[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 190 (Friday, September 30, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 67726-67728]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-23193]
[[Page 67725]]
Vol. 81
Friday,
No. 190
September 30, 2016
Part IV
Department of Defense
General Services Administration
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
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48 CFR Chapter 1, et al.
Federal Acquisition Regulations; Final Rules
Federal Register / Vol. 81 , No. 190 / Friday, September 30, 2016 /
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 2016-0051, Sequence No. 5]
Federal Acquisition Regulation; Federal Acquisition Circular
2005-91; Introduction
AGENCY: 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) 2005-91. 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 see the 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 2005-91 and
the specific FAR case number. For information pertaining to status or
publication schedules, contact the Regulatory Secretariat Division at
202-501-4755.
Rules Listed in FAC 2005-91
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Item Subject FAR case Analyst
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I............. Prohibition on 2015-011 Davis.
Contracting with
Corporations with
Delinquent Taxes or
a Felony Conviction.
II............ Updating Federal 2015-036 Delgado.
Contractor Reporting
of Veterans'
Employment.
III........... Non-Retaliation for 2016-007 Delgado.
Disclosure of
Compensation
Information
(Interim).
IV............ Sole Source Contracts 2015-032 Uddowla.
for Women-Owned
Small Businesses.
V............. Unique Identification 2015-022 Delgado.
of Entities
Receiving Federal
Awards.
VI............ Consolidation and 2014-015 Uddowla.
Bundling.
VII........... Amendment Relating to 2016-006 Jackson.
Multi-year Contract
Authority for
Acquisition of
Property.
VIII.......... New Designated 2016-009 Davis.
Countries--Ukraine
and Moldova.
IX............ Contractors 2014-018 Jackson.
Performing Private
Security Functions.
X............. Limitation on 2014-012 Hopkins.
Allowable Government
Contractor Employee
Compensation Costs.
XI............ 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 2005-91 amends the FAR as follows:
Item I--Prohibition on Contracting With Corporations With Delinquent
Taxes or a Felony Conviction (FAR Case 2015-011)
DoD, GSA, and NASA are adopting as final, without change, an
interim rule, which amended the FAR to implement sections of the
Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015. The rule
prohibits the Federal Government from entering into a contract with any
corporation having a delinquent Federal tax liability or a felony
conviction under any Federal law, unless the agency has considered
suspension or debarment of the corporation and has made a determination
that this further action is not necessary to protect the interests of
the Government.
This final rule will not have a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities.
Item II--Updating Federal Contractor Reporting of Veterans' Employment
(FAR Case 2015-036)
DoD, GSA, and NASA are adopting as final, without change, an
interim rule amending the FAR to implement a final rule issued by the
Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS)
that revised the regulations at 41 CFR part 61 implementing the
reporting requirements under the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment
Assistance Act (VEVRAA), as amended and the Jobs for Veterans Act (JVA)
(Pub. L. 107-288). VEVRAA requires Federal contractors and
subcontractors to annually report on the total number of their
employees who belong to the categories of veterans protected under
VEVRAA, as amended by the JVA, and the total number of those protected
veterans who were hired during the period covered by the report. The
VETS rule requires contractors and subcontractors to comply with its
revised reporting requirements using the Form VETS-4212, in lieu of the
VETS-100 and VETS-100A, beginning with the annual report filed in 2015.
There is no significant impact on small entities imposed by the FAR
rule.
Item III--Non-Retaliation for Disclosure of Compensation Information
(FAR Case 2016-007) (Interim)
DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing an interim rule amending the FAR to
implement Executive Order (E.O.) 13665, Non-Retaliation for Disclosure
of Compensation Information, amending Executive Order 11246, Equal
Opportunity in Federal Employment. The E.O. was signed April 8, 2014.
The interim rule is also implementing the final rule issued by the
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) of the
Department of Labor (DOL) to implement the E.O. The DOL final rule was
published in the Federal Register at 80 FR 54934, on September 11,
2015, entitled Government Contractors, Prohibitions Against Pay Secrecy
Policies and Actions.
E.O. 11246, originally issued September 24, 1965, establishes
nondiscrimination and affirmative action obligations in employment for
Federal contractors and subcontractors. It prohibits employment
discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual
orientation, gender identity, and national origin. E.O. 13665 amends
E.O. 11246 and its Equal Opportunity Clause by incorporating, as a
covered
[[Page 67727]]
prohibition, discriminating against employees and job applicants who
inquire about, discuss, or disclose the compensation of the employee or
applicant or another employee or applicant. Federal contractors and
subcontractors must disseminate this nondiscrimination provision, using
language prescribed by the Director of OFCCP, including incorporating
the provision into existing employee manuals or handbooks and posting
it. There is no significant impact on small entities imposed by the FAR
rule.
Item IV--Sole Source Contracts for Women-Owned Small Businesses (FAR
Case 2015-032)
DoD, GSA, and NASA are adopting as final, with a minor edit, an
interim rule that amends the FAR to implement regulatory changes made
by the Small Business Administration (SBA) in its final rule as
published in the Federal Register at 80 FR 55019, on September 14,
2015. SBA's final rule implements the statutory requirements of
paragraph (a)(3) of section 825 of the Carl Levin and Howard P. `Buck'
McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015, Public
Law 113-291, which grants contracting officers the authority to award
sole source contracts to economically disadvantaged women-owned small
business (EDWOSB) concerns and to women-owned small business (WOSB)
concerns eligible under the WOSB Program. The anticipated price,
including options, must not exceed $6.5 million for manufacturing North
American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes, or $4 million
for other NAICS codes.
