114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1550 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Program Management 

3 Improvement Accountability Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR MANAGEMENT. 

5 (a) ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS.—Section 503 of title 

6 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT.— 

9 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—Subject to the direction 

10 and approval of the Director, the Deputy Director 

11 for Management or a designee shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) adopt governmentwide standards, 

13 policies, and guidelines for program and project 

14 management for executive agencies; 

15 ‘‘(B) oversee implementation of program 

16 and project management for the standards, 

17 policies, and guidelines established under sub18 paragraph (A); 

19 ‘‘(C) chair the Program Management Pol20 icy Council established under section 1126(b); 

21 ‘‘(D) establish standards and policies for 

22 executive agencies, consistent with widely ac23 cepted standards for program and project man24 agement planning and delivery; 

25 ‘‘(E) engage with the private sector to 

26 identify best practices in program and project 
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1 management that would improve Federal pro2 gram and project management; 

3 ‘‘(F) conduct portfolio reviews to address 

4 programs identified as high risk by the Govern5 ment Accountability Office; 

6 ‘‘(G) not less than annually, conduct port7 folio reviews of agency programs in coordination 

8 with Project Management Improvement Officers 

9 designated under section 1126(a)(1) to assess 

10 the quality and effectiveness of program man11 agement; and 

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

13 program and project management. 

14 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION TO DEPARTMENT OF DE15 FENSE.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the De16 partment of Defense to the extent that the provi17 sions of that paragraph are substantially similar to 

18 or duplicative of the provisions of chapter 87 of title 

19 10.’’. 

20 (b) DEADLINE FOR STANDARDS, POLICIES, AND

21 GUIDELINES.—Not later than 1 year after the date of en22 actment of this Act, the Deputy Director for Management 

23 of the Office of Management and Budget shall issue the 

24 standards, policies, and guidelines required under section 
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1 503(c) of title 31, United States Code, as added by sub2 section (a). 

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

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

5 issued under subsection (b), the Deputy Director for Man6 agement of the Office of Management and Budget, in con7 sultation with the Program Management Policy Council 

8 established under section 1126(b) of title 31, United 

9 States Code, as added by section 3(a), and the Director 

10 of the Office of Management and Budget, shall issue any 

11 regulations as are necessary to implement the require12 ments of section 503(c) of title 31, United States Code, 

13 as added by subsection (a). 

14 SEC. 3. PROGRAM MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT OFFICERS 

15 AND PROGRAM MANAGEMENT POLICY COUN16 CIL. 

17 (a) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 11 of title 31, United 

18 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘§ 1126. Program Management Improvement Officers 

21 and Program Management Policy Council 

22 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT OFFI23 CERS.— 

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

25 described in section 901(b) shall designate a senior 
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1 executive of the agency as the Program Management 

2 Improvement Officer of the agency. 

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

4 Improvement Officer of an agency designated under 

5 paragraph (1) shall— 

6 ‘‘(A) implement program management poli7 cies established by the agency under section 

8 503(c); and 

9 ‘‘(B) develop a strategy for enhancing the 

10 role of program managers within the agency 

11 that includes the following: 

12 ‘‘(i) Enhanced training and edu13 cational opportunities for program man14 agers that shall include— 

15 ‘‘(I) training in the relevant com16 petencies encompassed with program 

17 and project manager within the pri18 vate sector for program managers; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(II) training that emphasizes 

21 cost containment for large projects 

22 and programs. 

23 ‘‘(ii) Mentoring of current and future 

24 program managers by experienced senior 
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1 executives and program managers within 

2 the agency. 

3 ‘‘(iii) Improved career paths and ca4 reer opportunities for program managers. 

5 ‘‘(iv) A plan to encourage the recruit6 ment and retention of highly qualified indi7 viduals to serve as program managers. 

8 ‘‘(v) Improved means of collecting and 

9 disseminating best practices and lessons 

10 learned to enhance program management 

11 across the agency. 

12 ‘‘(vi) Common templates and tools to 

13 support improved data gathering and anal14 ysis for program management and over15 sight purposes. 

16 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION TO DEPARTMENT OF DE17 FENSE.—This subsection shall not apply to the De18 partment of Defense to the extent that the provi19 sions of this subsection are substantially similar to 

20 or duplicative of the provisions of chapter 87 of title 

21 10. 

22 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM MANAGEMENT POLICY COUNCIL.— 

23 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

24 the Office of Management and Budget a council to 

25 be known as the ‘Program Management Policy 
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1 Council’ (in this subsection referred to as the ‘Coun2 cil’). 

