[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 42 (Friday, March 4, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10596-10597]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-4256]


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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 Procurement List.

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SUMMARY: This action adds to the Procurement List products and services 
to be furnished by nonprofit agencies employing persons who are blind 
or have other severe disabilities.

DATES: Effective Date: April 3, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely 
Disabled, Jefferson Plaza 2, Suite 10800, 1421 Jefferson Davis Highway, 
Arlington, Virginia 22202-3259.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR TO SUBMIT COMMENTS CONTACT: Sheryl D. 
Kennerly, Telephone: (703) 603-7740, Fax: (703) 603-0655, or e-mail 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 1, 2004 and January 7, 2005, the 
Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled 
published notice (69 FR 58882 and 70 FR 1413) of proposed additions to 
the Procurement List.
    After consideration of the material presented to it concerning 
capability of qualified nonprofit agencies to provide the products and 
services and impact of

[[Page 10597]]

the additions on the current or most recent contractors, the Committee 
has determined that the products and services listed below are suitable 
for procurement by the Federal Government under 41 U.S.C. 46-48c and 41 
CFR 51-2.4.
    The following comments pertain to Commissary Shelf Stocking, 
Custodial & Warehousing, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.
    Comments were received from the current contractor indicating that 
he had previously been impacted by the Committee's actions that have 
slowed business growth and impacted employees. Besides the impact 
calculated as a percent of gross sales the commenter believes that when 
the Committee determines impact it should also consider the effect on 
the current employees, the increased cost of unemployment insurance on 
the impacted company and how the Committee determines the effect of 
previous additions that impacted the contractor.
    In addition the commenter raised question about the capability of 
the nonprofit agency to do the commissary work, if it is a Nebraska 
nonprofit agency and how would he know that the 75 percent direct labor 
ratio requirement was being met.
    The Committee recognizes that when it adds a product or service to 
the Procurement List that many of the existing workers will lose their 
current jobs. The proposed addition to the Procurement List is 
projected to create over 18 jobs for people with severe disabilities, 
whose unemployment rate is over 70 percent, well above the rate for 
other groups. The benefit to people with severe disabilities created by 
this Procurement List addition outweighs the harm which may be done to 
the firm's employees who could more readily find other jobs.
    The commenter is correct that the Committee must consider previous 
impact(s) when it adds an item to the Procurement List. It is the 
Committee's practice to consider the cumulative impact of its actions 
for the most recent three-year period expressed as a percentage of 
firm's current total sales. In addition, the Committee also looks at 
all other occurrences where the current contractor has been impacted. 
The current contractor has been previously impacted four times, twice 
in 1992, once in 1997, and once in 2000.
    The Committee does not believe that these actions over a decade 
reflect an excessive amount of impact, nor does it believe that the 
increase in unemployment premiums the contractor experienced because 
some jobs were lost to the JWOD Program raises the total impact to the 
severe level.
    BH Services, Inc. has been found technically capable of performing 
the service. The nonprofit agency that will be performing this project 
has successfully been participating in the JWOD Program since 1974. It 
has been successfully providing commissary services at another location 
since 1989 and other services at Offutt AFB since 1996.
    As with small businesses, there is no requirement that a nonprofit 
agency be incorporated in the State where the Federal contract is being 
performed. The nonprofit agency that will perform the work is actually 
incorporated in South Dakota, but as noted above has been providing 
services at Offutt AFB since 1996.
    The 75 percent direct labor ratio requirement is a requirement for 
all of the work done by a nonprofit and does not necessarily apply to 
an individual JWOD project. However, the nonprofit agency that will be 
performing the commissary project at Offutt has a direct labor ratio on 
its current JWOD projects of over 80%.
    The following material pertains to all of the items being added to 
the Procurement List.

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    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 products and 
services to the Government.
    2. The action will result in authorizing small entities to furnish 
the products and services to the Government.
    3. 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 products and services proposed for addition 
to the Procurement List.

End of Certification

    Accordingly, the following products and services are added to the 
Procurement List:

Products

Product/NSN: Flat Highlighter, Yellow, 7520-01-201-7791.
NPA: Winston-Salem Industries for the Blind, Winston-Salem, North 
Carolina.
Contracting Activity: Office Supplies & Paper Products Acquisition 
Center, New York, NY.
Product/NSN: Laser Labels, 7530-01-289-8190--White label size--
1 x 4; 7530-01-289-8191--White label size--
1 x 2\5/8\; 7530-01-302-5504--White label 
size--1\1/3\ x 4; 7530-01-336-0540--White 
label size--2 x 4; 7530-01-349-4463--White 
label size--8\1/2\ x 11; 7530-01-349-4464--
White label size--3\1/3\ x 4.
NPA: North Central Sight Services, Inc., Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Contracting Activity: Office Supplies & Paper Products Acquisition 
Center, New York, NY.

Services

Service Type/Location: Commissary Shelf Stocking, Custodial & 
Warehousing, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.
NPA: BH Services, Inc., Box Elder, South Dakota.
Contracting Activity: Defense Commissary Agency, Fort Lee, Virginia.
Service Type/Location: Custodial & Grounds Maintenance, Navy and 
Marine Corps Reserve Center, 314 Graves Mill Road, Lynchburg, 
Virginia.
NPA: Goodwill Industries of the Valleys, Inc., Roanoke, Virginia.
Contracting Activity: Naval Facilities Engineering Command 
Contracts, Norfolk, Virginia.
Service Type/Location: Laundry Service, Veterans Integrated Service 
Network (VISN12), Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois 
(and it's divisions), VA Medical Center Hines, Hines, Illinois.
NPA: Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin, Inc., Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin.
Contracting Activity: VISN 12, Great Lakes Network, Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin.

    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.

Sheryl D. Kennerly,
Director, Information Management.
[FR Doc. 05-4256 Filed 3-3-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6353-01-P