PWS_DRAFT.docx

Performance Work Statement: Quality Assurance Reporting Bureau of Labor Statistics Branch of Procurement, Property, and Contract Management

1.0 PURPOSE

1.1 Environment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is an agency of the Department of Labor (DOL). Within BLS, the Branch of Procurement, Property, and Contract Management (BPPCM) is responsible for procuring a variety of supplies and services. Contractor support is required in order to complete our mission and ensure that a high level of quality is achieved.

1.2 Objective. The objective of this requirement is to obtain non personal support services to complete quality assurance reviews of post-award procurement contract files. Quality assurance review activities include a semiannual sample of procurement files proportional to total awards and representative of the BLS procurement environment randomly selected by a representative from BPPCM and reviewing and analyzing those files for compliance with the regulations and policies listed in section 1.3. Additionally, it includes documenting the results of that analysis in a formal and structured report able to be disseminated to Procurement staff to improve their contract performance, conducting a trend analysis, and recommending areas for improvement overall. Note, this review will be performed solely on post-award contract files and contract modifications and is intended to ensure procurement files are well documented and awards are made in accordance with applicable policies and procedures. This is not intended to be a formal audit or to encompass awards requiring cost accounting standards.

1.3 Applicable Regulations. The work performed shall be in conformance with all applicable federal, state, and local regulations and policies, including but not limited to, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), the Department of Labor Acquisition Regulation (DOLAR), and other DOL policy and applicable regulations as appropriate.

2.0 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

2.1 Work requiring access to BLS procurement folders shall be conducted on site at the BLS national office, Monday – Friday, within the hours of 8:00 am and 6:00 pm. On site work shall be performed in Government-provided offices using Government-provided office equipment and supplies. Work not requiring access to BLS procurement folders may be conducted at a location determined by the contractor.

2.2 Unless required under the terms of the contract or authorized by the Contracting Officer, the contractor shall not work at any government facility, nor should any deliveries under this contract be made to any government facility on any federal holidays.

2.3 For any work that was determined by the Government to be late, incomplete, or unsatisfactory, the contractor shall take necessary action to ensure that future performance conforms to contract requirements.

2.4 If any of the services either continually or egregiously fail to conform to contract requirements, the Government may, in addition to any other remedies available, reject the associated invoice by any amount. Alternatively, the Government may require the Contractor to perform the services again in conformity with contract requirements at no increase in contract amount. When the defects in services cannot be corrected by re-performance, the Government shall decrement invoices to reduce the contract price to reflect the reduced value of services performed as allowed by FAR 52.246-4, Inspection of Services – Fixed Price.

2.5 Program management. The contractor shall identify a Program Manager (PM) for this contract to the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and Contracting Officer (CO). The PM shall ensure the existence of the necessary management, personnel, and equipment/supplies (not otherwise provided by the Government) required to perform the services defined in this work statement. This includes the planning, coordination, and surveillance of the activities necessary to assure disciplined work performance and timely resources application to accomplish all tasks under this contract. The PM is responsible for direct interaction with the COR and CO regarding overall contract quality and performance including responsiveness, work product quality, reporting, and workload management. The PM shall perform quality control actions on the work product of all assigned personnel under this contract in accordance with the Quality Control provisions of this contract. The PM shall be responsible for immediately notifying the COR of any problems preventing timely performance on this contract.

2.6 Contractor workforce qualifications. The Contractor shall provide acquisition and technical expertise familiar with the full range of simplified and complex acquisitions of both products and services in the Federal government. The Contractor shall provide personnel familiar with current FAR requirements and government contracting best practices. Provided personnel shall have general computer competencies and shall be familiar and well-versed in the use of all Microsoft Office products, including Word and Excel for the formation of reports and other supporting documentation, and shall provide clear, concise, factual semiannual quality assurance reports in accordance with the objectives outlined in this performance work statement. The Contractor shall use sound professional expertise to produce the semiannual quality assurance reports and be able to explain their analysis to the COR and other interested parties accurately and with the backing of the policy and regulatory framework governing the BLS acquisition process.

All contractor personnel assigned under this contract as having a role in reviewing BLS procurement files and contributing to the content of the semiannual reports shall have a minimum of a Level I FAC-C or DAWIA Acquisition certification. At least one member of the assigned team shall have a Level III FAC-C or DAWIA certification and a skill set required of the civil service OPM 1102 series with competence at the GS-14 or GS-15 equivalent level (position classification standards of Contract Specialist, GS-1102-14 or GS-1102-15, as described at http://www.opm.gov/fedclass/gs1102.pdf. ) The PM and the senior acquisition professional assigned on this contract shall remain constant for a minimum of the contract base year in order to provide consistency and valuable trend analysis to the Government.

