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

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. A notice was published in the Federal Register at 78 FR 17670, on March 22, 2013. No comments were received.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are proposing to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to continue the implementation of the requirements of section 803 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012. The proposed rule seeks public comments on applying section 803 with respect to that provision's expansion with respect to contracts that had been awarded by DoD, NASA, and the Coast Guard before the date of enactment of section 803 (which was December 31, 2011) of the application of the senior executive compensation benchmark amount. Section 803 expands to a broader group of contractor employees the limitation on reimbursing compensation costs. As section 803 provides, this proposed rule would apply section 803 retroactively to contracts awarded before December 31, 2011, with respect to the contractor compensation costs incurred after January 1, 2012. In addition, also as part of the implementation in the FAR of section 803, DoD, GSA and NASA are separately issuing an interim rule (FAR Case 2012-017) that addresses the prospective application of section 803 to contracts awarded on or after December 31, 2011.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement section 803 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012. In accordance with section 803, the interim rule expands the application to a broader group of contractor employees on contracts awarded by DoD, NASA, and the Coast Guard of the senior executive compensation benchmark amount which limits the reimbursement of compensation costs. This interim rule applies section 803 prospectively to contracts awarded on or after (but not before) the date of enactment of section 803 (which was December 31, 2011), to the contractor compensation costs incurred after January 1, 2012. In addition, also as part of the implementation in the FAR of section 803, DoD, GSA and NASA are separately issuing a proposed rule (FAR Case 2012-025) that addresses the retroactive application of section 803 to contractor compensation costs incurred after January 1, 2012, under contracts that had been awarded before December 31, 2011.

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, as amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announces a meeting of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Subcommittee of the Aeronautics Committee of the NASA Advisory Council. The meeting will be held for the purpose of soliciting, from the aeronautics community and other persons, research and technical information relevant to program planning.

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

DoD, GSA, and NASA have adopted as final, without change, an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement the United States-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement. This Trade Promotion Agreement is a free trade agreement that provides for mutually non-discriminatory treatment of eligible products and services from Panama.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to remove the dollar limitation for set-asides to economically disadvantaged women-owned small business concerns and to women-owned small business concerns eligible under the Women-owned Small Business Program.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to address concerns raised in an opinion from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) involving the use of unrestricted, open-ended indemnification clauses in acquisitions for social media applications.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to reflect the joining of the Central Contractor Registration (CCR), Online Representations and Certification Application (ORCA), and Excluded Parties List System (EPLS) databases into the System for Award Management (SAM) database.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement Governmentwide requirements in National Defense Authorization Acts that establish minimum processes and requirements for the selection, accountability, training, equipping, and conduct of personnel performing private security functions outside the United States.

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

This notice is issued in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 209(e) and 37 CFR 404.7(a)(1)(i). NASA hereby gives notice of its intent to grant an exclusive license in the United States to practice the invention described and claimed in U.S. Patent No. 6,967,051; NASA Case No. KSC- 12092 entitled ``Thermal Insulation Systems,'' and U.S. Patent Application No. 61/776,639; NASA Case No. KSC-13777 entitled ``Layered Composite Thermal Insulation System for Non-Vacuum Applications,'' to XTherm LP, having its principal place of business at 1325 White Drive, Titusville, FL 32780. The patent rights in this invention have been assigned to the United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The prospective exclusive license will comply with the terms and conditions of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7.

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)).

DoD, GSA, and NASA are proposing to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement a uniform Procurement Instrument Identification (PIID) numbering system, which will require the use of Activity Address Codes (AACs) as the unique identifier for contracting offices and other offices, in order to standardize procurement transactions across the Federal Government. This proposed rule continues and strengthens efforts at standardization accomplished under a previous FAR case.