[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 171 (Wednesday, September 8, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50333-50334]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-19352]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Office of the Secretary
[Docket ID: DoD-2021-OS-0077]
Notice of Request for Comments on Barriers Facing Small
Businesses in Contracting With the Department of Defense
AGENCY: Office of Small Business Programs, Office of the Deputy
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Industrial Policy), Department of
Defense (DoD).
ACTION: Notice of request for public comments.
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SUMMARY: The participation of dynamic, resilient, and innovative small
businesses in the defense industrial base is critical to the United
States' efforts to maintain its technological superiority, military
readiness, and warfighting advantage. In furtherance of its efforts to
maximize opportunities for small businesses to contribute to national
security, the Department seeks public input on the barriers that small
businesses face in working with the Department. This input will be used
to update the Department's Small Business Strategy led by the DoD
Office of Small Business Programs.
DATES: The due date for submitting comments is October 25, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by docket number and
title, by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: DoD cannot receive written comments at this time due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Comments should be sent electronically to the docket
listed above.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency
name, docket number and title for this Federal Register document. The
general policy for comments and other submissions from members of the
public is to make these submissions available as they are received,
without change, including any personal identifiers or contact
information for public viewing on the internet at http://www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Victoria Mundt, Associate
Director, of the Office of Small Business Programs, at (703) 697-0051
or [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
President Biden issued Executive Order (E.O.) 14017, ``America's
Supply Chains''; E.O. 13985, ``Advancing Racial Equity and Support for
Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government''; and E.O.
14036, ``Promoting Competition in the American Economy.'' E.O. 14017
focuses on the need for resilient, diverse, and secure supply chains to
ensure U.S. economic prosperity and national security. E.O. 13985
focuses on identifying potential barriers that underserved communities
and individuals may face in taking advantage of agency procurement and
contracting opportunities. E.O. 14036 focuses on reviewing the state of
competition within the defense industrial base, including areas where a
lack of competition may be of concern. In support of E.O.s and through
DoD's Small Business Strategy, DoD is focusing on reducing barriers to
entry that can reduce critical manufacturing capacity, competition and
the availability and integrity of vital goods, products, and services.
Small businesses play a major role in the DoD's supply chains, and
they allow the U.S. to maintain its technological superiority, military
readiness, and warfighting advantages. These companies also play a
crucial role in ensuring supply chain resilience. Last year, the
Department awarded a record $80 billion dollars to small businesses
through prime contracts, of which over $30 billion dollars was awarded
to small disadvantaged businesses.
Still, over the last decade small businesses in the defense
industrial base
[[Page 50334]]
have decreased by more than 40%. Further, a recent survey of small
businesses conducted by the National Defense Industrial Association
found that nearly four out of five (77.3%) businesses reported that the
COVID-19 pandemic impacted them, with 85% of those saying the pandemic
had negatively affected them. The Department seeks additional insight
from the public in understanding the impact of the pandemic, as well as
other negative influences, on small businesses in the defense
industrial base.
This notice requests comments and information from the public
(specifically small business currently in, or interested in becoming
part of, the defense industrial base) to assist the DoD in updating its
Small Business Strategy.
