[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 40 (Wednesday, February 28, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 7456-7457]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-4499]



=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Office of Operations

48 CFR Parts 401 through 453

RIN 0599-AA00


Agriculture Acquisition Regulation; Review and Revision

AGENCY: Office of Operations, Department of Agriculture.

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Agriculture Acquisition Regulation (AGAR) is the 
Department of Agriculture's agency acquisition regulation, issued to 
implement or supplement the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). The 
Department of Agriculture has started to revise the AGAR to eliminate 
obsolete and unnecessary material and to incorporate regulatory changes 
required by recent statutes, Executive Orders, Office of Federal 
Procurement Policy Letters, and changes to the FAR. The Department of 
Agriculture is seeking public comment to assist its effort to 
streamline and to revise the AGAR.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before April 29, 1996. However, 
the revision is an ongoing process and comments received after the due 
date will be considered.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
Office of Operations, Procurement Policy Division, Room 1546-S, 
Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Joseph J. Daragan, Office of Operations, U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250, (202) 720-5729.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The AGAR implements the FAR, where further 
implementation is needed, and supplements the FAR when coverage is 
needed for subject matter not covered by the FAR. The AGAR was first 
published in the Federal Register in March, 1984 (49 FR 12111, March 
28, 1984). Since then, three changes to the AGAR have been published in 
the Federal Register. The last published change to the AGAR was 
Agriculture Acquisition Circular Number 3, which was published in 
March, 1990 (55 FR 7334, March 1, 1990). The bulk of material in the 
AGAR dates to its initial publication, or to Agriculture Acquisition 
Circular Number 2, an amendment to the AGAR published in February, 1988 
(53 FR 6062, February 29, 1988). The AGAR thus contains a number of 
obsolete references which must be updated or stricken from the AGAR. A 
thorough revision of the AGAR is necessary to reflect the regulatory 
changes in the FAR which implement the Federal Acquisition Streamlining 
Act of 1994. The AGAR must also incorporate other changes necessitated 
by Executive Orders and recent Office of Federal Procurement Policy 
Letters. Furthermore, the AGAR is being revised as part of the National 
Performance Review (NPR) program to eliminate unnecessary regulations 
and improve those that remain in force.
    As an initial step in the NPR regulatory review initiative, the 
Department of Agriculture identified parts of the AGAR which required 
updating or streamlining. The Department's review indicated that almost 
all parts required revision. Accordingly, the Department plans to 
revise all parts of the AGAR and to republish the entire regulation in 
the Federal Register. To develop the revised regulation, the Department 
is seeking comments and suggestions from the public concerning what 
changes should be made to the AGAR. Both general comments concerning 
the AGAR and comments concerning specific sections of the AGAR (48 CFR 
parts 401 through 453) are invited.

[[Page 7457]]


List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 401 through 453

    Government contracts, Government procurement.
Ira L. Hobbs,
Director of Operations.
[FR Doc. 96-4499 Filed 2-27-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-98-M