Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 111 Part 2.djvu/636

 Ill STAT. 1716 PUBLIC LAW 105-85—NOV. 18, 1997 10 USC 2304 SEC. 391. WARRANTY CLAIMS RECOVERY PILOT PROGRAM. "°*®' (a) PILOT PROGRAM REQUIRED.— The Secretary of Defense may carry out a pilot program to use commercial sources of services to improve the collection of Department of Defense claims under aircraft engine warranties. (b) CONTRACTS.—Exercising the authority provided in section 3718 of title 31, United States Code, the Secretary of Defense may enter into contracts under the pilot program to provide for the following services: (1) Collection services. (2) Determination of amounts owed the Department of Defense for repair of aircraft engines for conditions covered by warranties. (3) Identification and location of the sources of information that are relevant to collection of Department of Defense claims under aircraft engine warranties, including electronic data bases and document filing systems maintained by the Department of Defense or by the manufacturers and suppliers of the aircraft engines. (4) Services to define the elements necessary for an effective training program to enhance and improve the performance of Department of Defense personnel in collecting and organizing documents and other information that are necessary for efficient filing, processing, and collection of Department of Defense claims under aircraft engine warranties. (c) CONTRACTOR FEE.— Under the authority provided in section 3718(d) of title 31, United States Code, a contract entered into under the pilot program shall provide for the contractor to be paid, out of the amount recovered by the contractor under the program, such percentages of the amount recovered as the Secretary of Defense determines appropriate. (d) RETENTION OF RECOVERED FUNDS.— Subject to any obhgation to pay a fee under subsection (c), any amount collected for the Department of Defense under the pilot program for a repair of an aircraft engine for a condition covered by a warranty shall be credited to an appropriation available for repair of aircraft engines for the fiscal year in which collected and shall be available for the same purposes and same period as the appropriation to which credited. (e) REGULATIONS.— The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations to carry out this section. (f) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The pilot program shall terminate on September 30, 1999, and contracts entered into under this section shall terminate not later than that date. (g) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. — (1) Not later than January 1, 2000, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a report on the pilot program. The report shall include the following: (A) The number of contracts entered into under the program. (B) The extent to which the services provided under the contracts resulted in financial benefits for the Federal Government. (C) Any additional comments and recommendations that the Secretary considers appropriate regarding use of commercial sources of services for collection of Department of Defense claims under aircraft engine warranties.

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