Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge Operations Office Transmittal Letter for the Department of Defense (DoD)

Recent legislative changes in the National Defense Authorization Act of 1994 and the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 instituted new restrictions on using Economy Act Orders among Federal Agencies. The intent of the statutory revisions was to rectify some previously-identified abuses of Economy Act Orders, principally within DoD, and provide further management review over Economy Act Orders. Unfortunately in responding to Congressional criticism, it appears that the DoD corrective procedures carried out within the various DoD components are overly restrictive and have had an adverse effect on DoD efforts to routinely use DOE scientific and technology resources.

Due to the new DoD administrative procedures for Economy Act Orders, there are multiple inquiries from actual or potential DoD sponsors on what are the DOE procedures in the Work For Others area and how compliant is DOE to the new statutes. The attachment (replicated below) is a DOE-ORO official position from P.T. Marquess on DOE conformance with established government policies to include the new statutory revisions. You are encouraged to distribute Marquess' DOE Memorandum and the "Fact Sheet For Department of Defense (DoD) on the Department of Energy (DOE) Research and Technical Assistance Program" to your personnel working with DoD sponsors to assist in providing answers to DoD inquiries.

Where there are inquiries from DoD or other federal agency personnel on DOE procedures, please contact the WFO Program Office for help. If there are questions, please contact Dave Bradford in the WFO Program Office at 574-9798.

Attachment - Memo from P. T. Marquess to L. M. Cuddy dated March 14, 1995

Mr. L. M. Cuddy, Chief Information Officer
& Deputy Director, Technical Operations
Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc.
Post Office Box 2009
Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-8005

Dear Mr. Cuddy:

Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge Operations Office (ORO) Position on Compliance with the "Levin Amendment"

As you are aware, the DOE-ORO is concerned about the possible misinterpretation of DOE policies by the Department of Defense (DOD) about the DOE Work for Others (WFO) Program. Since the majority of DOD agencies are not familiar with DOE procedures regarding use of Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDC) or the unique agency-to-contractor relationship of DOE to its management and operating contractors, we expect some questions to periodically arise to explain these features. However, the enactment of Section 844 (ada "Levin Amendment") to the 1994 National Defense Authorization Act and the resulting DOD implementing processes have caused the number of DOD inquiries to skyrocket about routine DOE procedures on interagency acquisitions.

The enclosure is a fact sheet that explains DOE's compliance with common federal policies and regulations and explains our perspective on how DOE meets the objectives of the "Levin Amendment." DOE-ORO is very proud of the notable research and technical achievements that Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc., provides to DOD activities to meet national defense objectives. Where questions arise from DOD sponsors on DOE procedures, we encourage you to use this fact sheet as an informational tool to respond to their inquiries.

Sincerely,

P. T. Marquess
Chief Financial Officer and
Chairman, Work for Others Committee

ER-10: Phillips

Enclosure:
Fact Sheet

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The information owner is listed below if you have questions, comments, or suggestions. An e-mail form is provided with the appropriate links for your convenience. Please include title, URL, or other document descriptor in your message.

Contact: David W. Bradford, fdb@ornl.gov Date posted: November 15, 2000 (sas)