[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 251 (Tuesday, December 31, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 80368-80369]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-31147]



[[Page 80367]]

Vol. 78

Tuesday,

No. 251

December 31, 2013

Part III





Department of Defense





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General Services Administration





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National Aeronautics and Space Administration





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48 CFR Chapter 1





Federal Acquisition Regulation; Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-72; 
Introduction; Service Contracts Reporting Requirements; Prioritizing 
Sources of Supplies and Services for Use by the Government; Terms of 
Service and Open-Ended Indemnification and Unenforceability of 
Unauthorized Obligations; Trade Agreements Thresholds; Federal 
Acquisition Circular 2005-72; Small Entity Compliance Guide; Final 
Rules

  Federal Register / Vol. 78 , No. 251 / Tuesday, December 31, 2013 / 
Rules and Regulations  

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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Chapter 1

[Docket No. FAR 2013-0076, Sequence No. 8]


Federal Acquisition Regulation; Federal Acquisition Circular 
2005-72; Introduction

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

ACTION: Summary presentation of final 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) 2005-72. 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 the FAR case. Please cite FAC 2005-72 and 
the specific FAR case numbers. For information pertaining to status or 
publication schedules, contact the Regulatory Secretariat at 202-501-
4755.

                       Rules Listed in FAC 2005-72
------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Item             Subject         FAR Case           Analyst
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I..................  Service                2010-010  Loeb.
                      Contracts
                      Reporting
                      Requirements.
II.................  Prioritizing           2009-024  Morgan.
                      Sources of
                      Supplies and
                      Services for
                      Use by
                      Government.
III................  Terms of               2013-005  Petrusek.
                      Service and
                      Open-Ended
                      Indemnificatio
                      n, and
                      Unenforceabili
                      ty of
                      Unauthorized
                      Obligations.
IV.................  Trade                  2013-021  Davis.
                      Agreements
                      Thresholds.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


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 2005-72 amends the FAR as specified 
below:

Item I--Service Contracts Reporting Requirements (FAR Case 2010-010)

    This final rule amends the FAR to implement section 743 of Division 
C of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010. Section 743 calls for 
certain agencies, not including the Department of Defense, to submit 
annual inventories of service contracts. FAR subpart 4.17, Service 
Contracts Inventory, provides annual reporting requirements for 
agencies and contractors. Guidance for agencies is available at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/procurement-service-contract-inventories. FAR 
clauses 52.204-14 and 52.204-15 provide contractors' annual reporting 
requirements. Prime and first-tier contractors will submit the 
information by October 31 at www.sam.gov, including total dollar amount 
invoiced for services performed in the prior Government fiscal year and 
total amount of labor hours for the previous Government fiscal year.
    To lessen the burden on small and large business prime contractors, 
information is reported annually, reporting is phased in over three 
fiscal years, and only first-tier subcontracts are covered, not all 
tiers.
    Contracting officers will verify that the clause is included in the 
contract or order. Agencies are responsible for reviewing contractor 
reported information to ensure it appears reasonable and consistent 
with available contract information. The agency is not required to 
address data for which the agency would not normally have supporting 
information. In the event the agency believes that revisions to the 
contractor reported information are warranted, the contractor is to be 
notified no later than November 15. By November 30, the contractor 
shall revise the report, or document its rationale for the agency for 
maintaining the information without change.

Item II--Prioritizing Sources of Supplies and Services for Use by 
Government (FAR Case 2009-024)

    This final rule amends the FAR to update and clarify the priority 
of sources of supplies and services for use by the Government at FAR 
subpart 8.0. The final rule also includes a list of other existing 
Federal contract vehicles to consider for agency use, such as 
Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs), Multi-Agency Contracts 
(MACs), and other procurement instruments intended for use by multiple 
agencies, including blanket purchase agreements under Federal Supply 
Service contracts. The policy at FAR 7.102(a) is also revised to 
conform with the amendments to FAR subpart 8.0.

Item III--Terms of Service and Open-Ended Indemnification, and 
Unenforceability of Unauthorized Obligations (FAR Case 2013-005)

    This final rule adopts, without change, an interim rule which was 
published in the Federal Register at 78 FR 37686 on June 21, 2013. The 
interim rule amended the FAR to address concerns raised in an opinion 
from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel that 
determined the Anti-Deficiency Act is violated when a Government 
contracting officer or other employee with the authority to bind the 
Government agrees, without statutory authorization or other exception, 
to an open-ended, unrestricted indemnification clause. This rule 
clarified for the public that an End User License Agreement, Term of 
Service, or similar agreement containing an indemnification provision, 
is unenforceable and nonbinding against the Government and Government-
authorized end-users. The rule contained a new clause that applies to 
all solicitations and contracts and automatically applies to micro-
purchases, including those made with the Governmentwide commercial 
purchase card.

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Item IV--Trade Agreements Thresholds (FAR Case 2013-021)

    This final rule amends the FAR to adjust the thresholds for 
application of the World Trade Organization Government Procurement 
Agreement and the Free Trade Agreements as determined by the United 
States Trade Representative, according to a pre-determined formula 
under the agreements.

    Dated: December 19, 2013.
William Clark,
Acting Director, Office of Government-Wide Acquisition Policy, Office 
of Acquisition Policy, Office of Government-Wide Policy.

    Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-72 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 2005-72 is 
effective December 31, 2013 except for items I and II, which are 
effective January 30, 2014.


    Dated: December 20, 2013.
Richard Ginman,
Director, Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy.
    Dated: December 20, 2013.
Houston Taylor,
Acting Senior Procurement Executive/Deputy CAO, Office of Acquisition 
Policy, U.S. General Services Administration.
    Dated: December 18, 2013.
William P. McNally,
Assistant Administrator for Procurement, National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2013-31147 Filed 12-30-13; 8:45 am]
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