[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 76 (Monday, April 21, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22103-22104]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-09005]


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COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR SEVERELY DISABLED


Procurement List; Additions

AGENCY: Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely 
Disabled.

ACTION: Additions to the Procurement List.

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SUMMARY: This action adds products and services to the Procurement List 
that will be furnished by nonprofit agencies employing persons who are 
blind or have other severe disabilities.

DATES: Effective Date: 5/20/2014.

ADDRESSES: Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely 
Disabled, 1401 S. Clark Street, Suite 10800, Arlington, Virginia 22202-
4149.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barry S. Lineback, Telephone: (703) 
603-7740, Fax: (703) 603-0655, or email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Additions

    On 12/20/2013 (78 FR 77105-77106) and 2/14/2014 (79 FR 8943-8944), 
the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely 
Disabled published notices of proposed additions to the Procurement 
List.
    After consideration of the material presented to it concerning 
capability of qualified nonprofit agencies to provide the products and 
services and impact of the additions on the current or most recent 
contractors, the Committee has determined that the products and 
services listed below are suitable for procurement by the Federal 
Government under 41 U.S.C. 8501-8506 and 41 CFR 51-2.4.

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

    I certify that the following action will not have a significant 
impact on a substantial number of small entities. The major factors 
considered for this certification were:
    1. The action will not result in any additional reporting, 
recordkeeping or other compliance requirements for small entities other 
than the small organizations that will furnish the products and 
services to the Government.
    2. The action will result in authorizing small entities to furnish 
the products and services to the Government.
    3. There are no known regulatory alternatives which would 
accomplish the objectives of the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act (41 U.S.C. 
8501-8506) in connection with the products and services proposed for 
addition to the Procurement List.

End of Certification

    Accordingly, the following products and services are added to the 
Procurement List:

Products

Bungee Rope, Flexible, w/Crimped Loops

NSN: 5340-00-NIB-0127--3 feet, Black
NSN: 5340-00-NIB-0129--5 feet, Black
NSN: 5340-00-NIB-0192--3 feet, Camouflage
NSN: 5340-00-NIB-0193--3 feet, Olive Drab
NSN: 5340-00-NIB-0194--3 feet, Orange
NSN: 5340-00-NIB-0195--3 feet, Tan
NSN: 5340-00-NIB-0196--5 feet, Camouflage
NSN: 5340-00-NIB-0197--5 feet, Olive Drab
NSN: 5340-00-NIB-0198--5 feet, Orange
NSN: 5340-00-NIB-0199--5 feet, Tan
NPA: L.C. Industries for the Blind, Inc., Durham, NC
Contracting Activity: DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY TROOP SUPPORT, 
PHILADELPHIA, PA
COVERAGE: B-List for the Broad Government Requirement as aggregated 
by the Defense Logistics Agency, Philadelphia, PA.

Gauze, Petrolatum, Sterile, White, 36 x 3

NSN: 6510-01-362-4959
NPA: Lighthouse Works, Orlando, FL
Contracting Activity: DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY TROOP SUPPORT, 
PHILADELPHIA, PA
COVERAGE: C-List for 100% of the requirement of the Department of 
Defense, as aggregated by the Defense Logistics Agency Troop 
Support, Philadelphia, PA.

Services

Service Type/Location: Base Operations Support Service, National 
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, NGA Campus West, 3200 S 2nd Street, 
St. Louis, MO
NPAs: ServiceSource, Inc., Alexandria, VA (Prime), CW Resources, 
Inc., New Britain, CT (Subcontractor)
Contracting Activity: DEPT OF DEFENSE, NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-
INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, ARNOLD, MO

