S. 1550 

One Hundred Fourteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, 

the fourth day of January, two thousand and sixteen 

An Act 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to establish entities tasked with improving 

program and project management in certain Federal agencies, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Program Management Improvement Accountability Act’’. 

SEC. 2. PROJECT MANAGEMENT. 

(a) DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR MANAGEMENT.— 

(1) ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS.—Section 503 of title 31, United 

States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(c) PROGRAM AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT.— 

‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—Subject to the direction and approval 

of the Director, the Deputy Director for Management or a 

designee shall— 

‘‘(A) adopt governmentwide standards, policies, and 

guidelines for program and project management for executive agencies; 

‘‘(B) oversee implementation of program and project 

management for the standards, policies, and guidelines 

established under subparagraph (A); 

‘‘(C) chair the Program Management Policy Council 

established under section 1126(b); 

‘‘(D) establish standards and policies for executive 

agencies, consistent with widely accepted standards for 

program and project management planning and delivery; 

‘‘(E) engage with the private sector to identify best 

practices in program and project management that would 

improve Federal program and project management; 

‘‘(F) conduct portfolio reviews to address programs 

identified as high risk by the Government Accountability 

Office; 

‘‘(G) not less than annually, conduct portfolio reviews 

of agency programs in coordination with Project Management Improvement Officers designated under section 

1126(a)(1) to assess the quality and effectiveness of program management; and 

‘‘(H) establish a 5-year strategic plan for program and 

project management. 

‘‘(2) APPLICATION TO DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.—Paragraph 

(1) shall not apply to the Department of Defense to the extent 
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that the provisions of that paragraph are substantially similar 

to or duplicative of— 

‘‘(A) the provisions of chapter 87 of title 10; or 

‘‘(B) policy, guidance, or instruction of the Department 

related to program management.’’. 

(2) DEADLINE FOR STANDARDS, POLICIES, AND GUIDELINES.— 

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

Act, the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of 

Management and Budget shall issue the standards, policies, 

and guidelines required under section 503(c) of title 31, United 

States Code, as added by paragraph (1). 

(3) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

on which the standards, policies, and guidelines are issued 

under paragraph (2), the Deputy Director for Management of 

the Office of Management and Budget, in consultation with 

the Program Management Policy Council established under 

section 1126(b) of title 31, United States Code, as added by 

subsection (b)(1), and the Director of the Office of Management 

and Budget, shall issue any regulations as are necessary to 

implement the requirements of section 503(c) of title 31, United 

States Code, as added by paragraph (1). 

(b) PROGRAM MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT OFFICERS AND PROGRAM MANAGEMENT POLICY COUNCIL.— 

(1) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 11 of title 31, United States 

Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘§ 1126. Program management improvement officers and program management policy council 

‘‘(a) PROGRAM MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT OFFICERS.— 

‘‘(1) DESIGNATION.—The head of each agency described in 

section 901(b) shall designate a senior executive of the agency 

as the Program Management Improvement Officer of the 

agency. 

‘‘(2) FUNCTIONS.—The Program Management Improvement 

Officer of an agency designated under paragraph (1) shall— 

‘‘(A) implement program management policies established by the agency under section 503(c); and 

‘‘(B) develop a strategy for enhancing the role of program managers within the agency that includes the following: 

‘‘(i) Enhanced training and educational opportunities for program managers that shall include— 

‘‘(I) training in the relevant competencies 

encompassed with program and project manager 

within the private sector for program managers; 

and 

‘‘(II) training that emphasizes cost containment for large projects and programs. 

‘‘(ii) Mentoring of current and future program managers by experienced senior executives and program 

managers within the agency. 

‘‘(iii) Improved career paths and career opportunities for program managers. 

‘‘(iv) A plan to encourage the recruitment and 

retention of highly qualified individuals to serve as 

program managers. 
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‘‘(v) Improved means of collecting and disseminating best practices and lessons learned to enhance 

program management across the agency. 

‘‘(vi) Common templates and tools to support 

improved data gathering and analysis for program 

management and oversight purposes. 

‘‘(3) APPLICATION TO DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.—This subsection shall not apply to the Department of Defense to the 

extent that the provisions of this subsection are substantially 

similar to or duplicative of the provisions of chapter 87 of 

title 10. For purposes of paragraph (1), the Under Secretary 

of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (or a designee of the Under Secretary) shall be considered the Program 

Management Improvement Officer. 

