1. Procurement Integrity Act (PIA) Overview
Presented By:
Carolyn J. Perry, Senior Associate General Counsel, Ethics and Personnel
April 1, 2010

2. The many meanings of “PIA”
62 definitions of “PIA”
Some highlights
Philippine Information Agency
Pittsburgh International Airport
Pain in the A*#!
Paid in Advance
Personal Injury Accident
Propagation and Infection Analysis
Part in Assembly
Period of Insect Activity
Post Instructional Activity (aka “homework) 2

3. PIA History – 41 USC §423 Original version enacted in 1989
Substantial revisions passed by Congress in 1996
New version took effect January 1, 1997
Implemented in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 3.104 3

4. “Old School “ PIA
Ban on “procurement officials” accepting gratuities from competing contractor during conduct of procurement
Ban on discussing or seeking employment
Annual PIA training required
PIA certificates required
2-year post employment ban on procurement officials helping contractor perform on contract 4

5. PIA “the Sequel” Ban on disclosure of procurement information
Ban on obtaining procurement information
Requirement to report employment contacts
One-year ban on acceptance of compensation from the contractor 5

6. Protection of Procurement Information
Disclosure of certain information prohibited prior to contract award
Contractor bid or proposal information
Source selection information [41 USC 423(a)(1); FAR (a)(1)]
Ban applies to:
Current and former federal employees
Contractor employees and consultants
Currently advising gov’t on the procurement
Previously advised gov’t on the procurement [41 USC 423(a)(2); FAR (a)(2)] 6

7. Contractor or Bid Proposal Information
Cost or pricing data
Indirect costs & direct labor rates
Proprietary information about manufacturing processes, operations or techniques marked by the contractor IAW applicable law or regulation
Information marked by the contractor as “contractor bid or proposal information”
Information marked by the contractor IAW FAR clause (e), entitled “Restriction on disclosure and use of data” [FAR ] 7

8. What is Source Selection Information?
Bid prices submitted by bidders
Costs or prices submitted by offerors
Source selection plans
Technical evaluation plans
Technical evaluations of proposals
Cost or price evaluations of proposals
Competitive range determinations
Rankings of bids, proposals or competitors 8

9. What is Source Selection Information?
Reports & evaluations of source selection panels, boards or advisory councils
Other information marked as “source selection information” [41 USC 423(f)(2)] 9

10. Ban on Obtaining Procurement Information
A person may not knowingly obtain “source selection information” or “contractor bid or proposal information” before contract award, other than as provided by law. [41 USC 423(b) FAR (b)] 10

11. Reporting Employment Contacts
Applies to civilian and military personnel who
(1) participate personally & substantially in a procurement; and
(2) contact, or are contacted by, a bidder or offeror regarding possible employment
Contact to be reported to supervisor & DAEO or designee in writing
Possibility of employment must be rejected or employee must be disqualified from working on procurement until job discussions end & there is no arrangement for employment [41 USC 423(c); FAR (c)] 11

12. Reporting Employment Contacts
Requirement applies only to contracts in excess of simplified acquisition threshold. [41 USC 423(c)(1)]
“Simplified acquisition threshold” generally means $100,000. [FAR 2.101]
Applies to contacts made between the date when bids or proposals are received and the contract award date. 12

13. One Year Compensation Ban
Applies to personnel serving certain positions or who make certain types of decisions on a contract over $10 million [41 USC 423(d)(1); FAR (d)]
Ban covers compensation from the contractor as an employee, consultant, officer or director. [41 USC 423(d)(1)]
Ban may apply to military officers, enlisted military members, and Federal civilian employees. [FAR ] 13

14. Covered positions Source Selection Authority (SSA)
Member of Source Selection Evaluation Board (SSEB)
Chief of financial or technical evaluation team
Program Manager
Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO)
Deputy Program Manager
Administrative Contracting Officer (ACO) 14

15. Decisions covered by one year ban
Decision to award a contract over $10 million
Decision to award a subcontract over $10 million
Decision to award a modification that is over $10 million of a contract or subcontract
Decision to award a task order or delivery order over $10 million 15

16. Decisions covered by one year ban
Decision to establish overhead or other rates applicable to a contract or contracts valued over $10 million
Decision to approve issuance of a contract payment or payments over $10 million
Decision to pay or settle claim over $10 million 16

17. When compensation ban begins
Date of contract award for PCOs, SSAs, SSEB members, evaluation team chiefs
Exception: If an individual was serving in the position on the date of contractor selection, but not on the date of contract award, the ban begins to run on date of contractor selection
Last day of service in position for PMs, DPMs & ACOs
Date of decision for decision makers 17

18. One year compensation ban
Does not apply to accepting compensation from any division or affiliate of a contractor that does not produce the “same or similar products or services” as the entity of the contractor that has the contract the person worked on. [41 USC 423(d)(2); FAR (d)(3)] 18

19. Legal Advice
Individuals can request a legal opinion on whether the one-year ban applies to them [41 USC 423(d)(5); FAR ]
Opinion must be issued within 30 days after receipt of written request (or as soon thereafter as practicable). [FAR (c)] 19

20. Effect of legal opinion
No knowing violation of the Act by requester or contractor if requester accepted compensation based upon good faith reliance on advisory opinion from agency ethics official
If the requester or contractor has actual knowledge or reason to believe that the opinion is based upon fraudulent, misleading, or otherwise incorrect information, their reliance upon the opinion will not be deemed to be in good faith.” [FAR (d)(3)] 20

21. Violations
Contracting officer determines impact on pending award or selection of contractor
Head of Contracting Activity (HCA) takes appropriate action
Administrative remedies
Criminal and civil penalties 21

22. Questions 22