[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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