Federal Acquisition Regulation; Submission for OMB Review; Commercial Item Acquisitions, 53761-53763 [2013-21183]

Agencies

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

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 169 (Friday, August 30, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53761-53763]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-21183]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[OMB Control No. 9000-0136; Docket 2012-0076; Sequence 63]


Federal Acquisition Regulation; Submission for OMB Review; 
Commercial Item Acquisitions

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

ACTION: Notice of request for comments regarding an extension, with 
changes, to an existing OMB 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 a 
previously approved information collection requirement concerning the 
clauses and provisions required for use in commercial item 
acquisitions. A notice was published in the Federal Register at 78 FR 
18349, on March 26, 2013. Comments were received from two respondents.

DATES: Submit comments on or before September 30, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by Information Collection 9000-
0136, Commercial Item Acquisitions, 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 9000-0136, Commercial Item 
Acquisitions''. Follow the instructions provided at the ``Submit a 
Comment'' screen. Please include your name, company name (if any), and 
``Information Collection 9000-0136, Commercial Item Acquisitions'' on 
your attached document.
     Fax: 202-501-4067.
     Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory 
Secretariat (MVCB), 1800 F Street NW., 2nd Floor, Washington, DC, 
20405-0001.
     ATTN: Hada Flowers/IC 9000-0136, Commercial Item 
Acquisitions.
    Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite Information 
Collection 9000-0136, Commercial Item Acquisitions, in all 
correspondence related to this collection. Submit comments regarding 
this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of 
information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to: FAR 
Desk Officer, OMB, Room 10102, NEOB, Washington, DC 20503. 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. Michael O. Jackson, Procurement 
Analyst, Office of Governmentwide Acquisition Policy, GSA (202) 208-
4949 or email at michaelo.jackson@gsa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Purpose

    The Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 included Title 
VIII, entitled Commercial Items. The title made numerous additions and 
revisions to both the civilian agency and Armed Service acquisition 
statutes to encourage and facilitate the acquisition of commercial 
items and services by Federal Government agencies.
    To implement these changes, DoD, NASA, and GSA amended the Federal 
Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to include several streamlined and 
simplified clauses and provisions to be used in place of existing 
clauses and provisions. These clauses and provisions were designed to 
simplify solicitations and contracts for commercial items. The 
simplified clauses and provisions are used by Federal agencies to 
facilitate the acquisition of commercial items and services.
    Pertinent to this information collection is the FAR provision at 
52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications--Commercial Items. 
The provision is among the representations and certifications that are 
available for completion in the On-line Representation and 
Certification Application (ORCA). ORCA as a stand-alone system no 
longer exists; however, its functionality is incorporated into the 
System for Award Management (SAM).

B. Analysis of Public Comments

    Two respondents submitted public comments on the extension of the 
previously approved information collection. The analysis of the public 
comments is summarized as follows:

[[Page 53762]]