2.7 Key Personnel. The Senior Acquisition staff member is considered key personnel for this contract. Qualifications for the PM and/or senior acquisition professional are outlined in section 2.6. If the senior acquisition staff member assigned cannot also serve as a point of contact for program management related activities, questions, and concerns, the contractor should provide a management point of contact to fulfill these duties should they arise.

The Contractor shall notify the CO prior to making any changes in personnel assigned to the key position. Changes in key personnel and other contractor staff during the life of the contract (including the first 90 days) may be necessitated due to exigencies agreed to by the Government COR and the contractor in coordination with the Contracting Officer. The Contractor shall provide a detailed explanation of the circumstances necessitating any proposed substitutions, complete resumes for the proposed new staff, and any additional information requested by the Government COR and the Contracting Officer. The Contractor shall, prior to making any substitution permanent, demonstrate to the satisfaction of the COR that the qualifications of the proposed substitute personnel are equal to or better than the qualifications of the personnel originally identified for or in that position. The Contracting Officer will notify the Contractor within 15 calendar days after receipt of all required information of the decision on proposed substitutions.”

2.8 Responsiveness. An integral part of successful performance under this contract is not only the production of quality products described in part 3.0, “Quality Assurance Activities and Deliverables/Outputs” but also the responsiveness of contractor personnel in the oversight and administration of each review.

2.9 The contractor shall provide to the COR a current schedule for its entire staff assigned to the contract including planned leave. The contractor shall assign alternatives to cover assignments of any of its staff that are absent sufficient to ensure the provision of services and agreed to timelines are not disrupted.

2.10 Disclosure and avoidance of inherently governmental functions. The contractor shall not perform or give the appearance of performing inherently governmental functions as described in FAR Part 2 and Subpart 7.5. All contractor personnel shall identify themselves as contracted support personnel in all forms of communication.

3.0 QUALITY ASSURANCE ACTIVITIES AND DELIVERABLES/OUTPUTS

3.1 The Contractor shall conduct semiannual quality assurance reviews of post-award BLS hard copy procurement files.

3.1.1 The number of files reviewed for each semiannual review shall be proportional to the number of files awarded during that period ranging from no less than 50 files reviewed to no more than 100 files reviewed.

3.1.2 The contractor shall provide a pre-approved report, designed by the contractor, with a breakdown of errors at the Branch, Team, and Individual level. Each of these reports will be disseminated to their respective groups or individual and should advise the Branch, Team, or Individual as to how to prevent or mitigate the recorded errors.

3.1.3 The review shall consider all FAR and DOLAR regulations as well as all other applicable policies and procedures specific to each procurement action. The contractor may consult with the COR or other members of BPPCM staff while undergoing file review for guidance and clarification, as necessary.

3.1.4 The BLS procurement environment is as follows:

· All BLS contract awards within the scope of this quality assurance review are considered commercial items and services and have been competed following the commercial item test program procedures.

· All BLS contract awards within the scope of this review are competed utilizing FAR Part 12 or FAR Part 8. While FAR Part 15 may be used in conjunction with the above, BLS does not at this time conduct any FAR Part 15 competitions. Review of a FAR Part 15 competed requirement in the scope of this contract would be extremely rare if ever occurring.

· Based on previous years’ contract awards the breakdown of contract actions within scope for review is estimated to be as follows:

· 700-900 contract actions awarded annually

· 45% new contract awards for products or simple services such as software maintenance

· 5% new contract awards for services requiring a SOW or PWS

· 50% modifications to existing contracts

· Approximately 85% of awarded contract actions are under the simplified acquisition threshold.

· The BLS procurement branch consists of three teams: Business Process and Policy, IT Products and Services, and Non-IT Products and Administrative Services. Only the latter two teams will be subject to this review. The teams consist of a total of four Contracting Officers (COs), three additional COs who also serve as contract specialists, four additional contract specialists, and two purchasing agents.

3.2 Prior to each contract review the COR and the Contractor will agree on 5-10 specific procurement requirements for which the Contractor shall complete a spreadsheet template, statistically documenting certain procurement errors for each file. Such areas may include presence of all required signatures, presence of required market research documentation, completeness and quality of FPDS reporting, etc.

