TSA Management Directive No. 300.16 - Interagency Agreements - Contracting and Procurement

Sep 18, 2026

Uploaded by Cipher

TSA Management Directive No. 300.16 establishes policy and procedures for creating funded interagency agreements (IAAs) for assisted acquisition, including how to distinguish interagency financial transactions—also called interagency reimbursable work agreements—from unfunded memoranda of agreement and memoranda of understanding. The directive sets scope across all TSA organizational elements, cites governing authorities such as ATSA and the Economy Act, and provides definitions covering assisted acquisition structures, responsible officials, competition requirements, contracting roles, and funding and competition concepts.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Purpose

Scope

Authorities

Definitions

Assisted Acquisition Interagency Agreements

Authorized Official

Best Interest of the Government

Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR)

Competition Advocate

Direct Acquisition

Direct Funding Citation

Full and Open Competition

Interagency Financial Transactions

Interagency Reimbursable Work Agreement

CONTRACTING & PROCUREMENT TSA MANAGEMENT DIRECTIVE No. 300.16 INTERAGENCY AGREEMENTS To enhance mission performance, TSA is committed to promoting a culture founded on its values of Integrity, Respect and Commitment. REVISION: This revised directive supersedes TSA MD 300.16, Interagency Agreements, dated June 5, 2019. SUMMARY OF CHANGES: Section 4, Definitions, updated several definitions; Section 5, Responsibilities, clarified responsibilities under the Assistant Administrator for Contracting and Procurement, and updated the Program Managers’ responsibilities; Attachment 2, minor corrections to the table; Attachment 3, corrections to the questionnaire; Added Attachment 4. 1. PURPOSE: This directive provides TSA policy and procedure for establishing funded interagency agreements (IAAs) for assisted acquisition. Additional discussion herein about interagency financial transactions (also known as “interagency reimbursable work agreements”) as well as unfunded memoranda of agreement and memoranda of understanding is included so that originators can distinguish and process these actions (that are not interagency agreements for assisted acquisition) according to applicable guidance specifically for them (which is not included here and not within the scope of this specific directive) . 2. SCOPE: This directive applies to all TSA organizational elements. 3. AUTHORITIES: A. The Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA), Public Law 107-71, especially 49 U.S.C. § 114(m), which provides the Administrator with the authority of 49 U.S.C. §106(l) and (m) B. The Economy Act, 31 U.S.C. §1535 & 1536 C. Homeland Security Acquisition Manual Chapter 3017,“Special Contracting Methods” 4. DEFINITIONS: A. Assisted Acquisition Interagency Agreements: In an assisted acquisition, the servicing agency and requesting agency enter into an interagency agreement pursuant to which the servicing agency performs acquisition activities on the requesting agency’s behalf, such as awarding a contract, task order, or delivery order. In many assisted acquisitions, the servicing agency also manages the Indefinite Delivery Contract Vehicle (IDV) against which orders are placed. For example, the General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service will typically place orders against a Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contract or a Government-wide Agency Contract (GWAC) on behalf of its requesting agencies. Sometimes, a servicing agency may find that another agency’s IDV can better serve the requesting agency’s needs, in which case two servicing agencies would be involved in the interagency acquisition. Attachment 1 provides further information on how different agreement types are distinguished. B. Authorized Official: The Official who has responsibility to sign and execute an Interagency Agreement (IAA) . See Section 5 for the specific Authorized Officials. C. Best Interest of the Government: The basis for the determination and finding made by the Contracting Officer for actions placed under the authority ofATSA that the use of resources in an interagency acquisition, as compared to traditional contracting methods for attaining them, represents the most promising method to achieve the objective, considering the cost to benefit relationship. D. Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR): An employee appointed in writing by a Contracting Officer to perform designated contract administration activities in regards to technical issues. E. Competition Advocate: The TSA official responsible for promoting full and open competition in contracting and the use of commercial, performance-based product and service specifications and who likewise challenges barriers to competition represented by unduly restrictive product specifications or procurement plans that do not provide for full and open competition. F. Direct Acquisition: When the requesting agency places an order directly against the servicing agency’s indefinite delivery type c

FAQs

What is the purpose of TSA Management Directive No. 300.16?

It provides TSA policy and procedures for establishing funded interagency agreements for assisted acquisition and explains how to distinguish related agreement and financial transaction types.

Which TSA organizations does the directive apply to?

It applies to all TSA organizational elements.

What does “Assisted Acquisition Interagency Agreements” mean under the directive?

In assisted acquisition, the servicing and requesting agencies enter an interagency agreement under which the servicing agency performs acquisition activities on the requesting agency’s behalf, such as awarding contracts or orders.

Sep 18, 2026

Uploaded by Cipher