[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 220 (Friday, November 14, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68249-68250]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-26936]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[OMB Control No. 9000-0001; Docket No. 2014-0055; Sequence No. 18]


Submission for OMB Review; Affidavit of Individual Surety, 
Standard Form 28

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 of 1995 
(44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Regulatory Secretariat Division (MVCB) will 
be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to 
review and approve an extension of a currently approved information 
collection requirement concerning Standard Form (SF) 28, Affidavit of 
Individual Surety. A notice was published in the Federal Register at 79 
FR 43050 on July 24, 2014. Two comments were received.

DATES: Submit comments on or before December 15, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by Information Collection 9000-
0001 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 9000-0001. Select the link ``Comment Now'' that 
corresponds with ``Information Collection 9000-0001, SF 28, Affidavit 
of Individual Surety''. Follow the instructions provided on the screen. 
Please include your name, company name (if any), and ``Information 
Collection 9000-0001 SF 28, Affidavit of Individual Surety'' on your 
attached document.
     Fax: 202-501-4067.
     Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory 
Secretariat Division (MVCB), 1800 F Street NW., Washington, DC 20405. 
ATTN: Ms. Flowers/IC 9000-0001, SF 28, Affidavit of Individual Surety.
    Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite Information 
Collection 9000-0001, in all correspondence related to this collection. 
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: Ms. Cecelia L. Davis, Procurement 
Analyst, Acquisition Policy Division, GSA, 202-219-0202 or email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Purpose

    The Affidavit of Individual Surety SF 28 is used by all executive 
agencies, including the Department of Defense, to obtain information 
from individuals wishing to serve as sureties to Government bonds. To 
qualify as a surety on a Government bond, the individual must show a 
net worth not less than the penal amount of the bond on the SF 28. It 
is an elective decision on the part of the maker to use individual 
sureties instead of other available sources of surety or sureties for 
Government bonds. We are not aware if other formats exist for the 
collection of this information.
    The information on SF 28 is used to assist the contracting officer 
in determining the acceptability of individuals proposed as sureties.

[[Page 68250]]

B. Discussion and Analysis

    The analysis of the public comment is summarized as follows:
    Both commenters support the extension of this information 
collection. In addition to supporting the extension, both commenters 
suggested some revisions/enhancements to the current Standard Form 28.
    Comments: One commenter stated that SF 28 does not achieve its 
intended purpose in assisting contracting officers in determining 
whether individuals proposed as sureties are financially sound with the 
resources to support the obligations pledged for a Federal construction 
contract. The commenter states that the SF 28 has not prevented 
individual sureties from pledging the same assets for multiple bonds 
and recommends that the SF 28 be enhanced to ensure that the assets 
pledged to the Federal government can be accessed if needed. The 
Federal government should require any assets pledge other than real 
estate be placed in escrow only in a Federal insured financial 
institution and that a copy of the escrow agreement be filed with the 
SF 28 that shows the Federal government would have unrestricted access 
if needed. In addition, SF 28 should include questions relating to the 
criminal background, debarments and cease and desist orders from the 
state insurance departments. The SF 28 should also specify 
documentation to demonstrate the value of the assets, verify that it 
has been pledged to the United States and is free of tax liens or other 
encumbrances.
    The other commenter acknowledges that changes have been made in the 
past to strengthen the form but points out that the current SF 28 would 
benefit from greater specificity on the information required of 
individual sureties relating to the pledging of assets, especially 
information relating to assets other than real estate. Also, additional 
information should be provided on the SF 28 to assist contracting 
officers in their efforts to select an acceptable individual surety 
(such as disclosure of Federal tax liens against the individual surety 
and disclosure of personal insolvency proceedings).
    Response: As in the past, these suggestions will be taken into 
consideration and if deemed warranted a FAR case will be opened to 
revise the standard form. At that time, the estimated total annual 
public hour and cost burden will be adjusted if necessary.

C. Annual Reporting Burden

    Based on a comprehensive reassessment performed, this information 
collection resulted in no change in the total burden hours from the 
previous information collection that was published in the Federal 
Register at 76 FR 60050 on September 28, 2011. The previous assessment 
performed resulted in a change to the ``Response per Respondent'' and 
``Hours per Response'' categories. The 1.43, responses per respondent, 
was lowered to 1. to adequately reflect this category. A respondent has 
to respond completely not partially when submitting this form. The 
``Hours per Response'' category was decreased to .3 (18 minutes) from 
.4 (24 minutes) to reflect the benefits of being able to submit the 
required information electronically, as respondents no longer have to 
print and physically mail forms.
    Respondents: 500.
    Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Total Responses: 500.
    Hours per Response: 0.3.
    Total Burden Hours: 150.
    Obtaining Copies Of Proposals: Requesters may obtain a copy of the 
information collection documents from the General Services 
Administration, Regulatory Secretariat Division (MVCB), 1800 F Street 
NW., Washington, DC 20405, telephone 202-501-4755. Please cite OMB 
Control No. 9000-0001, SF 28, Affidavit of Individual Surety, in all 
correspondence.

    Dated: November 7, 2014.
Edward Loeb,
Acting Director, Federal Acquisition Policy Division, Office of 
Government-wide Acquisition Policy, Office of Acquisition Policy, 
Office of Government-wide Policy.
[FR Doc. 2014-26936 Filed 11-13-14; 8:45 am]
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