Reforming Acquisition Regulations: Revising Dollar Thresholds

摘要

The Final Report of the President's Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management(the Packard Commission)concluded that the legal regime for defense acquisition is today impossibly cumbersome and suggested that one cause of the complexity of the acquisition system is too many regulatory requirements pegged to dollar thresholds and at too many dollar levels. Eliminating Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and DoD FAR Supplement (DFARS) requirements and raising dollar thresholds is an important element of acquisition regulatory reform. This report analyzes the need for 88 dollar thresholds contained in Parts 8, 9, 13, 15, 16, and 36 of the FAR and DFARS. The findings and conclusions are that: 1) Sixteen of the thresholds are based on statute. Two of these should be eliminated and three increased. The remainder require review for appropriate action by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy on a Government-wide basis; 2) Thirty-five of the thresholds contained in the six DFARS parts are regulatory. Eleven of these could be eliminated and five increased without an unacceptable loss of control. (fr)