GSA extends deadline to sign up for ID card services

The General Services Administration has extended an Aug. 30 deadline for agencies to order services related to compliance with an Oct. 27 deadline for issuing new high-tech identity cards to employees and contractors.

GSA will accept memorandums of understanding and funding documents from agencies that need to use fiscal 2006 funds to buy the services until Sept. 20, agency spokeswoman Viki Reath said. Agencies using fiscal 2007 funds may sign agreements with GSA after that date, Reath said.

GSA's end-to-end service for compliance with the ID card mandate, which is contained in Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12, is being provided by BearingPoint under a $104 million five-year contract.

GSA would not say how many agencies already have signed up to use its services, but said discussions are under way with several. Reath said GSA expects agencies that have chosen to pursue compliance on their own to switch once they see the potential cost savings GSA can provide through its shared services approach.

The Interior Department's National Business Center, the Small Business Administration and the Defense Department also are offering agencies HSPD 12-related contract vehicles.

Agencies that have signed on with the National Business Center include the National Labor Relations Board, the Federal Election Commission, the Office of Special Counsel, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Maritime Commission.

A spokeswoman for the business center said that because it manages several agencies' human resource and payroll processes, officials there believe they are a step ahead of GSA in providing HSPD 12 services.

The process of identifying who has received the cards is integrated with an agency's HR and payroll systems. So, for example, if an employee is terminated, the computer and building access provided through the ID card would automatically end. Other personnel actions, such as name or organizational changes, would automatically trigger a notification that a new card needed to be issued.

Among the agencies that are opting to go it alone in meeting HSPD 12 mandates is the Health and Human Services Department. It has awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin Corp. worth $490,000 to fulfill the basic requirements of the directive.

The Office of Management and Budget and GSA are urging agencies to purchase HSPD 12-related products through GSA's Schedule 70, but they are not required to. According to the National Business Center spokeswoman, the agency will acquire GSA-certified products through its own contract to be awarded in September.

While not all the necessary product categories have certified products to fill them, GSA maintains that they will have all of the products and services that agencies need in time to meet the Oct. 27 deadline to start issuing ID cards to employees and contractors.

According to a quarterly update from the Security Industry Association, the new physical security infrastructure standards mandated under the directive represent a significant departure from existing physical access practices, placing agencies' building security at risk if they rush through the process.