[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 107 (Friday, June 3, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32133-32134]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-13835]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
[EO-13563-FAR-Docket Number 2011-0085; Sequence 1]
48 CFR Chapter 1
FAR Council's Plan for Retrospective Review Under Executive Order
13563--Preliminary Plan
AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration
(GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
ACTION: Request for Information.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council has developed
a preliminary plan for the retrospective analysis of provisions in the
FAR, in accordance with Executive Order (E.O.) 13563, ``Improving
Regulation and Regulatory Review.'' The E.O. sets forth principles and
requirements designed to strengthen regulations and regulatory review
by promoting public participation, improving integration and
innovation, increasing flexibility, and increasing retrospective
analysis of existing rules. The E.O. requires every agency to develop
``a preliminary plan, consistent with law and its resources and
regulatory priorities, under which the agency will periodically review
its existing significant regulations to determine whether such
regulations should be modified, streamlined, expanded or repealed to
make the agency's regulatory program more effective and or less
burdensome in achieving its regulatory objectives.'' To comply with
E.O. 13563, the FAR Council invites interested members of the public to
submit comments on its preliminary plan available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/21stcenturygov/actions/21st-century-regulatory-system.
DATES: Comment Date: Interested parties should submit written comments
to the Regulatory Secretariat on or before July 5, 2011 to be
considered in the formulation of a final plan.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by Regulatory Burden; Federal
Acquisition Regulatory Council Retrospective Review Under Executive
Order 13563 Preliminary Plan by any of the following methods:
Regulations.gov: http://www.regulations.gov. Submit
comments via the Federal eRulemaking portal by inputting the document
title under the heading ``Enter Keyword or ID'' and selecting
``search.'' Select the link ``Submit a Comment'' that corresponds with
``FAR Council's Plan for Retrospective Review under Executive Order
13563--Preliminary Plan.'' Follow the instructions provided to complete
the ``Submit a Comment'' screen. Please include your name, company name
(if any), and ``FAR Council's Plan for Retrospective Review under
Executive Order 13563--Preliminary Plan'' on your attached document.
Fax: 202-501-4067.
Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory
Secretariat (MVCB), 1275 First Street, NE., 7th floor, ATTN: Hada
Flowers, Washington, DC 20417.
Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite the ``FAR
Council's Plan for Retrospective Review under Executive Order 13563--
Preliminary Plan'' in all correspondence related to this case. All
comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal and/or business
confidential information provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The FAR Secretariat at (202) 501-4755,
for information pertaining to status or publication schedules. For
clarification of content, contact Julia Wise, Procurement Policy
Analyst at (202) 395-7561 or [email protected]. Please cite the ``FAR
Council's Plan for Retrospective Review under Executive Order 13563--
Preliminary Plan.''
[[Page 32134]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 18, 2011, the President signed
E.O. 13563, ``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review,'' published
in the Federal Register at 76 FR 3821 on January 21, 2011, which states
that agencies must consider costs and benefits of their regulations and
choose the least burdensome path. Agencies are required to coordinate,
simplify, and harmonize regulations to reduce costs and promote
certainty for businesses and the public.
Section 6 of E.O. 13563 emphasizes the importance of retrospective
analysis of rules and requires agencies to develop a plan, under which
the agency will periodically review its existing significant
regulations to determine whether any such regulations should be
modified, expanded, streamlined, or repealed so as to make the agency's
regulatory program more effective or less burdensome in achieving the
regulatory objectives.
Request for Comments
The FAR Council invites public comments on its plans for
retrospective analysis. The Council's plan has tentatively identified
eight priority initiatives for new or continued retrospective analysis
and follow-up action over the next two years. These initiatives
include--
1. Re-examining FAR Council process for applying new regulatory
requirements to commercial item acquisitions & small (simplified)
purchases;
2. Exploring opportunities to accelerate payments to small
businesses;
3. Reviewing rules governing communications with vendors before
awarding contracts;
4. Reducing number of competitions that result in only one offer;
5. Revisiting the process for reviewing past performance
information;
6. Working with SBA to modernize rules for using contract set-
asides and small business subcontracting plans;
7. Restructuring rules addressing conflicts of interest; and
8. Clarifying rules addressing the use of competition for Blanket
purchase agreements.
The FAR Council welcomes comments on its preliminary plan and the
initiatives discussed therein. The FAR Council further invites comments
about any additional regulations, other than those listed in the
preliminary plan, that should be modified, expanded, streamlined, or
repealed in order to make the FAR more effective or less burdensome or
both.
The FAR Council advises that this notice and request for comments
is issued for information and policy development purposes. Although the
FAR Council encourages responses to this notice, such comments do not
bind the FAR Council to taking any further actions related to the
submission.
Dated: May 31, 2011.
Laura Auletta,
Acting Director, Office of Governmentwide Acquisition Policy, General
Services Administration.
[FR Doc. 2011-13835 Filed 6-2-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-EP-P