Competitive Sourcing Overview -- 2004 NASA FAIR Act Inventory
Competitive Sourcing
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[Privacy Policy and Important Notices, Disclaimer, and Accessibility Certification]
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NASA represents the Nation's decision to establish and fund a civilian, governmental organization to conduct research and development relating to aeronautics and space. The Agency accomplishes its mission through the combined efforts of civil service employees and a far larger body of scientific, technical, and support personnel sustained through contracts, grants, and other agreements with industry and academia. Since its inception, this Agency has been closely linked with the private and academic sectors. Historically, NASA has contracted with the private sector for most of the products and services it uses. Less than 13 percent of the Agency's authorized funding is expended on civil service salaries and benefits. The remainder is dispersed widely in the national economy through NASA contracts, grants and other agreements. Through these expenditures NASA acquires a variety of scientific, technical, and support services for the civilian aeronautics and space programs. The total direct private sector employment that results from NASA expenditures is estimated to exceed 100,000 work years of effort annually. NASA has a planned civil service level of 18,906 full time equivalents (FTE) for FY 2004. Within the civil service workforce, 6,618 FTE are in commercial activities and 12,288 FTE are inherently governmental. The commercial activities FTE are further split between those which the Agency needs to keep in-house (Commercial Reason Code A; 2,364 FTE), those subject to the requirements of OMB Circular A-76 (Commercial Reason Code B; 3,460 FTE), those activities that are the subject of in-progress standard competitions and NASA's science competitions (Reason Code C; 349 FTE), and those performed by government personnel as a result of NASA's science competitions (Reason Code D; 445 FTE). NASA's science competitions were approved in September 2003 by OMB as an OMB Circular A-76 innovative alternative. For the FY Year 2004 inventory, NASA identified all of the functions performed in every organizational unit and determined the number of FTE performing each of those functions. Reason Code B FTE decreased by 921 FTE from FY 2003. However, that was primarily due to the increase for Reason Codes C and D by 349 and 438 FTE, respectively. There was also a decrease in commercial Reason Code A FTE as this category decreased by 224 FTE from the FY 2003 inventory, which is almost identical to the 216 FTE increase in inherently governmental FTE. The modest increase in inherently governmental FTEs occurred due to the overall 144 FTE decrease between FY 2003 (19,050) and FY 2004 (18,906), and the corresponding 165 FTE increase at NASA Headquarters to perform policy-making activities. In addition, organizational realignments were made as NASA moved to increase contractor oversight and contract management as a result of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board report. Also, vacant commercial activity positions were not back filled and were instead used for FTE to perform inherently governmental activities. Each year's FAIR Act inventory has resulted in the latest being more accurate due to refinements made in the review process and the guidance issued. The distribution of FTE by major activity is shown below for the Year 2004 inventory. The inventory shows both civil service FTE and contractor work years. The inventory reflects complete, separable, and recurring commercial functions. It highlights the activities that are commercial in nature, normally needed by any large organization but already obtained commercially by NASA. |
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Civil Service
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Support Contractors | Total | |||
| Activity/Function Code Group | Inherently Governmental | Commercial | All CS | ||
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| A - Recurring Testing and Inspection Services |
140
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29
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169
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100
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269
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| B - Personnel Management |
250
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168
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418
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191
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609
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| C - Finance and Accounting |
1,233
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248
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1,481
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648
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2,129
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| D - Regulatory and Program Management Support Services |
419
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107
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526
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1,488
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2,014
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| E - Environment |
108
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15
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123
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168
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291
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| F - Procurement |
920
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122
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1,042
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219
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1,261
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| G - Social Services |
11
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3
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14
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36
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50
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| H - Health Services |
32
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14
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46
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300
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346
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| I - Investigations |
151
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77
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228
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17
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245
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| K - Depot Repair, Maintenance, Modification, Conversion or Overhaul of Equipment |
4
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8
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12
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82
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94
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| L - Grants Management |
5
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1
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6
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145
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151
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| P - Base Maintenance/Multifunction Contracts |
50
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10
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60
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2,544
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2,604
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| R - Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) |
