Procurement Scorecard Program; Exclusion for Certain Department of Veterans Affairs Contracts, 75362-75364 [2023-24206]

Download as PDF 75362 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 211 / Thursday, November 2, 2023 / Notices tradingandmarkets@sec.gov or 202– 551–5777. DTC reserves the right not to respond to any comments received. III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change, and Timing for Commission Action The foregoing rule change has become effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A) 19 of the Act and paragraph (f) 20 of Rule 19b–4 thereunder. At any time within 60 days of the filing of the proposed rule change, the Commission summarily may temporarily suspend such rule change if it appears to the Commission that such action is necessary or appropriate in the public interest, for the protection of investors, or otherwise in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. IV. Solicitation of Comments Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views and arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed rule change is consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods: khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES Electronic Comments • Use the Commission’s internet comment form (https://www.sec.gov/ rules/sro.shtml); or • Send an email to rule-comments@ sec.gov. Please include file number SR– DTC–2023–011 on the subject line. Paper Comments • Send paper comments in triplicate to Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549. All submissions should refer to file number SR–DTC–2023–011. This file number should be included on the subject line if email is used. To help the Commission process and review your comments more efficiently, please use only one method. The Commission will post all comments on the Commission’s internet website (https://www.sec.gov/ rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the submission, all subsequent amendments, all written statements with respect to the proposed rule change that are filed with the Commission, and all written communications relating to the proposed rule change between the Commission and any person, other than those that may be withheld from the public in accordance with the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be available for website viewing and 19 15 20 17 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A). CFR 240.19b–4(f). VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:32 Nov 01, 2023 printing in the Commission’s Public Reference Room, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549 on official business days between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of the filing also will be available for inspection and copying at the principal office of DTC and on DTCC’s website (https:// dtcc.com/legal/sec-rule-filings.aspx). Do not include personal identifiable information in submissions; you should submit only information that you wish to make available publicly. We may redact in part or withhold entirely from publication submitted material that is obscene or subject to copyright protection. All submissions should refer to file number SR–DTC–2023–011 and should be submitted on or before November 24, 2023. For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.21 J. Matthew DeLesDernier, Deputy Secretary. [FR Doc. 2023–24177 Filed 11–1–23; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8011–01–P SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration #20032 and #20033; MISSOURI Disaster Number MO–20000] Administrative Disaster Declaration of a Rural Area for the State of Missouri U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Notice. AGENCY: This is a notice of an Administrative disaster declaration of a rural area for the State of Missouri dated 10/27/2023. Incident: Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes and Flooding. Incident Period: 07/29/2023 through 08/14/2023. DATES: Issued on 10/27/2023. Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 12/26/2023. Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan Application Deadline Date: 07/29/2024. ADDRESSES: Visit the MySBA Loan Portal at https://lending.sba.gov to apply for a disaster assistance loan. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alan Escobar, Office of Disaster Recovery & Resilience, U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 3rd Street SW, Suite 6050, Washington, DC 20416, (202) 205–6734. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given that as a result of the Administrator’s disaster declaration of a SUMMARY: 21 17 Jkt 262001 PO 00000 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). Frm 00100 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 rural area, applications for disaster loans may be submitted online using the MySBA Loan Portal https:// lending.sba.gov or other locally announced locations. Please contact the SBA disaster assistance customer service center by email at disastercustomerservice@sba.gov or by phone at 1–800–659–2955 for further assistance. The following areas have been determined to be adversely affected by the disaster: Primary Counties: Bollinger, Knox. The Interest Rates are: Percent For Physical Damage: Homeowners with Credit Available Elsewhere .................... Homeowners without Credit Available Elsewhere ............ Businesses with Credit Available Elsewhere .................... Businesses without Credit Available Elsewhere ............ Non-Profit Organizations with Credit Available Elsewhere Non-Profit Organizations without Credit Available Elsewhere ................................... For Economic Injury: Business and Small Agricultural Cooperatives without Credit Available Elsewhere Non-Profit Organizations without Credit Available Elsewhere ................................... 5.000 2.500 8.000 4.000 2.375 2.375 4.000 2.375 The number assigned to this disaster for physical damage is 200326 and for economic injury is 200330. The State which received an EIDL Declaration is Missouri. (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 59008) Isabella Guzman, Administrator. [FR Doc. 2023–24201 Filed 11–1–23; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8026–09–P SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Procurement Scorecard Program; Exclusion for Certain Department of Veterans Affairs Contracts U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Notice. AGENCY: The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) publishes an annual procurement scorecard (Scorecard) that scores agencies on their performance in contracting with small businesses. This notice modifies the method that SBA uses to calculate contracting dollars for the Department SUMMARY: E:\FR\FM\02NON1.SGM 02NON1 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 211 / Thursday, November 2, 2023 / Notices of Veterans Affairs (VA). Specifically, starting with fiscal year 2023 (FY23), SBA will exclude VA expenditures for Community Care Network (CCN) contracts and any successor contracts. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kevin Doss, Deputy Director, Office of Government Contracting and Business Development, Kevin.Doss@sba.gov, (202) 272–7700. This notice modifies the method that SBA uses to calculate contracting dollars for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Specifically, starting with fiscal year 2023 (FY23), SBA will exclude VA expenditures for Community Care Network (CCN) contracts and any successor contracts. The phone number above may also be reached by individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, or who have speech disabilities, through the Federal Communications Commission’s TTYBased Telecommunications Relay Service teletype service at 711. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES I. Background SBA issues an annual Scorecard to score Federal agencies on creating the maximum practicable opportunities for the award of prime contracts and subcontracts to small business concerns, small disadvantaged businesses (SDBs), women-owned small businesses (WOSBs), HUBZone small business concerns, and service-disabled veteranowned small business concerns (SDVO SBCs). Sec. 868, Public Law 114–92, 129 Stat. 933 (November 25, 2015). SBA bases an agency’s score on several weighted factors, the most significant of which is the percentage of prime contracting dollars awarded to small businesses. SBA strives to account for all Federal contracting dollars on the annual Scorecard, but, in rare circumstances, SBA will exclude isolated categories of contracts from the Scorecard. As one example, SBA does not consider contracts that are not reported into the governmentwide contract reporting systems, namely the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) and the Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS), because SBA cannot verify their existence. Some other categories are excluded from the Scorecard by operation of law. See 15 U.S.C. 644(g)(2)(B). Additionally, SBA has excluded from the Scorecard certain contracts in which the agency has very little—if any— involvement in incurring the obligation. SBA believes that the Scorecard measures the agency’s efforts to reach small-business and socioeconomic contractor goals, and, in the rare cases VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:32 Nov 01, 2023 Jkt 262001 where the agency is not the primary decisionmaker in incurring the contract obligation, it is not unreasonable to consider whether those cases are skewing the agency’s Scorecard achievement through no fault of the agency itself. On that basis, SBA excludes from the Scorecard certain contracts awarded under the Department of Defense’s TRICARE program, which provides health care to Servicemembers, retirees and their families. Under the TRICARE exclusion, SBA disregards all contract obligations reported by the Defense Health Agency’s TRICARE contracting offices codes H94002 and HT9402. in determining the Department of Defense’s score for the Scorecard. As noted in SBA’s Goaling Guidelines, the TRICARE exclusion recognizes patients’ role as the primary decisionmaker when and where to seek health care under the program. DHA’s contracting arrangements primarily give effect to that patient decision. Other exclusions operate in the same manner. All of the exclusions from the Scorecard, as well as other details on the Scorecard methodology, are listed in SBA’s Goaling Guidelines, available at https://www.sba.gov/document/reportsba-goaling-guidelines. On May 22, 2023, the VA, through its director of the Office of Small Disadvantaged Business Utilization, requested that SBA grant an exclusion from the Scorecard for the VA’s Community Care Network (CCN) contracts used to provide veterans with access to health care from non-VA providers. SBA has considered the VA’s request and the applicable statutory requirements for an exclusion, and SBA grants the exclusion beginning