60542 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 197 / Wednesday, October 11, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES

ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND

SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Chapter 1

Federal Acquisition Circular 97–20;

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.

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) 97–20. 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 97–20 and

specific FAR case numbers. Interested

parties may also visit our website at

http://www.arnet.gov/far.

Item Subject FAR case Analyst

I ................ Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Act of 1999 .................................................... 2000–302 Moss.

II ............... Truth in Negotiations Act Threshold ................................................................................................................. 2000–300 Olson.

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 97–20

amends the FAR as specified below:

Item I—Veterans Entrepreneurship and

Small Business Development Act of

1999 (FAR Case 2000–302)

This interim rule amends the FAR to

implement sections 501(c), 502(a)(2),

and 604(d) of the Veterans

Entrepreneurship and Small Business

Development Act of 1999 (Pub. L. 106–

50). This Act established new assistance

programs for veterans and servicedisabled veterans who own and operate

small businesses. This interim rule—

• Defines the terms ‘‘veteran-owned

small business concerns’’ and ‘‘servicedisabled veteran-owned small business

concerns;’’

• Establishes that veteran-owned and

service-disabled veteran-owned small

businesses be afforded maximum

practical opportunity to participate in

the performance of contracts and

subcontracts awarded by any Federal

agency;

• Establishes a requirement to

include a goal for veteran-owned small

businesses in subcontracting plans

under FAR 52.219–9; and

• Amends the SF 294 and SF 295 to

add data collection requirements for

subcontract awards to veteran-owned

small businesses and service-disabled

veteran-owned small business concerns.

Item II—Truth in Negotiations Act

Threshold (FAR Case 2000–300)

This final rule amends FAR 15.403–

4 to increase the threshold for obtaining

cost or pricing data from $500,000 to

$550,000. This implements the

requirements of 10 U.S.C. 2306a(a)(7)

and 41 U.S.C. 254b(a)(7). These statutes

require review of the Truth in

Negotiations Act threshold every 5

years, starting October 1, 1995.

Dated: October 3, 2000.

Al Matera,

Acting Director, Federal Acquisition Policy

Division.

Federal Acquisition Circular

Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC)

97–20 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 97–20 are

effective October 11, 2000.

Dated: October 3, 2000.

Col. R.D. Kerrins, Jr., USA

Acting Director, Defense Procurement.

Dated: October 3, 2000.

David A. Drabkin,

Deputy Associate Administrator, Office of

Acquisition Policy, General Services

Administration.

Dated: October 2, 2000.

Tom Luedtke,

Associate Administrator for Procurement,

National Aeronautics and Space

Administration.

[FR Doc. 00–25873 Filed 10–10–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6820–EP–P

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES

ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND

SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Parts 2, 4, 5, 7, 19, 52, and 53

[FAC 97–20; FAR Case 2000–302; Item I]

RIN 9000–AI93

Federal Acquisition Regulation;

Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small

Business Development Act of 1999

AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DoD),

General Services Administration (GSA),

and National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA).

ACTION: Interim rule with request for

comments.

SUMMARY: The Civilian Agency

Acquisition Council and the Defense

Acquisition Regulations Council

(Councils) have agreed on an interim

rule amending the Federal Acquisition

Regulation (FAR) to implement portions

of the Veterans Entrepreneurship and

Small Business Development Act of

1999 (Pub. L. 106–50). The Act

established new assistance programs for

veterans and service-disabled veterans

who own and operate small businesses.

DATES: Effective Date: October 11, 2000.

Comment Date: Interested parties

should submit comments to the FAR

Secretariat at the address shown below

on or before December 11, 2000 to be

considered in the formulation of a final

rule.