General Services Administration September 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) by revising the ``training and education costs'' contract cost principle. The amendment streamlines the cost principle and increases clarity by eliminating restrictive and confusing language, and by restructuring the rule to list only specifically unallowable costs. The final rule eliminates several specific limitations on the allowability of costs associated with the various categories of education, eliminates the disparate treatment of full-time and part-time undergraduate education costs, and limits allowable costs to training and education related to the field in which the employee is working or may reasonably be expected to work. The rule makes job-related training and education costs generally allowable, except for six public policy exceptions that are retained from the current cost principle. Except for the six expressly unallowable cost exceptions, the reasonableness of specific contractor training and education costs is assessed by reference to the FAR section entitled ``Determining reasonableness.''

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) by revising language regarding accounting for unallowable costs. The final rule adds language which provides specific criteria on the use of statistical sampling as a method to identify unallowable costs, including the applicability of penalties for failure to exclude certain projected unallowable costs. The final rule also revises the language regarding advance agreements by adding statistical sampling methods as an example for which advance agreements between the contracting officers and contractors may be appropriate.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to establish that a copy of an original power of attorney, including a photocopy or facsimile copy, when submitted in support of a bid bond, is sufficient evidence of the authority to bind the surety. The authenticity and enforceability of the power of attorney at the time of the bid opening will be treated as a matter of responsibility.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed to convert the interim rule published in the Federal Register at 70 FR 11739, March 9, 2005, to a final rule with minor changes. The rule amended the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to increase the justification and approval thresholds for DoD, NASA, and the U.S. Coast Guard. The FAR revision implemented Section 815 of the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 which amended 10 U.S.C. 2304(f)(1)(B) by striking $50,000,000 both places it appears and inserting $75,000,000. In addition, corresponding language in the FAR is also changed to reflect these higher thresholds for DoD, NASA, and the Coast Guard.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to reflect the most recent codification of Title 40 of the United States Code.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement the Information Technology (IT) Security provisions of the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA) (Title III of the E-Government Act of 2002 (E-Gov Act)).

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the General Services Administration will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve a new information collection requirement. This information will be used to assess satisfaction with services delivered by staff from the Office of Child Care Services. The respondents are current users of the Office of Child Care Services. Public comments are particularly invited on: Whether this collection of information is necessary 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; and ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) are proposing to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement section 1432 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004. Title XIV of the Act, referred to as the Services Acquisition Reform Act of 2003 (SARA), amended section 8002(d) of the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 (FASA) to expressly authorize the use of time-and-materials (T&M) and labor-hour (LH) contracts for certain categories of commercial services under specified conditions.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) are proposing to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to simplify procedures, clarify language, and eliminate obsolete requirements related to the management and disposition of Government property in the possession of contractors. Various FAR parts are amended to implement a policy that fosters efficiency, flexibility, innovation, and creativity, while continuing to protect the Government's interest in the public's property. The proposed rule specifically impacts contracting officers, property administrators, and contractors responsible for the management of Government property.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Secretariat has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a currently approved information collection requirement concerning integrity of unit prices. A request for public comments was published in the Federal Register at 70 FR 40005, on July 12, 2005. 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 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 of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Secretariat has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a currently approved information collection requirement concerning economic purchase quantities-supplies. A request for public comments was published in the Federal Register at 70 FR 40006, on July 12, 2005. 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 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 notice announces that the General Services Administration (GSA), Office of Governmentwide Policy (M), is granting a deviation from section 102-34.335 of the Federal Management Regulation (FMR) (41 CFR 102-34.335) to all agencies whose purchase of gasoline for motor vehicles has been impacted by Hurricane Katrina. This deviation will allow Federal agencies to purchase premium gasoline for government owned and leased vehicles when lower grade gasoline is not available. This deviation can be found at www.gsa.gov/vehiclepolicy and clicking on ``Deviation from 41 CFR 102-34.335''.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Actof 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a currently approved information collection requirement concerning the reporting requirements of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 11001-11050) and the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 13101-13109). The clearance currently expires on December 31, 2005.

This notice announces GSA Federal ManagementRegulation (FMR) Bulletin B-9. This bulletin provides guidance toExecutive Branch agencies (other Federal entities are encouraged to followthis guidance) on the development and maintenance of documented structuredvehicle allocation methodologies for agency fleets, i.e.,vehicles that are agency-owned, leased from the General ServicesAdministration (GSA), or commercially-leased. Agency adherence to such amethodology will help to ensure that agency vehicle fleets are notover-costly, are correctly sized in terms of numbers, and are theappropriate type for accomplishing agency missions. GSA Bulletin FMRB-9 may be found at www.gsa.gov/bulletin.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the General Services Administration has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve a renewal of a currently approved information collection requirement regarding solicitation provisions and contract clauses, placement of orders clause, and ordering information clause. A request for public comments was published at 70 FR 37858, June 30, 2005. No comments were received. Public comments are particularly invited on: Whether this collection of information is necessary 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.