    The Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely 
Disabled (Committee) administers the AbilityOne Program in accordance 
with statutory and regulatory requirements. Committee regulations at 41 
CFR 51-2-4 state that for a commodity or service to be suitable for 
addition to the Procurement List (PL) each of the following criteria 
must be satisfied: employment potential; nonprofit agency 
qualifications, capability, and level of impact on the current 
contractor for the commodity or service.
    Comments were received from the incumbent contractor. The 
contractor, an Alaska Native Corporation (ANC), states that the 
Committee should not add the project to the PL, as it would result in 
severe adverse impact on their firm and that the service cannot be 
performed as required by the Javits-Wagner-O'Day (JWOD) Act. The 
contractor lists several reasons why the service should not be added to 
the PL, including: The Base Operations Support (BOS) service is the 
ANC's largest contract, representing over 35% of its FY12 sales 
revenue; the contractor has been a continuous supplier of the service 
since 1999 and relies on its track record of successful performance; 
ANCs are defined as ``economically disadvantaged business 
enterprises,'' which precludes the Committee from including its parent 
and affiliated corporations' financial sales revenue when assessing 
impact; and the addition would violate the intent of various statutes 
and regulations that confer contracting benefits on ANCs. The 
contractor also asserts that the BOS service contract will not generate 
employment for people with severe disabilities because they claim it 
cannot be performed using a 75% severely disabled workforce which they 
say is required by the JWOD Act for each service; and, they assert that 
the proposed AbilityOne nonprofit agency is not capable of performing 
the service or doing so at a fair market price.
    Information provided by the contracting activity shows that the 
current contract for BOS service was awarded to the contractor as a 
large business in May 2009, following a full and open competition. The 
last option year ends on June 30, 2014. Following required government 
contracting protocols, the contracting activity conducted market 
research and developed an acquisition strategy seeking an AbilityOne 
nonprofit agency solution for the BOS service. The contracting activity 
has worked closely with the AbilityOne Program and the proposed 
nonprofit agency, and advises the Committee that it is fully confident 
of the technical capability of the nonprofit agency to perform the 
services using a workforce consisting of persons with severe 
disabilities. The contracting activity fully participated in the 
development of the recommended fair

[[Page 22104]]

market price considered by the Committee.
    In accordance with its regulations, the Committee considers whether 
the addition of an item to the PL would likely have a severe adverse 
impact on the current contractor by evaluating the financial data of 
the current contractor and its affiliated and parent corporations. The 
Committee does not separate contractors into ``economically 
disadvantaged business enterprise'' categories when reviewing the 
requested financial information. The contractor refused to provide the 
financial information of its affiliated and parent corporations. 
Following its standard practice, without such information, the 
Committee was unable to determine whether the addition of the service 
to the PL would result in severe adverse impact or if the contractor 
was more dependent on the sales; therefore, the Committee notified the 
contractor that it was proceeding with development of the project.
    The contractor claims that ANCs are granted certain contracting 
benefits which should prevent the Committee from adding this project to 
the PL. However, the Committee's responsibility is to implement the 
JWOD Act and the Government's policy to increase employment 
opportunities for people who are blind or severely disabled. The 
Committee's authority to determine whether products or services are 
suitable for procurement from people with significant disabilities is 
not precluded by the limited contract preferences afforded to ANCs. The 
Committee determines that the JWOD Act coexists with and remains 
relevant in light of the statutes that afford limited contract 
preference to ANCs.
    The contractor is incorrect in alleging that the BOS service 
contract will not generate employment for people with severe 
disabilities since each function or service will not be performed using 
a 75% severely disabled workforce, thereby demonstrating that the 
nonprofit agency is incapable of performing the services or doing so at 
a fair market price. The JWOD Act has no requirement that each service 
involved in a contract be performed using a 75% disabled workforce. The 
Committee determines which services and products provided by qualified 
nonprofit agencies employing people who are blind or severely disabled 
are suitable to be added to the PL. A qualified nonprofit agency is one 
that employs people who are blind or severely disabled for not less 
than 75% of the direct labor hours involved in furnishing all goods and 
services provided by the nonprofit agency during the fiscal year, 
including those furnished outside the AbilityOne Program. The nonprofit 
agencies proposed to perform the work will maintain compliance with the 
statutory direct labor ratio requirement. Moreover, the information 
available to the Committee convincingly documents that the BOS service 
will generate employment for people with severe disabilities; that the 
nonprofit agency is capable of performing the services; and that the 
service can be performed at a fair market price established by the 
Committee.
    Accordingly, after full consideration, the Committee has determined 
that the service in question is suitable for addition to the 
Procurement List.

Service Type/Location: Janitorial Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Region 6, National Eagle and Wildlife Property Repository 
and Law Enforcement Office, (Except wildlife property storage area 
(warehouse)), 6550 Gateway Road, RMA, Building 128, Commerce City, 
CO
NPA: North Metro Community Services for Developmentally Disabled, 
Westminster, CO
Contracting Activity: DEPT OF THE INTERIOR, U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE 
SERVICE, CONTRACTING AND GENERAL SERVICES DIV, DENVER, CO

Barry S. Lineback,
Director, Business Operations.
[FR Doc. 2014-09005 Filed 4-18-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6353-01-P