Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 108 Part 4.djvu/689

 PUBLIC LAW 103-355—OCT. 13, 1994 108 STAT. 3323 for alternative dispute resolution proceedings, the contractor shall inform the agency in writing of the contractor's specific reasons for rejecting the request.". SEC. 2363. EXPEDITED RESOLUTION OF CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION 15 USC 644 note. MATTERS. (a) REGULATIONS REQUIRED. —(1) The Federal Acquisition Regulation shall include provisions that require a contracting officer— (A) to make every reasonable effort to respond in writing within 30 days to any written request made to a contracting officer with respect to a matter relating to the administration of a contract that is received from a small business concern; and (B) in the event that the contracting officer is unable to reply within the 30-day period, to transmit to the contractor within such period a written notification of a specific date by which the contracting officer expects to respond. (2) The provisions shall not apply to a request for a contracting officer's decision under the Contract Disputes Act of 1978 (41 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. —Nothing in this section shall be considered as creating any rights under the Contract Disputes Act of 1978 (41 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). (c) DEFINITION. —In this section, the term "small business concern" means a business concern that meets the requirements of section 3(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(a)) and the regulations promulgated pursuant to that section. SEC. 2354. AUTHORITY FOR DISTRICT COURTS TO OBTAIN ADVISORY OPINIONS FROM BOARDS OF CONTRACT APPEALS IN CERTAIN CASES. Section 10 of the Contract Disputes Act of 1978 (41 U.S.C. 609) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: "(f)(1) Whenever an action involving an issue described in paragraph (2) is pending in a district court of the United States, the district court may request a board of contract appeals to provide the court with an advisory opinion on the matters of contract interpretation at issue. "(2) An issue referred to in paragraph (1) is any issue that could be the proper subject of a final decision of a contracting officer appealable under this Act. "(3) A district court shall direct any request under paragraph (1) to the board of contract appeals having jurisdiction under this Act to adjudicate appeals of contract claims under the contract or contracts being interpreted by the court. "(4) After receiving a request for an advisory opinion under paragraph (1), a board of contract appeals shall provide the advisory opinion in a timely manner to the district court making the request.".

