[Federal Register: August 17, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 159)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 46363-46366]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17au07-32]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
48 CFR Chapter 1
[Docket FAR--2007--0002, Sequence 4]
Federal Acquisition Regulation; Federal Acquisition Circular
2005-19; Small Entity Compliance Guide
AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration
(GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
ACTION: Small Entity Compliance Guide.
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SUMMARY: This document is issued under the joint authority of the
Secretary of Defense, the Administrator of General Services and the
Administrator of the National
[[Page 46364]]
Aeronautics and Space Administration. This Small Entity Compliance
Guide has been prepared in accordance with Section 212 of the Small
Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. It consists of a
summary of rules appearing in Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-
19 which amend the FAR. An asterisk (*) next to a rule indicates that a
regulatory flexibility analysis has been prepared. Interested parties
may obtain further information regarding these rules by referring to
FAC 2005-19 which precedes this document. These documents are also
available via the Internet at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laurieann Duarte, FAR Secretariat,
(202) 501-4225. For clarification of content, contact the analyst whose
name appears in the table below.
List of Rules in FAC 2005-19
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Item Subject FAR case Analyst
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I.............. Reporting of Purchases from Overseas Sources. 2005-034 Murphy.
II............. Changes to Lobbying Restrictions............. 2005-035 Woodson.
III............ Online Representations and Certifications 2005-025 Woodson.
Application Archiving Capability.
*IV............ Requirement to Purchase Approved 2005-017 Jackson.
Authentication Products and Services.
V.............. Combating Trafficking in Persons (Interim)... 2005-012 Woodson.
VI............. Emergency Acquisitions....................... 2005-038 Clark.
*VII........... Small Business Credit for Alaska Native 2004-017 Cundiff.
Corporations and Indian Tribes.
VIII........... New Designated Countries--Bulgaria, Dominican 2006-028 Murphy.
Republic, and Romania (Interim).
IX............. Online Representations and Certifications 2006-025 Woodson.
Application Review (Interim).
X.............. Free Trade Agreements-- El Salvador, 2006-006 Murphy.
Honduras, and Nicaragua.
XI............. Free Trade Agreements--Bahrain and Guatemala. 2006-017 Murphy.
XII............ Accepting and Dispensing of $1 Coin (Interim) 2006-027 Jackson.
XIII........... Technical Amendments......................... ....................... .......................
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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Summaries for each FAR rule follow. For the
actual revisions and/or amendments to these FAR cases, refer to the
specific item number and subject set forth in the documents following
these item summaries.
FAC 2005-19 amends the FAR as specified below:
Item I--Reporting of Purchases from Overseas Sources (FAR Case 2005-
034)
This final rule converts the interim rule to a final rule with a
minor change. The interim rule amended FAR Part 25 and added a
provision (52.225-18, Place of Manufacture) to implement Section 837 of
Division A of the Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban
Development, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, and Independent
Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 (Pub. L. 109-115). Section 837
requires the head of each Federal agency to submit a report to Congress
relating to acquisitions of articles, materials, or supplies that are
manufactured outside the United States. The new provision requests from
offerors necessary data regarding place of manufacture. The new
provision will require an offeror to indicate whether the place of
manufacture of the end products it expects to provide in response to
the solicitation is predominantly inside or outside the United States.
Whenever the place of manufacture for a contract is coded outside the
United States, the contracting officer will be required to enter into
FPDS the reason for buying items manufactured outside the United
States. In addition, the rule clarifies different tests used to
determine the country of origin (FAR 25.001) under the Buy American Act
and the Trade Agreements Act.
