[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 161 (Friday, August 20, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45506-45508]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-21670]


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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 services to be

[[Page 45507]]

furnished by nonprofit agencies employing persons who are blind or have 
other severe disabilities.

EFFECTIVE DATE: September 20, 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 September 11, and December 11, 1998, 
January 29, May 28, June 18 and 25, and July 2, 1999, the Committee for 
Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled published 
notices (63 FR 48696 and 68427, and 64 FR 4638, 28972, 32844, 34187, 
35987 and 35988) of proposed additions to the Procurement List.

Additions

The Following Comments Pertain to Food Service, Fort Lee, Virginia

    Comments were received from a contractor under the 8(a) Program 
which is not the current contractor for this service. The commenting 
contractor objected to removal of this service from competitive 
procurement. The Committee does not consider loss of the opportunity to 
bid on a contract, without a showing of further economic impact or a 
demonstrated history of dependency on the contract, to be a severe 
adverse impact on a contractor.

The Following Comments Pertain to Mailroom and Warehouse Operation, 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Construction Engineering Research 
Laboratory, Champaign, Illinois

    Comments were received from the current contractor for these 
services. The commenter claimed to be a struggling small disadvantaged 
business. Loss of its contracts for these services, it claimed, would 
halt its expansion and could result in the end of the company. The 
commenter also questioned whether blind people would be able to safely 
perform the mailroom and warehouse operations involved in providing the 
services to the Government.
    The percentage of the commenter's total sales which its contracts 
for these services represent is slightly higher than the percentage 
range which the Committee has historically considered not to constitute 
severe adverse impact on a current contractor. However, the Government 
contracting activity for these services has informed the Committee that 
the commenter's numerous failures to pay its employees performing the 
services properly has raised concerns that performance could be 
impaired if some or all of the employees walk off the job. The 
Department of Labor is currently investigating the commenter for 
possible violations of the Service Contract Act related to these 
payment problems, and debarment of the commenter from Federal 
contracting is a possible result of the investigation. Because current 
Federal acquisition regulations permit contracting activities to place 
considerable weight on past performance as a factor in assessing the 
risk of poor performance on future contracts, the contracting activity 
believes that it would be unlikely to award future contracts for these 
services to the commenter if the payment problems are not corrected. In 
addition, these payment problems could lead to disqualification of the 
commenter for future contract awards on the grounds of financial 
nonresponsibility.
    Under these circumstances, the Committee believes the commenter 
would likely not receive future contracts for these services whether or 
not the Committee added them to the Procurement List.
    Any financial impact the commenter would experience would thus not 
necessarily be a direct result of the Committee's addition decision. 
Accordingly, the Committee has concluded that addition of these 
services to the Procurement List is not likely, in itself, to have a 
severe adverse impact on the commenter.
    The Committee's determination that the nonprofit agency for the 
blind which will be performing these services is capable of doing so is 
based on an evaluation of the nonprofit agency's capability which took 
into account the ability of blind workers to perform the tasks involved 
in a safe manner. Accordingly, the Committee does not agree with the 
commenter's contention that blind people cannot safely perform these 
tasks.

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

    After consideration of the material presented to it concerning 
capability of qualified nonprofit agencies to provide the services and 
impact of the additions on the current or most recent contractors, the 
Committee has determined that the 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 services to the 
Government.
    2. The action will not have a severe economic impact on current 
contractors for the services.
    3. The action will result in authorizing small entities to furnish 
the 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 services proposed for addition to the 
Procurement List.
    Accordingly, the following services are hereby added to the 
Procurement List:

Base Supply Center and Operation of Individual Equipment Element 
Store

Vandenberg Air Force Base, California

Commissary Shelf Stocking, Custodial and Warehousing

Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii

Food Service

Fort Lee, Virginia

Janitorial/Custodial

Agriculture Cotton Annex, 14th and Independence Avenue, Washington, 
DC

Janitorial/Custodial

Herbert Hoover Building and White House Visitor's Center, 14th & 
Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC

Janitorial/Custodial

Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island

Mailroom and Warehouse Operation

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Construction Engineering Research 
Laboratory, Champaign, Illinois

Mailroom Operation

Internal Revenue Service, University Plaza Building, 949 East 36th 
Avenue, Room 112, Anchorage, Alaska

Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Coast Guard

Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole (PJKK) Federal Building, 300 Ala 
Moana Boulevard, Honolulu, Hawaii

Internal Revenue Service

Edith Green/Wendell Wyatt Federal Building, 1220 SW Third Avenue, 
Portland, Oregon

Internal Revenue Service

Jackson Federal Building, 915 Second Avenue, Room 2450, Seattle, 
Washington

Recycling Service

March Air Reserve Base, California


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    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.
Rita L. Wells,
Deputy Director (Policy and Program Coordination).
[FR Doc. 99-21670 Filed 8-19-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6353-01-P