Sec. 837. Acceleration of qualification of compliant sources
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Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act— the Secretary of Defense shall establish in the collaborative forum described in section 1844(a) of this Act a working group; and such working group shall develop recommendations for— enhancing the exchange of information between the Department of Defense and contractors of the defense industrial base about compliant materials; and accelerating the qualification of such materials for use by the Department of Defense and the integration of such materials into the supply chains of contractors of the Department of Defense. The working group established under paragraph
(1)shall— identify processes for exchanging information about compliant materials between the Department of Defense and contractors of the defense industrial base while maintaining appropriate safeguards of commercially proprietary information; identify processes and procedures to streamline the identification, testing, and qualification of compliant sources and compliant materials; seek to reduce the unnecessary application of requirements that are specific to a single Armed Force for identification, testing, and qualification of compliant sources and compliant material; provide a forum for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space Force and other elements of the Department of Defense to share technical and supply chain data related to requirements for covered materials; identify compliant sources at each step of the supply chain, to the extent that such supply chains are subject to subchapter III of chapter 385 of title 10, United States Code; at least once a quarter, publish for the members of the working group and for the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, a list of compliant sources for each critical material, including a general description of what step of the supply chain in which each compliant source is participating, if any; develop and recommend processes to enable the Department of Defense to rapidly identify, qualify, and integrate compliant materials into programs of the Department at scale; seek to reduce future requirements for critical materials in defense systems by encouraging contractors of the Department of Defense to design and develop systems that use commercially available critical materials, when such materials are capable of meeting mission needs; seek input from small and nontraditional contractors and ensure the working group considers the unique attributes of such businesses in carrying out the responsibilities of the working group under this subsection; develop and provide recommendations to reduce impediments or disincentives for a supplier of an end item to the Department of Defense to revise a supply chain agreement or other arrangement to eliminate the reliance of the supplier on noncompliant sources; any other matters assigned to the working group by the Secretary; and provide the Secretary with timely recommendations developed pursuant to this section. In this section: The term compliant source means an entity engaged in the production, manufacture, or distribution of a critical material that is compliant with the requirements of subchapter III of chapter 385 of title 10, United States Code. The term compliant material means critical material that is sourced from a compliant source. The term critical material means a material subject to sourcing restrictions under subchapter III of chapter 385 of title 10, United States Code. The term end item has the meaning given such term in section 4863 of title 10, United States Code.