‘‘(b) PROGRAM MANAGEMENT POLICY COUNCIL.— 

‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the Office 

of Management and Budget a council to be known as the 

‘Program Management Policy Council’ (in this subsection 

referred to as the ‘Council’). 

‘‘(2) PURPOSE AND FUNCTIONS.—The Council shall act as 

the principal interagency forum for improving agency practices 

related to program and project management. The Council 

shall— 

‘‘(A) advise and assist the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget; 

‘‘(B) review programs identified as high risk by the 

General Accountability Office and make recommendations 

for actions to be taken by the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget or a designee; 

‘‘(C) discuss topics of importance to the workforce, 

including— 

‘‘(i) career development and workforce development 

needs; 

‘‘(ii) policy to support continuous improvement in 

program and project management; and 

‘‘(iii) major challenges across agencies in managing 

programs; 

‘‘(D) advise on the development and applicability of 

standards governmentwide for program management transparency; and 

‘‘(E) review the information published on the website 

of the Office of Management and Budget pursuant to section 1122. 

‘‘(3) MEMBERSHIP.— 

‘‘(A) COMPOSITION.—The Council shall be composed of 

the following members: 

‘‘(i) Five members from the Office of Management 

and Budget as follows: 

‘‘(I) The Deputy Director for Management. 

‘‘(II) The Administrator of the Office of Electronic Government. 

‘‘(III) The Administrator of Federal Procurement Policy. 

‘‘(IV) The Controller of the Office of Federal 

Financial Management. 
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‘‘(V) The Director of the Office of Performance 

and Personnel Management. 

‘‘(ii) The Program Management Improvement 

Officer from each agency described in section 901(b). 

‘‘(iii) Any other full-time or permanent part-time 

officer or employee of the Federal Government or 

member of the Armed Forces designated by the Chairperson. 

‘‘(B) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON.— ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget shall 

be the Chairperson of the Council. A Vice Chairperson 

shall be elected by the members and shall serve a 

term of not more than 1 year. 

‘‘(ii) DUTIES.—The Chairperson shall preside at the 

meetings of the Council, determine the agenda of the 

Council, direct the work of the Council, and establish 

and direct subgroups of the Council as appropriate. 

‘‘(4) MEETINGS.—The Council shall meet not less than twice 

per fiscal year and may meet at the call of the Chairperson 

or a majority of the members of the Council. 

‘‘(5) SUPPORT.—The head of each agency with a Project 

Management Improvement Officer serving on the Council shall 

provide administrative support to the Council, as appropriate, 

at the request of the Chairperson.’’. 

(2) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 1 year after the 

date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of 

Management and Budget, in consultation with each Program 

Management Improvement Officer designated under section 

1126(a)(1) of title 31, United States Code, shall submit to 

Congress a report containing the strategy developed under section 1126(a)(2)(B) of such title, as added by paragraph (1). 

(c) PROGRAM AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL STAND- ARDS.— (1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘agency’’ 

means each agency described in section 901(b) of title 31, United 

States Code, other than the Department of Defense. 

(2) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days after 

the date on which the standards, policies, and guidelines are 

issued under section 503(c) of title 31, United States Code, 

as added by subsection (a)(1), the Director of the Office of 

Personnel Management, in consultation with the Director of 

the Office of Management and Budget, shall issue regulations 

that— 

(A) identify key skills and competencies needed for 

a program and project manager in an agency; 

(B) establish a new job series, or update and improve 

an existing job series, for program and project management 

within an agency; and 

(C) establish a new career path for program and project 

managers within an agency. 

(d) GAO REPORT ON EFFECTIVENESS OF POLICIES ON PROGRAM

AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT.—Not later than 3 years after the date 

of enactment of this Act, the Government Accountability Office 

shall issue, in conjunction with the High Risk list of the Government 

Accountability Office, a report examining the effectiveness of the 

following on improving Federal program and project management: 
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(1) The standards, policies, and guidelines for program 

and project management issued under section 503(c) of title 

31, United States Code, as added by subsection (a)(1). 

(2) The 5-year strategic plan established under section 

503(c)(1)(H) of title 31, United States Code, as added by subsection (a)(1). 

(3) Program Management Improvement Officers designated 

under section 1126(a)(1) of title 31, United States Code, as 

added by subsection (b)(1). 

(4) The Program Management Policy Council established 

under section 1126(b)(1) of title 31, United States Code, as 

added by subsection (b)(1). 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.