[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 190 (Friday, September 30, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 67781-67783]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-23209]


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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; Small Entity Compliance Guide

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

ACTION: Small Entity Compliance Guide.

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SUMMARY: This document is issued under the joint authority of DOD, GSA, 
and NASA. This Small Entity Compliance Guide has been prepared in 
accordance with section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory 
Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. It consists of a summary of the rules 
appearing in Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-91, which amends 
the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). An asterisk (*) next to a 
rule indicates that a regulatory flexibility analysis has been 
prepared. Interested parties may obtain further information regarding 
these rules by referring to FAC 2005-91, which precedes this document. 
These documents are also available via the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov.

DATES: September 30, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For clarification of content, contact 
the analyst whose name appears in the table below. Please cite FAC 
2005-91 and the FAR case number. For information pertaining to status 
or publication schedules, contact the Regulatory Secretariat Division 
at 202-501-4755.

[[Page 67782]]



                                           Rules Listed in FAC 2005-91
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Item                            Subject                 FAR case                 Analyst
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* I...........................  Prohibition on Contracting with         2015-011  Davis.
                                 Corporations with Delinquent
                                 Taxes or a Felony Conviction.
* II..........................  Updating Federal Contractor             2015-036  Delgado.
                                 Reporting of Veterans'
                                 Employment.
* III.........................  Non-Retaliation for Disclosure          2016-007  Delgado.
                                 of Compensation Information
                                 (Interim).
* IV..........................  Sole Source Contracts for Women-        2015-032  Uddowla.
                                 Owned Small Businesses.
* V...........................  Unique Identification of                2015-022  Delgado.
                                 Entities Receiving Federal
                                 Awards.
* VI..........................  Consolidation and Bundling......        2014-015  Uddowla.
VII...........................  Amendment Relating to Multi-year        2016-006  Jackson.
                                 Contract Authority for
                                 Acquisition of Property.
VIII..........................  New Designated Countries--              2016-009  Davis.
                                 Ukraine and Moldova.
* IX..........................  Contractors Performing Private          2014-018  Jackson.
                                 Security Functions.
* X...........................  Limitation on Allowable                 2014-012  Hopkins.
                                 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 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

[[Page 67783]]

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.

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.
[FR Doc. 2016-23209 Filed 9-29-16; 8:45 am]
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