[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 152 (Wednesday, August 11, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 44255-44256]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-16368]


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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; Small Entity Compliance Guide

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

ACTION: Small Entity Compliance Guide.

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SUMMARY: This document is issued under the joint authority of DoD, GSA, 
and NASA. This Small Entity Compliance Guide has been prepared in 
accordance with section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory 
Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. It consists of a summary of the rules 
appearing in Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2021-07, which amends 
the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).

[[Page 44256]]

Interested parties may obtain further information regarding these rules 
by referring to FAC 2021-07, which precedes this document.

DATES: August 11, 2021.

ADDRESSES: The FAC, including the SECG, is available via the internet 
at https://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For clarification of content, contact 
the analyst whose name appears in the table below. Please cite FAC 
2021-07 and the FAR Case number. For information pertaining to status 
or publication schedules, contact the Regulatory Secretariat Division 
at 202-501-4755 or [email protected]. An asterisk (*) next to a rule 
indicates that a regulatory flexibility analysis has been prepared.

                                           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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SUPPLEM ENTARY 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 
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.
[FR Doc. 2021-16368 Filed 8-10-21; 8:45 am]
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