[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 152 (Wednesday, August 11, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 44228-44229]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-16362]
[[Page 44227]]
Vol. 86
Wednesday,
No. 152
August 11, 2021
Part III
Department of Defense
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General Services Administration
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National Aeronautics and Space Administration
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48 CFR Chapter 1
Federal Acquisition Regulations; Final Rules
Federal Register / Vol. 86 , No. 152 / Wednesday, August 11, 2021 /
Rules and Regulations
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
48 CFR Chapter 1
[Docket No. FAR-2021-0051, Sequence No. 4]
Federal Acquisition Regulation; Federal Acquisition Circular
2021-07; Introduction
AGENCY: Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration
(GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
ACTION: Summary presentation of final rules.
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SUMMARY: This document summarizes the Federal Acquisition Regulation
(FAR) rules agreed to by the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and
the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) in this Federal
Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2021-07. A companion document, the Small
Entity Compliance Guide (SECG), follows this FAC.
DATES: For effective dates see the separate documents which follow.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The analyst whose name appears in the
table below in relation to the FAR case. For information pertaining to
status or publication schedules, contact the Regulatory Secretariat
Division at 202-501-4755 or [email protected].
Rules Listed in FAC 2021-07
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Item Subject FAR Case Analyst
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I................................ Section 508-Based Standards 2017-011 Jackson.
in Information and
Communication Technology.
II............................... Revision of Limitations on 2016-011 Uddowla.
Subcontracting.
III.............................. Scope of Review by 2020-012 Jones.
Procurement Center
Representatives.
IV............................... Good Faith in Small Business 2019-004 Bowman.
Subcontracting.
V................................ Technical Amendments........
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ADDRESSES: The FAC, including the SECG, is available via the internet
at https://www.regulations.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Summaries for each FAR rule follow. For the
actual revisions and/or amendments made by these FAR rules, refer to
the specific item numbers and subjects set forth in the documents
following these item summaries. FAC 2021-07 amends the FAR as follows:
Item I--Section 508-Based Standards in Information and Communication
Technology (FAR Case 2017-011)
This final rule amends the FAR to implement the Access Board's
final rule published January 17, 2017. Section 508 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires the FAR to incorporate revised
accessibility standards developed by the Access Board for information
and communication technology (ICT). The Access Board is also known as
the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board. This
rule ensures that Federal employees with disabilities have comparable
access to, and use of, such information and data relative to other
Federal employees. Section 508 also requires Federal agencies to ensure
that members of the public with disabilities have comparable access to
publicly available information and data.
Item II--Revision of Limitations on Subcontracting (FAR Case 2016-011)
This rule amends the FAR to implement regulatory changes made by
the Small Business Administration (SBA) in its final rule published in
the Federal Register at 81 FR 34243, on May 31, 2016. SBA's final rule
implements the statutory requirements of section 1651 of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013. Section 1651 revised
and standardized the limitations on subcontracting, including the
nonmanufacturer rule, that apply to small business concerns under FAR
part 19 procurements. Section 1651 shifts the limitations on
subcontracting from the concept of a required percentage of work to be
performed by a prime contractor to the concept of a limit on the
percentage of the overall award amount to be spent by the prime on
subcontractors. Significantly, section 1651 excludes from this
calculation the percentage of the award amount that the prime
contractor spends on subcontractors who are similarly situated
entities. This rule implements the revised and standardized limitations
on subcontracting through the use of a single FAR clause for every
small business program, instead of continuing to implement through
multiple FAR clauses that were specific to a particular small business
program. This rule also revises the FAR clause implementing the
nonmanufacturer rule to reflect the standardized requirements across
all the small business programs.
This rule may have a positive economic impact on small businesses.
Through the ability to meet the limitations by means of subcontracts
with similarly situated entities, this rule will make it possible for
small businesses to compete for larger contracts than they could in the
past.
Item III--Scope of Review by Procurement Center Representatives (FAR
Case 2020-012)
This final rule amends the FAR to implement section 1811 of the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Pub. L. 114-
328), as implemented in the Small Business Administration (SBA) final
rule published at 84 FR 65647 on November 29, 2019. Section 1811 allows
SBA's procurement center representatives to review any solicitation for
a contract or task order, without regard to whether it is set aside for
small business concerns, or reserved in the case of a multiple-award
contract, or whether it would result in a bundled or consolidated
contract or order.
Item IV--Good Faith in Small Business Subcontracting (FAR Case 2019-
004)
This final rule amends the FAR to implement section 1821(c) of the
National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 (15
U.S.C 637 note, Pub. L. 114-328), as implemented in the Small Business
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Administration (SBA) final rule published at 84 FR 65647, dated
November 29, 2019.
Specifically, the final FAR rule at FAR 19.705-7 includes examples
of a good faith effort to comply with the subcontracting plan, and
examples of a failure to make a good faith effort. Failure to make a
good faith effort to comply with the plan may result in assessment of
liquidated damages.
Additionally, the final rule amends the FAR to require that prime
contractors with a commercial subcontracting plan include indirect
costs in their subcontracting goals. Previously, prime contractors were
required to include indirect costs in the summary subcontract report
(SSR) but not in their subcontracting goals, which led to
inconsistencies when comparing the SSR to the goals in the commercial
subcontracting plan. Including indirect costs in both the SSR and
subcontracting goals established in the commercial subcontracting plan
will allow for consistency.
Item V--Technical Amendments
Editorial changes are made at FAR 42.709-1 through 42.709-7,
52.242-3, and 52.245-1.
William F. Clark,
Director, Office of Government-wide Acquisition Policy, Office of
Acquisition Policy, Office of Government-wide Policy.
Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2021-07 is issued under the
authority of the Secretary of Defense, the Administrator of General
Services, and the Administrator of National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
Unless otherwise specified, all Federal Acquisition Regulation
(FAR) and other directive material contained in FAC 2021-07 is
effective August 11, 2021 except for Items I through V, which are
effective September 10, 2021.
John M. Tenaglia,
Principal Director, Defense Pricing and Contracting, Department of
Defense.
Jeffrey A. Koses,
Senior Procurement Executive/Deputy CAO, Office of Acquisition
Policy, U.S. General Services Administration.
Karla Smith Jackson,
Assistant Administrator for Procurement, National Aeronautics and
Space Administration.
[FR Doc. 2021-16362 Filed 8-10-21; 8:45 am]
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