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. NAD-
LER, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. SES-
SIONS, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. KUCINICH, and Mr.
FILNER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee 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 jurisdic-
tion 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 con-
struction projects.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Construction Industry
Payment Protection Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ADMINIS-
TRATOR FOR FEDERAL PROCUREMENT POL-
ICY.
Section 6(d) of the Office of Federal Procurement
Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 405(d)) is amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (9), (10), (11),
(12), and (13), as aragraphs (10), (11), (12), (13),
and (14), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol-
lowing new paragraph:
‘‘(9) establishing appropriate Government-wide
policies and assuring Government-wide implementa-
tion through the Federal Acquisition Regulation of
policies assuring the timely payment of contractors,
subcontractors, sureties, and suppliers consistent
with existing laws, including chapter 39 of title 31,
United States Code (commonly known as the
‘‘Prompt Payment Act’’), the Miller Act (40 U.S.C.
270a–270d–1), and section 2091 of the Federal Ac-
quisition Streamlining Act of 1994 (Public Law
103–355; 108 Stat. 3306);’’.
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE MILLER ACT.
(a) ENHANCEMENT OF PAYMENT BOND PROTEC-
TION.—Subsection (a)(2) of the first section of the Miller
Act (40 U.S.C. 270a(a)(2)) is amended by striking the
second, third, and fourth sentences and inserting in lieu
thereof the following: ‘‘The amount of the payment bond
shall be equal to the total amount payable by the terms
of the contract unless the contracting officer awarding the
contract makes a written determination supported by spe-
cific findings that a payment bond in that amount is im-
practical, in which case the amount of the payment bond
shall be set by the contracting officer. In no case shall
the amount of the payment bond be less than the amount
of the performance bond.’’.
(b) MODERNIZATION OF DELIVERY OF NOTICE.—
Section 2(a) of the Miller Act (40 U.S.C. 270b(a)) is
amended in the last sentence by striking ‘‘mailing the
same by registered mail, postage prepaid, in an envelope
addressed’’ and inserting ‘‘any means which provides writ-
ten, third-party verification of delivery.’’.
(c) NONWAIVER OF RIGHTS.—The second section of
the Miller Act (40 U.S.C. 270b) is amended by adding
at the end the following new subsection:
‘‘(c) Any waiver of the right to sue on the payment
bond required by this Act shall be void unless it is in writ-
ing, signed by the person whose right is waived, and exe-
cuted after such person has first furnished labor or mate-
rial for use in the performance of the contract.’’.
SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION THROUGH THE GOVERNMENT-
WIDE PROCUREMENT REGULATIONS.
(a) PROPOSED REGULATIONS.—Proposed revisions
to the Government-wide Federal Acquisition Regulation to
implement the amendments made by this Act shall be pub-
lished not later than 120 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act and provide not less than 60 days for
public comment.
(b) FINAL REGULATIONS.—Final regulations shall be
published not less than 180 days after the date of the en-
actment of this Act and shall be effective on the date that
is 30 days after the date of publication.
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