19256 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 69 / Friday, April 10, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

Witnesses should expect the Office to 

have carefully studied all written 

comments, and the Office will expect 

witnesses to have done the same with 

respect to the classes for which they 

will be presenting. Witnesses will be 

given an opportunity to provide a brief 

(three- to five-minute) overview of their 

position at the outset of the panel. After 

that, the hearings will focus on legal or 

factual issues that are unclear or 

underdeveloped in the written record, 

as identified by the Office, as well as 

demonstrative evidence. 

The Office stresses that factual 

information is critical to the rulemaking 

process, and encourages witnesses to 

provide real-world examples to support 

their arguments. In some cases, the best 

way to do this may be to provide a 

demonstration of a claimed 

noninfringing use or the technologies 

pertinent to a proposal. As noted above, 

a person wishing to make such a 

demonstration must include a request to 

do so with his or her request to testify, 

using the appropriate space on the form 

described above. To ensure proper 

documentation of the hearings, the 

Office will require that a copy of any 

audio, visual, or audiovisual materials 

that have been prepared in advance 

(e.g., slideshows and videos) be 

provided to the Office at the hearing. 

Live demonstrations will be recorded by 

a videographer provided by the Office. 

The Office may contact witnesses 

individually ahead of time to ensure 

that demonstrations can be preserved 

for the record in an appropriate form. 

In addition to videography 

equipment, the Office expects to have a 

PC, projector, and screen in the hearing 

room to accommodate demonstrations. 

Beyond this equipment, witnesses are 

responsible for supplying and operating 

any other equipment needed for their 

demonstrations. Persons planning to 

bring additional electronic or 

audiovisual equipment must notify the 

Office at least five days in advance of 

their scheduled hearing date by 

emailing Stephen Ruwe, Assistant 

General Counsel, at sruwe@loc.gov. 

All hearings will be open to the 

public, but seating will be limited and 

will be provided on a first-come, firstserve basis. Witnesses and persons 

accompanying witnesses will be given 

priority in seating. 

Dated: April 7, 2015. 

Jacqueline C. Charlesworth, 

General Counsel and Associate Register of 

Copyrights. 

[FR Doc. 2015–08255 Filed 4–9–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

48 CFR Parts 1511 and 1552 

[EPA–HQ–OARM–2012–0478; FRL–9925– 

99–OARM] 

EPAAR Clause for Level of Effort— 

Cost-Reimbursement Contract 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) amends the EPA 

Acquisition Regulation (EPAAR) to 

update policy, procedures, and contract 

clauses. The proposed rule updates the 

EPAAR clause Level of Effort—CostReimbursement Term Contract, 

modifies the clause title, and updates 

the corresponding EPAAR clause 

prescription. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before May 11, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

OARM–2012–0478, by one of the 

following methods: 

• www.regulations.gov: Follow the 

on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Email: valentino.thomas@ epa.gov 

• Mail: EPA–HQ–OARM–2012–0478, 

OEI Docket, Environmental Protection 

Agency, 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. 

NW., Washington, DC 20460. Please 

include a total of three (3) copies. 

• Hand Delivery: EPA Docket CenterAttention OEI Docket, EPA West, Room 

B102, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., 

Washington, DC 20004. Such deliveries 

are only accepted during the Docket’s 

normal hours of operation, and special 

arrangements should be made for 

deliveries of boxed information. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OARM–2012– 

0478. EPA’s policy is that all comments 

received will be included in the public 

docket without change, and may be 

made available online at 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided, unless 

the comment includes information 

claimed to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Do not submit information that you 

consider to be CBI or otherwise 

protected through www.regulations.gov 

or email. The www.regulations.gov Web 

site is an ’’anonymous access’’ system, 

which means EPA will not know your 

identity or contact information unless 

you provide it in the body of your 

comment. If you send an email 

comment directly to EPA without going 

through www.regulations.gov, your 

email address will be automatically 

captured and included as part of the 

comment that is placed in the public 

docket, and made available on the 

Internet. If you submit an electronic 

comment, EPA recommends that you 

include your name and other contact 

information in the body of your 

comment, and with any disk or CD– 

ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read 

your comment due to technical 

difficulties, and cannot contact you for 

clarification, EPA may not be able to 

consider your comment. Electronic files 

should avoid the use of special 

characters, any form of encryption, and 

be free of any defects or viruses. For 

additional information about EPA’s 

public docket, visit the EPA Docket 

Center homepage at http:// 

www.epa.gov/ epahome/ dockets.htm. 

