PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT
Between
The
And
The Department of the Interior
I.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this Partnership Agreement (PA) between the U.S. Small
Business Administration (SBA) and the Department of Interior (DOI) is to establish basic procedures
for expediting the award of requirements pursuant to section 8(a) of the Small
Business Act, as amended (15 U.S.C. 637(a)) (the Act), and the SBA’s
regulations. This PA replaces all terms
and conditions of any previously executed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or
PA with DOI or subordinate agencies on the issue of expediting the award of
requirements pursuant to section 8(a) of the Act.
II. OBJECTIVES
a.
To delineate the responsibilities regarding 8(a)
contracts between the SBA and the DOI;
b.
To establish the procedures for offer and
acceptance between the SBA and the DOI;
c.
To reduce the interval between the time DOI contracting
offices send an offering letter to the SBA and receive an SBA decision on the
offering to a maximum of 5 workdays;
d.
To emphasize that the SBA only delegates the
authority to sign contracts on their behalf.
The SBA remains the prime contractor on all 8(a) contracts;
e.
To eliminate SBA review of contracts and purchase
orders executed under the authority of this PA; and
f.
To establish uniform policy and procedures regarding
application of purchase orders to the 8(a) contracting process, when
applicable.
This PA provides for the award of both contracts and
purchase orders under the provisions of section 8(a) of the Act as implemented
by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) (48 C.F.R.) and the SBA's 8(a)
Business Development (BD) program regulations.
This PA encompasses all competitive and non-competitive
acquisitions of requirements offered by the DOI contracting offices and
accepted by the SBA into the 8(a) program.
This PA applies to all SBA offices and all DOI contracting offices (as
defined in FAR 2.101, Definitions) deemed appropriate by the head of the agency
(as defined in FAR 2.101, Definitions) for the DOI.
a. The SBA:
1.
delegates to the Assistant
Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget for re-delegation to all warranted DOI contracting officers, its authority
under section8(a)(1)(A) of the Act to enter into 8(a) prime contracts, and its
authority under section 8(a)(1)(B) of the Act to arrange for the performance of
such procurement contracts by eligible 8(a) program Participants. The DHS Under Secretary for Management also
delegates to the DHS Chief Procurement Officer the authority to amend this PA,
as stipulated in paragraph VII, below.participants. In accordance with 13 C.F.R. 124.501(a), the
SBA delegates only the contract execution function. The SBA remains the prime contractor on all
8(a) contracts, and the 8(a) participant remains the SBA’s subcontractor;
2.
will implement its responsibilities under this PA
through uniform procedures for use by all SBA offices;
3.
shall review the DOI’s
offering letters, issue acceptance or rejection letters, and make eligibility
determinations;
(a) Sole source procurements. The SBA will issue an acceptance letter or
notification of rejection within 5 working days of receipt of an offering
letter. Absent a notification of
rejection within 5 working days of receipt of the offer, acceptance may be
assumed on the 6th working day.
Acceptance shall include a size verification and determinations with
respect to all elements of eligibility (e.g., determinations of adverse impact,
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code appropriateness and
program eligibility);
(b)
Competitive acquisitions. The SBA will issue an acceptance letter or
notification of rejection within 5 working days of receipt of an offering
letter. Absent a notification of
rejection within 5 working days of receipt of offer, acceptance may be assumed
on the 6th working day. Following
receipt of bids, and within 2 working days after a request from the contracting
officer, the SBA shall issue an eligibility determination with respect to the
apparent awardee. In the case of a negotiated
procurement following receipt of initial offers including price, and within 2
working days after a request from the contracting officer, the SBA shall issue
an eligibility determination for all firms in the competitive range, if
discussions are to be conducted.
The SBA will issue an eligibility
determination for all firms with a realistic chance of award within 2 working
days after a request from the contracting officer, if no discussions are to be
conducted;
(c)
Requirements under the simplified acquisition threshold
(FAR 2.101). The SBA will review the
eligibility of the 8(a) participant within 2 working days after receipt of a copy
of the signed purchase order document. The purchase order document may be
delivered by any means acceptable to the SBA district office. The SBA shall provide a copy of any negative
eligibility determination to the contracting activity and the 8(a) participant.