7,486
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5,007
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12,493
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25,909
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38,402
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| S - Installation Services |
265
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216
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470
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2,605
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3,086
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| T - Other NonManufacturing Operations |
255
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182
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437
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864
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1,301
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| U - Education and Training |
84
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75
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159
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121
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280
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| W - Communications, Computing, and Other Information Services |
273
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125
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398
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2,524
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2,922
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| Y - Force Management And General Support |
602
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211
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813
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726
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1,539
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| Z - Maintenance, Repair, Alteration, and Minor Construction of Real Property |
0
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0
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0
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185
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185
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| All Functions* |
12,288
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6,618
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18,906
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38,872
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57,778
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*Does not include JPL
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2004 Inventory: The Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act of 1998 (FAIR) requires that all Federal government agencies conduct an annual inventory of all commercial activities being performed by civil service employees. Additionally, the Office of Management of Budget (OMB) has required a concurrent inventory of inherently governmental activities. NASA must submit these inventories to OMB by June 30, 2004. Following OMB review, the inventories must be released to the public. As part of the FAIR Act inventory process, the Agency is also gathering data on the non-civil service components of the workforce, including on-site and near site contractors, grantees, Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) assignees, and employees of other Federal agencies who contribute to the NASA missions. Submit Format and Deadline: All inventory data this year will be collected on a single worksheet to be submitted by each Center, Headquarters, the Office of Inspector General and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The worksheet format, with guidance and instructions, is included as Appendix _. Inventory submissions must be made electronically by sending the completed worksheet on or before May 14, 2004, to craig.conlin@nasa.gov with copies to the Agency Competitive Sourcing Team (ACST). It is important that you do not modify the spreadsheets since they will be used to collate the data and transform it into the required OMB format. If you visit the OMB website, you will note that Excel formats are provided by OMB with instructions. DISREGARD those instructions. NASA Headquarters will comply with the OMB formats after we have integrated the data. Agency Competitive Sourcing Team Assistance: As it has done the past two years, the ACST will have telecons to answer questions that you may have relative to the inventory process. The ACST will contact the Competitive Sourcing Points of Contact when a schedule has been established for the telecons. Also, the ACST will be available to assist you with questions you may have about the FAIR Act inventory process. Members of the ACST are: Diane Thompson (202) 358-0514, diane.thompson@nasa.gov Questions relative to format or function codes should be directed to Craig Conlin at (202) 358-1180 or email at craig.conlin@nasa.gov. Guidance: Definitions and guidance for characterizing inherently governmental activities and commercial activities have not changed from last year. Therefore, you need only update the numbers you reported last year. Some general and specific coding guidance relative to inherently governmental or commercial activities is contained in the following section. Additional information is available on the OMB website at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/procurement/fair-index.html or the NASA Competitive Sourcing website at http://competitivesourcing.nasa.gov/. Additional instructions may be required if OMB issues new guidance or as NASA develops its competitive sourcing plan that is acceptable to OMB. The ACST will issue additional guidance to the Center Points of Contact as soon as new requirements are known. As in the past, OMB requires written justification for functions that are characterized as Inherently Governmental or Reason Code A. Additionally, if you change the characterization of any function reported in the 2003 inventory, you must provide written justification. NASA Coding Guidance – 2004 FAIR Act InventoryThe definitions of “inherently governmental” and “Reason Code A” are unchanged from those used for the development of the 2003 FAIR Act inventory. As was the case for the 2003 FAIR Act inventory, inherently governmental activities are those that are so intimately related to the public interest as to require performance by only Federal Government employees. Reason Code A continues to be for those activities that, although commercial, are not considered appropriate for private sector performance. The Reason Code A designation for an activity will continue to require a written justification from the Center Director, and NASA will be required to make the justifications available to OMB and the public. Inherently Governmental: The code of inherently governmental is assigned only to functions that involve the exercise of discretion in applying Governmental authority or the use of value judgment in making decisions for the Government, or provide advice of a nature so extensive and so far advanced toward completion as to limit the decision-makers’ discretion and to restrict the agency’s ability to develop and advance options other than those provided. For instance, with respect to NASA’s engineering and scientific community, functions coded as inherently governmental only include the following: a. Level 1 and 2 Program/Project Managers and Deputies, not Level 3 and 4 managers unless they represent FTE (not FTP) performing the functions covered below. b. Project Scientists and Task Managers to the extent they provide advice of a nature so extensive and so far advanced toward completion as to limit the decision-makers’ discretion and to restrict the agency’s ability to develop and advance options other than those provided, e.g. award fee and past performance recommendations. c. COTRs to the extent they provide COTR services.
