27266 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 92 / Wednesday, May 13, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 

read as floors and caps. Table 2 should 

be replaced as follows: 

TABLE 2—CAPS AND FLOORS ON PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT PLAN IMPROVEMENT FACTORS RELEVANT TO THE STATEWIDE

DATA INDICATORS

Floor Cap 

Statewide Data Indicators for Safety Outcome 1: 

Maltreatment in Foster Care ............................................................................................................................ 0.904 0.812 

Recurrence of Maltreatment ............................................................................................................................. 0.951 0.902 

Statewide Data Indicators for Permanency Outcome 1: 

Permanency in 12 Months for Children Entering Foster care ......................................................................... 1.031 1.063 

Permanency in 12 Months for Children in Foster Care 12 to 23 months ....................................................... 1.046 1.082 

Permanency in 12 Months for Children in Foster Care 24 Months or More ................................................... 1.042 1.091 

Re-Entry to Foster Care in 12 Months ............................................................................................................. 0.891 0.834 

Placement Stability ........................................................................................................................................... 0.959 0.904 

Dated: May 5, 2015. 

Mark H. Greenberg, 

Acting Assistant Secretary for Children and 

Families. 

[FR Doc. 2015–11515 Filed 5–12–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4184–25–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

48 CFR Parts 1328 and 1352 

[Document No.: 150129094–5094–01] 

RIN 0605–AA37 

Commerce Acquisition Regulation 

(CAR); Waiver of Bond Requirement 

for Contracts To Repair, Alter or 

Construct Certain Research and 

Survey Vessels for the National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

AGENCY: Department of Commerce 

(Commerce). 

ACTION: Interim final rule. 

SUMMARY: We, the Department of 

Commerce (Commerce), issue an interim 

final rule to provide procedures for 

waiving performance and payment 

bonds required under U.S. law, 

associated with contracts for the repair, 

alteration and construction of the 

National Atmospheric and 

Oceanographic Administration’s 

(NOAA) fleet of research and survey 

vessels operated by the Office of Marine 

and Aviation Operations (OMAO). The 

regulations implement the authority 

provided to the Secretary of Commerce 

in Section 111 of the ‘‘Department of 

Commerce Appropriations Act, 2015,’’ 

and comport with language in the 

Appropriation Committee’s report 

instructing NOAA to promulgate 

regulations prior to implementing the 

waiver authority. This final rule amends 

the CAR by inserting a section and 

amending a part to add the contract 

language for the waivers. 

DATES: This action is effective on May 

13, 2015. However, Commerce will 

accept comments on this interim final 

rule until June 12, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: The final rule is available at 

www.regulations.gov, or by contacting 

the Department of Commerce: Room 

1854, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., 

Washington, DC 20230. 

You may submit comments on this 

interim final rule on regulations.gov, 

search for RIN 0605–AA37, click the 

‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon, complete the 

required fields, and enter or attach your 

comments. 

Comments sent by any other method, 

to any other address or individual, or 

received after the end of the comment 

period, may not be considered. All 

comments received are a part of the 

public record and will generally be 

posted for public viewing on 

www.regulations.gov without change. 

All personal identifying information 

(e.g., name, address, etc.) submitted 

voluntarily by the sender will be 

publicly accessible. Do not submit 

confidential business information, or 

otherwise sensitive or protected 

information. The Department of 

Commerce will accept anonymous 

comments (enter ‘‘N/A’’ in the required 

fields if you wish to remain 

anonymous). Attachments to electronic 

comments will be accepted in Microsoft 

Word or Excel, WordPerfect, or Adobe 

PDF file formats only. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Virna Winters, 202–482–3483. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Section 111 of the ‘‘Department of 

Commerce Appropriations Act, 2015,’’ 

Division B, Title I of Public Law 113– 

235 (Dec. 16, 2014) (Appropriations Act) 

granted the Secretary of Commerce the 

authority to waive the performance and 

payment bond requirement under 40 

U.S.C. 3131 et seq., for the construction, 

alteration, or repair of ships in NOAA’s 

fleet of vessels. 40 U.S.C. 3131 et seq. 

requires prime contractors to furnish 

performance and payment bonds for 

contracts in excess of $150,000, for the 

construction, alteration, or repair of any 

public building or public work of the 

Federal government including ship 

construction, alteration, and repairs. 

NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation 

Operations (OMAO) operates a fleet of 

hydrographic survey, oceanographic 

research and fisheries survey vessels, 

consistent with its mission to perform 

offshore and deep-sea survey 

operations, coastal mapping, 

oceanographic research, and other 

functions that ensures public safety and 

the preservation of the Nation’s property 

and natural resources. The waiver 

authority will align the Commerce’s 

authorities with those of other Federal 

agencies, including the U.S. Department 

of the Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard, 

and is expected to address significant 

difficulties NOAA has experienced in 

obtaining competitive bids for ship 

repairs. The authorization for this 

waiver lasts as long as it is included in 

appropriations measures, or authorizing 

legislation, enacted by Congress. 

