National Aeronautics and Space Administration January 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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

DoD, GSA, and NASA have adopted as final, with change, the interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement the United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement. This Trade Promotion Agreement is a free trade agreement (FTA) that provides for mutually non-discriminatory treatment of eligible products and services from Colombia.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are adopting as final, without change, an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement a section of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012, that prohibits the award of contracts using appropriated funds to any foreign incorporated entity that is treated as an inverted domestic corporation or to any subsidiary of such entity.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Regulatory Secretariat 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 Qualification Requirements. A notice was published in the Federal Register at 77 FR 51784, on August 27, 2012. One respondent submitted comments.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Regulatory Secretariat 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 permits, authorities, or franchises for regulated transportation. A notice was published in the Federal Register at 77 FR 55475, on September 10, 2012. One respondent submitted comments. Public comments are particularly invited on: Whether this collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of functions of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (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, the Regulatory Secretariat 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 drug- free workplace. A notice was published in the Federal Register at 77 FR 52696, on August 30, 2012. 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 Federal Acquisition Regulations (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, the Regulatory Secretariat 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 Payments. A notice was published in the Federal Register at 77 FR 43080, on July 23, 2012. One respondent submitted comments. Public comments are particularly invited on: Whether this collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of functions of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (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.

This direct final rule makes nonsubstantive changes to align with and implement the provisions of Executive Order (E.O.) 13526, Classified National Security Information, and appropriately to correspond with NASA's internal requirements, NPR 1600.2, Classified National Security Information, that establishes the Agency's requirements for the proper implementation and management of a uniform system for classifying, accounting, safeguarding, and declassifying national security information generated by or in the possession of NASA. The revisions to these rules are part of NASA's retrospective plan under E.O. 13563 completed in August 2011. NASA's full plan can be accessed on the Agency's open Government Web site at https:// www.nasa.gov/open/.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing a correction to the applicability date of FAR Case 2011-028; Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts, which was published in the Federal Register at 77 FR 75766, December 21, 2012.

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, as amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announces a forthcoming meeting of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel.

This Regulatory Agenda is a semiannual summary of all current and projected rulemakings, existing regulations, and completed actions of the Small Business Administration (SBA). For this fall edition of the SBA's Regulatory Agenda, a Regulatory Plan that contains a list of the Agency's most important and significant regulatory actions and a Statement of Regulatory Priorities is also included. This plan appears in both the online Unified Agenda and in part II of the Federal Register editions that include the abbreviated Unified Agenda. This agenda provides the public with information about SBA's regulatory activity. SBA invites the public to submit comments on any aspect of this Agenda. SBA expects that providing early information about pending regulatory activities would encourage more effective public participation in this process.

This agenda announces the proposed regulatory actions that GSA plans for the next 12 months and those that were completed since the fall 2012 edition. This agenda was developed under the guidelines of Executive Order 12866 ``Regulatory Planning and Review.'' GSA's purpose in publishing this agenda is to allow interested persons an opportunity to participate in the rulemaking process. GSA also invites interested persons to recommend existing significant regulations for review to determine whether they should be modified or eliminated. Proposed rules may be reviewed in their entirety at the Government's rulemaking Web site at https://www.regulations.gov. Since the fall 2007 edition, the Internet has been the basic means for disseminating the Unified Agenda. The complete Unified Agenda will be available online at www.reginfo.gov, in a format that offers users a greatly enhanced ability to obtain information from the Agenda database. Because publication in the Federal Register is mandated for the regulatory flexibility agendas required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 602), GSA's printed agenda entries include only: (1) Rules that are in the Agency's regulatory flexibility agenda, in accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act, because they are likely to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities; and (2) Any rules that the Agency has identified for periodic review under section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act. Printing of these entries is limited to fields that contain information required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act's Agenda requirements. Additional information on these entries is available in the Unified Agenda published on the Internet. In addition, for fall editions of the Agenda, the entire Regulatory Plan will continue to be printed in the Federal Register, as in past years, including GSA's regulatory plan.