§878a Contract for development of a major program; costs; Major Program Annual Report for satellite development program

Summary

NOAA must meet specific tests and send reports to Congress before it signs a contract to develop any large satellite program, and it must keep Congress updated while the program runs. The law defines key words: Under Secretary — NOAA’s Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere; appropriate congressional committees — the Senate Appropriations and Commerce, Science, and Transportation committees and the House Appropriations and Science, Space and Technology committees; satellite — satellites NOAA plans to buy; development — the phase after planning once implementation is approved; development cost — all costs from approval until the system is ready to operate; life-cycle cost — all costs over the program’s planned life; major program — a program with life-cycle cost over $250,000,000; baseline — the plan set after contract award and preliminary design review. Before NOAA can enter a development contract for a major program, the Under Secretary must find that five things are true: risks are identified and there is a plan to manage them; required technologies have been demonstrated in a relevant test setting; the program follows NOAA and Commerce rules; it is likely to meet its goals; and buying the satellites is good value for NOAA’s mission. The Under Secretary must send a report explaining this decision to the committees at least 30 days before the contract. Only the Under Secretary can make that decision, unless they have a conflict of interest. Each year with the President’s budget NOAA must send a Major Program Annual Report. The first report must include a Baseline Report with the program’s purpose and key technical points, a life-cycle cost estimate with development cost and yearly costs, a development schedule and milestones, a risk-mitigation plan, and the name of the person who will make cost overrun notifications. That person must immediately tell the Under Secretary if development costs rise 20 percent or more above the Baseline estimate, send a written explanation within 30 days, and the Under Secretary must forward that explanation to the committees within 15 days. Within 30 days of the written notice the Under Secretary must decide if costs have increased by 20 percent or more; if so, they must report the reasons, planned actions, and effects on other NOAA programs within 15 days and start a full analysis. That analysis must be finished within 6 months and sent to the committees within 30 days of completion.