[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 151 (Monday, August 6, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38311-38312]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-16744]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[OMB Control No. 9000-0007: Docket No. 2018-0003; Sequence No. 6]


Information Collection; Subcontracting Plans

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

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, the FAR Council 
invites the public to comment upon a renewal concerning small business 
subcontracting plans.

DATES: Submit comments on or before October 5, 2018.

ADDRESSES: The FAR Council invites interested persons to submit 
comments on this collection by either of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: This website provides the 
ability to type short comments directly into the comment field or 
attach a file for lengthier comments. Go to http://www.regulations.gov 
and follow the instructions on the site.
     Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory 
Secretariat Division (MVCB), 1800 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20405. 
ATTN: Ms. Mandell/IC 9000-0007, Subcontracting Plans.
    Instructions: All items submitted must cite Information Collection 
9000-0007, Subcontracting Plans. Comments received in response to this 
docket will be made available for public inspection and posted without 
change, including any personal information, at http://www.regulations.gov. 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). This information collection is 
pending at the FAR Council. The Council will submit it to OMB within 60 
days from the date of this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Zenaida Delgado, Procurement 
Analyst, at telephone 202-969-7207, or email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Overview of Information Collection

Description of the Information Collection

    1. Type of Information Collection: Revision/Renewal of a currently 
approved collection.
    2. Title of the Collection--Subcontracting Plans.
    3. Agency form number, if any: ---- SF 294.

Solicitation of Public Comment

    Written comments and suggestions from the public should address one 
or more of the following four points:
    (1) Evaluate whether the collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including 
whether the information will have practical utility;
    (2) Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of 
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    (3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and
    (4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those 
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses.

B. Purpose

    This information collection requirement, OMB Control No. 9000-0007, 
currently titled ``Summary Subcontract Report,'' is proposed to be 
retitled ``Subcontracting Plans,'' due to consolidation with currently 
approved information collection requirement OMB Control No. 9000-0006, 
Subcontracting Plans/Individual Subcontract Report (SF 294) and ISRS, 
and 9000-0192, Utilization of Small Business Subcontractors.
    This clearance covers the information that offerors and contractors 
must submit to comply with the requirements in Federal Acquisition 
Regulation (FAR) 52.219-9, Small Business Subcontracting Plans, 
regarding subcontracting plans as follows:
    1. Subcontracting plan. In accordance with Section 8(d) of the 
Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)), any contractor receiving a 
contract for more than the simplified acquisition threshold must agree 
in the contract that small business, veteran-owned small business, 
service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, 
small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business concerns 
will have the maximum practicable opportunity to participate in 
contract performance. Further, 15 U.S.C. 637(d) imposes the requirement 
that contractors receiving a contract that is expected to exceed, or a 
contract modification that causes a contract to exceed, $700,000 ($1.5 
million for construction) and has subcontracting possibilities, shall 
submit an acceptable subcontracting plan that provides maximum 
practicable opportunities for small business, veteran-owned small 
business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small 
business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business 
concerns. Specific elements required to be included in the plan are 
specified in section 8(d) of the Small Business Act and implemented in 
FAR subpart 19.7 and the clause at 52.219-9.
    2. Summary Subcontract Report (SSR). In conjunction with the 
subcontracting plan requirements, contractors with subcontracting plans 
must submit an annual summary of subcontracts awarded as prime and 
subcontractors for each specific Federal Government agency. Contractors 
submit the information in a SSR through the Electronic Subcontracting 
Reporting System (eSRS). This is required for all contractors with 
subcontracting plans regardless of the type of plan (i.e., commercial 
or individual).
    3. Individual Subcontract Report (ISR). In conjunction with the 
subcontracting plan requirements, contractors with individual 
subcontracting plans must submit semi-annual reports of their small 
business subcontracting progress. Contractors submit the information 
through eSRS in

[[Page 38312]]

an ISR, the electronic equivalent of the Standard Form (SF) 294, 
Subcontracting Report for Individual Contracts. Contracts that are not 
reported in the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) in accordance 
with FAR 4.606(c)(5) do not submit ISRs in eSRS; they will continue to 
use the SF 294 to submit the information to the agency.
    4. Written explanation for not using a small business subcontractor 
as specified in the proposal or subcontracting plan. 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.

C. Annual Reporting Burden

    1. Subcontracting plan. Subcontracting plans are provided on a 
contract-by-contract basis for individual subcontracting plans. 
Individual subcontracting plans cover the entire contract period, 
including options. Commercial plans are provided on an entity basis and 
cover the fiscal year of the contractor. The time required for 
development of the plan (including commercial and individual plans) is 
estimated as follows:
    Respondents: 4,350.
    Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Total Annual Responses: 4,350.
    Hours per Response: 5.
    Total Burden Hours: 21,750.
    2. Summary Subcontract Report (SSR). SSRs are submitted annually 
for all types of subcontracting plans. One SSR is submitted for each 
commercial subcontracting plan. For individual subcontracting plans, an 
SSR is required for every agency that funds work under the contract 
that the plan covers. Time required for reading, preparing information, 
and data entry into eSRS is estimated as follows:

Commercial plan
    Respondents: 1,653.
    Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Total Annual Responses: 1,653.
    Hours per Response: 2.
    Total Burden Hours: 3,306.
Individual plan without order level reporting
    Respondents: 10,885.
    Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Total Annual Responses: 10,885.
    Hours per Response: 1.5.
    Total Burden Hours: 16,327.5.
Individual plan with order level reporting
    Respondents: 197.
    Responses per Respondent: 3.
    Total Annual Responses: 591.
    Hours per Response: 1.5.
    Total Burden Hours: 886.5.

    3. Individual Subcontract Report (ISR). ISRs are submitted semi-
annually for each contract with an individual subcontracting plan. The 
ISR consists of data for subcontracting under a given contract. ISRs 
are not required for commercial plans. Time required for reading, 
preparing information, and data entry into eSRS is estimated as 
follows:

Individual plan without order-level reporting requirement
    Respondents: 10,855.
    Responses per Respondent: 2.
    Total Annual Responses: 21,710.
    Hours per Response: 2.
    Total Burden Hours: 43,420.
Individual plan--with order-level reporting requirement
    Respondents: 197.
    Responses per Respondent: 2.
    Total Annual Responses: 394.
    Hours per Response: 5.
    Total Burden Hours: 1,970.
    4. Written explanation for not using a small business subcontractor 
as specified in the proposal or subcontracting plan. This explanation 
is submitted on a contract-by-contract basis. FPDS for FY 2017 
identified 3,808 contracts with individual subcontracting plans and 542 
entities awarded contracts with commercial plans, for a total of 4,350 
plans for FY 2017. We estimate that at most 50%, or 2,175, 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. We estimate two hours as the 
average time required to read and prepare information for this 
collection.
    Respondents: 2,175.
    Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Total Annual Responses: 2,175.
    Hours per Response: 2.
    Total Burden Hours: 4,350.
    5. Summary.
    Respondents: 30,312.
    Total Annual Responses: 41,758.
    Total Burden Hours: 92,010.
    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. 9000-0007, Subcontracting Plans, in all 
correspondence.

William Clark,
Director, Office of Governmentwide Acquisition Policy, Office of 
Acquisition Policy, Office of Governmentwide Policy.
[FR Doc. 2018-16744 Filed 8-3-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6820-EP-P