Reducing DHS Acquisition Cost Growth Act

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to provide for congressional notification regarding major acquisition program breaches, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Reducing DHS Acquisition Cost Growth Act 2. Congressional notification for major acquisition programs (a) In general Subtitle D of title VIII of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 ( 6 U.S.C. 391 836. Congressional notification and other requirements for major acquisition program breach (a) Requirements within Department in event of breach (1) Notifications (A) Notification of breach If a breach occurs in a major acquisition program, the program manager for such program shall notify the Component Acquisition Executive for such program, the head of the component concerned, the Executive Director of the Program Accountability and Risk Management division, the Under Secretary for Management, and the Deputy Secretary not later than 30 calendar days after such breach is identified. (B) Notification to Secretary If a breach occurs in a major acquisition program and such breach results in a cost overrun greater than 15 percent, a schedule delay greater than 180 days, or a failure to meet any of the performance thresholds from the cost, schedule, or performance parameters specified in the most recently approved acquisition program baseline for such program, the Component Acquisition Executive for such program shall notify the Secretary and the Inspector General of the Department not later than five business days after the Component Acquisition Executive for such program, the head of the component concerned, the Executive Director of the Program Accountability and Risk Management Division, the Under Secretary for Management, and the Deputy Secretary are notified of the breach pursuant to subparagraph (A). (2) Remediation plan and root cause analysis (A) In general If a breach occurs in a major acquisition program, the program manager for such program shall submit to the head of the component concerned, the Executive Director of the Program Accountability and Risk Management division, and the Under Secretary for Management in writing a remediation plan and root cause analysis relating to such breach and program. Such plan and analysis shall be submitted at a date established at the discretion of the Under Secretary for Management. (B) Remediation plan The remediation plan required under this subparagraph (A) shall— (i) explain the circumstances of the breach at issue; (ii) provide prior cost estimating information; (iii) include a root cause analysis that determines the underlying cause or causes of shortcomings in cost, schedule, or performance of the major acquisition program with respect to which such breach has occurred, including the role, if any, of— (I) unrealistic performance expectations; (II) unrealistic baseline estimates for cost or schedule or changes in program requirements; (III) immature technologies or excessive manufacturing or integration risk; (IV) unanticipated design, engineering, manufacturing, or technology integration issues arising during program performance; (V) changes to the scope of such program; (VI) inadequate program funding or changes in planned out-year funding from one 5-year funding plan to the next 5-year funding plan as outlined in the Future Years Homeland Security Program required under section 874; (VII) legislative, legal, or regulatory changes; or (VIII) inadequate program man­age­ment personnel, including lack of sufficient number of staff, training, credentials, certifications, or use of best practices; (iv) propose corrective action to address cost growth, schedule delays, or performance issues; (v) explain the rationale for why a proposed corrective action is recommended; and (vi) in coordination with the Component Acquisition Executive for such program, discuss all options considered, including the estimated impact on cost, schedule, or performance of such program if no changes are made to current requirements, the estimated cost of such program if requirements are modified, and the extent to which funding from other programs will need to be reduced to cover the cost growth of such program. (3) Review of corrective actions (A) In general The Under Secretary for Management shall review the remediation plan required under paragraph (2). The Under Secretary may approve such plan or provide an alternative proposed corrective action within 30 days of the submission of such plan under such paragraph. (B) Submission to Congress Not later than 30 days after the review required under subparagraph (A) is completed, the Under Secretary for Management shall submit to the congressional homeland security committees the following: (i) A copy of the remediation plan and the root cause analysis required under paragraph (2). (ii) A statement describing the corrective action or actions that have occurred pursuant to paragraph (2)(b)(iv) for the major acquisition program at issue, with a justification for such action or actions. (b) Requirements relating to congressional notification if breach occurs (1) Notification to Congress If a notification to the Secretary is made under subsection (a)(1)(B) relating to a breach in a major acquisition program, the Under Secretary for Management shall notify the congressional homeland security committees of such breach in the next quarterly Comprehensive Acquisition Status Report, as required by title I of division D of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016, ( Public Law 114–113 (2) Significant variances in costs or schedule If a likely cost overrun is greater than 20 percent or a likely delay is greater than 12 months from the costs and