, 2007)

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ACQUISITION NEWS FOR DOT

This is designed for electronic distribution to all DOT acquisition personnel.  Most of the information included will not be distributed in hard copy.

Please forward to other DOT acquisition personnel.

Check out our net site for the PMC News and other information at:  http://www.dot.gov/ost/m60/

 

Items for Review

 

Agenda for Procurement Management Council (PMC) Meeting

Guidance Obligating FY 2007 Funds Under Full-Year CR With No Congressional Earmarks

Fraudulent Letters

DCAA Prime Contract Audits

DOT - SBA Partnership Agreement Signed

Shine Initiative – Outstanding Academic Achievement Award

Training Update

 

 

Procurement Management Council (PMC) Meeting

 

Attached please find the Agenda for the PMC Meeting scheduled for March 28, 2007, from 2:00pm until 3:30pm in conference room 6244-48, Nassif Building.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Delia Davis at (202) 366-4289. 

 

Guidance On Obligating FY 2007 Funds Under Full-Year CR With No Congressional Earmarks

 

On February 15, 2007, the President signed into law P.L. 110-5, Revised Continuing Appropriation Resolution, 2007 providing funding for FY 2007, with a moratorium on earmarks.  Section 112 of this Act provides that any “language specifying an earmark in a committee report or statement of managers accompanying an appropriations Act for FY 2006 shall have no legal effect with respect to funds appropriated” under this public law.  As a result, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Rob Portman has issued specific guidance on the obligation of funds with respect to FY 2007 funding pointing out “that unless a project or activity is specifically identified in statutory text, agencies should not obligate funds on the basis of earmarks contained in congressional reports or documents, or other written or oral communications regarding earmarks.”  The attached memorandum forwards additional guidance on the obligating of FY 2007 funds.  For detailed information please your modal CFO.

 

 

New Round of Fraudulent Letters

 

The Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (S-40) has provided information concerning another round of fraudulent letters claiming to be issued by DOT to current agency contractors and potential contractors.  These letters request that current or potential contractors register in the DOD Central Contractor Registration System.  In order to mitigate any potential adverse effect on the contractor community, the following actions may be helpful:

 

Ø      Encourage contractors to validate requests for information and the submission of data;

Ø      Remind contractors and potential contractors not to respond to misleading attempts to obtain information; and

Ø      Inform contractors and potential contractors that any information required for acquisition purposes will continue to come through the established regulatory framework versus other means.

 

An updated fraudulent letter notice is posted on the M-60 website at    http://www.dot.gov/ost/m60/fraudulent_letters.htm .   The point of contact concerning these fraudulent letters is the DOT Office of the Inspector General (IG); the IG may be contacted on the hotline at 1-800-424-9071.

 

Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) Audits Of Prime Contract Costs

 

Rather than send individual notifications of upcoming audits, the DCAA has provided the attached spreadsheet of planned contract cost audits.  Please review the list of contracts and annotate it as to which audits, if any, you plan to participate in.  Please send the annotated list to Delia Davis at delia.davis@dot.gov.  A consolidated response is due to DCAA by March 7, 2007.

 

DOT - SBA Partnership Agreement Signed

 

The Partnership Agreement between SBA and DOT, granting DOT 8(a) contracting authority was signed on February 28, 2007.  There are changes to the agreement that more specifically spell out the responsibilities of SBA and DOT.  One important change is the requirement for contracting officers, small business specialists, and other stakeholders to participate in 8(a) Business Development program contract training as conducted by the SBA.  To view the Partnership Agreement and the Training Schedule see the attached.  To register for the SBA sponsored training contact Melinda Edwards on (202) 619-1843 or via e-mail at melinda.edwards@sba.gov

 

If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact Lenita Ahmadi on (202) 366-4974 or via e-mail at lenita.ahmadi@dot.gov

      

Shine Initiative – Outstanding Academic Achievement Award

 

As part of OFPP's Shine Initiative, agency senior procurement executives are encouraging the nomination of qualified members of their acquisition organizations for this year's Outstanding Academic Achievement Award, sponsored by the Washington Chapter of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA).
 
Attached is the flyer, which describes the award, and the application.  Applications are due to NCMA by March 31, 2007.  The Outstanding Academic Achievement Award is open to both members and non-members of NCMA.  Please make sure that qualified personnel in your organization know about the award and are nominated accordingly.

 

Training Update

 

Available seating for BCF 102, Fundamentals for Earned Value Management, are not being used by Executive agencies, so FAI has begun to release them to DAU for their students.  The below list provides all the dates for BCF 102 for FY07.  Please encourage your staff to use these slots to avoid release to DAU.

 

 

COURSE

COURSE NUMBER

 

START DATE

BCF 102

308

30-Apr

BCF 102

309

4-Jun

BCF 102

310

9-Jul

BCF 102

311

6-Aug

BCF 102

312

4-Sep

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At this point, 22 of the 24 offerings of CON 353 have been posted in the FAI Registration System.  Additional CON 353 courses are planned for Philadelphia starting May 14 and San Francisco starting July 16.  FAI will post these classes as soon street locations are confirmed.

 

There are no applicants at this time for the PBSA offering for April 10 in Denver.  Please encourage your staffs to create teams for the PBSA courses.

 

If you have any questions or concerns, contact Cassandra Wells on (202) 366-4960 or via e-mail at cassandra.wells@dot.gov