Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 109 / Tuesday, June 6, 2000 / Rules and Regulations 36031

5.204 Presolicitation notices.

* * * Synopsizing of a proposed

contract action is required prior to

issuance of any resulting solicitation

(see 5.201 and 5.203).

PART 47—TRANSPORTATION

47.504 [Amended]

4. In section 47.504, amend the first

sentence of paragraph (e) by removing

‘‘(see 12.504(a)(13))’’ and adding ‘‘(see

12.504(a)(11))’’ in its place.

PART 49—TERMINATION OF

CONTRACTS

5. Remove ‘‘19...’’ and add ‘‘20l’’ in

the following places:

a. Section 49.601–1 in paragraphs (a)

and (b); and

b. Section 49.601–2 in paragraph (a)

of the Notice of Termination to Prime

Contractors; in paragraph (i) in the

Acknowledgment of Notice; and in

paragraph (a) of the Alternate notice.

[FR Doc. 00–13825 Filed 6–1–00; 4:02 pm]

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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 (Public Law 104–121). It consists

of a summary of rules appearing in

Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 97–

18 which amend the FAR. The rules

marked with an asterisk (*) indicates

that a regulatory flexibility analysis has

been prepared in accordance with 5

U.S.C. 604. Interested parties may

obtain further information regarding

these rules by referring to FAC 97–18

which precedes this document. These

documents are also available via the

Internet at http://www.arnet.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 97–18

Item Subject FAR case Analyst

I ................... Rescission of Office of Federal Procurement Policy Letters ............................................................... 2000–605 Olson.

II .................. FAR Drafting Principles ........................................................................................................................ 1999–610 De Stefano.

III ................. Requirements Supporting Procurement of Recycled Products and Environmentally Preferable

Services *.

1998–015

(98–015)

Linfield.

IV ................. General Records Schedules ................................................................................................................ 1999–615 Nelson.

V .................. Federal Supply Schedules Small Business Opportunities * ................................................................ 1998–609

(98–609)

Nelson.

VI ................. Trade Agreements Thresholds ............................................................................................................. 2000–004 Linfield.

VII ................ Restrictions on Acquisitions from Yugoslavia and Afghanistan ........................................................... 1999–008 Linfield.

VIII ............... Applicability, Thresholds and Waiver of Cost Accounting Standards Coverage (Interim) .................. 2000–301 Nelson.

Item I—Rescission of Office of Federal

Procurement Policy Letters (FAR Case

2000–605)

This final rule reflects editorial

amendments removing unnecessary

cross-references to policy letters that

were rescinded by the Office of Federal

Procurement Policy (OFPP) (65 FR

16968, March 30, 2000).

Item II—FAR Drafting Principles (FAR

Case 1999–610)

This final rule adds Federal

Acquisition Regulation drafting

principles to enhance a common

understanding of the regulation among

all members of the acquisition team and

other users. This rule affects all

contracting officers who use the FAR.

The final rule adds drafting conventions

in FAR 1.108 and amends 1.105–2,

52.101, 52.104, 52.105, and 52.200 to

reflect current FAR drafting

conventions.

Item III—Requirements Supporting

Procurement of Recycled Products and

Environmentally Preferable Services

(FAR Case 1998–015 (98–015))

This final rule implements Executive

Order 13101, Greening the Government

through Waste Prevention, Recycling,

and Federal Acquisition, dated

September 14, 1998. This rule is

significant for all contracting officers

who buy supplies, including supplies

that are furnished under a service

contract. The rule rewrites text currently

in the FAR based on earlier Executive

orders, but reorganizes and relocates

some of the text to conform to plain

language guidelines for Government

writing. The rewrite and reorganization

should make the text easier to use and

understand. The revisions also

emphasize Executive branch policies for

the acquisition of products containing

recovered material and other

environmentally preferable products

and services. The rule—

• Revises FAR Subpart 7.1 to ensure

that requirements for printing and

writing paper meet minimum content

requirements specified in the E.O.;

• Revises Subpart 11.3 to add

definitions and special requirements to

implement E.O. requirements and

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

regulations governing acquisitions of

printing and writing paper, and to

clarify that contracting officers may

include in solicitations additional

information requirements when needed

to determine if the offeror’s product

meets requirements for recycled content

or related standards;

• Clarifies in Part 13 how the

procurement requirements of the

Resource Conservation and Recovery

Act, 42 U.S.C. 6962, apply to micropurchases and acquisitions that do not

exceed $100,000; and

• Reorganizes and revises Subparts

23.4 and 23.7 and associated clauses.

36032 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 109 / Tuesday, June 6, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

Item IV—General Records Schedules

(FAR Case 1999–615)

This final rule implements National

Archives and Records Administration

General Records Schedule 3,

Procurement, Supply, and Grants

Records (NARA Schedule 3), dated

December 15, 1998. This rule affects all

contracting officers. The rule—

• Rewrites and reorganizes the text

already in the FAR to make it easier to

understand.

