[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 190 (Friday, September 30, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 67731-67732]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-23195]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
48 CFR Parts 1, 22, and 52
[FAC 2005-91; FAR Case 2015-036; Item II; Docket No. 2015-0036,
Sequence No. 1]
RIN 9000-AN14
Federal Acquisition Regulation; Updating Federal Contractor
Reporting of Veterans' Employment
AGENCY: Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration
(GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: DoD, GSA, and NASA are adopting as final, without change, an
interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to
implement a final rule issued by the Department of Labor's (DOL)
Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) that replaced the
VETS-100 and VETS-100A Federal Contractor Veterans' Employment Report
forms with the VETS-4212, Federal Contractor Veterans' Employment
Report form.
DATES: Effective: September 30, 2016.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Zenaida Delgado, Procurement
Analyst, at 202-969-7207 for clarification of content. For information
pertaining to status or publication schedules, contact the Regulatory
Secretariat Division at 202-501-4755. Please cite FAC 2005-91, FAR Case
2015-036.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
DoD, GSA, and NASA published an interim rule in the Federal
Register at 80 FR 75908 on December 4, 2015, to implement a final rule
issued by VETS of the DOL that was published in the Federal Register at
79 FR 57463 on September 25, 2014. The VETS of DOL rule rescinded the
regulations at 41 CFR part 61-250 and revised the regulations at 41 CFR
part 61-300, which implemented 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. No public comments were submitted on the interim rule.
II. Discussion and Analysis
The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition
Regulations Council (the Councils) did not receive any comments on the
interim rule; accordingly the Councils are finalizing the interim rule
without change.
III. Executive Orders 12866 and 13563
Executive Orders (E.O.s) 12866 and 13563 direct agencies to assess
all costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if
regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize
net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public
health and safety effects, distributive impacts, and equity). E.O.
13563 emphasizes the importance of quantifying both costs and benefits,
of reducing costs, of harmonizing rules, and of promoting flexibility.
This is not a significant regulatory action and, therefore, was not
subject to review under Section 6(b) of E.O. 12866, Regulatory Planning
and Review, dated September 30, 1993. This rule is not a major rule
under 5 U.S.C. 804.
IV. Regulatory Flexibility Act
DoD, GSA, and NASA have prepared a Final Regulatory Flexibility
Analysis (FRFA) consistent with the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5
U.S.C. 601, et seq. The FRFA is summarized as follows:
This rule is issued to adopt as final, without change, an
interim rule published in the Federal Register at 80 FR 75908 on
December 4, 2015, implementing changes to 41 CFR 61-250 and 61-300
which was published in the Federal Register at 79 FR 57463 on
September 25, 2014, by the Veterans' Employment and Training Service
(VETS) of the Department of Labor (DOL). The objective of the VETS
rule is to revise the current regulations implementing 38 U.S.C.
4212. The VETS rule rescinded obsolete regulations at 41 CFR 61-250,
changed the manner in which Federal Contractors report veterans'
employment data, updated terminology, and revised the annual report,
the report name, and methods of filing the report.
No public comments were submitted in response to the initial
regulatory flexibility analysis or the interim rule.
VETS used data in the VETS-100/100A Reporting System regarding
reports on veterans' employment filed in 2012 to estimate the number
of small entities that would be subject to its rule. The VETS rule
applies to any industry represented by a Federal contractor with a
contract of $150,000 or more. Therefore, VETS used the Small
Business Administration's ``fewer than 500 employees'' limit when
making an across-the-board size standard classification for
estimating purposes. VETS estimated that 15,000 Federal contractors
will be subject to the reporting requirements of the rule and of
that, VETS approximated that the number of small entities that would
be subject to the rule would be 8,000 (approximately 53 percent of
the total Federal contractors impacted by the rule).
This FAR rule does not add any new reporting, recordkeeping, or
other compliance burdens. The FAR rule makes contracting officers
and contractors aware of the VETS reporting requirements.
DoD, GSA, and NASA are not aware of any significant alternatives
to the rule which would accomplish the stated objectives of
implementing the VETS final rule, while minimizing impact on small
entities. DoD, GSA, and NASA do not have the flexibility of making
any changes to the VETS rule, which has already been published for
public comment and has taken effect as a final rule. There is no
significant impact on small entities imposed by the FAR rule.
Interested parties may obtain a copy of the FRFA from the
Regulatory Secretariat. The Regulatory Secretariat has submitted a copy
of the FRFA to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration.
V. Paperwork Reduction Act
The Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C chapter 35) applies. The rule
contains information collection requirements that are subject to review
and approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. However,
the applicable information collections are derived from the
requirements of the 41 CFR part 61-300 regulations implementing the
reporting requirements under VEVRAA; see detailed discussion in DOL's
rule under the Paperwork Reduction Act section which was published in
the Federal Register at 79 FR 57463 on September 25, 2014. OMB assigned
OMB Control Numbers 1250-0004, OFCCP Recordkeeping and Reporting
Requirements, 38 U.S.C. 4212, Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment
Assistance Act of 1974, as amended, and 1293-0005, Federal Contractor
Veterans' Employment Report.
List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 1, 22, and 52
Government procurement.
[[Page 67732]]
Dated: September 19, 2016.
William F. Clark,
Director, Office of Government-wide Acquisition Policy, Office of
Acquisition Policy, Office of Government-wide Policy.
Interim Rule Adopted as Final Without Change
0
Accordingly, the interim rule amending 48 CFR parts 1, 22, and 52,
which was published in the Federal Register at 80 FR 75908 on December
4, 2015, is adopted as a final rule without change.
[FR Doc. 2016-23195 Filed 9-29-16; 8:45 am]
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