6.3  Documenting the Integrated Assessment and Resulting Award Decision

The SSA is responsible for making the award decision and then documenting this decision.  For  source selections over $100 million (or as required by the SSA), the integrated assessment and detailed results are captured in the Proposal Analysis Report (PAR) and treated as internal deliberative process/decision-making, source selection sensitive documentation and, therefore, not releasable under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) unless properly redacted.  Other source selections capture this analysis in Section III of the Simplified Source Selection Report (SSSR) and should protect that analysis accordingly.  However, in all cases, the SSA is required to summarize the best value decision in a Source Selection Decision Document (SSDD).  The SSDD is completely releasable or releasable after the redaction of classified information or an offeror's confidential, proprietary data.  Note that the FOIA's exemption for internal memoranda cannot be used to protect from release any sensitive internal information included in the SSDD, so care must be exercised in drafting this decision document.  The SSDD should convey to the reader the SSA's best value decision and the major items of interest that drove that decision.  A well written SSDD helps everyone understand how the SSA, in accordance with Section M, arrived at the source selection decision and can help to avoid potential protests.