[Protest of DMA Procurement Method for Mapping Services]

Seven organizations protested the Defense Mapping Agency's (DMA) method for procuring mapping services, contending that: (1) the 1987 Department of Defense Appropriation Act required DMA to use Brooks Act procedures to procure the services; (2) Congress intended that architect-engineering (A-E) procurement procedures include mapping services; and (3) the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) supported the protester's position. GAO held that: (1) Congress did not intend that the restrictive procurement procedure language in the 1986 Department of Defense Appropriation Act be permanent; (2) in 1987, Congress omitted the restrictive language on procurement procedures for mapping services; (3) DMA was not required to use Brooks Act procedures since the mapping services were not a part of an A-E project; and (4) neither the Brooks Act, the Military Construction Codification Act, nor CICA mandated Brooks Act procedures for the instant procurement. Accordingly, the protests were denied.