Docket: All documents in the docket 

are listed in the www.regulations.gov 

index. Although listed in the index, 

some information is not publicly 

available, e.g., CBI or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Certain other material, such as 

copyrighted material, will be publicly 

available only in hard copy. Publicly 

available docket materials are available 

either electronically in 

www.regulations.gov, or in hard copy at 

the Office of Environmental Information 

(OEI) Docket, EPA/ DC, EPA West, 

Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. 

NW., Washington, DC. The Public 

Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 

4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

excluding legal holidays. The telephone 

number for the Public Reading Room is 

(202) 566–1744, and the telephone 

number for the EPA Docket Center is 

(202) 566–1752. This Docket Facility is 

open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

Monday through Friday, excluding legal 

holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Thomas Valentino, Policy, Training, and 

Oversight Division, Office of 

Acquisition Management (3802R), 

Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 

Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, 

DC 20460; telephone number: 202–564– 

4522; email address: valentino.thomas@ 

epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information 

1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this 

information to EPA through 

www.regulations.gov or email. Clearly 

mark the part or all of the information 

that you claim to be CBI. For CBI 

information in a disk or CD ROM that 

you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the 


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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 69 / Friday, April 10, 2015 / Proposed Rules 19257 

disk or CD ROM as CBI, and then 

identify electronically within the disk or 

CD ROM the specific information that is 

claimed as CBI. In addition to one 

complete version of the comment that 

includes information claimed as CBI, a 

copy of the comment that does not 

contain the information claimed as CBI 

must be submitted for inclusion in the 

public docket. Information so marked 

will not be disclosed except in 

accordance with procedures set forth in 

40 CFR part 2. 

2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. 

When submitting comments, remember 

to: 

• Identify the rulemaking by docket 

number and other identifying 

information (subject heading, Federal 

Register date and page number). 

• Follow directions—The Agency 

may ask you to respond to specific 

questions or organize comments by 

referencing a Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR) part or section 

number. 

• Explain why you agree or disagree, 

suggest alternatives, and substitute 

language for your requested changes. 

• Describe any assumptions and 

provide any technical information and/ 

or data that you used. 

• If you estimate potential costs or 

burdens, explain how you arrived at 

your estimate in sufficient detail to 

allow for it to be reproduced. 

• Provide specific examples to 

illustrate your concerns, and suggest 

alternatives. 

• Explain your views as clearly as 

possible, avoiding the use of profanity 

or personal threats. 

• Make sure to submit your 

comments by the comment period 

deadline identified. 

II. Background 

The EPA reviewed EPAAR clause 

1552.211–73, Level of Effort—CostReimbursement Term Contract, to make 

the clause more prescriptive in 

describing the EPA’s responsibilities 

when the Agency orders less level of 

effort (LOE) than the maximum LOE 

specified in the subject clause; e.g., if 

the clause specifies 100,000 hours for a 

given period of performance but the 

contractor only provides 70,000 hours. 

The clause provides that a downward 

equitable adjustment will be made to 

reduce the fixed fee by the percentage 

by which the total expended LOE is less 

than 100% of that specified in the LOE 

clause; e.g., the fixed fee amount will be 

reduced by 30% using the same 

100,000/ 70,000 hours example. The 

clause title is also modified so that the 

clause is now applicable to EPA LOE 

cost-reimbursement contracts. The 

EPAAR 1511.011–73 clause prescription 

is also being updated accordingly. 

III. Proposed Rule 

This proposed rule amends the 

EPAAR to revise the following: 

1. The EPAAR 1511.011–73 clause 

prescription is updated. 

2. The clause title is revised as 

follows: Level of Effort—CostReimbursement Contract. 

3. Paragraph (a) has been revised. 

4. An expositional statement has been 

added to paragraph (c). 

IV. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory 

Planning and Review 

This action is not a ‘‘significant 

regulatory action’’ under the terms of 

Executive Order (EO)12866 (58 FR 

51735, October 4, 1993) and therefore, 

not subject to review under the EO. 

B. Paperwork Reduction Act 

This action does not impose an 

information collection burden under the 

provisions of the Paperwork Reduction 

Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. No 

information is collected under this 

action. 

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), as 

Amended by the Small Business 

Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 

1996 (SBREFA), 5 U.S.C. 601 et. seq. 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act 

generally requires an agency to prepare 

a regulatory flexibility analysis of any 

rule subject to notice and comment 

rulemaking requirements under the 

Administrative Procedure Act or any 

other statute; unless the agency certifies 

that the rule will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. Small entities 

include small businesses, small 

organizations, and small governmental 

jurisdictions. 