d. Approving test and other certification documentation. e. Approving requirements that are called out in the contract. (Approving lower level requirements is not inherently governmental.) f. Accepting contractor products and services. g. Providing corporate system level knowledge to approve statements of work and specifications. h. Overseeing design activities for both NASA and contractors. i. Approving technical evaluations of processing changes, and anomalies and discrepancies reports. j. Other Managers/Supervisors of government employees (only when at least some of the employees they supervise are engaged in inherently governmental activities). k. Approving payments of Government funds. l. Formulate, defend, and manage budget. Specifically, Program Analysts who advise management on the relationship, appropriateness, and adherence to Agency, Congressional, and Executive policy. m. Represent the government on national and international partner agreements and commitments. Reason Code A: · Succession planning to allow for timed “pipeline” replenishment for projected vacancies associated with individuals performing inherently governmental functions, · Functions that directly impact NASA's assumed risk (loss of life, loss of high dollar value assets, credibility exposure, etc.) where the assignment and accountability for risk/liability decisions appropriately lies with NASA, or · Functions that capture critical competencies that must be available long term and accessible by NASA, as required, and are at risk for not being available if NASA were not to exclude them from competition. Additional Direction to Ensure Consistency of Coding: · Code all Administrative Support, Program Support, Secretaries, etc. as commercial. Use Reason Code A for the primary secretary providing support at one level below the Administrator/Center Director’s office and above. Also, the primary secretary who supports any SES shall be Reason Code A. All others are to be categorized as Reason Code B. · Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) Assignments and Co-ops – All are to be coded as inherently governmental or commercial, depending on the function they are currently performing. · Public Affairs Offices – All are to be coded as commercial unless they meet the test for inherently governmental. Code them as Reason Code A if they are personally representing NASA. Otherwise they are coded as Reason Code B. · ISO 9000 Support – The individuals who establish Agency and installation ISO 9000 policy are inherently governmental. All who support them are to be coded as commercial, Reason Code B. · Contract Closeout Support – All are to be coded as commercial, Reason Code B. · Patent Counsels - All patent counsel activities that are commercial, e.g. preparing patent applications, must be coded commercial. · Driving and Delivery Functions – All are to be coded commercial Reason Code A or B. · History Office Functions – All are to be coded as commercial Reason Code B unless they meet the test for inherently governmental. · Additionally, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer and the Office of Human Resources provided the following guidance relative to “inherently governmental” or commercial: |
| Inherently Governmental | Not Inherently Governmental |
| 1. The determination of Federal program priorities or budget requests. |
1. Services that involve or relate to budget preparation, including workload modeling, fact finding, efficiency studies, and should-cost analyses, etc. |
| 2. The control of the treasury accounts | 2. Services that involve or relate to analyses, feasibility studies, and strategy options to be used by agency personnel in developing policy. |
| 3. The administration of public trusts | 3. Services that involve or relate to the development of regulations. |
| 4. The approval of Federal licensing actions and inspections. | 4. Providing legal advice and interpretations of regulations and statutes to Government officials. |
| 5. The determination of agency policy, such as determining the content and application of regulations, among other things. | 5. Services that involve or relate to reorganization and planning activities. |
| 6. The determination of budget policy, guidance, and strategy. | 6. Providing inspection services |
| 7. The direction and control of Federal employees | 7. Serving as arbitrators or providing alternative methods of dispute resolution. |
| 8. The selection or nonselection of individuals for Federal Government employment. | 8. Services in support of acquisition planning |
| 9. The approval of position descriptions and performance standards for Federal employees. | 9. Participating as technical advisors to a source selection board or participating as voting or nonvoting members of a source evaluation board. |
| 10. The determination of what Government property is to be disposed of and on what terms (although an agency may give contractors authority to dispose of property at prices within specified ranges and subject to other reasonable conditions deemed appropriate by the agency). | 10. Providing technical evaluation of contract proposals. |
