CONTRACT BUNDLING.

SEC. 847. CONTRACT BUNDLING. (a) Study Required.—The Comptroller General shall conduct a study regarding the impact of contract bundling on the participation of small business concerns (including small Business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals) in procurement by the Department of Defense. (b) Purposes of Study.—In addition to such other matters as the Comptroller General considers appropriate, the study required by subsection (a) shall— (1) catalog the benefits and adverse effects of contract bundling on Department of Defense contracting activities; (2) catalog the benefits and adverse effects of contract bundling on small business concerns seeking to sell goods or services to the Department of Defense; (3) catalog and assess the adequacy of the policy guidance applicable to procurement personnel of the Department of Defense regarding the bundling of contract requirements; (4) review and analyze the data compiled pursuant to subsection (c) regarding the extent to which procuring activities of the Department of Defense have been bundling their requirements for the procurement of goods and services (including construction); (5) review and assess the adequacy of the statements submitted by procuring activities of the Department of Defense pursuant to section 15(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(a)) regarding bundling of contract requirements; and (6) assess whether small business specialists of the Department of Defense or procurement center representatives of the Small Business Administration have adequate policy guidance and effective authority to make an independent assessment regarding proposed bundling of contract requirements. 107 STAT. 1724 (c) Data on Contract Bundling.— (1) Data to be compiled.—For purposes of conducting the study required by subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense shall compile and furnish to the Comptroller General data regarding contracts awarded during fiscal years 1988, 1992, and 1993 that reflect the bundling of the types of contract requirements that were previously solicited and awarded as separate contract actions. With respect to such bundled contracts, the Secretary shall seek to furnish data regarding— (A) the number and dollar value of such contract awards and the types of goods or services (including construction) that were procured; (B) the number and estimated dollar value of requirements previously procured through separate contract actions which were included in each of the contract actions identified under subparagraph (A); (C) any justifications (including estimates of cost savings) for the bundled contract actions identified under subparagraph (A); and (D) the extent of participation by small business concerns and small business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals under subcontracting plans pursuant to section 8(d) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.U. 637(d)). (2) Submission to the comptroller general.—The Secretary of Defense shall furnish the data described in paragraph (1) to the Comptroller General not later than February 1, 1994. (d) Report.—Not later than April 1, 1994, the Comptroller General shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services and Small Business of the Senate and House of Representatives a report containing the results of the study required by subsection (a). The report shall include recommendations for appropriate changes to statutes, regulations, policy, or practices that would ameliorate any identified adverse effects of contract bundling on the participation of small business concerns in procurements by the Department of Defense. (e) Definition.—For the purposes of this section, the terms “contract bundling” and “bundling of contract requirements” means the practice of consolidating two or more procurement requirements of the type that were previously solicited and awarded as separate smaller contracts into a single large contract solicitation likely to be unsuitable for award to a small business concern due to— (1) the diversity and size of the elements of performance specified; (2) the aggregate dollar value of the anticipated award; (3) the geographical dispersion of the contract performance sites; or (4) any combination of the factors described in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3).