AVOIDING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST:

1
AVOIDING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST WHO GETS TO KNOW
WHAT
Elizabeth M. Grant Associate General Counsel DLA
A-76 Conference October 25, 2005
2
A-76 Competitions are Acquisitions

• Must follow the FAR as to safeguarding
  procurement sensitive information
• Must follow general Government ethics rules (no
  individual conflicts of interest)
• Must follow FAR/GAO standards guarding against
  Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCIs)
• Source A-76 Circular, Sec. 4(d),(e) FAR 9.1

3
Process Integrity General Concept

• Three key groups of players in A-76 acquisitions
• Separation required
• --those involved with writing the requirement
• (PWS Team)
• --the Government team offering on the
  requirement
• (ATO/MEO/HRA)
• --those involved with evaluating proposals and
• deciding outcome (source selection
  officials
• CO, SSEB, PPEB, SSAC, SSA)

4
Organizational Conflicts of Interest

• GAO defines 3 broad types of OCIs
• --biased ground rules
• (e.g., offeror writing PWS)
• --unequal access to information
• -- impaired objectivity
• Objective fair process
• Source FAR 9.5, Jones/Hill Joint Venture,
• (B-286194.4 etc., Dec. 2001/May 2002)

5
Source Selection Officials

• Players CO, SSEB, PPEB, SSAC, SSA
• Must be independent of ATO/MEO/HRA
• Relationship to PWS
• --CO is a member of PWS team
• --Others can give review/input on PWS
• Source A-76 Circular, Att. B, Sec. A8(b)

6
ATO/MEO/HRA

• Independent of source selection process and
  officials
• ATO HRA Independent of PWS Team
• MEO Members cannot be PWS Team members (also
  applies to advisors/consultants)
• Source A-76 Circular, Att.B, Sec. A8(a,d)

7
PWS Team

• Independent of ATO/MEO/HRA
• Cannot be MEO Team members (also applies to
  advisors/consultants)
• Can participate on SSEB if not directly
  affected by the A-76 competition
• Source A-76 Circular, Att. B, Sec. A8(c)
  D(2)(a-c)

8
Process Safeguards

• Appointment letter identifying roles
• Conflict of interest forms to avoid personal
  conflicts (A-76 forms, SF 450s)
• Special non-disclosure forms for source selection
  officials

9
Release of Information

• Release of PWS/solicitation information only by
  the CO
• MEO data (pre-decisional)
• --historical information is releasable (except
• performance/productivity)
• --information developed by the MEO is not
• releasable
• Source A-76 Circular, Att. B, Sec. D3 a(1)

10
Keep It Clean!

• Conflict of interest issues are fact-specific.
  Consult your legal office.
• An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
  (the cure is do over! Ouch!)
• DLA management strongly supports process
  integrity
• Questions/discussion