[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 99 (Friday, May 22, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28350-28352]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-13728]


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COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR SEVERELY DISABLED


Procurement List; Additions and Deletions

AGENCY: Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely 
Disabled.

ACTION: Additions to and deletions from the Procurement List.

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SUMMARY: This action adds to the Procurement List a commodity and 
services to be furnished by nonprofit agencies employing persons who 
are blind or have other severe disabilities, and deletes from the 
Procurement List commodities and a service previously furnished by such 
agencies.

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 22, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely 
Disabled, Crystal Gateway 3, Suite 310, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, 
Arlington, Virginia 22202-4302.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beverly Milkman (703) 603-7740.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 5, April 3 and 20, 1998, the 
Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled 
published notices (63 FR 203, 16470 and 19474) of proposed additions to 
and deletions from the Procurement List:

Additions

    The following comments pertain to Shirt, Sleeping.
    Comments were received from the current contractor for the sleeping 
shirts. The contractor indicated that the shirts are an important part 
of one of its plants' production during certain months of the year.
    While these shirts may be important to one of the contractor's 
three plants for part of the year, the Committee looks at the overall 
impact of a Procurement List addition on the contractor's total sales 
when it makes its impact determinations. The impact of this addition on 
the contractor's total sales is very small, and well below the level 
which the Committee normally considers to be severe adverse impact. The 
Committee is only adding ten percent of the Government requirement for 
the shirts to the Procurement List at this time, which will leave 50 
percent of the requirement available for competitive procurement from 
this contractor or its competitors. The Committee's earlier addition to 
the Procurement List of 40 percent of the Government requirement caused 
only a slight decline in the contractor's sales. Consequently, the 
Committee does not believe that addition of the sleeping shirts to the 
Procurement List will have a severe adverse impact on the contractor.
    The following comments pertain to Central Facility Management, The 
Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, Atlanta, Georgia.
    Comments were received from the current contractor for this 
service. The contractor noted that it expects a severe reduction in its 
total sales during this

[[Page 28351]]

year, due to cutbacks in Government funding for services such as those 
it provides and that, consequently, loss of this contract to the 
Procurement List would have a severe adverse impact on the company. The 
contractor further noted that it is in its eighth year of providing 
this service at this location. The contractor's projections assume that 
when the contracts it currently holds are re-bid to reduce the costs, 
it will not succeed in obtaining any of the new contracts. The 
Committee views this as an unrealistically pessimistic projection. 
Under the circumstances, even taking into account the contractor's 
greater dependence on this relatively small contract after eight years 
and the impact of another recent addition to the Procurement List, the 
Committee does not believe that the percentage of the firm's sales 
represented by this contract is substantial enough to result in a 
severe adverse impact on the contractor.
    The following comments pertain to Food Service and Food Service 
Attendant, Postwide, Fort Hood, Texas.
    Comments were received from the current contractor for this 
service. The contractor claimed that the addition of the service to the 
Procurement List would have a severe adverse impact on the contractor 
as it represents a substantial portion of the contractor's sales. The 
contractor also noted that it is performing the contract under the 
Small Business Administration's (SBA) 8(a) Program, that the service 
has been in the 8(a) Program for a while, and that addition of the 
service to the Procurement List would foreclose future 8(a) Program 
participants from performing the contract.
    The Government contracting activity responsible for this service 
has informed the Committee that if the Committee does not add the 
service to the Procurement List, the service will remain in the 8(a) 
Program. The contractor will graduate from the 8(a) Program in June, 
1998, so it would not be eligible for subsequent contracts for the 
service whether or not the Committee adds it to the Procurement List. 
Consequently, any impact the contractor suffers will not be a result of 
the addition of the service to the Procurement List.
    The Committee's Javits-Wagner-O'Day (JWOD) Program, like the 8(a) 
Program, is the result of Congressional desire to use the Federal 
procurement system to assist specific disadvantaged groups. The JWOD 
Program's target population, people who are blind or have severe 
disabilities, has an unemployment rate well above that of other groups. 
Consequently, the Committee believes it should maximize the creation of 
jobs for its target population where it can do so within the limits of 
its statute and regulations. The 8(a) Program is considerably larger 
than the JWOD Program and, because it imposes no constraints on the 
types of individuals employed by participating firms, has access to a 
broader range of contracts than does the JWOD Program. Consequently, 
the Committee believes the 8(a) Program can more easily locate 
contracting opportunities for its target population than the JWOD 
Program can.
    After consideration of the material presented to it concerning 
capability of qualified nonprofit agencies to provide the commodity and 
services and impact of the additions on the current or most recent 
contractors, the Committee has determined that the commodity and 
services listed below are suitable for procurement by the Federal 
Government under 41 U.S.C. 46-48c and 41 CFR 51-2.4.
    I certify that the following action will not have a significant 
impact on a substantial number of small entities. The major factors 
considered for this certification were:
    1. The action will not result in any additional reporting, 
recordkeeping or other compliance requirements for small entities other 
than the small organizations that will furnish the commodity and 
services to the Government.
    2. The action will not have a severe economic impact on current 
contractors for the commodity and services.
    3. The action will result in authorizing small entities to furnish 
the commodity and services to the Government.
    4. There are no known regulatory alternatives which would 
accomplish the objectives of the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act (41 U.S.C. 46-
48c) in connection with the commodity and services proposed for 
addition to the Procurement List.
    Accordingly, the following commodity and services are hereby added 
to the Procurement List:

Commodity

Shirt, Sleeping
8415-00-890-2099
8415-00-890-2100
8415-00-890-2101
8415-00-890-2102
8415-00-890-2103
8415-00-935-6855
(Additional 10% of the Government's requirement)

Services

Base Supply Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma
Central Facility Management, The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, 
Atlanta, Georgia
Food Service and Food Service Attendant, Postwide, Fort Hood, Texas
Janitorial/Custodial, VA Outpatient Clinic, Winston-Salem, North 
Carolina
Janitorial/Custodial, Surface Warfare Officer School Navy Buildings, 52 
C.H.I., 138 C.H.I., 370 C.P., 446 C.P., 1164 C.H.I., 1183 C.H.I., 1268 
C.H.I. & 1284 C.H.I, Newport, Rhode Island

    This action does not affect current contracts awarded prior to the 
effective date of this addition or options that may be exercised under 
those contracts.

Deletions

    I certify that the following action will not have significant 
impact on a substantial number of small entities. The major factors 
considered for this certification were:
    1. The action will not result in any additional reporting, 
recordkeeping or other compliance requirements for small entities.
    2. The action will not have a severe economic impact on future 
contractors for the commodities and service.
    3. The action will result in authorizing small entities to furnish 
the commodities and service to the Government.
    4. There are no known regulatory alternatives which would 
accomplish the objectives of the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act (41 U.S.C. 46-
48c) in connection with the commodities and service deleted from the 
Procurement List.
    After consideration of the relevant matter presented, the Committee 
has determined that the commodities and service listed below are no 
longer suitable for procurement by the Federal Government under 41 
U.S.C. 46-48c and 41 CFR 51-2.4.
    Accordingly, the following commodities and service are hereby 
deleted from the Procurement List:

COMMODITIES

Cover, Generator Set
6115-00-945-7545

Cabinet, Storage
7125-00-378-4261
7125-00-449-6862
7125-00-693-4352

Pillowcase
7210-00-081-1380

[[Page 28352]]

Service

Commissary Shelf Stocking and Custodial, Naval Station, Charleston, 
South Carolina.
Beverly L. Milkman,
Executive Director.
[FR Doc. 98-13728 Filed 5-21-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6353-01-P