[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 190 (Tuesday, October 1, 2002)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 61519-61521]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-24774]


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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Parts 1852 and 1872

RIN 2700-AC33


Broad Agency Announcements

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This final rule adopts with changes the proposed rule 
published in the Federal Register on August 31, 2001. This final rule 
amends the NASA FAR Supplement (NFS) to require, when relevant, 
consideration of safety and risk-based acquisition management in NASA's 
broad agency announcements. This change will ensure consistency in the 
way safety and risk based acquisition management are treated in all 
NASA acquisitions.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Brundage, NASA, Office of 
Procurement, Analysis Division (Code HC), (202) 358-0481, or e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

    NASA recently made several changes to the NFS to address safety and 
risk based acquisition management (RBAM) in the acquisition planning 
processes for

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negotiated procurements. This final rule makes corresponding changes to 
the proposal preparation processes for NASA's broad agency 
announcements (BAA). Two types of BAAs used by NASA include the 
Announcement of Opportunity (AO) and the NASA Research Announcement 
(NRA). This final rule amends the NASA FAR Supplement (NFS) to require, 
when relevant, consideration of safety and risk-based acquisition 
management in NASA's broad agency announcements. This change allows 
NASA to consider safety and RBAM as part of the proposal selection done 
under NASA's broad agency announcements. This change will ensure 
consistency in the way safety and RBAM are treated in all NASA 
acquisitions.
    NASA published a proposed rule in the Federal Register at 66 FR 
45955 on August 31, 2001. NASA received one comment on the proposed 
rule. The commenter suggested that risk analysis should not be imposed 
at early stages of research solely for consistency when it is unlikely 
there will be any identifiable risk that could benefit from a premature 
risk analysis. The commenter further recommended that NASA not require 
RBAM on BAAs unless the statement of work involved procurement, 
development, manufacture, and operation of hardware and equipment.
    NASA included the phrase ``where they are relevant'' in its 
proposed rule because it agrees that in some cases the proposed work in 
response to a BAA may be so early in the development cycle that 
identification and discussion of risk factors may not be possible. 
However, NASA disagrees with the suggestion that risk factor 
identification and discussion occur only when the statement of work 
involves procurement, development, manufacture, and operation of 
hardware and equipment.
    To ensure that the identification and discussion of risk factors is 
conducted when appropriate, NASA's proposed rule required the 
identification and discussion of risk factors and issues throughout the 
proposal ``where they are relevant.''
    Relevancy of risk should be easily determinable, even during the 
initial BAA process. For example, research involving flight hardware, 
hazardous material, or potentially dangerous operations includes 
identifiable risks. In other cases, it may indeed be too early in the 
research process to identify and discuss risk factors, so such a 
discussion would not be relevant.
    Moreover, BAAs include information that will help a proposer in 
determining whether an identification and discussion of risks may be 
relevant. For instance, AO's include, as applicable, safety, 
reliability, and quality assurance provisions. NRAs contain 
programmatic information and certain requirements and will generally 
specify topics for which additional information or greater detail is 
desirable. NASA is ensuring that areas that may involve potential risk 
are highlighted in AOs and NRAs by requiring the participation of the 
appropriate NASA Safety Offices in the NRA and AO (by this rule) 
processes.
    It is anticipated and understood that the identification of risk 
factors where relevant will be consistent with the level of information 
available at the time of the proposal. Therefore, no change is being 
made as a result of comments received. Minor grammatical changes have 
been made to NFS section 1872.307.

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    NASA certifies that this final rule will not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small business entities 
under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601, et seq.) because it 
does not impose new requirements. Rather, it focuses attention on 
safety and risk management.

C. Paperwork Reduction Act

    The Paperwork Reduction Act does not apply because the changes to 
the NFS do not impose any record keeping or information collection 
requirements, or collections of information from offerors, contractors, 
or members of the public that require the approval of the Office of 
Management and Budget under 44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.

List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 1852 and 1872

    Government procurement.

Tom Luedtke,
Assistant Administrator for Procurement.
    Accordingly, 48 CFR parts 1852 and 1872 are amended as follows:

    1. The authority citation for 48 CFR 1852 and 1872 continues to 
read as follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2473(c)(1).

PART 1852--SOLICITATION PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT CLAUSES

    2. Amend the clause at section 1852.235-72 by revising the clause 
date, redesignating paragraph (c)(11)(ii) as (c)(11)(iii), and adding a 
new paragraph (c)(11)(ii) to read as follows:


1852.235-72  Instructions for responding to NASA Research 
Announcements.

* * * * *

Instructions for Responding to NASA Research Announcements (Oct. 2002)

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (11) * * *
    (ii) Identify and discuss risk factors and issues throughout the 
proposal where they are relevant, and your approach to managing these 
risks.
* * * * *

PART 1872 --ACQUISITION OF INVESTIGATIONS

    3. Amend paragraph (b) of section 1872.303 by adding the words 
``Office of Safety and Mission Assurance,'' immediately after ``Office 
of General Counsel,''.

    4. Amend section 1872.307 by adding the following sentence at the 
end of paragraph (b) to read as follows:


1872.307  Guidelines for proposal preparation.

* * * * *
    (b) * * * Investigators shall be required to identify and discuss 
risk factors and issues throughout the proposal where they are 
relevant, and describe their approach to managing these risks.

    5. Amend section 1872.402, by redesignating paragraph (b)(7) as 
(b)(8), and adding a new paragraph (b)(7) to read as follows:


1872.402  Criteria for evaluation.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (7) The proposed approach to managing risk (e.g., level of 
technology maturity being applied or developed, technical complexity, 
performance specifications and tolerances, delivery schedule, etc.).
* * * * *

    6. Amend section 1872.705 by redesignating sections II, III, IV, V, 
VI, VII, VIII, and IX as III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, and X 
respectively, and adding a new section II to read as follows:


1872.705  Format of Announcement of Opportunity (AO).

* * * * *

II. NASA's Safety Priority

    Safety is the freedom from those conditions that can cause death, 
injury, occupational illness, damage to or loss of equipment or 
property, or damage to the environment. NASA's safety priority is to 
protect:
    (1) The public,

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    (2) Astronauts and pilots,
    (3) The NASA workforce (including NASA employees working under NASA 
instruments), and
    (4) High-value equipment and property.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 02-24774 Filed 9-30-02; 8:45 am]
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