41 U.S.C. § 607 : US Code - Section 607: Agency boards of contract appeals

Search 41 U.S.C. § 607 : US Code - Section 607: Agency boards of contract appeals

(a) Establishment; consultation; Tennessee Valley Authority
(1) An Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals may be
established within the Department of Defense when the Secretary of
Defense, after consultation with the Administrator, determines from
a workload study that the volume of contract claims justifies the
establishment of a full-time agency board of at least three members
who shall have no other inconsistent duties. Workload studies will
be updated at least once every three years and submitted to the
Administrator.
(2) The Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority may
establish a board of contract appeals for the Authority of an
indeterminate number of members.
(b) Appointment of members; chairman; compensation
(1) The members of the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals
shall be selected and appointed to serve in the same manner as
administrative law judges appointed pursuant to section 3105 of
title 5, with an additional requirement that such members shall
have had not fewer than five years' experience in public contract
law. Full-time members of such Board serving as such on the
effective date of this chapter shall be considered qualified. The
chairman and vice chairman of such Board shall be designated by the
Secretary of Defense from members so appointed. Compensation for
the chairman, the vice chairman, and all other members of such
Board shall be determined under section 5372a of title 5.
(2) The Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority
shall establish criteria for the appointment of members to its
agency board of contract appeals established in subsection (a)(2)
of this section, and shall designate a chairman of such board. The
chairman and all other members of such board shall receive
compensation, at the daily equivalent of the rates determined under
section 5372a of title 5, for each day they are engaged in the
actual performance of their duties as members of the board.
(c) Postal Service Board of Contract Appeals
There is established an agency board of contract appeals to be
known as the "Postal Service Board of Contract Appeals". Such board
shall have jurisdiction to decide any appeal from a decision of a
contracting officer of the United States Postal Service or the
Postal Rate Commission relative to a contract made by either
agency. Such board shall consist of judges appointed by the
Postmaster General who shall meet the qualifications of and serve
in the same manner as members of the Civilian Board of Contract
Appeals. This chapter shall apply to contract disputes before the
Postal Service Board of Contract Appeals in the same manner as they
apply to contract disputes before the Civilian Board.
(d) Jurisdiction
The Armed Services Board shall have jurisdiction to decide any
appeal from a decision of a contracting officer of the Department
of Defense, the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy,
the Department of the Air Force, or the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration relative to a contract made by that department
or agency. The Civilian Board shall have jurisdiction to decide any
appeal from a decision of a contracting officer of any executive
agency (other than the Department of Defense, the Department of the
Army, the Department of the Navy, the Department of the Air Force,
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the United
States Postal Service, the Postal Rate Commission, or the Tennessee
Valley Authority) relative to a contract made by that agency. Each
other agency board shall have jurisdiction to decide any appeal
from a decision of a contracting officer relative to a contract
made by its agency. In exercising this jurisdiction, the agency
board is authorized to grant any relief that would be available to
a litigant asserting a contract claim in the United States Court of
Federal Claims.
(e) Decisions
An agency board shall provide to the fullest extent practicable,
informal, expeditious, and inexpensive resolution of disputes, and
shall issue a decision in writing or take other appropriate action
on each appeal submitted, and shall mail or otherwise furnish a
copy of the decision to the contractor and the contracting officer.
(f) Accelerated appeal disposition
The rules of each agency board shall include a procedure for the
accelerated disposition of any appeal from a decision of a
contracting officer where the amount in dispute is $100,000 or
less. The accelerated procedure shall be applicable at the sole
election of only the contractor. Appeals under the accelerated
procedure shall be resolved, whenever possible, within one hundred
and eighty days from the date the contractor elects to utilize such
procedure.
(g) Review
(1) The decision of an agency board of contract appeals shall be
final, except that -
(A) a contractor may appeal such a decision to the United
States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit within one
hundred twenty days after the date of receipt of a copy of such
decision, or
(B) the agency head, if he determines that an appeal should be
taken, and with the prior approval of the Attorney General,
transmits the decision of the board of contract appeals to the
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit for judicial review
under section 1295 of title 28, within one hundred and twenty
days from the date of the agency's receipt of a copy of the
board's decision.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), the decision
of the board of contract appeals of the Tennessee Valley Authority
shall be final, except that -
(A) a contractor may appeal such a decision to a United States
district court pursuant to the provisions of section 1337 of
title 28, within one hundred twenty days after the date of
receipt of a copy of such decision, or
(B) The Tennessee Valley Authority may appeal the decision to a
United States district court pursuant to the provisions of
section 1337 of title 28, within one hundred twenty days after
the date of the decision in any case.
(3) An award by an arbitrator under this chapter shall be
reviewed pursuant to sections 9 through 13 of title 9, except that
the court may set aside or limit any award that is found to violate
limitations imposed by Federal statute.