Federal Management Regulation; FMR Case 2008-102-4, Mail Management; Financial Requirements for All Agencies, 870-872 [E9-172]
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 6 / Friday, January 9, 2009 / Proposed Rules
Executive Order 13132—Federalism
This rule does not have Federalism
implications. SMCRA delineates the
roles of the Federal and State
governments with regard to the
regulation of surface coal mining and
reclamation operations. One of the
purposes of SMCRA is to ‘‘establish a
nationwide program to protect society
and the environment from the adverse
effects of surface coal mining
operations.’’ Section 503(a)(1) of
SMCRA requires that State laws
regulating surface coal mining and
reclamation operations be ‘‘in
accordance with’’ the requirements of
SMCRA, and section 503(a)(7) requires
that State programs contain rules and
regulations ‘‘consistent with’’
regulations issued by the Secretary
pursuant to SMCRA.
Executive Order 13175—Consultation
and Coordination With Indian Tribal
Governments
In accordance with Executive Order
13175, we have evaluated the potential
effects of this rule on Federallyrecognized Indian tribes and have
determined that the rule does not have
substantial direct effects on one or more
Indian tribes, on the relationship
between the Federal Government and
Indian tribes, or on the distribution of
power and responsibilities between the
Federal Government and Indian tribes.
This determination is based on the fact
that the Oklahoma program does not
regulate coal exploration and surface
coal mining and reclamation operations
on Indian lands. Therefore, the
Oklahoma program has no effect on
Federally-recognized Indian tribes.
yshivers on PROD1PC62 with PROPOSALS
Executive Order 13211—Regulations
that Significantly Affect the Supply,
Distribution, or Use of Energy
On May 18, 2001, the President issued
Executive Order 13211 which requires
agencies to prepare a Statement of
Energy Effects for a rule that is (1)
considered significant under Executive
Order 12866, and (2) likely to have a
significant adverse effect on the supply,
distribution, or use of energy. Because
this rule is exempt from review under
Executive Order 12866 and is not
expected to have a significant adverse
effect on the supply, distribution, or use
of energy, a statement of energy effects
is not required.
National Environmental Policy Act
This rule does not require an
environmental impact statement
because section 702(d) of SMCRA (30
U.S.C. 1292(d)) provides that agency
decisions on proposed State regulatory
program provisions do not constitute
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15:07 Jan 08, 2009
Jkt 217001
major Federal actions within the
meaning of section 102(2)(C) of the
National Environmental Policy Act (42
U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)).
determination made that the Federal
regulation did not impose an unfunded
mandate.
Paperwork Reduction Act
This rule does not contain
information collection requirements that
require approval by the Office of
Management and Budget under the
Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.
3507 et seq.).
Intergovernmental relations, Surface
mining, Underground mining.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Department of the Interior
certifies that this rule will not have a
significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities
under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5
U.S.C. 601 et seq.). The State submittal,
which is the subject of this rule, is based
upon counterpart Federal regulations for
which an economic analysis was
prepared and certification made that
such regulations would not have a
significant economic effect upon a
substantial number of small entities. In
making the determination as to whether
this rule would have a significant
economic impact, the Department relied
upon the data and assumptions for the
counterpart Federal regulations.
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement
Fairness Act
This rule is not a major rule under 5
U.S.C. 804(2), the Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act.
This rule: (a) Does not have an annual
effect on the economy of $100 million;
(b) Will not cause a major increase in
costs or prices for consumers,
individual industries, Federal, State, or
local government agencies, or
geographic regions; and (c) Does not
have significant adverse effects on
competition, employment, investment,
productivity, innovation, or the ability
of U.S. based enterprises to compete
with foreign-based enterprises. This
determination is based upon the fact
that the State submittal, which is the
subject of this rule, is based upon
counterpart Federal regulations for
which an analysis was prepared and a
determination made that the Federal
regulation was not considered a major
rule.
