Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 48 / Friday, March 11, 2011 / Proposed Rules 13329 

252.203–700X Display of Fraud Hotline 

Poster(s). 

As prescribed in 203.1004(b), use the 

following clause: 

DISPLAY OF FRAUD HOTLINE 

POSTER(S) (DATE) 

(a) Definition. 

United States, as used in this clause, means 

the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and 

outlying areas. 

(b) Display of fraud hotline poster(s). (1) 

The Contractor shall display prominently in 

common work areas within business 

segments performing work in the United 

States under Department of Defense (DoD) 

contracts— 

(i) DoD fraud hotline posters prepared by 

the DoD Office of the Inspector General. DoD 

fraud hotline posters may be obtained from 

the DoD Inspector General, ATTN: Defense 

Hotline, 400 Army Navy Drive, Washington, 

DC 22202–2884. 

(ii) Department of Homeland Security 

(DHS) fraud hotline poster identified in 

paragraph (b)(2) of this clause; and 

(iii) Any DHS fraud hotline poster 

subsequently identified by the Contracting 

Officer. 

(2) Any required DHS posters may be 

obtained as follows: 

Poster(s) Obtain from 

lllllllll lllllllll 

lllllllll lllllllll 

(Contracting Officer shall insert— 

(i) Title of applicable Department of 

Homeland Security fraud hotline poster; and 

(ii) The Web site(s) or other contact 

information for obtaining the poster(s).) 

(3) Additionally, if the Contractor 

maintains a company Web site as a method 

of providing information to employees, the 

Contractor shall display an electronic version 

of the poster(s) at the Web site. 

(c) Subcontracts. The Contractor shall 

include the substance of this clause, 

including this paragraph (c), in all 

subcontracts that exceed $5 million except 

when the subcontract— 

(1) Is for the acquisition of a commercial 

item; or 

(2) Is performed entirely outside the United 

States. 

(End of clause) 

[FR Doc. 2011–5600 Filed 3–10–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 5001–08–P 

GENERAL SERVICES 

ADMINISTRATION 

48 CFR Part 532 

[GSAR Case 2010–G509; Docket 2011–0009; 

Sequence 1] 

RIN 3090–AJ13 

Reinstatement of Coverage Pertaining 

to Final Payment Under Construction 

and Building Services 

AGENCY: Office of Acquisition Policy, 

General Services Administration (GSA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: GSA is proposing to amend 

the General Services Administration 

Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to 

amend the GSAR to restore guidance on 

making final payments under 

construction and building service 

contracts to ensure contractors are paid 

in accordance with their contract 

requirements and not overpaid or 

receive improper payments for work 

performed. This guidance, which 

prescribed the use of GSA Form 1142, 

Release of Claims, for releases of claims 

under construction and building service 

contracts, was inadvertently deleted as 

part of the Rewrite of GSAR regulations 

on Contract Financing. GSA Contracting 

Officers have used this form to achieve 

uniformity and consistency in the 

release of claims process. 

DATES: Interested parties should submit 

written comments to the Regulatory 

Secretariat on or before May 10, 2011 to 

be considered in the formulation of a 

final rule. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments 

identified by GSAR Case 2010–G509 by 

any of the following methods: 

• Regulations.gov: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

Submit comments via the Federal 

eRulemaking portal by inputting ‘‘GSAR 

Case 2010–G509’’ under the heading 

‘‘Enter Key Word or ID’’. Follow the 

instructions provided to ‘‘Submit a 

Comment’’. Please include your name, 

company name (if any), and ‘‘GSAR Case 

2010–G509’’ on your attached 

document. 

• Fax: 202–501–4067. 

• Mail: General Services 

Administration, Regulatory Secretariat, 

1275 First Street, NE., 7th Floor, ATTN: 

Hada Flowers, Washington, DC 20417. 

Instructions: Please submit comments 

only and cite GSAR Case 2010–G509 in 

all correspondence related to this case. 

All comments received will be posted 

without change to http:// 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal and/or business confidential 

information provided. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

clarification of content, contact Mr. 