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11. In Federal procurement activities with respect to prime contracts, (a) determining what supplies or services are to be acquired by the Government (although an agency may give contractors authority to acquire supplies at prices within specified ranges and subject to other reasonable conditions deemed appropriate by the agency); (b) participating as a voting member on any source selection boards; (c) approval of any contractual documents, to include documents defining requirements, incentive plans, and evaluation criteria; (d) awarding contracts; (e) administering contracts (including ordering changes in contract performance or contract quantities, taking action based on evaluations of contractor performance, and accepting or rejecting contractor products or services); (f) terminating contracts; and (g) determining whether contract costs are reasonable, allocable, and allowable. |
11. Providing assistance in the development of statements of work. |
| 12. The approval of agency responses to Freedom of Information Act requests (other than routine responses that, because of statute, regulation, or agency policy, do not require the exercise of judgment in determining whether documents are to be released or withheld), and the approval of agency responses to the administrative appeals of denials of Freedom of Information Act requests. | 12. Services that involve or relate to the evaluation of contractor's performance. |
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13. The conduct of administrative hearings to determine the eligibility of any person for a security clearance, or involving actions that affect matters of personal reputation or eligibility to participate in Government programs. |
13. Providing support in preparing responses to Freedom of Information Act requests. |
| 14. The collection, control, and disbursement of fees, royalties, duties, fines, taxes and other public funds, unless authorized by statute, such as title 31 U.S.C. 952 (relating to private collection contractors) and title 31 U.S.C. 3718 (relating to private attorney collection services) |
14. Providing information regarding agency policies or regulations, such as attending conferences on behalf of an agency, conducting community relations campaigns, or conducting agency training courses. |
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15. Collection of fees, fines, penalties, costs or other charges from visitors to or patrons of mess halls, post or base exchange concessions, national parks, and similar entities or activities, or from other persons, where the amount to be collected is easily calculated or predetermined and the funds collected can be easily controlled using standard cash management techniques, and routine voucher and invoice examination. |
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Code |
Name/Function |
Inherently Governmental Activities |
Commercial Activities |
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B100 |
Classification |
1.Drafts classification policies and rules 2.Establishes classification policy 3.Makes final determination on job duties and responsibilities 4.Exercises final position classification authority 5.Exercises final authority on interpreting and applying classification regulations and policy 6.Exercises final authority on position management policy. |
1.Provides position management advice and guidance to supervisors and managers 2.Develops job descriptions 3.Evaluates and classifies jobs (tentative determination) 4.Establishes, maintains and disposes of classification records and files 5.Explains classification rationale to managers, supervisors and employees. 6.Processes classification appeals 7.Conduct job audits e.g., desk audits 8.Applies, tests and reports on the impact of draft classification standards 9.Assists in establishes competitive levels 10. Makes FLSA determinations 11.Drafts position management policies |
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Code |
Name/Function |
Inherently Governmental Activities |
Commercial Activities |
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B200 |
Employee Development |
1.Acts as organizational workforce effectiveness consultant in areas such as competency development, succession planning, and employee development. 2.Drafts training policies and guidance 3.Develops training policy 4.Exercises final authority on interpreting and applying training policy 5.Makes final determination of training budget requirements 6.Approves training requests for federal employees 7.Determines, guides, and monitors design and development of training products and services required to support agency needs 8.Determines, guides, and monitors organization development interventions 9.Approves training procurement actions and related statements of requirements leading to contractual actions 10.Performs contract administration functions for training prime contracts 11.Approves continued service agreement waivers |