Unfunded Mandates
This rule will not impose an
unfunded mandate on State, local, or
tribal governments or the private sector
of $100 million or more in any given
year. This determination is based upon
the fact that the State submittal, which
is the subject of this rule, is based upon
counterpart Federal regulations for
which an analysis was prepared and a
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Sfmt 4702
List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 936
Dated: December 9, 2008.
William Joseph,
Acting Regional Director, Mid-Continent
Region.
[FR Doc. E9–204 Filed 1–8–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–05–P
GENERAL SERVICES
ADMINISTRATION
41 CFR Part 102–192
[FMR Amendment 200X–XXX; FMR Case
2008–102–4; Docket 2008–0001; Sequence
1]
RIN 3090–AI79
Federal Management Regulation; FMR
Case 2008–102–4, Mail Management;
Financial Requirements for All
Agencies
AGENCY: Office of Governmentwide
Policy, General Services Administration
(GSA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
SUMMARY: The General Services
Administration is amending the mail
management section of the Federal
Management Regulation (FMR). The
proposed changes will help agencies
show accountability for their costs
regardless of whether they choose to use
commercial payment processes.
DATES: Interested parties should submit
comments in writing on or before March
10, 2009 to be considered in the
formulation of a final rule.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments
identified by FMR case 2008–102–4 by
any of the following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Search for any
document by first selecting the proper
document types and selecting ‘‘General
Services Administration’’ as the agency
of choice. At the ‘‘Keyword’’ prompt,
type in the FMR case number (for
example, FMR Case 2008–102–4) and
click on the ‘‘Submit’’ button. You may
also search for any document by
clicking on the ‘‘Advanced search/
document search’’ tab at the top of the
screen, selecting from the agency field
‘‘General Services Administration’’, and
typing the FMR case number in the
keyword field. Select the ‘‘Submit’’
button.
• Fax: 202–501–4067.
E:\FR\FM\09JAP1.SGM
09JAP1
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 6 / Friday, January 9, 2009 / Proposed Rules
• Mail: General Services
Administration, Regulatory Secretariat
(VPR), 1800 F Street, NW., Room 4041,
ATTN: Hada Flowers, Washington, DC
20405. Instructions: Please submit
comments only and cite FMR case
2008–102–4 in all correspondence
related to this case. All comments
received will be posted without change
to https://www.regulations.gov, including
any personal information provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
clarification of content, contact Mr.
Henry Maury, Office of
Governmentwide Policy, Office of
Travel, Transportation, and Asset
Management (MT), (202) 208–7928 or email at henry.maury@gsa.gov. For
information pertaining to status or
publication schedules contact the
Regulatory Secretariat, 1800 F Street,
NW., Room 4041, Washington, DC,
20405, (202) 501–4755; please cite FMR
case 2008–102–4, Amendment XXXX.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
yshivers on PROD1PC62 with PROPOSALS
A. Background
On June 6, 2002, the General Services
Administration (GSA) published an
interim rule for mail management in the
Federal Register (67 FR 38896) that
required agencies to stop using the U.S.
Postal Service’s Official Mail
Accounting System (OMAS) and start
using commercial payment for postage
no later than October 31, 2003. A final
rule published in the Federal Register
on September 29, 2003 (68 FR 56112)
extended the date for conversion to
December 31, 2003. If agencies did not
convert by that date, they were required
to submit a deviation request that
included a detailed plan of how they
were going to make the conversion in
order to be granted the deviation.
Deviation requests could be for no
longer than a period of two years. On
August 25, 2008, GSA published a final
rule (73 FR 49955) that completely
replaced Federal Management
Regulation 102–192, Mail Management;
that final rule clarified the requirement
to stop using OMAS.
The primary goal behind converting
to commercial payment was to show
accountability for postage, both in terms
of who was spending money on postage
within agencies as well as ensuring that
agencies pay for postage costs up front
like other individuals and private
businesses, therefore encouraging better
planning of resources. Reducing costs
was also a key goal of the initiative.
