1835.003 Policy.
(a) See NHB 5800.1, NASA Grant and Cooperative Agreement Handbook, for policy regarding the use of grants and cooperative agreements.
(b) See NMI 5109.13, Recoupment Policy for the Sale, Use, Lease, or Other Transfer of NASA-Developed Technologies, for policy regarding recoupment.
1835.014 Government property and title.
For items having an acquisition cost of more than $5,000, the determination at FAR 35.014(b)(2)(iii) that vesting title in the contractor would not further the objectives of NASA's research program must be approved at a level higher than the contracting officer.
1835.015 Contracts for research with educational institutions and nonprofit organizations.
(a) In addition to the requirements of FAR 35.015(a)(1)(iv), the institution must obtain the contracting officer's approval when it plans to continue the research work during a continuous period in excess of 3 months without the participation of an approved principal investigator or project leader.
(b) For policy regarding advance payments under contracts with educational institutions, see Subpart 1832.4.
1835.016 Broad agency announcements.
(a) The following forms of broad agency announcements are authorized for use:
(1) Announcements of Opportunity, described in Subpart 1870.1, NASA Acquisition of Investigations System.
(2) NASA Research Announcements, described in 1835.016-70.
(3) Other forms of announcements approved by the Associate Administrator for Procurement.
(b) Broad agency announcements may not preclude the participation of any offeror capable of satisfying the Government's needs unless a justification for other than full and open competition is approved under FAR 6.304 (see FAR 6.102(d)(2) and 35.001).
(c) Other program announcements, notices, and letters not authorized by paragraph (a) above shall not be used to solicit proposals that may result in contracts.
1835.016-70 NASA Research Announcements.
(a) Scope. This subsection 1835.016-70 prescribes regulations and procedures for the use of a NASA Research Announcement (NRA), a form of broad agency announcement (see FAR 6.102(d)(2)). An NRA is used to announce research interests and, after peer or scientific review using factors in the NRA, select proposals for funding. Unlike an RFP containing a statement of work or specification to which offerors are to respond, an NRA provides for the sub mission of competitive project ideas, conceived by the offerors, in one or more program areas of interest to NASA. The NRA is intended to be used for those research procurements for which it would be impossible to draft an adequate RFP in sufficient detail without restraining the technical response and thus hindering the competition of ideas. An NRA shall not be used in place of an RFP when the procurement requirement is narrowly defined and it is necessary to use a detailed description or specification.
(b) Issuance.
(1) Each NRA shall be assigned a unique number in accordance with 1804.7102-1.
(2) NRAs may remain open for proposal submission for a maximum of one year. They may not be amended or modified once issued, but may be reissued by assigning a new number and resynopsizing. (See also paragraph (g) of this section.) NRAs should remain open for at least 90 days.
(3) Before issuance, each field-generated NRA shall be concurred in by the procurement officer and approved by the installation's director or a designee, who shall serve as or designate a selecting official. Before issuance, each Headquarters-generated NRA shall be concurred in by General Counsel (Code GK) and the Director, Headquarters Acquisition Division (Code HW) and approved by the cognizant Program Associate Administrator or a designee, who shall serve as or designate a selecting official. If a Headquarters-generated NRA may result in awards by a NASA field installation, the concurrence of that installation's procurement officer may be sought in place of or in addition to Code HW's concurrence.
(4) The contracting officer shall assure that the NRA is synopsized in the Commerce Business Daily (CBD). The synopsis required by FAR 35.016(c) satisfies the synopsis requirement at FAR 5.201; the synopsis contemplated by FAR 5.205 is not required. The synopsis shall be brief and provide the address for obtaining a copy of the NRA. The technical part of the synopsis is to describe an area of interest and should not exceed 50 words.
(5) The NRA shall be prepared, printed, and distributed by or under the direction of the selecting official. Distribution shall not begin until the concurrence of the procurement officer has been obtained and the contracting officer has confirmed that the synopsis requirements have been met. The NRA shall be distributed to each office responsible for receipt of unsolicited proposals and to the Office of Procurement (Code HS).
(c) Content. The NRA shall consist of the following items in the order shown. This entire package shall be provided in response to requests.
(1) Cover. The cover shall display:
(i) "OMB Approval Number 2700-0087" in the upper right corner.
(ii) Title (centered, in uppercase).
(iii) "NASA Research Announcement Soliciting Research Proposals for the Period Ending " (centered, on three lines, two inches below the title; insert closing date).
(iv) NRA number (centered, two inches below closing date).
(v) Official address for office issuing NRA (centered, at bottom of cover).
(2) Summary and Supplemental Information.
