20898 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 80 / Wednesday, April 25, 2001 / Rules and Regulations

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES

ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND

SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Chapter 1

Federal Acquisition Regulation; Small

Entity Compliance Guide; Federal

Acquisition Circular 97–27, FAR Case

1999–607, Electronic and Information

Technology Accessibility

AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DoD),

General ServicesAdministration (GSA),

and National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA).

ACTION: Small Entity Compliance Guide.

SUMMARY: This document is issued

under the joint authority of the

Secretary of Defense, the Administrator

of General Services and the

Administrator for the National

Aeronautics and Space Administration.

This Small Entity Compliance Guide has

been prepared in accordance with

Section 212 of the Small Business

Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of

1996 (PublicLaw 104–121). It consists of

a summary of the rule appearing in

Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 97–

27 which amends the FAR. A regulatory

flexibility analysis has been prepared in

accordance with 5 U.S.C. 604. Interested

parties may obtain further information

regarding this rule by referring to FAC

97–27 which precedes this document.

This document is also available via the

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

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Laurie Duarte, FAR Secretariat, (202)

501–4225. For clarification of content,

contact Ms. Linda Nelson, Procurement

Analyst, General Services

Administration, at (202) 501–1900.

Electronic and Information Technology

Accessibility (FAR Case 1999–607)

The final rule amends the FAR to

implement Section 508 of the

Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Subsection

508(a)(3) requires the FAR to be revised

to incorporate standards developed by

the Architectural and Transportation

Barriers Compliance Board (also

referred to as the Access Board). The

final rule amends the FAR by—

• Including the definition of the term

‘‘electronic and information

technology’’, a term created by the

statute;

• Incorporating the EIT Standards in

acquisition planning, market research,

and when describing agency needs; and

• Adding a new Subpart 39.2.

The requiring official must identify

which standards would apply to the

procurement, using the Access Board’s

EIT Accessibility Standards at 36 CFR

part 1194. Then the requiring official

must perform market research to

determine the availability of compliant

products and services; vendor websites

and the GSA section 508 website would

be helpful here. The requiring official

must then identify which standards, if

any, would not apply in this

procurement because of, e.g.,

nonavailability (39.203) or undue

burden (39.204(e)). Technical

specifications and minimum

requirements would be developed based

on the market research results and

agency needs. This information would

be submitted with the purchase request.

The solicitation would then be drafted,

or task order or delivery order would be

placed. Proposal evaluation may yield

additional information that could

require reconsideration of the need for

an exception.

Exception determinations are not

required for award of underlying

indefinite-quantity contracts, except for

requirements that are to be satisfied by

initial award. Accordingly, indefinitequantity contracts may include

noncompliant items; however, any task

or delivery order issued for

noncompliant items must meet an

applicable exception.

Dated: April 20, 2001.

Al Matera,

Director, Federal Acquisition Policy Division.

[FR Doc. 01–10409 Filed 4–24–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6820–EP–P