41 U.S.C. § 1902 — Procedures applicable to purchases below

Page 58 TITLE 41—PUBLIC CONTRACTS § 1902 tect against national security or cybersecurity threats; and ‘‘(3) agree not to use, for pricing, marketing, com- petitive, or other purposes, any information, includ- ing any Government-owned data, such as purchasing trends or spending habits, related to a product from a third-party supplier featured on the commercial e- commerce portal or the transaction of such product, except as necessary to comply with the requirements of the program established in subsection (a). ‘‘(i) SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD.—A procure- ment through a commercial e-commerce portal used under the program established pursuant to subsection (a) shall not exceed the simplified acquisition threshold in section 134 of title 41, United States Code. ‘‘(j) COMPTROLLER GENERAL ASSESSMENTS.— ‘‘(1) ASSESSMENT OF IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not later than 90 days after the Director of the Office of Management and Budget submits the implementation plan described in subsection (c)(1) to the appropriate congressional committees, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees an assessment of the plan, including any other matters the Comptroller General considers relevant to the plan. ‘‘(2) ASSESSMENT OF PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION.— Not later than three years after the first contract with a commercial e-commerce portal provider is awarded pursuant to subsection (a), the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the ap- propriate congressional committees a report on the challenges and benefits the General Services Admin- istration and participating departments and agencies observe regarding implementation of the program es- tablished pursuant to subsection (a). The report shall include the following elements: ‘‘(A) A description of the acquisition of the com- mercial e-commerce portals (including the extent to which the portals had to be configured or other- wise modified to meet the needs of the program) costs, and the implementation schedule. ‘‘(B) A description of participation by suppliers, with particular attention to those described under subsection (e), that have registered or that have sold goods with at least one commercial e-com- merce portal provider, including numbers, cat- egories, and trends. ‘‘(C) The effect, if any, of the program on the abil- ity of agencies to meet goals established for sup- pliers and products described under subsection (e), including goals established under section 15(g) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(g)). ‘‘(D) A discussion of the limitations, if any, to participation by suppliers in the program. ‘‘(E) Any other matters the Comptroller General considers relevant to report. ‘‘(k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Administrator’ means the Administrator of General Services. ‘‘(2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional committees’ means the following: ‘‘(A) The Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives. ‘‘(B) The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Com- mittee on Oversight and Government Reform [now Committee on Oversight and Accountability] of the House of Representatives. ‘‘(C) The Committee on Small Business and En- trepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives. ‘‘(3) COMMERCIAL E-COMMERCE PORTAL.—The term ‘commercial e-commerce portal’ means a commercial solution providing for the purchase of commercial products aggregated, distributed, sold, or manufac- tured via an online portal. The term does not include an online portal managed by the Government for, or predominantly for use by, Government agencies. ‘‘(4) COMMERCIAL PRODUCT.—The term ‘commercial product’ means a commercially available off-the- shelf item, as defined in section 104 of title 41, United States Code, except the term does not include serv- ices. ‘‘(5) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term ‘small business concern’ has the meaning given such term under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).’’ § 1902. Procedures applicable to purchases below micro-purchase threshold (a) DEFINITION.— (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, for purposes of this section, the micro-purchase threshold is $10,000. (2) For purposes of this section, the micro- purchase threshold for procurement activities administered under sections 6303 through 6305 of title 31 by institutions of higher education (as defined in section 101(a) of the Higher Edu- cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)), or related or affiliated nonprofit entities, or by nonprofit research organizations or independent re- search institutes is— (A) $10,000; or (B) such higher threshold as determined appropriate by the head of the relevant exec- utive agency and consistent with clean audit findings under chapter 75 of title 31, internal institutional risk assessment, or State law. (b) COMPLIANCE WITH CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS AND NONAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN AUTHORITY.— (1) COMPLIANCE WITH CERTAIN REQUIRE- MENTS.—The head of each executive agency shall ensure that procuring activities of that agency, when awarding a contract with a price exceeding the micro-purchase threshold, com- ply with the requirements of section 8(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)) and section 7102 of the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 (Public Law 103–355, 15 U.S.C. 644 note). (2) NONAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN AUTHOR- ITY.—The authority under part 13.106(a)(1) of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (48 C.F.R. 13.106(a)(1)), as in effect on November 18, 1993, to make purchases without securing competi- tive quotations does not apply to a purchase with a price exceeding the micro-purchase threshold. (c) NONAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN PROVI- SIONS.—An executive agency purchase with an anticipated value of the micro-purchase thresh- old or less is not subject to section 15(j) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(j)) and chapter 83 of this title. (d) PURCHASES WITHOUT COMPETITIVE QUOTATIONS.—A purchase with a price not great- er than the micro-purchase threshold may be made without obtaining competitive quotations if an employee of an executive agency or a mem- ber of the armed forces, authorized to do so, de- termines that the price for the purchase is rea- sonable. (e) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—Purchases with a price not greater than the micro-purchase threshold shall be distributed equitably among qualified suppliers. (f) IMPLEMENTATION THROUGH FEDERAL ACQUI- SITION REGULATION.