[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 109 (Tuesday, June 6, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 36012-36013]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-13816]



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Part III

Department of Defense

General Services Administration

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
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48 CFR Chapter 1 et al.



Federal Acquisition Regulations; Final Rules

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

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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Chapter 1


Federal Acquisition Circular 97-18; 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.

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SUMMARY: This document summarizes the Federal Acquisition Regulation 
(FAR) rules issued by the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the 
Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) in this Federal 
Acquisition Circular (FAC) 97-18. The Councils drafted these FAR rules 
using plain language in accordance with the White House memorandum, 
Plain Language in Government Writing, dated June 1, 1998. The Councils 
wrote all new and revised text using plain language. 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.arnet.gov/far.

DATES: For effective dates and comment dates, see separate documents 
which follow.

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. 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 97-18 and 
specific FAR case numbers. Interested parties may also visit our 
website at http://www.arnet.gov/far.

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        Item                              Subject                         FAR case             Analyst
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I                    Rescission of Office of Federal Procurement           2000-605  Olson
                      Policy Letters.
II                   FAR Drafting Principles..........................     1999-610  De Stefano
III                  Requirements Supporting Procurement of Recycled       1998-015  Linfield
                      Products and Environmentally Preferable Services.    (98-015)
IV                   General Records Schedules........................     1999-615  Nelson
V                    Federal Supply Schedules Small Business               1998-609  Nelson
                      Opportunities.                                       (98-609)
VI                   Trade Agreements Thresholds......................     2000-004  Linfield
VII                  Restrictions on Acquisitions from Yugoslavia and      1999-008  Linfield
                      Afghanistan.
VIII                 Applicability, Thresholds and Waiver of Cost          2000-301  Nelson
                      Accounting Standards Coverage (Interim).
IX                   Technical Amendments.............................
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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.
    Federal Acquisition Circular 97-18 amends the FAR as specified 
below:

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--
    <bullet> Revises FAR Subpart 7.1 to ensure that requirements for 
printing and writing paper meet minimum content requirements specified 
in the E.O.;
    <bullet> 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;
    <bullet> Clarifies in Part 13 how the procurement requirements of 
the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 42 U.S.C. 6962, apply to 
micro-purchases and acquisitions that do not exceed $100,000; and
    <bullet> Reorganizes and revises Subparts 23.4 and 23.7 and 
associated clauses.

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--
    <bullet> Rewrites and reorganizes the text already in the FAR to 
make it easier to understand.
    <bullet> 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).
    <bullet> Deletes separate retention policy on signed original 
justifications and approvals, determinations and findings,

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and rejected engineering change proposals. Those records are retained 
with the contract files shown in blocks 2 through 7 of the new 
retention table.
    <bullet> 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--
    <bullet> 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.
    <bullet> 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.
    <bullet> 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--
    <bullet> 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;
    <bullet> Increases the dollar threshold for full CAS coverage from 
$25 million to $50 million; and
    <bullet> Adds procedures and conditions for agency waiver of the 
applicability of CAS.

Item IX--Technical Amendments

    These amendments update references and make editorial changes at 
sections 3.303, 5.204, 47.504, 49.601-1, and 49.601-2.

    Dated: May 26, 2000.
Edward C. Loeb,
Director, Federal Acquisition Policy Division.

Federal Acquisition Circular

    Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 97-18 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.
    All Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) changes and other 
directive material contained in FAC 97-18 are effective June 6, 2000 
except for Item VII which is effective July 6, 2000 and items II, III, 
IV, and V which are effective August 7, 2000. Each rule is applicable 
to solicitations issued on or after the rule's effective date.

    Dated: May 26, 2000.
R.D. Kerrins, Jr., Col, USA,
Acting Director, Defense Procurement.

    Dated: May 26, 2000.
Edward C. Loeb,
Acting Deputy Associate Administrator, Office of Acquisition Policy, 
General Services Administration.

    Dated: May 25, 2000.
Anne Guenther,
Acting Associate Administrator for Procurement, National Aeronautics 
and Space Administration.
[FR Doc. 00-13816 Filed 6-1-00; 3:58 pm]
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