Item II--Changes to Lobbying Restrictions (FAR Case 2005-035)
This final rule amends the FAR in order to be consistent with the
Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 and the OMB Interim Final Guidance, and
to improve clarity of the regulation through improved use of plain
language and compliance with FAR drafting conventions. Among the
changes, this final rule--
Includes the new concept of ``lobbying contact'' and brings in the
concept of registrants under the Lobbying Act of 1995;
Includes the OMB guidance that the term ``appropriated funds'' does
not include profit or fee from a covered Federal action and that to the
extent the contractor can demonstrate that the contractor has
sufficient monies, other than Federal appropriated funds, the
Government will assume that these other monies were spent for any
influencing activities that would be unallowable if paid for with
Federal appropriated funds;
Formalizes in the regulations the changes that were already
incorporated in the OMB Form Standard Form LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying
Activities;
Removes 31 U.S.C. 1352, Limitations on Payment to Influence Certain
Federal Transactions), from the list of laws that are inapplicable to
subcontracts for the acquisition of commercial item; and
Makes the text, provisions, and clauses easier to understand, for
both contracting officers and offerors/contractors.
Item III--Online Representations and Certifications Application
Archiving Capability (FAR Case 2005-025)
This final rule amends the FAR to eliminate confusion between the
FAR record retention requirements at FAR 4.803 and the requirements at
FAR Subpart 4.12 requiring contractors to submit Annual Representations
and Certifications via the Online Representations and Certifications
Application (ORCA), a part of the Business Partner Network. Using ORCA
eliminates the administrative burden for contractors of submitting the
same information to various contracting offices, and establishes a
common source for this information to procurement offices throughout
the Government. The interim rule published at 71 FR 57362, September
28, 2006, is adopted as final without change.
Item IV--Requirement to Purchase Approved Authentication Products and
Services (FAR Case 2005-017)
This final rule amends the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to
address the acquisition of products and services for personal identity
verification that comply with requirements in Homeland Security
Presidential Directive (HSPD) 12, ``Policy for a Common Identification
Standard for Federal Employees and Contractors,'' and Federal
Information Processing Standards Publication (FIPS PUB) 201, ``Personal
Identity
[[Page 46365]]
Verification of Federal Employees and Contractors.''
Item V--Combating Trafficking in Persons (FAR Case 2005-012) (Interim)
This revised interim rule amends the Federal Acquisition Regulation
(FAR) to implement 22 U.S.C. 7104(g). This statute requires that
contracts must include a clause that authorizes the department or
agency to terminate the contract, if the contractor, contractor
employee, subcontractor, or subcontractor employee engages in
trafficking in persons. To accurately reflect the statutory language,
the revised interim rule provides for contract termination for engaging
in severe forms of trafficking in persons or procurement of a
commercial sex act during the period of performance of the contract,
and provides for contract termination for use of forced labor in the
performance of the contract. While the interim rule only applied to
contracts for services (other than commercial), this revised interim
rule applies to all contracts, including contracts for supplies, and
all contracts for commercial items as defined at 2.101.
Item VI--Emergency Acquisitions (FAR Case 2005-038)
This final rule converts the interim rule published at 71 FR 38247,
July 5, 2006, to a final rule with changes. This final rule amends the
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to provide a consolidated
reference to acquisition flexibilities that may be used during
emergency situations. This change improves the contracting officer's
ability to expedite acquisition of supplies and services during
emergency situations. The final rule makes no change to existing
contracting policy.
Item VII--Small Business Credit for Alaska Native Corporations and
Indian Tribes (FAR Case 2004-017)
This final rule amends the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to
provide that contractors may count subcontracts awarded to Alaskan
Native Corporations (ANCs) and Indian tribes towards the satisfaction
of goals for subcontracting with small business (SB) and small
disadvantaged business (SDB) concerns, regardless of their size. This
rule implements Section 702 of Pub. L. 107-117, as amended by Section
3003 of Pub. L. 107-206. These changes are expected to increase
subcontracting opportunities for ANCs and Indian tribes, and improve
Government and contractor subcontracting performance with these
entities.
