Law360, New York ( August 20, 2015, 10:41 AM EDT) -- On Aug. 3, 2015, the U.S. Department of Defense published a proposed rule to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement to provide guidance for evaluating the reasonableness of prices using data other than certified cost or pricing data.[1] It attempts to clarify the data an agency can use to establish reasonable prices in situations when full and open competition is absent. The long-awaited proposed rule implements Section 813 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013, which directed the DOD to issue "standards for determining whether information on the prices at which the same or similar items have previously been sold is adequate for evaluating the reasonableness of prices."[2] It is consistent with interim guidance issued by Shay Assad, director of defense procurement acquisition policy on Feb. 4, 2015....