[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 144 (Thursday, July 26, 2012)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 44066-44067]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-17742]


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

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Chapter 1

[Docket FAR 2012-0081, Sequence 5]


Federal Acquisition Regulation; Federal Acquisition Circular 
2005-60; Small Entity Compliance Guide

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

ACTION: Small Entity Compliance Guide.

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

SUMMARY: This document is issued under the joint authority of DOD, GSA, 
and NASA. This Small Entity Compliance Guide has been prepared in 
accordance with section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory 
Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. It consists of a summary of the rule 
appearing in Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-60, which amends 
the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). An asterisk (*) next to a 
rule indicates that a regulatory flexibility analysis has been 
prepared. Interested parties may obtain further information regarding 
this rule by referring to FAC 2005-60, which precedes this document. 
These documents are also available via the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov.

DATES: July 26, 2012.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For clarification of content, contact 
the analyst whose name appears in the table below. Please cite FAC 
2005-60 and the FAR case number. 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.

[[Page 44067]]

 
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 subject 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 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.
[FR Doc. 2012-17742 Filed 7-25-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-EP-P