[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 14, 2023)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 9739-9740]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-02429]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Chapter 1

[Docket No. FAR-2023-0051, Sequence No. 1]


Federal Acquisition Regulation; Federal Acquisition Circular 
2023-02; 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 (SECG).

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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) 2023-02, which amends 
the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). Interested parties may obtain 
further information regarding these rules by referring to FAC 2023-02, 
which precedes this document.

DATES: February 14, 2023.

ADDRESSES: The FAC, including the SECG, is available 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 
2023-02 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 2023-02
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                  Item                               Subject                FAR case             Analyst
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I *....................................  Accelerated Payments                  2020-007  Delgado.
                                          Applicable to Contracts with
                                          Certain Small Business
                                          Concerns.
II *...................................  Small Business Program                2019-008  Jones.
                                          Amendments.
III....................................  Technical Amendments..........
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[[Page 9740]]


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 2023-02 amends the FAR as follows:

Item I--Accelerated Payments Applicable to Contracts With Certain Small 
Business Concerns (FAR Case 2020-007)

    This final rule provides for accelerated payments to contractors 
that are small businesses and to small business subcontractors by 
accelerating payments to their prime contractors. The rule implements 
section 873 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal 
Year (FY) 2020 (Pub. L. 116-92), which amends 31 U.S.C. 3903(a). The 
rule also implements section 815 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry 
NDAA for FY 2021, which amended 10 U.S.C. 2307(a) (now found at 10 
U.S.C. 3801). This final rule may have a positive impact on small 
entities, but it will not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities.

Item II--Small Business Program Amendments (FAR Case 2019-008)

    This final rule amends the FAR to align with SBA's regulations 
related to several topic areas. This rule clarifies that SBA determines 
size status as of the date of initial offer for a multiple-award 
contract, whether or not the offer includes price, or the price is 
evaluated. Additionally, in accordance with FAR 19.301-2(b)(2), the 
``ostensible subcontractor rule'' (a small business must not be unduly 
reliant on a nonsimilarly situated small business subcontractor or have 
such a subcontractor perform the primary and vital requirements of the 
contract) is implemented in this rule as a new ground for socioeconomic 
status protest. The rule also clarifies that contracting officers will 
not be able to exercise options past the fifth year of long-term 8(a) 
contracts if the 8(a) contractor no longer qualifies for the 8(a) 
program. Lastly, the rule clarifies the size standard for the 
information technology value added resellers under North American 
Industry Classification System code 541519 is 150 employees, not 500 
employees.

Item III--Technical Amendments

    Administrative change is made at FAR 2.101.

William F. Clark,
Director, Office of Government-wide Acquisition Policy, Office of 
Acquisition Policy, Office of Government-wide Policy.
[FR Doc. 2023-02429 Filed 2-13-23; 8:45 am]
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