NEW CORE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

8.405-6 - Limited Sources. Orders placed or BPAs established under Federal Supply Schedules are exempt from the requirements in Part 6. However, an ordering activity must justify its action when restricting consideration in accordance with paragraphs (a) or (b) of this section- (a) Orders or BPAs exceeding the micro-purchase threshold based on a limited sources justification. (1) Circumstances justifying limiting the source. (i) For a proposed order or BPA with an estimated value exceeding the micro-purchase threshold not placed or established in accordance with the procedures in 8.405-1, 8.405-2, or 8.405-3, the only circumstances that may justify the action are- (A) An urgent and compelling need exists, and following the procedures would result in unacceptable delays; (B) Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized; or (C) In the interest of economy and efficiency, the new work is a logical follow-on to an original Federal Supply Schedule order provided that the original order was placed in accordance with the applicable Federal Supply Schedule ordering procedures. The original order or BPA must not have been previously issued under sole-source or limited-sources procedures. (ii) See 8.405-6(c) for the content of the justification for an order or BPA exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold. (2) Posting. (i) Within 14 days after placing an order or establishing a BPA exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold that is supported by a limited-sources justification permitted under any of the circumstances under paragraph (a)(1) of this section, the ordering activity shall- (A) Publish a notice in accordance with 5.301; and (B) Post the justification- (1) At the GPE http://www.fedbizopps.gov ; (2) On the Web site of the ordering activity agency, which may provide access to the justification by linking to the GPE; and (3) For a minimum of 30 days. (ii) In the case of an order or BPA permitted under paragraph (a)(1)(i)(A) of this section, the justification shall be posted within 30 days after award. (iii) Contracting officers shall carefully screen all justifications for contractor proprietary data and remove all such data, and such references and citations as are necessary to protect the proprietary data, before making the justifications available for public inspection. Contracting officers shall also be guided by the exemptions to disclosure of information contained in the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and the prohibitions against disclosure in 24.202 in determining whether other data should be removed. Although the submitter notice process set out in Executive Order 12600 "Predisclosure Notification Procedures for Confidential Commercial Information" does not apply, if the justification appears to contain proprietary data, the contracting officer should provide the contractor that submitted the information an opportunity to review the justification for proprietary data before making the justification available for public inspection, redacted as necessary. This process must not prevent or delay the posting of the justification in accordance with the timeframes required in paragraphs (a)(2)(i) and (ii) of this section. (iv) This posting requirement does not apply when disclosure would compromise the national security (e.g., would result in disclosure of classified information) or create other security risks.