[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 6 (Friday, January 9, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1420-1422]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-577]


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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 commodities and 
services to be furnished by nonprofit agencies employing persons who 
are blind or have other severe disabilities.

EFFECTIVE DATE: February 9, 1998.


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ADDRESSES: Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely 
Disabled, Crystal Gateway 3, Suite 310, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, 
Arlington, Virginia 22202-4302.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

    On June 6, 13, November 14 and 21, 1997, the Committee for Purchase 
From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled published notices (62 
F.R. 31065, 32288, 61081 and 62284) of proposed additions to the 
Procurement List.

The Following Comments Pertain to Cap, Cold Weather

    Comments were received from the current contractor as a result of a 
Committee request for sales data and through a Member of Congress. The 
contractor claimed that addition of the cap to the Procurement List 
would have a severe adverse impact on the company. One reason for this 
severe impact is the cumulative impact of earlier additions to the 
Procurement List of headwear items made by the contractor.
    The Committee originally proposed the addition of the entire 
Government requirement for the cap to the Procurement List, for 
production by two nonprofit agencies employing people with severe 
disabilities. Because of the concerns expressed by the contractor, the 
Committee decided to reduce the addition proposal to 50 percent of the 
Government requirement, to be produced by only one nonprofit agency. 
This change will reduce the impact on the contractor below the level 
which the Committee normally considers severe adverse impact. In 
addition, the contractor will be allowed to finish its current 
contract, as the Committee's mandate applies only to contracts formed 
after the effective date of a Procurement List addition.
    As for the cumulative impact issues the contractor raised, the 
contractor's use of its 1991 sales year as the high point from which a 
subsequent sales decline is measured is misleading, as 1991 was a good 
year for all military cap manufacturers because of the high number of 
orders then to support Operation Desert Shield/Storm. The contractor's 
sales in 1989 and 1993 are more reflective of a typical sales year, and 
those are not substantially different from the contractor's current 
annual sales. Moreover, while the contractor may not have completely 
recovered from the impacts of the Committee's previous actions, the 
primary reason its sales have not increased is military downsizing in 
recent years. Troop reductions, and not the effects of the Committee's 
program, have reduced the sales of most military cap manufacturers, 
including those involved in the Committee's program and the current 
contractor.
    Of the three caps the contractor identified as previous impacts, 
one was added to the Procurement List in 1989 and the other in 1993. 
The contractor was not the current contractor for the third cap (Cap, 
Combat Camouflage) when it was added to the Procurement List. Only 50 
percent of the Government requirement for the 1989 addition, a Marine 
Corps utility cap, was taken out of competitive procurement, so the 
contractor continued to be eligible to compete for Government contracts 
for the other half of the Government requirement for this cap.

The Following Comments Pertain to Tray, MM, Fiberboard

    The Committee initially proposed to add the total Government 
requirement for fiberboard MM trays and sleeves to the Procurement 
List. Comments were received from two companies which 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.
    Before the Committee took any action, a new contract was awarded 
for the sleeves, and neither company received the award. Consequently, 
when the Committee added the sleeves to the Procurement List, both 
companies had already lost the business and only lost the opportunity 
to compete for subsequent procurements of these items. The Committee 
does not consider this type of loss to be a severe impact on the 
companies, because all they are losing is the possibility of a 
contract, not acutal work on which they have come to rely.
    This addition involves only the fiberboard MM trays. The quantity 
of the Government's tray requirement which the Committee is adding to 
the Procurement List is 45 percent of the total Government requirement 
(not to exceed 20 million trays annually), leaving more than half the 
requirement available for production by either of the two contractors 
or others under the competitive bidding system. The portion of the 
requirement being added to the Procurement List represents a percentage 
of the contractors' sales which is below the level the Committee 
considers to be severe adverse impact.
    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 trays to Government specifications at the time 
of contract performance.
    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 Naval Station, Ingleside, Texas)
Sponge, Cellulose
7920-01-444-3650

Cap, Cold Weather
8415-01-099-7843 thru -7848
(50% of the Government's requirement)

Tray, MM, Fiberboard

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P.S. 3916
(45% of annual requirements up to 20 million)

Extra Life & Shipper
M.R. 858
M.R. 859

Services

Janitorial/Custodial
Naval Air Reserve
Moffett Field, California

Janitorial/Custodial
Robert N.C. Nix, Sr. Federal Center
9th & Market Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Switchboard Operation
Veterans Affairs Medical Center
2250 Leestown Road
Lexington, Kentucky

    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.
Beverly L. Milkman,
Executive Director.
[FR Doc. 98-577 Filed 1-8-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6353-01-P