General Services Administration – 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), Regulatory 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 corporate aircraft costs. This OMB clearance expires on June 30, 2009.

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule Advisory Panel (MAS Panel), a Federal Advisory Committee, will hold a public meeting on Friday, May 1, 2009. 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.

GSA reviewed its Privacy Act systems to ensure that they are relevant, necessary, accurate, up-to-date, covered by the appropriate legal or regulatory authority, and compliant with OMB M-07-16. This notice is an updated Privacy Act system of records notice.

The General Services Administration (GSA), in conjunction with the Presidential declaration of disaster areas in certain locations in the state of North Dakota due to the recent severe storms and flooding, has issued GSA Bulletin FTR 09-06. This bulletin waives certain temporary duty and relocation requirements outlined in the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR). GSA Bulletin FTR 09-06 may be found at https:// www.gsa.gov/federaltravelregulation.

The General Services Administration (GSA) is amending the Federal Travel Regulation in regards to the meals and incidental expenses (M&IE) allowance that an employee is entitled to when travel is for more than 12 hours but less than 24 hours.

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 a new information collection requirement regarding a Management Services Center (MSC) Customer Satisfaction E-Survey.

The General Services Administration is proposing to amend the Federal Management Regulation (FMR) by making a change to its personal property policy. The proposed change will update and clarify language that has caused some confusion with our customers and resulted in unnecessarily prolonged periods to remove property.

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 implement Section 871 of the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 (NDAA) (Pub. L. 110-417) which allows the Government Accountability Office to interview current contractor employees during the audit of the contractor's records. FAR 52.215-2(d)(1), Audit and Records-Negotiation, is revised to allow for the required access by inserting before the period: ``and to interview any current employee regarding such transactions''. FAR 52.214-26(c), Audit and Records-Sealed Bidding is revised to allow for the required access by inserting before the period: ``and also the right to interview any current employee regarding such transactions''.

This document summarizes the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) rules agreed to by the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council in this Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-32. A companion document, the Small Entity Compliance Guide (SECG), follows this FAC. The FAC, including the SECG, is available via the Internet at https://acquisition.gov/far.

This document is issued under the joint authority of the Secretary of Defense, the Administrator of General Services and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This Small Entity Compliance Guide has been prepared in accordance with Section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. It consists of a summary of rules appearing in Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-32 which amend the FAR. An asterisk (*) next to a rule indicates that a regulatory flexibility analysis has been prepared. Interested parties may obtain further information regarding these rules by referring to FAC 2005-32 which precedes this document. These documents are also available via the Internet at http:/ /www.regulations.gov.

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 implement the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Guidance M-09-10, dated February 18, 2009, entitled, ``Initial Implementing Guidance for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009'' (the Recovery Act), with respect to publicizing contract actions.

The General Services Administration (GSA) is amending the General Services Administration Acquisition Manual (GSAM) to update the

The General Services Administration (GSA) has reviewed the per diem rates for certain locations in the States of Idaho and Maryland and determined that they are inadequate. GSA has also reviewed and is amending the county boundaries of Columbia, South Carolina.

The GSA is proposing to amend the General Services Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to update the text addressing environment, conservation, occupational safety and drug-free workplace.

This document summarizes the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) rules agreed to by the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council in this Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-31. A companion document, the Small Entity Compliance Guide (SECG), follows this FAC. The FAC, including the SECG, is available via the Internet at https://www.regulations.gov.

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 the Small Business Administration's (SBA) final rule published on November 15, 2006 (71 FR 66434) entitled, Small Business Size Regulations; Size for Purposes of Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts, Multiple Award Schedule Contracts and Other Long-Term Contracts; 8(a) Business Development/Small Disadvantaged Business; Business Status Determinations. The purpose of the SBA rule is to improve the accuracy of small business size status reporting over the life of certain contracts.

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 a revision by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to the list of Least Developed Countries that are designated countries under the Trade Agreements Act of 1979.

This document makes amendments to the Federal Acquisition Regulation in order to make editorial changes.

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 davis-bacon act price adjustment (actual method). A request for public comments was published in the Federal Register at 73 FR 67488, November 14, 2008. No comments were received. 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.

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 Federal acquisition and community right-to-know. A request for public comments was published in the Federal Register at 73 FR 56561, September 29, 2008. No comments were received. 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.

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 the new information collection requirement regarding the collection of personal data for background check investigations for temporary contractors and child care workers accessing GSA owned and leased controlled facilities. 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.

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, February 27, 2009 and Monday March 2, 2009. 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. The Panel will be 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? The meetings will be held at U.S. General Services Administration, Federal Acquisition Service, 2200 Crystal Drive, Room L1301, Arlington, VA 22202. The location is within walking distance of the Crystal City metro stop. The start time for each meeting is 9 a.m., and each meeting will adjourn no later than 5 p.m.

This system of records was established for the purpose of serving as a basis for taking civil, criminal, and administrative actions, including the issuance of subpoenas, security clearances, suitability determinations, suspension and debarment recommendations and similar authorized activities.

The GSA is proposing to amend the General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to revise sections of the GSAR that provide requirements for Federal Supply Schedule Contracting actions.