General Services Administration 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to remove FAR coverage of the Small Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program, to meet the requirements of section 1335 of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to clarify the applicability of procedures regarding the termination of contracts to the acquisition of commercial items.

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 rules appearing in Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-48, which amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). Interested parties may obtain further information regarding these rules by referring to FAC 2005-48, which precedes this document. These documents are also available via the Internet at https://www.regulations.gov.

The General Services Administration's (GSA) annual privately owned vehicle (POV) mileage reimbursement rate reviews have resulted in new CY 2011 rates for the use of privately owned automobiles (POA), POAs when Government owned automobiles (GOA) are authorized, and motorcycles for official purposes. No change resulted for the use of privately owned airplanes. FTR Bulletin 11-03 establishes these new CY 2011 mileage reimbursement rates, pursuant to the process discussed below. This notice of subject bulletin is the only notification of revisions to the POV rates to agencies other than the changes posted on the GSA website. GSA determines these rates by reviewing the annual standard automobile study conducted by the Internal Revenue Service, as well as conducting motorcycle and aircraft studies, and/or by applying consumer price index data.

This agenda provides summary descriptions of regulations being developed by the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council in compliance with Executive Order 12866 ``Regulatory Planning and Review.'' This agenda is being published to allow interested persons an opportunity to participate in the rulemaking process.

The General Services Administration (GSA) will prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) that will analyze and discuss the environmental impacts of constructing and operating a proposed new Downtown Federal Building in Kansas City, Missouri. Through the project, GSA proposes to relocate its current operations from the Bannister Federal Complex in Kansas City, Missouri, and co-locate with other federal tenants at a proposed new Downtown Federal Building. The target property(ies) subject to this proposed action are those within an area bounded by 11th Street on the north, 12th Street on the south, Charlotte Street on the east, and Cherry Street on the west (known as city blocks 99 and 100), and could also include some level of development of 701 E. 12th Street, bounded by 12th Street, on the north, 13th Street, on the south, Holmes Street, on the west and Charlotte Street on the east. City blocks 99 and 100 lie within the downtown East Village development and tax increment financing (TIF) district, on the East-side of downtown, in Missouri's 5th Congressional District. In the EA, GSA will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of the construction and operation of the proposed project. GSA will also evaluate the ``No Action'' and other reasonable alternatives to the proposed project, or portions of the project, and consider how to lessen or avoid impacts on the various resource areas.

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

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (the Councils) are issuing an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement section 815 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010. Section 815 extends the flowdown of the restriction on subcontracting to lower tier subcontractors that have been suspended or debarred, with some exceptions for contracts for the acquisition of commercial items and commercially available off-the-shelf items.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) are issuing an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement provisions regarding, the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2009 requirements for preventing abuse of interagency contracts.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) are issuing an interim rule to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement Executive Order 13496, Notification of Employee Rights Under Federal Labor Laws, as implemented by the Department of Labor (DoL). This Executive Order requires contractors to display a notice to employees of their rights under Federal labor laws, and the DoL has determined that the notice shall include employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act.

With this notice, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) requests input, comment, and ideas from the public on a draft concept for next-generation citizen consultation, namely a government- wide software tool and process to elicit expert public participation (working title ``ExpertNet''). ExpertNet would tap the expertise of the public in a manageable and structured format. The goal of ExpertNet is to enable government officials to search for and communicate with citizens who have expertise on a topic, giving them the opportunity to participate in a public consultation relevant to their areas of interest and know-how, and pose questions to and interact with the public to receive useful, relevant, and manageable feedback. This Request for Information (RFI) will be active from December 8, 2010 to January 7, 2011. Respondents are invited to provide comments about or edits directly to the draft of the concept paper via an online discussion forum and wiki hosted by the White House Open Government Initiative and GSA and located at https://expertnet.wikispaces.com (the ``Wiki''). In addition, respondents who cannot access the Wiki are welcome to download a copy of the concept paper at https:// www.whitehouse.gov/open and e-mail comments to expertnet@ostp.gov.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Regulatory 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 reporting purchases from sources outside the United States. 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.

The attached bulletin announces the designation and redesignation of two Federal buildings.

GSA is amending the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) by adding terms and definitions for ``Dependent'', ``Domestic partner'' and ``Domestic partnership'', and by revising the definition of ``Immediate family'' to include ``Domestic partner'' and children, dependent parents, and dependent brothers and sisters of the Domestic partner as named members of the employee's household. This interim rule also adds references to domestic partners and committed relationships, where applicable, in the FTR.

This bulletin provides guidance to employees of agencies subject to the FTR to enhance travel cost savings and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This guidance will improve management of agency travel programs, save money on travel costs, better protect the environment, and conserve natural resources. Other agencies not subject to the FTR are also encouraged to follow this guidance and incorporate these strategies into their travel management policies, procedures, and activities related to official travel. Bulletin FTR 10-06 and all other Bulletins may be found at https://www.gsa.gov/bulletins.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), 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 concerning subcontractor requests for bonds. A notice published in the Federal Register at 75 FR 28808 on May 24, 2010 and one comment was 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 Regulatory Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an emergency new information collection requirement regarding the Reporting and Use of Information Concerning Integrity and Performance of Recipients of Grants and Cooperative Agreements. Public comments are particularly invited on: Whether this collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of functions of the Reporting and Use of Information Concerning Integrity and Performance of Recipients of Grants and Cooperative Agreements, 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 document summarizes the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) rules agreed to by the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) in this Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-46. 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.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) are issuing an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement section 615 of Division C, Title VI, of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 (Pub. L. 111-117). Section 615 authorizes exemption from the Buy American Act for acquisition of information technology that is a commercial item.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) are issuing an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement section 102 and partially implements section 106 of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010. Section 102 requires certification that each offeror, and any person owned or controlled by the offeror, does not engage in any activity for which sanctions may be imposed under section 5 of the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996, as amended (the Iran Sanctions Act). Section 106 imposes a procurement prohibition relating to contracts with persons that export certain sensitive technology to Iran. There will be further implementation of section 106 in FAR Case 2010-018.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have adopted as final, with changes, the interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement section 814 of the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (Pub. L. 109-364), section 867 of the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 (Pub. L. 110-417), and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy guidance memorandum dated December 4, 2007 entitled, Appropriate Use of Incentive Contracts.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (the Councils) are proposing to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement recommendations of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Report 09-579 dated June 2009 to Congressional Committees on ``Minimal Compliance with New Safeguards for Time-and-Materials Contracts for Commercial Services and Safeguards Have Not Been Applied to GSA Schedules Program.''

This final rule updates the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) to reflect statutory changes that extended the authority for relocation expenses test programs for Federal employees, made by the passage of Public Law 111-112 on November 30, 2009.

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Federal Acquisition Regulation Regulatory 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 American Recovery and Reinvestment ActQuarterly Reporting for Prime Contractors. 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 Regulatory 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 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act-Reporting RequirementsOne-Time Reporting for First-Tier Subcontractors. 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.