[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 42 (Friday, March 3, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11958-11960]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-5299]



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COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR SEVERELY DISABLED

Procurement List; Additions

AGENCY: Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely 
Disabled.

ACTION: Additions to the Procurement List.

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SUMMARY: This action adds to the Procurement List chemical protective 
drawers and undershirts to be furnished by nonprofit agencies employing 
persons who are blind or have other severe disabilities.

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 3, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely 
Disabled, Crystal Square 3, Suite 403, 1735 Jefferson Davis Highway, 
Arlington, Virginia 22202-3461.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beverly Milkman (703) 603-7740.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 14, 1994, the Committee for 
Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled published 
notice (59 F.R. 56467) of proposed addition to the Procurement List.
    Comments were received from two contractors. Both of the commenters 
helped develop similar underwear for another Federal customer, and both 
have received contracts to supply that underwear to Federal agencies 
other than the Marine Corps. One has a sizeable contract with another 
Department of Defense agency at this time.
    The contractor that does not currently have a contract argued that 
the Committee should not add 100% of the Marine Corps requirement to 
its Procurement List. The contractor contended that adding 100% would 
preclude it from having the opportunity to secure future contracts for 
the underwear, thereby preventing it from securing production work to 
cover its R&D expenditures. This contractor also questioned the 
capability of the nonprofit agency proposed to develop and supply the 
Marine Corps underwear, citing the difficulty of manufacturing such 
items and the failures of all except two contractors involved in 
developing the existing underwear.
    Because no contractor is guaranteed to receive a contract under the 
competitive bidding system, the Committee does not normally consider 
loss of the opportunity to bid on subsequent [[Page 11959]] contracts 
to constitute severe adverse impact. In this case, the commenting 
contractor is not the current contractor for either the underwear 
proposed for addition to the Procurement List or similar underwear 
being purchased by another Government agency. Consequently, the 
Committee does not believe that loss of opportunity to bid on the 
Marine Corps underwear constitutes severe adverse impact on the 
contractor. With respect to the nonprofit agency's ability to produce 
the underwear, the Committee has concluded that it is capable based on 
the results of inspections by the contracting activity, the cognizant 
military research and development center, and the central nonprofit 
agency charged by the Committee with evaluating local organizations' 
capabilities to furnish the Government with specific products and 
services.
    The other commenting contractor, which is supplying similar 
underwear to another military customer, raised a number of concerns 
about the proposed addition. Initially, many of the concerns stemmed 
from the lack of information in the Committee's files, which led the 
contractor to the correct conclusion that the Committee at that time 
was not in a position to make a decision on whether it was appropriate 
to add the items to the Procurement List. Subsequently, the Committee 
received the necessary information, which was provided to the 
contractor and reflected in the firm's second set of comments. These 
included a concern about the capability of the nonprofit agency to 
supply an acceptable product, an issue addressed above.
    The primary objections of this other contractor relate to the 
possibility that the Marine Corps underwear proposed for the 
Procurement List might in the future be purchased by the contractor's 
current customers instead of the underwear it is supplying. The 
contractor argued that losing the opportunity to compete to supply the 
underwear that replaced the garments it was supplying would have a 
severe adverse impact on its operations, including its employees. In 
addition, the contractor interpreted a Committee regulation regarding 
new purchases of similar items to mean that if the underwear for the 
Marine Corps were added to the Procurement List, other Government 
agencies purchasing similar items in the future would have to purchase 
them from the nonprofit agency designated by the Committee. Another 
Committee regulation regarding the applicability of the Committee's 
actions to all Government agencies was interpreted by the contractor as 
having the potential to produce the same result.
    The contractor also expressed concerns that the Government would be 
harmed by having to pay more than a competitively bid price for the 
