[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 68 (Monday, April 11, 2005)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 18959-18960]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-6868]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Chapter 1


Federal Acquisition Regulation; Small Entity Compliance Guide

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

ACTION: Small Entity Compliance Guide.

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SUMMARY: This document is issued under the joint authority of the 
Secretary of Defense, the Administrator of General Services and the 
Administrator for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 
This Small Entity Compliance Guide has been prepared in accordance with 
Section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act 
of 1996. It consists of a summary of rules appearing in Federal 
Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-03 which amend the FAR. An asterisk (*) 
next to a rule indicates that a regulatory flexibility analysis has 
been prepared. Interested parties may obtain further information 
regarding these rules by referring to FAC 2005-03 which precedes this 
document. These documents are also available via the Internet at http://www.acqnet.gov/far.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laurieann Duarte, FAR Secretariat, 
(202) 501-4755. For clarification of content, contact the analyst whose 
name appears in the table below.

[[Page 18960]]



                                          List of Rules in FAC 2005-03
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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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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.
[FR Doc. 05-6868 Filed 4-8-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-EP-S