[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 211 (Friday, October 31, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 62048-62049]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-27492]


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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Parts 1835 and 1852

RIN 2700-AC64


Research and Development Abstracts

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: This is a proposed rule to amend the NASA FAR Supplement (NFS) 
to include a requirement for the electronic submission of abstracts of 
the planned research to be conducted under contracts containing 
research and development (R&D) effort valued at over $25,000. This 
requirement is being established to support NASA's implementation of 
section 207(g) of the E-Government Act of 2002 that mandates the 
development and maintenance of a repository that integrates information 
on research and development funded by the Federal Government. This 
proposed rule would help improve access to information on NASA funded 
research and development activities, thus providing public and private 
research managers improved capability for R&D program planning.

DATES: Comments should be submitted on or before December 30, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties should submit written comments to Thomas 
Sauret, NASA Headquarters, Office of Procurement, Contract Management 
Division (Code HK), Washington, DC 20546. Comments may also be 
submitted by e-mail to: [email protected].
    Comments that concern information collection requirements must be 
sent to the Office of Management and Budget at the address listed in 
the Paperwork Reduction Act section of this document. A copy of those 
comments may also be sent to the Agency representative named in the 
preceding paragraph.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Sauret, Code HK, (202) 358-
1068, e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

 A. Background

    This proposed rule would add a new section 1835.003-70, NASA 
Research and Development (R&D) Abstracts, and a related clause, 
1852.235-75, NASA Research and Development (R&D) Abstracts. The new 
clause provides for the collection of abstracts or summaries for NASA 
funded awards with R&D effort greater than $25,000. The requirements of 
section 207(g) of the E-Government Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-347) 
provide the basis for this change. Section 207(g) mandates the 
development and maintenance of a repository that integrates information 
on research and development funded by the Federal Government. In 
furtherance of that requirement, NASA has developed a Web-based 
database system to collect summaries or abstracts for all the Agency's 
procurements containing research and development effort valued over 
$25,000. For procurements that include a combination of R&D with other 
types of services and supplies, submission of an abstract would be 
required only when the value of the R&D portion of the acquisition 
exceeds $25,000. A NASA Web site (Abstract Collection and Transmittal 
System (ACTS), http://proposals.hq.nasa.gov/acts/) has been established 
for recipients of NASA R&D contracts to enter their abstract data. ACTS 
will transfer submitted abstracts to a government-wide database 
sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSF sponsored 
government-wide database is available to other agencies and to the 
public. NASA's ACTS database is designed only as a collection and 
transmittal tool and will not be open to the general public.

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    This proposed rule is not expected to have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small business entities within the 
meaning of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601, et. seq.), 
because the administrative costs associated with the one time 
submission of the R&D abstract is not expected to exceed the micro-
purchase threshold and should be included in the contract price.

C. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    This proposed rule contains information collection requirements. As 
required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507 (d)), 
NASA has submitted a copy of the information collection requirements to 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its review and approval. 
OMB is required to make a decision concerning the collection of 
information contained in these proposed regulations between 30 and 60 
days after publication of this document in the Federal Register. 
Therefore, a comment to OMB regarding this information collection is 
best assured of having its full effect if OMB receives it within 30 
days of publication of this notice. This does not affect the deadline 
for the public to comment on the proposed regulations. All comments 
regarding this information collection should be sent to: Desk Officer 
for NASA; Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of 
Management and Budget, Room 10236, New Executive Office Building; 
Washington, DC 20503.

Collection of Information: NASA Research and Development Abstracts 
Collection

    The public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection 
of information is estimated to be 1,500 hours. The estimated burden has 
been calculated as follows:

Responses..............................  3000
Hours per response.....................  x 0.5 (30 min.)
                                        --------------------------------
Annual reporting burden................  1500 hours
 

    The estimated number of responses shown above is the total number 
of NASA research-related contracts awards, as well as awards made 
through grants and agreements. This estimate reflects the combined 
paperwork clearance request the Agency is submitting to OMB.

List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 1835 and 1852

    Government procurement.

Tom Luedtke,
Assistant Administrator for Procurement.

    Accordingly, 48 CFR Parts 1835 and 1852 are proposed to be amended 
as follows:

[[Page 62049]]

    1. The authority citation for 48 CFR Parts 1835 and 1852 continues 
to read as follows:

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

PART 1835--RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTING

    2. Section 1835.003-70 is added to read as follows:


1835.003-70  NASA Research and Development (R&D) Abstracts.

    (a) The E-Government Act of 2002 (Pub. L. No. 107-347) mandates the 
development and maintenance of a repository that integrates information 
on research and development funded by the Federal Government. In 
support of that requirement, NASA will collect research abstracts and 
forward them to an appropriate central repository where they will be 
available for use by government agencies and other users.
    (b) Information on R&D awards subject to the clause at 1852.235-75, 
NASA Research and Development (R&D) Abstracts, including contractor 
name and contract number, shall be automatically entered by NASA into 
the NASA R&D Abstract Collection and Transmittal System (ACTS) database 
on a monthly basis. The database may be accessed via the Web site 
listed in the clause. Contracting officers shall check the Web site to 
determine if the selected contractor is listed as an entity already 
registered in the ACTS database. If the contractor is registered, then 
no further action by the contracting officer is required. If the 
contractor is not already registered in ACTS, the contracting officer 
must obtain from their Center ACTS point of contact a new ACTS user 
identification and password for the selected contractor. The 
contracting officer shall provide the user identification and password 
to the contractor.
    3. Section 1835.070 is amended by adding paragraph (f) to read as 
follows:


1835.070  NASA contract clauses and solicitation provision.

* * * * *
    (f) The contracting officer shall insert the clause at 1852.235-75, 
NASA Research and Development (R&D) Abstracts, in all contracts that 
include research and development effort that exceeds $25,000. This 
requirement does not apply to intragovernmental transfers.

PART 1852--SOLICITATION PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT CLAUSES

    4. Section 1852.235-75 is added to read as follows:


1852.235-75  NASA Research and Development (R&D) Abstracts.

    As prescribed in 1835.070(f), insert the following clause:

NASA Research and Development (R&D) Abstracts

(XX/XX)

    (a) The Contractor shall, within 60 days after award (or 30 days 
after the award information is entered into the NASA R&D Abstract 
Collection and Transmittal System (ACTS) database, whichever is 
later), enter a summary or abstract of the research and development 
activity to be conducted under this contract into the ACTS database. 
The database may be accessed at the following URL: http://proposals.hq.nasa.gov/acts/.
    (b) The abstract should range from 250 to 500 words in length. 
The abstract will be made available to the public without 
restrictions; therefore, caution is advised against inclusion of any 
material for which dissemination in the public domain may be 
prohibited such as trade secrets, proprietary information or export 
controlled information.
    (c) The abstract and other pertinent award information will be 
included in a database of R&D abstracts from across the Federal 
Government. The government-wide database will include abstracts and 
other information concerning awards, such as the dollar value and 
estimated completion date. The government-wide database will be 
accessible to other government agencies and private organizations 
and will allow entities to search the database for a variety of 
information regarding current research awards. The NASA ACTS 
database will not be searchable by the general public.
    (d) Access to the NASA ACTS database requires user 
identification and a password to ensure that only authorized 
personnel enter abstract information. The Contracting Officer will 
provide instructions regarding user identification and password 
access if the Contractor does not already possess an ACTS 
identification and password.

[FR Doc. 03-27492 Filed 10-30-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7510-01-P