§2306b. Multiyear contracts: acquisition of property

(a) In General.-To the extent that funds are otherwise available for obligation, the head of an agency may enter into multiyear contracts for the purchase of property whenever the head of that agency finds each of the following:

(1) That the use of such a contract will result in substantial savings of the total anticipated costs of carrying out the program through annual contracts.

(2) That the minimum need for the property to be purchased is expected to remain substantially unchanged during the contemplated contract period in terms of production rate, procurement rate, and total quantities.

(3) That there is a reasonable expectation that throughout the contemplated contract period the head of the agency will request funding for the contract at the level required to avoid contract cancellation.

(4) That there is a stable design for the property to be acquired and that the technical risks associated with such property are not excessive.

(5) That the estimates of both the cost of the contract and the anticipated cost avoidance through the use of a multiyear contract are realistic.

(6) In the case of a purchase by the Department of Defense, that the use of such a contract will promote the national security of the United States.

(b) Regulations.-(1) Each official named in paragraph (2) shall prescribe acquisition regulations for the agency or agencies under the jurisdiction of such official to promote the use of multiyear contracting as authorized by subsection (a) in a manner that will allow the most efficient use of multiyear contracting.

(2)(A) The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe the regulations applicable to the Department of Defense.

(B) The Secretary of Transportation shall prescribe the regulations applicable to the Coast Guard, except that the regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense shall apply to the Coast Guard when it is operating as a service in the Navy.

(C) The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration shall prescribe the regulations applicable to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

(c) Contract Cancellations.-The regulations may provide for cancellation provisions in multiyear contracts to the extent that such provisions are necessary and in the best interests of the United States. The cancellation provisions may include consideration of both recurring and nonrecurring costs of the contractor associated with the production of the items to be delivered under the contract.

(d) Participation by Subcontractors, Vendors, and Suppliers.-In order to broaden the defense industrial base, the regulations shall provide that, to the extent practicable-

(1) multiyear contracting under subsection (a) shall be used in such a manner as to seek, retain, and promote the use under such contracts of companies that are subcontractors, vendors, or suppliers; and

(2) upon accrual of any payment or other benefit under such a multiyear contract to any subcontractor, vendor, or supplier company participating in such contract, such payment or benefit shall be delivered to such company in the most expeditious manner practicable.

(e) Protection of Existing Authority.-The regulations shall provide that, to the extent practicable, the administration of this section, and of the regulations prescribed under this section, shall not be carried out in a manner to preclude or curtail the existing ability of an agency-

(1) to provide for competition in the production of items to be delivered under such a contract; or

(2) to provide for termination of a prime contract the performance of which is deficient with respect to cost, quality, or schedule.

(f) Cancellation or Termination for Insufficient Funding.-In the event funds are not made available for the continuation of a contract made under this section into a subsequent fiscal year, the contract shall be canceled or terminated. The costs of cancellation or termination may be paid from-

(1) appropriations originally available for the performance of the contract concerned;

(2) appropriations currently available for procurement of the type of property concerned, and not otherwise obligated; or

(3) funds appropriated for those payments.

(g) Contract Cancellation Ceilings Exceeding $100,000,000.-Before any contract described in subsection (a) that contains a clause setting forth a cancellation ceiling in excess of $100,000,000 may be awarded, the head of the agency concerned shall give written notification of the proposed contract and of the proposed cancellation ceiling for that contract to the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, and such contract may not then be awarded until the end of a period of 30 days beginning on the date of such notification.

(h) Defense Acquisitions of Weapon Systems.-In the case of the Department of Defense, the authority under subsection (a) includes authority to enter into the following multiyear contracts in accordance with this section:

(1) A multiyear contract for the purchase of a weapon system, items and services associated with a weapon system, and logistics support for a weapon system.

(2) A multiyear contract for advance procurement of components, parts, and materials necessary to the manufacture of a weapon system, including a multiyear contract for such advance procurement that is entered into in order to achieve economic-lot purchases and more efficient production rates.

(i) Defense Acquisitions Specifically Authorized by Law.-(1) A multiyear contract may not be entered into for any fiscal year under this section for a defense acquisition program that has been specifically authorized by law to be carried out using multiyear contract authority unless each of the following conditions is satisfied:

(A) The Secretary of Defense certifies to Congress that the current future-years defense program fully funds the support costs associated with the multiyear program.

