[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 56 (Friday, March 22, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17667-17668]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-06626]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[OMB Control No. 9000-0094; Docket 2012-0076; Sequence 21]


Federal Acquisition Regulation; Submission for OMB Review; 
Debarment and Suspension

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

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

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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 
debarment and suspension. A notice was published in the Federal 
Register at 77 FR 43079, on July 23, 2012. One comment was received.

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

ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by Information Collection 9000-
0094, Debarment and Suspension, 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 9000-0094, Debarment and Suspension''. 
Follow the instructions provided at the ``Submit a Comment'' screen. 
Please include your name, company name (if any), and ``Information 
Collection 9000-0094, Debarment and Suspension'' 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 9000-0094, Debarment and Suspension.
    Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite Information 
Collection 9000-0094, Debarment and Suspension, 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: Ms. Patricia Corrigan, Procurement 
Analyst, Office of Acquisition Policy, at (202) 208-1963 or via email 
at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Purpose

    The FAR requires contracts to be awarded to only those contractors 
determined to be responsible. Instances where a firm, its principals, 
or subcontractors, have been indicted, convicted, suspended, proposed 
for debarment, debarred, or had a contract terminated for default are 
critical factors to be considered by a Government contracting officer 
in making a responsibility determination. FAR 52.209-5 and 52.212-3(h), 
Certification Regarding Responsibility Matters, and FAR 52.209-6, 
Protecting the Government's Interest when Subcontracting with 
Contractors Debarred, Suspended, or Proposed for Debarment, require the 
disclosure of this information.

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 because of the burden it puts on the entity 
submitting the information and the agency collecting the information.
    Response: In accordance with the Paperwork Required Act (PRA), 
agencies can request an OMB approval of an existing information 
collection. The PRA requires that agencies use the Federal Register 
notice and comment process, to extend the OMB's approval, at least 
every three years. This extension, to a previously approved information 
collection, pertains to Debarment, Suspension, and Other Responsibility 
Matters, FAR Subpart 9.1, Subpart 9.4, 52.209-5, 52.212-3(h) and 
52.209-6. This information collection, in compliance with Executive 
Order 12549, Debarment and Suspension, is necessary to determine the 
responsibility of prospective contractors, to ensure that contractors 
protect the interests of the Government when issuing subcontracts under 
Government contracts, and ensure business integrity in contract 
performance. Not granting this extension would consequently eliminate a 
key process for assessing contractor

[[Page 17668]]

responsibility and protecting the Government's interests.
    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 stated that the ``estimate 
of four responses per contractor per year is unrealistically low 
because almost all solicitations will include FAR 52.209-5 and 52.212-
3(h) * * * we believe, based on the experience of our members, that 
most companies will be required to meet this requirement from 20 to 
more than 100 times per year.'' Further, the respondent commented that 
the estimate of 0.083 hours of burden per response was low when 
considering the time and effort necessary for a company to gather 
responsibility data. For this reason, the respondent provided that the 
agency should reassess the estimated total burden hours and revise the 
estimate upwards to be more accurate. The same respondent also provided 
that the burden of compliance with the information collection 
requirement greatly exceeds the agency's estimate and outweighs any 
potential utility of the extension.
    Response: Serious consideration is 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 an 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 in OMB guidance for estimating the paperwork burden put on the 
entity submitting the information. For example, consideration is given 
to an entity reviewing instructions; using technology to collect, 
process, and disclose information; adjusting existing practices to 
comply with requirements; searching data sources; completing and 
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 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, and it is determined that an upward 
adjustment is not required at this time related to the responses per 
respondent. The estimate of four responses per respondent is based upon 
contractor use of the Online Representation and Certifications 
Application (ORCA) function in the System for Award Management (SAM) 
rather than the completion of representations and certifications for 
each solicitation/contract for which a vendor submits an offer. The 
ORCA function was developed to eliminate the administrative burden for 
contractors of submitting the same information to various contracting 
offices, and to establish a common source for this information to 
procurement offices across the Government. Prior to the ORCA function's 
implementation, prospective contractors were required to submit 
representations and certifications in paper form for each individual 
contract award. Under these conditions, a response rate of 20 to more 
than 100 times per year per contractor as suggested by the respondent 
may have been necessary. However, using the ORCA function in SAM, a 
contractor can enter their representations and certification 
information once for use on all Federal contracts and solicitations. 
FAR 4.1201(a) requires prospective contractors to complete electronic 
annual representations and certifications at the SAM Internet site in 
conjunction with required registration in the Central Contractor 
Registration (CCR) function in SAM. The representations and 
certifications are effective until one year from the date of submission 
or update to the ORCA function in SAM. For purposes of this information 
collection, initial data entry plus three updates per year was 
considered reasonable and was used to estimate the number of responses 
per respondent per year, i.e., 4 responses per respondent.
    We have reassessed the hours of burden per response based on the 
respondent's comment, and have determined that an upward estimate of 
thirty minutes or approximately six times the original estimate of 
0.083 would provide a more accurate measure of the time required to 
complete and review each response.
    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.

C. Annual Reporting Burden

    Respondents: 162,000.
    Responses per Respondent: 4.
    Annual Responses: 648,000.
    Hours per Response: 0.50.
    Total Burden Hours: 324,000.
    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. 9000-0094, Debarment and Suspension, 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. 2013-06626 Filed 3-21-13; 8:45 am]
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