Government Accountability Office 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 established the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) and gave the Comptroller General responsibility for appointing its members. For appointments to MedPAC that will be effective May 1, 2012, I am announcing the following: Letters of nomination should be submitted between January 1 and March 8, 2011, to ensure adequate opportunity for review and consideration of nominees prior to the appointment of new members.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is providing notice of its intent to adopt the policies and procedures contained in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) regarding the debarment, suspension, and ineligibility of government contractors. As a legislative branch agency, GAO is not subject to the requirements of the FAR. However, it is GAO's general policy to follow the FAR, as appropriate and applicable. Mandatory application of the FAR is not to be inferred from GAO's adoption of this policy. GAO's procurement rules are not contained in the Code of Federal Regulations, but instead are contained in an internal GAO document referred to as ``Government Accountability Office Procurement Guidelines'' (hereinafter, GAO's Procurement Order). As such, the proposed policy regarding debarment and suspension will be added as a chapter to GAO's Procurement Order. However, persons or entities seeking government contracts could potentially be adversely affected if, pursuant to the proposed policy, they were debarred, suspended, or proposed for debarment by GAO. As such, GAO is providing interested persons an opportunity for notice and comment on this proposed policy.

This rule is a revision of portions of GAO's records rule. These revisions clarify procedures to obtain Government Accountability Office (GAO) documents. Published GAO documents such as testimonies, reports, and decisions are available to the public on GAO's Web site and also may be requested over the telephone. Their wide availability eliminates the need for regulations governing their request, and accordingly published GAO documents are no longer subject to the procedures of this part. The revisions also clarify that records compiled for law enforcement purposes by another agency and records provided by GAO to another agency for law enforcement purposes are not subject to disclosure. The previous regulatory language on this point was imprecise. The changes also add steps to the procedures for using GAO's public reading facility, to facilitate the efficient use of the facility. Finally, the revisions make various housekeeping changes reflecting shifts in GAO's operating procedures. These changes clarify for the public which GAO documents are subject to this part and how to obtain such documents.