Absent receipt of a negative eligibility determination from the SBA within 2
working days, the 8(a) contractor will be authorized to begin performance. No
offering or acceptance letter is required for requirements processed under the
simplified acquisition procedures threshold;
4. shall review all proposed joint ventures involving 8(a) participants
for approval before contract award;
5. shall provide 8(a) participants with assistance in contract
negotiations when requested by either the 8(a) firm or the DOI contracting
officer;
6.
shall retain its appeal authority in accordance with
FAR 19.810;
7.
shall retain the right to perform on-site contract
surveillance reviews;
8.
shall retain the responsibility for compliance with all
applicable provisions of 13 C.F.R. Part 124, including determining eligibility;
9.
shall select an appropriate 8(a) participant when the DOI
submits an open offering letter for a sole source requirement; and
10.
will issue a letter to the DOI Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, with a
copy to the appropriate senior procurement executive (FAR 2.101 and DFARS
202.101), on a regular basis identifying accepted requirements for which award
documents have not been received by the SBA district office.
b. The Department of the Interior:
1.
shall determine which requirements are suitable for
offering to the 8(a) program in accordance with FAR Subpart 19.8, and, where
appropriate, identify, in conjunction with the appropriate SBA servicing
offices, 8(a) participants capable of performing these requirements;
2.
shall submit the offering letter for sole source
requirements to the SBA's district office responsible for servicing the
selected 8(a) participant, when an 8(a) firm has been identified;
3.
shall submit an open offering letter for sole source
requirements to the SBA district office that services the geographical area
where the DOI contracting activity is located, when the DOI has not identified
a specific 8(a) participant for a requirement;
4.
shall submit the offering letter for competitive 8(a)
procurements to the SBA district office that services the geographical area
where the DOI’s contracting activity is located, except
that offering letters for construction work will be sent to the SBA
district office located in the geographical area where the work will be
performed, or, in the case of construction contracts to be performed overseas,
to the SBA Headquarters;
5.
shall retain responsibility for compliance with all
applicable provisions of the FAR and any DOI regulations, unless a deviation is
obtained;
6.
shall provide a copy of any
contract, as defined in FAR 2.101, including basic contracts, orders,
modifications, and purchase orders, executed under this PA to the SBA servicing
district office within 15 working days of the date of award. Repeated
failure to timely provide the required documents to the SBA may result in
suspension or rescission of this PA for that particular DOI agency;
7.
shall retain the option to use tripartite procedures to
award 8(a) contracts and purchase orders to 8(a) participants as specified in
FAR Part 19;
8.
shall ensure that all contracts awarded pursuant to
this PA contain provisions that:
(a)
require the SBA’s approval of novation
agreements submitted by the 8(a) participant; and
(b)
require advance notice to the SBA (as the prime
contractor) prior to issuance of a final notice terminating the contract in
whole or in part;
9.
shall ensure that all NAICS codes for all 8(a)
contracts are applied in accordance with FAR 19.102;
10.
shall ensure that all contractors comply with the work
performance requirements of FAR 19.811-3(e);
11.
shall add language to every contract stating that, even
though the SBA may not be identified in section A of the contract, it is still
the prime contractor on the contract;
12.
shall provide all proposed joint ventures involving
8(a) participants to SBA for approval before contract(s) award; and
13.
shall not use contracts that
have not been offered to and accepted by the SBA into the 8(a) BD program for
the DOI’s 8(a) negotiated goals.
The cognizant DOI contracting officer may make
direct award of a contract to the 8(a) participant, but only after the
requirement has been offered to and accepted by the SBA. Acquisitions that employ the simplified acquisition
procedures authorized by FAR Part 13, limited to the simplified acquisition
threshold (FAR 2.101), require no offer or acceptance. Contract execution shall be on the
appropriate form specified in the FAR or DOI regulation. The "Issued
by" block shall identify the awarding DOI office. The cognizant SBA
district office for the 8(a) program participant shall be identified in the
award document. The 8(a) participant's name and address shall be listed as the
contractor. The DOI’s
contracting activities are responsible for issuing procurement instrument
identification numbers; the SBA will not issue subcontract numbers.
This PA will take effect as soon as both the SBA Administrator and the DOI Assistant
Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget have signed it. It will remain in effect until
This PA may be amended, in writing, at any time by mutual agreement of
the SBA's Associate Deputy Administrator for Government Contracting and
Business Development and DOI’s Director of the Office
of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization.
VIII. TERMINATION
Either SBA or DOI may terminate this PA upon 90 days advance written
notice to the other party.
a.
Contracts that have not been offered to and accepted by
the SBA into the 8(a) BD program cannot be used for the DOI’s
8(a) negotiated goals.
b.
The SBA reserves the option to suspend or rescind the
authority of this PA for a particular DOI agency that repeatedly fails to submit
copies to the SBA of award documents within 15 working days of award.
X. ADMINISTRATION
For the Department
of the Interior:
Mr. Robert W. Faithful, IV
Director, OSDBU
1849 “C” Street, NW, Mail Stop 5524
(202) 208-3493
For the SBA:
Government Contracting and Business
Development
409 3rd
Street, SW
(202) 205-6459
XI.
ACCEPTANCE
As provided under the authority of the Partnership
Agreement, the undersigned parties hereby accept the terms and conditions of
this agreement.
/signed
P. Lynn Scarlett/ /signed Hector B. Barreto/
________________________________ _____________________________
Lynn
Scarlett Hector V. Barreto
Assistant
Secretary for Policy, Management Administrator
and
Administration
Department
of the Interior