(i) The Summary and Supplemental Information shall not exceed two pages and shall include:
(A) Title (centered, in uppercase).
(B) Introductory paragraphs describing the purpose of the NRA and the period for receipt of proposals. When proposals received during this period may be grouped for evaluation at separate times, the introductory paragraphs shall indicate when evaluations are planned and shall include the following remark:
"A proposal that is scientifically and programmatically meritorious, but that cannot be accepted during its initial review under an NRA because of funding uncertainties, may be included in subsequent reviews unless the offeror requests otherwise."
(C) NRA number.
(D) Address for submitting proposals, including "ATTN: NRA ." (Insert NRA number.)
(E) Copies required.
(F) Selecting official's title.
(G) Name, address, and telephone number for additional technical information.
(H) Name and telephone number of contracting office point of contact for administrative and contractual information.
(I) Additional instructions supplementing the Instructions for Responding to NASA Research Announcements for Solicited Research Proposals (see Subpart 1870.2). Such information shall be kept to the minimum necessary and shall cite specific "Instructions" paragraphs supplemented.
(J) When awards will be chargeable to funds of the new fiscal year and the NRA is to be issued before funds are available, the NRA shall contain a statement as follows:
"Funds are not presently available for awards under this NRA. The Government's obligation to make awards is contingent upon the availability of appropriated funds from which payment can be made and the receipt of proposals that NASA determines are acceptable for award under this NRA."
(ii) The Summary and Supplemental Information may include estimates of the amount of funds that will be available and the number of anticipated awards. A breakdown of the estimates by research area may also be shown.
(iii) The Summary and Supplemental Information may indicate that proposals submitted under an earlier NRA and held for subsequent reviews will be considered and need not be resubmitted. The earlier NRA shall be identified by number in the following statement:
"Proposals for which no selection decision was made under NRA and held for subsequent reviews will be considered under this NRA and need not be resubmitted." (Insert NRA number).
(3) Technical Description. The first page shall contain the NRA number and title at the top. A brief description not exceeding two pages is preferable, but it should be detailed enough to enable ready comprehension of the research areas of interest. Specifications containing detailed statements of work should be avoided. Any program management information included must be limited to matters that are essential for proposal preparation.
(4) Instructions for Responding to NASA Research Announcements. The NRA shall contain instructions in accordance with 1870.203.
(d) Unsolicited proposals.
(1) Unsolicited proposals for new efforts that are within the scope of an open NRA shall be evaluated in accordance with 1815.506(b).
(2) Unsolicited proposals for renewal of ongoing efforts that are within the scope of an open NRA shall be evaluated in accordance with 1815.505-70.
(3) A broad agency announcement is not an "acquisition requirement" as the term is used in FAR 15.507(a)(2).
(e) Receipt of proposals, evaluation, and selection.
(1) Proposals shall be protected as provided in 1815.508-70 and 1815.509-70.
(2) Evaluation, selection, and award may occur during or after the period established for receipt of proposals. Late proposals and modifications shall be treated in accordance with 1815.412(a) and (b).
(3) When more than one time is established in the NRA for evaluating proposals, proposals received prior to the time established will be considered as part of the initial group to be evaluated. Subsequent groups of proposals to be evaluated shall be formed from those proposals received after the time established for the earlier evaluation groups and prior to the time
established for a subsequent group, along with those proposals, if any, held over under paragraph (e)(8) of this section.
(4) The selection decision shall be made following peer or scientific review of a proposal. Peer or scientific review shall involve (i) evaluation, outside NASA, by a discipline specialist in the area of the proposal, (ii) evaluation by an in-house specialist, or (iii) both. Evaluation by specialists outside NASA shall be conducted subject to the conditions in FAR 15.413-2(f) and NFS 1815.413 and 1815.413-2. In particular, the selecting official shall ensure compliance with FAR 15.413-2(f)(5) regarding the designation of outside evaluators and avoidance of conflicts of interest. After receipt of a proposal and before selection, scientific or engineering personnel shall communicate with an offeror, regarding the proposal, only for the purpose of clarification, as defined in FAR 15.601, or in order to understand the meaning of some aspect of the proposal that is not clear, or in order to obtain confirmation or substantiation of a proposed approach, solution, or cost estimate.
(5) Competitive range determinations shall not be made, and best and final offers shall not be requested.
