§ 2203. Review of contracting policies

§ 2203. Review of contracting policies

(a) Review of contractual agreements

(1) In general Not later than 180 days after December 27, 2020, the Secretary shall complete a review of the policies, guidelines, and regulations of the Corps of Engineers for the development of contractual agreements between the Secretary and non-Federal interests and utilities associated with the construction of water resources development projects.

(2) Report Not later than 90 days after completing the review under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate, and make publicly available, a report that includes—

(A) a summary of the results of the review; and

(B) public guidance on best practices for a non-Federal interest to use when writing or developing contractual agreements with the Secretary and utilities.

(3) Provision of guidance The Secretary shall provide the best practices guidance included under paragraph (2)(A) to non-Federal interests prior to the development of contractual agreements with such non-Federal interests.

(b) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary should maximize use of nonprice tradeoff procedures in competitive acquisitions for carrying out emergency work in an area with respect to which the President has declared a major disaster under section 5170 of title 42.

(Pub. L. 116–260, div. AA, title I, § 136, Dec. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 2649.)

Editorial Notes

Codification

Section was enacted as part of the Water Resources Development Act of 2020, and not as part of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 which comprises this chapter.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

“Secretary” Defined

Secretary means the Secretary of the Army, see section 2 of div. AA of Pub. L. 116–260, set out as a note under section 2201 of this title.