69502 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 192 / Thursday, October 5, 2023 / Rules and Regulations 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

GENERAL SERVICES 

ADMINISTRATION 

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND 

SPACE ADMINISTRATION 

48 CFR Chapter 1 

[Docket No. FAR–2023–0051, Sequence 

No. 5] 

Federal Acquisition Regulation; 

Federal Acquisition Circular 2023–06; 

Introduction 

AGENCY: Department of Defense (DoD), 

General Services Administration (GSA), 

and National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA). 

ACTION: Summary presentation of 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 (Councils) in this Federal 

Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2023–06. A 

companion document, the Small Entity 

Compliance Guide (SECG), follows this 

FAC. 

DATES: For effective dates see the 

separate documents, which follow. 

ADDRESSES: The FAC, including the 

SECG, is available at https://

www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The 

analyst whose name appears in the table 

below in relation to the FAR case. For 

information pertaining to status or 

publication schedules, contact the 

Regulatory Secretariat Division at 202– 

501–4755 or GSARegSec@gsa.gov. 

RULES LISTED IN FAC 2023–06 

Item Subject FAR case Analyst 

I ..................... Implementation of Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act 

(FASCSA) Orders.

2020–011 Ryba. 

II .................... Whistleblower Protection for Contractor Employees ................................. 2017–005 Jones. 

III ................... 8(a) Program .............................................................................................. 2021–012 Bowman. 

IV .................. Technical Amendments.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Summaries for each FAR rule follow. 

For the actual revisions and/or 

amendments made by these FAR rules, 

refer to the specific item numbers and 

subjects set forth in the documents 

following these item summaries. FAC 

2023–06 amends the FAR as follows: 

Item I—Implementation of Federal 

Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act 

(FASCSA) Orders (FAR Case 2020–011) 

This interim rule amends the Federal 

Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to 

implement supply chain risk 

information sharing and exclusion or 

removal orders required by the Federal 

Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act 

of 2018 and a final rule issued by the 

Federal Acquisition Security Council 

(FASC). 

The FAR is being amended to 

implement applicable exclusion or 

removal orders recommended by the 

FASC when they are issued by the 

Secretary of Homeland Security, the 

Secretary of Defense, or the Director of 

National Intelligence. Offerors will be 

required to check both the System for 

Award Management and individual 

solicitations for applicable exclusion 

orders. 

This rule applies to all acquisitions, 

including acquisitions at or below the 

simplified acquisition threshold and to 

acquisitions of commercial items, 

including commercially available offthe-shelf items. It may have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. 

Item II—Whistleblower Protection for 

Contractor Employees (FAR Case 2017– 

005) 

This final rule amends the FAR to 

implement Public Law 114–261 (41 

U.S.C. 4712). The rule enhances 

whistleblower protection for contractor 

employees by making permanent the 

protection for disclosure of certain 

information. It also clarifies that the 

FAR 31.205–47 prohibition on 

reimbursement for legal fees accrued in 

defense against reprisal claims applies 

to subcontractors, as well as contractors. 

DoD, NASA and the Coast Guard have 

a different whistleblower program for 

contractor employees. 

This final rule will not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

Item III—8(a) Program Changes (FAR 

Case 2021–012) 

This final rule amends the FAR to 

update and clarify requirements 

associated with the Small Business 

Administration’s (SBA) 8(a) program. 

Specifically, this rule clarifies that the 

certificate of competency program is not 

applicable to 8(a) sole-source awards 

and requires that BPAs issued under 

part 13, including orders placed under 

part 13 BPAs under the 8(a) Program, 

must be offered to, and accepted by 

SBA. Additionally, this rule clarifies an 

8(a) participant’s eligibility for award 

for a two-step design procurement and 

clarifies that a concern must be a 

current participant in the 8(a) program 

at the time of an 8(a) sole-source award. 

This rule also implements policy that 

allows the SBA to appeal a contracting 

officer’s decision that an acquisition 

previously procured under the 8(a) 

program is a new requirement not 

subject to the release requirements set 

forth in 13 CFR. Furthermore, this rule 

requires the contracting officer to notify 

the SBA when the contracting officer 

decides that a requirement, previously 

procured under the 8(a) program, is a 

new requirement and not a follow-on 

requirement to an 8(a) contract; and 

when the procuring activity intends to 

procure a follow-on requirement using 

an existing limited contracting vehicle 

that is not available to all 8(a) 

participants and the current or previous 

8(a) contract was available to all 8(a) 

participants. Lastly, this rule encourages 

the contracting officer to notify the SBA 

Associate Administrator for Business 

Development at least 30 days prior to 

the end of the contract or order when a 

mandatory source will be used for a 

follow-on requirement to an 8(a) 

contract. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 192 / Thursday, October 5, 2023 / Rules and Regulations 69503 

Item IV—Technical Amendments 

An administrative change is made at 

FAR 52.212–3. 

William F. Clark, 

Director, Office of Government-wide 

Acquisition Policy, Office of Acquisition 

Policy, Office of Government-wide Policy. 

Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 

2023–06 is issued under the authority of 

the Secretary of Defense, the 

Administrator of General Services, and 

the Administrator of National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration. 

Unless otherwise specified, all 

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 

and other directive material contained 

in FAC 2023–06 is effective October 5, 

2023 except for Item I, which is effective 

December 4, 2023, and Items II, III, and 

IV, which are effective November 6, 

2023. 

John M. Tenaglia, 

Principal Director, Defense Pricing and 

Contracting, Department of Defense. 