When commercial payment was
introduced at the Department of
Defense, dramatic reductions in postage
costs were realized.
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15:07 Jan 08, 2009
Jkt 217001
Rule’s Unintended Effects Lead to New
Solutions
Since the final rule was published in
2003, many agencies have successfully
converted to commercial payment.
However, some agencies have found it
challenging to fully convert to
commercial payment, and have
submitted multiple requests for
deviations as they worked toward a
solution. Therefore, for these agencies,
the interim rule has created the
unintended effect of a cycle of deviation
requests and paperwork between
agencies and GSA, which was not the
intent of the initiative and is not an
efficient use of government resources.
As it became clear the deviation cycle
was not going to end anytime soon, GSA
needed to devise alternative strategies to
ensure agencies could meet the primary
goal of accountability and still achieve
cost savings even if the agencies did not
implement commercial payment
processes. The impetus to make the
change came from agencies that stated
they can meet the intent of the
initiative, either by continuing to use
OMAS or through other means.
GSA issued a bulletin on April 11,
2008 that gave an automatic additional
one-year deviation to all of the agencies
with outstanding deviation requests as
GSA developed additional options for
meeting the intent of the initiative. (An
announcement of this bulletin was
published in the Federal Register on
May 13, 2008 (73 FR 27540).) Upon
implementation of this proposed rule,
no further deviations will be granted for
this subpart.
New Options Also Show Accountability
Before the final rule was implemented
in 2003, many agencies did not use
OMAS or any other process to track
their costs. Especially in larger agencies,
mail managers had no way to determine
who was using postage or if there were
any ways they could be saving money.
Even when the commercial payment
process idea was first introduced, it was
recognized that implementing it alone
did not completely show accountability;
implementing other measures also helps
round out an agency’s accountability
picture. Therefore, this proposed rule
allows agencies a choice of measures to
best show their accountability portrait.
The options, outlined more fully in the
proposed rule, include:
1. Convert to commercial payment
processes (unchanged).
2. Show quantified dollar savings in
mail costs that result from management
action, with a clear explanation of how
the savings were achieved.
3. Provide a detailed breakdown of all
agency mail costs.
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Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
871
4. Provide names, responsibility areas,
and mail costs for program officials who
are accountable for 75 percent (or more)
of the agency’s postage.
5. Provide cost-per-piece data for at
least 75 percent of all outgoing mail.
If an agency can implement at least
two of five of these options, GSA
believes the agency will have shown
accountability for its operations. GSA
will use the annual reporting process to
collect information about how the large
agencies are meeting the requirements
of this rule.
The additional strategies presented in
this proposed rule do not imply that an
agency now must choose two options
other than commercial payment; if
commercial payment has already been
successfully implemented or will be
implemented soon in an agency that
spends less than $1 million per year on
postage, then commercial payment by
itself will be deemed as meeting the
accountability requirement.
B. Executive Order 12866
This proposed rule is excepted from
the definition of ‘‘regulation’’ or ‘‘rule’’
under Section 3(d)(3) of Executive Order
12866, Regulatory Planning and Review,
dated September 30, 1993 and,
therefore, was not subject to review
under Section 6(b) of that Executive
Order.
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act
This proposed rule is not required to
be published in the Federal Register for
notice and comment as per the
exemption specified in 5 U.S.C. 553
(a)(2); therefore, the Regulatory
Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq.,
does not apply.
D. Paperwork Reduction Act
The Paperwork Reduction Act does
not apply because the proposed changes
to the FMR do not impose information
collection requirements that require the
approval of the Office of Management
and Budget under 44 U.S.C. 3501, et
seq.
E. Small Business Regulatory
Enforcement Fairness Act
This proposed rule is exempt from
Congressional review under 5 U.S.C.
801 since it relates solely to agency
management and personnel.