3.3 The Contractor shall use the completed spreadsheet to create pivot tables to display summary results for each review. Summary pivot tables shall be provided to illustrate at a minimum the number of errors for each contract specialist, number of files reviewed per each contract specialist, and counts of each type of error over all for sample reviewed. The contractor may (and is encouraged to) provide any additional pivot tables or statistical summaries they deem to be significant or relevant to the final report.

3.4 The Contractor shall provide a draft and final report narrating the results for each semiannual review. The Contractor shall dictate the format of the report, but shall maintain a consistent formatting across all delivered reports for the life of the contract. The report shall cover at a minimum the following elements:

· A summary detailing the timeline of the review and the number of files reviewed

· A summary of the pivot table results as detailed in section 3.3;

· A summary detailing errors broken down by Branch, Teams, and Individuals to be disseminated to appropriate staff

· A findings section detailing any errors or issues discovered in order of importance or egregiousness, citing the full file number from which the discovery was made. This section also should specify recommended corrective actions such as augmentation of documentation or contract modifications as appropriate for each folder reviewed.

· A discussion of any recommended areas for BLS to focus on in the coming review period to improve the procurement process, and any suggestions for improvement, potentially including specific recommended steps for addressing the deficiencies such as training or external resources for management to consider implementing.

· Following the first report, successive reports shall include a trend analysis describing any procurement issues continuing from previous reviews and highlighting any areas of quality improvement or decline.

Reports shall be limited to no more than ten written pages, size 11 font, 1 inch margins. The ten written page limit is not inclusive of attachments.

Deliverables and Timeframes:

· An entrance conference will be held within five business days of the contract award.

· The Contractor will be provided with hardcopy contract files within 10 business days of the entrance conference.

· For the first review period the contractor shall review ten percent of the files in the sample and document any findings in the Contractor’s proposed reporting template with the required breakdown. This initial draft shall be provided to the within 15 business days of being provided with the files for review. Government

· The Government will review the provided report within five business days and consult with the Contractor to provide feedback. The Government and the Contractor will come to agreement on the format and general content of the Quality Assurance reports within 30 business days from the date the files are provided to the contractor by BLS.

· The Contractor shall deliver a complete draft report with branch, team, and individual breakdowns within 30 business days from the date the Contractor and Government agree on the report framework.

· The Contractor shall provide an in person consultation on the draft report with the COR. Following this consultation, the Government shall review and comment on the draft report within 15 business days.

· The Contractor shall provide a final report within 10 business days of receiving the Government’s comments. The COR shall be responsible for inspection and acceptance of this final draft. . If, upon review of the final report, the COR finds the contractor to not have addresses all comments sufficiently, additional resubmissions may be required at no additional cost.

· The Contractor shall deliver an in-person debriefing within 10 business days of delivering the final report. This debriefing will be a presentation of review results and recommendations to management and procurement staff.

Note, upon award of this contract the due dates stated below will be replaced with actual dates for reference.

Contractor Within 30 business days of deliverable 2

Subsequent semiannual reviews will follow the same above schedule excluding deliverables 1, 3, 4, and 5 Thus draft reviews will be due to the Government within 30 days of being provided with the files for all subsequent reviews.

3.5 Performance Requirements Summary (PRS)

a. The contract service requirements are summarized in performance objectives that relate directly to mission essential items. The Acceptable Quality Level (AQL) briefly describes the minimally acceptable performance threshold required for each performance objective.

Performance Objective

Quality Control The contractor shall develop and adhere to quality requirements

Timelines The contractor shall meet established deadlines for deliverables.

Communication The contractor shall maintain communication with agency about delays and unexpected issues that may impact the project schedule, quality of deliverables or cost.

Quality The contractor shall ensure all deliverables are complete and accurate per the approved study plan.

Cost The contractor shall ensure all costs are according to the firm fixed price listed in the awarded contract

3.6 Contractor’s Quality Control Plan. The contractor shall review the work products of staff provided under the contract to ensure conformance with the requirements of the performance work statement and the performance requirements summary (PRS) prior to submitting the final semiannual deliverable (quality assurance report) to the Government. In addition to reviewing work products, the contractor PM shall solicit feedback from the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) periodically to ensure that the quality of work meets the Government’s standards.

