[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 144 (Thursday, July 26, 2012)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 44046-44047]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-17717]



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Vol. 77

Thursday,

No. 144

July 26, 2012

Part VDepartment of DefenseGeneral Services Administration





National Aeronautics and Space Administration





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48 CFR Chapter 1





Federal Acquisition Regulation; Final Rules

  Federal Register / Vol. 77 , No. 144 / Thursday, July 26, 2012 / 
Rules and Regulations  

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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Chapter 1

[Docket FAR 2012-0080, Sequence 5]


Federal Acquisition Regulation; Federal Acquisition Circular 
2005-60; Introduction

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

ACTION: Summary presentation of final and interim rules.

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SUMMARY: This document summarizes the Federal Acquisition Regulation 
(FAR) rules agreed to by the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and 
the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) in this Federal 
Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-60. A companion document, the Small 
Entity Compliance Guide (SECG), follows this FAC. The FAC, including 
the SECG, is available via the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov.

DATES: For effective dates and comment dates see separate documents, 
which follow.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The analyst whose name appears in the 
table below in relation to each FAR case. Please cite FAC 2005-60 and 
the specific FAR case numbers. For information pertaining to status or 
publication schedules, contact the Regulatory Secretariat at 202-501-
4755.

                                          List of Rules in FAC 2005-60
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Item                               Subject               FAR Case             Analyst
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I.....................................  Reporting Executive                2008-039  Clark.
                                         Compensation and First-Tier
                                         Subcontract Awards.
II....................................  Payments Under Time-and-           2011-003  Chambers.
                                         Materials and Labor-Hour
                                         Contracts.
III...................................  Extension of Sunset Date for       2012-007  Lague.
                                         Protests of Task and Delivery
                                         Orders (Interim).
IV....................................  DARPA-New Mexico Tax Agreement     2012-019  Chambers.
V.....................................  Clarification of Standards for     2011-022  Lague.
                                         Computer Generation of Forms.
VI....................................  Technical Amendments..........
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Summaries for each FAR rule follow. For the 
actual revisions and/or amendments made by these FAR cases, refer to 
the specific item numbers and subjects set forth in the documents 
following these item summaries. FAC 2005-60 amends the FAR as specified 
below:

Item I--Reporting Executive Compensation and First-Tier Subcontract 
Awards (FAR Case 2008-039)

    The interim rule published in the Federal Register at 75 FR 39414 
on July 8, 2010, is adopted as final with changes. This rule implements 
section 2 of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 
2006 (Pub. L. 109-282), which requires the Office of Management and 
Budget to establish a free, public, Web site containing full disclosure 
of all Federal contract award information.
    The interim rule required contractors to report executive 
compensation and first-tier subcontract awards on contracts expected to 
be $25,000 or more. This information is available to the public.
    The final rule removes the exception for inserting the clause in 
classified solicitations and contracts, or solicitations or contracts 
with individuals. Classified information is not required to be 
disclosed. The clause is not prescribed for contracts unless they are 
required to be reported in the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS). 
The final rule clarifies the responsibility of contracting officers to 
correct data originating from FPDS found by the contractor to be in 
error when the contractor completes the subcontract report. The 
definition of first-tier subcontractor is revised to allow contractors 
greater flexibility to determine their first-tier subcontractors. The 
rule also clarifies that a contractor must enter Transparency Act data 
when registering in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database 
and the contractor is required to report its executive compensation in 
CCR as a part of its annual registration requirement in CCR.

Item II--Payments Under Time-and-Materials and Labor-Hour Contracts 
(FAR Case 2011-003)

    This final rule amends the FAR with regard to payments under time-
and-materials and labor-hour contracts. First, the rule harmonizes 
payment provisions under commercial time-and-materials and labor-hour 
contracts and non-commercial time-and-materials and labor-hour 
contracts, largely by having commercial time-and-materials and labor-
hour contracts adopt the payment provisions of non-commercial time-and-
materials and labor-hour contracts. Second, the rule harmonizes 
conflicting provisions of the ``Allowable Cost and Payment'' and 
``Payments Under Time-and-Materials'' and ``Labor-Hour Contracts'' 
clauses, which are both prescribed under non-commercial time-and-
materials contracts and labor-hour contracts, by using the same periods 
for invoicing, and submission of the completion voucher as those set 
forth in the ``Allowable Cost and Payment'' clause. This harmonization 
will serve to benefit small businesses under time-and-materials and 
labor-hour contracts by permitting bi-weekly rather than monthly 
invoicing, and providing contracting officers with the discretion to 
authorize even more frequent payments.

Item III--Extension of Sunset Dates for Protests of Task and Delivery 
Orders (FAR Case 2012-007) (Interim)

    This interim rule amends the FAR to implement section 825 of the 
Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 
(Pub. L. 111-383) and section 813 of the National Defense Authorization 
Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Pub. L. 112-81). These statutes extend the 
sunset date for protests against awards of task or delivery orders to 
September 30, 2016. There is no effect on Government automated systems.

Item IV--DARPA-New Mexico Tax Agreement (FAR Case 2012-019)

    This final rule amends the FAR to add the United States Defense 
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to the list of agencies that 
have entered into an agreement with the State of New Mexico. The 
agreement eliminates the

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double taxation of Government cost-reimbursement contracts when 
contractors and their subcontractors purchase tangible personal 
property to be used in performing services in whole or in part in the 
State of New Mexico, and for which title to such property will pass to 
the United States upon delivery of the property to the contractor and 
its subcontractors by the vendor. Small businesses benefit from this 
agreement because they will no longer have the administrative effort 
and cost associated with collecting this tax.

Item V--Clarification of Standards for Computer Generation of Forms 
(FAR Case 2011-022)

    DoD, GSA, and NASA published a proposed rule in the Federal 
Register at 76 FR 79609 on December 22, 2011, to implement the removal 
of Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 161. FIPS 161 is 
being removed based on the notice posted in the Federal Register at 73 
FR 51276 on September 2, 2008, by the Department of Commerce. This is a 
technical change acknowledging the removal by the Department of 
Commerce of FIPS 161 and replacement with the American National 
Standards Institute (ANSI) X12 set of standards. There is no impact to 
the Government or contractors in establishing ANSI X12 as the new 
standard. Small businesses will continue to be able to generate forms 
by computer. No public comments were received on the proposed rule, 
therefore, the final rule will be published with no changes.

Item VI--Technical Amendments

    Editorial changes are made at FAR 1.105-2, 16.301-3, 22.1801, 
22.1802, 52.212-5, 52.215-20, 52.222-54, and 52.223-2.

    Dated: July 16, 2012.
Laura Auletta,
Director, Office of Governmentwide Acquisition Policy, Office of 
Acquisition Policy, Office of Governmentwide Policy.

    Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-60 is issued under the 
authority of the Secretary of Defense, the Administrator of General 
Services, and the Administrator for the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration.
    Unless otherwise specified, all Federal Acquisition Regulation 
(FAR) and other directive material contained in FAC 2005-60 is 
effective July 26, 2012, except for Item I, II, and IV which are 
effective August 27, 2012.

    Dated: July 11, 2012.
Richard Ginman,
Director, Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy.

    Dated: July 12, 2012.
Laura Auletta,
Acting Senior Procurement Executive, Office of Acquisition Policy, U.S. 
General Services Administration.

    Dated: July 10, 2012.
Ronald A. Poussard,
Director, Contract Management Division, National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2012-17717 Filed 7-25-12; 8:45 am]
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