List of Subjects in 41 CFR Part 102–192
Government contracts, Mail,
Performance measurement, Records
management, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Security.
E:\FR\FM\09JAP1.SGM
09JAP1
872
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 6 / Friday, January 9, 2009 / Proposed Rules
Dated: November 18, 2008.
Gary Klein,
Associate Administrator.
§ 102–192.60 If my agency spends less
than $1 million per year on postage and has
already converted to commercial payment
processes, are we responsible for selecting
one of the additional options?
For the reasons set forth in the
preamble, GSA proposes to amend 41
CFR part 102–192 as set forth below:
PART 102–192—MAIL MANAGEMENT
1. The authority citation for 41 CFR
part 102–192 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 44 U.S.C. 2904; 40 U.S.C.
121(c).
§ 102–192.65 If my agency still wants to
implement the commercial payment
process, how do we do so?
2. Revise Subpart B of 41 CFR part
102–192 to read as follows:
Subpart B—Financial Requirements for
All Agencies
§ 102–192.50 What payment processes are
we required to use?
All payments to all service providers
must be made through a process that
ensures accountability to the program
level, as defined in § 102–192.55.
yshivers on PROD1PC62 with PROPOSALS
§ 102–192.55 What options are available to
show accountability?
(a) Your agency must show
accountability by using at least two of
the following methods:
(1) Implement or continue using
commercial payment processes.
(2) Show quantified dollar savings in
mail costs that result from management
action, with a clear explanation of how
the savings were achieved. Dollar
savings must be recent, defined as
occurring within the last five fiscal
years. That is, after five fiscal years,
additional information about how the
agency has achieved recent savings and/
or will continue to achieve dollar
savings will be required in the annual
mail management report.
(3) Provide a detailed breakdown of
all agency mail costs.
(4) Provide names, responsibility
areas, and mail costs for program
officials who are accountable for 75
percent (or more) of the agency’s
postage.
(5) Provide cost-per-piece data for at
least 75 percent of all outgoing mail.
(b) Agencies that spend more than $1
million per year on postage must
describe how they are showing
accountability by responding fully,
beginning with the Fiscal Year 2009
report, to the questions on
accountability in the annual report
format. Agencies that do not respond
fully or whose responses do not, in the
judgment of the GSA Office of
Governmentwide Policy, meet the
standard established in this paragraph,
will be considered out of compliance
with this regulation.
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15:07 Jan 08, 2009
Jkt 217001
Any agency that spends less than $1
million on postage per year and has
already successfully converted to
commercial payment is in compliance
with this regulation and does not need
to select any additional options
presented in § 102–192.55.
Guidance on implementing a
compliant payment process is in the
GSA Policy Advisory, Guidelines for
Federal Agencies on Converting to
Commercial Payment Systems for
Postage, which can be found at https://
www.gsa.gov/mailpolicy.
3. Amend § 102–192.90 by revising
paragraph (f) read as follows:
§ 102–192.90 What must we include in our
annual mail management report to GSA?
*
*
*
*
*
(f) Describe how your agency is
ensuring accountability for postage by
identifying which two of the five
methods (see § 102–192.55) you use to
meet this objective and explaining in
detail how these two apply to your
agency.
*
*
*
*
*
[FR Doc. E9–172 Filed 1–8–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820–14–P
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
GENERAL SERVICES
ADMINISTRATION
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND
SPACE ADMINISTRATION
48 CFR Parts 22 and 52
[FAR Case 2007–021; Docket 2009-0014;
Sequence 1]
RIN 9000–AL14
Federal Acquisition Regulation; FAR
Case 2007–021, Fair Labor Standards
Act and Service Contract Act Price
Adjustment Clauses
AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DoD),
General Services Administration (GSA),
and National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
SUMMARY: The Civilian Agency
Acquisition Council and the Defense
Acquisition Regulations Council
(Councils) are proposing to amend the
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to
specifically require the incorporation of
the FAR clauses regarding Fair Labor
Standards Act and Service Contract ActPrice Adjustment (Multi-Year and
Option Contracts) and Fair Labor
Standards Act and Service Contract ActPrice Adjustment in time-and-materials
and labor—hour service contracts that
are subject to the Service Contract Act.