Commerce publishes this action to 

amend the CAR to provide guidance for 

implementing the authority granted to 

the Secretary of Commerce in the 

Appropriations Act. The following is a 

summary of the procedures which will 

be in the amendment to the CAR. 

NOAA ships enter into either a dry 

docking or dockside repair period every 

fiscal year, typically in the first or 

second quarter of the fiscal year. Each 

vessel is equipped with highly 

advanced survey instruments, state of 

the art electronics, computers, and 

navigational and communications 

systems, which must be kept 

operational to ensure the safety of the 

crew and the ship’s schedule. It also is 

often necessary for emergency repairs to 


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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 92 / Wednesday, May 13, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 27267 

be made to NOAA’s vessels without 

delay for safety purposes and to ensure 

that the ships can carry on their 

missions involving the collection of 

mission sensitive data, as well as 

immediate response capabilities for 

extreme weather-related events 

involving hurricanes. As noted above, 

prime contractors performing those 

maintenance activities on NOAA’s 

vessels have been required to provide 

performance and payment bonds for 

that work. These bonding requirements 

have placed an undue burden on 

smaller shipyards that have limited 

financial resources and have hindered 

their ability to bid on NOAA’s 

requirements. This has resulted in 

inadequate competition for repairs to 

the Atlantic and Pacific fleets, delays to 

ship schedules, inferior quality and 

increased costs to the Government. 

The Appropriations Act gives the 

Secretary of Commerce the authority to 

waive the bonding requirement for the 

alteration, repair and construction of 

NOAA’s vessels to encourage 

contractors, especially small shipyards, 

to bid on NOAA’s vessel projects. In 

order to implement the authority in an 

efficient manner and consistent with the 

congressional mandate, this action 

allows NOAA to waive bond 

requirements for ship construction, 

alteration and repairs. 

Contracting Officers (CO) may not 

issue solicitations waiving the 

requirements for bonds until the waiver 

request is approved. The CO will retain 

the discretion to require bonds if the 

complexity of the work and the level of 

competition in the region warrant them. 

All solicitations for ship construction, 

alteration, or repairs where bonds are 

not required will include a provision 

informing potential offerors that the 

failure to pay subcontractors could 

adversely affect their past performance 

and have an impact on their eligibility 

for award of future contracts. 

Contractors will provide written 

confirmation that all subcontractors 

have been properly paid prior to 

submission of final invoice. 

Classification 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563: 

This interim final rule has been drafted 

according to the requirements of 

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563, and 

has been determined to be ‘‘not 

significant’’ under those orders. 

The Department of Commerce finds 

good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3) and 

(d) to waive the notice and comment 

and 30-day delay in effectiveness 

periods for this action. Congress granted 

the Secretary of Commerce the authority 

to waive the bonding requirements 

involved in this action in the 

Appropriations Act. That authority lasts 

the duration of fiscal year 2015 and 

carries through any years in which 

Congress reauthorizes the authority. 

Because the waiver authority may be of 

limited duration, it is impracticable and 

contrary to the public’s interest to 

submit this rule to the ordinary notice 

and comment timeframe. Doing so 

would restrict the time limit for the 

authority, contrary to Congressional 

intent, and thereby reduce or eliminate 

the benefits to the public and to the 

Government of waiving the bonding 

requirements. Use of the waiver will 

benefit the public by allowing greater 

competition for shipbuilding and ship 

repair activities, and helps NOAA’s 

vessels maintain working operation for 

more days out of the year. Because 

allowing public comment and delaying 

the effectiveness of this rule for 30 days 

is impracticable and contrary to the 

public’s interest, Commerce hereby 

waives those requirements. 

Although this interim rule will 

become effective upon publication in 

the Federal Register, Commerce is 

nonetheless seeking public comments 

on this rule and plans on publishing a 

final rule in the future that takes into 

account and responds to public 

comments. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act: Because 

notice and comment under 5 U.S.C. 553 

are not required for this rule, the 

requirements of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act do not apply. 5 U.S.C. 

603. Accordingly, no regulatory 

flexibility analysis is required, and none 

has been prepared. 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA): This 

rule does not impose any new 

information collections subject to 

review and approval by the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) under 

the PRA. Notwithstanding any other 

provision of the law, no person is 

required to respond to, nor shall any 

person be subject to a penalty for failure 

to comply with, a collection of 

information subject to the requirements 

of the PRA, unless that collection of 

information displays a currently valid 

OMB control number. 

