59704 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 192 / Tuesday, October 5, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 

DATES: Effective Date: October 5, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The 

FAR Secretariat, Room 4035, GS 

Building, Washington, DC, 20405, (202) 

501-4755, for information pertaining to 

status or publication schedules. Please 

cite FAC 2001-25, Technical 

Amendments.

List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 14 and 

52

Government procurement.

Dated: September 28, 2004.

Ralph J. De Stefano,

Acting Director, Acquisition Policy Division.

■ Therefore, DoD, GSA, and NASA 

amend 48 CFR parts 14 and 52 as set 

forth below:

■ 1. The authority citations for 48 CFR 

parts 14 and 52 are revised to read as 

follows:

Authority: 40 U.S.C. 121(c); 10 U.S.C. 

chapter 137; and 42 U.S.C. 2473(c).

PART 14—SEALED BIDDING

■ 2. In section 14.403, revise paragraph 

(c) to read as follows:

14.403 Recording of Bids.

* * * * *

(c) The forms identified in paragraph 

(a) of this section need not be used by 

the Defense Energy Support Center for 

acquisitions of coal or petroleum 

products or by the Defense Supply 

Center Philadelphia for perishable 

subsistence items.

* * * * *

PART 52—SOLICITATION PROVISIONS 

AND CONTRACT CLAUSES

52.212-5 [Amended]

■ 3. Amend section 52.212-5 in 

paragraph (b)(34)(ii) by removing ‘‘(Apr 

1984)’’ and adding ‘‘(Apr 2003)’’ in its 

place.

52.215-15 [Amended]

■ 4. Amend section 52.215-15 by 

revising the date of the clause to read 

‘‘(OCT 2004)’’.

52.217-5 [Amended]

■ 5. Amend section 52.217-5 in the 

introductory paragraph by removing 

‘‘17.208(c)(1)’’ and adding ‘‘17.208(c)’’ in 

its place.

52.219-4 [Amended]

■ 6. Amend section 52.219-4 by revising 

the date of the clause to read ‘‘(OCT 

2004)’’; and removing ‘‘will be will be’’

from paragraph (d)(3) of the clause and 

adding ‘‘will be’’ in its place.

[FR Doc. 04–22248 Filed 10–4–04; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6820–EP–S

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES 

ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND 

SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Chapter 1

Federal Acquisition Regulation; Small 

Entity Compliance Guide

AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DoD), 

General Services Administration (GSA), 

and National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA).

ACTION: Small Entity Compliance Guide.

SUMMARY: This document is issued 

under the joint authority of the 

Secretary of Defense, the Administrator 

of General Services and the 

Administrator for the National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration. 

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) 2001–25 which amend 

the 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 

2001–25 which precedes this document. 

These documents are also available via 

the Internet at http://www.acqnet.gov/

far.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Laurie Duarte, FAR Secretariat, (202) 

501–4225. For clarification of content, 

contact the analyst whose name appears 

in the table below.

LIST OF RULES IN FAC 2001–25

Item Subject FAR case Analyst 

I ............ Elimination of the Standard Form 1417 .............................................................................................. 2002–017 Davis.

II ........... Free Trade Agreements—Chile and Singapore, and Trade Agreements Thresholds ....................... 2003–016 Davis.

III .......... Telecommuting for Federal Contractors (Interim) ............................................................................... 2003–025 Zaffos.

IV .......... Section 508 Micropurchase Exemption (Interim) ................................................................................ 2004–020 Nelson.

V ........... Technical Amendments.

Item I—Elimination of the Standard 

Form 1417 (FAR Case 2002–017)

This final rule eliminates the use of 

the Standard Form 1417, PreSolicitation Notice (Construction 

Contract), in contracts for construction, 

alteration or repair, dismantling, 

demolition, or removal of 

improvements. The use of this form has 

become unnecessary because 

contracting officers provide access to 

presolicitation notices through the 

Governmentwide point of entry (GPE) 

via the Internet at http://

www.fedbizopps.gov pursuant to FAR 

5.204. Elimination of the form increases 

reliance on electronic business practices 

and reduces the estimated information 

collection requirement burden hours 

imposed on offerors.

Item II—Free Trade Agreements—Chile 

and Singapore, and Trade Agreements 

Thresholds (FAR Case 2003–016)

The interim rule to implement new 

Free Trade Agreements with Chile and 

Singapore, published in the Federal 

Register at 69 FR 1050, January 7, 2004, 

is converted to a final rule with changes. 

The interim rule included in each Trade 

Agreements clause the statement that 

United States law will apply to resolve 

any claim of breach of contract. At the 

request of the Department of Justice, the 

final rule relocates this statement into a 

separate clause to be included in all 

contracts. All contracting officers must 

be aware of this new requirement.

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 192 / Tuesday, October 5, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 59705

Item III—Telecommuting for Federal 

Contractors (FAR Case 2003–025) 

(Interim)

This interim rule addresses 

telecommuting by employees of Federal 

contractors. This rule implements 

Section 1428 of the Services Acquisition 

Reform Act of 2003 (Title XIV of Public 

Law 108–136), which prohibits agencies 

from including a requirement in a 

solicitation that precludes an offeror 

from permitting its employees to 

telecommute or, when telecommuting is 

not precluded, from unfavorably 

evaluating an offeror’s proposal that 

includes telecommuting unless it would 

adversely affect agency requirements, 

such as security. Contracting officers 

awarding service contracts should 

familiarize themselves with this rule.

Item IV—Section 508 Micropurchase 

Exemption (FAR Case 2004–020) 

(Interim)

This interim rule extends from 

October 1, 2004, to April 1, 2005, the 

micropurchase exception from the 

requirement to purchase electronic and 

information technology that provides 

individuals with disabilities better 

access to and use of information and 

data, as required by Section 508 of the 

Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The 

extension will provide agencies time to 

update their purchase card training 

modules on the 508 requirements and 

train their personnel. This rule is of 

special interest to contracting officers 

who purchase electronic and 

information technology.

Item V—Technical Amendments

Editorial changes are made at FAR 

14.403(c), 52.212–5(b)(34)(ii), 52.215–

15(b)(2), 52.217–5, and 52.219–4(d)(3) to 

update various references.

Dated: September 28, 2004.

Ralph J. De Stefano,

Acting Director, Contract Policy Division.

[FR Doc. 04–22249 Filed 10–4–04; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6820–EP–S