[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 232 (Monday, December 3, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62323-62324]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-26104]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[OMB Control No. 9000-0189; Docket 2018-XX; Sequence X]


Submission for OMB Review; Identification of Predecessors

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

ACTION: Notice.

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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 
extension of a previously approved information collection requirement 
regarding identification of predecessors.

DATES: Submit comments on or before January 2, 2019.

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:
     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 9000-0189, Identification of Predecessors.
    Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite Information 
Collection 9000-0189, Identification of Predecessors, in all 
correspondence related to this collection. Comments received generally 
will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including 
any

[[Page 62324]]

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: Ms. Cecelia L. Davis, Procurement 
Analyst, Federal Acquisition Policy Division, at 202-219-0202 or email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Purpose

    The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provision 52.204-20, 
Predecessor of Offeror, requires each offeror to identify if the 
offeror is, within the last three years, a successor to another entity 
that received a Federal Government award and, if so, to provide the 
Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code and legal name of the 
predecessor. The information on predecessors is used to identify such 
entities in the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information 
System (FAPIIS) to allow retrieval of integrity and performance data on 
the most recent predecessor of an apparent successful offeror to whom 
award is anticipated. FAR 9.104-6 requires contracting officers to 
consult FAPIIS before awarding a contract in excess of the simplified 
acquisition threshold. The information on predecessors is collected on 
an annual basis for inclusion in the annual representations and 
certifications in the System for Award Management (SAM) for offerors 
required to register in SAM. Offerors not required to register in SAM 
but required to provide the information in the provision at FAR 52.204-
20 will do so as specified in the solicitation or instructed by the 
contracting officer.

B. Public Comment

    A 60 day notice was published in the Federal Register at 83 FR 
47342, on September 19, 2018. One comment was received; however, it did 
not change the estimate of the burden. The commenter supports the 
information collection requirement as an important step in bringing 
greater transparency and efficiency to the federal acquisition process.
    Comment: The commenter is concerned that offerors are not complying 
with the information collection requirement and they must be held 
accountable for their representations and certifications. The commenter 
suggested that to do so, the government should periodically audit 
vendor-entered FAPIIS and SAM data quality and address non-compliance 
through a system of sanctions ranging from warning letters to monetary 
fines, or through the suspension and debarment process. The commenter 
also suggested expanding the information collection requirement to 
include the names of key individuals associated with the offeror 
company and any past relationships they had with entities that received 
contracts or grants.
    Response: This comment is out of scope because the suggestions made 
by the commenter would require additional rulemaking. They did not 
express an opinion on whether the stated number of burden hours is 
accurate for what they believe to be the actual number of hours an 
offeror expends to comply with the provision.

C. Annual Reporting Burden

    The burden to provide the information required by the FAR provision 
at 52.204-20 when an offeror is registered in SAM is already covered by 
OMB Control Number 9000-0159, System for Award Management Registration 
(SAM). OMB Control Number 9000-0189 now will cover the burden for 
providing the required information when the offeror is not required to 
register in SAM in accordance with the exceptions in FAR 4.1102(a). The 
Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) for FY 2017 was used to develop 
the estimated burden hours as shown below:
    Respondents: 974.
    Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Total Annual Responses: 974.
    Hours per Response: 0.1.
    Total Burden Hours: 97.4.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit and not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Obtaining Copies: 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-
0189, Identification of Predecessors, in all correspondence.

    Dated: November 27, 2018.
Janet Fry,
Director, Federal Acquisition Policy Division, Office of Governmentwide 
Acquisition Policy, Office of Acquisition Policy, Office of 
Governmentwide Policy.
[FR Doc. 2018-26104 Filed 11-30-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6820-EP-P