[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 143 (Friday, July 25, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 43591-43592]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-17502]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Chapter 1

[Docket No. FAR 2014-0052, Sequence No. 4]


Federal Acquisition Regulation; Federal Acquisition Circular 
2005-76; Small Entity Compliance Guide

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

ACTION: Small Entity Compliance Guide.

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SUMMARY: This document is issued under the joint authority of DOD, GSA, 
and NASA. This Small Entity Compliance Guide has been prepared in 
accordance with section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory 
Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. It consists of a summary of the rules 
appearing in Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-76, which amends 
the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). An asterisk (*) next to a 
rule indicates that a regulatory flexibility analysis has been 
prepared. Interested parties may obtain further information regarding 
these rules by referring to FAC 2005-76, which precedes this document. 
These documents are also available via the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov.

DATES: July 25, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For clarification of content, contact 
the analyst whose name appears in the table below. Please cite FAC 
2005-76 and the 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

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                  Item                               Subject                FAR case             Analyst
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* 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

[[Page 43592]]

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.
[FR Doc. 2014-17502 Filed 7-24-14; 8:45 am]
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