    Comment: The respondent commented that the extension of the 
information collection contradicts the fundamental purposes of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act because of the burden it puts on the entity 
submitting the information and the agency collecting the information.
    Response: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), 
agencies can request an extension to an existing OMB approved 
information collection. The PRA requires that agencies use the Federal 
Register notice and comment process, to extend the OMB's approval, at 
least every three years. This extension, to a previously approved 
information collection, pertains to the FAR provision at 52.212-3, 
Offeror Representations and Certifications--Commercial Items. The 
provision is among the representations and certifications that are 
available for completion in the ORCA function of the SAM database. This 
provision is required by statute. In accordance with Section 8002 of 
Public Law 103-355 (41 U.S.C. 264), contracts for the acquisition of 
commercial items shall, to the maximum extent practicable, include only 
those clauses--
    (1) Required to implement provisions of law or executive orders 
applicable to the acquisition of commercial items; or
    (2) Determined to be consistent with customary commercial practice.
    Not granting this extension would consequently eliminate a primary 
means of complying with this statutory requirement.
    Comment: Two respondents 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. One respondent commented that the 
``estimate of four responses per contractor per year is unrealistically 
low.'' The respondent also commented that if the estimate accounted for 
the totality of the information collection requirement, including 
recordkeeping, compiling and reporting, the burden hours would be six 
to ten hours per response. For this reason, the respondent asserted 
that the agency should reassess the estimated total burden hours and 
revise the estimate upward to be more accurate, as was done in FAR Case 
2007-006. A second respondent commented that on average, the time 
burden is approximately 215 hours per company, per response, for the 
end-to-end process. Further, both respondents commented that the 
estimate of 0.5 hours of burden per response was unrealistically low 
when considering the time and effort necessary for a company to gather 
the data.
    Response: Serious consideration is 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 an 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 in OMB guidance for estimating the paperwork burden put on the 
entity submitting the information. For example, consideration is given 
to an entity reviewing instructions; using technology to collect, 
process, and disclose information; adjusting existing practices to 
comply with requirements; searching data sources; completing and 
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. It has been determined that an upward 
adjustment is not required at this time. The estimate of four responses 
per respondent is based upon contractor use of the ORCA function in SAM 
rather than the completion of representations and certifications for 
each solicitation/contract for which a vendor submits an offer. The 
ORCA function was developed to eliminate the administrative burden for 
contractors of submitting the same information to various contracting 
offices, and to establish a common source for this information to 
procurement offices across the Government. Prior to ORCA, prospective 
contractors were required to submit representations and certifications 
in paper form for each individual contract award. Under these 
conditions, a response rate of 20 to more than 100 times per year may 
have been necessary. However, using the ORCA function in SAM, a 
contractor can enter their representations and certification 
information once for use on all Federal contracts and solicitations. 
FAR 4.1201(a) requires prospective contractors to complete electronic 
annual representations and certifications at the SAM Internet site in 
conjunction with required registration in the Central Contractor 
Registration (CCR) function in SAM. The representations and 
certifications are effective until one year from the date of submission 
or update to the ORCA function in SAM. For purposes of this information 
collection, initial data entry plus three updates per year was 
considered reasonable and was used to estimate the number of responses 
per respondent per year.
    Subject matter experts were consulted to obtain additional 
information that helped in estimating the hours of burden per response. 
After reviewing the average estimated burden hours per response, and 
the respondent's comments to the burden hours per response in 
conjunction with consultation with subject matter experts, it has been 
determined that the estimate of thirty minutes (0.500), or 
approximately 10 minutes more than the original estimate of 0.312 
published in the Federal Register at 75 FR 6668 on February 2, 2010, 
was a valid measure of the average time required to complete and review 
each response. 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: 162,000.
    Responses per Respondent: 4.
    Total Responses: 648,000.
    Hours per Response: .500.
    Total Burden Hours: 324,000.

D. Public Comments

    Public comments are particularly invited on: Whether this 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
functions of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), and whether it 
will have practical utility; whether our estimate of the public burden 
of this collection of information is accurate, and based on valid 
assumptions and methodology; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected; and ways in which we can 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are 
to respond, through the use of appropriate technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.

[[Page 53763]]

    Obtaining Copies of Proposals: Requesters may obtain a copy of the 
information collection documents from the General Services 
Administration, Regulatory Secretariat (MVCB), 1800 F Street NW., 2nd 
Floor, Washington, DC 20405-0001, telephone (202) 501-4755. Please cite 
OMB Control No. 9000-0136 regarding Commercial Item Acquisitions in all 
correspondence.

    Dated: August 22, 2013.
Karlos Morgan,
Acting Director, Federal Acquisition Policy Division, Office of 
Governmentwide Acquisition Policy, Office of Acquisition Policy, Office 
of Governmentwide Policy.
[FR Doc. 2013-21183 Filed 8-29-13; 8:45 am]
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