National Aeronautics and Space Administration January 2017 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

NASA hereby gives notice of its intent to grant an exclusive patent license in the United States to practice the invention described and claimed in U.S. Patent Number 7,867,589 entitled ``Hybrid Cryogenic Tank Construction and Method of Manufacture thereof;'' U.S. Patent Number 7,641,949 entitled ``Pressure Vessel with Improved Impact resistance and Method of making the same;'' U.S. Patent Number 8,561,829 entitled ``Composite Pressure Vessel including Crack Arresting Barrier;'' U.S. Patent Number 8,297,468 entitled ``Fuel Tank for Liquefied Natural Gas'' and U.S. Patent Number 6,953,129 entitled ``Pressure Vessel with Impact and Fire Resistant and Method of making same'' to Cimarron Composites, having its principal place of business in Huntsville, Alabama (USA). The fields of use may be limited to design and manufacturing of composite tanks and pressure vessels for aerospace and other commercial applications.

DoD, GSA, and NASA issued a proposed rule (FAR Case 2016-005) on November 29, 2016, amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement a section of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016. This rule clarifies that agency acquisition personnel are permitted and encouraged to engage in responsible and constructive exchanges with industry, so long as those exchanges are consistent with existing law and regulation and do not promote an unfair competitive advantage to particular firms. The deadline for submitting comments is being extended from January 30, 2017 to March 2, 2017 to provide additional time for interested parties to provide comments on the FAR case.

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 the rules appearing in Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-95, which amends the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). An asterisk (*) next to a rule indicates that a regulatory flexibility analysis has been prepared. Interested parties may obtain further information regarding these rules by referring to FAC 2005-95, which precedes this document. These documents are also available via the Internet at https:// www.regulations.gov.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement regulatory clarifications made by the Small Business Administration regarding the 8(a) program.

DoD, GSA, and NASA are issuing a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement a section of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 to raise the simplified acquisition threshold for special emergency procurement authority.

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) 2005-95. 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.