[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 203 (Friday, October 20, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 54199-54200]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-26011]



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COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR SEVERELY DISABLED

41 CFR Part 51-5


Mandatory Source Requirement

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This rule revises the Committee's mandatory source requirement 
regulation to permit sales of Javits-Wagner-O'Day (JWOD) products to 
the Government through commercial distributors as well as the 
Committee's traditional sources of supply.

EFFECTIVE DATE: November 20, 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: G. John Heyer (703) 603-7740. Copies 
of this notice will be made available on request in computer diskette 
format.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Entities of the Government desiring to buy 
commodities and services which are on the Committee's Procurement List 
are required by law (41 U.S.C. 48) to buy them from a qualified 
nonprofit agency designated by the Committee at the fair market price 
established by the Committee, in accordance with the Committee's rules 
and regulations. The Committee has traditionally interpreted this 
statutory mandate as requiring a direct buying relationship between a 
Government entity and a nonprofit agency. The Committee's mandatory 
source requirement regulation, 41 CFR 51-5.2, is based on this 
interpretation.
    In light of ongoing changes in Federal procurement, the Committee 
has reexamined its traditional interpretation of its statute and has 
concluded that the regulatory authority it has been granted allows it 
to prescribe by regulation that its products may be procured through 
commercial distributors. As Government distributors such as the General 
Services Administration and the Defense Logistics Agency have long been 
providing these products to Government agencies, the Committee does not 
believe that this new interpretation is a departure from the statutory 
scheme which Congress established for the Committee to create jobs for 
people who are blind or have other severe disabilities by requiring 
Government agencies to purchase commodities and services from nonprofit 
agencies which employ these people.
    The former version of the mandatory source requirement regulation 
mentioned the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as one of the 
Government central supply agencies which distribute commodities 
produced by the JWOD Program. Because VA has closed its depot system, a 
specific reference to VA does not appear in the new regulation. The new 
regulation retains the requirement that persons providing commodities 
to Government agencies by contract are required to order them from the 
same Committee-authorized sources the Government agencies would use if 
they bought the commodities directly.

Public Comments on the Proposed Rule

    The Committee published the proposed rule in the Federal Register 
of July 28, 1995 (60 FR 38784). Four comments were received, one of 
which indicated that the commenter had no comments on the proposed rule 
at that time.
    One commenter requested that the rule identify specific commercial 
distributors which would be authorized to serve as JWOD distributors. 
Another commenter asked questions about the process to be used to 
authorize commercial distributors of JWOD commodities. However, as 
indicated in the preamble to both the proposed and final rules, the 
purpose of this rulemaking is merely to create the regulatory authority 
needed to permit the Committee to use commercial distributors in the 
future if appropriate. The process and criteria to be used to authorize 
the distributors, as well as the identities of the distributors, have 
not yet been determined.
    Another commenter requested that the reference in paragraph 51-
5.2(b) of the proposed rule to ``sources authorized by the Committee'' 
be changed to ``sources authorized and/or recognized by the 
Committee.'' The change would permit retrospective recognition of a 
commercial distributor's status as an authorized JWOD distributor. This 
change would be contrary to the Committee's intent to authorize 
commercial JWOD distributors, if at all, only after assuring that they 
meet appropriate criteria. Consequently, the proposed change has not 
been adopted.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    I certify that this proposed revision of the Committee regulations 
will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of 
small entities because the revision clarifies program policies and does 
not essentially change the impact of the regulations on small entities.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The Paperwork Reduction Act does not apply to this proposed rule 
because it contains no information collection or recordkeeping 
requirements as defined in that Act and its regulations.

Executive Order No. 12866

    The Committee has been exempted from the regulatory review 
requirements of the Executive Order by the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs. 

[[Page 54200]]
Additionally, the proposed rule is not a significant regulatory action 
as defined in the Executive Order.

List of Subjects in 41 CFR Part 51-5

    Government procurement, Handicapped.


    For the reasons set out in the preamble, Part 51-5 of Title 41, 
Chapter 51 of the Code of Federal Regulations is amended as follows:

PART 51-5--CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS

    1. The authority citation for Part 51-5 continues to read as 
follows:


    Authority: 41 U.S.C. 46-48c.

    2. Section 51-5.2 is amended by revising paragraphs (b) and (c), 
removing paragraphs (d) and (e), and redesignating paragraph (f) as 
paragraph (d), to read as follows:

Sec. 51-5.2  Mandatory source requirement.

* * * * *

    (b) Purchases of commodities on the Procurement List by entities of 
the Government shall be made from sources authorized by the Committee. 
These sources may include nonprofit agencies, central nonprofit 
agencies, Government central supply agencies such as the Defense 
Logistics Agency and the General Services Administration, and certain 
commercial distributors. Identification of the authorized sources for a 
particular commodity may be obtained from the central nonprofit 
agencies at the addresses noted in Sec. 51-6.2 of this chapter.

    (c) Contracting activities shall require other persons providing 
commodities which are on the Procurement List to entities of the 
Government by contract to order these commodities from the sources 
authorized by the Committee.

    (d) * * *

    Dated: October 17, 1995.

Beverly L. Milkman,

Executive Director.

[FR Doc. 95-26011 Filed 10-19-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-33-P