[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 97 (Friday, May 20, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29274-29276]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-2542]


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COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR SEVERELY DISABLED


Procurement List; Additions and Deletions

AGENCY: Committee for Purchase From People Who are Blind or Severely 
Disabled.

ACTION: Additions to and Deletions from Procurement List.

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SUMMARY: This action adds to the Procurement List a product and 
services to be furnished by nonprofit agencies employing persons who 
are blind or have other severe disabilities, and deletes from the 
Procurement List services previously furnished by such agencies.

DATES: Effective Date: June 19, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely

[[Page 29275]]

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:

Additions

    On December 10, 2004, February 4, and March 25, 2005, the Committee 
for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled published 
notice (69 FR 71777/78, 70 FR 5963, and 15288) 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 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 Vegetable Oil (Domestic) 10% of 
USDA Requirement:
    Comments were received from one of the current contractors for this 
vegetable oil. The commenter also provided comments on an earlier 
version of this proposed addition to the Procurement List, notice of 
which appeared in the December 10, 2004 Federal Register (69 FR 71777), 
and on an earlier unpublished version of the proposed addition. The 
commenter in its most recent comments asked the Committee for Purchase 
From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled to consider all of these 
previous comments to the extent they remain applicable. The Committee 
considered these earlier comments as they were intended, and reduced or 
clarified the quantities being proposed for addition to the Procurement 
List at the two stages of the addition process to which the earlier 
comments applied.
    The commenter claimed in its most recent comments that this 
proposed addition does not meet the Committee's regulatory requirement 
that a Procurement List addition create employment for people with 
severe disabilities because the Committee has not demonstrated that 
jobs will be created for people who are not currently employed, as 
opposed to additional hours for the current work force. However, this 
claim does not accurately reflect the Committee's regulatory 
requirement, which appears at 41 CFR 51-2.4(a)(1). This regulation 
provides that a proposed addition to the Procurement List must 
demonstrate a potential to generate employment for people with severe 
disabilities. The requirement is stated in this way because until a 
nonprofit agency actually produces a product in response to Government 
orders, it is impossible to know with certainty how much labor the 
production will create, to say nothing of which individuals will 
perform the labor. In addition, the Committee only requires a nonprofit 
agency to indicate the quantity of direct labor estimated to be 
created, not the individuals who will provide it or their current 
employment status. The nonprofit agency involved in this proposed 
addition has provided that information concerning the amount of labor 
that will be created. The nonprofit agency also indicated that this 
labor includes both new and current employees.
    In both current and earlier comments, the commenter has taken issue 
with the Committee's practice of adding a percentage of the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture (USDA)'s overall requirement for vegetable 
oil for domestic programs to the Procurement List. The commenter noted 
that the various types and package sizes are provided by different 
contractors. As a result, the commenter claimed, the fact that the 
designated nonprofit agency will be providing the ten percent of the 
overall USDA domestic requirement by providing liquid vegetable oil in 
one-gallon bottles will have a larger impact on contractors providing 
vegetable oil in this same manner than the percentage would seem to 
indicate. Specifically, the commenter claimed that this Procurement 
List addition represents about thirteen percent of the requirement for 
this oil and package type, and that it is provided by three small 
businesses.
    The Committee begins its assessment of impact on contractors 
affected by potential Procurement List additions by sending a certified 
letter to each contractor requesting sales data, and stating that if 
the contractor does not reply, the Committee will consider the lack of 
a reply as an indication the contractor does not consider the impact of 
the potential addition to be severe. For this proposed addition to the 
Procurement List, the Committee wrote to several current contractors, 
including the three small businesses identified by the commenter. Two 
of these businesses responded and provided sales data. This information 
showed that the value of the proposed addition represents a very small 
percentage of the sales of these two businesses (less than one percent 
each). Even when the impact of earlier Procurement List additions on 
one of the businesses (the commenter), and that company's long history 
as a supplier of the vegetable oil to USDA is considered, as provided 
in the Committee's impact assessment regulation, at 41 CFR 51-
2.4(a)(4), the impact on any of the contractors USDA identified to the 
Committee did not rise to the level which the Committee considers to 
constitute severe adverse impact.
    The commenter provided several scenarios under which it claimed 
impact on various suppliers could be greater, depending on the types of 
liquid oil which the designated nonprofit provided in its one-gallon 
bottles, and on possible variations in USDA's contract awards for the 
part of the domestic vegetable oil not covered by the Procurement List. 
However, the commenter provided no factual support for these 
speculations, which involve actions by USDA which are not within the 
Committee's ability to predict or control by its addition process.
    The commenter also claimed other impacts on its business, including 
plant closures, based on earlier comments reacting to the initial 
projected addition, which was four times the size of the Procurement 
List addition the Committee eventually proposed. The response from the 
other small business to the Committee's request for sales data also 
based its impact claims on this larger addition plan. The Committee 
believes that reduction of the proposed addition to its current level 
will prevent any severe impacts from occurring, as indicated in the 
above paragraph on impact calculation.
    Finally, the commenter claimed that the proposed addition would 
harm USDA's domestic feeding programs, as the ``contracting premium'' 
associated with the Committee's program would limit the amount of food 
USDA could provide with its current budget. However, USDA has informed 
the Committee that it supports the proposed addition to the Procurement 
List of ten percent of its requirement for vegetable oil for domestic 
programs.
    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