4.0 Government Furnished Materials and Facilities

4.1 Facilities, Supplies, and Services . Work requiring access to BPPCM procurement folders shall be performed at Government-provided facilities in Washington, DC at the following address:

Basic facilities such as work space and its associated operating equipment (phones, desks, utilities, computers, information technology, and consumable and general purpose office supplies) shall be provided while working in Government facilities.

4.2 Information. The Government shall provide information, material, and templates unique to the Government for supporting the task. All Government unique information related to this requirement, which is necessary for Contractor performance, shall be made available to the Contractor. The COR shall be the point of contact for identification of any required information to be supplied by the Government.

5.0 Confidentiality and Security Requirements. The contractor will have access to sensitive BLS data and agrees to adhere to the attached confidentiality and security requirements.

6.0 Period of Performance

1 year from date of award with four one year option periods.

BLS Confidentiality and Security Requirements

1. Work under this contract will involve exposure to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data that were collected by the BLS under a pledge of confidentiality for exclusively statistical purposes. Statistical purposes are defined as the description, estimation, or analysis of the characteristics of groups without identifying the individuals or organizations that comprise such groups, and the development, implementation, or maintenance of methods, procedures, or information resources that support such purposes. The majority of data collected by BLS are provided on a voluntary basis by respondents who have agreed to provide the information for the statistical purpose(s) specified by the BLS. A violation of the confidence that respondents place in the BLS would endanger the ability of the BLS to carry out its duties. Therefore, the Contractor and its employees must handle any such data, that they may come into contact with as a result of contract work, in accordance with Section 512 of the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 (CIPSEA) (Title 5 of Public Law 107-347) and other applicable Federal laws. Due to the possible exposure to data protected by law under CIPSEA, the BLS may, in accordance with this contract, designate Contractor employees as agents of the BLS. All such agents are subject to the fines and penalties under Section 513 of CIPSEA and any other fines and penalties that apply to the mishandling of confidential information. The “Confidential Information Protection” provisions of CIPSEA appear as Attachment A of these requirements.

2. For the purposes of this contract, "confidential information" may include any of the following:

a. Statutorily Protected Data. Data or information collected by the BLS, including its agents, under a pledge of confidentiality and/or data protected from public disclosure under CIPSEA, the Workforce Investment Act, the Trade Secrets Act, or other Federal laws.

b. Respondent Identifiable Information. Any representation of information that permits the identity of participants in BLS statistical programs to be reasonably inferred by either direct or indirect means. BLS-specific examples include but are not limited to survey sample composition, lists of reporters, names of respondents, and brand names, regardless of the source of such lists or names.

c. Personally Identifiable Information. Any representation of information about an individual, maintained by the BLS, that permits the identity of the individual to whom the information applies to be reasonably inferred by either direct of indirect means. BLS-specific examples include but are not limited to, education, financial transactions, and medical, criminal, or employment history, and information which can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, such as their name, social security number, date and place of birth, mother’s maiden name, biometric records, etc., including any other personal information which is linked or linkable to an individual.

d. Principal Federal Economic Indicator (PFEI) Pre-release Information. Statistics and analyses produced by the BLS that have not yet been released to the public and have been designated by the Office of Management and Budget as Principal Federal Economic Indicators. Currently, the following BLS data series have been designated as PFEIs: the Consumer Price Index, Employment Situation, Employment Cost Index, Producer Price Indexes, Productivity and Costs, Real Earnings, and U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes.

e. Non-PFEI Pre-release Information. Statistics and analyses, not designated as PFEIs, that have not yet been released to the public, whether or not there is a set date and time of release before which they must not be divulged.

f. Restricted Access Information. Information describing the internal practices of the BLS that should be limited in access to individuals with a need-to-know. BLS-specific examples include but are not limited to system security documentation and vulnerability assessments, procurement-sensitive information, systems-specific operating procedures, and internal reports.

3. In performing work under this contract, the Contractor agrees that access to the confidential information will be restricted to authorized persons. For the purposes of this contract, "authorized persons" is defined as: authorized BLS personnel and individuals designated as agents of the BLS who are authorized access to the confidential information for the statistical purposes set out under this contract and who have signed a BLS Agent Agreement (Attachment B) swearing to comply with CIPSEA and other applicable Federal laws in the handling of BLS confidential information.

