title-14-part-17-sec17-13

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14 CFR Ch. I (1–1–24 Edition)

§ 17.9

Officer (CO) pursuant to §§ 17.15(e) and
17.27(d).

(b) Submissions to the ODRA after

the initial filing of a protest or con-
tract dispute may be accomplished by
any means available in paragraph (a) of
this section. Copies of all such submis-
sions shall be served on the opposing
party or parties.

are calculated in business days, which
exclude weekends, Federal holidays
and other days on which Federal Gov-
ernment offices in Washington, DC are
not open. In computing time, the day
of the event beginning a period of time
shall not be included. If the last day of
a period falls on a weekend or a Fed-
eral holiday, the first business day fol-
lowing the weekend or holiday shall be
considered the last day of the period.

(d) Electronic Filing—Procedures for

electronic filing may be utilized where
permitted by Order of the ODRA on a
case-by-case basis or pursuant to a
Standing Order of the ODRA permit-
ting electronic filing.

§ 17.9

Protective orders.

(a) The ODRA may issue protective

orders addressing the treatment of pro-
tected information, including pro-
tected information in electronic form,
either at the request of a party or upon
its own initiative. Such information
may include proprietary, confidential,
or source-selection-sensitive material,
or other information the release of
which could result in a competitive ad-
vantage to one or more firms.

(b) The terms of the ODRA’s standard

protective order may be altered to suit
particular circumstances, by negotia-
tion of the parties, subject to the ap-
proval of the ODRA. The protective
order establishes procedures for appli-
cation for access to protected informa-
tion, identification and safeguarding of
that information, and submission of re-
dacted copies of documents omitting
protected information.

issued, counsel or consultants retained
by counsel appearing on behalf of a
party may apply for access to the ma-
terial under the order by submitting an
application to the ODRA, with copies
furnished simultaneously to all parties.
The application shall establish that the

applicant is not involved in competi-
tive decision-making for any firm that
could gain a competitive advantage
from access to the protected informa-
tion and that the applicant will dili-
gently protect any protected informa-
tion received from inadvertent disclo-
sure. Objections to an applicant’s ad-
mission shall be raised within two (2)
days of the application, although the
ODRA may consider objections raised
after that time for good cause.

(d) Any violation of the terms of a

protective order may result in the im-
position of sanctions, including but not
limited to removal of the violator from
the protective order and reporting of
the violator to his or her bar associa-
tion(s), and the taking of other actions
as the ODRA deems appropriate. Addi-
tional civil or criminal penalties may
apply.

Subpart B—Protests

§ 17.11

Matters not subject to protest.

The following matters may not be

protested before the ODRA, except for
review of compliance with the AMS:

(a) FAA purchases from or through,

State, local, and tribal governments
and public authorities;

(b) FAA purchases from or through

other Federal agencies;

§ 17.13

Dispute resolution process for

protests.

(a) Protests concerning FAA SIRs,

solicitations, or contract awards shall
be resolved pursuant to this part.

(b) Potential protestors should,

where possible, attempt to resolve any
issues concerning potential protests
with the CO. Such attempts are not a
prerequisite to filing a protest with the
ODRA.

shall file a protest with the ODRA in
accordance with § 17.15. The protest
time limitations set forth in § 17.15 will
not be extended by attempts to resolve
a potential protest with the CO. Other
than the time limitations specified in
§ 17.15 for the filing of protests, the
ODRA retains the discretion to modify

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Federal Aviation Administration, DOT

§ 17.15

any timeframes established herein in
connection with protests.

(d) In accordance with § 17.17(b), the

ODRA shall convene an initial status
conference for the purpose of sched-
uling proceedings in the protest and to
encourage the parties to consider using
the ODRA’s ADR process to attempt to
resolve the protest, pursuant to sub-
part D of this part. It is the Agency’s
policy to use voluntary ADR to the
maximum extent practicable. If the
parties elect not to attempt ADR, or if
ADR efforts do not completely resolve
the protest, the protest will proceed
under the ODRA Adjudicative Process
set forth in subpart E of this part. In-
formal ADR techniques may be utilized
simultaneously with ongoing adjudica-
tion.

(e) The ODRA Director shall des-

ignate DROs, outside neutrals or Spe-
cial Masters as potential neutrals for
the resolution of protests through
ADR. The ultimate choice of an ADR
neutral is made by the parties partici-
pating in the ADR. The ODRA Director
also shall, at his or her sole discretion,
designate an adjudicating DRO or Spe-
cial Master for each matter. A person
serving as a neutral in an ADR effort
in a matter, shall not serve as an adju-
dicating DRO or Special Master for
that matter.

(f) Multiple protests concerning the

same SIR, solicitation, or contract
award may be consolidated at the dis-
cretion of the ODRA Director, and as-
signed to a single DRO or Special Mas-
ter for adjudication.

(g) Procurement activities, and,

where applicable, contractor perform-
ance pending resolution of a protest,
shall continue during the pendency of a
protest, unless there is a compelling
reason to suspend all or part of the pro-
curement activities or contractor per-
formance. Pursuant to §§ 17.15(d) and
17.17(a), the ODRA may impose a tem-
porary suspension and recommend sus-
pension of award or contract perform-
ance, in whole or in part, for a compel-
ling reason. A decision to suspend pro-
curement activities or contractor per-
formance is made in writing by the Ad-
ministrator or the Administrator’s
delegee upon recommendation of the
ODRA.

§ 17.15

Filing a protest.

(a) An interested party may initiate

a protest by filing with the ODRA in
accordance with § 17.7(a) within the
timeframes set forth in this Section.
Protests that are not timely filed shall
be dismissed. The timeframes applica-
ble to the filing of protests are as fol-
lows:

(1) Protests based upon alleged SIR

or solicitation improprieties that are
apparent prior to bid opening or the
time set for receipt of initial proposals
shall be filed prior to bid opening or
the time set for the receipt of initial
proposals.

(2) In procurements where proposals

are requested, alleged improprieties
that do not exist in the initial solicita-
tion, but which are subsequently incor-
porated into the solicitation, must be
protested not later than the next clos-
ing time for receipt of proposals fol-
lowing the incorporation.

(3) For protests other than those re-

lated to alleged solicitation impropri-
eties, the protest must be filed on the
later of the following two dates:

(i) Not later than seven (7) business

days after the date the protester knew
or should have known of the grounds
for the protest; or

(ii) If the protester has requested a

post-award debriefing from the FAA
Product Team, not later than five (5)
business days after the date on which
the Product Team holds that debrief-
ing.

(b) Protests shall be filed with the

ODRA, AGC–70, Federal Aviation Ad-
ministration, telephone (202) 267–3290 as
follows:

(1) 600 Independence Avenue SW.,

Room 2W100, Washington, DC 20591 for
filing by hand delivery, courier or
other form of in-person delivery;

(2) 800 Independence Avenue SW.,

Washington, DC 20591 [Attention: AGC–
70, Wilbur Wright Bldg., Room 2W100]
for filing by U.S. Mail; or

(3) Numbers (202) 267–3720 or alternate

(202) 267–1293 for filing by facsimile.

set forth:

(1) The protester’s name, address,

telephone number, and FAX number;

(2) The name, address, telephone

number, and FAX number of the pro-
tester’s legal representative, and who