ACEC Urges Action on Industry Priorities in Defense Committees

ACEC News / Advocacy

July 16, 2021

ACEC Urges Action on Industry Priorities in Defense Committees

As the House and Senate Armed Services Committees begin debate of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), ACEC is urging action on three important issues for the A/E industry.

Noting that the FAR credits clause/PPP loan forgiveness challenges facing the engineering community began with guidance established by the Department of Defense, the Council asked the committees to address this inequity and clarify that the FAR credits clause would not apply to PPP loan forgiveness.

ACEC also asked for additional clarity in the implementation of Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC). Engineering firms are concerned about ambiguity in the definition of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), which could  leading to questions of how CUI will be applied to AEC documents.

Lastly, the Council asked for a repeal of Section 823 of the NDAA for FY ’19. The provision calls for prime contractors to rate the performance of their subcontractors and joint venture partners. The industry believes that the majority of prime contractors conduct a thorough analysis of their potential subcontractors and joint venture partners prior to competing for government opportunities. If Congress believes that legislation is still needed, ACEC recommends a revision to Sec. 823, directing a change to FAR 42.1503(b)(2)(iv), “Management and business relations,” requiring subcontractor and joint venture partner performance evaluation.

See our letters here and here.

 

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