The parties understand and agree to the following:

a. Authorized persons granted access to confidential information will not make use of the information for any purpose other than to carry out tasks specifically authorized under the contract.

b. Authorized persons will not seek to obtain access to confidential information that is not needed to carry out contract work.

c. The Contractor will promptly furnish to the BLS a list of Contractor employees who the Contractor believes require access to BLS confidential information in order to perform work on the contract. The BLS will consider such persons for designation as agents of the BLS. If the BLS deems it necessary to decline to approve any such employee as an agent, the Contractor may furnish the name of another Contractor employee to the BLS for consideration.

d. The BLS will furnish to the Contractor BLS Agent Agreements for all approved agents. The Contractor will forward all signed BLS Agent Agreements to the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) prior to such agents receiving access to the confidential information.

e. The Contractor will keep records on current Agent designations and will report such information promptly to the COR upon request.

f. The Contractor will assure that all agents will comply with their obligations under the BLS Agent Agreement and under the contract.

4. Agents shall not be regarded as employees of the United States Government, the Department of Labor, or the BLS for any purpose. The parties further understand and agree to the following:

a. The Contractor shall notify the BLS promptly whenever an agent is no longer associated with the Contractor or when an agent no longer requires access to confidential information. The Contractor shall notify the BLS immediately whenever an agent’s access to confidential data may endanger the confidentiality of data.

b. BLS may, without advance notice, discontinue or suspend any BLS Agent Agreement or any agent’s access to its information at any time, within its own absolute discretion.

c. In the event of such suspension or discontinuance, the employing Contractor will propose a Contractor employee deemed suitable by the BLS as a replacement agent, where such employee’s services are needed to carry out the Contractor’s responsibilities under this contract.

d. No BLS Agent Agreement nor any discontinuance nor suspension thereof, nor any denial of access to information, will result in any payment of any kind nor any legal liability by the BLS, the Department of Labor, or the United States Government.

e. Discontinuance of any BLS Agent Agreement will not affect any obligation of the Contractor or the designated agent to safeguard confidential data or any intellectual property rights set forth in this contract or in any BLS Agent Agreement.

5. The Contractor agrees, in the performance of this contract, to screen employees and to use only those employees who have a demonstrated record of honesty, trustworthiness, integrity, and reliability as ascertained by the Contractor. All Contractor personnel selected to work under this contract shall be subject to any United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) background investigation(s) deemed appropriate by BLS, including a National Agency Check and Inquiry (NACI) or higher level of investigation. BLS will pay all costs directly related to the background investigation(s). Contractor personnel may be required to complete forms and be fingerprinted for the OPM investigations. Such investigation(s) may be conducted at any time during the existence of the contract. If there are questions concerning the suitability (as defined in Title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 731) of an individual following such background investigation(s), notification and an opportunity to respond will be provided to the individual. If the individual is found to be unsuitable, BLS reserves the right to require the Contractor to remove and/or replace said individual from his/her duties under the contract. Such removal and/or replacement shall not alter or affect the responsibility of the Contractor to meet the performance standards prescribed in this contract. In the absence of a written waiver by contract personnel, the provisions of the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a) may preclude discussion with the Contractor of the details of the background investigation(s) and/or BLS action.

6. All agents will perform activities subject to this contract under the control of the COR or any other BLS official that the BLS designates.

7. All agents must agree, in writing, to comply with all provisions of law that affect information acquired by the BLS including, among other laws, the Trade Secrets Act, the Workforce Investment Act, and the Privacy Act. They must specifically swear (or affirm) to comply with the provisions of Section 512 of CIPSEA, as set forth in the BLS Agent Agreement attached as Attachment B. Agents who improperly disclose confidential information may be subject to criminal sanctions.

8. The Contractor agrees not to divulge, publish, reproduce, or otherwise disclose, in any manner or to any extent, confidential information, in whole or in part, to any individual other than authorized persons.

9. The Contractor and all of its employees shall not release any reports or other outputs (including those oral or written and regardless of format) prepared using confidential information, unless cleared in advance by the COR or other official designated by the BLS. Such clearance will be to assure that no such outputs involve the inappropriate release of confidential information. All parties, including Contractors and its employees, will be bound by the determinations of such BLS official.

10. The Contractor agrees to notify the COR immediately upon discovering any breach or suspected breach of security, or any disclosure of the confidential information. A breach is any opportunity for, or actual instance of, an unauthorized individual accessing confidential information. Examples of breaches may include mailing respondent surveys to an incorrect address, the loss or theft of a computing device, email or fax transmittals of confidential information sent to an unintended recipient, or any unauthorized advance release.