This rule may have a positive economic impact on women-owned small
businesses.
Item V--Unique Identification of Entities Receiving Federal Awards (FAR
Case 2015-022)
DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing a final rule amending the FAR to
redesignate the terminology for unique identification of entities
receiving Federal awards. The change to the FAR eliminates references
to the proprietary Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS[supreg])
number, and provides appropriate references to the Web site where
information on the unique entity identifier used for Federal
contractors will be located. The Government does not intend to move
away from the use of the DUNS[supreg] number in the short term. This
final rule also establishes definitions of ``unique entity
identifier'', and ``electronic funds transfer (EFT) indicator''. There
is no significant impact on small entities imposed by the FAR rule.
Item VI--Consolidation and Bundling (FAR Case 2014-015)
This final rule incorporates regulatory changes made by the SBA in
its final rule which published in the Federal Register at 78 FR 61113
on October 2, 2013, concerning consolidation and bundling. SBA's final
rule implements sections 1312 and 1313 of the Small Business Jobs Act
of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-240), as well as section 1671 of the National
Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 (Pub. L.
112-239). The FAR final rule adds coverage on consolidations and
reorganizes coverage on bundling at FAR 7.107. Before conducting a
consolidated acquisition estimated to exceed $2,000,000, the Senior
Procurement Executive or Chief Acquisition Officer must make a written
determination that the consolidation is necessary and justified. This
rule may have a positive economic impact on any small business entity
that participates in the Federal procurement arena.
Item VII--Amendment Relating to Multi-Year Contract Authority for
Acquisition of Property (FAR Case 2016-006)
DoD, GSA, and NASA are amending FAR subpart 17.1 to implement
section 811 of the NDAA for FY 2016 (Pub. L. 114-92). Section 811
amended subsection (a)(1) of 10 U.S.C. 2306b by striking
``substantial'' and inserting ``significant''. This rule makes
conforming changes at FAR 17.105-1(b)(1) to state that the head of an
agency may enter into a multi-year contract for supplies, if the use of
such a contract will result in significant savings of the total
estimated costs of carrying out the program through annual contracts.
This change applies to the DoD, NASA, and the Coast Guard.
This final rule is not required to be published for public comment,
because it addresses an internal decision by the contracting officer to
enter into a multi-year contract for supplies if certain objects are
met. These requirements affect only the internal operating procedures
of the Government.
Item VIII--New Designated Country--Ukraine and Moldova (FAR Case 2016-
009)
This final rule amends the FAR to add Ukraine and Moldova as new
designated countries under the World Trade Organization Government
Procurement Agreement (WTO GPA). This final rule has no significant
impact on the Government and contractors, including small business
entities.
Item IX--Contractors Performing Private Security Functions (FAR Case
2014-018)
This final rule amends FAR 25.302 and the clause at 52.225-26, both
entitled ``Contractors Performing Private Security Functions Outside
the United States.''
This rule removes the DoD-unique requirements, which have been
incorporated in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations Supplement
(DFARS). This rule also adds the definition of ``full cooperation'' to
FAR clause 52.225-26 in order to affirm that the contract clause does
not foreclose any contractor rights arising in law, the FAR, or the
terms of the contract when cooperating with any Government-authorized
investigation into incidents reported pursuant to the clause.
This rule will not create any new reporting, recordkeeping, or
other compliance requirements. The impact of this rule on small
business is not expected to be significant.
Item X--Limitation on Allowable Government Contractor Employee
Compensation Costs (FAR Case 2014-012)
This final rule converts the interim rule published in the Federal
Register at 79 FR 35865 on June 24, 2014 to a final rule with minor
changes including a table summarizing the employee compensation limits
and applicability dates is added at 31.205-6(p); several paragraphs are
reorganized; redundant text is removed; reference links are added for
clarity.
This final rule amends the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to
implement section 702 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013. Section 702
revises the allowable compensation cost limit for contractor and
subcontractor employees to be $487,000, as adjusted annually to reflect
the change in the Employment Cost Index for all workers as calculated
by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Also, section 702 allows for the
narrowly targeted exceptions to this allowable cost limit for
scientists, engineers or other specialists, upon an agency
determination that such exceptions are needed to ensure that the
executive agency has continued access to needed skills and
capabilities. Because most contracts awarded to small businesses use
simplified acquisition procedures or are awarded on a competitive,
fixed-price basis, the impact of this compensation limitation on small
businesses will be minimal.
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Item XI--Technical Amendments
Editorial changes are made at FAR 1.603-1, 4.1400, 22.805, 23.704,
26.103, and 52.234-1.
Dated: September 19, 2016.
William F. Clark,
Director, Office of Government-wide Acquisition Policy, Office of
Acquisition Policy, Office of Government-wide Policy.
Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-91 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 2005-91 is
effective September 30, 2016 except for items V, VI, VII, VIII, and
IX, which are effective October 31, 2016.
Dated: September 20, 2016.
Claire M. Grady,
Director, Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy.
Dated: September 20, 2016.
Jeffrey A. Koses,
Senior Procurement Executive/Deputy CAO, Office of Acquisition Policy,
U.S. General Services Administration.
Dated: September 20, 2016.
William G. Roets,
Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Procurement National
Aeronautics and Space Administration.
[FR Doc. 2016-23193 Filed 9-29-16; 8:45 am]
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