27416 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 95 / Wednesday, May 16, 2001 / Rules and Regulations

Government had issued or was a party

to bid specifications, project

agreements, agreements with one or

more labor organizations, or other

controlling documents with respect to

that particular project, which contained

any of the requirements or prohibitions

in paragraph (d)(1) of this section; and

(ii) One or more construction

contracts subject to such requirements

or prohibitions had been awarded.

(4) The head of the agency may

exempt a particular project, contract, or

subcontract from this policy upon a

finding that special circumstances

require an exemption in order to avert

an imminent threat to public health or

safety, or to serve the national security.

A finding of ‘‘special circumstances’’

may not be based on the possibility or

presence of a labor dispute concerning

the use of contractors or subcontractors

who are nonsignatories to, or otherwise

do not adhere to, agreements with one

or more labor organizations, or

concerning employees on the project

who are not members of or affiliated

with a labor organization.

[FR Doc. 01–12245 Filed 5–15–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6820–EP–P

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES

ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND

SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Parts 22 and 52

[FAC 97–26; FAR Case 2001–017; Item III]

RIN 9000–AJ13

Federal Acquisition Regulation;

Executive Order 13204, Revocation of

Executive Order on Nondisplacement

of Qualified Workers Under Certain

Contracts

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

Executive Order (E.O.) 13204,

Revocation of Executive Order on

Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers

Under Certain Contracts, signed by the

President on February 17, 2001. The

E.O. requires that any rules

implementing E.O. 12933,

Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers

Under Certain Contracts, be promptly

rescinded.

DATES: Effective Date: May 16, 2001.

Comment Date: Interested parties

should submit comments to the FAR

Secretariat at the address shown below

on or before July 16, 2001 to be

considered in the formulation of a final

rule.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments

to: General Services Administration,

FAR Secretariat (MVP), 1800 F Street,

NW, Room 4035, Attn: Ms. Laurie

Duarte, Washington, DC 20405.

Submit electronic comments via the

Internet to: farcase.2001–017@gsa.gov

Please submit comments only and cite

FAC 97–26, FAR case 2001–017 in all

correspondence related to this case.

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 Ms.

Linda Klein, Procurement Analyst, at

(202) 501–3775. Please cite FAC 97–26,

FAR case 2001–017.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

Executive Order 12933 was signed

October 20, 1994, by President Clinton

and published in the Federal Register

on October 24, 1994 (59 FR 53559). The

E.O. required that building service

contracts for public buildings include a

clause requiring the contractor under a

contract that succeeds a contract for

performance of similar services at the

same public building to offer certain

employees under the predecessor

contract, a right of first refusal to

employment under the new contract.

E.O. 12933 was implemented in the

FAR as an interim rule in FAC 97–01

(62 FR 44823) dated August 22, 1997.

The regulation was finalized with minor

changes in FAC 97–11 (64 FR 10545)

dated March 4, 1999. A further change

was made in FAC 97–15 adding the

clause to the commercial item clause list

at 52.212–5 (64 FR 72450, December 27,

1999).

On February 17, 2001, President

George W. Bush signed E.O. 13204

rescinding E.O. 12933 and calling for

the prompt recession of any orders,

rules, regulations, guidelines, or policies

implementing or enforcing E.O. 12933,

to the extent consistent with law.

Contracting officers should not take any

action on any complaint filed under

former FAR Subpart 22.12.

Effective March 23, 2001, the

Department of Labor rescinded its rule

implementing E.O. 12933 (66 FR 16126,

March 23, 2001).

This is not a significant regulatory

action and, therefore, was not subject to

review under Section 6(b) of Executive

Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and

Review, dated September 30, 1993. This

rule is not a major rule under 5 U.S.C.

804.

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act

The interim rule is not expected to

have a significant economic impact on

a substantial number of small entities

within the meaning of the Regulatory

Flexibility Act, 51 U.S.C. 601, et seq.,

because the rule merely removes

requirements from the FAR that

implemented regulations issued by the

Department of Labor (DoL) for which

DoL certified would not have a

significant economic effect on a

substantial number of small entities (62

FR 28175, May 22, 1997). This rule

implements the requirements of E.O.

13204. Therefore, an Initial Regulatory

Flexibility Analysis has not been

performed. The Councils will consider

comments from small entities

concerning the affected FAR Parts in

accordance with 5 U.S.C. 610. Interested

parties must submit such comments

separately and should cite 5 U.S.C. 601,

et seq. (FAC 97–26, FAR case 2001–

017), in correspondence.

C. Paperwork Reduction Act

The Paperwork Reduction Act does

not apply because the changes to the

FAR do not impose information

collection requirements that require the

approval of the Office of Management

and Budget under 44 U.S.C. 3501, et

seq.