• Simplifies the retention table by

grouping several categories of records

that were previously treated as separate

records under more generic record

categories (e.g., the contract file or the

contract administration records).

• Deletes separate retention policy on

signed original justifications and

approvals, determinations and findings,

and rejected engineering change

proposals. Those records are retained

with the contract files shown in blocks

2 through 7 of the new retention table.

• Deletes the separate retention

period for contract status, expediting,

and production surveillance records.

Those records are retained with the

contract administration records shown

in block 7 of the new retention table.

Item V—Federal Supply Schedules

Small Business Opportunities (FAR

Case 1998–609) (98–609))

This final rule amends the Federal

Acquisition Regulation to ensure that

small businesses holding contracts

under the Federal Supply Schedules are

afforded the maximum practicable

opportunity to compete for and receive

FSS purchases. This rule affects all

ordering offices which place orders

under Federal Supply Schedule

contracts. The rule—

• Encourages ordering offices to

consider the availability of small

business concerns under the schedule

and encourages ordering offices to

consider small businesses when

conducting evaluations before placing

an order.

• Amends FAR Subpart 38.1 to

reaffirm that the General Services

Administration and agencies delegated

the authority to establish a Federal

Supply Schedule must comply with all

statutory and regulatory requirements

before issuance of a solicitation.

• Revises the FSS guidance in

accordance with the plain language

guidelines in a White House

memorandum, Plain Language in

Government Writing, dated June 1,

1998.

Item VI—Trade Agreements Thresholds

(FAR Case 2000–004)

This final rule amends FAR Subparts

25.2, 25.4, 25.6, and 25.11, and the

clauses at 52.225–11 and 52.225–12 to

implement new dollar thresholds for

application of the Trade Agreements Act

(TAA) and North American Free Trade

Agreement (NAFTA), as published by

the U.S. Trade Representative in the

Federal Register at 65 FR 17332, March

31, 2000. Contracting Officers must

review the new thresholds when

acquiring supplies, services, or

construction, in order to select the

appropriate contract clauses to

implement the Buy American Act,

Balance of Payments Program, trade

agreements, and sanctions of European

Union country end products and

services.

Item VII—Restrictions on Acquisitions

from Yugoslavia and Afghanistan (FAR

Case 1999–008)

This final rule amends FAR Subpart

25.7, section 25.1103, and the associated

clauses at 52.212–5, 52.213–4, and

52.225–13, to implement Executive

Orders 13121 and 13129. These

Executive orders, as modified by Office

of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)

General Licenses Numbers 2 and 4,

prohibit the importation into the United

States of any goods or services from

Serbia (excluding the territory of

Kosovo) or the territory of Afghanistan

controlled by the Taliban. As a matter

of policy, the Government does not

generally acquire, even for overseas use,

supplies or services that cannot be

imported lawfully into the United

States.

This rule primarily affects contracting

officers making purchases overseas, for

overseas use, because the Treasury

Department already prohibits import of

these restricted goods and services into

the United States. The rule is

particularly beneficial to contracting

officers facing unusual circumstances

overseas (such as location within a

restricted territory), explicitly providing

an exception for such circumstances.

Item VIII—Applicability, Thresholds

and Waiver of Cost Accounting

Standards Coverage (FAR Case 2000–

301)

This interim rule amends FAR Part

30, Cost Accounting Standards

Administration, and the provision at

FAR 52.230–1, Cost Accounting

Standards Notices and Certification, to

implement Section 802 of the National

Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal

Year 2000 (Pub. L. 106–65) and the Cost

Accounting Standards (CAS) Board’s

interim rule, Applicability, Thresholds

and Waiver of Cost Accounting

Standards Coverage. The FAR rule

revises policies affecting which

contractors and subcontractors must

comply with Cost Accounting

Standards. The rule—

• Amends the provision at FAR

52.230–1, Cost Accounting Standards

Notices and Certification, to remove the

requirement that a contractor or

subcontractor must have received at

least one CAS-covered contract

exceeding $1 million (‘‘trigger contract’’)

to be subject to full CAS coverage, since

the CAS Board removed this ‘‘trigger

contract’’ amount from its

corresponding solicitation provision,

Cost Accounting Standards Notices and

Certification, at 48 CFR 9903.201–3. The

CAS Board established a new ‘‘trigger

contract’’ dollar amount of $7.5 million

in the CAS applicability section of its

regulations (48 CFR 9903.201–1) rather

than in its solicitation provision. Since

FAR 30.201–1 already references this

section, no FAR changes were required

to address the new ‘‘trigger contract’’

dollar amount;

• Increases the dollar threshold for

full CAS coverage from $25 million to

$50 million; and

• Adds procedures and conditions for

agency waiver of the applicability of

CAS.

Dated: May 26, 2000.

Edward C. Loeb,

Director, Federal Acquisition Policy Division.

[FR Doc. 00–13826 Filed 6–1–00; 4:02 pm]

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