[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 160 (Friday, August 18, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47773-47774]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-13672]


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COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR SEVERELY DISABLED


Correction of Notice of Addition

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

ACTION: Correction to Notice of Additions to the Procurement List.

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SUMMARY: In the document appearing on page 46187, FR Doc E6-13162, 
Procurement List Additions and Deletions, in the issue of August 11, 
2006, in the third column, the Committee published addition of Grounds/
Custodial Security Services, Lake Okeechobee and Outlying Areas, Army 
Corps of Engineers, Lake Okeechobee, Florida. Following the publication 
of this Notice, the Committee determined that the response to comments 
received in response to the Federal Register Notice of Proposed 
Addition had not been published in the August 11 Notice as required. 
The Committee therefore is publishing the Service again with the 
response to comments received. All other information remains the same.

DATES: Effective Date: September 10, 2006.

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 CONTACT: Sheryl D. Kennerly, Telephone: (703) 
603-7740, Fax: (703) 603-0655, or e-mail [email protected].

Addition

Service Type/Location: Grounds/Custodial/Security Services, Lake 
Okeechobee and Outlying Areas, Army Corps of Engineers, Lake 
Okeechobee, Florida.
NPA: Gulfstream Goodwill Industries, Inc., West Palm Beach, Florida.
Contracting Activity: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville, 
Florida.

    The following material is in response to comments received on this 
proposed addition. This information was provided to the Committee for 
their consideration.
    Comments were received from the current contractor, a subcontractor 
for the service, an employee of the subcontractor, and a frequent 
camper on parkland involved in this service. All these persons objected 
to addition of the service to the Procurement List.
    The service to be performed by a nonprofit agency has been removed 
from the coverage of the current contract. The current contractor 
claimed that removal of these functions will result in a significant 
reduction in the contractor's revenue base and severely affect its 
financial stability, while making it less competitive to recover the 
revenue elsewhere.
    The period for which the contractor submitted revenues to the 
Committee includes windfall revenues due to increased hurricane 
activity during that period. Removal of these windfalls reduces the 
estimated revenue loss attributable to the addition of the service to 
the Procurement List to a

[[Page 47774]]

level which the Committee does not normally consider to be an adverse 
impact on a contractor.
    The subcontractor and its employee indicated that addition of the 
service to the Procurement List would have a serious economic impact on 
the company, its workers, and the depressed rural area where the 
service is performed. The nonprofit agency which will be performing the 
service will do some subcontracting, which could mitigate this economic 
impact. In addition, people with severe disabilities have an 
unemployment rate of approximately 70 percent, which exceeds the 
unemployment rate of the persons likely to be adversely affected by 
this addition to the Procurement List. Consequently, the affected 
persons are more likely than those who will be employed on the project 
to find other work. Given that circumstance, and the Committee's 
mission to create work for people with severe disabilities, the 
Committee believes that the employment benefits of adding this service 
to the Procurement List outweigh the possible disadvantages the 
addition may cause.
    The subcontractor and its employee also raised several safety and 
technical issues concerning performance of the service by people with 
severe disabilities. They noted that some mowing must be done on a high 
levee with extremely steep sides and surrounded by deep canals, and 
other mowing is done in park areas filled with expensive recreational 
vehicles and other easily damaged obstacles, as the frequent camper 
also noted. The subcontractor employee asked if the nonprofit agency 
has any experience in doing this kind of work. The subcontractor 
implied that acquisition of the equipment needed to do the work would 
put a further strain on the national budget.
    The nonprofit agency has several grounds maintenance and custodial 
contracts with the State of Florida, so they are familiar with this 
kind of work. They are in the process of obtaining the specialized 
equipment needed to do the work and hiring qualified personnel. The 
Government will not pay extra to allow the nonprofit agency to acquire 
this equipment, which includes enclosed cab tractors with built-in and 
included safety equipment. The nonprofit agency will conduct extensive 
safety and other training to assure the workers are fully capable of 
doing the work. More experienced workers will be used in the steeper 
areas, and the use of people with severe disabilities will be phased in 
to all facets of the work, which includes custodial and security as 
well as grounds maintenance services, to assure that all workers are 
able to do the work safely and efficiently, with little or no damage to 
persons or property.
    After consideration of the material presented to it concerning 
capability of qualified nonprofit agencies to provide the products and 
impact of the additions on the current or most recent contractors, the 
Committee has determined that the service listed below is suitable for 
procurement by the Federal Government under 41 U.S.C. 46-48c and 41 CFR 
51-2.4.

Sheryl D. Kennerly,
Director, Information Management.
 [FR Doc. E6-13672 Filed 8-17-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6353-01-P