General Services Administration 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a currently approved information collection requirement concerning the reporting requirements of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 11001-11050) and the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 13101-13109). The clearance currently expires onJanuary 31, 2009. Public comments are particularly invited on: Whether this collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of functions of the 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.

The General Services Administration (GSA) is amending the General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to implement Pub.L. 110-248, The Local Preparedness Acquisition Act. The Act authorizes the Administrator of General Services to provide for the use by State or local governments of Federal Supply Schedules of the General Services Administration (GSA) for alarm and signal systems, facility management systems, firefighting and rescue equipment, law enforcement and security equipment, marine craft and related equipment, special purpose clothing, and related services (as contained in Federal supply classification code group 84 or any amended or subsequent version of that Federal supply classification group).

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to require that annual reviews by executive agency competition advocates be provided in writing to both the agency senior procurement executive and the agency chief acquisition officer, if designated, and that the reports specifically address the quality of planning, executing, and managing of task and delivery orders over $1 million.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to increase the blanket waiver threshold for small dollar-value purchases from Federal Prison Industries (FPI) by Federal agencies and to change the name of the JWOD Program to the AbilityOne Program.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to correct references to sections of the Higher Education Act of 1965 at FAR 2.101 and 52.2. These sections of the Act contain the definitions of minority institution and Hispanic-serving institution. The citations for these sections changed when the Higher Education Act of 1965 was amended by the Higher Education Amendments of 1998. This final rule updates the FAR accordingly.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to revise the policies and procedures for contract debts.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement Section 822 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Pub. L. 110-181).

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed to adopt as final, without change, an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to revise the prescription for use of clauses for the use of Environmental Protection Agency-designated products and toxic chemical release reporting.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed to adopt as final, with change, the interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement Section 104 of the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005. Section 104 requires that entities that operate any business on any premises owned or controlled by the United States be capable of accepting and dispensing $1 coins on January 1, 2008. Subsequent to this, Pub. L. 110-147 amended 31 U.S.C. 5112(p)(1)(A), to allow an exception from the $1 coin dispensing capability requirement for vending machines that do not receive currency denominations greater than $1.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to revise the contract clauses related to the administration of the Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) to maintain consistency between the FAR and CAS.

The General Services Administration (GSA) is proposing to amend the General Services Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to revise language that provides requirements for publicizing contract actions.

This bulletin provides a deviation for executive agencies to purchase premium fuel for Government owned and leased vehicles when lower grade fuels are not available due to market shortages in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas due to the flooding and damage from Hurricane Gustav. GSA Bulletin FMR B-20 may be found at www.gsa.gov/bulletin.

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule Advisory Panel (MAS Panel), a Federal Advisory Committee, will hold public meetings on the following dates: Friday, September 19, 2008; Monday, September 22, 2008; Monday, October 6, 2008; and Monday, October 27, 2008. GSA utilizes the MAS program to establish long-term Governmentwide contracts with responsible firms to provide Federal, State, and local government customers with access to a wide variety of commercial supplies (products) and services. The MAS Panel was established to develop advice and recommendations on MAS program pricing policies, provisions, and procedures in the context of current commercial pricing practices. For the next 3 to 4 meetings, the Panel plans to focus on developing recommendations for MAS program pricing provisions for the acquisition of (1) professional services; (2) products; (3) total solutions which consist of professional services and products; and (4) non professional services. In developing the recommendations, the Panel will, at a minimum, address these 5 questions for each of the 4 types of acquisitions envisioned above: (1) Where does competition take place?; (2) If competition takes place primarily at the task/delivery order level, does a fair and reasonable price determination at the MAS contract level really matter?; (3) If the Panel consensus is that competition is at the task order level, are the methods that GSA uses to determine fair and reasonable prices and maintain the price/discount relationship with the basis of award customer(s) adequate?; (4) If the current policy is not adequate, what are the recommendations to improve the policy/guidance; and (5) If fair and reasonable price determination at the MAS contract level is not beneficial and the fair and reasonable price determination is to be determined only at the task/delivery order level, then what is the GSA role? To that end, the Panel would like to hear from the many stakeholders of the MAS program. The MAS program stakeholders include, but not limited to, ordering agency contracting officers, GSA contracting officers, schedule contract holders, Congress, program managers, General Accountability Office, and federal agency Inspector General Offices. The panel is particularly interested in stakeholder views as to how the issues discussed above may relate differently to the purchase of goods, services, or goods and services that are configured to propose an integrated solution to an agency's needs. September 19, 2008, is the last date that the Panel will entertain oral comments. Written comments may be submitted at any time in accordance with the guidance below. I. Acquisition of Services and Solutions Discussion and Recommendations Discussions will take place on Friday, September 19, 2008, and Monday, September 22, 2008. The meetings will be held at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Building, 2nd Floor, 1725 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. The building is located at the corner of 18th Street and New York Avenue, NW. Entrance to the building is on either 18th Street, or New York Avenue. The AIA is within walking distance of the Farragut North and Farragut West metro stops. The meeting start time for each day is 8:00 a.m., and it will adjourn no later than 5:00 p.m. II. Acquisition of Products Discussion and Recommendations Discussions will take place on Monday, October 6, 2008, and Monday, October 20, 2008. Monday, October 6, 2008, Location & Address: The meeting will be held at the Jury's Washington Hotel, 1500 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. The hotel is within walking distance from the Dupont Circle metro stop. The meeting start time is 9:00 a.m., and it will adjourn no later than 5:00 p.m. Monday, October 27, 2008, Location and Address: The meeting will be held at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Building, 2nd Floor, 1725 New York Avenue, NW., Washington, DC. The building is located at the corner of 18th Street and New York Avenue, NW. Entrance to the building is on either 18th Street or New York Avenue. The AIA is within walking distance of the Farragut North and Farragut West metro stops. The meeting start time is 9:00 a.m., and it will adjourn no later than 5:00 p.m. For presentations before the Panel, the following guidance is provided: Oral comments: September 19, 2008 is the last meeting date for oral comments. Requests to present oral comments at this meeting must be in writing (e-mail or fax) and received by the Designated Federal Official, Pat Brooks, at the below address ten (10) business days prior to the meeting date. Each individual or group requesting an oral presentation will be limited to a total time of five minutes. Speakers should bring at least 50 copies of their comments for distribution to the reviewers and public at the meeting. Written Comments: Written comments must be received ten (10) business days prior to the meeting date so that the comments may be provided to the Panel for their consideration prior to the meeting. Comments should be supplied to Ms. Brooks at the address/contact information noted below in the following format: one hard copy with original signature and one electronic copy via email in Microsoft Word. Subsequent meeting dates, locations, and times will be published at least 15 days prior to the meeting date.