William F. Clark, 

Director, Office of Government-wide 

Acquisition Policy, Office of Acquisition 

Policy, Office of Government-wide Policy. 

Karla Smith Jackson, 

Assistant Administrator for Procurement, 

Senior Procurement Executive/Deputy CAO, 

National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2023–21319 Filed 10–4–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–EP–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

GENERAL SERVICES 

ADMINISTRATION 

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND 

SPACE ADMINISTRATION 

48 CFR Parts 1, 4, 9, 13, 39, and 52 

[FAC 2023–06; FAR Case 2020–011; Item 

I; Docket No. FAR–2020–0011, Sequence 

No. 1] 

RIN 9000–AO13 

Federal Acquisition Regulation: 

Implementation of Federal Acquisition 

Supply Chain Security Act (FASCSA) 

Orders 

AGENCY: Department of Defense (DoD), 

General Services Administration (GSA), 

and National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA). 

ACTION: Interim rule. 

SUMMARY: DoD, GSA, and NASA are 

issuing an interim rule amending the 

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to 

implement supply chain risk 

information sharing and exclusion or 

removal orders consistent with the 

Federal Acquisition Supply Chain 

Security Act of 2018 and a final rule 

issued by the Federal Acquisition 

Security Council. 

DATES: 

Effective date: December 4, 2023. 

Applicability: The FAR changes apply 

to solicitations issued on or after 

December 4, 2023 in accordance with 

FAR 1.108(d). 

For existing indefinite delivery 

contracts only, contracting officers shall 

modify them, in accordance with FAR 

1.108(d), to include the FAR clause at 

52.204–30, Federal Acquisition Supply 

Chain Security Act Orders-Prohibition 

(including any applicable alternate) 

within 6 months of December 4, 2023, 

to apply to future orders. However, for 

Federal Supply Schedules, 

Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts, 

and Multi-Agency Contracts, if the 

FASCSA orders are going to be applied 

at the order level, then FAR clause 

52.204–28 should be included instead, 

within 6 months of December 4, 2023. 

If exercising an option or modifying 

an existing contract or task or delivery 

order to extend the period of 

performance, contracting officers shall 

include the FAR clause at 52.204–30, 

Federal Acquisition Supply Chain 

Security Act Orders-Prohibition 

(including any applicable alternate). 

When exercising an option, agencies 

should consider modifying the existing 

contract to add the clause in a sufficient 

amount of time to both provide notice 

for exercising the option and to provide 

contractors with adequate time to 

comply with the clause. 

Comment date: Interested parties 

should submit written comments to the 

Regulatory Secretariat Division at the 

address shown below on or before 

December 4, 2023 to be considered in 

the formation of the final rule. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments in 

response to FAC 2023–06, FAR Case 

2020–011 to the Federal eRulemaking 

portal at https://www.regulations.gov by 

searching for ‘‘FAR Case 2020–011’’. 

Select the link ‘‘Comment Now’’ that 

corresponds with FAR Case 2020–011. 

Follow the instructions provided on the 

‘‘Comment Now’’ screen. Please include 

your name, company name (if any), and 

‘‘FAR Case 2020–011’’ on your attached 

document. If your comment cannot be 

submitted using https://

www.regulations.gov, call or email the 

points of contact in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section of this 

document for alternate instructions. 

Instructions: Please submit comments 

only and cite ‘‘FAR Case 2020–011’’ in 

all correspondence related to this case. 

Comments received generally will be 

posted without change to https://

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal and/or business confidential 

information provided. Public comments 

may be submitted as an individual, as 

an organization, or anonymously (see 

frequently asked questions at https://

www.regulations.gov/faq). To confirm 

receipt of your comment(s), please 

check https://www.regulations.gov, 

approximately two to three days after 

submission to verify posting. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

clarification of content, contact Ms. 

Marissa Ryba, Procurement Analyst, at 

314–586–1280 or by email at 

Marissa.Ryba@gsa.gov. For information 

pertaining to status, publication 

schedules, or alternate instructions for 

submitting comments if https://

www.regulations.gov cannot be used, 

contact the Regulatory Secretariat 

Division at 202–501–4755 or 

GSARegSec@gsa.gov. Please cite FAC 

2023–06, FAR Case 2020–011. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

This interim rule revises the FAR to 

implement section 202 of the Federal 

Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act 

of 2018 (Title II of the SECURE 

Technology Act, Pub. L. 115–390, Dec. 

21, 2018), and a final rule issued by the 

Federal Acquisition Security Council 

(FASC) (August 26, 2021, 86 FR 47581, 

effective September 27, 2021). 

Foreign adversaries are increasingly 

creating and exploiting vulnerabilities 

in information and communications 

technology to commit malicious cyberenabled actions, including economic 

and industrial espionage against the 

United States and its citizens. 

Vulnerabilities may be introduced 

during any phase of the product or 

service life cycle, including: design, 

development and production, 

distribution, acquisition and 

deployment, maintenance, and disposal. 

These vulnerabilities can include the 

incorporation of malicious software, 

hardware, and counterfeit components; 

flawed product designs; and poor 

manufacturing processes and 

maintenance procedures. 

The U.S. Government’s efforts to 

evaluate threats to and vulnerabilities in 

supply chains have historically been 

undertaken by individual or small 

groups of agencies to address specific 

supply chain security risks. Because of 

the scale of supply chain risks faced by 

Government agencies, and the need for 

better coordination among a broader 

group of agencies, there was an 

organized effort within the Executive 


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