[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 143 (Friday, July 25, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 43574-43575]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-17496]



[[Page 43573]]

Vol. 79

Friday,

No. 143

July 25, 2014

Part III





Department of Defense

General Services Administration

National Aeronautics and Space Administration





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48 CFR Chapter 1





Federal Acquisition Regulation; Rules

  Federal Register / Vol. 79 , No. 143 / Friday, July 25, 2014 / 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 2014-0051, Sequence No. 4]


Federal Acquisition Regulation; Federal Acquisition Circular 
2005-76; Introduction

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

ACTION: Summary presentation of interim and 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) 2005-76. 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 2005-76 and 
the specific FAR case number. For information pertaining to status or 
publication schedules, contact the Regulatory Secretariat at 202-501-
4755.

Rules Listed in FAC 2005-76

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Item                              Subject                FAR case              Analyst
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I.....................................  Equal Employment and                 2014-013  Loeb.
                                         Affirmative Action for
                                         Veterans and Individuals
                                         with Disabilities (Interim).
II....................................  Small Business Protests and          2012-014  Morgan.
                                         Appeals.
III...................................  Allowability of Legal Costs          2013-017  Chambers.
                                         for Whistleblower
                                         Proceedings.
IV....................................  Technical Amendments.........
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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Summaries for each FAR rule follow. For the 
actual revisions and/or amendments made by these rules, refer to the 
specific item numbers and subjects set forth in the documents following 
these item summaries. FAC 2005-76 amends the FAR as specified below:

Item I--Equal Employment and Affirmative Action for Veterans and 
Individuals With Disabilities (FAR Case 2014-013)

    DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing an interim rule amending the FAR to 
implement final rules issued on September 24, 2013, by the Office of 
Federal Contract Compliance Programs at the Department of Labor (DOL) 
relating to equal opportunity and affirmative action for veterans and 
individuals with disabilities. The DOL rules provide clarification of 
mandatory listing of employment openings, the posting of notices, 
making notices accessible to persons with disabilities, and requiring 
nondiscrimination statements in contractor solicitations or 
advertisements for employees. The FAR clauses have been restructured to 
provide a citation to the applicable clause in the DOL regulations and 
include a statement that summarizes the contractors' top level 
obligations under each clause. There is no significant impact on small 
entities imposed by the FAR rules.

Item II--Small Business Protests and Appeals (FAR Case 2012-014)

    This final rule amends the FAR to provide revised regulatory 
coverage for small business size and small business status protest and 
appeal procedures and to ensure that the FAR contains consistent and 
coherent protest and appeal procedures that are congruent with Small 
Business Administration regulations.
    This final rule will have no direct negative impact on any small 
business concern, since it is aimed at preventing other than small 
business concerns from receiving or performing contracts set aside for 
small business concerns. This rule will indirectly benefit small 
business concerns by preventing awards to ineligible concerns, or 
shortening the length of time other than small business concerns 
perform small business set-aside contracts.

Item III--Allowability of Legal Costs for Whistleblower Proceedings 
(FAR Case 2013-017)

    This finalizes an interim rule that revised the cost principle at 
FAR 31.205-47 to implement sections 827(g) and 828(d) of the National 
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (Pub. L. 112-239). The 
cost principle addresses the allowability of legal costs incurred by a 
contractor or subcontractor in connection with a whistleblower 
protection proceeding commenced by a contractor or subcontractor 
employee submitting a complaint of reprisal under the applicable 
whistleblower statute. The cost principle is revised in the final rule 
to allow reasonable legal proceeding costs in certain settlements. 
Because most contracts awarded to small businesses are awarded on a 
competitive, fixed-price basis, thus limiting their exposure to the 
cost principles, the impact of this interim rule on small businesses 
will be minimal.

Item IV--Technical Amendments

    Editorial changes are made at FAR 4.605, 4.1601, and 32.009-1. The 
change at 32.009-1 shows the recent extension of the policy to provide 
accelerated payment to small business subcontractors.

    Dated: July 18, 2014.
William Clark,
Acting Director, Office of Government-Wide Acquisition Policy, Office 
of Acquisition Policy, Office of Government-Wide Policy.

    Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-76 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 2005-76 is 
effective July 25, 2014 except for item II, which is effective August 
25, 2014.

Dated: July 18, 2014.

Richard Ginman,
Director, Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy.

Dated: July 18, 2014.


[[Page 43575]]


Jeffrey A. Koses,
Senior Procurement Executive/Deputy CAO, Office of Acquisition Policy, 
U.S. General Services Administration.

Dated: July 21, 2014.

William P. McNally,
Assistant Administrator for Procurement, National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration.

[FR Doc. 2014-17496 Filed 7-24-14; 8:45 am]
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