Submission for OMB Review; Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects, 18348-18349 [2013-06924]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
• General Services Administration
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 58 (Tuesday, March 26, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18348-18349]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-06924]



[[Page 18348]]

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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[OMB Control No. 9000-0175; Docket 2012-0076, Sequence 65]


Submission for OMB Review; Use of Project Labor Agreements for 
Federal Construction Projects

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

ACTION: Notice of request for public comments regarding an extension of 
an existing OMB information clearance.

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SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the 
Regulatory Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of an 
existing information collection requirement regarding Use of Project 
Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects. A notice was 
published in the Federal Register at 13057, on February 26, 2013. One 
comment was received.

DATES: Submit comments on or before April 25, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by Information Collection 9000-
0175, Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction 
Projects, by any of the following methods:
     Regulations.gov: https://www.regulations.gov.
    Submit comments via the Federal eRulemaking portal by searching the 
OMB control number. Select the link ``Submit a Comment'' that 
corresponds with ``Information Collection 9000-0175, Use of Project 
Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects''. Follow the 
instructions provided at the ``Submit a Comment'' screen. Please 
include your name, company name (if any), and ``Information Collection 
9000-0175, Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction 
Projects'' on your attached document.
     Fax: 202-501-4067.
     Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory 
Secretariat (MVCB), 1275 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20417. ATTN: 
Hada Flowers/IC 9000-0175, Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal 
Construction Projects.
    Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite Information 
Collection 9000-0175, Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal 
Construction Projects, in all correspondence related to this 
collection. 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: Mr. Edward Loeb, Procurement Analyst, 
Office of Governmentwide Acquisition Policy, at telephone (202) 501-
0650 or via email to Edward.loeb@gsa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Purpose

    FAR 22.501 prescribes policies and procedures to implement 
Executive Order 13502, February 6, 2009, which encourages Federal 
agencies to consider the use of a project labor agreement (PLA), as 
they may decide appropriate, on large-scale construction projects, 
where the total cost to the Government is more than $25 million, in 
order to promote economy and efficiency in Federal procurement. A PLA 
is a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement with one or more labor 
organizations that establishes the terms and conditions of employment 
for a specific construction project. FAR 22.503(b) provides that an 
agency may, if appropriate, require that every contractor and 
subcontractor engaged in construction on the project agree, for that 
project, to negotiate or become a party to a project labor agreement 
with one or more labor organizations if the agency decides that the use 
of project labor agreements will--
    (1) Advance the Federal Government's interest in achieving economy 
and efficiency in Federal procurement, producing labor-management 
stability, and ensuring compliance with laws and regulations governing 
safety and health, equal employment opportunity, labor and employment 
standards, and other matters; and
    (2) Be consistent with law.

B. Discussion and Analysis

    One public comment was received.
    Comment: The respondent commented that the extension of the 
information collection would violate the fundamental purposes of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act.
    Response: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), 
agencies can request OMB approval on an existing information 
collection. PRA requires that agencies use the Federal Register notice 
and comment process, to extend OMB's approval, at least every three 
years. This extension, to a previously approved information collection, 
pertains to the requirement to submit a project labor agreement to the 
Government when such an agreement is deemed needed. Absent this 
information the Government would not be in a position to carry out the 
FAR prescribed policies and procedures to implement Executive Order 
13502, which encourages Federal agencies to consider the use of a 
project labor agreement (PLA), as they may decide appropriate, on 
large-scale construction projects, where the total cost to the 
Government is more than $25 million.
    Comment: The respondent commented that the agency did not 
accurately estimate the public burden challenging that the agency's 
methodology for calculating it is insufficient and inadequate and does 
not reflect the total burden. Specifically, the respondent challenged 
the estimated 70 respondents, the one response per respondent and the 
estimated one hour of burden to meet information collection 
requirement. The respondent recommend the use of the actual number of 
responses received and suggested that one hour of burden is 
understated.
    Response: There is no existing Governmentwide data base that 
collects PLAs and specifically the number submitted under the various 
options included in the existing FAR policies and procedures. For FY 
2010 and 2011, a two year average of 258 large-scale construction 
contracts, were awarded. The estimated number of 70 responses per year 
represents about thirty percent of the two year average, which is 
believed to be a valid estimate. As stated in the final rule in the 
Federal Register at 75 FR 19169 on April 10, 2010, Project Labor 
Agreements are mandated by an Executive order, not by the FAR. 
Therefore, the time required to negotiate a Project Labor Agreement was 
never intended to be included in this renewal request. Further, the FAR 
requires only that a Project Labor Agreement be submitted to the 
Government on an exception basis and only in order to confirm the 
existence of a negotiated Project Labor Agreement when someone or some 
circumstance has cast doubt on whether there is a Project Labor 
Agreement on a particular Federal construction project. The allotted 
hour is the time required to copy an existing document and mail it to 
the Government, essentially a clerical task, as such the one hour per 
response is retained in this information collection renewal request.
    Comment: The respondent provided that the burden of compliance with 
the information collection requirement greatly exceeds the agency's 
estimate

