§563b Acquisition baseline establishment and reports

Summary

Before the Department buys any security-related technology, the acquisition official must create and record baseline requirements. The baselines must list estimated costs (including lifecycle costs), a schedule, and performance milestones for the whole acquisition; identify risks and plans to reduce them; and say what staff are needed to run the buying process, run the program, and support training and operations. When setting milestones, the official must, as much as possible and after consulting the Under Secretary for Science and Technology, make sure the milestones are possible with current technology. The Administrator, with that Under Secretary, must make a test and evaluation plan describing what tests and checks are needed to judge the technology against the milestones; which mix of lab tests, field tests, modeling, simulation, and analysis will be used in a cost‑effective way; a schedule to finish testing without undue delay; and, if airline passengers will interact with the technology, ways to measure passenger acceptance and familiarity. For technologies named a high priority in the most recent Plan under section 563(d)(2), independent reviewers must verify the milestones and cost estimates, but reviewers must not cause unreasonable delays. The Administrator must also set up a streamlined way for vendors to request the baseline and test plans they need to take part. After an acquisition is in place, the acquisition official must review whether it meets the baselines. The review must check whether planned testing and evaluation were completed and whether test results show the milestones are technically feasible. If the review finds that actual or planned costs exceed the baseline by more than 10 percent, delivery is delayed by more than 180 days, or a performance milestone fails in a way that affects security, the Administrator must send a report within 30 days to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives. The report must give the assessment results, explain the cause, and include a plan to fix the problem.