with the Scorecard for FY23. II. The VA’s CCN Contracts Under the CCN contracts, veterans have access to a nationwide system of healthcare providers that operate outside of the VA system. The VA states in its exclusion request that the veteran is the primary decisionmaker on whether to incur an obligation under a CCN contract. According to the VA, the veteran’s choice as to whether to use a non-VA facilities largely determines whether healthcare will be provided under a CCN contract or through a VA provider. The VA’s request explains that the CCN contracts are for the benefit of the veteran, not a procurement for Government use. The VA analogized the CCN contracts to the Department of Defense’s TRICARE contracts, which SBA already excludes from the Scorecard. PO 00000 Frm 00101 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 75363 The VA’s expenditures through CCN are substantial. In FY22, CCN obligations accounted for 38.9% of the VA’s total procurement base. The growth in CCN obligations in FY22 caused a steep decline in the percentage of contracting dollars that the VA spent with small businesses, even as VA’s actual dollars awarded to small business attained a record high. III. Statutory Requirements Section 1631(c)(2) of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2013, Public Law 112–239, constrains SBA’s authority to consider and grant exclusions from the Scorecard. Under section 1631, SBA is not permitted to exclude categories of contracts on the basis of three criteria listed in the NDAA: (1) the type of goods or services for which the agency contracts; (2) whether or not funding for the contracts is made directly available to the agency by an Appropriations Act or is made available by reimbursement from another agency or account; and (3) whether or not the contract is subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulation. In its request, the VA explained that an exclusion for the CCN contracts would not be on the basis of any of those statutorily identified criteria. First, the CCN exclusion is based on specific contracts that provide access to non-VA care for veterans, not based on the type of good or service. The VA states that the exclusion would not affect other healthcare contracts, such as establishing Community Based Outpatient clinics, procuring medical supplies, or obtaining temporary services from health care providers. Second, the VA found that the CCN exclusion would not be based on whether the funding is appropriated. Congress appropriates funding for CCN contracts through a Medical Community Care appropriations account, but that is not the basis for the VA’s request. Instead, the VA bases its request on the veteran being the primary decisionmaker on whether to incur an obligation under the CCN contracts. Third, the VA states that it does not base its request on the applicability of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. The VA reiterated that the contracts are for the benefit of the veteran, not the agency. Based on the foregoing, SBA believes that it is not constrained by section 1631 in considering and granting the VA’s request for an exclusion. IV. Exclusion for CCN Contracts Starting in the Scorecard for F23, SBA will exclude the CCN contracts and any successor contracts from the VA’s prime E:\FR\FM\02NON1.SGM 02NON1 75364 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 211 / Thursday, November 2, 2023 / Notices contracting Scorecard and the governmentwide prime contracting scorecard by disregarding actions using Funding Office code 36135Y. This code refers to the Office of Integrated Veteran Care within the Veterans Health Administration, which reports the claims for payments under the CCN contracts for submission to FPDS. Larry Stubblefield, Acting Associate Administrator, Office of Government Contracting and Business Development. [FR Doc. 2023–24206 Filed 11–1–23; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8026–09–P DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Aviation Administration Notice of Availability of Consultation Documents for Public Comment Under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of Transportation (DOT). ACTION: Notice of availability of consultation documents for public comment under section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. AGENCY: The FAA, in cooperation with the National Park Service (NPS) (together the agencies), has initiated development of an Air Tour Management Plan (ATMP) for Canyon de Chelly National Monument (the Park) pursuant to the National Parks Air Tour Management Act (NPATMA) of 2000 and its implementing regulations. The agencies determined that the development of an ATMP constitutes a Federal undertaking subject to compliance the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (NHPA). The agencies have initiated the section 106 process with the Navajo Nation Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Tribes, and other consulting parties. This notice announces the opportunity for the public to comment on the results of the FAA’s efforts to identify historic properties, evaluate the properties’ significance, and assess the undertaking’s effects on them. The agencies are seeking public input on the FAA’s efforts to date in identifying consulting parties, determining the area of potential effects, identifying historic properties, and assessing the effects of the undertaking on historic properties within the area of potential effects. The