[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 188 (Tuesday, September 29, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51962-51963]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-26058]


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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET

Office of Federal Procurement Policy


Proposed Collection, Comment Request Entitled Small Business 
Competitiveness Demonstration Program

AGENCY: Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB).

ACTION: Notice of request for public comment regarding the 
reinstatement, with changes, of a previously approved collection (OMB 
Clearance 9000-0100) for which approval is now being requested by OFPP.

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SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), OFPP is notifying the public concerning a 
request to reinstate, with changes, a previously approved information 
collection requirement concerning the Small Business Competitiveness 
Demonstration Program.

DATES: Comments may be submitted on or before November 30, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Linda G. Williams, Deputy Associate 
Administrator, Office of Federal Procurement Policy, 202-395-3302.

ADDRESSES: Comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect 
of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing 
this burden, should be submitted to the Administrator, Office of 
Federal Procurement Policy, Room 352, OEOB, Washington, DC 20503. 
Please cite the Small Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Purpose

    The Small Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program Act of 
1988 (Title VII, Public Law 100-656), as amended, established the Small 
Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program (Program). The Program 
was established (1) to demonstrate whether or not small businesses in 
certain industry groups can compete successfully on an unrestricted 
basis for Federal contracts, and (2) to demonstrate whether or not 
targeted goaling and management technques can expand Federal contract 
opportunities for small businesses in industry categories where such 
opportunities historically have been low despite adequate numbers of 
small business contractors in the economy. Section 401 of the Small 
Business Reauthorization Act of 1997 (Pub. L. 105-135) extends the 
Program indefinitely.
    Under the current Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), small 
businesses are

[[Page 51963]]

required only to represent their status (i.e., whether small, small 
disadvantaged, or women-owned small businesses). Section 714(c) of the 
Small Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program Act requires each 
participating agency to collect data pertaining to the size as well as 
the status of the small business concern receiving any award for 
services in the four designated industry groups and products or 
services in the agencies' ten targeted industry categories. The size of 
the small businesses is collected in terms of the number of employees 
or dollar volume of sales. The number of employees is based on the 
average of the pay periods for the last twelve months. The volume of 
sales is based on the average annual gross revenue for the last three 
fiscal years (see FAR 19.101). The size information is collected during 
the solicitation process as part of the representation requirement. 
This data will be used to evaluate the small business impact of the 
Program.
    The former information collection requirements set forth in section 
714(b) of the Small Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program Act, 
pertaining to the simplified system to collect data on the 
participation of small business concerns as subcontractors under prime 
contracts for architectural and engineering (A&E) services, expired on 
September 30, 1997. Accordingly, this proposed reinstatement excludes 
that data collection requirement.

B. Annual Reporting Burden

    Public reporting burden for this collection of information is 
estimated to average five minutes per response, including the time to 
gather the information and complete the solicitation provision. The 
annual reporting burden is estimated as follows: Respondents, 603,524; 
responses per respondent, 1; total annual responses, 603,524; 
preparation hours per response, .08333, and total response burden 
hours, 50,273.

Obtaining Copies of Proposals

    A copy of the Paperwork justification is available from the Office 
of Federal Procurement Policy, Room 352, OEOB, Washington, DC 20503. 
Please cite the Small Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program in 
all correspondence.
Deidre A. Lee,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 98-26058 Filed 9-28-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3110-01-P