13584 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 55 / Thursday, March 22, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

GENERAL SERVICES 

ADMINISTRATION 

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND 

SPACE ADMINISTRATION 

48 CFR Chapter 1 

[Docket FAR—2007–0002, Sequence 1] 

Federal Acquisition Regulation; 

Federal Acquisition Circular 2005–16; 

Introduction 

AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DoD), 

General Services Administration (GSA), 

and National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA). 

ACTION: Summary presentation of 

interim and final rules. 

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) 2005–16. 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.regulations.gov. 

DATES: For effective dates and comment 

dates, see separate documents, which 

follow. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The 

analyst whose name appears in the table 

below in relation to each FAR case or 

subject area. Please cite FAC 2005–16 

and specific FAR case number(s). For 

information pertaining to status or 

publication schedules, contact the FAR 

Secretariat at (202) 501–4755. 

LIST OF RULES IN FAC 2005–16 

Item Subject FAR case Analyst 

I ............ Implementation of Wage Determinations OnLine (WDOL) ............................................................. 2005–033 Woodson. 

II ........... Termination or Cancellation of Purchase Orders ............................................................................ 2005–029 Jackson. 

III .......... Contracts with Religious Entities (Interim) ....................................................................................... 2006–019 Woodson. 

IV .......... Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statute or Executive Orders—Commercial Items.2006–012 Jackson. 

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 2005–16 amends the FAR as 

specified below: 

Item I—Implementation of Wage 

Determinations OnLine (WDOL) (FAR 

Case 2005–033) 

This final rule implements the 

Department of Labor (DOL) Wage 

Determinations OnLine (WDOL) 

Internet website as the source for 

Federal contracting agencies to obtain 

wage determinations issued by the DOL 

for service contracts subject to the 

McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act 

(SCA) and for construction contracts 

subject to the Davis-Bacon Act (DBA). 

The rule amends the FAR to direct 

Federal contracting agencies to obtain 

DBA and SCA wage determinations 

from the WDOL website. 

The WDOL and e98 processes replace 

the paper Standard Forms 98 and 98a. 

In addition, Standard Forms 98, 98a, 

and 99 are deleted from FAR Part 53. 

This final rule also incorporates new 

geographical jurisdictions for DOL’s 

Wage and Hour Regional Offices and 

eliminates FAR references to the 

Government Printing Office publication 

of general wage determinations. 

Item II—Termination or Cancellation of 

Purchase Orders (FAR Case 2005–029) 

The rule revises the Federal 

Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to correct 

the inadvertent omission of an 

appropriate reference in FAR Part 

13.302–4(a) for termination for cause of 

those purchase orders that have been 

accepted in writing. This FAR revision 

is a correction to a reference and not a 

change to the contract termination 

options available in 52.212–4(l) or (m). 

If a purchase order that has been 

accepted in writing by the contractor is 

to be terminated, contracting officers 

have the option to terminate for cause 

as well as terminate for convenience. 

Item III—Contracts with Religious 

Entities (FAR Case 2006–019) (Interim) 

This interim rule amends FAR 

Subpart 22.8, Equal Employment 

Opportunity, and the associated clause 

at 52.222–26, Equal Opportunity, to add 

an exemption for religious entities to the 

prohibition of discrimination on the 

basis of religion. Executive Order (E.O.) 

13279 amended Section 204 of E.O. 

11246 to permit religious entities to 

consider employment of individuals of 

a particular religion to perform work 

connected with carrying on the entity’s 

activities. Religious entities remain 

subject to other Equal Employment 

Opportunity requirements. When 

awarding a contract to a religious entity 

that contains the clause at FAR 52.222– 

26, Equal Opportunity, the requirements 

of the clause with respect to 

employment of individuals of a 

particular religion to perform work 

connected with the carrying on of the 

contractor’s activities do not apply to a 

contractor that is a religious 

corporation, association, educational 

institution, or society. 

Item IV—Contract Terms and 

Conditions Required to Implement 

Statute or Executive Orders— 

Commercial Items (FAR Case 2006–012) 

The final rule revises the Federal 

Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to update 

the required contract clauses that 

implement provisions of law or 

executive orders for acquisitions of 

commercial items. 

Dated: March 15, 2007. 

Ralph De Stefano, 

Director, Contract Policy Division. 

Federal Acquisition Circular 

Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 

2005-16 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 2005-16 is effective March 22, 

2007. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 55 / Thursday, March 22, 2007 / Rules and Regulations 13585 

Dated: March 7, 2007. 

Shay D. Assad, 

Director, Defense Procurement and 

Acquisition Policy. 

Dated: March 14, 2007. 

Roger D. Waldron, 

Acting Senior Procurement Executive, 

General Services Administration. 

Dated: March 7, 2007. 

