Change is Coming -- Getting Ready for the System for Award Management (SAM)
The end of July is fast approaching. That is when several systems you are familiar with, like the
Excluded Parties List System (EPLS), are going away. EPLS, along with the Central Contractor
Registration (CCR) system, Federal Agency Registration (FedReg) system, and the Online
Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA), will be migrated into the new System for Award
Management, or SAM.
For those of you familiar with this effort, you know it will reduce the number of passwords you need to
remember, reduce the number of systems you need to enter and interact with, and reduce data
redundancy by sharing the data across the award lifecycle. To help you better understand how this will
work, SAM training will be available online. Please visit SAM.gov for more information.
What does the transition to SAM mean for you? Here are answers to a few of your most pressing
concerns.
I have a current EPLS User Account.
• What do I do?
You do not need to do anything right away. When it is time to create or update an Exclusion
record, you will do it in SAM.
• What will happen to my data?
Your data will be migrated from EPLS into SAM. It will be in SAM when you are ready to access it.
When it is time to create or update an Exclusion record, you will go to SAM.gov, create a simple
SAM user account, and follow the online instructions to validate and update your information.
• When do I need to register for a user account in SAM?
You only need to register for a user account in SAM when it is time to create or update an Exclusion
record. You do not need to do anything right away.
• What is the timeline for the EPLS transition to SAM?
EPLS will transition to SAM at the end of July. EPLS must stop accepting new data in order to
successfully migrate the existing data into SAM. EPLS' last business day is Tuesday, July 24, 2012.
It will no longer accept new Exclusions or updates to current Exclusions after that time. The EPLS
Search capability will remain active through the transition to allow you to search for existing
Exclusion records. SAM will be online for use Monday morning, July 30, 2012.
• When will EPLS stop allowing users to create and update Exclusions?
EPLS will stop accepting data at 11:59 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012. No new Exclusions or
updates to existing Exclusions can be submitted until SAM goes live the morning of July 30, 2012.
• Where can I find more information about SAM?
Some training material is already posted to SAM.gov, to include quick start guides and system
overview briefings. Additional training material will be posted before the implementation date.
Please visit SAM.gov to learn more.
Click the desired link for additional information.
The General Services Administration (GSA) is moving the implementation date of the System for Award Management (SAM) from May 29, 2012 to the end of July 2012. The additional sixty days will allow federal agencies to continue preparing their staff, give agencies and commercial system providers even more time to test their data transfer connections, and will ensure SAM contains the critical, documented capabilities users need from the system.
This first phase of SAM will include the capabilities of Central Contractor Registration (CCR)/Federal Agency Registration (FedReg), Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA), and the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS). In preparation for the launch, GSA conducted extensive testing internally and in coordination with federal agencies using the data from these systems in their own contracting, grants, finance, and other departments. The testing was very valuable and will focus the efforts of the next sixty days.
SAM will reduce the burden on those seeking to do business with the government. Vendors will be able to log into one system to manage their entity information in one record, with one expiration date, through one streamlined business process. Federal agencies will be able to look in one place for entity pre-award information. Everyone will have fewer passwords to remember and see the benefits of data reuse as information is entered into SAM once and reused throughout the system.
Please see
SAM.gov for more information about the system.
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On Monday September 21, 2009, the email addresses and phone number to contact the EPLS help desk will change. Beginning on this date, all EPLS help requests will be directed to the GSA Federal Service Desk. The current phone number and email addresses will be discontinued, and any requests made using the current contact information will not receive a response starting on September 21.
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Beginning January 20, 2009, the EPLS web site will be updated to disallow the use of SSL (Secure Socket Layer) version 3.0 for secure connections. Once the site is updated, TLS (Transport Layer Security) version 1.0 will be the only supported protocol for secure connections to EPLS.
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A new report feature has been added to the EPLS referred to as the "Dashboard". This report feature may be accessed by clicking on the
Dashboard link located under the Reports menu on the right side of the screen. The Dashboard contains 2 components: a Statistics component for viewing current
(i.e., the current date) and historical
(i.e., dates preceding the current date) Agency exclusion totals, and a Reports component for generating ad hoc reports. For detailed instructions on using the Dashboard, please read Section 3 of the EPLS Public User's Manual, which may be accessed by clicking the
Public User's Manual link under the Resources menu on the right side of the screen. Please note that Adobe Flash Player version 9 is required to use the Dashboard.
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The Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets
Control (OFAC) List is now fully integrated in the
EPLS database, with Search and Report capabilities.
Users will no longer need to check separate lists
within the EPLS website to determine all excluded
parties. While this list has been fully integrated
into the EPLS database, it is also available at the
OFAC web site.
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The OFAC List previously identified as the "Specially
Designated Nationals (SDN) and Blocked Persons List"
is now searchable through the EPLS Search Menu. A
separate search option is no longer needed to obtain
exclusions for the "SDN and Blocked Persons List." To
obtain a complete listing of OFAC exclusions only,
users can select the Agency option, then select
TREAS-Department of Treasury from the agency
selection box and click the Show Components button. A
list of Department of Treasury components will be
identified. Select component TREAS-OFAC-Office of
Foreign Assets Control from the list and click on the
Run button to execute the search. To view the list of
records retrieved, click on the Show button to
display the results or the Download button to
download the data in your system.
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The Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and
Security (BIS) maintains two lists -- the "Denied
Persons List" and the "Entity List" for the Contracting
Officer's consideration. For those transactions that
may involve exports from the United States or
re-exports of U.S.-origin items, parties (including
U.S. Government officials) are encouraged to review
the Export Administration Regulations (15 C.F.R. 730
et. seq.) maintained by BIS (
www.bis.doc.gov). For
any questions regarding such matters, please contact
BIS's Office of Exporter Services at (202)
482-4811.
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