1.Plans and conducts training programs, events, activities 2.Performs and/or conducts feedback assessments 3.Performs organizational development interventions 4.Performs transactional processing of training type activities 5.Conducts training needs assessments, studies, and analyses 6.Designs and develops training products and services 7.Processes and tracks training procurement actions 8.Manages training facilities 9.Identifies and recommends training approaches and solutions |
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Code |
Name/Function |
Inherently Governmental Activities |
Commercial Activities |
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B300 |
Staffing |
1.Drafts staffing policies and rules 2.Establishes staffing policy 3.Makes final determination on candidate evaluation criteria and tools 4.Exercises final authority on interpreting and applying staffing regulations and policy 5.Operates a DEU, i.e., candidate evaluation and audit actions (per OPM guidance) 6.Exercises final selection/commitment authority 7.Exercises final authority on RIF/TOF actions 8.Exercises final authority on |
1.Provides staffing advice and guidance to supervisors and management officials 2.Accomplishes job analyses 3.Prepares recruitment notices 4.Prepares and administers evaluation tools 5.Makes eligibility and qualification determinations 6.Certifies candidates 7.Reviews selections and commits positions 8.Develops recruitment/FEORP strategies 9.Assists in establishing competitive levels 10.Determines/processes RIF/TOF actions 11.Accomplishes DEU support actions 12.Provides information to job seekers 13.Proposes, recommends and advises on RIF strategies |
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B301 |
Processing |
1.Exercises appointing authority 2.Establishes personnel action processing and record keeping policy 3.Exercises final authority on personnel records maintenance and disposition 4.Exercises final authority on interpreting and applying personnel action processing and records keeping regulations and policy. |
1.Provides guidance and assistance on processing requirements to management officials and employees. 2.Processes personnel actions and related documents 3.Establishes, maintains and disposes of personnel records and files 4.Provides processing information to employees 5.Provides employment orientation information to new employees |
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B302 |
Manpower |
1.Establishes manpower research and analysis policy 2.Exercises final authority on manpower requirements |
1.Provides guidance and assistance on establishing and measuring manpower needs to management officials 2.Conducts manpower studies 3.Determines manpower requirements (tentative) 4.Establishes and maintains manpower records |
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Code |
Name/Function |
Inherently Governmental Activities |
Commercial Activities |
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B400 |
Employee Relations |
1.Drafts employee relations policies 2.Establishes employee relations policies 3.Exercises final authority on interpreting and applying employee relations regulations and policy. 4.Exercises final authority on performance and disciplinary decisions and actions. 5.Exercises final authority with regard to employee performance requirements |
1.Provides employee relations advice, guidance and assistance to supervisors and managers. 2.Interprets regulatory and statutory guidelines (tentative) 3.Provides information to employees. 4.Reviews cases for regulatory and procedural sufficiency. Makes recommendations, as needed. 5.Processes actions 6.Establishes, maintains and disposes of case files and related personnel records. 7.Participates in 3rd party representations |
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B401 |
Benefits Reviews and Analysis |
1.Establishes benefits policies 2.Exercises final authority on interpreting and applying benefits regulations and policy. 3.Exercises final authority on benefits eligibility and coverage. |
1.Provides benefits information and assistance to management officials and employees 2.Processes benefits requests and administers related actions, e.g., open season 3.Provides retirement counseling for employees 4.Makes eligibility and coverage determinations (tentative) |
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Code |
Name/Function |
Inherently Governmental Activities |
Commercial Activities |
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B500 |
Labor Relations and Support |
1.Establishes labor relations policy. 2.Exercises final authority on interpreting and applying labor relations regulations and policy 3.Exercises final authority on the part of the agency in labor agreement negotiations 4.Exercises final authority in deciding labor issues and actions |
1.Provides labor relations advice and assistance to management officials. 2.Provides information to employees and representational organizations. 3.Drafts contract language 4.Processes labor actions 5.Assists management officials in preparing responses to labor actions e.g., grievances, ULPs, appeals, etc. 6.Establishes, maintain, and disposes of case files and related personnel records. 7.Participates/leads contract negotiations 8.Participates/leads 3rd party representations |
