Small Business Subcontracting Transparency Act of 2015

To amend the Small Business Act to improve the review and acceptance of subcontracting plans, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Small Business Subcontracting Transparency Act of 2015 2. Transparency in subcontracting goals Section 8(d)(9) of the Small Business Act ( 15 U.S.C. 637(d)(9) (1) by striking (9) The failure (9) Material breach The failure ; (2) in subparagraph (A), by striking subsection, or subsection, (3) in subparagraph (B), by striking subcontract, subcontract, or (4) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following: (C) assurances provided under paragraph (6)(E), . 3. Authority of the Administrator of the Small Business Administration Section 8(d)(11) of the Small Business Act ( 15 U.S.C. 637(d)(11) (1) by striking (11) In the case of (11) Authority of administration In the case of ; and (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking , which shall be advisory in nature, 4. Improving subcontracting plans Section 8(d) of the Small Business Act ( 15 U.S.C. 637(d) (17) Review and acceptance of subcontracting plans (A) Definition In this paragraph, the term covered small business concerns (i) small business concerns; (ii) qualified HUBZone small business concerns; (iii) small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans; (iv) small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans; (v) small business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, as defined in paragraph (3)(C); and (vi) small business concerns owned and controlled by women. (B) Delayed acceptance of plan Except as provided in subparagraph (E), if a procurement center representative or commercial market representative determines that a subcontracting plan required under paragraph (4) or (5) fails to provide the maximum practicable opportunity for covered small business concerns to participate in the performance of the contract to which the plan applies, the representative may delay acceptance of the plan in accordance with subparagraph (C). (C) Process for delayed acceptance (i) In general Except as provided in clause (ii), a procurement center representative or commercial market representative who makes a determination under subparagraph (B) with respect to a subcontracting plan may delay acceptance of the plan for a 30-day period by providing written notice of the determination to head of the procuring activity of the contracting agency that includes recommendations for altering the plan to provide the maximum practicable opportunity described in that subparagraph. (ii) Exception In the case of the Department of Defense— (I) a procurement center representative or commercial market representative who makes a determination under subparagraph (B) with respect to a subcontracting plan may delay acceptance of the plan for a 15-day period by providing written notice of the determination to appropriate personnel of the Department of Defense that includes recommendations for altering the plan to provide the maximum practicable opportunity described in that subparagraph; and (II) the authority of a procurement center representative or commercial market representative to delay acceptance of a subcontracting plan as provided in subparagraph (B) does not include the authority to delay the award or performance of the contract concerned. (D) Disagreements If a procurement center representative or commercial market representative delays the acceptance of a subcontracting plan under subparagraph (C) and does not reach agreement with the head of the procuring activity of the contracting agency to alter the plan to provide the maximum practicable opportunity described in subparagraph (B) not later than 30 days after the date on which written notice was provided, the disagreement shall be submitted to the head of the contracting agency by the Administrator for a final determination. (E) Exception A procurement center representative or commercial market representative may not delay the acceptance of a subcontracting plan if the head of the contracting agency certifies that the need of the agency for the supplies or services is of such an unusual and compelling urgency that the United States would be seriously injured unless the agency is permitted to accept the subcontracting plan. . 5. Good faith compliance Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall issue regulations providing examples of activities that would be considered a failure to make a good faith effort to comply with the requirements imposed on an entity, other than a small business concern, (as defined in section 3 of the Small Business Act ( 15 U.S.C. 632 15 U.S.C. 637(d)

Summary: Small Business Subcontracting Transparency Act of 2015 (Sec. 2) This bill amends the Small Business Act to revise requirements with respect to the Small Business Administration (SBA) review and acceptance of subcontracting plans. If a contractor or subcontractor fails to comply in good faith with assurances for the submission of periodic reports and cooperate in any studies or surveys required by the federal agency or the SBA to determine the extent of compliance with the contracting plan, such failure shall be a material breach of the contract or subcontract and may be considered in any past performance evaluation of the contractor. (Sec. 3) The bill eliminates the limitation that SBA findings submitted to an appropriate federal agency after review of solicitations for procurement contracts be &quot;advisory in nature.&quot; (Sec. 4) A federal agency's procurement center representative (PCR) or commercial market representative (CMR) may delay acceptance of a subcontracting plan for 30 days if the PCR or CMR determines that it fails to provide the maximum practicable opportunity for certain covered small businesses to participate in the performance of the applicable contract. The written notice of such determination to the contracting agency's head of the procuring activity must include recommendations for altering the plan to provide the maximum practicable opportunity. In the case of a Department of Defense PCR or CMR, the acceptance may be delayed for only 15 days. This delayed acceptance authority, however, does not include delay of the award or performance of the contract. A PCR or CMR may not delay acceptance of a subcontracting plan if the head of the contracting agency certifies that the agency's need for the supplies or services is of such an unusual and compelling urgency that the United States would be seriously injured unless the agency is permitted to accept the subcontracting plan. (Sec. 5) The SBA shall issue regulations providing examples of activities that would be considered a failure to make a good faith effort to comply with the requirements imposed on any entity (other than a small business) awarded a prime contract exceeding a certain amount that contains certain required SBA clauses regarding subcontracting plans.