schedule specified in the acquisition program baseline for a major acquisition program, the Under Secretary for Management shall include in the notification required in paragraph (1) a written certification, with supporting explanation, that— (A) such program is essential to the accomplishment of the Department’s mission; (B) there are no alternatives to the capability or asset provided by such program that will provide equal or greater capability in both a more cost-effective and timely manner; (C) the new acquisition schedule and estimates for total acquisition cost are reasonable; and (D) the management structure for such program is adequate to manage and control cost, schedule, and performance. (c) Definitions In this section: (1) Acquisition The term acquisition (2) Acquisition program The term acquisition program (3) Acquisition program baseline The term acquisition program baseline (4) Best practices The term best practices (A) identifying and validating needs; (B) assessing alternatives to select the most appropriate solution; (C) clearly establishing well-defined requirements; (D) developing realistic cost assessments and schedules; (E) securing stable funding that matches resources to requirements; (F) demonstrating technology, design, and manufacturing maturity; (G) using milestones and exit criteria or specific accomplishments that demonstrate progress; (H) adopting and executing standardized processes with known success across programs; (I) establishing an adequate workforce that is qualified and sufficient to perform necessary functions; and (J) integrating the capabilities described in subparagraphs (A) through (I) into the Department’s mission and business operations. (5) Breach The term breach (6) Congressional homeland security committees The term congressional homeland security committees (A) the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and (B) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and of the Senate. (7) Component Acquisition Executive The term Component Acquisition Executive (8) Major acquisition program The term major acquisition program . (b) Clerical amendment The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 835 the following new item: Sec. 836. Congressional notification and other requirements for major acquisition program breach. . March 20, 2017 Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

Summary: (This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.) Reducing DHS Acquisition Cost Growth Act (Sec. 2) This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the program manager of a major acquisition program (a Department of Homeland Security [DHS] acquisition program that is estimated by the Secretary to require an eventual total expenditure of at least $300 million over its life cycle cost) to notify the program's Component Acquisition Executive (CAE) (the senior acquisition official within a DHS component who is designated to lead a process and staff to provide acquisition and program management oversight, policy, and guidance to ensure that statutory, regulatory, and higher level policy requirements are fulfilled), the head of the component concerned, the Executive Director of the Program Accountability and Risk Management division, the Under Secretary for Management, and the Deputy Secretary of DHS within 30 days after any breach in such program is identified. If such a breach results in a cost overrun greater than 15%, a schedule delay greater than 180 days, or a failure to meet any of the performance thresholds from the cost, schedule, or performance parameters specified in the most recently approved acquisition program baseline for such program, the CAE must notify the DHS Secretary and Inspector General within five business days after such other officials are notified of the breach. If such a breach occurs, the program manager shall submit to the component head, the Executive Director, and the Under Secretary in writing a remediation plan and root cause analysis relating to such breach and program. The remediation plan shall: explain the circumstances of the breach; provide prior cost estimating information; include a root cause analysis that determines the underlying causes of shortcomings in cost, schedule, or performance of the program; propose corrective action to address such shortcomings; explain the rationale for a proposed corrective action; and in coordination with the CAE, discuss all options considered, including the estimated impact on cost, schedule, or performance of such program if no changes are made to current requirements, the estimated cost of such program if requirements are modified, and the extent to which funding from other programs will need to be reduced to cover the cost growth of such program. The Under Secretary for Management shall review the remediation plan and may approve it or provide an alternative proposed corrective action within 30 days of its submission. The Under Secretary shall notify the congressional homeland security committees of such a breach. If a likely cost overrun is greater than 20% or a likely delay is greater than 12 months from the costs and schedule specified in the acquisition program baseline, the Under Secretary for Management shall include in such notification a written certification that: such program is essential to the accomplishment of DHS's mission; there are no alternatives to the capability or asset provided by such program that will provide equal or greater capability in both a more cost-effective and timely manner; the new acquisition schedule and estimates for total acquisition cost are reasonable; and the management structure for such program is adequate to manage and control cost, schedule, and performance.