H.R. 1588

H.R.1588

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both House and Senate)

SEC. 1428. AUTHORIZATION OF TELECOMMUTING FOR FEDERAL CONTRACTORS.

(a) AMENDMENT TO THE FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION- Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council shall amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation issued in accordance with sections 6 and 25 of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 405 and 421) to permit telecommuting by employees of Federal Government contractors in the performance of contracts entered into with executive agencies.

(b) CONTENT OF AMENDMENT- The regulation issued pursuant to subsection (a) shall, at a minimum, provide that solicitations for the acquisition of property or services may not set forth any requirement or evaluation criteria that would-

(1) render an offeror ineligible to enter into a contract on the basis of the inclusion of a plan of the offeror to permit the offeror's employees to telecommute, unless the contracting officer concerned first determines that the requirements of the agency, including security requirements, cannot be met if the telecommuting is permitted and documents in writing the basis for that determination; or

(2) reduce the scoring of an offer on the basis of the inclusion in the offer of a plan of the offeror to permit the offeror's employees to telecommute, unless the contracting officer concerned first determines that the requirements of the agency, including security requirements, would be adversely impacted if telecommuting is permitted and documents in writing the basis for that determination.

(c) DEFINITION- In this section, the term `executive agency' has the meaning given that term in section 4(1) of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403(1)).