ceived or developed, and own, and which have application to the work of this Department. However, it must be recognized that it is normal practice for the Department to develop its own requirements, to solicit offers or bids and then to contract with the source that offers the best value. Many unsolicited proposals do not, in fact, contain ideas or concepts which are proprietary to or owned by the submitter, and acceptance of proposals by the Department for evaluation must not imply a promise to pay, a recognition of novelty or originality, or any restriction on the use of information contained therein to which the Government would otherwise be entitled, nor does the fact that a procurement follows receipt of or is based on an unsolicited proposal in and of itself justify sole source procurement.

5. Policy. a. All unsolicited proposals shall be processed and evaluated in an expeditious manner. Proposals shall be acknowledged as soon after receipt as possible, and submitters shall be advised promptly as to the ultimate disposition of their proposals.

b. A proposed procurement based on an unsolicited proposal is subject to the same policies, regulations, and procedures (including those relating to sole source) as any other proposed procurement, and will be processed accordingly.

6. Procedure. a. The head of each operating administration and the Chairman, National Transportation Safety Board, will designate a central office (hereinafter referred to as the central receiving office) for the receipt of unsolicited proposals. The Assistant Secretary for Administration will designate a central receiving office for those unsolicited proposals submitted to the Office of the Secretary. Each central receiving office will serve as a clearinghouse for unsolicited proposals submitted to its administration.

It will:

(1) Serve as the point of contract with the submitter;

(2) Maintain records showing the receipt and status of unsolicited proposals;

(3) Coordinate with other administrations when appropriate.

b. An information copy of central office designations and any implementing instructions will be furnished to the Director of Installations and Logistics, OST.

c. To facilitate processing, prospective contractors should be urged to submit their proposals directly to the central receiving office, and to submit them whenever possible without restrictions on the use of technical data included therein. In cases where the submitter wants technical data included in the proposal to be used only for purposes of evaluation, he must specifically identify the data using the following endorsement:

"The data in this proposal listed below shall not be used or disclosed, except for

evaluation purposes: Provided, That if a contract is awarded to this submitter as a result of or in connection with the submission of this proposal, the Government shall have the right to use or disclose this technical data to the extent provided in the contract. This restriction does not limit the Government's right to use or disclose any technical data which is not proprietary to the submitter or is obtained from another source without restriction. List of claimed proprietary data:" (Here described in detail the material claimed to be proprietarymere page reference or general statements will not be acceptable.)

d. Proposals submitted without a restrictive legend and those parts of proposals submitted with the above legend which are not described in detail in the "List of Claimed Proprietary Data" will be considered as free of all restrictions.

e. When unsolicited proposals are received by personnel outside of the central receiving offices, the recipient will record the date of receipt and immediately forward the pro posal to the central receiving office designated by his administration. Since a prospective contractor may get certain legal rights upon the acceptance of a confidential disclosure of proprietary information, personnel should not read those proposals received prior to forwarding them to the central receiving office for processing.

f. Prior to the acceptance of an unsolicited proposal for evaluation, a letter similar to that set forth as Attachment 1 shall be sent to the submitter, stating the policies of the Department regarding the treatment of unsolicited proposals, and requesting an acknowledgement by the submitter. Pending receipt of the acknowledgement, the unsolicited proposal shall not be evaluated, but will be kept in safekeeping. If the letter forwarding the unsolicited proposal clearly indicates knowledge of the policies of the Department, an acknowledgement of receipt may be sent to the submitter, and evaluation commenced. An unsolicited proposal will not be accepted for evaluation where it contains a restrictive endorsement or proprietary notice other than that prescribed in 6c. When a submitter requests return of his unsolicited proposal without evaluation, or when for whatever reason an unsolicited proposal is not accepted for evaluation, all copies of the proposal shall be returned.

g. If a proposal accepted for evaluation does contain proprietary data, employees receiving the proposal must not disclose to parties outside the Government, without the written permission of the submitter, any proprietary information contained in it. Such information shall be safeguarded in the evaluation process and given only to those persons having an official need for the information for purposes of evaluation.

h. After acceptance of the proposal, a prompt, thorough, and completely objective evaluation is required. If final evaluation cannot be accomplished within 60 days, the submitter shall be so notified.

i. Prior to making a comprehensive evaluation of a document apparently submitted as an unsolicited proposal, a determination shall be made that the document:

(1) Contains sufficient technical and cost information to enable meaningful evaluation; and