D. Determination To Issue an Interim

Rule

A determination has been made under

the authority of the Secretary of Defense

(DoD), the Administrator of General

Services (GSA), and the Administrator

of the National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA) that urgent and

compelling reasons exist to promulgate

this interim rule without prior

opportunity for public comment. This

action is necessary to implement E.O.

13204, Revocation of Executive Order

on Nondisplacement of Qualified

Workers Under Certain Contracts, dated

February 17, 2001. E.O. 13204 required

the Federal Acquisition Regulatory

Council to promptly rescind any orders,

rules, regulations, guidelines, or policies

implementing or enforcing E.O. 12933.

However, pursuant to Public Law 98–

577 and FAR 1.501, public comments

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 95 / Wednesday, May 16, 2001 / Rules and Regulations 27417

received in response to this interim rule

will be considered in formulating the

final rule.

List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 22 and

52

Government procurement.

Dated: May 10, 2001.

Al Matera,

Director, Acquisition Policy Division.

Therefore, DoD, GSA, and NASA

amend 48 CFR parts 22 and 52 as set

forth below:

1. The authority citation for 48 CFR

parts 22 and 52 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: 40 U.S.C. 486(c); 10 U.S.C.

chapter 137; and 42 U.S.C. 2473(c).

PART 22—APPLICATION OF LABOR

LAWS TO GOVERNMENT

ACQUISITIONS

Subpart 22.12 [Reserved]

2. Remove and reserve Subpart 22.12.

PART 52—SOLICITATION PROVISIONS

AND CONTRACT CLAUSES

52.212–5 [Amended]

3. Amend section 52.212–5 by

revising the clause date to read May

2001; and by removing paragraph (c)(6).

52.222–50 [Reserved]

4. Remove and reserve section

52.222–50.

[FR Doc. 01–12246 Filed 5–15–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6820–EP–P

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES

ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND

SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Chapter 1

Federal Acquisition Regulation; Small

Entity Compliance Guide

AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DoD),

General Services Administration (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 (Public Law 104–121). It consists

of a summary of rules appearing in

Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 97–

26 which amend the FAR. An asterisk

(*) next to a rule indicates that a

regulatory flexibility analysis has been

prepared in accordance with 5 U.S.C.

604. Interested parties may obtain

further information regarding these

rules by referring to FAC 97–26 which

precedes this document. These

documents are 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 the analyst whose name appears

in the table below.

LIST OF RULES IN FAC 97–26

Item Subject FAR case Analyst

I .......................... *Electronic Commerce in Federal Procurement ................................................................................... 1997–304 Moss.

II ......................... *Executive Order 13202, Preservation of Open Competition and Government Neutrality Towards

Government Contractors’ Labor Relations on Federal and Federally Funded Construction

Projects.

2001–016 Nelson.

III ........................ Executive Order 13204, Revocation of Executive Order On Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers

Under Certain Contracts.

2001–017 Klein.

Item I—Electronic Commerce in

Federal Procurement (FAR Case 1997–

304)

This interim rule amends the FAR to

(a) further implement section 850 of the

National Defense Authorization Act for

Fiscal Year 1998, Pub. L. 105–85

(section 850) and (b) implement section

810 of the Floyd D. Spence National

Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal

Year 2001 (Pub. L. 106–398, section

810). Section 850 calls for the use of

cost-effective procedures and processes

that employ electronic commerce in the

conduct and administration of Federal

procurement systems. This includes the

designation in the FAR of a single point

of universal electronic public access to

Governmentwide procurement

opportunities (the ‘‘Governmentwide

Point of Entry’’ or ‘‘GPE’’). Section 810

allows agencies to provide access to

notices through the GPE, as designated

in the FAR, instead of publishing them

via the Commerce Business Daily (CBD).

This rule designates Federal Business

Opportunities (‘‘FedBizOpps’’) as the

GPE. Agencies have until October 1,

2001, to complete their transition to, or

integration with, FedBizOpps. By that

date, all agencies must use FedBizOpps

to provide access to public notices of

procurement actions over $25,000 that

are currently required to be published in

the CBD along with associated

solicitations and amendments. In

addition, agencies will not be required

to provide notice in the CBD as of

January 1, 2002, since access to this

information will be provided via the

Internet through FedBizOpps.

Item II—Executive Order 13202,

Preservation of Open Competition and

Government Neutrality Towards

Government Contractors’ Labor

Relations on Federal and Federally

Funded Construction Projects (FAR

Case 2001–016)

This interim rule amends the FAR to

provide language in Part 36 and revises

Subparts 17.6 and 22.1 to add crossreferences to Part 36. The Executive

order (E.O.) provides that agencies may

not require or prohibit offerors,

contractors, or subcontractors from

entering into or adhering to agreements

with one or more labor organizations. It

also permits agency heads to exempt a

project from the requirements of the

E.O. under special circumstances but

the exemption may not be related to the

possibility of, or an actual labor dispute.