[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 115 (Wednesday, June 16, 2010)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 34286-34291]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-14182]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Parts 52 and 53

[FAC 2005-42; FAR Case 2009-018; Item XI; Docket 2010-0082, Sequence 1]
RIN 9000-AL53


Federal Acquisition Regulation; FAR Case 2009-018, Payrolls and 
Basic Records

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

ACTION: Interim rule with request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense 
Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) are issuing an interim rule 
amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to revise the FAR 
clause, Payrolls and Basic Records. This revision implements a 
Department of Labor rule to protect the privacy of workers.

DATES: Effective Date: June 16, 2010.
    Comment Date: Interested parties should submit written comments to 
the Regulatory Secretariat on or before August 16, 2010 to be 
considered in the formulation of a final rule.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by FAC 2005-42, FAR Case 2009-
018, by any of the following methods:
     Regulations.gov: http://www.regulations.gov.
    Submit comments via the Federal eRulemaking portal by inputting 
``FAR Case 2009-018'' under the heading ``Enter Keyword or ID'' and 
selecting ``Search''. Select the link ``Submit a Comment'' that 
corresponds with ``FAR Case 2009-018''. Follow the instructions 
provided at the ``Submit a Comment'' screen. Please include your name, 
company name (if any), and ``FAR Case 2009-018'' on your attached 
document.
     Fax: 202-501-4067.
     Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory 
Secretariat (MVCB), 1800 F Street, NW., Room 4041, ATTN: Hada Flowers, 
Washington, DC 20405.
    Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite FAC 2005-42, FAR 
Case 2009-018, in all correspondence related to this case. All comments 
received will be posted without change to http://

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www.regulations.gov, including any personal and/or business 
confidential information provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For clarification of content, contact 
Mr. Ernest Woodson, Procurement Analyst, at (202) 501-3775. For 
information pertaining to status or publication schedules, contact the 
Regulatory Secretariat at (202) 501-4755. Please cite FAC 2005-42, FAR 
Case 2009-018.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

    This interim rule incorporates changes from the Department of 
Labor's (DOL) final rule, Protecting the Privacy of Workers: Labor 
Standards Provisions Applicable to Contracts Covering Federally 
Financed and Assisted Construction, published in the Federal Register 
at 73 FR 77504 on December 19, 2008, that removed the requirement to 
submit complete social security numbers and home addresses of 
individual workers in weekly payroll submissions. The DOL concluded 
that such disclosure of personal information from the prime contractor 
was unnecessary and created an increased risk of privacy violations.

B. Discussion

    As a result of the changes that DOL instituted regarding the 
submission of payroll data, the clause at FAR 52.222-8, Payrolls and 
Basic Records, is revised to delete the requirement for submission of 
full social security numbers and home addresses of individual workers 
from the prime contractor on weekly transmittals. Instead the payrolls 
shall only need to include an individually identifying number for each 
employee (e.g., the last four digits of the employee's social security 
number). The information may be submitted in any form desired, but this 
rule provides a link to the DOL's Wage and Hour Division website where 
Optional Form WH-347 is available for the purpose of submitting payroll 
information. The rule requires contractors and subcontractors to 
maintain the full social security number and current address of each 
covered worker, and shall provide them upon request to the contracting 
officer, the contractor, or the Wage and Hour Division of the DOL for 
purposes of an investigation or audit of compliance with prevailing 
wage requirements.
    This is not a significant regulatory action and, therefore, was not 
subject to review under Section 6(b) of Executive Order 12866, 
Regulatory Planning and Review, dated September 30, 1993. This rule is 
not a major rule under 5 U.S.C. 804.

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Councils do not expect this interim rule to have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities within the 
meaning of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq., 
because this rule provides relief for contractors from submitting more 
personal information than is necessary in the weekly payroll 
submissions and will not impose any measurable costs on contractors. 
Therefore, an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis has not been 
performed. The Councils invite comments from small business concerns 
and other interested parties on the expected impact of this rule on 
small entities.
    The Councils will also consider comments from small entities 
concerning the existing regulations in parts affected by this rule in 
accordance with 5 U.S.C. 610. Interested parties must submit such 
comments separately and should cite 5 U.S.C. 610 (FAC 2005-42, FAR Case 
2009-018) in all correspondence.

