A bill to improve small business access to Federal procurement information.
PL 98-72 (S.272), enacted 08/11/1983

PUBLIC LAW 98-72—AUG. 11, 1983 
97 STAT. 403 
Public Law 98-72 
98th Congress 
An Act 
To improve small business access to Federal procurement information. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That (a) section 8(e) 
of the Small Business Act is amended to read as follows: 
"(e)(1) It shall be the duty of the Secretary of Commerce, and the 
Secretary is hereby empowered, to obtain notice of all proposed 
competitive and noncompetitive civilian and defense procurement 
actions of $10,000 and above from any Federal department, estab-
lishment or agency (hereinafter in this subsection referred to as 
'department') engaged in procurement of property, supplies, and 
services in the United States; and to publicize such notices in the 
daily publication Commerce Business Daily, immediately after the 
necessity for the procurement is established: Provided, That nothing 
in this paragraph shall require publication of such notices with 
respect to those procurements in which it is determined on a case-
by-case basis that (A) the procurement for security reasons is of a 
classified nature; (B) the Federal department's need for the prop-
erty, supplies, or services is of such unusual and compelling urgency 
that the Government would be seriously injured if the time periods 
provided for in paragraph (2) were complied with; (C) a foreign 
government reimburses the Federal department for the cost of the 
procurement of the property, supplies, or services for such govern-
ment and only one source is available, or the terms of an interna-
tional agreement or treaty between the United States and a foreign 
government authorize or require that all such procurement shall be 
from sources specified within such international agreement or 
treaty; (D) the procurement is made from another Government 
department or agency, or a mandatory source of supply; (E) the 
procurement is for utility services and only one source is available; 
(F) the procurement is made against an order placed under a 
requirement or similar contract, including orders for perishable 
subsistence supplies; (G) the procurement results from acceptance of 
a proposal pursuant to the Small Business Innovation Development 
Act of 1982 or an unsolicited proposal that demonstrates a unique or 
innovative research concept and publication of such unsolicited 
proposal would improperly disclose the originality of thought or 
innovativeness of the proposed research; or (H) it is determined in 
writing by the head of the Federal department, with the concur-
rence of the Administrator, that advance notice is not appropriate 
or reasonable. 
"(2) Whenever a Federal department is required to publish notice 
of procurement actions pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection, 
such department shall not— 
"(A) issue a solicitation until at least fifteen days have 
elapsed from the date of publication of a proper notice of the 
action in the Commerce Business Daily, except if the solicitation 
is for procurement of requirements categorized as research or 
Aug. 11, 1983 
[S. 272] 
Small Business 
Act, 
amendment. 
15 u s e 637. 
Proposed 
procurement 
action notices, 
publication. 
15 u s e 631 note. 
Procurement 
actions by 
Federal 
departments, 
notice 
requirements. 
97 STAT. 404 
PUBLIC LAW 98-72—AUG. 11, 1983 
Notice format. 
15 use 638. 
Report to 
Congress. 
development effort, in which case until at least thirty days have 
elapsed from the date of such publication; 
"(B) foreclosure competition until at least thirty days have 
elapsed from either (i) the date of issuance of the solicitation, or 
(ii) in the case of orders under a basic agreement, basic ordering 
agreement, or similar arrangement, the date of publication of a 
proper notice of intent to place the order; or 
"(C) commence negotiations for the award of a sole source 
contract until at least thirty days have elapsed from the date of 
publication of a proper notice of intent to contract: Provided, 
That nothing in this subparagraph shall prohibit an officer or 
employee of a Federal department from responding to a request 
for information. 
"(3) Whenever notice is required by paragraph (1), such notice 
shall include— 
"(A) a clear description of the property, supplies, or services to 
be contracted for, which description is not unnecessarily restric-
tive of competition; 
"(B) the name, address and telephone number of the officer or 
employee of the Federal department who may be contacted for 
the purpose of obtaining a copy of either the solicitation or, if 
the notice is for an intent to contract on a sole source basis, such 
specification and information as practicable regarding the serv-
ice or performance to be awarded; and 
"(C) solely with respect to notice of intent to contract on a sole 
source basis, a statement that interested persons are invited to 
identify their interest and capability to respond to such require-
ment, or to submit proposals in response to such notice, within 
the stated period of time provided under paragraph (2). 
"(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, unless the negoti-
ations would be conducted pursuant to this section or section 9 of 
this Act or unless a Federal department's need for the property, 
supplies, or services is of such unusual and compelling urgency that 
the Government would be seriously injured if the provisions of this 
paragraph were complied with, a Federal department may not 
commence negotiations for the award of a sole source contract or a 
contract that results from an unsolicited proposal for more than 
$1,000,000 in fiscal year 1984, for more than $500,000 in fiscal year 
1985 and for more than $300,000 in fiscal year 1986 and each year 
thereafter unless— 
"(A) the head of the procuring activity or his deputy, on a 
nondelegable basis, has approved the authority to enter into 
such contract, and 
"(B) the contracting officer for such contract has evaluated 
the responses to the notice of procurement action required in 
subparagraph (3)(C): 
Provided, That nothing in this subparagraph shall prohibit an 
officer or employee of a Federal department from responding to a 
request for information. Annually, each department shall report to 
the Congress on each negotiation above the stated amount if the 
head of the procuring activity or his deputy did not approve the 
authority to enter into such contract. 
"(5) In the case of all procurement actions in excess of $25,000 in 
which the award of a contract is likely to result in the award of 
subcontracts under such contract, unless the procurement for secu-
rity reasons is of a classified nature, the Federal department shall 
PUBLIC LAW 98-72—AUG. 11, 1983 
97 STAT. 405 
"Sole source 
contract." 
"Unsolicited 
proposal." 
promptly furnish for publication by the Secretary of Commerce a 
notice announcing the award in the Commerce Business Daily. 
"(6) As used in this subsection— 
"(A) the term 'sole source contract' means a contract for the 
purchase of property, supplies or services which is entered into 
or proposed to be entered into by a Federal department after 
soliciting and negotiating with only one source. 
"(B) the term 'unsolicited proposal' means a proposal that is 
submitted to a Federal department on the initiative of the 
submitter for the purpose of obtaining a contract with the 
United States Government, and which is not in response to a 
formal or informal request (other than a departmental request 
constituting a publicized general statement of need in areas of 
science and technology-based research and development that 
are of interest to the department).". 
(bXl) Except as to the amendments made to section 8(eX4) of the 15 use 637 note. 
Small Business Act as added by section (a) of this Act, the amend-
ments made by this Act shall apply to procurement actions initiated 
ninety days after the date of enactment of this Act. 
(2) The amendments made to section 8(e)(4) of the Small Business 
Act as added by section (a) of this Act shall apply to procurement 
actions initiated on or after October 1,1983. 
(3) The provisions of this Act shall apply to the Tennessee Valley 
Authority only with respect to procurements to be paid from appro-
priated funds. 
Approved August 11, 1983. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 272 (H.R. 1043): 
HOUSE REPORTS: No. 98-3 accompanying H.R. 1043 (Comm. on Small Business) and 
No. 98-263 (Comm. of Conference). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 129 (1983): 
Feb. 3, considered and passed Senate. 
Feb. 15, H.R. 1043 considered and passed House. 
Mar. 8, considered and passed House, amended, in lieu of H.R. 1043. 
June 27, Senate agreed to conference report; disagreed to House amendment. 
Aug. 1, House agreed to conference report; receded from its amendment.