[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 88 (Friday, May 6, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 26235-26238]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-10423]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

48 CFR Part 1552

[EPA-HQ-OARM-2010-0764; FRL-9288-4]


EPAAR Clause for Compliance with EPA Policies for Information 
Resources Management

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) amends the EPA 
Acquisition Regulation (EPAAR) to update policy, procedures, and 
contract clauses. The proposed rule provides revisions to the clause 
for Compliance with EPA Policies for Information Resources Management. 
This revision provides updates to out-dated information currently in 
the clause.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 6, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OARM-2010-0764, by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Fax: (202) 566-1753.
     Mail: EPA-HQ-OARM-2010-0764, OEI Docket, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 
20460. Please include a total of three (3) copies.
     Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center--Attention OEI Docket, 
EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20004. 
Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of 
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of 
boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OARM-
2010-0764. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change, and may be made available online 
at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you 
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov 
or e-mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site is an ''anonymous 
access'' system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact 
information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you 
send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without going through 
www.regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be automatically captured 
and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public 
docket, and made available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic 
comment, EPA recommends that you include your name and other contact 
information in the body of your comment, and with any disk or CD-ROM 
you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical 
difficulties, and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be 
able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of 
special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects 
or viruses. For additional information about EPA's public docket, visit 
the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in http://www.regulations.gov, or in hard copy at the Office of 
Environmental Information (OEI) Docket, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room 3334, 
1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The Public Reading Room is 
open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding 
legal holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is 
(202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the EPA Docket Center is 
(202) 566-1752. This Docket Facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 
p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donna S. Blanding, Policy, Training, 
and Oversight Division, Office of Acquisition Management (3802R), 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202-564-1130; fax number: 202-
565-2475; e-mail address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through 
http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. Clearly mark the part or all of 
the information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk 
or CD-ROM that

[[Page 26236]]

you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM as CBI, and 
then identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the specific 
information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one complete version 
of the comment that includes information claimed as CBI, a copy of the 
comment that does not contain the information claimed as CBI must be 
submitted for inclusion in the public docket. Information so marked 
will not be disclosed except in accordance with procedures set forth in 
40 CFR Part 2.
    2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments, 
remember to:
     Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other 
identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and 
page number).
     Follow directions--The agency may ask you to respond to 
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
     Explain why you agree or disagree, suggest alternatives, 
and substitute language for your requested changes.
     Describe any assumptions and provide any technical 
information and/or data that you used.
     If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how 
you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be 
reproduced.
     Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and 
suggest alternatives.
     Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the 
use of profanity or personal threats.
     Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period 
deadline identified.

II. Background

    In May, 2010 during the review of clause 1552.211-79 the EPA Office 
of Environmental Information (OEI), the Office of Acquisition 
Management (OAM) and other offices found information within this clause 
to be outdated. The proposed administrative updates to the clause will 
bring it in line with current EPA policy.

III. Proposed Rule

    This proposed rule amends the EPAAR to revise the following within 
the Compliance with EPA Policies for Information Resources Management 
clause:
    1. Paragraph (a)(5) of said EPAAR clause states that this clause 
applies to services that are subject to the Brooks Act of 1965. The 
Brooks Act has been repealed as it relates to Information Technology 
and has been replaced with the Clinger-Cohen Act. The Clinger-Cohen Act 
is sufficiently covered in the Information Resource Management 
documents and does not need to be separately called out.
    2. Paragraphs (b)(3)(Enterprise Architecture) and (4)(Earned Value 
Management) is deleted.
    3. Paragraph (b)(2), Groundwater Program Information Resources 
Management Requirement, is deleted, and the OEI Quality group, plans on 
updating these documents and removing obsolete references. Also, the 
document, EPA Order 7500.1A--Minimum Set of Data elements for 
Groundwater, can only be found in a repository of documents on the 
Office of Human Resources Web site and the National Service Center for 
Environmental Publications Web site. As a result, the Office of Water 
stated the EPA Order could be removed from this clause.
    4. Paragraph (c), Printing, is deleted. The printing office does 
not offer these services. If a contractor requires these documents be 
printed, they can request such from the contracting officer.
    5. Paragraph (d), Electronic Access, is obsolete and should be 
deleted and replaced with the proposed paragraph (d).
    6. All offices agreed that information on EPA's section 508 policy 
needed to be included in the clause.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review

    This action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under the 
terms of Executive Order (EO) 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 
therefore, not subject to review under the EO.