garments. Another objection raised by the contractor involved the 
impact on its operations of a previous Committee decision to add a 
different item to the Procurement List.
    The Committee recognizes that if the contractor's current 
Government customer decides in the future to purchase the items being 
developed by the Marine Corps instead of the underwear it is now 
procuring and the commenting firm is still the current contractor, the 
circumstances should be considered by the Committee. Specifically, the 
Committee would assess the impact of its action on the commenting firm.
    Accordingly, the Committee has formally advised the contractor that 
if the Marine Corps underwear replaces the existing garments in the 
future, such an assessment will take place. At that time, the Committee 
would consider all aspects of such impact, including effects on 
employees, plant and equipment investments, other business 
relationships, and previous impact. In the case of the last factor, the 
Committee observed that the commenting firm had not been the current 
contractor for any items previously added to the Procurement List and, 
thus, under Committee procedures, would not be considered to have been 
impacted by prior Committee action.
    Notwithstanding its commitment to monitor future impacts, the 
Committee noted that representatives of both the Marine Corps and the 
current military customer have indicated that there are no plans for 
the Marine Corps underwear to replace the garments currently being 
supplied by the commenting contractor.
    With respect to the commenter's interpretation of the Committee 
regulation regarding purchasing similar items, the Committee does not 
interpret the regulation in the way suggested by the commenter. The 
regulation in question only applies to similar items not purchased by 
the Government in recent years. Therefore, the regulation would not 
cause the contractor to lose purchases by its present customer. The 
other regulation commented upon by the contractor would mean, as the 
commenter suggested, that in the event the contractor's current 
customer decided to switch to the Marine Corps garments, the customer 
would be expected to purchase the garments from the nonprofit agency 
designated by the Committee. However, as noted above, because such an 
action could impact upon the commenting firm, the Committee will--if 
such a switch is made--consider the appropriateness of retaining the 
total Marine Corps requirement on the Procurement List.
    In response to the comments about the price the Government will pay 
if the underwear is added to the Procurement List, the Committee noted 
that it is required to establish a fair market price for such items and 
to revise that price over time. Such a price has been established in 
this case and the nonprofit agency has agreed to supply the Marine 
Corps at that price.
    After consideration of the material presented to it concerning 
capability of qualified nonprofit agencies to provide the commodities, 
fair market price, and impact of the addition on the current or most 
recent contractors, the Committee has determined that the commodities 
listed below are suitable for procurement by the Federal Government 
under 41 U.S.C. 46-48c and 41 CFR 51-2.4.
    I certify that the following action will not have a significant 
impact on a substantial number of small entities. The major factors 
considered for this certification were:
    1. The action will not result in any additional reporting, 
recordkeeping or other compliance requirements for small entities other 
than the small organizations that will furnish the commodities to the 
Government.
    2. The action does not appear to have a severe economic impact on 
current contractors for the commodities.
    3. The action will result in authorizing small entities to furnish 
the commodities to the Government.
    4. There are no known regulatory alternatives which would 
accomplish the objectives of the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act (41 U.S.C. 46-
48c) in connection with the commodities proposed for addition to the 
Procurement List.
    Accordingly, the following commodities are hereby added to the 
Procurement List:

Drawers and Undershirt, Chemical Protective
    8415-00-NSH-0091 Size--32
    8415-00-NSH-0092 Size--34
    8415-00-NSH-0093 Size--36
    8415-00-NSH-0094 Size--38
    8415-00-NSH-0095 Size--40
    8415-00-NSH-0096 Size--42
    8415-00-NSH-0097 Size--44
    8415-00-NSH-0098 Size--46
    8415-00-NSH-0099 Size--48
    8415-00-NSH-0100 Size--26
    8415-00-NSH-0101 Size--28
    8415-00-NSH-0102 Size--30
    8415-00-NSH-0103 Size--32
    8415-00-NSH-0104 Size--34 [[Page 11960]] 
    8415-00-NSH-0105 Size--36
    8415-00-NSH-0106 Size--38
    8415-00-NSH-0107 Size--40
    8415-00-NSH-0108 Size--42

(Requirements for the U.S. Marine Corps, Washington, DC)

    This action does not affect current contracts awarded prior to the 
effective date of this addition or options exercised under those 
contracts.
Beverly L. Milkman,
Executive Director.
[FR Doc. 95-5299 Filed 3-2-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-33-P