(2) Does not merely offer to perform standard services or to provide "off-the-shelf" articles.

j. If a document does not meet these requirements, a comprehensive evaluation need not be made, and the document may be considered and handled as correspondence or advertising. In such cases a prompt reply shall be sent to the submitter, indicating how the document is being interpreted and the reason(s) for not considering it a proposal.

k. Whenever a decision is made to reject an unsolicited proposal, the central receiving office will retain one copy in a secure file, and all other copies will be returned to the submitter. The submitter shall be informed of the reason(s) for rejection of his proposal. Consideration will be given to the possibility that the subject matter of the proposal may be of interest to another element of the Department. If this appears to be the case, the proposal should be forwarded to the central receiving office of the other element, and the submitter appropriately advised of the action.

1. If after the detailed evaluation it is determined that a contract should be negotiated on the basis of the proposal, or that competitive proposals should be solicited to attain the same or similar results as suggested by the submitter, an appropriate letter shall be sent to the submitter.

m. The processing of unsolicited proposals shall be closely coordinated with the appropriate offices of Counsel and Procurement or Contracting.

5. Effective date. The policies set forth in this order are effective immediately. The procedures required must be instituted no later than March 31, 1968.

ALAN S. BOYD, Secretary of Transportation.

ATTACHMENT 1 TO ORDER 4200.4

[Text reference: paragraph 6f above] GENTLEMEN: This is to acknowledge receipt of your unsolicited proposal of June 24, 1967, and to advise you of the policies of the Department of Transportation regarding the treatment accorded to unsolicited proposals.

The Department of Transportation encourages prospective contractors to disclose

to the Department, for purposes of evaluation, unique or novel ideas or concepts which they have originated, conceived or developed, and own, and which have application to the work of the Department. However, it must be recognized that it is normal practice for the Department to develop its own requirements, to solicit offers or bids and then to contract with the source that offers the best value.

Many unsolicited proposals do not, in fact, contain ideas or concepts which are proprietary to or owned by the submitter, and acceptance of proposals by the Department for evaluation must not imply a promise to pay, a recognition of novelty or originality, or any restriction on the use of information contained therein to which the Government would otherwise be entitled, nor does the fact that a procurement follows receipt of or is based on an unsolicited proposal in and of itself justify sole source procurement.

To facilitate processing, prospective contractors are urged to submit their proposals without restrictions on the use of technical data included therein.

In cases where the submitter wants technical data included in the proposal to be used only for purposes of evaluation, he must specifically identify the data using the following endorsement:

"The data in this proposal listed below shall not be used or disclosed, except for evaluation purposes: Provided, That if a contract is awarded to this submitter as a result of or in connection with the submission of this proposal, the Government shall have the right to use or disclose this technical data to the extent provided in the contract. This restriction does not limit the Government's right to use or disclose any technical data which is not proprietary to the submitter or is obtained from another source without restriction. List of claimed proprietary data:" (Here describe in detail the material claimed to be proprietary— mere page references or general statements will not be acceptable).

Proposals submitted without the above restrictive legend, and those parts of proposals submitted with the above legend which are not described in detail in the "List of Claimed Proprietary Data" will be considered as free of all restrictions.

You are requested to acknowledge this letter, and advise whether you wish your proposal to be evaluated. If your proposal contains a restrictive endorsement or proprietary notice other than that prescribed above, you must either correct such notice or remove the proprietary material prior to acceptance of the proposal by the Department. Pending a reply from you, your proposal will not be accepted for evaluation, but will be held in safekeeping.

ORDER 4200.7, SUBJECT: AUTHORITY TO MAKE CONTRACTUAL COMMITMENTS

1. Purpose. This order describes the limitations on the authority of officers in the Department of Transportation (DOT) to obligate the Government in the award and administration of contracts.

2. Does not apply. This order does not apply to grants-in-aid to State and local governments nor to agreements with other Federal agencies, but such grants-in-aid and agreements with other Federal agencies will not be committed nor entered into without appropriate authority.

3. Scope. The provisions of this order apply to the Office of the Secretary (OST) and the operating administrations. In addition, pursuant to delegation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) under section 5(m) of the DOT Act, this directive is applicable to the NTSB.

4. Authority-a. Written authority. (1) Statutory officials of the Department who are specifically authorized to bind the Government contractually may act as contracting officers and may delegate the authority to act as a contracting officer to other employees of the Department.

