[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 146 (Tuesday, July 30, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45928-45929]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-18218]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

 GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

 NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

 [OMB Control No. 9000-0173; Docket 2012-0076; Sequence 52]


Submission for OMB Review; Limitations on Pass-Through Charges

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.

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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 a previously approved 
information collection requirement regarding Limitations on Pass-
Through Charges. A notice was published in the Federal Register at 77 
FR 69440, on November 19, 2012. One comment was received.

DATES: Submit comments on or before August 29, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by Information Collection 9000-
0173, Limitations on Pass-Through Charges 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 9000-0173, Limitations on 
Pass-Through Charges''. Follow the instructions provided at the 
``Submit a Comment'' screen. Please include your name, company name (if 
any), and ``Information Collection 9000-0173, Limitations on Pass-
Through Charges'' on your attached document.
     Fax: 202-501-4067.
     Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory 
Secretariat (MVCB), 1800 F Street NW.,, 2nd floor, Washington, DC 
20405. ATTN: Hada Flowers/IC 9000-0173, Limitations on Pass-Through 
Charges.
    Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite Information 
Collection 9000-0173, Limitations on Pass-Through Charges, in all 
correspondence related to this collection. Submit comments regarding 
this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of 
information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to: FAR 
Desk Officer, OMB, Room 10102, NEOB, Washington, DC 20503. 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. Edward N. Chambers, Procurement 
Analyst, Office of Acquisition Policy, at telephone (202) 501-3221 or 
via email to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Purpose

    To enable contracting officers to verify that pass-through charges 
are not excessive, the clause at FAR 52.215-22, Limitations on Pass-
Through Charges--Identification of Subcontract Effort, requires 
offerors submitting a proposal for a contract, task order, or delivery 
order to provide the following information with its proposal:
    (1) The percent of effort the offeror intends to perform and the 
percent expected to be performed by each subcontractor.
    (2) If the offeror intends to subcontract more than 70 percent of 
the total cost of work to be performed--
    (i) The amount of the offeror's indirect costs and profit/fee 
applicable to the work to be performed by the subcontractor(s); and,
    (ii) A description of the value added by the offeror as related to 
the work to be performed by the subcontractor(s).
    (3) If any subcontractor intends to subcontract to a lower-tier 
subcontractor more than 70 percent of the total cost of work to be 
performed under its subcontract--
    (i) The amount of the subcontractor's indirect costs and profit/fee 
applicable to the work to be performed by the lower-tier 
subcontractor(s); and,
    (ii) A description of the value added by the subcontractor as 
related to the work to be performed by the lower-tier subcontractor(s).
    In addition, if the amount of the effort to be subcontracted by the 
contractor or a subcontractor changes from the amount identified in the 
proposal such that it exceeds 70 percent of the total cost of work to 
be performed, the clause at FAR 52.215-23, Limitations on Pass-Through 
Charges, requires contractors to provide a description of the value 
added by the contractor or subcontractor, as applicable, as related to 
the subcontract effort.

B. Discussion and Analysis

    One respondent submitted public comments on the extension of the 
previously approved information collection. The analysis of their 
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 Reduction Act (PRA), 
agencies can request OMB approval of an existing information 
collection. The 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 FAR clause 52.215-22. This clause requires 
offerors submitting a proposal for a contract, task order, or delivery 
order to provide

[[Page 45929]]

certain information on its projected subcontracting activities with its 
proposal. Absent the reporting under this clause, the Government would 
be vulnerable to charges from prime contractors related to subcontract 
activity which did not provide commensurate or even any value to the 
contract.
    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 the estimate of a 
half hour per response per respondent is understated, and that a more 
realistic estimate would be in the range of 40 to 80 hours per 
response. 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, as was done in FAR Case 2007-006. 
The respondent also provided that the burden of compliance with the 
information collection requirement 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 although, the respondent provided estimates of 
responses and burden hours, the estimates cannot be confirmed with any 
degree of certainty to totally rely on the information. However, it is 
determined that an upward adjustment from the previously approved 
information collection is warranted at this time based upon 
consideration of the information provided in the public comment.

C. Annual Reporting Burden

    There is no centralized database in the Federal Government that 
maintains information regarding the use of the clauses at FAR 52.215-22 
and FAR 52.215-23. Therefore, subject matter experts were consulted to 
obtain additional information that helped in estimating the revised 
public burden.
    For this information collection requirement data from Fiscal Year 
(FY) 2012 was retrieved from the Federal Procurement Data System--Next 
Generation (FPDS-NG). The parameters for this information collection 
were defined based on the prescription from the applicable clauses. 
Based on a comprehensive review of the prescriptions for the applicable 
clauses, it was determined that the types of contracts associated with 
this information collection are:
    (1) For civilian agencies, cost-reimbursement type contracts and 
the total estimated contract or order value exceeds the simplified 
acquisition threshold (SAT).
    (2) For DoD, the total estimated contract or order value exceeds 
the threshold for obtaining cost or pricing data in 15.403-4 
($700,000); and the contract type is expected to be any contract type 
except--
    (i) A firm-fixed-price contract awarded on the basis of adequate 
price competition;
    (ii) A fixed-price contract with economic price adjustment awarded 
on the basis of adequate price competition;
    (iii) A firm-fixed-price contract for the acquisition of a 
commercial item;
    (iv) A fixed-price contract with economic price adjustment, for the 
acquisition of a commercial item;
    (v) A fixed-price incentive contract awarded on the basis of 
adequate price competition; or
    (vi) A fixed-price incentive contract for the acquisition of a 
commercial item.
    For civilian agencies, FPDS-NG shows 3,017 contracts awarded to 
2,258 unique vendors were applicable to the clauses associated with 
this information collection. For DOD, FPDS-NG shows 1,376 contracts 
awarded to 1,119 unique vendors were applicable to the clauses 
associated with this information collection. This equates to a total of 
4,393 contracts awarded to 3,377 unique vendors. Based on discussions 
with subject matter experts, it was determined that 4,393 contract 
awards was a sufficient baseline for estimating the number of 
solicitations that would include the applicable clause. It is estimated 
that 3 responses would be submitted in response to a solicitation that 
included the applicable clauses, for a total of 13,179 estimated 
respondents per year. The number of responses per respondent is 
estimated at one. It is also determined that the estimated time 
required to read and prepare a response is increased from 60 minutes to 
120 minutes. This determination is based on the consideration of public 
comments.
    These revisions represent an increase from the previously approved 
information collection.
    Respondents: 13,179.
    Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Total Responses 13,179.
    Hours per Response: 2.
    Total Burden Hours: 26,358.
    Obtaining Copies of Proposals: Requesters may obtain a copy of the 
information collection documents from the General Services 
Administration, Regulatory Secretariat (MVCB), 1800 F Street NW., 2nd 
floor, Washington, DC 20405, telephone (202) 501-4755. Please cite OMB 
Control No. 9000-0173, Limitations on Pass-Through Charges, in all 
correspondence.

    Dated: July 24, 2013.
Karlos Morgan,
Acting Director, Federal Acquisition Policy Division, Office of 
Governmentwide Acquisition Policy, Office of Acquisition Policy, Office 
of Governmentwide Policy.
[FR Doc. 2013-18218 Filed 7-29-13; 8:45 am]
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