Department of Veterans Affairs March 10, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document adopts as a final rule, without change, the interim final rule published in the Federal Register on September 30, 2013. This document implements a portion of the Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006, which requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to verify ownership and control of Veteran-owned small businesses (VOSBs), including service-disabled Veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs), in order for these firms to participate in VA acquisitions set asides for SDVOSB/VOSBs. Specifically, VA amends its adjudication procedures for SDVOSB and VOSB status protests, to provide that VA's Director, Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE), shall initially adjudicate SDVOSB and VOSB status protests, and to provide that protested businesses, if they are denied status, may appeal to VA's Executive Director, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU). SDVOSB/VOSB status protests occur when during a particular SDVOSB/VOSB set aside acquisition, a competing vendor in acquisition challenges the status of the putative awardee as an actual SDVOSB or VOSB, as applicable. Additionally, VA amends the title of CVE from the Center for Veterans Enterprise to the Center for Verification and Evaluation, to more appropriately represent the function of this office.