Edward N. Chambers at (202) 501–3221, 

or by e-mail at 

edward.chambers@gsa.gov. For 

information pertaining to the status or 

publication schedules, contact the 

Regulatory Secretariat, 7th Floor, GS 

Building, Washington, DC 20417, (202) 

501–4755. Please cite GSAR Case 2010– 

G509. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Background 

A release of claims is a requirement 

under GSAR clause 552.232–72, Final 

Payment, precedent to making final 

payment under construction and 

building service contracts. Prior to 

deleting the form, GSA Contracting 

Officers relied upon GSA Form 1142 to 

obtain the release of claims under these 

contracts. However, GSAR 532.905–71 

which prescribed the use of GSA Form 

1142 for releases of claims under 

construction and building service 

contracts was inadvertently deleted as 

part of the Rewrite of GSAR Part 532, 

Contract Financing published in the 

Federal Register at 74 FR 54915, on 

October 29, 2009, GSAR Case 2006– 

G515. GSAR 532.905–71 also provided 

guidance on deductions to final 

payments under construction and 

building service contracts. 

GSA Form 1142, Release of Claims, 

uses standard language for contractors 

to attest that is has no claims, or no 

claims except for those they may set 

forth where indicated on the form. The 

form requires a signature from the 

contractor and a witness. Additionally, 

there is a location for the firm’s seal. 

GSA believes that GSA Form 1142 

provides great value and accountability 

in providing uniformity and consistency 

for the release of claims process. 

Without the GSA Form 1142, GSA 

Contracting Officers will be required to 

verify that contractor release of claims 

letter includes appropriate wording 

before final payment is made, resulting 

in their devotion of considerable 

additional resources to this process. 

Further, the coverage on deductions 

under GSAR 532.905–71 was useful in 

preventing overpayments to contractors 

consistent with the Administration 

Improper Payments Elimination and 

Recovery Act and OMB efforts to 

eliminate improper payments. 

Consequently, GSA proposes to 

amend the GSAR to restore the coverage 

at GSAR 532.905–71. Since the 

referenced GSAR Rewrite of Part 532 (74 

FR 54915) also deleted GSAR 532.905– 

70, this coverage will be restored at 

GSAR 532.905–70 vice GSAR 532.905– 

71. 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with PROPOSALS
13330 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 48 / Friday, March 11, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

B. Executive Order 12866 and 13563 

This is not a significant regulatory 

action and, therefore, was not subject to 

review under Section 6(b) of Executive 

Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and 

Review, dated September 30, 1993. This 

rule is not a major rule under 5 U.S.C. 

804. In accordance with Executive 

Order 13563, Improving Regulation and 

Regulatory Review, dated January 18, 

2011, GSA has determined that this rule 

is not excessively burdensome to the 

public, and that GSA Form 1142 which 

is prescribed by the rule is useful to 

contractors in presenting their release of 

claims to the Government. 

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The General Services Administration 

does not expect this proposed rule to 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities 

within the meaning of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq., 

because the rule requires the collection 

of the information that is administrative 

in nature. Submission of this 

information should not be burdensome 

to the contractor but should provide a 

consistent format that the contractor can 

use to report their claims information to 

the GSA. An Initial Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis has, therefore, not 

been performed. We invite comments 

from small businesses and other 

interested parties. GSA will consider 

comments from small entities 

concerning the affected GSAR Part 532 

in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 610. 

Interested parties must submit such 

comments separately and should cite 5 

U.S.C. 601, et seq. (GSAR case 2010– 

G509), in correspondence. 

D. Paperwork Reduction Act 

The Paperwork Reduction Act does 

apply; however, these changes to the 

GSAR do not impose additional 

information collection requirements to 

the paperwork burden previously 

approved under OMB Control Number 

3090–0080. 

List of Subjects in 48 CFR Part 532 

Government procurement. 

Dated: March 7, 2011. 

Millisa Gary, 

Acting Director, Office of Governmentwide 

Acquisition Policy. 

