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[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 100 (Tuesday, May 26, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 29984-29987]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-12660]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

48 CFR Part 1552

[EPA-HQ-OARM-2013-0523; FRL-9926-75-OARM]

Environmental Protection Agency Acquisition Regulation (EPAAR); 
Describing Agency Needs

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a direct 
final rule to address administrative and minor non-substantive changes 
in four clauses. The direct final rule updates ``Monthly Progress 
Reports'', ``Working Files'', ``Final Reports'', and ``Management 
Consulting Services''. EPA does not anticipate any adverse comments.

DATES: This rule is effective on July 27, 2015 without further notice, 
unless adverse comment is received June 25, 2015. If adverse comment is 
received, the EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of the rule in the 
Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OARM-2013-0523 by one of the following methods:
    www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
     Email: docket.oei@epa.gov.
     Fax: (202) 566-1753.
     Mail: EPA-HQ-OARM-2013-0523, OEI Docket, Environmental 
Protection Agency, 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 
20460. Please include a total of three (3) copies.
     Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center--Attention OEI Docket, 
EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20004. 
Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of 
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of 
boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OARM-
2013-0523. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you 
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov or email. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site 
is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know your 
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of 
your comment. If you send an email comment directly to EPA without 
going through http://www.regulations.gov your email address will be 
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is 
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you 
submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name 
and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any 
disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to 
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA 
may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid 
the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of 
any defects or viruses. For additional information about EPA's public 
docket visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Government 
Property-Contract Property Administration Docket, EPA/DC, EPA West, 
Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The Public 
Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Public 
Reading Room is (202) 566-1744 and the telephone number for the EPA 
Docket Center is (202) 566-1752. This Docket Facility is open from 8:30 
a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Holly Hubbell, Policy, Training, and 
Oversight Division, Acquisition Policy and Training Service Center 
(3802R), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202-564-1091; email address: 
hubbell.holly@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

General Information

    1. Do not submit Classified Business Information (CBI) to EPA Web 
site http://www.regulations.gov or email. Clearly mark the part or all 
of the information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a 
disk or CD-ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or 
CD-ROM as CBI, and then identify electronically within the disk or CD-
ROM the specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one 
complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as 
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information 
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket. 
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with 
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
    2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments, 
remember to:

[[Page 29985]]

     Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other 
identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and 
page number).
     Follow directions--The Agency may ask you to respond to 
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) Part or section number.
     Explain why you agree or disagree, suggest alternatives, 
and substitute language for your requested changes.
     Describe any assumptions and provide any technical 
information and/or data that you used.
     If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how 
you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be 
reproduced.
     Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and 
suggest alternatives.
     Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the 
use of profanity or personal threats.
    3. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period deadline 
identified.

I. Background

    The EPA is revising EPAAR 1552.211-72, Monthly Progress Report, and 
1552.211-77, Final Reports, to incorporate existing class deviations. 
Additionally, 1552.211-77 is updated to allow and clarify the 
electronic submission of final reports and, as such, should ease the 
administrative burden on Agency contractors. The revision of 1552.211-
75, Working Files, changes a minor word in the clause and 1552.211-78, 
Management Consulting Services, changes the title of the clause to be 
consistent with the title of the prescription Advisory and Assistance 
Services. The final rule published in the Federal Register at 61 FR 
57339, November 6, 1996, was intended to change the title of this EPAAR 
clause from ``Management Consulting Services'' to ``Advisory and 
Assistance Services'', as well as the prescription title. However, 
execution of the Federal Register resulted in the change being applied 
to the title of the prescription only, which was in error.

II. Final Rule

    This final rule makes the following changes:
    1. Revises EPAAR 1552.211-72 to incorporate an existing class 
deviation.
    2. Revises EPAAR 1552.211-75 to change the word ``its'' to ``the 
contractor's''.
    3. Revises EPAAR 1552.211-77 to incorporate an existing class 
deviation and update to allow and add the instructions for the 
electronic submission of final reports.
    4. Revises EPAAR 1552.211-78 to change the title of the clause from 
``Management Consulting Services'' to ``Advisory and Assistance 
Services'' to be consistent with the title of the prescription.

Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review and Executive 
Order 13563: Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review
    This action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under the 
terms of Executive Order (E.O.) 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) 
and is therefore not subject to review under the E.O. 12866 and 13563 
(76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011).
B. Paperwork Reduction Act
    This action does not impose an information collection burden under 
the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. 
Burden is defined at 5 CFR 1320.3(b).
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), as Amended by the Small Business 
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA), 5 U.S.C. 601 et. 
seq.
    The RFA generally requires an agency to prepare a regulatory 
flexibility analysis of any rule subject to notice and comment 
rulemaking requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act or any 
other statute; unless the agency certifies that the rule will not have 
a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities. Small entities include small businesses, small organizations, 
and small governmental jurisdictions. For purposes of assessing the 
impact of this final rule on small entities, ``small entity'' is 
defined as: (1) A small business that meets the definition of a small 
business found in the Small Business Act and codified at 13 CFR 
121.201; (2) a small governmental jurisdiction that is a government of 
a city, county, town, school district or special district with a 
population of less than 50,000; or (3) a small organization that is any 
not-for-profit enterprise which is independently owned and operated and 
is not dominant in its field. After considering the economic impacts of 
this rule on small entities, I certify that this action will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
In determining whether a rule has a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities, the impact of concern is any 
significant adverse economic impact on small entities, because the 
primary purpose of the regulatory flexibility analyses is to identify 
and address regulatory alternatives ``which minimize any significant 
economic impact of the proposed rule on small entities'' 5 U.S.C. 503 
and 604. Thus, an agency may certify that a rule will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities 
if the rule relieves regulatory burden, or otherwise has a positive 
economic effect on all of the small entities subject to the rule. This 
action revises current EPAAR clauses and will not have a significant 
economic impact on substantial number of small entities. We continue to 
be interested in the potential impacts of the rule on small entities 
and welcome comments on issues related to such impacts.
D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
    This action contains no federal mandates under the provisions of 
Title II of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), 2 U.S.C. 
1531-1538 for State, local, and tribal governments or the private 
sector. The action imposes no enforceable duty on any State, local or 
tribal governments or the private sector. Therefore, this action is not 
subject to the requirements of Sections 202 or 205 of the UMRA. This 
action is also not subject to the requirements of section 203 of UMRA 
because it contains no regulatory requirements that might significantly 
or uniquely affect small governments.
E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism
    This action does not have federalism implications. It will not have 
substantial direct effects on the States, on the relationship between 
the national government and the States, or on the distribution of power 
and responsibilities among the various levels of government, as 
specified in Executive Order 13132. Thus, Executive Order 13132 does 
not apply to this action. In the spirit of Executive Order 13132, and 
consistent with EPA policy to promote communications between EPA and 
State and local governments, EPA specifically solicits comment on this 
action from State and local officials.
F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation and Coordination With Indian 
Tribal Governments
    This action does not have tribal implications, as specified in 
Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000). Thus, Executive 
Order 13175 does not apply to this action.

[[Page 29986]]

G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental 
Health and Safety Risks
    Executive Order 13045, entitled ``Protection of Children from 
Environmental Health and Safety Risks'' (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997), 
applies to any rule that: (1) Is determined to be economically 
significant as defined under E.O. 12886, and (2) concerns an 
environmental health or safety risk that may have a proportionate 
effect on children. This rule is not subject to E.O. 13045 because it 
does not establish an environmental standard intended to mitigate 
health or safety risks.
H. Executive Order 13211: Actions That Significantly Affect Energy 
Supply, Distribution, or Use
    This action is not subject to Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28335 
(May 22, 2001), because it is not a significant regulatory action under 
Executive Order 12866.
I. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (NTTAA)
    Section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement 
Act of 1995 (``NTTAA''), Public Law 104-113, 12(d) (15 U.S.C. 272 note) 
directs EPA to use voluntary consensus standards in its regulatory 
activities unless to do so would be inconsistent with applicable law or 
otherwise impractical. Voluntary consensus standards are technical 
standards (e.g., materials specifications, test methods, sampling 
procedures and business practices) that are developed or adopted by 
voluntary consensus standards bodies. NTTAA directs EPA to provide 
Congress, through OMB, explanations when the Agency decides not to use 
available and applicable voluntary consensus standards. This action 
does not involve technical standards. Therefore, EPA is not considering 
the use of any voluntary consensus standards.
J. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions To Address Environmental 
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations
    Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629 (February 16, 1994) establishes 
federal executive policy on environmental justice. Its main provision 
directs federal agencies, to the greatest extent practicable and 
permitted by law, to make environmental justice part of their mission 
by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high 
and adverse human health or environmental effects of their programs, 
policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income 
populations in the United States. EPA has determined that this final 
rule will not have disproportionately high and adverse human health or 
environmental effects on minority or low-income populations because it 
does not affect the level of protection provided to human health or the 
environment in the general public.
K. Congressional Review Act
    The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the 
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally 
provides that before a rule may take effect, the Agency promulgating 
the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule, 
to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the 
United States. Section 804 exempts from section 801 the following types 
of rules (1) rules of particular applicability; (2) rules relating to 
agency management or personnel; and (3) rules of Agency organization, 
procedure, or practice that do not substantially affect the rights or 
obligations of non-agency parties. 5 U.S.C. 804(3). EPA is not required 
to submit a rule report regarding this action under section 801 because 
this is a rule of agency organization, procedure, or practice that does 
not substantially affect the rights or obligations of non-agency 
parties.

