	Sources of Information about Contracts and Other Types of Awards

Information about contracts and other award types related to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita is available from several sources, including:
Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS), at https://www.fpds.gov . Department of Homeland Security (DHS), at http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interapp/editorial/editorial_0729.xml . U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), at http://www.usace.army.mil . U.S. Navy, Military Sealift Command (MSC), at http://www.procurement.msc.navy.mil/Contract/Welcome.jsp . Contracting information available from the other three sources—FEMA (via the DHS website), USACE, and MSC—is not included in the FPDS spreadsheets. A delivery order or a task order (TO) is used to purchase supplies or services, respectively, from an established government contract or with government sources. Factors include type and complexity of the agency's requirement, urgency of the requirement, performance period, and the extent and nature of proposed subcontracting.
Information about contracts and other types of government procurements made in support of hurricane recovery efforts may be obtained online from the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS), the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command websites. The government-wide database, FPDS, provides the most comprehensive and detailed information, but the other three websites include contracts not currently listed in FPDS. Available information about government procurements includes, among other things, the type of award (for example, a contract or a delivery order), the type of contract, and the extent of competition.