[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 155 (Tuesday, August 11, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48594-48595]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-17494]
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SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Class Waiver of the Nonmanufacturer Rule
AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration.
ACTION: Notice of intent to waive the Nonmanufacturer Rule for surgical
beds under North American Industry Classification (NAICS) code 339113
and Product Service Code (PSC) 6515.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is considering
granting a request for a class waiver of the Nonmanufacturer Rule (NMR)
for surgical beds. A search of the Federal marketplace revealed there
are no small business manufacturers that can manufacture and supply
necessary surgical beds to the Federal government. If granted, the
class waiver would allow otherwise qualified regular dealers to supply
the waived item, regardless of the business size of the manufacturer,
on a Federal contract set aside for small business, service-disabled
veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB), women-owned small business
(WOSB), economically disadvantaged women-owned small business (EDWOSB),
historically underutilized business zones (HUBZone), or participants in
the SBA's 8(a) Business Development (BD) program.
DATES: Comments and source information must be submitted by September
10, 2020.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments and source information via the
Federal Rulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov. If you wish
to submit confidential business information (CBI) as defined in the
User Notice at https://www.regulations.gov, please submit the
information to Carol Hulme, Attorney Advisor, Office of Government
Contracting, U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 Third Street SW,
8th Floor, Washington, DC 20416. Highlight the information that you
consider to be CBI and explain why you believe this information should
be held confidential. SBA will review the information and make a final
determination as to whether the information will be published.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carol Hulme, Attorney Advisor, by
telephone at 202-205-6347; or by email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Sections 8(a)(17) and 46 of the Small
Business Act (Act), 15 U.S.C. 637(a)(17) and 657s, and SBA's
implementing regulations, found at 13 CFR 121.406(b) require that
recipients of Federal supply contracts set aside for small business,
service-disabled veteran-owned small business SDVOSB, WOSB, EDWOSB,
HUBZone, or (BD) program participants provide the product of a small
business manufacturer or processor if the recipient of the set-aside is
not the actual manufacturer or processor of the product. This
requirement is commonly referred to as the Nonmanufacturer Rule (NMR).
13 CFR 121.406(b). Sections 8(a)(17)(B)(iv)(II) and 46(a)(4)(B) of the
Act authorize SBA to waive the NMR for a ``class of products'' for
which there are no small business manufacturers or processors available
to participate in the Federal market.
[[Page 48595]]
As implemented in SBA's regulations at 13 CFR 121.1202(c), in order
to be considered available to participate in the Federal market for a
class of products, a small business manufacturer must have submitted a
proposal for a contract solicitation or been awarded a contract to
supply the class of products within the last 24 months.
The SBA defines ``class of products'' based on a combination of (1)
the six- digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)
code, (2) the four-digit Product Service Code (PSC), and (3) a
description of the class of products.
SBA invites the public to comment on this pending request to waive
the NMR for surgical beds. The public may comment or provide source
information on any small business manufacturers of this class of
products that are available to participate in the Federal market. The
public comment period will run for 30 days after the date of
publication in the Federal Register.
More information on the NMR and class waivers can be found at
https://www.sba.gov/contracting/contracting-officials/non-manufacturer-rule/non-manufacturer-waivers.
David Wm. Loines,
Director, Office of Government Contracting.
[FR Doc. 2020-17494 Filed 8-10-20; 8:45 am]
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