B. Paperwork Reduction Act

    This action does not impose an information collection burden under 
the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. 
No information is collected under this action.

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), as Amended by the Small Business 
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA), 5 U.S.C. 601 et 
seq.

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act generally requires an agency to 
prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis of any rule subject to notice 
and comment rulemaking requirements under the Administrative Procedure 
Act or any other statute; unless the agency certifies that the rule 
will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of 
small entities. Small entities include small businesses, small 
organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions.
    For purposes of assessing the impact of today's final rule on small 
entities, ``small entity'' is defined as: (1) A small business that 
meets the definition of a small business found in the Small Business 
Act and codified at 13 CFR 121.201; (2) a small governmental 
jurisdiction that is a government of a city, county, town, school 
district or special district with a population of less than 50,000; and 
(3) a small organization that is any not-for-profit enterprise which is 
independently owned and operated and is not dominant in its field.
    After considering the economic impacts of this rule on small 
entities, I certify that this action will not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. This action 
revises a current EPAAR provision and does not impose requirements 
involving capital investment, implementing procedures, or record 
keeping. This rule will not have a significant economic impact on small 
entities.

D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

    Title II of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), Public 
Law 104-4, establishes requirements for Federal agencies to assess the 
effects of their regulatory actions on State, Local, and Tribal 
governments and the private sector.
    This rule contains no Federal mandates (under the regulatory 
provisions of the Title II of the UMRA) for State, Local, and Tribal 
governments or the private sector. The rule imposes no enforceable duty 
on any State, Local or Tribal governments or the private sector. Thus, 
the rule is not subject to the requirements of Sections 202 and 205 of 
the UMRA.

E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism

    Executive Order 13132, entitled ``Federalism'' (64 FR 43255, August 
10, 1999), requires EPA to develop an accountable process to ensure 
``meaningful and timely input by State and Local officials in the 
development of regulatory policies that have federalism implications.'' 
``Policies that have federalism implications'' is defined in the 
Executive Order to include regulations that have ``substantial direct 
effects on the States, on the relationship between the national 
government and the States, or on the distribution of power and 
responsibilities among the various levels of government.''

[[Page 26237]]

    This rule does not have federalism implications. It will not have 
substantial direct effects on the States, on the relationship between 
the national government and the States, or on the distribution of power 
and responsibilities among the various levels of government, as 
specified in Executive Order 13132. Today's rule on Compliance with EPA 
Policies for Information Resources Management provides updates to 
outdated information currently in the clause, these changes are 
administrative. Thus, Executive Order 13132 does not apply to this 
rule. In the spirit of Executive Order 13132, and consistent with EPA 
policy to promote communications between EPA and State and local 
governments, EPA specifically solicits comment on this proposed action 
from State and local officials.

F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation and Coordination With Indian 
Tribal Governments

    Executive Order 13175, entitled ``Consultation and Coordination 
with Indian Tribal Governments'' (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), 
requires EPA to develop an accountable process to ensure ``meaningful 
and timely input by tribal officials in the development of regulatory 
policies that have tribal implications.'' This rule does not have 
tribal implications, as specified in Executive Order 13175. Today's 
rule on Compliance with EPA Policies for Information Resources 
Management provides updates to outdated information currently in the 
clause, these changes are administrative.
    Thus, Executive Order 13175 does not apply to this action. EPA 
specifically solicits additional comment on this proposed action from 
tribal officials.

G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental 
Health and Safety Risks

    Executive Order 13045, entitled ``Protection of Children from 
Environmental Health and Safety Risks'' (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997), 
applies to any rule that: (1) Is determined to be economically 
significant as defined under Executive Order 12886, and (2) concerns an 
environmental health or safety risk that may have a proportionate 
effect on children. This rule is not subject to Executive Order 13045 
because it is not an economically significant rule as defined by 
Executive Order 12866, and because it does not involve decisions on 
environmental health or safety risks.

H. Executive Order 13211: Actions That Significantly Affect Energy 
Supply, Distribution, or Use

    This proposed rule is not subject to Executive Order 13211, 
``Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy 
Supply, Distribution of Use'' (66 FR 28335 (MAY 22, 2001), because it 
is not a significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866.

I. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (NTTAA)

    Section 12(d) (15 U.S.C. 272 note) of NTTA, Public Law 104-113, 
directs EPA to use voluntary consensus standards in it regulatory 
activities, unless to do so would be inconsistent with applicable law, 
or otherwise impractical. Voluntary consensus standards are technical 
standards (e.g. materials specifications, test methods, sampling 
procedures and business practices) that are developed or adopted by 
voluntary consensus standards bodies. The NTTA directs EPA to provide 
Congress, through OMB, explanations when the Agency decides not to use 
available and applicable voluntary consensus standards.

J. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions To Address Environmental 
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations

    Executive Order (EO) 12898 (59 FR 7629 (Feb. 16, 1994) establishes 
federal executive policy on environmental justice. Its main provision 
directs federal agencies, to the greatest extent practicable and 
permitted by law, to make environmental justice part of their mission 
by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high 
and adverse human health or environmental effects of their programs, 
policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income 
populations in the United States.
    EPA has determined that this proposed rule will not have 
disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental 
effects on minority or low-income populations because it does not 
affect the level of protection provided to human health or the 
environment. This proposed rulemaking does not involve human health or 
environmental affects.
    This proposed rulemaking does not involve technical standards. 
Therefore, EPA is not considering the use of any voluntary consensus 
standards.

List of Subjects in 48 CFR Part 1552

    Environmental protection, Government procurement.

    Dated: March 16, 2011.
John R. Bashista,
Director, Office of Acquisition Management.

    Therefore, 48 CFR Chapter 15 is proposed to be amended as set forth 
below:

PART 1552--DESCRIBING AGENCY NEEDS

    1. The authority citation for part 1552 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority:  5 U.S.C. 301; Sec. 205(c), 63 Stat. 390, as amended, 
40 U.S.C. 486(c); and 41 U.S.C. 418b.

    2. Revise section 1552.211-79 to read as follows:


1552.211-79  Compliance with EPA Policies for Information Resources 
Management.

    As prescribed in 1511.011-79, insert the following clause:
Compliance With EPA Policies for Information Resources Management
    (a) Definition. Information Resources Management (IRM) is defined 
as any planning, budgeting, organizing, directing, training, promoting, 
controlling, and managing activities associated with the burden, 
collection, creation, use and dissemination of information. IRM 
includes both information itself and the management of information and 
related resources such as personnel, equipment, funds, and technology. 
Examples of these services include but are not limited to the 
following:
    (1) The acquisition, creation, or modification of a computer 
program or automated data base for delivery to EPA or use by EPA or 
contractors operating EPA programs.
    (2) The analysis of requirements for, study of the feasibility of, 
evaluation of alternatives for, or design and development of a computer 
program or automated data base for use by EPA or contractors operating 
EPA programs.
    (3) Services that provide EPA personnel access to or use of 
computer or word processing equipment, software, or related services.
    (4) Services that provide EPA personnel access to or use of: Data 
communications; electronic messaging services or capabilities; 
electronic bulletin boards, or other forms of electronic information 
dissemination; electronic record-keeping; or any other automated 
information services.
    (b) General. The Contractor shall perform any IRM related work 
under this contract in accordance with the IRM policies, standards, and 
procedures set forth on the Office of Environmental Information policy 
Web site. Upon

[[Page 26238]]

receipt of a work request (i.e. delivery order, task order, or work 
assignment), the Contractor shall check this listing of directives. The 
applicable directives for performance of the work request are those in 
effect on the date of issuance of the work request. The 2100 Series 
(2100-2199) of the Agency's Directive System contains the majority of 
the Agency's IRM policies, standards, and procedures.
    (c) Section 508 Requirements. Contract deliverables are required to 
be compliant with Section 508 requirements. The Environmental 
Protection Agency policy for 508 compliance can be found on the 
Agency's Directive System identified in section (d) of this clause 
under policy number CIO 2130.0, Accessible Electronic and Information 
Technology. Additional information on Section 508 including EPA's 508 
policy can be found at http://www.epa.gov/accessibility.
    (d) Electronic Access. A complete listing, including full text, of 
documents included in the 2100 Series of the Agency's Directive System 
is maintained on the EPA Public Access Server on the Internet at http://epa.gov/docs/irmpoli8/.

[FR Doc. 2011-10423 Filed 5-5-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P