IB 

106TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1219 

[Report No. 106–277, Part I] 

To amend the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act and the Miller 

Act, relating to payment protections for persons providing labor and 

materials for Federal construction projects. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 23, 1999 

Mrs. MALONEY of New York (for herself, Mr. GEKAS, Mr. HORN, Mr. NADLER, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. KUCINICH, and Mr. 

FILNER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Government 

Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

JULY 30, 1999 

Additional sponsors: Mr. SCARBOROUGH, Mr. TERRY, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. 

HILL of Montana, Mrs. NORTHUP, Mr. SHOWS, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mrs. BIGGERT, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. MANZULLO, and 

Mr. KLINK

JULY 30, 1999 

Reported from the Committee on Government Reform with amendments 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act 

and the Miller Act, relating to payment protections for 
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persons providing labor and materials for Federal construction projects. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Construction Industry 

5 Payment Protection Act of 1999’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ADMINIS7 TRATOR FOR FEDERAL PROCUREMENT POL8 ICY. 

9 Section 6(d) of the Office of Federal Procurement 

10 Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 405(d)) is amended— 

11 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (9), (10), (11), 

12 (12), and (13), as aragraphs (10), (11), (12), (13), 

13 and (14), respectively; and 

14 (2) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol15 lowing new paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(9) establishing appropriate Government-wide 

17 policies and assuring Government-wide implementa18 tion through the Federal Acquisition Regulation of 

19 policies assuring the timely payment of contractors, 

20 subcontractors, sureties, and suppliers consistent 

21 with existing laws, including chapter 39 of title 31, 

22 United States Code (commonly known as the 

23 ‘‘Prompt Payment Act’’), the Miller Act (40 U.S.C. 

24 270a–270d–1), and section 2091 of the Federal Ac-
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1 quisition Streamlining Act of 1994 (Public Law 

2 103–355; 108 Stat. 3306);’’. 

3 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE MILLER ACT. 

4 (a) ENHANCEMENT OF PAYMENT BOND PROTEC5 TION.—Subsection (a)(2) of the first section of the Miller 

6 Act (40 U.S.C. 270a(a)(2)) is amended by striking the 

7 second, third, and fourth sentences and inserting in lieu 

8 thereof the following: ‘‘The amount of the payment bond 

9 shall be equal to the total amount payable by the terms 

10 of the contract unless the contracting officer awarding the 

11 contract makes a written determination supported by spe12 cific findings that a payment bond in that amount is im13 practical, in which case the amount of the payment bond 

14 shall be set by the contracting officer. In no case shall 

15 the amount of the payment bond be less than the amount 

16 of the performance bond.’’. 

17 (b) MODERNIZATION OF DELIVERY OF NOTICE.— 

18 Section 2(a) of the Miller Act (40 U.S.C. 270b(a)) is 

19 amended in the last sentence by striking ‘‘mailing the 

20 same by registered mail, postage prepaid, in an envelope 

21 addressed’’ and inserting ‘‘any means which provides writ22 ten, third-party verification of delivery’’. 

23 (c) NONWAIVER OF RIGHTS.—The second section of 

24 the Miller Act (40 U.S.C. 270b) is amended by adding 

25 at the end the following new subsection: 
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1 ‘‘(c) Any waiver of the right to sue on the payment 

2 bond required by this Act shall be void unless it is in writ3 ing, signed by the person whose right is waived, and exe4 cuted after such person has first furnished labor or mate5 rial for use in the performance of the contract.’’. 

6 SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION THROUGH THE GOVERNMENT7 WIDE PROCUREMENT REGULATIONS. 

8 (a) PROPOSED REGULATIONS.—Proposed revisions 

9 to the Government-wide Federal Acquisition Regulation to 

10 implement the amendments made by this Act shall be pub11 lished not later than 120 days after the date of the enact12 ment of this Act and provide not less than 60 days for 

13 public comment. 

14 (b) FINAL REGULATIONS.—Final regulations shall be 

15 published not less than 180 days after the date of the en16 actment of this Act and shall be effective on the date that 

17 is 30 days after the date of publication. 

18 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

19 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Construction Industry 

20 Payment Protection Act of 1999’’. 

21 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE MILLER ACT. 

22 (a) ENHANCEMENT OF PAYMENT BOND PROTEC23 TION.—Subsection (a)(2) of the first section of the Miller 

24 Act (40 U.S.C. 270a(a)(2)) is amended by striking the sec25 ond, third, and fourth sentences and inserting in lieu there-
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1 of the following: ‘‘The amount of the payment bond shall 

2 be equal to the total amount payable by the terms of the 

3 contract unless the contracting officer awarding the con4 tract makes a written determination supported by specific 

5 findings that a payment bond in that amount is imprac6 tical, in which case the amount of the payment bond shall 

7 be set by the contracting officer. In no case shall the amount 

8 of the payment bond be less than the amount of the perform9 ance bond.’’. 

10 (b) MODERNIZATION OF DELIVERY OF NOTICE.—Sec11 tion 2(a) of the Miller Act (40 U.S.C. 270b(a)) is amended 

12 in the last sentence by striking ‘‘mailing the same by reg13 istered mail, postage prepaid, in an envelope addressed’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘any means which provides written, third15 party verification of delivery.’’. 

16 (c) NONWAIVER OF RIGHTS.—The second section of the 

17 Miller Act (40 U.S.C. 270b) is amended by adding at the 

18 end the following new subsection: 

19 ‘‘(c) Any waiver of the right to sue on the payment 

20 bond required by this Act shall be void unless it is in writ21 ing, signed by the person whose right is waived, and exe22 cuted after such person has first furnished labor or material 

23 for use in the performance of the contract.’’. 
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1 SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION THROUGH THE GOVERNMENT2 WIDE PROCUREMENT REGULATIONS. 

3 (a) PROPOSED REGULATIONS.—Proposed revisions to 

4 the Government-wide Federal Acquisition Regulation to im5 plement the amendments made by this Act shall be pub6 lished not later than 120 days after the date of the enact7 ment of this Act and provide not less than 60 days for pub8 lic comment. 

9 (b) FINAL REGULATIONS.—Final regulations shall be 

10 published not less than 180 days after the date of the enact11 ment of this Act and shall be effective on the date that is 

12 30 days after the date of publication. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to amend the 

Miller Act, relating to payment protections for persons 

providing labor and materials for Federal construction 

projects.’’. 

Æ