(6) Part of a proposal may be selected unless the offeror requests otherwise. In addition, changes to a selected proposal may be sought if (i) the ideas or other aspects of the proposal on which selection is based are contained in the proposal as originally submitted, and are not introduced by the changes; and (ii) the changes sought would not involve a material alteration to the requirements stated in the NRA. Changes that would affect a proposal's selection shall not be sought. When changes are desired, they may be described to the contracting officer under paragraph (e)(10)(ii) of this section, or the selecting official may request revisions from the offeror. The changes shall not transfer information from one offeror's proposal to another offeror (see FAR 15.610(d)(2)). When collaboration between offerors would improve proposed research programs, collaboration may be suggested to the offerors.
(7) The basis for selection of a proposal shall be documented in a selection statement applying the evaluation factors in the NRA. The selection statement represents the conclusions of the selecting official and must be self-contained. It shall not incorporate by reference the evaluations of the reviewers.
(8) A proposal that is scientifically and programmatically meritorious, but that is not selected during its initial review under an NRA, may be included in subsequent reviews unless the offeror requests otherwise. If the proposal is not to be held over for subsequent reviews, the offeror shall be notified that the proposal was not selected for award.
(9) The selecting official shall notify each offeror whose proposal was not selected for award and explain generally why the proposal was not selected. If requested, the selecting official shall arrange a debriefing under 1815.1004, with the participation of a contracting officer.
(10) The selecting official shall forward to the contracting officer--
(i) The results of the technical evaluation, including the total number of proposals received under the NRA by the time of selection, the selection statement, and the proposal(s) selected for funding;
(ii) A description of any changes desired in any offeror's statement of work, including the reasons for the changes and any effect on level of funding;
(iii) If a contract will be used to fund the proposal, a description of deliverables, including technical reports, and delivery dates, consistent with the requirements of the NRA;
(iv) A procurement request;
(v) Comments on the offeror's cost proposal (either the selecting official's comments, which may be based on the reviewers' comments, or copies of the reviewers' comments with any different conclusions of the selecting official); these comments shall address the need for and reasonableness of travel, computer time, materials, equipment, subcontracted items, publication costs, labor hours, labor mix, and other costs; and
(vi) A copy of the selected proposal as originally submitted, any revisions, and any correspondence from the successful offeror.
(11) The selecting official may provide to the contracting officer copies of the reviewers' evaluations. Reviewers' names and institutions may be omitted.
(12) The selecting official may notify each offeror whose proposal was selected for negotiation.
(i) The notification shall state that--
(A) The proposal has been selected for negotiation;
(B) The offeror's business office will be contacted by a contracting officer, who is the only official authorized to obligate the Government; and
(C) Any costs incurred by the offeror in anticipation of an award are at the offeror's risk.
(ii) The notification may identify which award instrument has been recommended.
(f) Award. If a contract is selected as the award instrument (see FAR 35.003(a) and 1835.003(a)), the contracting officer shall--
(1) Advise the offeror that the Government contemplates entering into negotiations; the type of contract contemplated; and the estimated award date, level of effort, and delivery schedule;
(2) Send the offeror a model contract, if necessary, including modifications contemplated in the offeror's statement of work, and request agreement or identification of any exceptions (the contract statement of work may summarize the proposed research, state that the research shall be conducted in accordance with certain technical sections of the proposal (which shall be identified by incorporating them into the contract by reference), and identify any changes to the proposed research);
(3) Request the offeror to complete and return certifications and representations and Standard Form 33, Solicitation, Offer, and Award, or other appropriate forms;
(4) Conduct negotiations in accordance with FAR Subparts 15.8 and 15.9, as applicable;
(5) Award a contract by transmitting written notice of the award; and
(6) Comply with FAR Subparts 4.6 and 5.3 on contract reporting and synopses of contract awards.
(g) Cancellation of an NRA. When program changes, program funding, or any other reasons require cancellation of an NRA, the office issuing the NRA shall notify potential offerors by using the mailing list for the NRA.
1835.070 NASA contract clauses and solicitation provision.
(a) The contracting officer shall insert the clause at 1852.235-70, Center for AeroSpace Information, in all research and development contracts and in cost-reimbursement supply contracts involving research and development work.
(b) The contracting officer shall insert the clause at 1852.235-71, Key Personnel and Facilities, in contracts when source selection has been substantially predicated upon the possession by a given offeror of special capabilities, as represented by key personnel or facilities.
(c) The contracting officer shall insert the provision at 1852.235-72, Plan for New Technology Reporting, in any solicitation for contract estimated to cost $2,500,000 or more if the contract is also to contain the clause at 1852.227-70, New Technology, unless, in consultation with the installation's New Technology Officer, the contracting officer determines that the provision is not appropriate. The contracting officer may insert the provision in solicitations for any such contract of a lesser dollar amount if deemed appropriate after consultation with the installation's New Technology Officer.