[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] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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