[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 22 (Thursday, February 3, 2005)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 5568-5569]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-1777]


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SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

13 CFR Part 125

RIN 3245-AF12


Small Business Government Contracting Programs; Subcontracting

AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration.

ACTION: Final rule; delay of effective date.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA or Agency) delays 
the effective date of the final rule published in the Federal Register 
on December 20, 2004, which generally relates to evaluation of prime 
contractor's performance and authorized factors in source selection 
when placing orders against Federal Supply Schedules, government-wide 
acquisition contracts, and multi-agency contracts, as corrected by the 
document published in the Federal Register on January 10, 2005, until 
March 14, 2005.

DATES: The final rule published on December 20, 2004 (69 FR 75820) has 
been classified as a major rule subject to congressional review. The 
effective date, which was corrected from December 20, 2004, to February 
18, 2005 on January 10, 2005 (70 FR 1655), is further delayed to March 
14, 2005 (60 days after the date on which Congress received the rule). 
However, at the conclusion of congressional review, if the effective 
date has been changed, SBA will publish a document in the Federal

[[Page 5569]]

Register to establish the actual effective date or to terminate the 
rule.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dean Koppel, Assistant Administrator, 
Office of Policy and Research, (202) 401-8150, or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 20, 2004, SBA published in the 
Federal Register a final rule which, among other things, issued a list 
of factors for Federal agencies to consider in evaluating a prime 
contractor's performance and good faith efforts to achieve the 
requirements in its subcontracting plan, and authorized the use of 
goals in subcontracting plans, and/or past performance in meeting such 
goals, as a factor in source selection when placing orders against 
Federal Supply Schedules, government-wide acquisition contracts, and 
multi-agency contracts (69 FR 75820). The document incorrectly stated 
that the final rule was effective on December 20, 2004. The document 
did not put the public on notice that the final rule had been 
designated as a major rule under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), 
which generally requires that the effective date for major final rules 
to be at least 60 days from the date of publication in the Federal 
Register, or from the date both Houses of Congress receive it, 
whichever is later.
    On January 10, 2005, SBA published in the Federal Register a 
correction to the final rule to put the public on notice that the final 
rule had been designated as a major rule under the CRA (70 FR 1655). 
The correction also stated that the effective date for the final rule 
was February 18, 2005, which was 60 days after the publication of the 
final rule in the Federal Register. When SBA published the correction, 
the Agency assumed that Congress had received the final rule before its 
publication in the Federal Register. However, Congress received the 
final rule on January 11, 2005. Because the CRA requires the effective 
date for major final rules to be at least 60 days after publication or 
congressional receipt, whichever is later, and because congressional 
receipt was the later of the dates, SBA is delaying the effective date 
of the final rule until March 14, 2005.

    Dated: January 25, 2005.
Allegra F. McCullough,
Associate Deputy Administrator for Government Contracting and Business 
Development.
[FR Doc. 05-1777 Filed 2-2-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8025-01-P