DATES: Interested parties should submit
written comments to the Regulatory
Secretariat on or before March 10, 2009
to be considered in the formulation of
a final rule.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments
identified by FAR case 2007–021 by any
of the following methods:
• Regulations.gov: https://
www.regulations.gov. Submit comments
via the Federal eRulemaking portal by
inputting ‘‘FAR Case 2007–021’’ under
the heading ‘‘Comment or Submission’’.
Select the link ‘‘Send a Comment or
Submission’’ that corresponds with FAR
Case 2007–021. Follow the instructions
provided to complete the ‘‘Public
Comment and Submission Form’’.
Please include your name, company
name (if any), and ‘‘FAR Case 2007–
021’’ on your attached document.
• Fax: 202–501–4067.
• Mail: General Services
Administration, Regulatory Secretariat
(VPR), 1800 F Street, NW, Room 4035,
ATTN: Hada Flowers, Washington, DC
20405.
Instructions: Please submit comments
only and cite FAR case 2007–021 in all
correspondence related to this case. All
comments received will be posted
without change to https://
www.regulations.gov, including any
personal and/or business confidential
information provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT Ms.
Meredith Murphy, Procurement
Analyst, at (202) 208–6925 for
clarification of content. For information
pertaining to status or publication
schedules, contact the Regulatory
Secretariat at (202) 501–4755. Please
cite FAR case 2007–021.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background
This rule proposes to amend the
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to
revise the clause prescriptions at FAR
22.1006(c)(1) and (2) to specifically
require that time-and-materials and
labor-hour service contracts subject to
the Service Contract Act contain the
appropriate price adjustment clauses set
forth at 52.222–43 and 52.222–44.
Despite the current prescriptions
which do not require use of the clauses
in time-and-materials or labor-hour
E:\FR\FM\09JAP1.SGM
09JAP1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 6 (Friday, January 9, 2009)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 870-872]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-172]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
41 CFR Part 102-192
[FMR Amendment 200X-XXX; FMR Case 2008-102-4; Docket 2008-0001;
Sequence 1]
RIN 3090-AI79
Federal Management Regulation; FMR Case 2008-102-4, Mail
Management; Financial Requirements for All Agencies
AGENCY: Office of Governmentwide Policy, General Services
Administration (GSA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The General Services Administration is amending the mail
management section of the Federal Management Regulation (FMR). The
proposed changes will help agencies show accountability for their costs
regardless of whether they choose to use commercial payment processes.
DATES: Interested parties should submit comments in writing on or
before March 10, 2009 to be considered in the formulation of a final
rule.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by FMR case 2008-102-4 by any of
the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
Search for any document by first selecting the proper document types
and selecting ``General Services Administration'' as the agency of
choice. At the ``Keyword'' prompt, type in the FMR case number (for
example, FMR Case 2008-102-4) and click on the ``Submit'' button. You
may also search for any document by clicking on the ``Advanced search/
document search'' tab at the top of the screen, selecting from the
agency field ``General Services Administration'', and typing the FMR
case number in the keyword field. Select the ``Submit'' button.
Fax: 202-501-4067.
[[Page 871]]
Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory
Secretariat (VPR), 1800 F Street, NW., Room 4041, ATTN: Hada Flowers,
Washington, DC 20405. Instructions: Please submit comments only and
cite FMR case 2008-102-4 in all correspondence related to this case.
