[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 232 (Monday, December 5, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72429-72430]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-6801]


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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION


Proposed Collection of Information; Comment Request--Procurement 
of Goods and Services

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 
35), the Consumer Product Safety Commission requests comments on a 
proposed extension of approval for a period of three years from the 
date of approval of a collection of information associated with the 
procurement of goods and services. Forms used by the

[[Page 72430]]

Commission for procurement of goods and services request persons who 
quote, propose, or bid on contracts to provide information needed to 
evaluate quotes, proposals, and bids in accordance with applicable laws 
and regulations.
    The Commission will consider all comments received in response to 
this notice before requesting extension of approval of this collection 
of information from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

DATES: The Office of the Secretary must receive comments not later than 
February 3, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be captioned ``Procurement of Goods 
and Services; Paperwork Reduction Act,'' and sent by e-mail to [email protected]. Written comments may also be sent to the Office of the 
Secretary by facsimile at (301) 504-0127, or by mail to the Office of 
the Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, DC 
20207, or delivered to the Office of the Secretary, Room 502, 4330 
East-West Highway, Bethesda, Maryland 20814.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about the proposed 
collection of information call or write Linda L. Glatz, Management and 
Program Analyst, Office of Planning and Evaluation, Consumer Product 
Safety Commission, Washington, DC 20207; (301) 504-7671.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Commission's procurement of goods and 
services is governed by the Federal Property and Administrative 
Services Act of 1949, as amended (41 U.S.C. 253 et seq.). That law 
requires the Commission to procure goods and services under conditions 
most advantageous to the government, considering cost and other 
factors.

A. Information Required by Procurement Forms

    The Commission requires persons and firms to submit quotations, 
proposals, and bids for contracts to provide goods and services on 
standardized forms. These forms request information from offerors about 
costs or prices of goods and services to be supplied; specifications of 
goods and descriptions of services to be delivered; competence of the 
offeror to provide the goods or services; and other information about 
the offeror such as the size of the firm and whether it is minority 
owned. The Commission uses the information provided by offerors to 
determine the reasonableness of prices and costs and the responsiveness 
of potential contractors to undertake the work involved so that all 
bids may be awarded in accordance with Federal procurement laws.
    OMB approved the collection of information requirements in the 
procurement forms used by the Commission under control number 3041-
0059. OMB's most recent extension of approval will expire on January 
31, 2006. The CPSC now proposes to request extension of approval for 
the information collection requirements in the forms used for 
procurement of goods and services. The Commission plans to use the 
Internet and the General Services Administration's (GSA) GSA Advantage 
System for delivery order purchasing. The Internet provides small 
businesses access to information about the Commission's current needs 
for goods and services.

B. Information Collection Burden

    During fiscal year 2004, approximately 870 firms spent about 17,658 
hours responding to all Requests for Quotations (RFQs), and Requests 
for Proposals (RFPs) issued by the Commission. The time required by 
vendors to respond ranged from as little as 15 minutes per firm for a 
simple telephone, e-mail, fax, or Internet response concerning the 
purchase of a standard item or service, to as much as 120 hours per 
firm for a complex written offer prepared in response to technically 
complex RFQs and RFPs. Based on the number of procurements, details of 
actions reported by the Federal Procurement Data System, and the 
procurement staff's experience with the sales and technical functions 
of various vendors, we believe firms spent an estimated 368 hours 
responding to oral, electronic, and written RFQs and RFPs and 
approximately 17,290 hours preparing quotes and proposals in response 
to more complex RFQs and RFPs.
    The cost of preparing a response to an oral, electronic, or written 
RFQ or RFP for regular sales staff and high level sales staff with 
advanced technical expertise for more complex procurements averaged 
$41.03 per hour. The cost of preparing a response to more complicated 
and highly complex FRQs or RFPs for high level sales and proposal 
response staff with advanced technical expertise and experience 
averaged $52.70 per hour. The salary estimates are based on web 
research from careerjournal.com, salary.com and monster.com. The 
annualized cost to all firms for responding to all RFQs and RFPs issued 
by the Commission is estimated to be $926,282.04 (368 hours x $41.03/hr 
+ 17,290 hours x $52.70/hr = $926,282.04).
    The total cost to the government for all collections of information 
by the Commission related to procurement of goods and services is 
estimated to be about $830,447 a year. This estimate was made by 
reviewing the Commission's procurement activities in fiscal year 2004.

C. Request for Comments

    The Commission solicits written comments from all interested 
persons about the proposed collection of information. The Commission 
specifically solicits information relevant to the following topics:

--Whether the collection of information described above is necessary 
for the proper performance of the Commission's functions, including 
whether the information would have practical utility;
--Whether the estimated burden of the proposed collection of 
information is accurate;
--Whether the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be 
collected could be enhanced; and
--Whether the burden imposed by the collection of information could be 
minimized by use of automated, electronic or other technological 
collection techniques, or other forms of information technology.

    Dated: November 29, 2005.
Todd A. Stevenson,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. E5-6801 Filed 12-2-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P