11. The Contractor agrees to notify the COR immediately upon receipt of any legal, investigatory, or other demand for access to the confidential information in any form.

12. The Contractor agrees not to attempt to link BLS confidential information with individually identifiable records from any BLS or non-BLS data set without the written approval of the COR. The Contractor must show to the satisfaction of the BLS that they are able to legally extend to the BLS permission to access all such non-BLS data. Permission must be extended to BLS employees and agents to access the non-BLS data. All new data sets created from linking BLS confidential information with other data are protected by CIPSEA and must be handled in accordance with the provisions in this contract.

13. In the case that the contract involves the collection of data from respondents, the contractor agrees to notify the COR immediately should any respondent require an agreement be signed prior to providing data to the BLS.

14. If any contract employees must be issued BLS Local Area Network (LAN) IDs, then each such employee must agree to abide by BLS network “Rules of Behavior” prior to receiving an ID.

15. The Contractor agrees to cooperate with BLS in administering BLS-supplied confidentiality and security trainings to all agents designated under this contract. The Contractor agrees to ensure that all agents complete such training within thirty days of being assigned to BLS work and on an annual basis thereafter. The Contractor agrees to follow BLS instruction with regard to reporting on training completion and to provide reasonable evidence of training completion to the BLS upon request. The BLS may consider, but is not obligated to accept, alternate approaches to training delivery and reporting that the contractor may propose to meet this requirement.

16. The Contractor agrees to comply with Federal policies regarding the secure transmission of confidential information including both electronic and physical data transfers. The Contractor shall consult with the COR to determine which data transfer methods are acceptable for the various types of confidential information that are involved in contract performance. Confidential electronic data transfers authorized by the COR must utilize encryption technology that meets the standards established by the Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 140-2, “Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules” (FIPS PUBS 140-2) and any subsequent revisions to these standards. Encrypted email transfers and encrypted portable media are acceptable means of transfer. Encrypted portable media may be delivered by a courier, a BLS employee, or an authorized individual of the recipient, or may be sent via a mail delivery service with tracking capability. In person pick up of an appropriately labeled paper copy, by an authorized individual of the recipient, is also permitted.

17. Upon termination or completion of the contract, or at an earlier time if required by the COR, all source documents or other media provided to the Contractor by BLS that contain confidential information and any documents or other media created by the Contractor that contain confidential information must be returned to the COR, or with the COR’s permission, be destroyed. The Contractor shall ensure that all data that have been deleted cannot be retrieved and reconstructed. Hard copy media (for example, paper printouts, printer and facsimile ribbons, drums, and platens) and electronic or soft copy media (for example, bits and bytes contained in hard drives, random access memory, read-only memory, disks, memory devices, telephones, mobile computing devices, networking equipments) must be properly disposed, cleared, purged, or destroyed in accordance with Federal guidelines. The Contractor shall certify that unnecessary data processed during the performance of this contract was purged from all data storage components of the Contractor’s computer facilities. The Contractor will retain no output after such time as the contract is completed. If the COR directs the Contractor to retain any data, the Contractor shall certify that any BLS data remaining in any storage component will be safeguarded to prevent unauthorized disclosures in accordance with the terms of this contract. The Contractor's failure to surrender or destroy such materials promptly or the Contractor's conversion of such materials to a use not authorized by the contract may be a violation of 18 U.S.C. Section 641.

18. The Contractor agrees not to subcontract or transfer any work in the performance of the contract that would involve the exposure or disclosure of any BLS confidential information orally, in writing, or in any other form, in whole or in part, to the Subcontractors or access to such information by the subcontractor except with the prior written approval of the COR. The Contractor agrees to include BLS confidentiality and security provisions as provided by the COR in all subcontracts awarded to carry out work provided for in this contract. The Contractor agrees to consult with the COR regarding whether subcontractor employees are required to be designated as agents. The Contractor agrees to send to the COR, a copy of any approved subcontract upon execution.

19. Contractor personnel shall be required to sign any individual agreements governing access to information that are required by other Federal agencies as a result of the disclosure of data to Contractor personnel pursuant to this contract.