agencies are providing the description of the undertaking, the consulting party list, the delineation of the proposed Area of Potential Effects (APE), the khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES SUMMARY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:32 Nov 01, 2023 Jkt 262001 results of the agencies’ efforts to identify historic properties within the APE, the evaluation of their significance, and the agencies’ approach to assessing the undertaking’s effects upon the identified historic properties. Supporting documentation can be found at the following link: https://parkplanning. nps.gov/CACHATMP. DATES: Any member of the public is encouraged to provide views on this project to the agencies. The agencies will accept and consider comments related to section 106. Comments must be received on or before December 1, 2023, by 11:59 MDT. Comments will be received on the PEPC website. The Park’s website link is https:// parkplanning.nps.gov/CACHATMP. Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, be advised that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask in your comment to withhold from public review your personal identifying information, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. ADDRESSES: The public is encouraged to provide written comments regarding the section 106 documents provided in the PEPC website throughout the comment period. Contact: Any request for reasonable accommodation related to providing comments on the Section 106 documents should be sent to the person listed on the Park’s PEPC website. The U.S. Department of Transportation and U.S. Department of the Interior are committed to providing equal access to the meetings for all participants. If you need alternative formats or services because of a disability, such as sign language, interpretation, or other ancillary aids, please contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sandra Fox, (202) 267–0928, Sandra.Y.Fox@faa.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Description of the Undertaking. The undertaking for purposes of section 106 is implementing an ATMP for the Park. Consistent with the NPATMA, the proposed ATMP would regulate commercial air tours over the Park or within 1⁄2 mile outside the boundary of the Park, including over tribal lands within or abutting the Park. A commercial air tour subject to the ATMP is any flight conducted for compensation or hire in a powered aircraft where a purpose of the flight is PO 00000 Frm 00102 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 sightseeing over the Park, or within 1⁄2 mile of its boundary, during which the aircraft flies: (1) Below 5,000 feet above ground level (except solely for the purposes of takeoff or landing, or necessary for safe operation of an aircraft as determined under the rules and regulations of the FAA requiring the pilot-in-command to take action to ensure the safe operation of the aircraft); or (2) Less than one mile laterally from any geographic feature within the Park (unless more than 1⁄2 mile outside the Park boundary). Overflights that do not meet the definition above of a commercial air tour are not subject to the NPATMA and are thus outside the scope of the ATMP. The agencies have documented the existing conditions for commercial air tour operations over the Park. Although there are four air tour operators with IOA (Interim Operating Authority), only one commercial air tour operator currently conducts tours over the Park. The operator currently flies one route west to east over the southern portion of the park, two routes running east to west and back through the center of the Park, and two routes entering and exiting through the north portion of the Park and passing along the center of the Park east to west and back. Until the ATMP is in place the operators could change routes to fly over other areas of the Park without notice to the agencies. Existing routes are depicted in Attachment A in the supporting documentation. The agencies consider the existing operations for commercial air tours to be an average of 2017–2019 annual air tours flown, which is 43 air tours. Based on 2017–2019 data, there was only one instance in which flights exceeded 1 per day (2 flights on 3/19/ 19). A three-year average is used because it reflects the most accurate and reliable air tour conditions, and accounts for variations across multiple years. Under existing conditions, commercial air tours over the Park are conducted using fixed wing aircraft: Cessna 182 and Cessna T207A. Reported minimum altitudes range from 800 to 1,000 feet (ft.) above ground level (AGL) 1 depending on the route. The proposed undertaking would prohibit commercial air tour operations within the ATMP planning area. A summary of 1 Altitude expressed in units above ground level is a measurement of the distance between the ground surface and the aircraft, whereas altitude expressed in median sea level (MSL) refers to the altitude of aircraft above sea level, regardless of the terrain below it. Aircraft flying at a constant MSL altitude would simultaneously fly at varying AGL altitudes, and vice versa, assuming uneven terrain is present below the aircraft. E:\FR\FM\02NON1.SGM 02NON1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 211 (Thursday, November 2, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75362-75364]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-24206]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION


Procurement Scorecard Program; Exclusion for Certain Department 
of Veterans Affairs Contracts

AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) publishes an 
annual procurement scorecard (Scorecard) that scores agencies on their 
performance in contracting with small businesses. This notice modifies 
the method that SBA uses to calculate contracting dollars for the 
Department

[[Page 75363]]

of Veterans Affairs (VA). Specifically, starting with fiscal year 2023 
(FY23), SBA will exclude VA expenditures for Community Care Network 
(CCN) contracts and any successor contracts.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kevin Doss, Deputy Director, Office of 
Government Contracting and Business Development, [email protected], 
(202) 272-7700. This notice modifies the method that SBA uses to 
calculate contracting dollars for the Department of Veterans Affairs 
(VA). Specifically, starting with fiscal year 2023 (FY23), SBA will 
exclude VA expenditures for Community Care Network (CCN) contracts and 
any successor contracts. The phone number above may also be reached by 
individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, or who have speech 
disabilities, through the Federal Communications Commission's TTY-Based 
Telecommunications Relay Service teletype service at 711.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    SBA issues an annual Scorecard to score Federal agencies on 
creating the maximum practicable opportunities for the award of prime 
contracts and subcontracts to small business concerns, small 
disadvantaged businesses (SDBs), women-owned small businesses (WOSBs), 
HUBZone small business concerns, and service-disabled veteran-owned 
small business concerns (SDVO SBCs). Sec. 868, Public Law 114-92, 129 
Stat. 933 (November 25, 2015). SBA bases an agency's score on several 
weighted factors, the most significant of which is the percentage of 
prime contracting dollars awarded to small businesses.
    SBA strives to account for all Federal contracting dollars on the 
annual Scorecard, but, in rare circumstances, SBA will exclude isolated 
categories of contracts from the Scorecard. As one example, SBA does 
not consider contracts that are not reported into the governmentwide 
contract reporting systems, namely the Federal Procurement Data System 
(FPDS) and the Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS), 
because SBA cannot verify their existence. Some other categories are 
excluded from the Scorecard by operation of law. See 15 U.S.C. 
644(g)(2)(B).
    Additionally, SBA has excluded from the Scorecard certain contracts 
in which the agency has very little--if any--involvement in incurring 
the obligation. SBA believes that the Scorecard measures the agency's 
efforts to reach small-business and socioeconomic contractor goals, 
and, in the rare cases where the agency is not the primary 
decisionmaker in incurring the contract obligation, it is not 
unreasonable to consider whether those cases are skewing the agency's 
Scorecard achievement through no fault of the agency itself.
    On that basis, SBA excludes from the Scorecard certain contracts 
awarded under the Department of Defense's TRICARE program, which 
provides health care to Servicemembers, retirees and their families. 
Under the TRICARE exclusion, SBA disregards all contract obligations 
reported by the Defense Health Agency's TRICARE contracting offices 
codes H94002 and HT9402. in determining the Department of Defense's 
score for the Scorecard. As noted in SBA's Goaling Guidelines, the 
TRICARE exclusion recognizes patients' role as the primary 
decisionmaker when and where to seek health care under the program. 
DHA's contracting arrangements primarily give effect to that patient 
decision. Other exclusions operate in the same manner.
    All of the exclusions from the Scorecard, as well as other details 
on the Scorecard methodology, are listed in SBA's Goaling Guidelines, 
available at https://www.sba.gov/document/report-sba-goaling-guidelines.
    On May 22, 2023, the VA, through its director of the Office of 
Small Disadvantaged Business Utilization, requested that SBA grant an 
exclusion from the Scorecard for the VA's Community Care Network (CCN) 
contracts used to provide veterans with access to health care from non-
VA providers. SBA has considered the VA's request and the applicable 
statutory requirements for an exclusion, and SBA grants the exclusion 
beginning with the Scorecard for FY23.