(B) The proposed multiyear contract provides for production at not less than minimum economic rates given the existing tooling and facilities.

(2) If for any fiscal year a multiyear contract to be entered into under this section is authorized by law for a particular procurement program and that authorization is subject to certain conditions established by law (including a condition as to cost savings to be achieved under the multiyear contract in comparison to specified other contracts) and if it appears (after negotiations with contractors) that such savings cannot be achieved, but that substantial savings could nevertheless be achieved through the use of a multiyear contract rather than specified other contracts, the President may submit to Congress a request for relief from the specified cost savings that must be achieved through multiyear contracting for that program. Any such request by the President shall include details about the request for a multiyear contract, including details about the negotiated contract terms and conditions.

(3) In the case of the Department of Defense, a multiyear contract in an amount equal to or greater than $500,000,000 may not be entered into for any fiscal year under this section unless the contract is specifically authorized by law in an Act other than an appropriations Act.

(j) Defense Contract Options for Varying Quantities.-The Secretary of Defense may instruct the Secretary of the military department concerned to incorporate into a proposed multiyear contract negotiated priced options for varying the quantities of end items to be procured over the period of the contract.

(k) Multiyear Contract Defined.-For the purposes of this section, a multiyear contract is a contract for the purchase of property for more than one, but not more than five, program years. Such a contract may provide that performance under the contract during the second and subsequent years of the contract is contingent upon the appropriation of funds and (if it does so provide) may provide for a cancellation payment to be made to the contractor if such appropriations are not made.

(l) Various Additional Requirements With Respect to Multiyear Defense Contracts.-(1)(A) The head of an agency may not initiate a contract described in subparagraph (B) unless the congressional defense committees are notified of the proposed contract at least 30 days in advance of the award of the proposed contract.

(B) Subparagraph (A) applies to the following contracts:

(i) A multiyear contract-

(I) that employs economic order quantity procurement in excess of $20,000,000 in any one year of the contract; or

(II) that includes an unfunded contingent liability in excess of $20,000,000.

(ii) Any contract for advance procurement leading to a multiyear contract that employs economic order quantity procurement in excess of $20,000,000 in any one year.

(2) The head of an agency may not initiate a multiyear contract for which the economic order quantity advance procurement is not funded at least to the limits of the Government's liability.

(3) The head of an agency may not initiate a multiyear procurement contract for any system (or component thereof) if the value of the multiyear contract would exceed $500,000,000 unless authority for the contract is specifically provided in an appropriations Act.

(4) Not later than the date of the submission of the President's budget request under section 1105 of title 31, the Secretary of Defense shall submit a report to the congressional defense committees each year, providing the following information with respect to each multiyear contract (and each extension of an existing multiyear contract) entered into, or planned to be entered into, by the head of an agency during the current or preceding year, shown for each year in the current future-years defense program and in the aggregate over the period of the current future-years defense program:

(A) The amount of total obligational authority under the contract (or contract extension) and the percentage that such amount represents of-

(i) the applicable procurement account; and

(ii) the agency procurement total.

(B) The amount of total obligational authority under all multiyear procurements of the agency concerned (determined without regard to the amount of the multiyear contract (or contract extension)) under multiyear contracts in effect at the time the report is submitted and the percentage that such amount represents of-

(i) the applicable procurement account; and

(ii) the agency procurement total.

(C) The amount equal to the sum of the amounts under subparagraphs (A) and (B), and the percentage that such amount represents of-

(i) the applicable procurement account; and

(ii) the agency procurement total.

(D) The amount of total obligational authority under all Department of Defense multiyear procurements (determined without regard to the amount of the multiyear contract (or contract extension)), including any multiyear contract (or contract extension) that has been authorized by the Congress but not yet entered into, and the percentage that such amount represents of the procurement accounts of the Department of Defense treated in the aggregate.

(5) The head of an agency may not enter into a multiyear contract (or extend an existing multiyear contract), the value of which would exceed $500,000,000 (when entered into or when extended, as the case may be), until the Secretary of Defense submits to the congressional defense committees a report containing the information described in paragraph (4) with respect to the contract (or contract extension).

(6) The head of an agency may not terminate a multiyear procurement contract until 10 days after the date on which notice of the proposed termination is provided to the congressional defense committees.

(7) The execution of multiyear contracting authority shall require the use of a present value analysis to determine lowest cost compared to an annual procurement.

