National Aeronautics and Space Administration 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, as amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announces an open meeting of the NASA International Space Station (ISS) Advisory Committee. The purpose of the meeting is to assess NASA and Roscosmos continuing plans to support a six-person crew aboard the International Space Station, including transportation, and crew rotation; and, to assess the possibilities for using the ISS for future space exploration.

DoD, GSA, and NASA issued an interim rule on November 2, 2011, amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement section 1331 of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (Jobs Act). Section 1331 addresses set-asides of task- and delivery-orders under multiple-award contracts, partial set-asides under multiple-award contracts, and the reserving of one or more multiple-award contracts that are awarded using full and open competition. Within this same context, section 1331 also addresses the Federal Supply Schedules Program managed by GSA. DoD, GSA, and NASA are coordinating with the Small Business Administration (SBA) on the development of an SBA proposed rule that will provide greater detail regarding implementation of section 1331 authorities. The comment period is being extended to provide additional time for interested parties to review the FAR changes of FAR Case 2011- 024, Set-Asides for Small Business, to February 13, 2012.

This document contains a correction to the final rule that was published in the Federal Register at 77 FR 197 on January 3, 2012. An applicability date to the rule was inadvertently omitted.

This document is issued under the joint authority of DOD, GSA, and NASA. 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 the rule appearing in Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-55, which amends the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). Interested parties may obtain further information regarding this rule by referring to FAC 2005-55, which precedes this document. These documents are also available via the Internet at https://www.regulations.gov.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to update references to authoritative accounting standards owing to the Financial Accounting Standards Board's Accounting Standards Codification of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommendations to: ensure that time-and- materials and labor-hour contracts are used to acquire commercial services only when no other contract type is suitable; and instill discipline in the determination of contract type with a view toward managing the risk to the Government.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to update certain definitions and clauses pertaining to three procurement systems included in the Integrated Acquisition Environmentthe Central Contractor Registration database, the Excluded Parties List System, and the Online Representations and Certifications Application. These three Integrated Acquisition Environment systems and the Disaster Response Registry will now be accessed through a single Web site.

This document summarizes the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) rules agreed to by DoD, GSA, and NASA in this Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-55. 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.