[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 56 (Friday, March 22, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17668-17670]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-06581]


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

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[OMB Control No. 9000-0006; Docket 2012-0076; Sequence 57]


Federal Acquisition Regulation; Submission for OMB Review; 
Subcontracting Plans/Individual Subcontract Report (SF-294)

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

ACTION: Notice of request for public comments regarding an extension to 
an existing OMB clearance.

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

SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the 
Regulatory Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a 
previously approved information collection requirement concerning 
subcontracting plans/individual subcontract report (SF-294). A notice 
was published in the Federal Register at 77 FR 69627, on November 20, 
2012. One respondent submitted comments.

DATES: Submit comments on or before April 22, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by Information Collection

[[Page 17669]]

9000-0006, Subcontracting Plans/Individual Subcontract Report (SF-294), 
by any of the following methods:
     Regulations.gov: http://www.regulations.gov. Submit 
comments via the Federal eRulemaking portal by searching the OMB 
control number. Select the link ``Submit a Comment'' that corresponds 
with ``Information Collection 9000-0006, Subcontracting Plans/
Individual Subcontract Report (SF-294).'' Follow the instructions 
provided at the ``Submit a Comment'' screen. Please include your name, 
company name (if any), and ``Information Collection 9000-0006, 
Subcontracting Plans/Individual Subcontract Report (SF-294)'' on your 
attached document.
     Fax: 202-501-4067.
     Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory 
Secretariat (MVCB), 1275 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20417. ATTN: 
Hada Flowers/IC 9000-0006, Subcontracting Plans/Individual Subcontract 
Report (SF-294).
    Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite Information 
Collection 9000-0006, Subcontracting Plans/Individual Subcontract 
Report (SF-294), in all correspondence related to this collection. 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: Mr. Karlos Morgan, Procurement 
Analyst, Office of Acquisition Policy, GSA (202) 501-2364 or email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Purpose

    In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 19.702, which 
implements the statutory requirements of Section 8(d) of the Small 
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)), contractors receiving a contract for 
more than the simplified acquisition threshold agree to have small 
business, small disadvantaged business, women-owned small business, 
historically underutilized business zone small business, veteran-owned 
small business, and service-disabled veteran-owned small business 
concerns participate in the performance of the contract as far as 
practicable. Contractors receiving a contract or a modification to a 
contract expected to exceed $650,000 ($1,500,000 for construction) must 
submit a subcontracting plan that provides maximum practicable 
opportunities for the above named concerns. Specific elements required 
to be included in the plan are specified in section 8(d) of the Small 
Business Act and implemented in FAR subpart 19.7.
    In conjunction with the subcontracting plan requirements, 
contractors must submit semi-annual reports of their small business 
subcontracting progress to the government. With the exception of those 
contracts noted in FAR 4.606(c)(5) which states ``Actions that, 
pursuant to other authority, will not be entered in FPDS (e.g., 
reporting of the information would compromise national security)'', 
contractors must use the electronic Individual Subcontract Report (ISR) 
in the Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS) in lieu of the 
Standard Form 294, Subcontracting Report for Individual Contracts. The 
ISR is the electronic equivalent of the Standard Form 294. The eSRS 
streamlines the small business subcontracting program reporting process 
and provides the data to agencies in a manner that enables them to more 
effectively manage the program. Those contract actions noted in FAR 
4.606(c)(5) will continue to use the Standard Form 294.

