WASHINGTON— U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has teamed up with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) to develop the Donation Acceptance Program (DAP), a framework supporting the new pilot program authorized by Congress in January 2014 that permits CBP to enter into partnerships for certain services and to accept certain donations. Pursuant to Section 559 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014 CBP and GSA are authorized to accept donations of real property, personal property (including monetary donations) and non-personal services from private sector and government entities. Accepted donations may be used for activities related to the construction, alteration, operations, and maintenance of CBP or GSA-owned ports of entry.
“Through these donations CBP will ultimately be able to provide new and additional services at our ports of entry across the country,” said Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske. “These donations allow us to better support the growing volumes of trade and travel that are vital to our economy.”
“GSA will continue to use innovative approaches to meet the needs of our agency partners. Public-private partnerships allow us to better serve the American people despite budget constraints,” said GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini.
Infrastructure enhancements play a critical role in the improvement of trade and travel facilitation. CBP faces a growing demand for facilities and renovations at aging ports of entry. This authority provides an alternate method of financing port of entry modernization and construction projects.
CBP will evaluate proposals from private corporations, public entities, municipalities, port authorities, consortiums, and any other private sector or Government entity. Donation proposals will be evaluated based on their individual merit and ability to satisfy the evaluation criteria posted on CBP.gov. Please also note that CBP and GSA will only consider submissions that envision Federal ownership of the proposed donation.
CBP and GSA will be providing multiple opportunities to learn more about the DAP and proposal submission process, including addressing program-related inquiries received, and hosting a live Q&A teleconference in the early November timeframe. Also, on October 20, 2014, CBP will be announcing the open period for submitting donation proposals for CBP and GSA consideration. Details regarding the abovementioned information-sharing opportunities and forthcoming proposal submission period may be found on CBP.gov, which we’ll continue to update as more information becomes available.
Public-private partnerships are a key component of CBP’s Resource Optimization Strategy, and allow CBP to provide new or expanded services at domestic ports of entry. Last year, CBP entered into Section 560 Reimbursable Services Agreements with the City of El Paso, Texas, The City of Houston Airport System, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Miami-Dade County, and South Texas Assets Consortium. These locations have already benefitted from significant wait time reductions despite rising traffic volumes.