For purposes of assessing the impact 

of today’s final rule on small entities, 

‘‘small entity’’ is defined as: (1) A small 

business that meets the definition of a 

small business found in the Small 

Business Act and codified at 13 CFR 

121.201; (2) a small governmental 

jurisdiction that is a government of a 

city, county, town, school district or 

special district with a population of less 

than 50,000; and (3) a small 

organization that is any not-for-profit 

enterprise which is independently 

owned and operated and is not 

dominant in its field. 

After considering the economic 

impacts of this rule on small entities, I 

certify that this action will not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

This action revises a current EPAAR 

provision and does not impose 

requirements involving capital 

investment, implementing procedures, 

or record keeping. This rule will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

small entities. 

D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

Title II of the Unfunded Mandates 

Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), Public 

Law 104–4, establishes requirements for 

federal agencies to assess the effects of 

their regulatory actions on State, Local, 

and Tribal governments and the private 

sector. 

This rule contains no federal 

mandates (under the regulatory 

provisions of the Title II of the UMRA) 

for State, Local, and Tribal governments 

or the private sector. The rule imposes 

no enforceable duty on any State, Local 

or Tribal governments or the private 

sector. Thus, the rule is not subject to 

the requirements of Sections 202 and 

205 of the UMRA. 

E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism 

Executive Order 13132, entitled 

‘‘Federalism’’ (64 FR 43255, August 10, 

1999), requires EPA to develop an 

accountable process to ensure 

‘‘meaningful and timely input by State 

and Local officials in the development 

of regulatory policies that have 

federalism implications.’’ ‘‘Policies that 

have federalism implications’’ is 

defined in the Executive Order to 

include regulations that have 

‘‘substantial direct effects on the States, 

on the relationship between the national 

government and the States, or on the 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities among the various 

levels of government.’’ 

This rule does not have federalism 

implications. It will not have substantial 

direct effects on the States, on the 

relationship between the national 

government and the States, or on the 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities among the various 

levels of government as specified in 

Executive Order 13132. 

F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation 

and Coordination With Indian Tribal 

Governments 

Executive Order 13175, entitled 

‘‘Consultation and Coordination with 

Indian Tribal Governments’’ (65 FR 

67249, November 9, 2000), requires EPA 

to develop an accountable process to 

ensure ‘‘meaningful and timely input by 

tribal officials in the development of 

regulatory policies that have tribal 

implications.’’ This rule does not have 


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19258 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 69 / Friday, April 10, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

tribal implications as specified in 

Executive Order 13175. 

G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of 

Children From Environmental Health 

and Safety Risks 

Executive Order 13045, entitled 

‘‘Protection of Children from 

Environmental Health and Safety Risks’’ 

(62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997), applies 

to any rule that: (1) is determined to be 

economically significant as defined 

under Executive Order 12886, and (2) 

concerns an environmental health or 

safety risk that may have a 

proportionate effect on children. This 

rule is not subject to Executive Order 

13045 because it is not an economically 

significant rule as defined by Executive 

Order 12866, and because it does not 

involve decisions on environmental 

health or safety risks. 

H. Executive Order 13211: Actions That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use 

This proposed rule is not subject to 

Executive Order 13211, ‘‘Actions 

Concerning Regulations That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution of Use’’ (66 FR 28335 (MAY 

22, 2001), because it is not a significant 

regulatory action under Executive Order 

12866. 

I. National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act of 1995 (NTTAA) 

Section 12(d) (15 U.S.C 272 note) of 

NTTA, Public Law 104–113, directs 

EPA to use voluntary consensus 

standards in it’s regulatory activities 

unless to do so would be inconsistent 

with applicable law or otherwise 

impractical. Voluntary consensus 

standards are technical standards (e.g., 

materials specifications, test methods, 

sampling procedures and business 

practices) that are developed or adopted 

by voluntary consensus standards 

bodies. The NTTA directs EPA to 

provide Congress, through OMB, 

explanations when the Agency decides 

not to use available and applicable 

voluntary consensus standards. 

This proposed rulemaking does not 

involve technical standards. Therefore, 

EPA is not considering the use of any 

voluntary consensus standards. 

J. Executive Order 12898: Federal 

Actions To Address Environmental 

Justice in Minority Populations and 

Low-Income Populations 

Executive Order (EO) 12898 (59 FR 

7629 (Feb. 16, 1994) establishes federal 

executive policy on environmental 

justice. Its main provision directs 

federal agencies, to the greatest extent 

practicable and permitted by law, to 

make environmental justice part of their 

mission by identifying and addressing, 

as appropriate, disproportionately high 

and adverse human health or 

environmental effects of their programs, 

policies, and activities on minority 

populations and low-income 

populations in the United States. 

