FACE Act
PL 116-272 (S.979), enacted 12/31/2020

[116th Congress Public Law 272]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



[[Page 134 STAT. 3349]]

Public Law 116-272
116th Congress

                                 An Act


 
  To amend the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 to 
 incorporate the recommendations made by the Government Accountability 
          Office relating to advance contracts, and for other 
             purposes. <<NOTE: Dec. 31, 2020 -  [S. 979]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Federal Advance 
Contracts Enhancement Act. 6 USC 701 note.>> 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Advance Contracts Enhancement 
Act'' or the ``FACE Act''.
SEC. 2. <<NOTE: 6 USC 791 note.>>  FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the Post-Katrina Emergency Management and Reform Act of 
        2006 (Public Law 109-925; 120 Stat. 1394) required the Federal 
        Emergency Management Agency to establish advance contracts, 
        which are established prior to disasters and are typically 
        needed to quickly provide life-sustaining goods and services in 
        the immediate aftermath of a disaster;
            (2) the catastrophic hurricanes and wildfires in the United 
        States in 2017 highlighted the importance of these advance 
        contracts in disaster response;
            (3) in a report issued by the Government Accountability 
        Office entitled ``2017 Disaster Contracting: Action Needed to 
        Better Ensure More Effective Use and Management of Advance 
        Contracts'', the Government Accountability Office identified a 
        number of challenges with advance contracts and recommended 
        actions to improve management by the Federal Emergency 
        Management Agency of these contracts for future disasters; and
            (4) section 691 of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management 
        Reform Act of 2006 (6 U.S.C. 791) should be amended to 
        incorporate the recommendations made by the report described in 
        paragraph (3) to ensure more effective use and management of 
        advance contracts.
SEC. 3. FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY ADVANCE CONTRACTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 691 of the Post-Katrina Emergency 
Management Reform Act of 2006 (6 U.S.C. 791) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:
    ``(e) Updated Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this subsection, the Administrator shall submit to the 
appropriate committees of Congress an updated report that contains--

[[Page 134 STAT. 3350]]

            ``(1) the information required in the initial report under 
        subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection (a)(1); and
            ``(2) <<NOTE: Strategy.>>  an updated strategy described in 
        subsection (a)(1)(C) that clearly defines--
                    ``(A) the objectives of advance contracts;
                    ``(B) how advance contracts contribute to disaster 
                response operations of the Agency;
                    ``(C) how to maximize the award of advance contracts 
                to small business concerns, as defined in section 3 of 
                the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632); and
                    ``(D) whether and how advance contracts should be 
                prioritized in relation to new post-disaster contract 
                awards.

    ``(f) <<NOTE: Deadlines.>>  Additional Duties of the 
Administrator.--
            ``(1) Head of contracting.--The Administrator shall ensure 
        that the head of contracting activity of the Agency--
                    ``(A) not later than 270 days after the date of 
                enactment of this subsection, updates the Disaster 
                Contracting Desk Guide of the Agency to provide specific 
                guidance--
                          ``(i) on whether and under what circumstances 
                      contracting officers should consider using 
                      existing advance contracts entered into in 
                      accordance with this section prior to making new 
                      post-disaster contract awards, and include this 
                      guidance in existing semi-annual training given to 
                      contracting officers; and
                          ``(ii) for contracting officers to perform 
                      outreach to State and local governments on the 
                      potential benefits of establishing their own pre-
                      negotiated advance contracts;
                    ``(B) <<NOTE: Records.>>  adheres to hard copy 
                contract file management requirements in effect to 
                ensure that the files relating to advance contracts 
                entered into in accordance with this section are 
                complete and up to date, whether the files will be 
                transferred into the Electronic Contract Filing System 
                of the Agency or remain in hard copy format;
                    ``(C) <<NOTE: Notification. Time period.>>  notifies 
                contracting officers of the 3-day time frame requirement 
                for entering completed award documentation into the 
                contract writing system of the Agency when executing 
                notice to proceed documentation;
                    ``(D) not later than 180 days after the date of 
                enactment of this subsection, revises the reporting 
                methodology of the Agency to ensure that all disaster 
                contracts are included in each quarterly report 
                submitted to the appropriate congressional committees 
                under this section on disaster contract actions;
                    ``(E) identifies a single centralized resource 
                listing advance contracts entered into under this 
                section and ensures that source is current and up to 
                date and includes all available advance contracts; and
                    ``(F) communicates complete and up-to-date 
                information on available advance contracts to State and 
                local governments to inform their advance contracting 
                efforts.
            ``(2) Master acquisition planning schedule.--Not later than 
        180 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 
        Administrator shall update and implement guidance for program 
        office and acquisition personnel of the Agency to--

[[Page 134 STAT. 3351]]

                    ``(A) identify acquisition planning time frames and 
                considerations across the entire acquisition planning 
                process of the Agency; and
                    ``(B) clearly communicate the purpose and use of a 
                master acquisition planning schedule.''.

    (b) <<NOTE: 6 USC 791 note.>>  Report.--The Administrator of the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency shall regularly update the 
appropriate committees of Congress (as defined in section 602 of the 
Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (6 U.S.C. 701)) on 
the progress of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in implementing 
the recommendations of the Government Accountability Office in the 
report entitled ``2017 Disaster Contracting: Action Needed to Better 
Ensure More Effective Use and Management of Advance Contracts'', as 
required under section 691 of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management 
Reform Act of 2006 (6 U.S.C. 791), as amended by subsection (a).

    Approved December 31, 2020.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 979:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

SENATE REPORTS: No. 116-84 (Comm. on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD:
                                                        Vol. 165 (2019):
                                    Nov. 7, considered and passed 
                                        Senate.
                                                        Vol. 166 (2020):
                                    Dec. 18, considered and passed 
                                        House.

                                  <all>