Therefore, GSA proposes to amend 48 

CFR part 532 as set forth below: 

PART 532—CONTRACT FINANCING 

1. The authority citation for 48 CFR 

part 532 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 40 U.S.C. 121(c). 

2. Add section 532.905–70 to read as 

follows: 

532.905–70 Final payment—construction 

and building service contracts. 

The following procedures apply to 

construction and building service 

contracts: 

(a) The Government shall pay the 

final amount due the Contractor under 

this contract after the documentation in 

FAR 52.232–5 is provided. 

(b) Contracting Officers may not 

process the final payment on 

construction or building service 

contracts until the contractor submits a 

properly executed GSA Form 1142, 

Release of Claims, except as provided in 

paragraph (c) of this section. 

(c) In cases where, after 60 days from 

the initial attempt, the Contracting 

Officer is unable to obtain a release of 

claims from the contractor, the final 

payment may be processed with the 

approval of assigned legal counsel. 

(d) The amount of final payment must 

include, as appropriate, deductions to 

cover any of the following: 

(1) Liquidated damages for late 

completion. 

(2) Liquidated damages for labor 

violations. 

(3) Amount withheld for improper 

payment of labor wages. 

(4) The amount of unilateral change 

orders covering defects and omissions. 

[FR Doc. 2011–5502 Filed 3–10–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–61–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 665 

RIN 0648–AW67 

Western Pacific Pelagic Fisheries; 

Prohibiting Purse Seine Fishing in the 

U.S. EEZ Around Guam and the 

Northern Mariana Islands, and 

Prohibiting Longline Fishing Within 

30 nm of the Northern Mariana Islands 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of fishery 

management plan amendment; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: NMFS announces that the 

Western Pacific Fishery Management 

Council (Council) proposes Amendment 

2 to the Fishery Ecosystem Plan for 

Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific 

Region (FEP). If approved by the 

Secretary of Commerce, this amendment 

would create a 30-nautical mile (nm) 

longline prohibited area around the 

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

Islands (CNMI), and prohibit purse 

seine fishing within the entire U.S. 

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) around 

the Mariana Archipelago, including 

Guam and the CNMI. The area closures 

are intended to prevent and minimize 

gear conflicts and resource competition 

among the various fishery sectors (troll, 

longline and purse seine) in the Mariana 

Archipelago. In addition, this action is 

intended to facilitate the conservation of 

important stocks such as bigeye, 

yellowfin, and skipjack tuna throughout 

their range in the Pacific Ocean. 

DATES: Comments on the amendment 

must be received by May 10, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of Amendment 2, 

including an environmental assessment, 

are available from http:// 

www.regulations.gov, or the Council, 

1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400, Honolulu, 

HI 96813, tel 808–522–8220, fax 808– 

522–8226, http://www.wpcouncil.org. 

Comments on the amendment, 

including the environmental 

assessment, identified by 0648–AW67, 

may be sent to either of the following 

addresses: 

• Electronic Submission: Submit all 

electronic public comments via the 

Federal e-Rulemaking Portal http:// 

www.regulations.gov; or 

• Mail: Mail written comments to 

Michael D. Tosatto, Regional 

Administrator, NMFS, Pacific Islands 

Region (PIR), 1601 Kapiolani Blvd., 

Suite 1110, Honolulu, HI 96814–4700. 

Instructions: Comments must be 

submitted to one of the above two 

addresses to ensure that the comments 

are received, documented, and 

considered by NMFS. Comments sent to 

any other address or individual, or 

received after the end of the comment 

period, may not be considered. All 

comments received are a part of the 

public record and will generally be 

posted to http://www.regulations.gov 

without change. All personal identifying 

information (e.g., name, address, etc.) 

submitted voluntarily by the sender may 

be publicly accessible. Do not submit 

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive or protected 

information. NMFS will accept 

anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/A’’ in 

the required fields if you wish to remain 

anonymous). Attachments to electronic 

comments will be accepted in Microsoft 

Word or Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe 

PDF file formats only. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Toby Wood, NMFS PIR Sustainable 

Fisheries, 808–944–2234. 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with PROPOSALS