November 2022

The Nuts and Bolts

As most federal contractors are aware, unlike commercial contracts, federal contractors may challenge solicitation defects or contract award decisions made by the government through the bid protest process. Although protests at GAO and the Court of Federal Claims receive most of the attention due to the fact that their decisions are ultimately made public (at least in part), another forum also exists for disappointed offerors: protests made directly to the agency. This post is part one of a two-part series. This post will provide the basic nuts and bolts of the agency-level protest, and part two will provide the pros and cons of this specific approach.

The Department of Energy through the Office of Science has announced that beginning in FY 2023, all DOE funding solicitations, including the Office of Science Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) and DOE National Lab Announcements, will require applicants to submit as an appendix to proposal narratives, a “Promoting Inclusive and Equitable Research (PIER) Plan.” The purpose of the PIER Plan is to “describe the activities and strategies applicants will incorporate to promote diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in their research projects.” According to the Office of Science’s announcement, the Office of Science will evaluate PIER Plans as “part of the merit review process,” and they “will be used to inform funding decisions.” Applications without PIER Plans will be considered “incomplete” and “will not be evaluated.”