General Services Administration June 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing a correction to FAR Case 2016- 004; Acquisition Threshold for Special Emergency Procurement Authority, which was published in the Federal Register at 81 FR 39882, June 20, 2016.

The General Services Administration (GSA) is amending the General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to include clauses that require vendors to report transactional data from orders placed against certain Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracts, Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs), and Governmentwide Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contracts. Transactional data refers to the information generated when the Government purchases goods or services from a vendor. It includes specific details such as descriptions, part numbers, quantities, and prices paid for the items purchased. GSA has experimented with collecting transactional data through some of its contracts and found it instrumental for improving competition, lowering pricing, and increasing transparency. Accordingly, GSA will now test these principles on a broader base of its contracting programs. This move supports the Government's shift towards category management by allowing it to centrally analyze what it buys and how much it pays, and thereby identify the most efficient solutions, channels, and sources to meet its mission critical needs. GSA will introduce a new Transactional Data Reporting clause to its FSS contracts in phases, beginning with a pilot for select Schedules and Special Item Numbers. Participating vendors will no longer be subject to the existing requirements for Commercial Sales Practices (CSP) disclosures and Price Reductions clause (PRC) basis of award monitoring, resulting in a substantial burden reduction. Stakeholders have identified the CSP and PRC requirements as some of the most burdensome under the Schedules program. These actions represent the most significant change to the Schedules program in the past two decades. GSA has also created a Transactional Data Reporting clause for all new GWACs and Governmentwide IDIQ contracts and may apply the clause to any existing contracts in this class that do not contain other transactional data requirements.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are proposing to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 to raise the simplified acquisition threshold for special emergency procurement authority.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Regulatory Secretariat Division 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 bid guarantees, performance and payment bonds, and alternative payment protections.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Regulatory Secretariat Division 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 Travel Costs.

The General Services Administration (GSA) is issuing a final rule amending the General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) regulation, Describing Agency Needs, to implement the Federal Supply Schedules Usage Act of 2010 (FSSUA), the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Reauthorization Act of 2008 (NAHASDA), the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (NDAA), and the Local Preparedness Acquisition Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (LPAA). GSA is also amending the GSAR, Federal Supply Schedule Contracting, and Solicitation Provisions and Contract Clauses, in regard to this statutory implementation to clarify the application of these laws and access privileges of certain Non-Federal Entities purchasing off of Federal Supply Schedules (FSS). Additionally, prescriptions in the GSAR are amended to reflect the correct prescription numbers. This final rule also updates the web address to correct an inoperable link.

The General Services Administration (GSA) is issuing a final rule, with editorial revisions to the second proposed rule, amending the General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to update requirements for special contracting methods by eliminating out of date references and reorganizing the text to align with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).

Notice of these teleconferences is being provided according to the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App. 10(a)(2). This notice provides the schedule for a teleconference/web meeting of the full Committee, and separately for a series of teleconferences/web meetings for two task groups of the Committee. These teleconferences are open for the public to listen in. Interested individuals must register to attend as instructed below under Supplementary Information.