Tom Luedtke, 

Assistant Administrator for Procurement, 

National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. 07–1359 Filed 3–21–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–EP–S 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

GENERAL SERVICES 

ADMINISTRATION 

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND 

SPACE ADMINISTRATION 

48 CFR Parts 4, 22, 47, 52, and 53 

[FAC 2005–16; FAR Case 2005–033; Item 

I; Docket 2007–0001, Sequence 1] 

RIN 9000–AK47 

Federal Acquisition Regulation; FAR 

Case 2005–033; Implementation of 

Wage Determinations OnLine (WDOL) 

AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DoD), 

General Services Administration (GSA), 

and National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Civilian Agency 

Acquisition Council and the Defense 

Acquisition Regulations Council 

(Councils) have agreed to adopt the 

interim rule published in the Federal 

Register at 71 FR 36930, June 28, 2006, 

as a final rule without change. This final 

rule amends the Federal Acquisition 

Regulation (FAR) to implement the 

Wage Determinations OnLine (WDOL) 

Internet website as the source for 

Federal contracting agencies to obtain 

wage determinations issued by the 

Department of Labor (DOL) for service 

contracts subject to the McNamaraO’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA) and 

for construction contracts subject to the 

Davis-Bacon Act (DBA). 

DATES: Effective Date: March 22, 2007. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Ernest Woodson, Procurement Analyst, 

at (202) 501–3775 for clarification of 

content. Please cite FAC 2005–16, FAR 

case 2005–033. For information 

pertaining to status or publication 

schedules, contact the FAR Secretariat 

at (202) 501–4755. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Background 

DoD, GSA, and NASA published an 

interim rule in the Federal Register at 

71 FR 36930, June 28, 2006. The interim 

rule amended FAR Part 22 to implement 

Wage Determinations Online (WDOL) 

Internet Website (http://www.wdol.gov) 

as the source for Federal contracting 

agencies to obtain wage determinations 

issued by the Department of Labor 

(DOL) for service contracts subject to the 

Service Contract Act (SCA) and for 

construction contracts subject to the 

Davis-Bacon Act (DBA). The rule 

incorporated new geographical 

jurisdictions for DOL’s Wage and Hour 

Regional Offices and eliminated FAR 

references to the Government Printing 

Office (GPO) publication of general 

wage determinations. 

The interim rule eliminated the 

requirement for the contracting officer 

to submit a copy of collective bargaining 

agreements (CBAs) to the DOL for the 

purpose of obtaining a wage 

determination under Section 4(c) of the 

SCA, unless directed by the DOL to do 

so. The rule also deleted the FAR clause 

at 52.222–47, SCA Minimum Wages and 

Fringe Benefits Applicable to Successor 

Contract Pursuant to Predecessor 

Contractor Collective Bargaining 

Agreements (CBA), because the WDOL 

process makes it unnecessary. 

Additionally, the rule revised FAR 

clause 52.222–49, Service Contract 

Act—Place of Performance Unknown, to 

make conforming changes to FAR 

references, and deleted Standard Forms 

98, 98a, and 99 from FAR Part 53 in 

their entirety. 

Comment. In response to the interim 

rule, one comment was received. The 

commenter was concerned with the risk 

of issuing the most current wage 

determination and allowing offerors to 

amend their proposal after the source 

selection decision is made but prior to 

award, noting the possible impact on 

the proposed price and source selection 

decision. The commenter recommended 

revising the language for contracting by 

negotiation in FAR 22.1012–1(c) to be 

similar to contracting for sealed bidding 

or allow the contracting officer to 

incorporate a wage determination after 

award similar to the language provided 

in FAR clause 52.222–30, Davis Bacon 

Act—Price Adjustment (None or 

Separately Specified Method). 

The Councils considered the 

comment to be outside the scope of the 

rule and referred the comment to the 

Department of Defense Labor Committee 

for their review and input. Therefore, 

the councils have agreed to implement 

the interim rule as written without 

changes. 

This is not a significant regulatory 

action and, therefore, was not subject to 

review under Section 6(b) of Executive 

Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and 

Review, dated September 30, 1993. This 

rule is not a major rule under 5 U.S.C. 

804. 

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Department of Defense, the 

General Services Administration, and 

the National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration certify that this final 

rule will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities within the 

meaning of the Regulatory Flexibility 

Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq., because the 

rule involves internal Government 

processes between the DOL and Federal 

contracting agencies. During the design 

phase of WDOL.gov, the WDOL Task 

Force coordinated with a number of 

labor organizations, contractors, the 

Contract Services Association, and 

various Federal contracting agencies to 

address and satisfy any concerns about 

the effect of the rule on all interested 

parties, including small entities. The 

only comment received on the interim 

rule was determined to be outside the 

scope of the rule. 

C. Paperwork Reduction Act 

The Paperwork Reduction Act does 

not apply because the changes to the 

FAR do not impose information 

collection requirements that require the 

approval of the Office of Management 

and Budget under 44 U.S.C. 3501, et 

seq. 

List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 4, 22, 

47, 52, and 53 

Government procurement. 

Dated: March 15, 2007. 

Ralph De Stefano, 

Director, Contract Policy Division. 

Interim Rule Adopted as Final Without 

Change 

■ Accordingly, the interim rule 

amending 48 CFR parts 4, 22, 47, 52, 

and 53, which was published in the 

Federal Register at 71 FR 36930, June 

28, 2006, is adopted as a final rule 

without change. 

[FR Doc. 07–1358 Filed 3–21–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–EP–S 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with RULES