Symposium PresentationApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Mak, Marie

McKelvey, Janet

Perez, Meghan

English

Excerpt from the Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Acquisition Research SymposiumThe federal response to the rising number of natural disasters coupled with other emergency response efforts, such as those for COVID-19, have illustrated the important role that federal contracts have in providing life-saving and life-sustaining goods and services. However, contracting during an emergency can pose a unique set of challenges as contracting officials face significant pressure to provide these services as quickly as possible. Leveraging several U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviews of emergency contracting issues, this paper examines (1) contract and agreement mechanisms agencies used to facilitate response efforts; (2) challenges planning and executing contracts in an emergency environment; and (3) how tracking contract obligations and contracting lessons learned can inform future response efforts.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Calhoun, Institutional Archive of the Naval Postgraduate School

Emergency Contracting: Themes from Agencies’ Disaster and Pandemic Response Efforts

Calhoun: The NPS Institutional ArchiveDSpace RepositoryAcquisition Research Program Acquisition Research Symposium2022-05-06Emergency Contracting: Themes fromAgencies Disaster and Pandemic Response EffortsMak, Marie; McKelvey, Janet; Perez, MeghanMonterey, California. Naval Postgraduate Schoolhttp://hdl.handle.net/10945/70258This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, UnitedStates Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in theUnited States.Downloaded from NPS Archive: CalhounEmergency Contracting: Themes from Agencies’ Disaster and Pandemic Response EffortsMarie Mak, DirectorJanet McKelvey, Assistant DirectorMeghan Perez, Assistant DirectorContracting and National Security AcquisitionsU.S. Government Accountability OfficeMay 11, 2022For more information, contact Marie Mak, makm@gao.gov Page 1GAO Emergency Contracting Themes• Federal contracts and agreements have played a critical role providing life-saving and life-sustaining goods and services in response to recent natural disasters and other emergency response efforts, like COVID-19.• Leveraging recent GAO reviews, we examined:• contract and agreement mechanisms agencies used to facilitate emergency response efforts;• challenges agencies faced planning and executing contracts in an emergency environment; and• how tracking contract obligations and contracting lessons learned can inform future response efforts.Page 2Details on the scope and methodology underpinning the reviews leveraged for this presentation are available in the methodology section of each of the reports listed on slide 8.Contract and Agreement Mechanisms• Agencies can use a variety of contract and agreement mechanisms to assist them in responding quickly during an emergency.• Advance contracts• Other transaction agreements• Undefinitized contract actions• Government purchase cardsPage 3Challenges Planning and Executing Contracts in an Emergency EnvironmentAcquisition planning• In December 2018, we found shortfalls in FEMA’s acquisition planning on advance contracts we reviewed resulted in a number of bridge contracts, which can put the government at risk of paying more than it should for products and services.• Recommendation: FEMA should update guidance to better identify acquisition planning timeframes and considerations.Determining contractor responsibility• In July 2021, we found government-wide and agency-specific guidance provide limited information for assessing prospective vendors during an emergency.• Recommendations: 5 recommendations to 3 agencies related to improving guidance and better communicating available resources.Page 4Challenges Planning and Executing Contracts in an Emergency EnvironmentAcquisition workforce• Across multiple reviews, we found several agencies faced contracting workforce-related challenges when responding to hurricanes and wildfires, but had not assessed or planned for their disaster-specific workforce needs.• Recommendations: 4 recommendations to 4 agencies related to assessing or better accounting for disaster response contracting workforce needs. Purchase card fraud risk• In November 2020, we found some agencies reviewed had not assessed how their purchase card fraud risk might differ in a disaster response environment, when officials may have a higher risk tolerance due to the urgent need for supplies and services.• Recommendations: 5 recommendations to 5 agencies related to completing or updating fraud risk profiles for purchase card programs to align with leading practices.Page 5Tracking Contract and Agreement ObligationsContract Obligations:• The National Interest Action (NIA) code can be used to track federal procurement data during disasters or emergencies.• Across multiple reviews, we found the criteria for whether to extend or close a NIA code did not always meet the needs of high visibility events, or of users, such as other agencies and Congress.• Recommendations: 3 recommendations to 3 agencies about revising the NIA code memorandum of agreement to clarify criteria.Other Transaction Agreement Obligations:• Through multiple reviews we also found that agencies experienced challenges tracking other transaction agreements in response to COVID-19 in the federal procurement data system.• Recommendations: 3 recommendations to 3 agencies about more clearly reporting the use of other transactions agreements.Page 6Collecting Contracting Lessons Learned• Across multiple reviews, we found agencies identified challenges when contracting for emergencies, but did not always identify or share lessons learned. For example: • During the response to COVID-19, contracting officials identified challenges such as:• Working with vendors new to federal contracting or supplying products they had not previously provided• Contracting for supplies and services the agency does not typically buy• However, contracting was not always included as part of lessons learned.• Recommendations: 8 recommendations to multiple agencies to ensure contracting lessons learned are communicated and shared within agencies and government-wide.Page 7Relevant GAO Reports• COVID-19 Contracting: Opportunities to Improve Practices to Assess Prospective Vendors and Capture Lessons Learned, July 29, 2021, GAO-21-528. • COVID-19 Contracting: Actions Needed to Enhance Transparency and Oversight of Selected Awards, July 26, 2021, GAO-21-501.• Southwest Border: Schedule Considerations Drove Army Corps of Engineers' Approaches to Awarding Construction Contracts through 2020, June 17, 2021, GAO-21-372.• COVID-19: Critical Vaccine Distribution, Supply Chain, Program Integrity, and Other Challenges Require Focused Federal Attention, January 28, 2021, GAO-21-265.• Disaster Response: Agencies Should Assess Contracting Workforce Needs and Purchase Card Fraud Risk, November 24, 2020, GAO-21-42. • COVID-19: Federal Efforts Could be Strengthened by Timely and Concerted Actions, September 21, 2020, GAO-20-701. • 2017 Disaster Contracting: Actions Needed to Improve Use of Post-Disaster Contracts to Support Response and Recovery, April 24, 2019, GAO-19-281.• 2017 Disaster Contracting: Action Needed to Better Ensure More Effective Use and Management of Advance Contracts, December 6, 2018, GAO-19-93.• Sole Source Contracting: Defining and Tracking Bridge Contracts Would Help Agencies Manage Their Use, October 14, 2015, GAO-16-15.Page 8

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Emergency Contracting: Themes from Agencies’ Disaster and Pandemic Response Efforts

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Calhoun, Institutional Archive of the Naval Postgraduate School