§891d Contract Authority

Summary

The Secretary may get ships for the NOAA fleet using multiyear contracts to buy, lease, or lease-to-buy them. Before signing such a contract, the Secretary must expect that Congress will fund it at the needed level and must find that the contract helps the United States by keeping competition and running the fleet efficiently. Contracts must say how long they last, must make payments only when Congress provides money in advance for that year, and must limit what the United States must pay if the contract ends early to the smaller of the contract’s stated termination amount or money that was already appropriated for that kind of work and is still available when the contract ends. The Secretary can also use multiyear contracts (up to 7 years) for oceanographic research, fisheries research, and mapping and charting services if it is in the public interest and if the contract either costs less than doing the work on NOAA ships (including run, maintenance, and staff costs) or NOAA ships cannot do the work. For building or fixing NOAA ships, any required bid, payment, or performance bond cannot exceed 20 percent of the base contract value (not counting options), unless the Secretary decides a higher bond would not stop responsible bidders from competing.