59698 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 192 / Tuesday, October 5, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES 

ADMINISTRATION 

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND 

SPACE ADMINISTRATION 

48 CFR Chapter 1

Federal Acquisition Circular 2001–25; 

Introduction

AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DoD), 

General Services Administration (GSA), 

and National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA).

ACTION: Summary presentation of final 

and interim rules, and technical 

amendments and corrections. 

SUMMARY: This document summarizes 

the Federal Acquisition regulation 

(FAR) rules agreed to by the Civilian 

Agency Acquisition Council and the 

Defense Acquisition Regulations 

Council in this Federal Acquisition 

Circular (FAC) 2001–25. A companion 

document, the Small Entity Compliance 

Guide (SECG), follows this FAC. The 

FAC, including the SECG, is available 

via the Internet at http://

www.acqnet.gov/far.

DATES: For effective dates and comment 

dates, see separate documents which 

follow.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The 

FAR Secretariat, at (202) 501–4755, for 

information pertaining to status or 

publication schedules. For clarification 

of content, contact the analyst whose 

name appears in the table below in 

relation to each FAR case or subject 

area. Please cite FAC 2001–25 and 

specific FAR case number(s). Interested 

parties may also visit our Web site at 

http://www.acqnet.gov/far.

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) .................................................................................... 2003–035 Zaffos. 

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

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Summaries for each FAR rule follow. 

For the actual revisions and/or 

amendments to these FAR cases, refer to 

the specific item number and subject set 

forth in the documents following these 

item summaries. 

FAC 2001–25 amends the FAR as 

specified below: 

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. 

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.

Federal Acquisition Circular 

Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 

2001–25 is issued under the authority of 

the Secretary of Defense, the 

Administrator of General Services, and 

the Administrator for the National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration. 

Unless otherwise specified, all 

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 

and other directive material contained 

in FAC 2001–25 is effective October 5, 

2004, except for Item I, which is 

effective November 4, 2004.

Dated: September 22, 2004. 

Vincent J. Feck, 

Lt Col USAF, Acting Director, Defense 

Procurement and Acquisition Policy.

Dated: September 8, 2004. 

David A. Drabkin, 

Senior Procurement Executive, Office of the 

Chief Acquisition Officer, General Services 

Administration.

Dated: September 7, 2004. 

Tom Luedtke, 

Deputy Chief Acquisition Officer, National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration.

[FR Doc. 04–22243 Filed 10–4–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–EP–M