3 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE AND FUNCTIONS.—The Council 

4 shall act as the principal interagency forum for im5 proving agency practices related to program and 

6 project management. The Council shall— 

7 ‘‘(A) advise and assist the Deputy Director 

8 for Management of the Office of Management 

9 and Budget; 

10 ‘‘(B) review programs identified as high 

11 risk by the General Accountability Office and 

12 make recommendations for actions to be taken 

13 by the Deputy Director for Management of the 

14 Office of Management and Budget or a des15 ignee; 

16 ‘‘(C) discuss topics of importance to the 

17 workforce, including— 

18 ‘‘(i) career development and workforce 

19 development needs; 

20 ‘‘(ii) policy to support continuous im21 provement in program and project manage22 ment; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) major challenges across agencies 

24 in managing programs; 
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1 ‘‘(D) advise on the development and appli2 cability of standards governmentwide for pro3 gram management transparency; and 

4 ‘‘(E) review the information published on 

5 the website of the Office of Management and 

6 Budget pursuant to section 1122. 

7 ‘‘(3) MEMBERSHIP.— 

8 ‘‘(A) COMPOSITION.—The Council shall be 

9 composed of the following members: 

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

11 Management and Budget as follows: 

12 ‘‘(I) The Deputy Director for 

13 Management. 

14 ‘‘(II) The Administrator of the 

15 Office of Electronic Government. 

16 ‘‘(III) The Administrator of Fed17 eral Procurement Policy. 

18 ‘‘(IV) The Controller of the Of19 fice of Federal Financial Manage20 ment. 

21 ‘‘(V) The Director of the Office 

22 of Performance and Personnel Man23 agement. 
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1 ‘‘(ii) The Program Management Im2 provement Officer from each agency de3 scribed in section 901(b). 

4 ‘‘(iii) Other individuals as determined 

5 appropriate by the Chairperson. 

6 ‘‘(B) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIR7 PERSON.— 

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Deputy Di9 rector for Management of the Office of 

10 Management and Budget shall be the 

11 Chairperson of the Council. A Vice Chair12 person shall be elected by the members and 

13 shall serve a term of not more than 1 year. 

14 ‘‘(ii) DUTIES.—The Chairperson shall 

15 preside at the meetings of the Council, de16 termine the agenda of the Council, direct 

17 the work of the Council, and establish and 

18 direct subgroups of the Council as appro19 priate. 

20 ‘‘(4) MEETINGS.—The Council shall meet not 

21 less than twice per fiscal year and may meet at the 

22 call of the Chairperson or a majority of the members 

23 of the Council. 

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

25 a Project Management Improvement Officer serving 
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1 on the Council shall provide administrative support 

2 to the Council, as appropriate, at the request of the 

3 Chairperson. 

4 ‘‘(6) COMMITTEE DURATION.—Section 14(a)(2) 

5 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 

6 App.) shall not apply to the Council.’’. 

7 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 1 year after 

8 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Of9 fice of Management and Budget, in consultation with each 

10 Program Management Improvement Officer designated 

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

12 shall submit to Congress a report containing the strategy 

13 developed under section 1126(a)(2)(B) of such title, as 

14 added by subsection (a). 

15 SEC. 4. PROGRAM AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT PER16 SONNEL STANDARDS. 

17 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘agency’’ 

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

19 United States Code. 

20 (b) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 

21 days after the date on which the standards, policies, and 

22 guidelines are issued under section 503(c) of title 31, 

23 United States Code, as added by section 2(a), the Director 

24 of the Office of Personnel Management, in consultation 
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1 with the Director of the Office of Management and Budg2 et, shall issue regulations that— 

3 (1) identify key skills and competencies needed 

4 for a program and project manager in an agency; 

5 (2) establish a new job series, or update and 

6 improve an existing job series, for program and 

7 project management within an agency; and 

8 (3) establish a new career path for program 

9 and project managers within an agency. 

10 SEC. 5. GAO REPORT ON EFFECTIVENESS OF POLICIES ON 

11 PROGRAM AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT. 

12 Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 

13 of this Act, the Government Accountability Office shall 

14 issue, in conjunction with the High Risk list of the Gov15 ernment Accountability Office, a report examining the ef16 fectiveness of the following on improving Federal program 

17 and project management: 

18 (1) The standards, policies, and guidelines for 

19 program and project management issued under sec20 tion 503(c) of title 31, United States Code, as added 

21 by section 2(a). 

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

23 section 503(c)(1)(H) of title 31, United States Code, 

24 as added by section 2(a). 
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1 (3) Program Management Improvement Offi2 cers designated under section 1126(a)(1) of title 31, 

3 United States Code, as added by section 3(a). 

4 (4) The Program Management Policy Council 

5 established under section 1126(b)(1) of title 31, 

6 United States Code, as added by section 3(a). 

Passed the Senate November 19, 2015. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1550 

AN ACT 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to establish 

and for other purposes. project management in certain Federal agencies, entities tasked with improving program and