List of Subjects 

48 CFR Part 1328 

Government procurement, Insurance, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Surety bonds. 

48 CFR Part 1352 

Government procurement, Matrix, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

Ellen Herbst, 

Chief Financial Officer and Assistant 

Secretary of Administration, U.S. Department 

of Commerce. 

For the reasons set out in the 

preamble, the Department of Commerce 

amends 48 CFR parts 1328 and 1352 as 

follows: 

PART 1328—BONDS AND INSURANCE 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 1328 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 41 U.S.C. 414; 48 CFR 1.301– 

1.304. 

■ 2. Add sections 1328.102, 1328.102–1, 

1328.102–2, and 1328.102–3 to subpart 

1328.1 to read as follows: 

1328.102 Waiver of performance and 

payment bonds for contracts involving the 

construction, alteration, and repair of 

NOAA’s fleet of vessels. 

1328.102–1 Waiver policy. 

(a) Pursuant to the authority vested in 

the Secretary of Commerce, the 

requirements of 40 U.S.C. 3131 through 

3133 may be waived by virtue of the 

authority vested in him or her pursuant 

to the Consolidated and Further 

Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, 

Public Law 113–235, 128 Stat. 2130, 

Div. B, Title I, Sec. 111 (2014), with 

respect to contracts for the repair, 

alteration, and construction of NOAA’s 

hydrographic survey, oceanographic 

research, and fisheries survey vessels 

operated by NOAA Office of Marine and 

Aviation Operations in the Atlantic and 

Pacific regions including the Pacific 

Islands. The Department’s policy and 

procedures for use of the waiver 

authority is set forth in CAM 1328.102. 

(b) Contracting officers are required to 

consider any unusual circumstances 

that may arise in which either payment 

or performance bonds, or both, will be 

advantageous to the Government in 

connection with these contracts prior to 

issuing solicitations. 

1328.102–2 Waiver authority. 

The designee authorized to approve 

bond waivers is set forth in CAM 

1328.102. 

1328.102–3 Contract clause. 

The contracting officer shall insert the 

clause at 1352.228–77, Contractor 

Assurance of Subcontractor Payments, 

in solicitations and contracts when 

performance and payment bonds are 

waived. 


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27268 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 92 / Wednesday, May 13, 2015 / Rules and Regulations 

PART 1352—SOLICITATION 

PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT 

CLAUSES 

■ 3. The authority for part 1352 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 41 U.S.C. 414; 48 CFR 1.301– 

1.304. 

■ 4. Add section 1352.228–77 to subpart 

1352.2 to read as follows: 

1352.228–77 Contractor assurance of 

subcontractor payments. 

As prescribed in 48 CFR 1328.102–3, 

insert the following clause: 

Contractor Assurance of Subcontractor 

Payments May 2015 

(a) To protect the interests of 

subcontractors participating in the 

performance of this contract, the 

Government requires the assurance that 

all monies due to subcontractors is 

timely and properly made prior to the 

submission of the contractor’s final 

invoice. 

(b) By accepting this award, in writing 

or by performance, the offeror/

contractor represents that—it will 

provide full payment to all 

subcontractors utilized in the 

performance of the resultant contract 

prior to the submission of its final 

invoice. 

(c) No later than five (5) days after 

contract award the contractor shall 

provide the Contracting Officer with a 

list of all subcontractors to be utilized 

in the performance of this contract. The 

contractor must provide updates to the 

Contracting Officer throughout the 

contract, should changes be made. 

(d) The following shall be completed 

and provided accordingly: 

SUBCONTRACTOR LIST—CONTRACT NO.llllllllll 

Name of subcontractor business 

Subcontractor point of contact with 

contact information 

(number/e-mail) 

Contract line item(s) to 

which subcontract work is 

tied 

Applicable trade 

(electrical, 

mechanical, etc.) 

(e) Reports by subcontractors of 

delayed or non-payment during the 

performance of the contract may impact 

the Government’s continued payment of 

contractor invoices on a percentage of 

completion basis. (CAR clause, 

1352.271–71, Method of Payment and 

Invoicing Instructions for Ship Repair). 

(f) The contractor shall include the 

following statement on its final 

invoice—‘‘By submission of this 

invoice, assurance is herein provided 

that all monies due to any and all 

subcontractors used in the performance 

of this contract have been paid in full 

prior to the submission of this final 

invoice.’’ 

(g) Failure to pay subcontractors 

could adversely affect the contractor’s 

past performance evaluation for this 

contract and have a negative impact on 

its eligibility for future contract awards. 

(h) The Government may seek any 

available remedies in the event the 

contractor fails to comply with the 

provisions of this clause. 

[FR Doc. 2015–10620 Filed 5–12–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–03–P 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with RULES