Acquisition Services Frequently Asked Questions

According to OMB's Office of Federal Procurement Policy, Interagency acquisition is the term used to describe the procedure by which an agency needing supplies or services obtains them using another agency’s contract, the acquisition assistance of another agency, or both. Interagency acquisitions typically involve two government agencies: the requesting agency, which is the agency with the requirement, and the servicing agency which provides acquisition support, administers contracts for other agencies’ direct use, or both.

An Interagency Agreement is an agreement or ordering document between federal agencies transferring funds for the purpose of obtaining products or services. These agreements have specific names, such as the Military Interdepartmental Purchase Requirement for the Department of Defense. Both the IA and the MIPR are now included in a specific document referred to as a Part B.

Two links provided below should answer the questions regarding bona fide need.

• Advisory elaborating on the definition of a bona fide need: Principles of federal Appropriations Law: The Bona Fide Needs Rule, Chapter 5, GAO Red Book
• Virtual Acquisition Office: A Business Manager's Guide to the Bona Fide Needs Rule. The link is offered by the Interior Business Center with permission from Acquisition Solutions, Inc., a government contracting consultant.

The federal client, or requesting agency, is responsible for determining the bona fide need within the fiscal year of the availability of funds.

Clients are responsible for submitting a bona fide needs statement that clearly, concisely, and completely describes the legitimate requirement(s) that arose during, or continued to exist into, the fiscal year of the funds to be transferred to the Interior Business Center for acquiring goods and services.

The bona fide needs statement must also describe a project that will fulfill the requirement(s), and IBC shall only acquire goods and services on behalf of its client to complete the project.

No changes may be made to the bona fide needs statement after the expiration of the relevant fiscal year, thus, it is best for the client to describe as broadly as possible the goods and services necessary to complete its project without sacrificing the specificity that is necessary to properly record obligations under federal fiscal law.

Does use of IBC's Acquisition Services offer federal agencies the ability to extend an appropriation’s period of availability?

No. The Interior Business Center complies with federal fiscal law and cannot use time-limited funds to acquire goods and services to meet bona fide needs that arise after their period of availability has expired. IBC operates under the authority of the Government Management Reform Act of 1994, and may therefore retain funds and award contracts after the close of a fiscal year. Nevertheless, the fiscal year identity of such retained funds is preserved. It is the joint responsibility of IBC and its clients to ensure that contracts are awarded within a reasonable period of time after the close of the fiscal year to meet bona fide needs that arose during, or continued into, the period of availability.

If for any reason IBC cannot promptly initiate contract action to ensure that a contract is awarded within a reasonable time after the close of the fiscal year, IBC may have to deobligate the retained funds and return them to the client. Consequently, IBC communicates regularly with client agencies to keep them informed of the status of their funds and related contract actions.

Funds must be obligated on a contract in the year they are appropriated to be spent. IBC complies with acquisition rules and regulations and does not allow money to be spent in years that do not match the appropriation. All funds sent to IBC must be accompanied by a bona fide need that is written by the client. There is a responsibility by both IBC and the client to spend those funds within a reasonable period of time. IBC's Acquisition team communicates with the client agency to keep customers informed of the status of their money.

We are full service and appropriately look at the time an acquisition must be in place for our client, what options are available, and make decisions specific to each requirement.

Although we can create a contract through competing on the open market, we will consider options such as the General Services Administration schedules, Government-wide Acquisition Contracts, Blanket Purchase Agreements, and our own Acquisition Services Directorate Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity. Another direction could be through the SBA’s small business programs such as the 8(a) or Service-disabled Veteran Owned programs.

The Procurement Action Lead Time is our record of performance. We depend on meeting acquisition milestones in order to be timely in awards. A lot of the timing depends on the client, and the package submitted to us. For most clients, award times range from 45 to 60 days.

When we first speak with you, we are interested in your award date expectations. In fact, if a program manager needed something yesterday, and still believes that is a reality, there is a good chance that opportunity will not come in our direction. We make commitments to the best of our knowledge at hand, and will be realistic as to award date expectations.

Please review the information below, and contact the DOI FOIA Office if you have a request. The Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552, was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson in 1966 to increase the openness and transparency of the federal Government. Under the law, Government documents must be available to members of the public that request them, unless there is a legitimate reason to deny the request. The intent of the law is to allow both citizens and journalists to examine Government activity to detect political corruption and to allow citizens to have input into Government decisions that affect them.

Yes. Please visit the NIST website and open publication SP 800-87 to locate your Agency/Organization Identification Code.

Approvals required to obtain contracting support from the Interior Business Center vary from agency to agency. Please review your agency’s procedures in order to ensure compliance prior to executing an interagency agreement with IBC's Acquisition Services.

I am a civilian agency employee. Do I need to contact my internal contracting office before I go outside my agency for contracting support?

As a basic guideline, provided by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, a requesting agency should consider the following

For an assisted acquisition outside of the Economy Act (over $200,000 under $500,000):

• Requesting office provides notice of the planned interagency acquisition to the head of the acquisition office within the requesting agency
• Notice requirements:
  1. Brief description of the service or product
  2. Estimated dollar amount
  3. Name of the external acquisition organization (that will provide the acquisition assistance
  4. Sent by electronic mail with return receipt
• The notifier allows the internal acquisition office one week to respond to the notice before the request is sent to the outside servicing acquisition office.

For an assisted acquisition outside of the Economy Act (over $500,000):

• Requesting office provides notice of the planned interagency acquisition to the head of the acquisition office within the requesting agency
• Notice requirements:
  1. Brief description of the service or product
  2. Estimated dollar amount
  3. Name of the external acquisition organization (that will provide the acquisition assistance)
  4. Sent by electronic mail with return receipt
• The notifier allows the internal acquisition office one week to respond to the notice before the request is sent to the outside servicing acquisition office.
• The notifier shall seek its concurrence and allow one week for response. Non-concurrences shall be presented to the requesting agency’s Senior Procurement Executive and resolved within one week of the non-concurrence.

After five business days, if you have not received an acceptance message, please contact the funding team at 703-964-8419.

Department of Defense employees are encouraged to review the DoD Requirements through Interagency Acquisition. Information on Non-Economy Act orders is available within the DoD Financial Management Regulation, Volume 11A, Chapter 18. This document also contains the Acquisition Package Checklist, which contains steps for maximizing value and key points to remember about assisted acquisitions. For all acquisitions in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold, the required approvals include: 1. An evaluation in accordance with your agency’s procedures to ensure that the order is in the best interest of DoD. 2. A certification by the appropriate DoD certifying official that the funds cited on the order are available, meet time limitations, and are for the purpose designated by the appropriation. 3. Information on orders greater than $500,000 including: a. A review by a DoD warranted contracting officer; and b. A review by the requesting official to ensure compliance with FAR 7 and your agency’s procedures. Work and services for Non-Economy Act orders outside DoD should be executed by issuance of a DD Form 448,

Military Interdepartmental Purchase Request. A Memorandum of Agreement between the Department of Defense and the Department of the Interior, signed by Nina Rose Hatfield and Shay D. Assad in 2007, outlines specific terms and conditions for the provision of interagency acquisition services.