(2) Such delegation shall be in writing and shall specify the limitations, if any, upon the authority delegated. All those acting as contracting officers will act strictly within their authority and will observe all limitations on their authority.

b. Formal and informal commitments. (1) The contracting officer represents the Government in procurement transactions and, acting within the limitations of his authority, is the agent of the Government to enter into, modify, interpret and administer contracts in accordance with laws and regulations.

(2) No employee of DOT, other than a contracting officer operating within the limitations of his authority, will enter into formal contracts, authorize contract modifications, give informal contractual commitments, or otherwise bind, commit or obligate the Government contractually. Informal contractual commitments include actions as:

(a) Encouraging a potential contractor to incur costs prior to receiving a contract;

(b) Requesting or requiring a contractor to make changes under a contract without formal contract modification;

(c) Encouraging a contractor to incur costs under a cost reimbursable contract in excess of those costs contractually allowable; and, (d) Committing the Government to a course of action with regard to a potential contract, contract change, claim or dispute.

c. Contracting Officer's Representatives. To facilitate the conduct of business, a contracting officer may appoint personnel as his authorized representatives for specific

actions, such as inspection, engineering or expediting. Such appointments will be made in writing, and will clearly define the limits of authority.

5. Contract discussions. A contracting officer or his authorized representative will be afforded the opportunity to participate in all discussions with contractors or potential contractors when it is likely that a proposed contract, official contract interpretation, or change in terms of an existing contract will be discussed.

ALAN S. BOYD,

Secretary of Transportation.

ORDER 4400.3, ESTABLISHMENT OF DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PROCUREMENT REGULATIONS

1. Purpose. To establish a system of procurement regulations for the Department of Transportation (DOT).

2. Scope. The provisions of this order apply to the Office of the Secretary (OST) and the operating administrations. In addition, pursuant to delegation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) under section 5(m) of the DOT Act, this directive is applicable to the NTSB.

3. Authority. The DOT Procurement Regulations (DOTPR) are prescribed pursuant to the authority of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, and chapter 137 of title 10 of the United States Code.

4. Policy. The Federal Procurement Regulations (FPR's) (Chapter 1 of Title 41 of the Code of Federal Regulations), as implemented and supplemented by the DOTPR's (Chapter 12 of Title 41 of the Code of Federal Regulations), are the authorized regulations governing the procurement of supplies and services (including construction and concessions) and the procurement of real property by lease, by DOT. These regulations apply to all DOT procurements made within and outside the United States, unless otherwise specified therein.

5. Description of the DOTPR System. a. The DOTPR's will be published for Departmental distribution in looseleaf form designed to permit interleaf into the FPR's. To facilitate usage, the DOTPR will be printed on blue paper so as to be immediately distinguishable from the FPR. Those portions of the regulations which are considered to have an impact on the public will be published as Chapter 12 of Title 41, Code of Federal Regulations, in the daily issues of the FEDERAL REGISTER and in cumulated form in the Code of Federal Regulations.

b. The DOTPR will employ the same numbering system and nomenclature used in the FPR, and conform with Federal Register standards approved for the FPR.

c. The DOTPR may be implemented and supplemented, as prescribed therein, by reg

ulations issued by the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard, the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, the Urban Mass Transportation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board, and the Office of the Secretary.

d. Portions of the DOTPR and changes thereto will be issued from time to time. Changes or additions which have limited duration or must be issued quickly under emergency circumstances will be identified as "Temporary DOTPR's".

6. Issuance. a. The DOTPR shall be prepared by the Office of Installations and Logistics, OST, under the authority and direction of the Assistant Secretary for Administration.

b. The Assistant Secretary for Administration shall have the authority to issue DOTPR's, subject to the limitations of authority specified in DOT 1100.23, Depart

7. Coordination. The views of the General Counsel, the interested administrations and other offices will be solicited in the development of the DOTPR. In commenting upon proposed provisions for the DOTPR, the administrations will indicate the nature and purpose of any additional implementing or supplementing policy guidances which they propose to use at the administration level.

8. Distribution. The DOTPR will be distributed to DOT activities as authorized by the Director of Installations and Logistics, OST. Requests for copies shall be forwarded to that office. Distribution will normally be limited to holders of the FPR's.

ALAN S. BOYD, Secretary of Transportation.

(Sec. 205(c), 63 Stat. 389; 40 U.S.C. 486(c), 10 U.S.C. 2301-2314)

[37 FR 4889, Mar. 4, 1972]