D. Paperwork Reduction Act

    The Paperwork Reduction Act does apply; however, these changes to 
the FAR do not impose additional information collection requirements to 
the paperwork burden previously approved under the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) Control Number 1215-0149, assigned to the DOL. The 
interim rule affects the certification and information collection 
requirements in the provisions at FAR 52.222-8(b)(1) and 53.303-WH-347. 
The impact of this requirement will not impose any measurable costs on 
any private or public sector entity. As stated in the DOL rule, the 
Department believes that a reduction in the amount of information 
required on certified payrolls provided weekly under the Davis-Bacon 
Act is a reduction in regulatory compliance costs. While some 
contractors may have to slightly reconfigure their systems to produce 
the revised version, most have access to computerized systems that can 
easily be revised to remove data. Those contractors who currently use 
the Optional Form WH-347 will actually have an overall decrease of 
total administrative costs. The DOL published a notice in the Federal 
Register at 74 FR 2862 on January 16, 2009, announcing that the OMB 
approved the DOL information collection request titled ``Protecting the 
Privacy of Workers: Labor Standards Provisions Applicable to Contracts 
Covering Federally Financed and Assisted Construction, Effectiveness of 
Information Collection Requirements''.

E. Determination to Issue an Interim Rule

    A determination has been made under the authority of the Secretary 
of Defense (DoD), the Administrator of General Services (GSA), and the 
Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
(NASA) that urgent and compelling reasons exist to promulgate this 
interim rule without prior opportunity for public comment. This action 
is necessary because the DOL has already published a final rule in the 
Federal Register at 73 FR 77504 on December 19, 2008, deleting the 
requirement for submission of full social security numbers and home 
addresses of employees as part of weekly payroll submissions for prime 
contractors. The effective date of the DOL rule was January 18, 2009. 
However, pursuant to Public Law 98-577 and FAR 1.501-3(b), the Councils 
will consider public comments received in response to this interim rule 
in the formation of the final rule.

List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 52 and 53

    Government procurement.

    Dated: June 2, 2010.
Edward Loeb,
Acting Director, Acquisition Policy Division.

0
Therefore, DoD, GSA, and NASA amend 48 CFR parts 52 and 53 as set forth 
below:
0
1. The authority citation for 48 CFR parts 52 and 53 continues to read 
as follows:

    Authority:  40 U.S.C. 121(c); 10 U.S.C. chapter 137; and 42 
U.S.C. 2473(c).

PART 52--SOLICITATION PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT CLAUSES

0
2. Amend section 52.222-8 by revising the date of the clause and 
paragraph (b)(1) to read as follows:


52.222-8  Payrolls and Basic Records.

* * * * *
    PAYROLLS AND BASIC RECORDS (JUN 2010)
* * * * *
    (b)(1) The Contractor shall submit weekly for each week in which 
any contract work is performed a copy of all payrolls to the 
Contracting Officer. The payrolls submitted shall set out accurately 
and completely all of the information required to be maintained under 
paragraph(a) of this clause, except that full social security numbers 
and home addresses shall not be included on weekly transmittals. 
Instead the payrolls shall only need to include an

[[Page 34288]]

individually identifying number for each employee (e.g., the last four 
digits of the employee's social security number). The required weekly 
payroll information may be submitted in any form desired. Optional Form 
WH-347 is available for this purpose and may be obtained from the U.S. 
Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division website at http://www.dol.gov/whd/forms/wh347.pdf. The Prime Contractor is responsible 
for the submission of copies of payrolls by all subcontractors. 
Contractors and subcontractors shall maintain the full social security 
number and current address of each covered worker, and shall provide 
them upon request to the Contracting Officer, the Contractor, or the 
Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor for purposes of an 
investigation or audit of compliance with prevailing wage requirements. 
It is not a violation of this section for a Prime Contractor to require 
a subcontractor to provide addresses and social security numbers to the 
Prime Contractor for its own records, without weekly submission to the 
Contracting Officer.
* * * * *

PART 53--FORMS

0
3. Amend section 53.303-WH-347 by revising the form to read as follows:

53.303-WH-347 Department of Labor Form WH-347, Payroll (For 
Contractor's Optional Use).

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[FR Doc. 2010-14182 Filed 6-15-10; 8:45 am]
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