[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 136 (Friday, July 16, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38407-38408]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-18195]


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COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR SEVERELY DISABLED


Procurement List Additions and Deletion

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

ACTION: Additions to and deletion 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 a commodity previously furnished by such agencies.

EFFECTIVE DATE: August 16, 1999.

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 March 26, April 16, May 14, 21, and 28, 
and June 4, 1999, the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind 
or Severely Disabled published notices (64 FR 14687, 18877, 26360, 
27752, 28971, 28972 and 29992) of proposed additions to and deletion 
from the Procurement List:

Additions

The Following Comments Pertain to Gloves, Patient Examining

    Comments were received from a private company both directly and 
through a Member of Congress who urged consideration of the company's 
comments. The company claimed that addition of the patient examining 
gloves to the Procurement List would violate the antitrust laws and 
affect a large number of businesses, contrary to the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act certification in the Federal Register notice of 
proposed addition of the gloves to the Procurement List. The company 
proposed that the nonprofit agency employing blind people which will 
provide the gloves to the Government be given a bid preference in a 
competitive procurement instead of being made a mandatory procurement 
source. The antitrust laws are designed to prevent restraint of trade 
in the commercial marketplace. It is the Committee's understanding that 
the Government is immune from suit under the antitrust laws for actions 
taken in its sovereign capacity, such as procurement of goods and 
services for its own use. This addition to the Procurement List 
concerns just such a procurement. Also, Congress specifically 
authorized this type of sole-source procurement to benefit people with 
blindness and other severe disabilities when it passed the Javits-
Wagner-O'Day (JWOD) Act.
    Prior to its standardization of its patient examining glove 
procurements on the type offered by the nonprofit agency which will 
provide them under the Procurement List, the Department of Veterans 
Affairs (VA) did not buy a single type of glove on a nationwide basis, 
as it is now doing. The nonprofit agency which will provide the gloves 
under the Procurement List is also the only contractor which VA has had 
for the new nationwide requirement. Under Committee regulations, the 
nonprofit agency is the contractor on whom impact of the Procurement 
List addition would be assessed. We are not aware of the possible 
impact on any other companies in any detail, and the commenting company 
has provided no information on which the Committee could base an impact 
determination. It should also be noted that the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act certification concerned impact on a substantial number of small 
entities. As just noted, the Committee is aware of only one affected 
small entity in this case, the nonprofit agency, although the 
commenting company may also be in this category. To the extent this 
comment represents an objection by the company to losing the 
possibility of selling examining gloves to VA, it should be noted that 
VA permits the purchase of the gloves through distributors as well as 
directly from the nonprofit agency, so the commenting company may be 
able to mitigate its losses by entering into a distribution agreement 
with the nonprofit agency.
    In enacting the JWOD Act, Congress did not provide for the type of 
competitive bid preference the commenting company advocated. 
Consequently, the Committee is unable to accommodate the company's 
idea, even if it considered such an approach a desirable way of 
accomplishing its statutory mission of creating jobs for people who are 
blind or have other severe disabilities.

The Following Material Pertains to All of the Items Being Added to the 
Procurement List

    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

Fiberboard Half Size MM Trays and Sleeves
    PSIN 3916B (Tray)
    PSIN 3916C (Sleeves)
Gloves, Patient Examining
    6515-01-461-3208
    6515-01-461-3209
    6515-01-455-5293
    6515-01-461-8271
    6515-01-455-5281
    6515-01-455-2778
    6515-01-455-2782
    6515-01-461-8414
    6515-01-455-2768

[[Page 38408]]

    6515-01-455-2759
    6515-01-461-8507
    6515-01-455-5278
Office Furniture
    7110-00-151-6485
    7110-00-177-4901
    7110-00-177-4902
    7110-00-194-1613
    7110-00-281-5689
    7195-00-242-3503

Services

Base Supply Center
    Aberdeen Proving Ground, Aberdeen, Maryland
CD-ROM Duplication Services
    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 100 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania

(75% of the Corps' Requirement)

Hospital Housekeeping Services
    U.S. Army Medical Activity & U.S. Army Dental Activity 
(including Evans Army Community Hospital), Fort Carson, Colorado

Janitorial/Custodial

Internal Revenue Service, Fresno Service Center (FSC), 5045 E. 
Butler Avenue, Fresno, California
VA Medical Center, 3350 La Jolla Village Drive, San Diego, 
California
Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinic, 2900 Veterans Way, 
Melbourne, Florida

    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.

Deletion

    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 may 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 commodity.
    3. The action may result in authorizing small entities to furnish 
the commodity 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 commodity deleted from the Procurement 
List.
    After consideration of the relevant matter presented, the Committee 
has determined that the commodity listed below is no longer suitable 
for procurement by the Federal Government under 41 U.S.C. 46-48c and 41 
CFR 51-2.4.
    Accordingly, the following commodity is hereby deleted from the 
Procurement List:

Ion Exchange Compound
    6810-00-873-2554
Beverly L. Milkman,
Executive Director.
[FR Doc. 99-18195 Filed 7-15-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6353-01-P