Eleven federal agencies have authority to use “other transaction agreements”–which generally do not follow a standard format or include terms and conditions required in traditional mechanisms, such as contracts or grants–to help meet project requirements and mission needs, but they make relatively little use of that authority, GAO has said.
It said that the authority dates back nearly 60 years and includes major agencies such as Defense, Energy, HHS, DHS, Transportation and NASA, although in some cases the scope is limited. For example, Transportation’s authority limits use of other transaction agreements to research, development, and demonstration projects.
Other agencies also mostly use the authority for similar purposes and cited flexibility as the main reason; the authority “allowed them to develop customized agreements that addressed concerns over requirements in traditional mechanisms that some companies viewed as potential obstacles to doing business with a federal agency,” said the report.
In addition, the authority helps agencies tailor terms and conditions of agreements as needed when working with other entities, it said.
GAO made no recommendations regarding the authority.