(8) This subsection does not apply to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or to the Coast Guard.

(9) In this subsection, the term "congressional defense committees" means the following:

(A) The Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Subcommittee on Defense of the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.

(B) The Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives and the Subcommittee on National Security of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.

(10) In this subsection:

(A) The term "applicable procurement account" means, with respect to a multiyear procurement contract (or contract extension), the appropriation account from which payments to execute the contract will be made.

(B) The term "agency procurement total" means the procurement accounts of the agency entering into a multiyear procurement contract (or contract extension) treated in the aggregate.

(Added Pub. L. 103–355, title I, §1022(a)(1), Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3257 ; amended Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title XV, §1502(a)(10), div. E, title LVI, §5601(b), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 503 , 699; Pub. L. 105–85, div. A, title VIII, §806(a)(1), (b)(1), (c), title X, §1073(a)(47), (48)(A), Nov. 18, 1997, 111 Stat. 1834 , 1835, 1903; Pub. L. 106–65, div. A, title VIII, §809, title X, §1067(1), Oct. 5, 1999, 113 Stat. 705 , 774; Pub. L. 106–398, §1 [[div. A], title VIII, §§802(c), 806], Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1654 , 1654A-205, 1654A-207.)

Amendments

2000-Subsec. (k). Pub. L. 106–398, §1 [[div. A], title VIII, §802(c)], struck out "or services" after "purchase of property".

Subsec. (l)(4). Pub. L. 106–398, §1 [[div. A], title VIII, §806(1)(A)], in introductory provisions, substituted "Not later than the date of the submission of the President's budget request under section 1105 of title 31, the Secretary of Defense shall submit a report to the congressional defense committees each year, providing the following information with respect to each multiyear contract (and each extension of an existing multiyear contract) entered into, or planned to be entered into, by the head of an agency during the current or preceding year" for "The head of an agency may not enter into a multiyear contract (or extend an existing multiyear contract) until the Secretary of Defense submits to the congressional defense committees a report with respect to that contract (or contract extension) that provides the following information".

Subsec. (l)(4)(B). Pub. L. 106–398, §1 [[div. A], title VIII, §806(1)(B)], substituted "in effect at the time the report is submitted" for "in effect immediately before the contract (or contract extension) is entered into" in introductory provisions.

Subsec. (l)(5) to (10). Pub. L. 106–398, §1 [[div. A], title VIII, §806(2), (3)], added par. (5) and redesignated former pars. (5) to (9) as (6) to (10), respectively.

1999-Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 106–65, §1067(1), substituted "and the Committee on Armed Services" for "and the Committee on National Security".

Subsec. (l)(4) to (7). Pub. L. 106–65, §809(1), (2), added par. (4) and redesignated former pars. (4) to (6) as (5) to (7), respectively. Former par. (7) redesignated (8).

Subsec. (l)(8). Pub. L. 106–65, §809(1), redesignated par. (7) as (8).

Subsec. (l)(8)(B). Pub. L. 106–65, §1067(1), substituted "Committee on Armed Services" for "Committee on National Security".

Subsec. (l)(9). Pub. L. 106–65, §809(3), added par. (9).

1997-Pub. L. 105–85, §1073(a)(48)(A), inserted ": acquisition of property" in section catchline.

Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 105–85, §806(c)(1), substituted "finds each of the following:" for "finds-" in introductory provisions, capitalized first letter of first word in pars. (1) to (6), and substituted a period for semicolon at end of pars. (1) to (4) and for "; and" at end of par. (5).

Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 105–85, §806(c)(2), substituted "subsection (a)" for "paragraph (1)".

Subsec. (i)(1)(A). Pub. L. 105–85, §806(c)(3), substituted "future-years" for "five-year".

Subsec. (i)(3). Pub. L. 105–85, §806(a)(1), added par. (3).

Subsec. (k). Pub. L. 105–85, §1073(a)(47), substituted "this section" for "this subsection".

Subsec. (l). Pub. L. 105–85, §806(b)(1), added subsec. (l).

1996-Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 104–106, §1502(a)(10), substituted "the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on National Security and the Committee on Appropriations of the" for "the Committees on Armed Services and on Appropriations of the Senate and".

Subsecs. (k), (l). Pub. L. 104–106, §5601(b), redesignated subsec. (l) as (k) and struck out former subsec. (k) which read as follows: "Inapplicability to Automatic Data Processing Contracts.-This section does not apply to contracts for the purchase of property to which section 111 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 759) applies."

