27406 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 95 / Wednesday, May 16, 2001 / Rules and Regulations

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES

ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND

SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Chapter 1

Federal Acquisition Circular 97–26;

Introduction

AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DoD),

General Services Administration (GSA),

and National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA).

ACTION: Summary presentation of

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 in this Federal Acquisition

Circular (FAC) 97–26. 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 97–26 and

specific FAR case number(s). Interested

parties may also visit our website at

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

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.

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 97–26

amends the FAR as specified below:

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 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 Executive order

under special circumstances but the

exemption may not be related to the

possibility of, or an actual labor dispute.

Item III—Executive Order 13204,

Revocation of Executive Order on

Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers

Under Certain Contracts (FAR Case

2001–017)

This interim rule amends the FAR to

remove Subpart 22.12,

Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers

Under Certain Contracts. Executive

Order 12933, Nondisplacement of

Qualified Workers Under Certain

Contracts (October 20, 1994), 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 in Subpart

22.12.

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).

Dated: May 10, 2001.

Al Matera,

Director, Acquisition Policy Division.

Federal Acquisition Circular

Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC)

97–26 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

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 95 / Wednesday, May 16, 2001 / Rules and Regulations 27407

material contained in FAC 97–26 are

effective May 16, 2001.

Dated: April 25, 2001.

Deidre A. Lee,

Director, Defense Procurement.

Dated: April 12, 2001.

David A. Drabkin,

Deputy Associate Administrator, Office of

Acquisition Policy, General Services

Administration.

Dated: April 13, 2001.

James A. Balinskas,

Acting Associate Administrator for

Procurement, National Aeronautics and

Space Administration.

[FR Doc. 01–12243 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 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14,

19, 22, 34, 35, and 36

[FAC 97–26; FAR Case 1997–304; Item I]

RIN 9000–AI10

Federal Acquisition Regulation;

Electronic Commerce in Federal

Procurement

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 further implement

section 850 of the National Defense

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998;

and implement section 810 of the Floyd

D. Spence National Defense

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001.

Section 850 calls for the use of costeffective 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 on the

Internet through FedBizOpps.

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.1997–304@gsa.gov

Please submit comments only and cite

FAC 97–26, FAR case 1997–304 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.

Victoria Moss, Procurement Analyst, at

(202) 501–4764. Please cite FAC 97–26,

FAR case 1997–304.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

1. The First Interim Rule

An interim rule was published in the

Federal Register at 63 FR 58590,

October 30, 1998, amending FAR

Subpart 4.5 and making associated

changes to FAR Parts 2, 5, 13, 14, and

32 to implement Section 850. Section

850 amended Titles 10, 15, 40, and 41

of the United States Code to eliminate

the statutory preference for the Federal

Acquisition Computer Network

(FACNET) computer architecture in

conducting transactions electronically.

Towards this end, the first interim rule

revised the FAR to—

• Promote the use of cost-effective

procedures and processes that employ

electronic commerce in the conduct and

administration of Federal procurement

systems; and

• Require Federal procurement

systems that employ electronic

commerce to apply nationally and

internationally recognized standards

that broaden interoperability and ease

the electronic interchange of

information.

The Councils received and considered

public comments from 28 respondents

that were used in the development of

this second interim rule.

2. The Proposed Rule—Designation of

FedBizOpps

Section 850 calls for ‘‘any notice of

agency requirements or agency

solicitation for contract opportunities’’

to be provided in a form that allows

‘‘convenient and universal user access

through a single, Government-wide

point of entry.’’ Subsequent to the

consideration of public comments on

the first interim rule, the Office of

Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP)

recommended that FedBizOpps (http://

www.fedbizopps.gov) be designated as

the GPE. The Councils published a

proposed rule in the Federal Register at

65 FR 50872, August 21, 2000, to solicit

public comments on the

implementation of OFPP’s

recommendation. The preamble to the

proposed rule describes the

Government’s objectives in designating

a GPE (i.e., to create a central point for

electronic access to business

opportunities, to follow the commercial

lead, and to facilitate re-engineering for

sellers and buyers) and how

FedBizOpps meets these objectives.

The Councils received and considered

public comments from 22 respondents.

OFPP also reviewed the comments on

the proposed designation and continues

to believe that FedBizOpps can most

effectively meet the Government’s

objectives, including improved and

enhanced access to information for

businesses small and large. Among

other things, GSA and the agencies

using FedBizOpps have sought to shape

FedBizOpps to take advantage of

electronic tools that have widespread

commercial acceptance and interface

with sellers’ electronic tools, and can

adapt to new tools as they gain

commercial acceptance. FedBizOpps

allows sellers and service providers to

access and download information

through different commercial electronic

means and business applications,

including web-based technology, bulk

data feed, and push technology through

electronic mail (e-mail). This ability to

accommodate various business

techniques means that sellers can

choose the means they find more

suitable (i.e., direct or service-provider