Collapse to view only § 8503. Duties and powers of the Committee
- § 8501. Definitions
- § 8502. Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled
- § 8503. Duties and powers of the Committee
- § 8504. Procurement requirements for the Federal Government
- § 8505. Audit
- § 8506. Authorization of appropriations
§ 8501. DefinitionsIn this chapter:
(1)Blind.—The term “blind” refers to an individual or class of individuals whose central visual acuity does not exceed 20/200 in the better eye with correcting lenses or whose visual acuity, if better than 20/200, is accompanied by a limit to the field of vision in the better eye to such a degree that its widest diameter subtends an angle of no greater than 20 degrees.
(2)Committee.—The term “Committee” means the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled established under section 8502 of this title.
(3)Direct labor.—The term “direct labor”—
(A) includes all work required for preparation, processing, and packing of a product, or work directly relating to the performance of a service; but
(B) does not include supervision, administration, inspection, or shipping.
(4)Entity of the federal government and federal government.—The terms “entity of the Federal Government” and “Federal Government” include an entity of the legislative or judicial branch, a military department or executive agency (as defined in sections 102 and 105 of title 5, respectively), the United States Postal Service, and a nonappropriated fund instrumentality under the jurisdiction of the Armed Forces.
(5)Other severely disabled.—The term “other severely disabled” means an individual or class of individuals under a physical or mental disability, other than blindness, which (according to criteria established by the Committee after consultation with appropriate entities of the Federal Government and taking into account the views of non-Federal Government entities representing the disabled) constitutes a substantial handicap to employment and is of a nature that prevents the individual from currently engaging in normal competitive employment.
(6)Qualified nonprofit agency for other severely disabled.—The term “qualified nonprofit agency for other severely disabled” means an agency—
(A)
(i) organized under the laws of the United States or a State;
(ii) operated in the interest of severely disabled individuals who are not blind; and
(iii) of which no part of the net income of the agency inures to the benefit of a shareholder or other individual;
(B) that complies with any applicable occupational health and safety standard prescribed by the Secretary of Labor; and
(C) that in the production of products and in the provision of services (whether or not the products or services are procured under this chapter) during the fiscal year employs blind or other severely disabled individuals for at least 75 percent of the hours of direct labor required for the production or provision of the products or services.
(7)Qualified nonprofit agency for the blind.—The term “qualified nonprofit agency for the blind” means an agency—
(A)
(i) organized under the laws of the United States or a State;
(ii) operated in the interest of blind individuals; and
(iii) of which no part of the net income of the agency inures to the benefit of a shareholder or other individual;
(B) that complies with any applicable occupational health and safety standard prescribed by the Secretary of Labor; and
(C) that in the production of products and in the provision of services (whether or not the products or services are procured under this chapter) during the fiscal year employs blind individuals for at least 75 percent of the hours of direct labor required for the production or provision of the products or services.
(8)Severely disabled individual.—The term “severely disabled individual” means an individual or class of individuals under a physical or mental disability, other than blindness, which (according to criteria established by the Committee after consultation with appropriate entities of the Federal Government and taking into account the views of non-Federal Government entities representing the disabled) constitutes a substantial handicap to employment and is of a nature that prevents the individual from currently engaging in normal competitive employment.
(9)State.—The term “State” includes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
(Pub. L. 111–350, § 3, Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3833.)
§ 8502. Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled
(a)Establishment.—There is a Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled.
(b)Composition.—The Committee consists of 15 members appointed by the President as follows:
(1) One officer or employee from each of the following, nominated by the head of the department or agency:
(A) The Department of Agriculture.
(B) The Department of Defense.
(C) The Department of the Army.
(D) The Department of the Navy.
(E) The Department of the Air Force.
(F) The Department of Education.
(G) The Department of Commerce.
(H) The Department of Veterans Affairs.
(I) The Department of Justice.
(J) The Department of Labor.
(K) The General Services Administration.
(2) One member from individuals who are not officers or employees of the Federal Government and who are conversant with the problems incident to the employment of the blind.
(3) One member from individuals who are not officers or employees of the Federal Government and who are conversant with the problems incident to the employment of other severely disabled individuals.
(4) One member from individuals who are not officers or employees of the Federal Government and who represent blind individuals employed in qualified nonprofit agencies for the blind.
(5) One member from individuals who are not officers or employees of the Federal Government and who represent severely disabled individuals (other than blind individuals) employed in qualified nonprofit agencies for other severely disabled individuals.
(c)Terms of Office.—Members appointed under paragraph (2), (3), (4), or (5) of subsection (b) shall be appointed for terms of 5 years and may be reappointed if the member meets the qualifications prescribed by those paragraphs.
(d)Chairman.—The members of the Committee shall elect one of the members to be Chairman.
(e)Vacancy.—
(1)Manner in which filled.—A vacancy in the membership of the Committee shall be filled in the manner in which the original appointment was made.
(2)Unfulfilled term.—A member appointed under paragraph (2), (3), (4), or (5) of subsection (b) to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which the predecessor was appointed shall be appointed only for the remainder of the term. The member may serve after the expiration of a term until a successor takes office.
