41 U.S.C. § 3705 — Pre-award debriefings

Page 111 TITLE 41—PUBLIC CONTRACTS § 3708 HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES—CONTINUED Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large) 3704(c) ........ 41:253b(e)(2). 3704(d) ........ 41:253b(e)(3). 3704(e) ........ 41:253b(e)(4). 3704(f) ........ 41:253b(e)(5). 3704(g) ........ 41:253b(g) (related to 41:253b(e)). June 30, 1949, ch. 288, title III, § 303B(g) (related to § 303B(e)), as added Pub. L. 104–106, title XLI, § 4104(b)(3), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 645. Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2018—Subsec. (c)(5). Pub. L. 115–232 substituted ‘‘com- mercial product’’ for ‘‘commercial item’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2018 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 115–232 effective Jan. 1, 2020, subject to a savings provision, see section 836(h) of Pub. L. 115–232, set out as an Effective Date of 2018 Amend- ment; Savings Provision note under section 453b of Title 6, Domestic Security. § 3705. Pre-award debriefings (a) REQUEST FOR DEBRIEFING.—When the con- tracting officer excludes an offeror submitting a competitive proposal from the competitive range (or otherwise excludes that offeror from further consideration prior to the final source selection decision), the excluded offeror may re- quest in writing, within 3 days after the date on which the excluded offeror receives notice of its exclusion, a debriefing prior to award. (b) WHEN DEBRIEFING TO BE CONDUCTED.—The contracting officer shall make every effort to debrief the unsuccessful offeror as soon as prac- ticable but may refuse the request for a debrief- ing if it is not in the best interests of the Fed- eral Government to conduct a debriefing at that time. (c) PRECONDITION FOR POST-AWARD DEBRIEF- ING.—The contracting officer is required to de- brief an excluded offeror in accordance with sec- tion 3704 of this title only if that offeror re- quested and was refused a pre-award debriefing under subsections (a) and (b). (d) INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED.—The de- briefing conducted under this section shall in- clude— (1) the executive agency’s evaluation of the significant elements in the offeror’s offer; (2) a summary of the rationale for the offeror’s exclusion; and (3) reasonable responses to relevant ques- tions posed by the debriefed offeror as to whether source selection procedures set forth in the solicitation, applicable regulations, and other applicable authorities were followed by the executive agency. (e) INFORMATION NOT TO BE DISCLOSED.—The debriefing conducted pursuant to this section may not disclose the number or identity of other offerors and shall not disclose information about the content, ranking, or evaluation of other offerors’ proposals. (f) SUMMARY TO BE INCLUDED IN FILE.—The contracting officer shall include a summary of the debriefing in the contract file. (Pub. L. 111–350, § 3, Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3772.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large) 3705(a) ........ 41:253b(f)(1) (1st sen- tence). June 30, 1949, ch. 288, title III, § 303B(f), (g) (related to § 303B(f)), as added Pub. L. 104–106, title XLI, § 4104(b)(3), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 645. 3705(b) ........ 41:253b(f)(1) (last sentence). 3705(c) ........ 41:253b(f)(2). 3705(d) ........ 41:253b(f)(3). 3705(e) ........ 41:253b(f)(4). 3705(f) ........ 41:253b(g) (related to 41:253b(f)). § 3706. Encouragement of alternative dispute res- olution The Federal Acquisition Regulation shall in- clude a provision encouraging the use of alter- native dispute resolution techniques to provide informal, expeditious, and inexpensive proce- dures for an offeror to consider using before fil- ing a protest, prior to the award of a contract, of the exclusion of the offeror from the competi- tive range (or otherwise from further consider- ation) for that contract. (Pub. L. 111–350, § 3, Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3773.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large) 3706 ............ 41:253b(h). June 30, 1949, ch. 288, title III, § 303B(h), as added Pub. L. 104–106, title XLI, § 4104(b)(3), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 645. § 3707. Antitrust violations If the agency head considers that a bid or pro- posal evidences a violation of the antitrust laws, the agency head shall refer the bid or proposal to the Attorney General for appropriate action. (Pub. L. 111–350, § 3, Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3773.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large) 3707 ............ 41:253b(i). June 30, 1949, ch. 288, title III, § 303B(i), formerly § 303B(e), as added Pub. L. 98–369, title VII, § 2711(a)(2), July 18, 1984, 98 Stat. 1180; redesignated as § 303B(f), Pub. L. 103–355, title I, § 1064(1), Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3268; redes- ignated as § 303B(i), Pub. L. 104–106, title XLI, § 4104(b)(2), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 645. § 3708. Protests (a) PROTEST FILE.— (1) ESTABLISHMENT AND ACCESS.—If, in the case of a solicitation for a contract issued by, or an award or proposed award of a contract by, the head of an executive agency, a protest is filed pursuant to the procedures in sub- chapter V of chapter 35 of title 31, and an ac- tual or prospective offeror requests, a file of the protest shall be established by the pro- curing activity and reasonable access shall be provided to actual or prospective offerors.