[[Page 29276]]

other compliance requirements for small entities other than the small 
organizations that will furnish the product and services to the 
Government.
    2. The action will result in authorizing small entities to furnish 
the product 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 product and services proposed for addition 
to the Procurement List.

End of Certification

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

Product

Vegetable Oil (Domestic) 10% of USDA Requirement
NSN: 8945-00-NSH-0002--Vegetable Oil (Domestic) 10% of USDA 
Requirement
NPA: Advocacy and Resources Corporation, Cookeville, Tennessee
Contracting Activity: USDA, Farm Service Agency, Washington, DC

Services:

Service Type/Location: Custodial Services, Transportation Security 
Administration, Pittsburgh International Airport, Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania.
NPA: ARC--Allegheny, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Contracting Activity: GSA, PBS--Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania.

Service Type/Location: Custodial Services, Williams Gateway Airport, 
6416 Sossamon Road, Mesa, Arizona.
NPA: Goodwill Community Services, Inc., Phoenix, Arizona.
Contracting Activity: Department of Homeland Security, Indianapolis, 
Indiana.

Service Type/Location: Dormitory Management Services, Department of 
Homeland Security, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (Artesia 
Facility), 1300 W. Richey , Building 25, Artesia, New Mexico.

NPA: Adelante Development Center, Inc., Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Contracting Activity: Department of Homeland Security (FLETC), 
Artesia, New Mexico.
Service Type/Location: Janitorial/Custodial, Department of Homeland 
Security, Customs and Border Protection, 700 Maritime Street, 
Oakland, California.
NPA: The Independent Way, Oakland, California.
Contracting Activity: Department of Homeland Security, Indianapolis, 
Indiana.

Deletions

    On March 25, 2005, the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are 
Blind or Severely Disabled published notice (70 FR 15288) of proposed 
deletions to the Procurement List.
    After consideration of the relevant matter presented, the Committee 
has determined that the services listed below are no longer suitable 
for procurement by the Federal Government under 41 U.S.C. 46-48c and 41 
CFR 51-2.4.

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 may result in additional reporting, recordkeeping or 
other compliance requirements for small entities.
    2. The action may result in authorizing small entities to furnish 
the 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 services deleted from the Procurement List.

End of Certification

    Accordingly, the following services are deleted from the 
Procurement List:

Services

Service Type/Location: Janitorial/Custodial, U.S. Army Reserve 
Center, New Orleans, 4200 Michaud Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana.
NPA: Goodworks, Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana.
Contracting Activity: Department of the Army.

Service Type/Location: Mailroom Operation, New Orleans Strategic 
Petroleum Reserve (SPR) Site, New Orleans, Louisiana.
NPA: Goodworks, Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana.
Contracting Activity: DnyMcDermott Petroleum Operation Company--
Department of Energy.

Sheryl D. Kennerly,
Director, Information Management.
[FR Doc. E5-2542 Filed 5-19-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6353-01-P