(f)Pay and Travel Expenses.—
(1)Amount to which members are entitled.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), members of the Committee are entitled to receive the daily equivalent of the maximum annual rate of basic pay payable for level IV of the Executive Schedule for each day (including travel-time) during which they perform services for the Committee. A member is entitled to travel expenses, including a per diem allowance instead of subsistence, as provided under section 5703 of title 5.
(2)Officers or employees of the federal government.—Members who are officers or employees of the Federal Government may not receive additional pay because of their service on the Committee.
(g)Staff.—
(1)Appointment and compensation.—Subject to rules the Committee may adopt and to chapters 33 and 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, the Chairman may appoint and fix the pay of personnel the Committee determines are necessary to assist it in carrying out this chapter.
(2)Personnel from other entities.—On request of the Committee, the head of an entity of the Federal Government may detail, on a reimbursable basis, any personnel of the entity to the Committee to assist it in carrying out this chapter.
(h)Obtaining Official Information.—The Committee may secure directly from an entity of the Federal Government information necessary to enable it to carry out this chapter. On request of the Chairman, the head of the entity shall furnish the information to the Committee.
(i)Administrative Support Services.—The Administrator of General Services shall provide to the Committee, on a reimbursable basis, administrative support services the Committee requests.
(j)Annual Report.—Not later than December 31 of each year, the Committee shall transmit to the President a report that includes the names of the Committee members serving in the prior fiscal year, the dates of Committee meetings in that year, a description of the activities of the Committee under this chapter in that year, and any recommendations for changes in this chapter which the Committee determines are necessary.
(Pub. L. 111–350, § 3, Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3835.)
§ 8503. Duties and powers of the Committee
(a)Procurement List.—
(1)Maintenance of list.—The Committee shall maintain and publish in the Federal Register a procurement list. The list shall include the following products and services determined by the Committee to be suitable for the Federal Government to procure pursuant to this chapter:
(A) Products produced by a qualified nonprofit agency for the blind or by a qualified nonprofit agency for other severely disabled.
(B) The services those agencies provide.
(2)Changes to list.—The Committee may, by rule made in accordance with the requirements of section 553(b) to (e) of title 5, add to and remove from the procurement list products so produced and services so provided.
(b)Fair Market Price.—The Committee shall determine the fair market price of products and services contained on the procurement list that are offered for sale to the Federal Government by a qualified nonprofit agency for the blind or a qualified nonprofit agency for other severely disabled. The Committee from time to time shall revise its price determinations with respect to those products and services in accordance with changing market conditions.
(c)Central Nonprofit Agency or Agencies.—The Committee shall designate a central nonprofit agency or agencies to facilitate the distribution, by direct allocation, subcontract, or any other means, of orders of the Federal Government for products and services on the procurement list among qualified nonprofit agencies for the blind or qualified nonprofit agencies for other severely disabled.
(d)Regulations.—The Committee—
(1) may prescribe regulations regarding specifications for products and services on the procurement list, the time of their delivery, and other matters as necessary to carry out this chapter; and
(2) shall prescribe regulations providing that when the Federal Government purchases products produced and offered for sale by qualified nonprofit agencies for the blind or qualified nonprofit agencies for other severely disabled, priority shall be given to products produced and offered for sale by qualified nonprofit agencies for the blind.
(e)Study and Evaluation of Activities.—The Committee shall make a continuing study and evaluation of its activities under this chapter to ensure effective and efficient administration of this chapter. The Committee on its own or in cooperation with other public or nonprofit private agencies may study—
(1) problems related to the employment of the blind and other severely disabled individuals; and
(2) the development and adaptation of production methods that would enable a greater utilization of the blind and other severely disabled individuals.
(Pub. L. 111–350, § 3, Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3836.)
§ 8504. Procurement requirements for the Federal Government
(a)In General.—An entity of the Federal Government intending to procure a product or service on the procurement list referred to in section 8503 of this title shall procure the product or service from a qualified nonprofit agency for the blind or a qualified nonprofit agency for other severely disabled in accordance with regulations of the Committee and at the price the Committee establishes if the product or service is available within the period required by the entity.
(b)Exception.—This section does not apply to the procurement of a product that is available from an industry established under chapter 307 of title 18 and that is required under section 4124 of title 18 to be procured from that industry.
(Pub. L. 111–350, § 3, Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3837.)
§ 8505. Audit
For the purpose of audit and examination, the Comptroller General shall have access to the books, documents, papers, and other records of—
(1) the Committee and of each central nonprofit agency the Committee designates under section 8503(c) of this title; and
(2) qualified nonprofit agencies for the blind and qualified nonprofit agencies for other severely disabled that have sold products or services under this chapter to the extent those books, documents, papers, and other records relate to the activities of the agency in a fiscal year in which a sale was made under this chapter.
(Pub. L. 111–350, § 3, Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3838.)
§ 8506. Authorization of appropriations
Necessary amounts may be appropriated to the Committee to carry out this chapter.
(Pub. L. 111–350, § 3, Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3838.)