[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 173 (Thursday, September 6, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45240-45241]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-19324]


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GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

[OMB Control No. 3090-0317
Docket No. 2018-0001; Sequence No. 15]


Submission for OMB Review; Notarized Document Submittal for 
System for Award Management Registration

AGENCY: Office of Acquisition Policy, General Services Administration 
(GSA).

ACTION: Notice of request for comments regarding an extension to an 
existing OMB clearance.

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SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the 
Regulatory Secretariat Division will be submitting to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an existing 
OMB clearance regarding a notarized document submittal for System for 
Award Management (SAM) Registration.

DATES: Submit comments on or before October 9, 2018.

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 for the OMB 
Control number 3090-0317. Select the link ``Comment Now'' that 
corresponds with ``Information Collection 3090-0317; Notarized Document 
Submittal for System for Award Management Registration''. Follow the 
instructions on the screen. Please include your name, company name (if 
any), and ``Information Collection 3090-0317; Notarized Document 
Submittal for System for Award Management Registration'' on your 
attached document.
     Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory 
Secretariat Division (MVCB), 1800 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20405-
0001. ATTN: Ms. Mandell/IC 3090-0317; Notarized Document Submittal for 
System for Award Management Registration.
    Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite Information 
Collection 3090-0317; Notarized Document Submittal for System for Award 
Management Registration, in all correspondence related to this 
collection. 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: Mr. Curtis E. Glover, Sr. Procurement 
Analyst, Federal Acquisition Policy Division, GSA, telephone number 
202-501-1448, or via email to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    A. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 4.11 prescribes 
policies and procedures for requiring contractor registration in the 
System for Award Management (SAM) database to: (1) Increase visibility 
of vendor sources (including their geographical locations) for specific 
supplies and services; and (2) establish a common source of vendor data 
for the Government.
    In the past, the GSA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an 
investigation into fraudulent activities discovered within SAM. Certain 
bad actors have, through electronic means, used public information to 
impersonate legitimate entities and established new entity 
registrations for those entities in SAM. By establishing fraudulent 
entity registrations, bad actors submitted bids in certain U.S. 
Government procurement systems or shipped deficient or counterfeit 
goods to the U.S. Government.
    GSA established a new Information Collection Request (ICR) to 
collect additional information to support increased validation of 
entities registered and registering in the System for Award Management 
(SAM). This additional information is contained in a notarized letter 
in which an officer or other signatory authority of the entity formally 
appoints the Entity Administrator for the entity registering or 
recertifying in SAM. The original, signed letter is mailed to the 
Federal Service Desk for SAM prior to the registration's activation or 
re-registration.
    The new ICR expires September 30, 2018, without authority for an 
extension. GSA is actively pursuing technical alternatives to the 
collection of this information for all non-federal entities. GSA seeks 
to refine the requirement and adopt a risk-based approach. This notice 
for an extension of the ICR lays the groundwork for the authority to 
continue collection of the information provided GSA is still pursuing 
the technical alternative beyond the ICR expiration date. In the 
interim, the collection of the notarized letter information is 
essential to GSA's acquisition mission to meet the needs of all federal 
agencies, as well as the needs of the grant community. A key element of 
GSA's mission is to provide efficient and effective acquisition 
solutions across the Federal Government. SAM is essential to the 
accomplishment of that mission. In addition to federal contracts, 
federal assistance programs also rely upon the integrity and security 
of the information in SAM. Without assurances that the information in 
SAM is protected and, is at minimal risk of compromise, GSA would risk 
losing the confidence of the federal acquisition and assistance 
communities which is serves. As a result, some entities may prefer not 
to do business with the Federal Government.

B. Discussion and Analysis

    A 60-day notice was published in the Federal Register at 83 FR 
24312 on May 25, 2018. Two comments were received.
    Comments: One respondent stated that it is already time-consuming 
and frustrating for our grantees to use the SAM registration process. 
If the process was simple, it would not be a problem; however, having 
to submit notarized documents in addition to an already difficult 
process affects our ability to nimbly respond to programmatic 
initiatives through small grants to organizations or individuals who we 
know and want to partner with to achieve our goals. The other 
respondent stated that the new procedure creates another challenge for 
our grantees in that mailing the notarized document requires extra 
effort, but also finding a

[[Page 45241]]

reliable courier service will be costly and requires a considerable 
amount of time to complete the registration process.
    Response: GSA has taken several actions to address alleged 
fraudulent activity in the System for Award Management (SAM). The 
measures GSA has put in place to help prevent improper activity in SAM 
include masking specific data elements in the entity registration even 
for authorized entity users; requiring ``parent'' approval of new 
registrations for their ``child'' entities; multi-factor authentication 
using login.gov and notifying Entity Administrators when there is a 
change in the entity's bank account information. Requiring the formal 
appointment of the Entity Administrator by original, signed notarized 
letter ensures that the individual(s) reporting for their entity are 
associated with the entity and provides a validation of the letter 
submitter's identity by the notary. GSA is actively pursuing technical 
alternatives to replace and/or supplement the collection of notarized 
letters.

C. Annual Reporting Burden

    Respondents: 686,400.
    Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Total Annual Responses: 686,400.
    Hours per Response: 2.25.
    Total Burden Hours: 1,544,400.
    The information collection allows GSA to request the notarized 
letter, and apply this approach to new registrants (an average of 7,200 
per month) and to existing SAM registrants (an average of 50,000 re-
register per month).
    Entities registered and registering in SAM are provided the 
template for the requirements of the notarized letter. It is estimated 
that the Entity Administrator will take on average 0.5 hour to create 
the letter and 0.25 hour to mail the hard copy letter. GSA proposes 
that an Entity Administrator equivalent to a GS-5, Step 5 
Administrative Support person within the Government would perform these 
tasks. The estimated hourly rate of $24.70 (Base + Locality + Fringe) 
was used for the calculation.
    Based on historical data of the ratio of small entities to other 
than small entities registering in SAM, GSA approximates 32,200 of the 
57,200 new and existing entities (re-registrants) will have in-house 
resources to notarize documents. GSA proposes that the entities with 
in-house notaries will typically be large businesses where the 
projected salary of the executive or officer responsible for signing 
the notarized letter is on average approximately $150 per hour. The 
projected time for signature and notarizing the letter internally is 
0.5 hour.
    The other remaining 25,000 new and existing entities (re-
registrants) per month are estimated to be small entities where the 
projected salary of the executive or officer responsible signing the 
notarized letter is on average approximately $100 per hour. These 
entities will more than likely have to obtain notary services from an 
outside source. The projected time for signature and notarizing the 
letter externally is 1 hour. The estimate includes a nominal fee 
($5.00) usually charged by third- party notaries.

D. Public Comments

    Public comments are particularly invited on: Whether this 
collection of information is necessary, 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. ATTN: Information Collection 3090-0317; 
Notarized Document Submittal for System for Award Management 
Registration. Please cite OMB Control No. 3090-0317; Notarized Document 
Submittal for System for Award Management Registration, in all 
correspondence.

    Dated: August 22, 2018.
David A. Shive,
Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018-19324 Filed 9-5-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6820-EP-P