[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]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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]
BILLING CODE P