[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 209 (Thursday, October 29, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Page 66530]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-27510]



[[Page 66530]]

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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[OMB Control No. 9000-0192; Docket 2015-0055, Sequence 50]


Submission for OMB Review; Utilization of Small Business 
Subcontractors

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

ACTION: Notice of request for public comments regarding a new OMB 
information collection.

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SUMMARY:  Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (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 a new information collection requirement regarding 
utilization of small business subcontractors. A notice was published in 
the Federal Register at 80 FR 32909 on June 10, 2015. No comments were 
received on this information collection.

DATES:  Submit comments on or before November 30, 2015.

ADDRESSES:  Submit comments regarding this burden estimate or any other 
aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for 
reducing this burden to: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs 
of OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for GSA, Room 10236, NEOB, Washington, 
DC 20503. Additionally submit a copy to GSA 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. Select the link ``Submit a Comment'' that corresponds 
with ``Information Collection 9000-0192, Utilization of Small Business 
Subcontractors''. Follow the instructions provided at the ``Submit a 
Comment'' screen. Please include your name, company name (if any), and 
``Information Collection 9000-0192, Utilization of Small Business 
Subcontractors'' on your attached document.
     Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory 
Secretariat (MVCB), ATTN: Ms. Flowers, 1800 F. Street, NW., Washington, 
DC 20405.
    Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite Information 
Collection 9000-0192, Utilization of Small Business Subcontractors, in 
all correspondence related to this case. Comments received generally 
will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including 
any personal and/or business confidential information provided. To 
confirm receipt of your comment(s), please check www.regulations.gov, 
approximately two to three days after submission to verify posting 
(except allow 30 days for posting of comments submitted by mail).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Mahruba Uddowla, Procurement 
Analyst, at 703-605-2868 for clarification of content.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Purpose

    Section 1322 of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (Jobs Act), 
Public Law 111-240, amends the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(6)) 
to require as part of a subcontracting plan that a prime contractor 
make good faith effort to utilize a small business subcontractor during 
performance of a contract to the same degree the prime contractor 
relied on the small business in preparing and submitting its bid or 
proposal. If a prime contractor does not utilize a small business 
subcontractor as described above, the prime contractor is required to 
explain, in writing, to the contracting officer the reasons why it is 
unable to do so. The Small Business Administration (SBA) made 
regulatory changes in its final rule at 78 FR 42391, dated July 16, 
2013 to implement the statutory requirements set forth at section 1322. 
The SBA final rule is being implemented in the FAR at Subpart 19.7 and 
clause 52.219-9 Small Business Subcontracting Plan through FAR case 
2014-003, Small Business Subcontracting Improvements.

B. Annual Reporting Burden

    Public reporting burden for the collection of information regarding 
a contractor's utilization of small business subcontractors to the same 
degree the prime contractor relied on the small business in preparing 
and submitting its bid or proposal is estimated to be $202,464. FPDS 
for FY 2013 lists 5,327 actions with small business subcontracting 
plans. However, it is estimated that at most 50% of these contracts 
with subcontracting plans may have instances of the prime contractor 
not using a small business subcontractor to the same extent used in 
preparing the bid or proposal. Using this method provides the number of 
respondents as 2,664. It is estimated that the average time required to 
read and prepare information for this collection is two hours. It is 
also estimated that the responses per respondent would be once a year 
since prime contractors have until 30 days of contract completion to 
submit the written explanation.
    Respondents: 2,664.
    Responses per respondent: 1.
    Total annual responses: 2,664.
    Preparation hours per response: 2.
    Total response burden hours: 5,328.

C. Public Comments

    Public comments are particularly invited on: Whether this 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
functions of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), and whether it 
will have practical utility; whether our estimate of the public burden 
of this collection of information is accurate, and based on valid 
assumptions and methodology; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected; and ways in which we can 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are 
to respond, through the use of appropriate technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    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. 9000-0192, Utilization of Small 
Business Subcontractors, in all correspondence.

Edward Loeb,
Acting Director, Federal Acquisition Policy Division, Office of 
Governmentwide Acquisition Policy, Office of Acquisition Policy, Office 
of Governmentwide Policy.
 [FR Doc. 2015-27510 Filed 10-28-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6820-EP-P