The General Services Administration is amending the Federal Management Regulation (FMR) by revising the current mail management policy. This final rule incorporates changes made to the current interim rule.

The General Services Administration (GSA) is proposing to amend the General Services Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to revise language that provides requirements for termination of contracts.

This bulletin cancels GSA Bulletin FMR Bulletin 2006-B5, Real Property Asset Management Principles, published in the Federal Register on June 16, 2006, that introduced new Guiding Principles case studies to help Federal agencies manage and improve real property performance effectively in support of Executive Order 13327, ``Federal Real Property Asset Management.'' This bulletin updates the case studies to provide current asset management examples and best practices.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the General Services Administration has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a currently approved information collection requirement regarding Standard Form 151, Deposit Bond, Annual Sale of Government Personal Property. A request for public comments was published at 72 FR 20052, April 14, 2008. No comments were received. This OMB clearance expires on September 30, 2008. Public comments are particularly invited on: Whether this collection of information is necessary 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.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the General Services Administration will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a currently approved information collection requirement regarding the GSAR Price Reductions Clause. The clearance currently expires on October 31, 2008. Public comments are particularly invited on: Whether this collection of information is necessary 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; and ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected.

The General Services Administration (GSA) is proposing to amend the General Services Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to revise language that provides requirements for quality assurance.

The General Services Administration (GSA) is proposing to amend the General Services Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to revise language regarding requirements for improper business practices and personal conflicts of interest.

The General Services Administration (GSA) is proposing to amend the General Services Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to revise the language pertaining to requirements for the acquisition of commercial items.

This notice announces GSA Federal Management Regulation (FMR) Bulletin B-18 which provides guidance to Federal agencies on the use of voluntary consensus standards in managing the personal property assets under their control. This bulletin is discretionary to executive agencies. GSA Bulletin FMR B-18 may be found at www.gsa.gov/ fmrbulletin.

On December 11, 2007, the General Services Administration (GSA) published FTR Amendment 2007-06 in the Federal Register (72 FR 70234) specifying that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Standard Mileage Rate for moving purposes would be the rate at which agencies will reimburse an employee for using a privately-owned vehicle for relocation on a worldwide basis. The amendment indicated that the change to the IRS Standard Mileage Rate for moving purposes applied to relocations on and after September 25, 2007, and that GSA would publish a bulletin announcing any changes to that rate made by the IRS thereafter. On June 23, 2008, the IRS announced that as of July 1, 2008, the relocation mileage rate would increase to $0.27 per mile for the 6 month period ending on December 31, 2008. FTR Bulletin 08-06, is attached. FTR Bulletin 08-06 and all other FTR Bulletins may be found at www.gsa.gov/federaltravelregulation.