B. Analysis of Public Comments

    One respondent submitted public comments on the extension of the 
previously approved information collection. The analysis of the public 
comments is summarized as follows:
    Comment: The respondent commented that the extension of the 
information collection would violate the fundamental purposes of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act.
    Response: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), 
agencies can request OMB approval an existing information collection. 
PRA requires that agencies use the Federal Register notice and comment 
process, to extend OMB's approval, at least every three years. This 
extension, to a previously approved information collection, pertains to 
the use of the ISR to collect subcontract award data from prime or 
subcontractors that: (a) Hold one or more contracts over $650,000 (over 
$1,500,000 for construction); and (b) are required to report 
subcontracts awarded to small business, small disadvantaged business, 
women-owned small business, historically underutilized business zone 
small business, veteran-owned small business, and service-disabled 
veteran-owned small business concerns. The ISR is also used to collect 
subcontract award data from Alaskan Native Corporations and Indian 
Tribe concerns under a subcontracting plan with the Federal government. 
For the Department of Defense, the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration, and the United States Coast Guard, the ISR collects 
subcontract awards for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and 
Minority Institutions. Absent this information the suitability of the 
contractor to report subcontract award data could not be ascertained. 
Further, the contracting officer could not examine the subcontract 
award data to assess contractors' compliance with their subcontracting 
plans, the Small Business Act, and the FAR.
    Comment: The respondent commented that the agency did not 
accurately estimate the public burden challenging that the agency's 
methodology for calculating it is insufficient and inadequate and does 
not reflect the total burden. The respondent indicated that the upward 
adjustment made to the number of respondents from 103,908 to 129,009 
was reasonable. However, the decrease in the estimated hours per 
response from 11.90 to 8.5 hours per responses is understated, and that 
the average burden on companies is somewhere in the range of 10 to 100 
time greater than the estimate put forth in the Federal Register 
Notice. For this reason, the respondent provided that agency should 
reassess the estimated total burden hours and revise the estimate 
upwards to be more accurate, as was done in FAR Case 2007-006.
    Response: Serious consideration given, during the open comment 
period, to all comments received and adjustments are made to the 
paperwork burden estimate based on reasonable considerations provided 
by the public. This is evidenced, as the respondent notes, in FAR Case 
2007-006 where adjustment was made from the total preparation hours 
from three to 60. This change was made considering particularly the 
hours that would be required for review within the company prior to 
release to the Government. The burden is prepared taking into 
consideration the necessary criteria OMB guidance for estimating the 
paperwork burden put on the entity submitting the information. For 
example, consideration is given to entity reviewing instructions; using 
technology to collect, process, and disclose information; adjusting 
existing practices to comply with requirements; searching data sources; 
completing reviewing the response; and transmitting or disclosing 
information. The estimated burden hours for a collection are based on 
an average between the hours that a simple disclosure by a very small 
business might require and the much higher numbers that might be 
required for a

[[Page 17670]]

very complex disclosure by a major corporation. Also, the estimated 
burden hours should only include projected hours for those actions 
which a company would not undertake in the normal course of business.
    Careful consideration went into assessing the estimated burden 
hours for this collection. Given that many of the key data elements are 
pre-populated in eSRS from the Federal Procurement Data System and the 
System for Award Management (e.g. basic contractual information and 
contractor information), combined with the system improvements to 
streamline user experience, the amount of training provided, the user 
guides and webinars available, and the sample reports provided, the 
length of time necessary for reporting subcontracting achievements into 
eSRS has been shortened.
    As a result, the estimate burden hours published in the Federal 
Register at 77 FR 69627, on November 20, 2012 remains a valid estimate 
and an upward adjustment is not required at this time. However, at any 
point, members of the public may submit comments for further 
consideration, and are encouraged to provide data to support their 
request for an adjustment.
    Comment: The respondent commented that the collective burden of 
compliance with the information collection requirement greatly exceeds 
the agency's estimate and outweighs any potential utility of the 
extension.
    Response: The Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) was designed to improve 
the quality and use of Federal information to strengthen decision-
making, accountability, and openness in government and society. Central 
to this process is the solicitation of comments from the public. This 
process incorporates and enumerated specification of targeted 
information and provides interested parties a meaningful opportunity 
for comment on the relevant compliance cost. This process has led to 
decreases in the overall collection requirement in regards to the 
public. Based on OMB estimates, in FY 2010, the public spent 8.8 
billion hours responding to information collections. This was a 
decrease of one billion hours, or ten percent from the previous fiscal 
year. In effect, the collective burden of compliance for the public is 
going down as the Government publishes rule that make the process less 
complex, more transparent, and reduces the cost of federal regulations 
to both the Contractor community and Government.

C. Annual Reporting Burden

    Based on information from eSRS and an estimate of the use of eSRS, 
an upward adjustment is being made to the number of respondents, but a 
downward adjustment is being made to the average burden hours for 
reporting and recordkeeping per response. As a result, a downward 
adjustment is being made to the estimated annual reporting burden since 
the notice regarding an extension to this clearance published in the 
Federal Register at 75 FR 9604, on March 3, 2010.
    Respondents: 129,009.
    Responses per Respondent: 3.
    Total Responses: 387,027.
    Average Burden Hours per Response: 8.50.
    Total Burden Hours: 3,289,729.50.
    Obtaining Copies of Proposals: Requesters may obtain a copy of the 
information collection documents from the General Services 
Administration, Regulatory Secretariat (MVCB), 1275 First Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20417, telephone (202) 501-4755. Please cite OMB Control 
No. 9000-0006, Subcontracting Plans/Individual Subcontract Report (SF-
294), in all correspondence.

    Dated: March 18, 2013.
William Clark,
Acting Director, Federal Acquisition Policy Division, Office of 
Governmentwide Acquisition Policy, Office of Acquisition Policy, Office 
of Governmentwide Policy.
[FR Doc. 2013-06581 Filed 3-21-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-EP-P