All comments received will be posted without change to https://
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For clarification of content, contact
Mr. Henry Maury, Office of Governmentwide Policy, Office of Travel,
Transportation, and Asset Management (MT), (202) 208-7928 or e-mail at
henry.maury@gsa.gov. For information pertaining to status or
publication schedules contact the Regulatory Secretariat, 1800 F
Street, NW., Room 4041, Washington, DC, 20405, (202) 501-4755; please
cite FMR case 2008-102-4, Amendment XXXX.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background
On June 6, 2002, the General Services Administration (GSA)
published an interim rule for mail management in the Federal Register
(67 FR 38896) that required agencies to stop using the U.S. Postal
Service's Official Mail Accounting System (OMAS) and start using
commercial payment for postage no later than October 31, 2003. A final
rule published in the Federal Register on September 29, 2003 (68 FR
56112) extended the date for conversion to December 31, 2003. If
agencies did not convert by that date, they were required to submit a
deviation request that included a detailed plan of how they were going
to make the conversion in order to be granted the deviation. Deviation
requests could be for no longer than a period of two years. On August
25, 2008, GSA published a final rule (73 FR 49955) that completely
replaced Federal Management Regulation 102-192, Mail Management; that
final rule clarified the requirement to stop using OMAS.
The primary goal behind converting to commercial payment was to
show accountability for postage, both in terms of who was spending
money on postage within agencies as well as ensuring that agencies pay
for postage costs up front like other individuals and private
businesses, therefore encouraging better planning of resources.
Reducing costs was also a key goal of the initiative. When commercial
payment was introduced at the Department of Defense, dramatic
reductions in postage costs were realized.
Rule's Unintended Effects Lead to New Solutions
Since the final rule was published in 2003, many agencies have
successfully converted to commercial payment. However, some agencies
have found it challenging to fully convert to commercial payment, and
have submitted multiple requests for deviations as they worked toward a
solution. Therefore, for these agencies, the interim rule has created
the unintended effect of a cycle of deviation requests and paperwork
between agencies and GSA, which was not the intent of the initiative
and is not an efficient use of government resources.
As it became clear the deviation cycle was not going to end anytime
soon, GSA needed to devise alternative strategies to ensure agencies
could meet the primary goal of accountability and still achieve cost
savings even if the agencies did not implement commercial payment
processes. The impetus to make the change came from agencies that
stated they can meet the intent of the initiative, either by continuing
to use OMAS or through other means.
GSA issued a bulletin on April 11, 2008 that gave an automatic
additional one-year deviation to all of the agencies with outstanding
deviation requests as GSA developed additional options for meeting the
intent of the initiative. (An announcement of this bulletin was
published in the Federal Register on May 13, 2008 (73 FR 27540).) Upon
implementation of this proposed rule, no further deviations will be
granted for this subpart.
New Options Also Show Accountability
Before the final rule was implemented in 2003, many agencies did
not use OMAS or any other process to track their costs. Especially in
larger agencies, mail managers had no way to determine who was using
postage or if there were any ways they could be saving money.
Even when the commercial payment process idea was first introduced,
it was recognized that implementing it alone did not completely show
accountability; implementing other measures also helps round out an
agency's accountability picture. Therefore, this proposed rule allows
agencies a choice of measures to best show their accountability
portrait. The options, outlined more fully in the proposed rule,
include:
1. Convert to commercial payment processes (unchanged).
2. Show quantified dollar savings in mail costs that result from
management action, with a clear explanation of how the savings were
achieved.
3. Provide a detailed breakdown of all agency mail costs.
4. Provide names, responsibility areas, and mail costs for program
officials who are accountable for 75 percent (or more) of the agency's
postage.
5. Provide cost-per-piece data for at least 75 percent of all
outgoing mail.
If an agency can implement at least two of five of these options,
GSA believes the agency will have shown accountability for its
operations. GSA will use the annual reporting process to collect
information about how the large agencies are meeting the requirements
of this rule.
The additional strategies presented in this proposed rule do not
imply that an agency now must choose two options other than commercial
payment; if commercial payment has already been successfully
implemented or will be implemented soon in an agency that spends less
than $1 million per year on postage, then commercial payment by itself
will be deemed as meeting the accountability requirement.