List of Subjects in 48 CFR Part 1552

    Environmental protection, Government procurement, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: May 14, 2015.
John R. Bashista,
Director, Office of Acquisition Management.

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, Chapter 15 of Title 48 Code 
of Federal Regulations, part 1552 is amended as set forth below:

PART 1552--SOLICITATION PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT CLAUSES

0
1. The authority citation for part 1552 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  5 U.S.C. 301; Sec. 205(c), 63 Stat. 390, as amended, 
40 U.S.C. 486(c); and 41 U.S.C. 418b.

0
2. Amend 1552.211-72 by:
0
a. Removing from paragraph (c) the text ``subcontractor/consultant'' 
and adding in its place ``subcontractor'';
0
b. Revising paragraphs (d)(3)(ii) and (iii), and (d)(6); and
0
c. Revising paragraphs (e)(3)(ii) and (iii), and (e)(5).
    The revisions read as follows:

1552.211-72  Monthly progress report.

* * * * *
    (d) * * *
    (3) * * *
    (ii) For the current reporting period display the expended direct 
labor hours (by EPA contract labor category), and the total loaded 
direct labor costs.
    (iii) For the cumulative contract period display: The negotiated 
and expended direct labor hours (by EPA labor category) and the total 
loaded direct labor costs.
* * * * *
    (6) Average total cost per labor hour. For the current contract 
period, compare the actual cost per hour to date with the average total 
cost per hour of the approved work plans.
    (e) * * *
    (3) * * *
    (ii) For the current reporting period display the expended direct 
labor hours (by EPA contract labor category), and the total loaded 
direct labor hours.
    (iii) For the cumulative reporting period and the cumulative 
contract period display: The negotiated and expended direct labor hours 
(by EPA labor hour category) and the loaded direct labor rate.
* * * * *
    (5) Average total cost labor hour. For the current contract period, 
compare the actual total cost per hour to date with the average total 
cost per hour of the approved workplans.
* * * * *

1552.211-75  [Amended]

0
3. Amend 1552.211-75 by removing the text ``its'' and adding ``the 
contractor's'' in its place.

0
4. Amend 1552.211-77 by revising the first sentence in paragraph (a), 
and adding paragraph (c) to read as follows:

1552.211-77  Final reports.

* * * * *

    (a) ``Draft Report'' The Contractor shall submit a copy of the 
draft final report on or before (date) to the Contracting Officer's 
Representative and Contracting Officer in electronic format, unless 
specified otherwise by the Government. * * *
* * * * *
    (c) The electronic format of the draft and final report shall be 
in accordance with the current EPA policy and procedures.

(End of clause)

1552.211-78  [Amended]

0
5. Amend 1552.211-78 by:
0
a. Revising the section heading;
0
b. In the introductory text, by removing ``management consulting 
services'' and adding ``advisory and assistance services'' in its 
place; and

[[Page 29987]]

0
c. Revising the clause heading.
    The revisions read as follows:

1552.211-78  Advisory and assistance services.

* * * * *

Advisory and Assistance Services (Jul 2015)

* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2015-12660 Filed 5-22-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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