EPA has determined that this 

proposed rule will not have 

disproportionately high and adverse 

human health or environmental effects 

on minority or low-income populations 

because it does not affect the level of 

protection provided to human health or 

the environment. This proposed 

rulemaking does not involve human 

health or environmental affects. 

List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 1511 

and 1552 

Describing Agency Needs; Solicitation 

Provisions and Contract Clauses. 

Dated: April 3, 2015. 

John R. Bashista, 

Director, Office of Acquisition Management. 

Therefore, 48 CFR Chapter 15 is 

proposed to be amended as set forth 

below: 

PART 1511—DESCRIBING AGENCY 

NEEDS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 1511 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: Sec. 205(c), 63 Stat. 390, as 

amended, 40 U.S.C. 486(c). 

■ 2. Revise 1511.011–73 to read as 

follows: 

1511.011–73 Level of effort 

The Contracting Officer shall insert 

the clause at 1552.211–73, Level of 

Effort—Cost Reimbursement Contract, 

in cost-reimbursement contracts 

including cost contracts without fee, 

cost-sharing contracts, cost-plus-fixedfee (CPFF) contracts, cost-plusincentive-fee contracts (CPIF), and costplus-award-fee contracts (CPAF). 

PART 1552—SOLICITATION 

PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT 

CLAUSES 

■ 3. The authority citation for part 1552 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; Sec. 205(c), 63 

Stat. 390, as amended, 40 U.S.C. 486(c); and 

41 U.S.C. 418b. 

■ 4. Revise 1552.211–73 to read as 

follows: 

1552.211–73 Level of effort—costreimbursement contract. 

As prescribed in 1511.011–73, the 

contracting officer shall insert the 

following contract clause in costreimbursement contracts including cost 

contracts without fee, cost-sharing 

contracts, cost-plus-fixed-fee (CPFF) 

contracts, cost-plus-incentive-fee 

contracts (CPIF), and cost-plus-awardfee contracts (CPAF). 

Level of Effort—Cost-Reimbursement 

Contract (ll2015) 

(a) The Contractor shall perform all work 

and provide all required reports within the 

level of effort specified below. The 

Contractor shall provide ll direct labor 

hours for the base period, which represents 

the Government’s best estimate of the level 

of effort to fulfill these requirements, and is 

provided for advisory and estimating 

purposes. The Government is only obligated 

to pay for direct labor hours used and 

corresponding fixed fee for labor hours 

completed. 

(b) Direct labor includes personnel such as 

engineers, scientists, draftsmen, technicians, 

statisticians, and programmers, and not 

support personnel such as company 

management or data entry/word processing/ 

accounting personnel even though such 

support personnel are normally treated as 

direct labor by the Contractor. The level of 

effort specified in paragraph (a) includes 

Contractor, subcontractor, and consultant 

non-support labor hours. 

(c) If the Contractor provides less than 90 

percent of the level of effort specified for the 

base period or any optional period exercised, 

an equitable downward adjustment of the 

fixed fee, if any, for that period will be made. 

The downward adjustment will reduce the 

fixed fee by the percentage by which the total 

expended level of effort is less than 100% of 

that specified in paragraph (a). (For instance, 

if a hypothetical base-period LOE of 100,000 

hours is being reduced to 70,000, the fixed 

fee shall also be reduced by the same 30%. 

Using a corresponding hypothetical baseperiod fixed fee pool of $300,000, the 

reduced fixed-fee amount is calculated as: 

$300,000 × (70,000 hours/100,000 hours) = 

$210,000.) 

(d) The Government may require the 

Contractor to provide additional effort up to 

110 percent of the level of effort for any 

period until the estimated cost for that period 

has been reached. However, this additional 

effort shall not result in any increase in the 

fixed fee, if any. If this is a cost-plusincentive-fee (CPIF) contract, the term ‘‘fee’’ 

in this paragraph means ‘‘base fee and 

incentive fee.’’ If this is a cost-plus-award-fee 

(CPAF) contract, the term ‘‘fee’’ in this 

paragraph means ‘‘base fee and award fee.’’ 

(e) If the level of effort specified to be 

ordered during a given base or option period 

is not ordered during that period, that level 

of effort may not be accumulated and ordered 

during a subsequent period. 

(f) These terms and conditions do not 

supersede the requirements of either the 

‘‘Limitation of Cost’’ or ‘‘Limitation of 

Funds’’ clauses. 

(End of clause) 

[FR Doc. 2015–08183 Filed 4–9–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 


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