[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 210 (Thursday, October 30, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 58687-58688]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-28636]


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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Parts 1807, 1816, 1817, 1827, 1832, 1837, 1842, 1845, and 
1852


Miscellaneous Revisions to the NASA FAR Supplement

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This is a final rule amending the NASA FAR Supplement (NFS) to 
specify sources of the NASA Acquisition Forecast; amend regulations on 
types of contracts and special contracting methods; correct errors in 
regulations on patents, data, and copyrights; add new language on 
contract financing; remove unnecessary language relating to service 
contracting; implement direct submission of vouchers to NASA paying 
offices; and clarify contractor property reporting requirements.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 30, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom O'Toole, NASA, Office of 
Procurement, Contract Management Division (Code HK), (202) 358-0478.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    NFS 1807.7205(a) specifies the Internet URL to obtain the annual 
NASA Acquisition Forecast and its semiannual update. This URL is 
outdated and is corrected. Paragraph (b) of this section specifies that 
a hard copy of the forecast may be obtained from the Headquarters 
Office of Procurement (HS) and the Office of Small and Disadvantaged 
Business Utilization (Code K). NASA believes electronic access is the 
most efficient method to disseminate information in an expedient 
manner, and the hard copy availability is deleted. Changes are made in 
Part 1816 to revise existing language and add a new section 1816.404. 
Changes are made to Part 1817 to remove paragraph (a)(2) from section 
1817.7001 and transferring it to a new subpart 1817.72. Changes are 
made to Part 1827 to reinsert language inadvertently deleted in the NFS 
Rewrite (1827.301) and correct a typographical error (1827.303-70). The 
change in Part 1837 is to delete paragraph (c) of section 1837.110-70. 
Changes are made to Parts 1842 and 1852 to implement a Defense Contract 
Audit Agency (DCAA) program for contractor direct submission of interim 
vouchers to NASA paying offices without prior DCAA review. Finally, NFS 
Part 1845 is clarified to specify that fee associated with fabrication 
of Government property shall be included in Contractor Government 
property reports.

Impact

    NASA certifies that this regulation will not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small business entities 
under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). This final 
rule does not impose any reporting or recordkeeping requirements 
subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act.

List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 1807, 1816, 1817, 1827, 1832, 1837, 
1842, 1845, and 1852

    Government procurement.
Tom Luedtke,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Procurement.

    Accordingly, 48 CFR Parts 1807, 1816, 1817, 1827, 1832, 1837, 1842, 
1845, and 1852 are amended as follows:
    1. The authority citation for 48 CFR Parts 1807, 1816, 1817, 1827, 
1832, 1837, 1842, 1845, and 1852 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2473(c)(1).

PART 1807--ACQUISITION PLANNING


1807.105  [Amended]

    2. In section 1807.105, the designated paragraph (b)(19) is 
redesignated as paragraph (b)(20).


1807.7205  [Amended]

    3. Section 1807.7205 is revised to read as follows:


1807.7205  Public availability.

    The annual forecast and semiannual update are available on the NASA 
Acquisition Internet Service (http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/
procurement/).

PART 1816--TYPES OF CONTRACTS


1816.402-270  [Amended]

    4. In paragraph (a) to section 1816.402-270, the phase ``total 
estimated cost and fee'' is revised to read ``total value (including 
options)''.


1816.404  [Added]

    5. Section 1816.404 is added to read as follows:


1816.404  Fixed-price contracts with award fees.

    Section 1816.405-2 applies to the use of FPAF contracts as if they 
were CPAF contracts. However, neither base fee (see 1816.405-271) nor 
evaluation of cost control (see 1816.405-274) apply to FPAF contracts.


1816.406-70  [Amended]

    6. In paragraph (a) to section 1816.406-70, the phrase ``a cost-
plus-award-fee'' is revised to read ``an award-fee''.
    7. In paragraph (b) to section 1816.406-70, the phrase ``a cost-
plus-award-fee'' is revised to read ``an award-fee'', and the following 
sentence is added to the end of the paragraph:
    ``When the clause is used in a fixed-price award fee contract, it 
shall be modified by deleting references to base fee in paragraphs (a), 
and by deleting paragraph (c)(1), the last sentence of (c)(4), and the 
first sentence of (c)(5).''
    8. In paragraph (e) to section 1816.406-70, the phrase ``cost-plus-
award-fee'' is revised to read ``an award-fee'', and the following 
sentence is added to the end of the paragraph:
    ``When the clause is used in a fixed-price award fee contract, it 
shall be modified to delete references to base fee and to reflect the 
contract type.''

