Competitive Contracting Agencies Upheld Few Challenges and Appeals Under the FAIR Act
Abstract
The Federal Activities Inventory Reform (FAIR) Act of 1998 directs agencies to develop annual inventories of the activities performed by their employees that are not inherently governmental.1 Interested parties, as defined by the act, may challenge agencies' inventories based on "an omission of a particular activity from, or an inclusion of a particular activity on" an inventory, and appeal adverse agencies' decisions.2 In essence, the FAIR Act codified a requirement already set forth in the Office of Management and Budget's (0MB) Circular A-76 for agencies to inventory their commercial activities. The FAIR Act provided for, beginning in 1999, public notice of these inventories' availability; challenges by interested parties over the inclusion or exclusion of activities on inventories; and agency heads' reviews of these inventories. Agencies' responses to the issues interested parties raised in their challenges and appeals, as well as the usefulness of FAIR Act inventory information, will affect the future implementation of this act and the extent to which the inventories might provide information to agencies that they could use to help improve how efficiently they perform their activities.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA383118
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office