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April 1997 Draft

APPENDIX F

Tying It All Together: The PBO Framework Agreement

The framework agreement ties together all the pieces into a single, brief document. It describes the boundaries of the PBO, its relationship with its parent department and any other agencies it must work with to accomplish its mission, and the flexibilities it will be granted.

This document is agreed to by all the parties who must provide their consent for the document to take effect, with the exception of legislation. The primary signatories will be the candidate function and its parent department. Separate appendices, containing waivers or flexibilities granted by other entities, may be appropriate. While the legislative component will be contained in the document for reference purposes, it must be agreed to separately.

The basic framework agreement should be 8-12 pages in length, with details left for appendices or separate documents. The basic agreement should cover:

• Mission and objectives
• Approach to customer service
• Selection of a chief operating officer
• Accountability arrangements (who reports to whom, responsibilities, COO's role in policy development, reporting to Congress)
• Who prepares and approves strategic plan, annual performance plan, COO's performance agreement, COO's performance reports, annual report, audits, etc.
• Set a 5-year reassessment.

Appendices would cover issues such as:

• Provision of support services
• Personnel flexibilities
• Procurement flexibilities
• Interagency relations
• Delegations of authority
• Transition provisions (as applicable)
• Control over fee-setting, uses (as applicable)
• Other flexibilities: joint ventures, accept donations, etc.

The following appendices provide a range of options and explanations that potential candidates can draw upon while drafting their framework documents in relation to personnel, procurement, and support services. It also explains the role of the chief operating officer and provides model legislative language for options candidate agencies might wish to chose from.

Based on the experience of the initial round of PBO candidates, the following areas tend to be problematic for inclusion in the framework agreement or needed authorizing legislation:

• Blanket exemptions from civil service or procurement laws.
• Creation of a board of directors.
• Combined pay and bonus levels exceeding the President's salary
• Gaining borrowing authority on open market
• Expanded litigation authority

However, there are other areas where flexibilities have been discussed but have not been included in this guide because they deal with exceptional needs, such as financing, borrowing, advisory committees, and the use of aircraft. The NPR-OMB team involved in developing this guide can provide additional information as needed in these and other areas.

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