Written Comments
The DoD is particularly interested in comments and information
directed to the policy objectives listed in E.O. 14017, E.O. 14036, and
E.O. 13985 as they affect the U.S. and global supply chains. The
Department is seeking input from small businesses as well as from those
with relevant expertise on the following topics:
i. Government business practices that might inhibit or deter small
businesses' from producing and/or providing goods, services, and
materials for DoD requirements, to the detriment of the small business
sector and in turn the defense industrial base;
ii. Regulations and business practices which may strain rather than
strengthen the relationship between the Department and small
businesses;
iii. The impact of the Department's major programs to support small
business participation in the defense industrial base, specifically,
the Mentor-Prot[eacute]g[eacute] Program, Indian Incentive Program,
Procurement Technical Assistance Centers, the Rapid Innovation Fund,
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology
Transfer (STTR);
iv. The use of past performance information during the periods of
source selection, ongoing performance, and collection of information;
v. Increasing the Department's utilization of small business
innovations;
vi. The Department's efforts to assist small businesses that seek
to do business with the government, including experiences in working
with the Department's contracting workforce;
vii. Contracting timelines and the impact of those timelines on
small businesses;
viii. The availability of skilled labor and other personnel to
sustain a competitive small business ecosystem;
ix. Research, development, and demonstration priorities to support
production and an advanced manufacturing base for the Department's
requirements;
x. Policy recommendations or suggested executive, legislative,
regulatory action to foster more resilient supply chains, greater
competition in the defense industrial base, and/or more small business
participation during the procurement process;
xi. Any additional comments from small businesses relevant to the
assessment of supply chain resilience required by E.O. 14017, E.O.
14036, and E.O. 13985.
The DoD encourages respondents to structure their comments using
the same text above as identifiers for the areas of inquiry to which
they are responding. This will assist the DoD in more easily reviewing
and summarizing the comments received in response to these specific
areas. For example, a commenter submitting comments responsive to (i),
``Government business practices that might cause deterioration in
capabilities, to the detriment of the small business sector and in turn
the defense industrial base,'' would use that same text as a heading in
the public comment followed by the commenter's specific comments in
this area. The Department encourages the use of an Executive Summary at
the beginning of all comments and information to affect a more
efficient Departmental review of the submitted documents.
Requirements for Written Comments
The http://www.regulations.gov website allows users to provide
comments by filling in a ``Type Comment'' field, or by attaching a
document using an ``Upload File'' field. The DoD prefers that comments
be provided in an attached document. The Department prefers submissions
in Microsoft Word (.doc files) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf files). If the
submission is provided in a format other than Microsoft Word or Adobe
Acrobat, please indicate the name of the application in the ``Type
Comment'' field. Please do not attach separate cover letters to
electronic submissions; rather, include any information that might
appear in a cover letter within the comments. Similarly, to the extent
possible, please include any exhibits, annexes, or other attachments in
the same file, so the submission consists of one file instead of
multiple files. Comments (both public comments and non-confidential
versions of comments containing business confidential information) will
be placed in the docket and open to public inspection. Comments may be
viewed on http://www.regulations.gov by entering docket number DoD-
2021-OS-0077 in the search field on the home page.
All filers should name their files using the name of the person or
entity submitting the comments. Anonymous comments are also accepted.
Communications from agencies of the United States Government will not
be made available for public inspection.
Anyone submitting business confidential information should clearly
identify the business confidential portion at the time of submission,
file a statement justifying nondisclosure and referring to the specific
legal authority claimed, and provide a non-confidential version of the
submission. The non-confidential version of the submission will be
placed in the public file on http://www.regulations.gov. For comments
submitted electronically containing business confidential information,
the file name of the business confidential version should begin with
the characters ``BC.'' Any page containing business confidential
information must be clearly marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' on the top
of that page. The non-confidential version must be clearly marked
``PUBLIC.'' The file name of the non-confidential version should begin
with the character ``P.'' The ``BC'' and ``P'' should be followed by
the name of the person or entity submitting the comments or rebuttal
comments. If a public hearing is held in support of this assessment, a
separate Federal Register notice will be published providing the date
and information about the hearing. The Office of the Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Defense (Industrial Policy) does not maintain a separate
public inspection facility. Requesters should first view the
Department's web page, which can be found at https://https://open.defense.gov/ (see ``Electronic FOIA'' heading). The records
related to this assessment are made accessible in accordance with the
regulations published in part 4 of title 15 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (15 CFR 4.1 through 4.11).
Dated: September 1, 2021.
Aaron T. Siegel,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 2021-19352 Filed 9-7-21; 8:45 am]
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