Effective Date of 1997 Amendment

Section 806(a)(2) of Pub. L. 105–85 provided that: "Paragraph (3) of section 2306b(i) of title 10, United States Code, as added by paragraph (1), shall not apply with respect to a contract authorized by law before the date of the enactment of this Act [Nov. 18, 1997]."

Section 806(b)(2) of Pub. L. 105–85 provided that: "The amendment made by paragraph (1) [amending this section] shall take effect on October 1, 1998."

Effective Date of 1996 Amendment

Amendment by section 5601(b) of Pub. L. 104–106 effective 180 days after Feb. 10, 1996, see section 5701 of Pub. L. 104–106, set out as an Effective Date note under section 1401 of Title 40, Public Buildings, Property, and Works.

Effective Date

For effective date and applicability of section, see section 10001 of Pub. L. 103–355, set out as an Effective Date of 1994 Amendment note under section 251 of Title 41, Public Contracts.

Multiyear Procurement Contracts

Pub. L. 105–56, title VIII, §8008, Oct. 8, 1997, 111 Stat. 1221 , provided that:

"(a) None of the funds provided in this Act [see Tables for classification] shall be available to initiate: (1) a multiyear contract that employs economic order quantity procurement in excess of $20,000,000 in any one year of the contract or that includes an unfunded contingent liability in excess of $20,000,000; or (2) a contract for advance procurement leading to a multiyear contract that employs economic order quantity procurement in excess of $20,000,000 in any one year, unless the congressional defense committees have been notified at least 30 days in advance of the proposed contract award: Provided, That no part of any appropriation contained in this Act shall be available to initiate a multiyear contract for which the economic order quantity advance procurement is not funded at least to the limits of the Government's liability: Provided further, That no part of any appropriation contained in this Act shall be available to initiate multiyear procurement contracts for any systems or component thereof if the value of the multiyear contract would exceed $500,000,000 unless specifically provided in this Act: Provided further, That no multiyear procurement contract can be terminated without 10-day prior notification to the congressional defense committees [Committee on Armed Services and Subcommittee on National Security of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and Committee on Armed Services and Subcommittee on Defense of the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate]: Provided further, That the execution of multiyear authority shall require the use of a present value analysis to determine lowest cost compared to an annual procurement.

"Funds appropriated in title III of this Act [111 Stat. 1211] may be used for multiyear procurement contracts as follows:

"Apache Longbow radar;

"AV–8B aircraft; and

"Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles.

"(b) None of the funds provided in this Act and hereafter may be used to submit to Congress (or to any committee of Congress) a request for authority to enter into a contract covered by those provisions of subsection (a) that precede the first proviso of that subsection unless-

"(1) such request is made as part of the submission of the President's Budget for the United States Government for any fiscal year and is set forth in the Appendix to that budget as part of proposed legislative language for appropriations bills for the next fiscal year; or

"(2) such request is formally submitted by the President as a budget amendment; or

"(3) the Secretary of Defense makes such request in writing to the congressional defense committees."

Similar provisions were contained in the following appropriation acts:

Pub. L. 106–259, title VIII, §8008, Aug. 9, 2000, 114 Stat. 675 .

Pub. L. 106–79, title VIII, §8008, Oct. 25, 1999, 113 Stat. 1232 .

Pub. L. 105–262, title VIII, §8008, Oct. 17, 1998, 112 Stat. 2298 .

Pub. L. 104–208, div. A, title I, §101(b) [title VIII, §8009], Sept. 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 3009–71 , 3009-89.

Pub. L. 104–61, title VIII, §8010, Dec. 1, 1995, 109 Stat. 653 .

Pub. L. 103–335, title VIII, §8010, Sept. 30, 1994, 108 Stat. 2618 .

Pub. L. 103–139, title VIII, §8011, Nov. 11, 1993, 107 Stat. 1439 .

Pub. L. 102–396, title IX, §9013, Oct. 6, 1992, 106 Stat. 1903 .

Pub. L. 102–172, title VIII, §8013, Nov. 26, 1991, 105 Stat. 1173 .

Pub. L. 101–511, title VIII, §8014, Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1877 .

Pub. L. 101–165, title IX, §9021, Nov. 21, 1989, 103 Stat. 1133 .

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in section 2306 of this title.