[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 216 (Tuesday, November 8, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 69154-69155]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-28827]


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 SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

13 CFR Parts 121, 124, 125, 126, and 127

RIN 3245-AG23


Small Business Size and Status Integrity

AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of comment period.

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SUMMARY: SBA is reopening the comment period for the proposed rule 
published in the Federal Register on October 7, 2011. In that rule SBA 
proposed to amend its regulations to implement provisions of the Small 
Business Jobs Act of 2010 (Jobs Act) pertaining to small business size 
and status integrity. SBA proposed to amend its program regulations to 
implement statutory provisions establishing that there is a presumption 
of loss equal to the value of the contract or other instrument when a 
concern willfully seeks and receives an award by misrepresentation. SBA 
proposed to amend its program regulations to implement statutory 
provisions that provide that the submission of an offer or application 
for an award intended for small business concerns will be deemed a size 
or status certification or representation in certain circumstances. SBA 
proposed to amend its program regulations to implement statutory 
provisions that provide that an authorized official must sign in 
connection with a size or status certification or representation for a 
contract or other instrument. SBA proposed to amend its regulations to 
implement statutory provisions that provide that concerns that fail to 
update their size or status in the Online Representations and 
Certifications Application (ORCA) database (or any successor thereto) 
at least annually shall no longer be identified in the database as 
small or some other socioeconomic status, until the representation is 
updated. SBA proposed to amend its regulations to clarify when size is 
determined for purposes of entry into the 8(a) Business Development and 
HUBZone programs. The proposed rule provided a 30-day comment period 
closing on November 7, 2011.
    SBA is reopening the comment period for an additional 30 days in 
response to the significant level of interest generated by the proposed 
rule among small businesses. Given the scope of the proposed rule and 
the nature of the issues raised by the comments received to date, SBA 
believes that affected businesses need more time to review the proposal 
and prepare their comments.

DATES: The comment period for the proposed rule published on October 7, 
2011 (76 FR 62313) is extended through December 8, 2011.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN: 3245-AG23, by 
any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail, for paper, disk, or CD/ROM submissions: Dean Koppel, 
U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Government Contracting, 
409 Third Street SW., 8th Floor, Washington, DC 20416.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: Dean Koppel, U.S. Small Business 
Administration, Office of Government Contracting, 409 Third Street SW., 
8th Floor Washington, DC 20416.
    SBA will post all comments on http://www.regulations.gov. If you 
wish to submit confidential business information (CBI) as defined in 
the User Notice at http://www.Regulations.gov, please submit the 
information to Dean Koppel, U.S. Small Business Administration, Office 
of Government Contracting, 409 Third Street SW., 8th Floor, Washington, 
DC 20416, or send an email to [email protected]. Highlight the 
information that you consider to be CBI and explain why you believe SBA 
should hold this information as confidential. SBA will review the 
information and make the final determination on whether it will publish 
the information or not.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dean Koppel, Office of Government 
Contracting, 409 Third Street SW., Washington, DC 20416; (202) 205-
9751; [email protected].


[[Page 69155]]


    Dated: November 2, 2011.
Joseph G. Jordan,
Associate Administrator, Government Contracting and Business 
Development.
[FR Doc. 2011-28827 Filed 11-7-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8025-01-P