§30104 Baselines and Cost Controls

Summary

Requires the Administrator to follow strict rules before and during any big program that will cost more than $250,000,000 over its life. Development = the phase after approval to begin implementing a program. Development cost = all costs from approval until the program is ready to operate. Life-cycle cost = all costs for design, building, operating, supporting, and retiring the program over its planned life. Major program = any program with an estimated life-cycle cost over $250,000,000. Before starting development, the Administrator must show that technical, cost, and schedule risks are known and there is a plan to manage them, the needed technologies work in a relevant test setting, and the program follows agency rules. The Administrator must send a report explaining this decision to two congressional committees at least 30 days before signing a development contract and generally cannot delegate that decision. Each year with the President’s budget, the Administrator must send Major Program Annual Reports to those committees. The first report for each major program must include a Baseline Report with the program’s purpose and key tech, a life-cycle cost estimate with a development-cost breakdown and reserves, the development schedule and milestones, the risk-mitigation plan, and the name of the person in charge. Later annual reports must note and explain any changes. The person named as responsible must immediately tell the Administrator if they believe development cost will exceed the Baseline Report estimate by 15% or more, or if a milestone will be delayed by 6 months or more. Within 30 days that person must send a written explanation to the Administrator, who must forward it to the two congressional committees within 15 days. Within 30 days of getting that written notice, the Administrator must decide if the 15% cost increase or 6-month delay is likely. If so, within 15 days the Administrator must report to the committees describing the increase or delay, actions taken or planned, and any effect on other programs, and must start an analysis that shows costs and schedules if the program stays the same, after fixes, and for a range of alternatives. That analysis must finish within 6 months and be sent to the committees within 30 days after completion. If the Administrator finds costs will exceed the Baseline Report by more than 30%, then starting 18 months after the report the agency may not spend more on the program (except to close it out) unless Congress later authorizes continuation by law; if Congress does authorize continuation, the Administrator must file a new Baseline Report within 90 days of that law.