Photo of Lorraine M. Campos

Lorraine M. Campos is a partner and member of the Steering Committee of Crowell & Moring's Government Contracts Group and focuses her practice on assisting clients with a variety of issues related to government contracts, government ethics, campaign finance, and lobbying laws. Lorraine regularly counsels clients on all aspects of the General Services Administration (GSA) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) programs. She also routinely advises clients on the terms and conditions of these agreements, including the Price Reduction Clause, small business subcontracting requirements, and country of origin restrictions mandated under U.S. trade agreements, such as the Trade Agreements Act and the Buy American Act. Additionally, Lorraine advises life sciences companies, in particular, pharmaceutical and medical device companies, on federal procurement and federal pricing statutes, including the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992.

Lorraine has been ranked by Chambers USA since 2013, and she was recognized by Profiles in Diversity Journal as one of their "Women Worth Watching" for 2015. Additionally, Lorraine is active in the American Bar Association's Section of Public Contract Law and serves as co-chair of the Health Care Contracting Committee.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held in Avue Technologies Corp. v. Department of Health and Human Services that an appellant’s non-frivolous allegation of a contract with the government via an end-user license agreement (EULA) incorporated into another contractor’s Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) agreement was sufficient to establish jurisdiction under the Contract Disputes Act (CDA).Continue Reading Just Trust Me on This: Allegation of Contract’s Existence Is Sufficient to Establish Jurisdiction Under Contract Disputes Act

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, signed into law on December 22, 2023, makes numerous changes to acquisition policy. Crowell & Moring’s Government Contracts Group discusses the most consequential changes for government contractors here. These include changes that impose a new conflict of interest regime for government contractors with a connection to China, impose new restrictions and requirements, require government reporting to Congress on acquisition authorities and programs, and alter other processes and procedures to which government contractors are subject. The FY 2024 NDAA also includes the Federal Data Center Enhancement Act, the American Security Drone Act, and the Intelligence Authorization Act for FY 2024.Continue Reading The FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act: Key Provisions Government Contractors Should Know

On October 30, 2023, President Biden released an Executive Order (EO) on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).  This landmark EO seeks to advance the safe and secure development and deployment of AI by implementing a society-wide effort across government, the private sector, academia, and civil society to harness “AI for good,” while mitigating its substantial risks.Continue Reading Biden’s Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence

On September 21, 2023, the White House directed federal agencies to incorporate interim Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases (SC-GHG) estimates into a wide range of federal agency actions, including each agency’s procurement function.  This most recent direction builds upon the Administration’s ongoing and wide-reaching effort (examples discussed here and here) to leverage federal procurement spending in pursuit of climate change and sustainability policy objectives.  The hallmark of that effort to date had been a proposed rule that would, if finalized, require thousands of federal contractors to inventory, publicly disclose, and, in some cases, seek reductions in GHG emissions (see our prior discussion here).  However, the White House’s incorporation of SC-GHG into the federal procurement process has the potential to be just as significant to the contracting community by providing a cost metric (in dollars) needed for contracting agencies to evaluate and confer a preference on bids and contractors with lower GHG emission profiles.Continue Reading Biden Administration Moves Closer to Establishing Framework for Giving Preference to Bids and Contractors with Lower GHG Emissions

The Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration has issued final standards for the installation, operation, and maintenance of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations paid for with federal funds pursuant to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and other federal authorities. The standards, which go into effect on March 30, 2023, regulate the types of chargers that may be installed, as well as payment processing, labor, cybersecurity, and data privacy practices for EV charging infrastructure on federal highways.

The IIJA established the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program to provide $5 billion in funding to states, local governments, transportation authorities, and tribes for the acquisition and installation of EV charging infrastructure. The IIJA allows recipients of NEVI Formula Program funds to partner with private entities to operate the EV charging infrastructure, but the new rule limits how income from EV charging stations can be used.

Although the purpose of the NEVI Formula Program is to support the build out of interconnected EV charging infrastructure along federal highways that have been designated as Alternative Fuel Corridors, the standards apply to all projects that install EV charging infrastructure using Title 23 federal funds. The IIJA directed the Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy and stakeholders, to issue minimum guidelines and standards concerning the installation, operation, or maintenance by qualified technicians of electric vehicle charging infrastructure; the interoperability of electric vehicle charging infrastructure; network connectivity of electric vehicle charging infrastructure; and publicly available information about locations, pricing, real-time availability, and accessibility through mapping applications. Continue Reading DOT Releases Final Standards for Federally Funded EV Charging Stations

On Tuesday, the Department of Commerce (Commerce) issued the First Notice Of Funding Opportunity (First NOFO) under the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (CHIPS Act), P.L. 117-167.  As we have covered, the CHIPS Act provides for federal funding and assistance for the U.S. semiconductor industry, including building and operating new semiconductor factories, and

On February 28, 2023, the Commerce Department released the first Notice of Funding Opportunity (“First NOFO”) under the recently enacted CHIPS and Science Act (CHIPS Act), P.L. 117-167.  The First NOFO seeks applications for assistance—including direct funding, loans, and loan guarantees—for projects to construct, expand, or modernize commercial semiconductor facilities.  

In addition, the Commerce Department’s CHIPS Program Office announced that it will issue two additional NOFOs this year—a second NOFO for semiconductor materials and manufacturing equipment facilities in the spring of 2023, and a third NOFO for research and development facilities in the fall of 2023.

The First NOFO is focused on the fabrication of leading-edge, current-generation, and mature-node semiconductors and includes both front-end wafer fabrication and back-end assembly, testing, and packaging.  According to the CHIPS Program Office’s webinar on February 28, the Commerce Department has begun accepting statements of interest for all potential applicants.  It will begin accepting full applications on a rolling basis beginning March 31, 2023 for leading-edge manufacturing facilities, and June 26, 2023 for current-generation, mature-node, or back-end manufacturing facilities. Continue Reading Commerce Department Opens First Round of CHIPS Act Funding for Semiconductor Manufacturers

Last week, the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced nearly $60 billion of funding available to states through DOT formula grant programs in fiscal year (FY) 2023.  States may use these funds, authorized under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to support critical infrastructure, including roads, bridges, and environmental and safety improvements.  The FY2023 grant funds represent

Not to be outdone by the Department of Defense’s commitment to consider inflation relief, on September 12, 2022, the General Services Administration (“GSA”) Federal Acquisition Service published a Supplement to Acquisition Letter MV-22-02, extending and enhancing policies to provide inflation relief to GSA Schedule contractors.  As we previously explained, the original Acquisition Letter relaxed

On July 18, the GSA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued an Alert Memorandum both broadcasting and criticizing the Federal Acquisition Service’s (FAS) apparent decision to expand the Transactional Data Reporting (TDR) rule to the entire Multiple Award Schedule (MAS). The TDR Pilot Program studied the potential for TDR to reduce the compliance burdens of the MAS program by replacing the various requirements Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contractors must fulfill to ensure the pricing offered to GSA customers is fair and reasonable, including the obligation to make Commercial Sales Practice disclosures and to track commercial pricing and discounts to the negotiated Basis of Award customer under the Price Reductions Clause. The GSA OIG previously criticized the TDR Pilot Program. Continue Reading TDR Wars—Episode V: OIG Strikes Back