This week’s episode covers IR&D, antiterrorism, and DoD news, and is hosted by partners David Robbins and Peter Eyre. Crowell & Moring’s “Fastest 5 Minutes” is a biweekly podcast that provides a brief summary of significant government contracts legal and regulatory developments that no government contracts lawyer or executive should be without.
Listen: Crowell.com
In a notice published in the Federal Register on February 8 that will almost certainly be unpopular with contractors and their customers, DoD asked for comments on its consideration of adding a requirement to the DFARS that would “require offerors to describe in detail the nature and value of prospective IR&D projects on which the
While DOD’s August 26 white paper “Enhancing the Effectiveness of Independent Research and Development” explains that the intent of new requirements announced in the white paper is “not to reduce the independence of IR&D investment selection, nor to establish a bureaucratic requirement for government approval prior to initiating an IR&D project,” contactors have good reason
Devex story: https://www.devex.com/news/usaid-lifts-ird-s-suspension-says-change-is-on-the-way-86406
PubKLaw initial coverage: https://www.pubklaw.com/usaid-lifts-suspension-changes-policy-after-ird-lawsuit/
In a fascinating development, yesterday’s filing by DoJ in the IRD APA suit to enjoin its suspension announced:
1) that the IRD suspension had been lifted temporarily;
2) that the USAID SDO would move to a different location within the agency; and,
3) that the full record (presumably wtih new mitigation material) will be examined
I had the good fortune to speak with Molly Anders (twitter https://twitter.com/mollyanders_dev) at Devex, a publication focused on international development, concerning IRD’s APA case seeking to enjoin its suspension by USAID. The focus of the discussion is, if what IRD says in its suit is true, does the company have a chance at overturning
The Federal Circuit in its March 19, 2010 decision in ATK Thiokol, Inc. v. United States (.PDF), expanded the definition of allowable Independent Research and Development (IR&D) costs. Now, research and development costs are allowable as IR&D costs unless specifically required by the contract.
In ATK, the Federal Circuit addressed the “required in