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B501 |
Equal Employment Opportunity Reviews |
Work of this nature in the HR community is captured in the various functional areas. |
Work of this nature in the HR community is captured in the various functional areas. |
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Code |
Name/Function |
Inherently Governmental Activities |
Commercial Activities |
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B700 |
Personnel Management Specialists |
1.Drafts HR policies and guidance 2.Establishes HR policy 3.Exercises final authority on interpreting and applying HR regulations and policy |
1.Provides advice and guidance to management officials and employees 2.Explains and interprets HR polices |
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B702 |
Personnel IT Support |
1.Exercises final authority on system decisions and system requirements 2.Establishes output requirements |
1.Analyzes HR processes for potential automation 2.Recommends IT systems/system requirements 3.Installs/maintains IT systems 4.Trains users/develops user guides and manuals 5.Organizes and conducts user groups 6.Provides technical support and assistance, e.g., Help Desk 7.Develops and generates reports |
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B710 |
Management Headquarters-Personnel |
1.Drafts HR policies and regulations 2.Establishes agency HR policies 3.Exercises final authority on interpreting and applying agency regulations and policy. |
1.Provides HR advice, guidance and assistance to field activities 2.Establishes, maintains and disposes of HR files and records 3.Provides HR consulting services to management officials |
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Code |
Name/Function |
Inherently Governmental Activities |
Commercial Activities |
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B999 |
Other Personnel Activities |
1.Drafts pay policies and regulations 2.Establishes pay policy 3.Exercises final authority on pay-setting and interpreting and applying pay regulations and policy. 4.Requests special salary rate schedules 5.Establishes strategic HR plan and establishes priorities 6.Exercises final authority on linking the HR strategic plan and human capital management to the agency’s performance plan 7.Exercises final authority on workforce planning strategies 8.Exercises final decision on the success of workforce planning strategies, to include the criteria on which success is based. |
1.Provides guidance and assistance to management officials on pay-setting and pay administration. 2.Provides pay-setting information to employees 3.Gathers and compiles data in support of special salary schedule requests 4.Gathers, compiles demographic information and makes workforce planning recommendations 5.Develops and implements workforce planning strategies 6.Evaluates success of workforce planning efforts and makes recommendations for changes and improvements 7.Assesses workforce planning strategies and makes recommendations. 8.Drafts HR strategies, makes recommendations and provides advice on implementing and evaluating related activities |
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Address any Center-specific questions to the respective contact at the link below:
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/cs/pocs-comp-sourcing.html
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Joe LeCren |
202-358-0431
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| Diane Thompson |
202-358-0514
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Kim Dalgleish
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| Michelé Hull | ||
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Office of Procurement NASA Headquarters Washington DC 20546-0001 202-358-4065 (FAX) |
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Interested parties may challenge an agency's decision to include or exclude a particular activity from the Commercial Activities Inventory. They may subsequently appeal the agency's decision on the challenge. If you wish to submit an official challenge of the contents of the NASA Commercial Activities Inventory, or an appeal of a rejected/denied challenge, please review · Appeals and send the challenge in writing to: Agency Competitive Sourcing Team |
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To be considered valid, a challenge must meet all of the requirements in paragraphs 1-9 below. Challenges that do not meet all of these requirements will be rejected.
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FAIR Act: Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act of 1998, (Public Law 105-270). (An OMB website) OMB Circular A-76: Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-76, "Performance of Commercial Activities" (Revised) establishes Federal policy regarding the performance of commercial activities and implements the statutory requirements of the Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act of 1998, Public Law 105-270. (An OMB website) |
Owner: Ann Sharpe, ann.sharpe@nasa.gov
Curator: Susie Marucci, susie.marucci@nasa.gov
Updated: February 2006