[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 68 (Monday, April 11, 2005)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 18954]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-6863]



[[Page 18953]]

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Part IV





Department of Defense

General Services Administration

National Aeronautics and Space Administration





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48 CFR Chapter 1, et al.



Federal Acquisition Regulations; Final and Interim Rules

  Federal Register / Vol. 70 , No. 68 / Monday, April 11, 2005 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 18954]]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Chapter 1


Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-03; Introduction

AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration 
(GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACTION: Summary presentation of final and interim rules.

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SUMMARY: This document summarizes the Federal Acquisition Regulation 
(FAR) rules agreed to by the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and 
the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council in this Federal Acquisition 
Circular (FAC) 2005-03. A companion document, the Small Entity 
Compliance Guide (SECG), follows this FAC. The FAC, including the SECG, 
is available via the Internet at http://www.acqnet.gov/far.

DATES: For effective dates and comment dates, see separate documents 
which follow.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The FAR Secretariat, at (202) 501-
4755, for information pertaining to status or publication schedules. 
For clarification of content, contact the analyst whose name appears in 
the table below in relation to each FAR case or subject area. Please 
cite FAC 2005-03 and specific FAR case numbers. Interested parties may 
also visit our Web site at http://www.acqnet.gov/far.

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      Item                          Subject                             FAR case                 Analyst
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I..............  Purchases From Federal Prison Industries--     2003-023                 Nelson.
                  Requirement for Market Research (Interim).
II.............  Section 508 Micropurchase Exemption..........  2004-020                 Nelson.
III............  Technical Amendments.........................
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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Summaries for each FAR rule follow. For the 
actual revisions and/or amendments to these FAR cases, refer to the 
specific item number and subject set forth in the documents following 
these item summaries.
    FAC 2005-03 amends the FAR as specified below:

Item I--Purchases From Federal Prison Industries--Requirement for 
Market Research (FAR Case 2003-023) (Interim)

    This interim rule updates and clarifies procedures for purchase of 
items from Federal Prison Industries (FPI). The changes include--
     Establishment of a permanent requirement for market 
research and a comparability determination before purchasing an item of 
supply listed in the FPI Schedule. For civilian agencies, this 
requirement previously applied only to purchases made using fiscal year 
2004 appropriated funds. Section 637 of Division H of the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2005, made this requirement permanent for all 
Federal agencies.
     Clarification that, if a solicitation is available through 
the Governmentwide point of entry (FedBizOpps), it is not necessary to 
provide a separate copy of the solicitation to FPI.
     Clarification that, if an agency determines that an FPI 
item provides the best value to the Government as a result of FPI's 
response to a competitive solicitation, the agency must purchase the 
item from FPI using the ordering procedures at FPI's website.

Item II--Section 508 Micropurchase Exemption (FAR Case 2004-020)

    The interim rule published on October 5, 2004, is converted to a 
final rule without change. This rule extends the Electronic and 
Information Technology (Section 508) micropurchase exception to April 
1, 2005. This rule is of special interest to contracting officers and 
other individuals designated in accordance with FAR 1.603-3. All 
micropurchases made on and after April 1, 2005, must comply with the 
requirements of Section 508. Micropurchases are subject to the same 
exemption provision as larger dollar buys, as articulated in FAR 
39.204.

Item III--Technical Amendments

    Editorial changes are made at FAR 52.212-5, 52.213-4, 52.219-18, 
and 52.225-13, in order to update references.

    Dated: April 1, 2005.
Rodney P. Lantier,
Director, Contract Policy Division, General Services Administration.

Federal Acquisition Circular

    Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-03 is issued under the 
authority of the Secretary of Defense, the Administrator of General 
Services, and the Administrator for the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration.
    Unless otherwise specified, all Federal Acquisition Regulation 
(FAR) and other directive material contained in FAC 2005-03 is 
effective April 11, 2005.

    Dated: March 30, 2005.
Deidre A. Lee,
Director, Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy.

    Dated: March 25, 2005.
David A. Drabkin,
Senior Procurement Executive, Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer, 
General Services Administration.

    Dated: March 23, 2005.
Tom Luedtke,
Assistant Administrator for Procurement, National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 05-6863 Filed 4-8-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-EP-S