20. Contractor personnel who have access to pre-release information are prohibited from releasing the data to anyone other than authorized employees of the BLS and authorized agents who require access to such data for the purposes of carrying out their responsibilities under this contract. They shall not gain financially from knowledge of the data. It would be a violation of this contract for Contractor personnel to do the either of the following:

a. Use knowledge of pre-release information to buy or sell stocks, mutual funds, bonds, or futures, or to make or divest themselves of other similar investments.

b. Disclose pre-release information to other persons, or advise or make recommendations to other persons based on knowledge of such data.

21. Privacy Act notification: The Contractor may be required to design, develop, or operate system(s) of records on individuals, to accomplish an Agency function subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, Public Law 93579 (5 U.S.C., Section 552a) as amended (the Act), and applicable agency regulations. Violation of the Act may involve the imposition of criminal penalties (FAR 52.2241). The title(s) of the system(s) of records shall be listed on the respective task orders.

22. The Contractor agrees to:

a. Comply with the Act and the Agency rules and regulations issued pursuant to the Act in the design, development, or operation of any system of records on individuals to accomplish an agency function when the contract specifically identifies:

b. Include the Privacy Act provisions contained in this contract in every solicitation and every subcontract, when the work statement in the proposed subcontract requires the design, development, or operation of a system of records on individuals that is subject to the Act.

c. Include, in all data solicitations requesting information to be placed in a Privacy Act System of Records, a Privacy Act notification statement provided by the BLS.

23. Work under this contract will be performed at BLS facilities or other approved worksites. The Contractor must provide the COR a list of worksites for approval at the start of work provided for in this contract and subsequent task orders, and must notify the COR in writing of any proposed changes (additions or deletions) to the list of worksites. The COR shall indicate approval of the worksites in writing. All work provided for under this contract will be performed at those approved locations only. The Contractor agrees not to remove any electronic media or paper documents containing the confidential information from approved worksites. Exceptions to this provision shall be permitted only with prior, written approval of the COR in accordance with BLS confidentiality and security policies.

24. All Contractor employees selected to work under this contract at BLS controlled facilities for a period over six months must be issued a Personnel Identity Verification (PIV) card in accordance with Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12), Policy for a Common Identification Standard for Federal Employees and Contractors.

The Contractor shall:

a. Consult with the COR to determine the level of security required for Contractor employees.

b. Ensure the Contractor has all required documents and approvals from the COR.

c. Arrange with the COR for the date, time, and location for PIV processing.

d. Ensure that Contractor employees report, with all required documents, to the reporting location determined by the COR.

Upon submission of required PIV documents, Contractor employees will be granted temporary access. If the required forms are not submitted, no access will be granted and no claim against the Government will occur.

25. In some cases, such as data collection activities, contract work may necessitate handling of confidential data away from secure worksites. Where the COR has approved such work arrangements in writing, the contractor agrees to maintain all confidential information in a secure fashion. The Contractor shall provide the contract employees with instructions on maintaining the security of all confidential information. Such instructions are subject to the review and approval of the BLS COR upon request.

26. BLS reserves the right to review and approve or disapprove all the security safeguards instituted to comply with the requirements of this contract. The Contractor agrees to maintain secure worksites within the approved facilities for performance of work under this contract. The confidential information shall be secured in a manner so that it cannot be viewed by, and it is not accessible to, persons who have not been designated as agents of the BLS and who have not signed a BLS Agent Agreement. The contractor agrees to maintain adequate documentation to demonstrate compliance with such requirements. BLS also reserves the right to make unannounced security inspections of the Contractor's facilities and approved worksites to determine compliance with the requirements. BLS data physically and/or electronically maintained at the Contractor’s worksites will be sufficiently segregated from any other confidential data the Contractor maintains in order to facilitate BLS inspections. No other obligations on the part of the Contractor may restrict BLS access to Contractor facilities where BLS confidential information is maintained. The Contractor may not put forth legal qualifications for, or in any way restrict, BLS access to these systems or facilities for the purpose of determining compliance with contract requirements.

27. If the Contractor fails to comply with the requirements contained in this contract, the Contractor shall be deemed to have failed to perform the provision of this contract.

BLS Confidentiality & Security Requirements Attachment A

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION PROTECTION AND STATISTICAL EFFICIENCY Act of 2002 (TITLE V of Public Law 107-347)

SEC. 501. SHORT TITLE.

This title may be cited as the “Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002.”

SEC. 502. DEFINITIONS.

As used in this title:

(1) The term “agency” means any entity that falls within the definition of the term “executive agency” as defined in section 102 of title 31, United States Code, or “agency,” as defined in section 3502 of title 44, United States Code.

