[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 6 (Thursday, January 9, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 1358]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-378]



[[Page 1357]]

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Part VI





General Services Administration





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48 CFR Part 505



General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation; FedBizOpps 
Notice on Charging for E-mail Notification Service; Proposed Rule

  Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 6 / Thursday, January 9, 2003 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 1358]]


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GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Part 505

[GSAR Case No. 2002-G501]
RIN 3090-AH67


General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation; 
FedBizOpps Notice on Charging for E-mail Notification Service

AGENCY: Office of Acquisition Policy, General ServicesAdministration 
(GSA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The General Services Administration (GSA) is proposing to 
amend the General Services Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to charge 
subscribers to the value-added e-mail notification service of Federal 
Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps.gov) a modest annual fee beginning 
October 1, 2003. The charge will be only for the members of the public 
who elect to register for options 2 or 3 of the FedBizOpps Vendor 
Notification Service, specifically to (1) receive all notices from 
selected organizations and product service classifications, or (2) 
register to receive all procurement notices on the site.

DATES: Interested parties should submit comments in writing on or 
before February 10, 2003, to be considered in the formulation of a 
final rule.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties should submit written comments to--
General Services Administration, Regulatory Secretariat (MVA), 1800 F 
Street, NW., Room 4035, Washington, DC 20405.
    E-mail comments submitted over the Internet should be addressed 
to-- [email protected].
    Please cite GSAR case 2002-G501 in all correspondence related to 
this issue.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The Regulatory Secretariat, Room 4035, 
GS Building, Washington, DC 20405, (202) 501-4755, for information 
pertaining to status or publication schedules. For clarification of 
content, contact Mr. Edward Loeb at (202) 501-0650, or by e-mail at 
[email protected]. Please cite GSAR case 2002-G501.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Background

    Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) is the Governmentwide 
point of entry where Government business opportunities greater than 
$25,000, including synopses of proposed contract actions, 
solicitations, and associated information, can be accessed 
electronically by the public. Use of FedBizOpps is discussed in part 5 
of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. The General Services 
Administration (GSA) manages the Federal Business Opportunities 
(FedBizOpps.gov) site and currently provides, at no charge, an added-
value e-mail notification service to the public on FedBizOpps 
activities. To help GSA recover some of the costs associated with 
providing these value-added services, GSA is planning to charge 
subscribers to this e-mail service (listed on the site as Vendor 
Notification Service) a modest annual fee beginning October 1, 2003. 
The charge will be only for the members of the public who elect to 
register for options 2 or 3 of the FedBizOpps Vendor Notification 
Service, specifically to (1) receive all notices from selected 
organizations and product service classifications, or (2) register to 
receive all procurement notices on the site. The anticipated fee for FY 
2003 is $30. The public, however, will continue to be able to register 
to receive all notices related to a specific solicitation at no charge. 
Beyond e-mail notifications, the public will still be able to access, 
free of charge, all postings on FedBizOpps and download on a daily 
basis all synopses (a File Transfer Protocol datafeed file).
    The subscription cost will be adjusted annually based upon 
subscriptions from the prior year so that the charges to the public 
represent a fair share of the costs of the FedBizOpps operations.
    FedBizOpps predecessor, the GPO Commerce Business Daily (CBDNet), 
charged VANs and other subscribers a fee of $11,500 per year for their 
daily electronic (datafeed) file of synopses and $316 per year for 
their publication. FedBizOpps eliminated these charges. GPOs CBDNet did 
not provide value-added email notification services to vendors.
    This is not a significant regulatory action and, therefore, was not 
subject to review under section 6(b) of Executive Order 12866, 
Regulatory Planning and Review, dated September 30, 1993. This rule is 
not a major rule under 5 U.S.C. 804.

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The General Services Administration does not expect this proposed 
rule to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of 
small entities within the meaning of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 
U.S.C. 601, et seq., because GSA is just charging a nominal fee for 
requested value added services. An Initial Regulatory Flexibility 
Analysis has, therefore, not been performed. We invite comments from 
small businesses and other interested parties. GSA will consider 
comments from small entities concerning the affected GSAR Part in 
accordance with 5 U.S.C. 610.

C. Paperwork Reduction Act

    The Paperwork Reduction Act does not apply because the proposed 
changes to the GSAM do not impose information collection requirements 
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 Part 505

    Government procurement.

    Dated: December 31, 2002.
David A. Drabkin,
Deputy Associate Administrator, Office of Acquisition Policy.
    Therefore, GSA proposes amending 48 CFR part 505 as set forth 
below:

PART 505--PUBLICIZING CONTRACT ACTIONS

    1. The authority citation for 48 CFR part 505 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 40 U.S.C. 486(c).

    2. Amend part 505 by adding section 505.102 to read as follows:


505.102  Availability of solicitations.

    The General Services Administration (GSA), as the manager of the 
Federal Business Opportunities (FedbizOpps.gov) site, will charge a 
nominal fee to recover costs of operations for value-added services, 
specifically for an e-mail notification service to the public for 
FedBizOpps activities, to--
    (a) Receive all notices from selected organizations and product 
service classifications; or
    (b) Register to receive all procurement notices.

[FR Doc. 03-378 Filed 1-8-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-BR-P