I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1219

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

A BILL

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.

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’’.
2

•HR 1219 IH

1 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ADMINIS2 TRATOR FOR FEDERAL PROCUREMENT POL3 ICY.

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

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

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

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

8 and (14), respectively; and

9 (2) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol10 lowing new paragraph:

11 ‘‘(9) establishing appropriate Government-wide

12 policies and assuring Government-wide implementa13 tion through the Federal Acquisition Regulation of

14 policies assuring the timely payment of contractors,

15 subcontractors, sureties, and suppliers consistent

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

17 United States Code (commonly known as the

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

19 270a–270d–1), and section 2091 of the Federal Ac20 quisition Streamlining Act of 1994 (Public Law

21 103–355; 108 Stat. 3306);’’.

22 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE MILLER ACT.

23 (a) ENHANCEMENT OF PAYMENT BOND PROTEC24 TION.—Subsection (a)(2) of the first section of the Miller

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

26 second, third, and fourth sentences and inserting in lieu
3

•HR 1219 IH

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

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

3 of the contract unless the contracting officer awarding the

4 contract makes a written determination supported by spe5 cific findings that a payment bond in that amount is im6 practical, in which case the amount of the payment bond

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

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

9 of the performance bond.’’.

10 (b) MODERNIZATION OF DELIVERY OF NOTICE.—

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

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

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

14 addressed’’ and inserting ‘‘any means which provides writ15 ten, third-party verification of delivery.’’.

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

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

18 at the 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 mate23 rial for use in the performance of the contract.’’.
4

•HR 1219 IH

1 SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION THROUGH THE GOVERNMENT2 WIDE PROCUREMENT REGULATIONS.

3 (a) PROPOSED REGULATIONS.—Proposed revisions

4 to the Government-wide Federal Acquisition Regulation to

5 implement 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

8 public comment.

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

10 published not less than 180 days after the date of the en11 actment of this Act and shall be effective on the date that

12 is 30 days after the date of publication.

Æ