II. The VA's CCN Contracts

    Under the CCN contracts, veterans have access to a nationwide 
system of healthcare providers that operate outside of the VA system. 
The VA states in its exclusion request that the veteran is the primary 
decisionmaker on whether to incur an obligation under a CCN contract. 
According to the VA, the veteran's choice as to whether to use a non-VA 
facilities largely determines whether healthcare will be provided under 
a CCN contract or through a VA provider.
    The VA's request explains that the CCN contracts are for the 
benefit of the veteran, not a procurement for Government use. The VA 
analogized the CCN contracts to the Department of Defense's TRICARE 
contracts, which SBA already excludes from the Scorecard.
    The VA's expenditures through CCN are substantial. In FY22, CCN 
obligations accounted for 38.9% of the VA's total procurement base. The 
growth in CCN obligations in FY22 caused a steep decline in the 
percentage of contracting dollars that the VA spent with small 
businesses, even as VA's actual dollars awarded to small business 
attained a record high.

III. Statutory Requirements

    Section 1631(c)(2) of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 
for Fiscal Year 2013, Public Law 112-239, constrains SBA's authority to 
consider and grant exclusions from the Scorecard. Under section 1631, 
SBA is not permitted to exclude categories of contracts on the basis of 
three criteria listed in the NDAA: (1) the type of goods or services 
for which the agency contracts; (2) whether or not funding for the 
contracts is made directly available to the agency by an Appropriations 
Act or is made available by reimbursement from another agency or 
account; and (3) whether or not the contract is subject to the Federal 
Acquisition Regulation.
    In its request, the VA explained that an exclusion for the CCN 
contracts would not be on the basis of any of those statutorily 
identified criteria. First, the CCN exclusion is based on specific 
contracts that provide access to non-VA care for veterans, not based on 
the type of good or service. The VA states that the exclusion would not 
affect other healthcare contracts, such as establishing Community Based 
Outpatient clinics, procuring medical supplies, or obtaining temporary 
services from health care providers.
    Second, the VA found that the CCN exclusion would not be based on 
whether the funding is appropriated. Congress appropriates funding for 
CCN contracts through a Medical Community Care appropriations account, 
but that is not the basis for the VA's request. Instead, the VA bases 
its request on the veteran being the primary decisionmaker on whether 
to incur an obligation under the CCN contracts.
    Third, the VA states that it does not base its request on the 
applicability of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. The VA reiterated 
that the contracts are for the benefit of the veteran, not the agency.
    Based on the foregoing, SBA believes that it is not constrained by 
section 1631 in considering and granting the VA's request for an 
exclusion.

IV. Exclusion for CCN Contracts

    Starting in the Scorecard for F23, SBA will exclude the CCN 
contracts and any successor contracts from the VA's prime

[[Page 75364]]

contracting Scorecard and the governmentwide prime contracting 
scorecard by disregarding actions using Funding Office code 36135Y. 
This code refers to the Office of Integrated Veteran Care within the 
Veterans Health Administration, which reports the claims for payments 
under the CCN contracts for submission to FPDS.

Larry Stubblefield,
Acting Associate Administrator, Office of Government Contracting and 
Business Development.
[FR Doc. 2023-24206 Filed 11-1-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8026-09-P
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