PART 1817--SPECIAL CONTRACTING METHODS


1817.503  [Amended]

    9. In section 1817.503, the existing paragraph is redesignated as 
``(2)'' and a new paragraph (a) is added to read as follows:


1817.503  Determinations and findings requirements.

    (a) See 1817.72 for additional information on interagency 
transaction requirements.
* * * * *


1817.7001  [Amended]

    10. In section 1817.7001, paragraph (a)(1) is redesignated as 
paragraph (a), and paragraph (a)(2) is removed.

Subpart 1817.72--[Added]

    11. Subpart 1817.72 is added to read as follows:

Subpart 1817.72--Interagency Transactions


1817.7201  Policy.

    (a) Although the Space Act provides interagency transaction 
authority nearly equivalent to the Economy Act, NASA has elected to 
conform its implementation of the Space Act to the requirements of the 
Economy Act.

[[Page 58688]]

Therefore, unless exempt from the Economy Act for reasons other than 
the general authority of the Space Act, interagency acquisitions shall 
be supported by a Determination and Findings equivalent to that 
required for Economy Act transactions (see FAR 17.503 and 1817.503). 
This requirement applies to all purchases of goods or services under 
contracts entered into or administered by the Military Departments or 
other agencies. The Space Act may be cited as authority for a 
transaction where appropriate, but that does not provide relief from 
this D&F requirement.
    (b) The determination described in paragraph (a) of this section is 
not required for contracts awarded under the Space Act to Government 
agencies pursuant to a Broad Agency Announcement when a review of the 
acquisition records would make it obvious that the award is nor being 
used as a method of circumventing regulatory or statutory requirements, 
particularly FAR part 6, Competition Requirements (e.g., when a 
significant number and value of awards made under the BAA are made to 
entities other than Government agencies).

PART 1827--PATENTS, DATA, AND COPYRIGHTS


1827.301  [Amended]

    12. In section 1827.301, the definition of ``Reportable item'' is 
amended by inserting the phrase ``in the performance of any work under 
any NASA contract or'' after the word ``made''.


1827.303-70  [Amended]

    13. In 1827.303-70(b)(6), the reference ``subparagraphs (a) through 
(e) of this paragraph'' is revised to read ``paragraphs (b)(1) through 
(5) of this section''.

PART 1832--CONTRACT FINANCING


1832.412  [Amended]

    14. In section 1832.412, paragraph (f) is redesignated as paragraph 
(f)(1), and a new paragraph (f)(2) is added to read as follows:


1832.412  Contract clause. (NASA supplements paragraphs (a), (e) and 
(f)).

* * * * *
    (f)(1) * * *

    (f) Requirements for payment. * * *

    (2) When FAR clause 52.232-12, Advance Payments, is used with its 
Alternate V, the contracting officer shall modify Alternate V of the 
clause at FAR 52.232-12 by substituting the following for paragraph 
(b). Annotate the clause title by adding ``as modified by NASA (Oct 
1997).''

    ``(b) Use of funds. The Contractor may use advance payment funds 
only to pay for properly allocable, allowable, and reasonable costs 
for direct materials, direct labor, indirect costs, or such other 
costs approved in writing by the administering contracting office. 
Payments are subject to any restrictions in other clauses of this 
contract. Determinations of whether costs are properly allocable, 
allowable, and reasonable shall be in accordance with generally 
accepted accounting principles, subject to any applicable subparts 
of part 31 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation or other applicable 
regulations referenced in part 31.''

PART 1837--SERVICE CONTRACTING


1837.110-70   [Amended]

    15. In section 1837.110-70, paragraph (c) is removed.

PART 1842--CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION


1842.803  [Amended]

    16. In section 1842.803, a new paragraph (b)(1)(D) is added to read 
as follows:


1842.803  Disallowing costs after incurrence. (NASA supplements 
paragraph (b))

    (b) * * *
    (1) * * *
    (D) Authorizing direct submission of interim vouchers for 
provisional payment to disbursing offices for contractors with approved 
billing systems.
* * * * *

PART 1845--GOVERNMENT PROPERTY


1845.7101-3  [Amended]

    17. In section 1845.7101-3, a sentence is added to the end of 
paragraph (b) to read as follows:


1845.7101-3  Computing costs of fabricated special tooling, special 
test equipment, agency-peculiar property, and contract work in process.

    (a) * * *
    (b) * * * In addition, fees paid by the Government to the 
contractor associated with the fabrication of Government property shall 
be included in the values reported on NF 1018 to enable NASA to 
properly reflect the total cost of property on its financial 
statements.
* * * * *

1852--SOLICITATION PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT CLAUSES


1852.216-87  [Amended]

    18. Section 1852.216-87 is amended by adding new paragraph (b)(4) 
and revising the clause date to read as follows:


1852.216-87  Submission of Vouchers for Payment.

    As prescribed in 1816.307-70(e), insert the following clause:

SUBMISSION OF VOUCHERS FOR PAYMENT OCTOBER 1997

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (4) For any period that the Defense Contract Audit Agency has 
authorized the Contractor to submit interim vouchers directly to the 
Government paying office, interim vouchers are not required to be sent 
to the Auditor, and are considered to be provisionally approved for 
payment, subject to final audit.
* * * * *


1852.237-72  [Removed]

    19. Section 1852.237-72 is removed.

[FR Doc. 97-28636 Filed 10-29-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7510-01-M