[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 225 (Friday, November 21, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62284-62286]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-30678]


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COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR SEVERELY DISABLED


Procurement List; Additions and Deletions

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

ACTION: Additions to and deletions from the Procurement List.

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SUMMARY: This action adds to the Procurement List commodities and 
services to be furnished by nonprofit agencies employing persons who 
are blind or have other severe disabilities, and deletes from the 
Procurement List commodities previously furnished by such agencies.

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 22, 1997.

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 June 13, August 1, September 5, 12, 
26 and October 3, 1997, the Committee for Purchase From People Who 
Are Blind or Severely Disabled published notices (62 FR 32288, 
41339, 46943, 48050, 50555 and 51827) of proposed additions to and 
deletions from the Procurement List:

Additions

The Following Comments Pertain to Janitorial/Custodial, Calexico, 
California

    Comments were received from the current contractor for this 
janitorial/custodial service. The commenter claimed that this addition 
to the Procurement List would have a severe adverse impact on the 
company and its employees as little other Federal work would remain in 
its area after this and other Procurement List additions.
    This addition would not, in the Committee's view, remove a large 
enough percentage of the commenter's total sales to constitute severe 
adverse impact. The commenter was not the current contractor for the 
other janitorial services in its area which have been added to the 
Procurement List, so it was not impacted by losing the opportunity to 
perform those services. The commenter did not provide information 
concerning possible job losses by its employees, but given the 
relatively small amount of labor involved in the contract, at most only 
one or two employees would be impacted. Moreover, the Procurement List 
addition will create employment for people with severe disabilities, 
who have an unemployment rate far above that of people without 
disabilities. Consequently, the Committee believes this job creation 
outweighs the possible job loss by one or two of the commenter's 
employees.

The Following Comments Pertain to Tray, MM, Fiberboard

    The Committee initially proposed to add the Government requirement 
for fiberboard MM trays and sleeves to the Procurement List. Comments 
were received from two companies which

[[Page 62285]]

were current contractors for these items at the time the Committee 
wrote to them to request sales data. One company indicated that the 
items made up a substantial portion of its sales, and losing them would 
also cause layoffs of some workers. The other company described the 
production process and questioned whether the designated nonprofit 
agency would be capable of acquiring the machinery needed to perform it 
to Government specifications.
    Because of concerns over contractor impact, the trays and sleeves 
have been separated into two Procurement List addition processes. This 
addition involves only the fiberboard MM sleeves. Neither company is 
currently a contractor for the sleeves, so the addition will have no 
impact on them or their workers. The company which is the contractor is 
a very large business, so the impact of the addition on it will not be 
severe.
    The designated nonprofit agency has experience in producing 
corrugated items for the Government and other customers. The 
Committee's industrial engineer has reviewed the capability assessments 
which have been done by the contracting activity and the central 
nonprofit agency, and has concluded that the nonprofit agency will be 
capable of producing the sleeves to Government specifications at the 
time of contract performance.

The Following Comments Pertain to Dispenser, Tape

    Comments were received from the current contractor for the tape 
dispenser. The commenter noted that the tape dispenser requires very 
little labor to produce, so it would not create much employment for 
people with severe disabilities. He also claimed that the Committee was 
adding a sizeable portion of his company's business to the Procurement 
List when earlier additions are considered along with this addition. 
The commenter also mentioned the impact of losing investment in product 
development and tooling to produce items which are then added to the 
Procurement List, and claimed that the company had not been contacted 
in the past before other Procurement List additions were made.
    The Committee agrees that this particular tape dispenser produces 
only a small amount of direct labor employment for people with severe 
disabilities. However, it will complement other products, including 
another tape dispenser, being produced by the nonprofit agency to 
generate direct labor employment for people who are blind.
    The commenter was not the current contractor for the other items it 
mentioned at the times they were added to the Procurement List. 
Consequently, the Committee did not contact the commenter to inquire 
about the impact of the additions on its sales, as it did for the 
current addition. The Committee does not consider loss of the 
opportunity to bid on future Government purchases of an item to 
constitute severe adverse impact on a company which is not the current 
contractor for the item. The current addition represents a percentage 
of the commenter's sales which is well below the level the Committee 
normally considers to have a severe adverse impact.
    Because no contractor is guaranteed a contract under the 
Government's competitive bidding system, product development and 
tooling investment is a business expense which a contractor makes with 
the understanding that it may be lost if the contractor fails to secure 
a Government contract for the item in question. Consequently, the 
Committee does not consider such loss to constitute severe adverse 
impact. In addition, the contractor sold its stencil dies to nonprofit 
agencies which are producing stencils under the Committee's Javits-
Wagner-O'Day (JWOD) Program, and has developed new business lines to 
replace the bidding opportunities it claims to have lost to the JWOD 
Program.
    After consideration of the material presented to it concerning 
capability of qualified nonprofit agencies to provide the commodities 
and services and impact of the additions on the current or most recent 
contractors, the Committee has determined that the commodities and 
services 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 and 
services to the Government.
    2. The action will not have a severe economic impact on current 
contractors for the commodities and services.
    3. The action will result in authorizing small entities to furnish 
the commodities and services 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 and services proposed for 
addition to the Procurement List.
    Accordingly, the following commodities and services are hereby 
added to the Procurement List:

Commodities

Office and Miscellaneous Supplies
(Requirements for the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York)

Tape Dispenser
7520-00-240-2408

Sleeve, MM, Fiberboard
P.S. Item 3916A

Services

Carpet Replacement, National Gallery of Art, 6th & Constitution Avenue, 
NW, Washington, DC
Janitorial/Custodial, Calexico Border Patrol Station, Calexico, 
California
Janitorial/Custodial, U.S. Army Reserve Center, Moffett Field, 
California
Janitorial/Custodial, Eisenhower Library Complex, 200 S.E. 4th Street, 
Abilene, Kansas.

    This action does not affect current contracts awarded prior to the 
effective date of this addition or options that may be exercised under 
those contracts.

Deletions

    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.
    2. The action will not have a severe economic impact on future 
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 deleted from the Procurement 
List.
    Accordingly, the following commodities are hereby deleted from the 
Procurement List:

Cover, Mattress
7210-00-241-9718
7210-00-067-7969
Smithsonian Institution Women's Council Newsletter

[[Page 62286]]

7690-00-NSH-0037
Beverly L. Milkman,
Executive Director.
[FR Doc. 97-30678 Filed 11-20-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6353-01-P