B. Executive Order 12866
This proposed rule is excepted from the definition of
``regulation'' or ``rule'' under Section 3(d)(3) of Executive Order
12866, Regulatory Planning and Review, dated September 30, 1993 and,
therefore, was not subject to review under Section 6(b) of that
Executive Order.
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act
This proposed rule is not required to be published in the Federal
Register for notice and comment as per the exemption specified in 5
U.S.C. 553 (a)(2); therefore, the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C.
601, et seq., does not apply.
D. Paperwork Reduction Act
The Paperwork Reduction Act does not apply because the proposed
changes to the FMR do not impose information collection requirements
that require the approval of the Office of Management and Budget under
44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.
E. Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act
This proposed rule is exempt from Congressional review under 5
U.S.C. 801 since it relates solely to agency management and personnel.
List of Subjects in 41 CFR Part 102-192
Government contracts, Mail, Performance measurement, Records
management, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Security.
[[Page 872]]
Dated: November 18, 2008.
Gary Klein,
Associate Administrator.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, GSA proposes to amend 41
CFR part 102-192 as set forth below:
PART 102-192--MAIL MANAGEMENT
1. The authority citation for 41 CFR part 102-192 continues to read
as follows:
Authority: 44 U.S.C. 2904; 40 U.S.C. 121(c).
2. Revise Subpart B of 41 CFR part 102-192 to read as follows:
Subpart B--Financial Requirements for All Agencies
Sec. 102-192.50 What payment processes are we required to use?
All payments to all service providers must be made through a
process that ensures accountability to the program level, as defined in
Sec. 102-192.55.
Sec. 102-192.55 What options are available to show accountability?
(a) Your agency must show accountability by using at least two of
the following methods:
(1) Implement or continue using commercial payment processes.
(2) Show quantified dollar savings in mail costs that result from
management action, with a clear explanation of how the savings were
achieved. Dollar savings must be recent, defined as occurring within
the last five fiscal years. That is, after five fiscal years,
additional information about how the agency has achieved recent savings
and/or will continue to achieve dollar savings will be required in the
annual mail management report.
(3) Provide a detailed breakdown of all agency mail costs.
(4) Provide names, responsibility areas, and mail costs for program
officials who are accountable for 75 percent (or more) of the agency's
postage.
(5) Provide cost-per-piece data for at least 75 percent of all
outgoing mail.
(b) Agencies that spend more than $1 million per year on postage
must describe how they are showing accountability by responding fully,
beginning with the Fiscal Year 2009 report, to the questions on
accountability in the annual report format. Agencies that do not
respond fully or whose responses do not, in the judgment of the GSA
Office of Governmentwide Policy, meet the standard established in this
paragraph, will be considered out of compliance with this regulation.
Sec. 102-192.60 If my agency spends less than $1 million per year on
postage and has already converted to commercial payment processes, are
we responsible for selecting one of the additional options?
Any agency that spends less than $1 million on postage per year and
has already successfully converted to commercial payment is in
compliance with this regulation and does not need to select any
additional options presented in Sec. 102-192.55.
Sec. 102-192.65 If my agency still wants to implement the commercial
payment process, how do we do so?
Guidance on implementing a compliant payment process is in the GSA
Policy Advisory, Guidelines for Federal Agencies on Converting to
Commercial Payment Systems for Postage, which can be found at https://
www.gsa.gov/mailpolicy.
3. Amend Sec. 102-192.90 by revising paragraph (f) read as
follows:
Sec. 102-192.90 What must we include in our annual mail management
report to GSA?
* * * * *
(f) Describe how your agency is ensuring accountability for postage
by identifying which two of the five methods (see Sec. 102-192.55) you
use to meet this objective and explaining in detail how these two apply
to your agency.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. E9-172 Filed 1-8-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-14-P
