The Trump administration is moving quick on its promise to conduct a massive overhaul of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, a project being called Revolutionary FAR Overhaul.
FAR is the subject of one of two executive orders President Trump signed in mid-April to reform how the federal government buys goods and services.
In documents released Friday, the administration is proposing the elimination of significant portions of the FAR. What would remain are only those provisions required by law or are “essential to sound procurement.”
The first set of changes focus on Part 1, which describes the federal acquisition regulation system; Part 34, which covers major system acquisitions; and Part 52, which covers solicitation provisions and contract clauses.
The Office of Federal Procurement Policy and the FAR Council are leading the overhaul effort.
From what has been released so far, Part 34 has been reduced to about 20% of its original length and Part 53 also is significantly smaller.
The changes are being implemented immediately as the government issues several class deviations for procurement shops at agencies, which can begin using these proposed regulations while final rules go through a formal rulemaking process.
The government is also asking for “informal” feedback on Part 34 ahead of the formal rulemaking process. Follow this link to share your thoughts.
For contractors, the idea is to reduce the amount of paperwork and compliance documentation. Several examples of eliminated provisions revolved around the use of Earned Value Management Systems.
One significant cut from Part 34 involves several paragraphs detailing specific documentation for EVMS. Those paragraphs were replaced with a single sentence: “When an EVMS is required, the agency will conduct an integrated baseline review.”
The proposed regulations also emphasize business judgment of the acquisition teams.
Contracting officers “have wide latitude to exercise business judgment,” according to the proposed changes, while acquisition team members will “exercise personal initiative and sound business judgment.”
The proposed regulations also seek to push more decision making authority down. Contracting officers “must have the authority, to the maximum extent practicable and consistent with law, to determine how and when to apply rules, regulations, and policies on a specific contract.”
In other words, the new approach shifts the tone of the FAR from compliance to more of a risk management approach. Acquisition teams and contracting officers would have more freedom to exercise their own judgment.
Part 1 encourages acquisition teams to follow strategies that are in the best interest of the government, even if they aren’t specifically addressed in the FAR.
“They are allowed to use the strategy, practice, policy or procedure” as long as it is not prohibited by the FAR, by law or by an executive order or other regulation.
The regulations also promote the idea of continual innovation. The new FAR “encourages acquisition team members to pursue new approaches, and document successes and lessons learned.”
The proposed changes to the FAR also include a sunset provision. All requirements not required by law that remain in the FAR will expire four years after the effective date of the final rule unless the FAR Council renews the provision.
The formal rulemaking process will not begin until OFPP and the FAR Council have posted changes to all parts of the FAR, including model deviation text.
Agencies will begin their quarterly reports on July 15 to describe how they are implementing the deviations released to date, as well as efforts to streamline their acquisition processes.
