[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 55 (Thursday, March 22, 2007)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 13589-13590]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-1355]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Chapter 1

[Docket FAR--2007-0002, Sequence 1]


Federal Acquisition Regulation; Federal Acquisition Circular 
2005-16; 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 of 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) 2005-16 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 2005-16 which precedes this 
document. These documents are also available via the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laurieann Duarte, FAR Secretariat, 
(202) 501-4225. For clarification of content, contact the analyst whose 
name appears in the table below.

                                          List of Rules in FAC 2005-16
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      Item                          Subject                             FAR case                 Analyst
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I..............  Implementation of Wage Determinations OnLine   2005-033                 Woodson.
                  (WDOL).
II.............  Termination or Cancellation of Purchase        2005-029                 Jackson.
                  Orders.
III............  Contracts with Religious Entities (Interim)..  2006-019                 Woodson.
IV.............  Contract Terms and Conditions Required to      2006-012                 Jackson.
                  Implement Statute or Executive Orders--
                  Commercial Items.
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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 2005-16 amends the FAR as specified below:

Item I--Implementation of Wage Determinations OnLine (WDOL) (FAR Case 
2005-033)

    This final rule implements the Department of Labor (DOL) Wage 
Determinations OnLine (WDOL) Internet website as the source for Federal 
contracting agencies to obtain wage determinations issued by the DOL 
for service contracts subject to the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract 
Act (SCA) and for construction contracts subject to the Davis-Bacon Act 
(DBA). The rule amends the FAR to direct Federal contracting agencies 
to obtain DBA and SCA wage determinations from the WDOL website.
    The WDOL and e98 processes replace the paper Standard Forms 98 and 
98a. In addition, Standard Forms 98, 98a, and 99 are deleted from FAR 
Part 53. This final rule also incorporates new geographical 
jurisdictions for DOL's Wage and Hour Regional Offices and eliminates 
FAR references to the Government Printing Office publication of general 
wage determinations.

Item II--Termination or Cancellation of Purchase Orders (FAR Case 2005-
029)

    The rule revises the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to 
correct the inadvertent omission of an appropriate reference in FAR 
Part 13.302-4(a) for termination for cause of those purchase orders 
that have been accepted in writing. This FAR revision is a correction 
to a reference and not a change to the contract termination options 
available in 52.212-4(l) or (m). If a purchase order that has been 
accepted in writing by the contractor is to be terminated, contracting 
officers have the option to terminate for cause as well as terminate 
for convenience.

[[Page 13590]]

Item III--Contracts with Religious Entities (FAR Case 2006-019) 
(Interim)

    This interim rule amends FAR Subpart 22.8, Equal Employment 
Opportunity, and the associated clause at 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity, 
to add an exemption for religious entities to the prohibition of 
discrimination on the basis of religion. Executive Order (E.O.) 13279 
amended Section 204 of E.O. 11246 to permit religious entities to 
consider employment of individuals of a particular religion to perform 
work connected with carrying on the entity's activities. Religious 
entities remain subject to other Equal Employment Opportunity 
requirements. When awarding a contract to a religious entity that 
contains the clause at FAR 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity, the 
requirements of the clause with respect to employment of individuals of 
a particular religion to perform work connected with the carrying on of 
the contractor's activities do not apply to a contractor that is a 
religious corporation, association, educational institution, or 
society.

Item IV--Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statute or 
Executive Orders--Commercial Items (FAR Case 2006-012)

    The final rule revises the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to 
update the required contract clauses that implement provisions of law 
or executive orders for acquisitions of commercial items.

    Dated: March 15, 2007.
Ralph De Stefano,
Director, Contract Policy Division.
[FR Doc. 07-1355 Filed 3-21-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-EP-S