—This section shall be imple- mented through the Federal Acquisition Regula- tion. Page 59 TITLE 41—PUBLIC CONTRACTS § 1903 (Pub. L. 111–350, § 3, Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3720; Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title II, § 217(b), Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2051; Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title VIII, § 806(a), Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1456; Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, §§ 812(a)(2)(C)(ix), 821(b), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1847, 1853.) ADJUSTMENT OF MICRO-PURCHASE THRESHOLD For adjustment of dollar threshold pursuant to section 1908 of this title, see definition of micro-purchase threshold in Federal Acquisition Regulation 2.101. HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large) 1902 ............ 41:428. Pub. L. 93–400, § 32, as added Pub. L. 103–355, title IV, § 4301(a), Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3346; Pub. L. 104–106, title XLIII, §§ 4304(b)(4), (c)(3), 4311, Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 664, 671. SENATE REVISION AMENDMENT In subsecs. (a), (d), and (e), ‘‘$3,000’’ substituted for ‘‘$2,500’’ by S. Amdt. 4726 (111th Cong.). See 156 Cong. Rec. 18682 (2010). Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2018—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 115–232, § 821(b), struck out ‘‘sections 2338 and 2339 of title 10 and’’ after ‘‘Ex- cept as provided in’’. Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 115–232, § 812(a)(2)(C)(ix), struck out ‘‘, section 2323 of title 10,’’ after ‘‘(15 U.S.C. 637(a))’’. 2017—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 115–91 substituted ‘‘$10,000’’ for ‘‘$3,000’’. 2016—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 114–328, § 217(b)(1), des- ignated existing provisions as par. (1), substituted ‘‘Ex- cept as provided in sections 2338 and 2339 of title 10 and paragraph (2) of this subsection, for purposes’’ for ‘‘For purposes’’ and added par. (2). Subsecs. (d), (e). Pub. L. 114–328, § 217(b)(2), sub- stituted ‘‘with a price not greater than the micro-pur- chase threshold’’ for ‘‘not greater than $3,000’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries CONVENIENCE CHECKS Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title VIII, § 806(b), Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1456, provided that: ‘‘A convenience check may not be used for an amount in excess of one half of the micro-purchase threshold under section 1902(a) of title 41, United States Code, or a lower amount estab- lished by the head of the agency.’’ MICRO-PURCHASE THRESHOLD FOR PROCUREMENT SOLICITATIONS BY RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS Pub. L. 114–329, div. A, title II, § 207, Jan. 6, 2017, 130 Stat. 3001, provided that: ‘‘(a) MICRO-PURCHASE THRESHOLD.—The micro-pur- chase threshold for procurement activities adminis- tered under sections 6303 through 6305 of title 31, United States Code, awarded by the Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or the National Institute of Standards and Technology to institutions of higher education, or related or affiliated nonprofit entities, or to nonprofit research organizations or inde- pendent research institutes is— ‘‘(1) $10,000 (as adjusted periodically to account for inflation); or ‘‘(2) such higher threshold as determined appro- priate by the head of the relevant executive agency and consistent with audit findings under chapter 75 of title 31, United States Code, internal institutional risk assessment, or State law. ‘‘(b) UNIFORM GUIDANCE.—The Uniform Guidance shall be revised to conform with the requirements of this section. For purposes of the preceding sentence, the term ‘Uniform Guidance’ means the uniform ad- ministrative requirements, cost principles, and audit requirements for Federal awards contained in part 200 of title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations.’’ [For definitions of terms used in section 207 of Pub. L. 114–329, set out above, see section 2 of Pub. L. 114–329, set out as a note under section 1862s of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare.] MICRO-PURCHASE GUIDELINES Pub. L. 111–240, title I, § 1332, Sept. 27, 2010, 124 Stat. 2541, provided that: ‘‘Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act [Sept. 27, 2010], the Direc- tor of the Office of Management and Budget, in coordi- nation with the Administrator of General Services, shall issue guidelines regarding the analysis of pur- chase card expenditures to identify opportunities for achieving and accurately measuring fair participation of small business concerns in purchases in an amount not in excess of the micro-purchase threshold, as de- fined in section 32 of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act ([former] 41 U.S.C. 428) [now 41 U.S.C. 1902] (in this section referred to as ‘micro-purchases’), con- sistent with the national policy on small business par- ticipation in Federal procurements set forth in sections 2(a) and 15(g) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631(a) and 644(g)), and dissemination of best practices for par- ticipation of small business concerns in micro-pur- chases.’’ [For definition of ‘‘small business concern’’ as used in section 1332 of Pub. L. 111–240, set out above, see section 1001 of Pub. L. 111–240, set out as a note under section 632 of Title 15, Commerce and Trade.] § 1903. Special emergency procurement authority (a) APPLICABILITY.—The authorities provided in subsections (b) and (c) apply with respect to a procurement of property or services by or for an executive agency that the head of the execu- tive agency determines are to be used— (1) in support of a contingency operation (as defined in section 101(a) of title 10); (2) to facilitate the defense against or recov- ery from cyber, nuclear, biological, chemical, or radiological attack against the United States; (3) in support of a request from the Sec- retary of State or the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Devel- opment to facilitate the provision of inter- national disaster assistance pursuant to chap- ter 9 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2292 et seq.); or (4) in support of an emergency or major dis- aster (as those terms are defined in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122)). (b) INCREASED THRESHOLDS AND LIMITATION.— For a procurement to which this section applies under subsection (a)— (1) the amount specified in section 1902(a), (d), and (e) of this title shall be deemed to be— (A) $15,000 in the case of a contract to be awarded and performed, or purchase to be made, in the United States; and (B) $25,000 in the case of a contract to be awarded and performed, or purchase to be made, outside the United States; (2) the term ‘‘simplified acquisition thresh- old’’ means—