Item VIII--New Designated Countries--Bulgaria, Dominican Republic, and
Romania (FAR Case 2006-028) (Interim)
This interim rule allows contracting officers to purchase the goods
and services of Bulgaria, the Dominican Republic, and Romania without
application of the Buy American Act if the acquisition is subject to
the Free Trade Agreements. This trade agreement with the Dominican
Republic joins the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the
Australia, Bahrain, Chile, Morocco, and Singapore Free Trade
Agreements, and the CAFTA-DR with respect to El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras, and Nicaragua, which are already in the FAR. The threshold
for applicability of the Dominican Republic--Central America--United
States Free Trade Agreement is $64,786 for supplies and services (the
same as other Free Trade Agreements to date except Morocco, Bahrain,
Israel, and Canada) and $7,407,000 for construction (the same as all
other Free Trade Agreements to date except NAFTA and Bahrain). Bulgaria
and Romania have become parties to the World Trade Organization
Government Procurement Agreement, so they are now designated countries.
Item IX--Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA)
Review (FAR Case 2006-025) (Interim)
This interim rule amends FAR 23.406 and 23.906, both titled
Solicitation provision and contract clause, to revise the prescriptions
for the use of 52.223-9 and 52.223-14 to provide for use under the same
circumstances as the prescription for use of their associated
provisions. These revisions allow the proper receipt of certification
information and ensure compliance with the statutory requirements of 40
CFR Part 247 and 42 U.S.C. 11023.
Item X--Free Trade Agreements--El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua
(FAR Case 2006-006)
This final rule converts the interim rule published at 71 FR 36935,
June 28, 2006, to a final rule without change. This rule allows
contracting officers to purchase the products of El Salvador, Honduras,
and Nicaragua without application of the Buy American Act if the
acquisition is subject to the Dominican Republic--Central America--
United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). The CAFTA-DR took effect
with respect to El Salvador on March 1, 2006. It took effect with
respect to Honduras and Nicaragua on April 1, 2006. This agreement
joins the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the
Australia, Chile, Morocco, Bahrain, and Singapore Free Trade Agreements
which are already in the FAR. The threshold for applicability of the
CAFTA-DR is $64,786 for supplies and services, and $7,407,000 for
construction.
Item XI--Free Trade Agreements--Bahrain and Guatemala (FAR Case 2006-
017)
This final rule converts the interim rule published at 71 FR 67776,
November 22, 2006, to a final rule without change. The rule allows
contracting officers to purchase the goods and services of Bahrain and
Guatemala without application of the Buy American Act if the
acquisition is subject to the Free Trade Agreements. These trade
agreements with Bahrain and Guatemala join the North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Australia, Chile, Morocco, and Singapore
Free Trade Agreements, and the CAFTA-DR with respect to El Salvador,
Honduras, and Nicaragua that are already in the FAR. The threshold for
applicability of the Dominican Republic--Central America--United States
Free Trade Agreement is $64,786 for supplies and services (the same as
other Free Trade Agreements to date except Morocco and Canada) and
$7,407,000 for construction (the same as all other Free Trade
Agreements to date except NAFTA). The threshold for applicability of
the Bahrain Free Trade Agreement is $193,000 (the same as the Morocco
FTA and the WTO GPA) and $8,422,165 for construction (the same as
NAFTA).
[[Page 46366]]
Item XII--Accepting and Dispensing of $1 Coin (FAR Case 2006-027)
(Interim)
This interim rule implements the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005
(Pub. L. 109-145). The Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 requires the
Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue annually four new $1 coins
bearing the likenesses of the Presidents of the United States in the
order of their service and to continue to mint and issue ``Sacagawea-
design'' coins for circulation. In order to promote circulation of the
coins, Section 104 of the Public Law also requires that Federal
agencies take action so that, by January 1, 2008, entities that operate
any business, including vending machines, on any premises owned by the
United States or under the control of any agency or instrumentality of
the United States, are capable of accepting and dispensing $1 coins and
that the entities display notices of this capability on the business
premises.
Item XIII--Technical Amendments
Editorial changes are made at FAR 31.201-5, 32.006-1, 32.006-2,
52.212-5, 52.232-16, and 52.245-1 in order to update references.
Dated: July 30, 2007.
Al Matera,
Acting Director, Contract Policy Division.
[FR Doc. 07-3805 Filed 8-16-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-EP-S