[[Page 18349]]

and outweighs any potential utility of the extension.
    Response: The Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) was designed to improve 
the quality and use of Federal information to strengthen decision-
making, accountability, and openness in government and society. Central 
to this process is the solicitation of comments from the public. This 
process incorporates and enumerated specification of targeted 
information and provides interested parties a meaningful opportunity 
for comment on the relevant compliance cost. This process has led to 
decreases in the overall collection requirement in regards to the 
public. Based on OMB estimates, in FY 2010, the public spent 8.8 
billion hours responding to information collections. This was a 
decrease of one billion hours, or ten percent from the previous fiscal 
year. In effect, the collective burden of compliance for the public is 
going down as the Government publishes rule that make the process less 
complex, more transparent, and reduces the cost of federal regulations 
to both the Contractor community and Government.
    Comment: The respondent provided that agency should reassess the 
estimated total burden hours and revise the estimate, as was done in 
FAR Case 2007-006.
    Response: Serious consideration given, during the open comment 
period, to all comments received and adjustments are made to the 
paperwork burden estimate based on reasonable considerations provided 
by the public. This is evidenced, as the respondent notes, in FAR Case 
2007-006 where adjustment was made from the total preparation hours 
from three to 60. This change was made considering particularly the 
hours that would be required for review within the company prior to 
release to the Government. The burden is prepared taking into 
consideration the necessary criteria OMB guidance for estimating the 
paperwork burden put on the entity submitting the information. For 
example, consideration is given to entity reviewing instructions; using 
technology to collect, process, and disclose information; adjusting 
existing practices to comply with requirements; searching data sources; 
completing reviewing the response; and transmitting or disclosing 
information. The estimated burden hours for a collection are based on 
an average between the hours that a simple disclosure by a very small 
business might require and the much higher numbers that might be 
required for a very complex disclosure by a major corporation. Also, 
the estimated burden hours should only include projected hours for 
those actions which a company would not undertake in the normal course 
of business.
    Careful consideration went into assessing the estimated burden 
hours for this collection. However, at any point, members of the public 
may submit comments for further consideration, and are encouraged to 
provide data to support their request for an adjustment.

C. Annual Reporting Burden

    Respondents: 70.
    Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Annual Responses: 70.
    Hours per Response: 1.
    Total Burden Hours: 70.
    Obtaining Copies of Proposals: Requesters may obtain a copy of the 
information collection documents from the General Services 
Administration, Regulatory Secretariat (MVCB), 1275 First Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20417, telephone (202) 501-4755. Please cite OMB Control 
No. 9000-0175, Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction 
Projects, in all correspondence.

    Dated: March 21, 2013.
William Clark,
Acting Director, Federal Acquisition Policy Division, Office of 
Governmentwide Acquisition Policy, Office of Acquisition Policy, Office 
of Governmentwide Policy.
[FR Doc. 2013-06924 Filed 3-25-13; 8:45 am]
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