(2) The term “agent” means an individual—

(A)(i) who is an employee of a private organization or a researcher affiliated with an institution of higher learning (including a person granted special sworn status by the Bureau of the Census under section 23(c) of title 13, United States Code), and with whom a contract or other agreement is executed, on a temporary basis, by an executive agency to perform exclusively statistical activities under the control and supervision of an officer or employee of that agency;

(ii) who is working under the authority of a government entity with which a contract or other agreement is executed by an executive agency to perform exclusively statistical activities under the control of an officer or employee of that agency;

(iii) who is a self-employed researcher, a consultant, a contractor, or an employee of a contractor, and with whom a contract or other agreement is executed by an executive agency to perform a statistical activity under the control of an officer or employee of that agency; or

(iv) who is a contractor or an employee of a contractor, and who is engaged by the agency to design or maintain the systems for handling or storage of data received under this title; and

(B) who agrees in writing to comply with all provisions of law that affect information acquired by that agency.

(3) The term “business data” means operating and financial data and information about businesses, tax-exempt organizations, and government entities.

(4) The term “identifiable form” means any representation of information that permits the identity of the respondent to whom the information applies to be reasonably inferred by either direct or indirect means.

(5) The term “nonstatistical purpose” —

(A) means the use of data in identifiable form for any purpose that is not a statistical purpose, including any administrative, regulatory, law enforcement, adjudicatory, or other purpose that affects the rights, privileges, or benefits of a particular identifiable respondent; and

(B) includes the disclosure under section 552 of title 5, United States Code (popularly known as the Freedom of Information Act) of data that are acquired for exclusively statistical purposes under a pledge of confidentiality.

(6) The term “respondent” means a person who, or organization that, is requested or required to supply information to an agency, is the subject of information requested or required to be supplied to an agency, or provides that information to an agency.

(7) The term “statistical activities”—

(A) means the collection, compilation, processing, or analysis of data for the purpose of describing or making estimates concerning the whole, or relevant groups or components within, the economy, society, or the natural environment; and

(B) includes the development of methods or resources that support those activities, such as measurement methods, models, statistical classifications, or sampling frames.

(8) The term “statistical agency or unit” means an agency or organizational unit of the executive branch whose activities are predominantly the collection, compilation, processing, or analysis of information for statistical purposes.

(9) The term “statistical purpose”—

(A) means the description, estimation, or analysis of the characteristics of groups, without identifying the individuals or organizations that comprise such groups; and

(B) includes the development, implementation, or maintenance of methods, technical or administrative procedures, or information resources that support the purposes described in subparagraph (A).

SEC. 503. COORDINATION AND OVERSIGHT OF POLICIES.

(a) In General.—The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall coordinate and oversee the confidentiality and disclosure policies established by this title. The Director may promulgate rules or provide other guidance to ensure consistent interpretation of this title by the affected agencies.

(b) Agency Rules.—Subject to subsection (c), agencies may promulgate rules to implement this title. Rules governing disclosures of information that are authorized by this title shall be promulgated by the agency that originally collected the information.

(c) Review and Approval of Rules.—The Director shall review any rules proposed by an agency pursuant to this title for consistency with the provisions of this title and chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, and such rules shall be subject to the approval of the Director.

(d) Reports.—

(1) The head of each agency shall provide to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget such reports and other information as the Director requests.

(2) Each Designated Statistical Agency referred to in section 522 shall report annually to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Committee on Government Reform of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate on the actions it has taken to implement sections 523 and 524. The report shall include copies of each written agreement entered into pursuant to section 524(a) for the applicable year.

(3) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall include a summary of reports submitted to the Director under paragraph (2) and actions taken by the Director to advance the purposes of this title in the annual report to the Congress on statistical programs prepared under section 3504(e)(2) of title 44, United States Code.

SEC. 504. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.

(a) Title 44, United States Code.—This title, including amendments made by this title, does not diminish the authority under section 3510 of title 44, United States Code, of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to direct, and of an agency to make, disclosures that are not inconsistent with any applicable law.

(b) Title 13 and Title 44, United States Code.—This title, including amendments made by this title, does not diminish the authority of the Bureau of the Census to provide information in accordance with sections 8, 16, 301, and 401 of title 13, United States Code, and section 2108 of title 44, United States Code.

(c) Title 13, United States Code.—This title, including amendments…