50888 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 165 / Friday, August 26, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Employment Standards Administration 

Wage and Hour Division 

29 CFR Parts 1 and 4 

[RIN 1215–AB47] 

Service Contract Act Wage 

Determination OnLine Request 

Process 

AGENCY: Wage and Hour Division, 

Employment Standards Administration, 

Labor. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Labor 

(DOL) is amending two regulations to 

allow for full implementation of the 

Wage Determinations OnLine (WDOL) 

Internet Web site (http://www.wdol.gov) 

as the source for federal contracting 

agencies to use when obtaining wage 

determinations issued by the DOL for 

service contracts subject to the 

McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act 

(SCA) and for construction contracts 

subject to the Davis-Bacon Act and 

Related Acts (DBRA). 

DATES: These rules are effective on 

September 26, 2005. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

William W. Gross, Director, Office of 

Wage Determinations, Wage and Hour 

Division, Employment Standards 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Labor, Room S–3028, 200 Constitution 

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210, 

telephone (202) 693–0062. This is not a 

toll-free number. 

You may direct questions of 

interpretation and/or enforcement of 

regulations issued by this agency or 

referenced in this notice to the nearest 

Wage and Hour Division District Office. 

Locate the nearest office by calling the 

WHD toll-free help line at 1–866–4USWAGE (1–866–487–9243) between 8 

a.m. and 5 p.m. in your local time zone, 

or log onto the agency Web site for a 

nationwide listing of WHD District and 

Area Offices at: http://www.dol.gov/esa/ 

contacts/whd/america2.htm. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Paperwork Reduction Act 

This regulation is not subject to the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, because it 

contains no new information collection 

requirements and does not modify any 

existing requirements. 

II. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act 

The Wage Determinations OnLine 

(WDOL) Internet Web site (http:// 

www.wdol.gov), an electronic 

information resource, is subject to and 

will be developed and maintained in 

accordance with the accessibility 

requirements of Section 508 of the 

Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. 794d. 

III. Summary of Changes 

The SCA requires contractors and 

subcontractors performing services on 

prime contracts in excess of $2,500 to 

pay service employees in various classes 

no less than the wage rates and fringe 

benefits found prevailing in the locality 

as determined by the Secretary of Labor 

(or authorized representative), or the 

rates (including prospective increases) 

contained in a predecessor contractor’s 

collective bargaining agreement. 

SCA section 4, 41 U.S.C. 353, 

authorizes the Secretary of Labor to 

enforce the Act, make rules and 

regulations, issue orders, hold hearings, 

make decisions based upon findings of 

fact and take other appropriate action. 

The DOL rules relating to SCA 

administration are contained in 

Regulations, 29 CFR part 4. 

Section 1 of the Davis-Bacon Act 

(DBA), as amended, 40 U.S.C. 3141 et 

seq., requires that each contract over 

$2,000 to which the United States or the 

District of Columbia is a party for the 

construction, alteration, or repair of 

public buildings or public works shall 

contain a clause setting forth the 

minimum wages to be paid to various 

classes of laborers and mechanics 

employed under the contract. The DBA 

requires contractors or their 

subcontractors to pay workers employed 

directly upon the site of the work no 

less than the locally prevailing wages 

and fringe benefits paid on projects of 

a similar character as determined by the 

Secretary of Labor. 

Regulations, 29 CFR part 1, contain 

the procedures for making and applying 

determinations of prevailing wage rates 

and fringe benefits pursuant to the DBA 

and any other Federal statute providing 

for determinations of such wages (the 

Davis-Bacon Related Acts) by the DOL 

in accordance with the provisions of the 

DBA. 

The DOL published a Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal 

Register on December 16, 2004 (69 FR 

75408), proposing to update its 

regulations to have contracting agencies 

use the WDOL Internet website to meet 

their obligation to obtain DBA general 

wage determinations from the Wage and 

Hour Division (WHD). The DOL 

proposed to publish wage 

determinations solely through WDOL 

and to discontinue publishing notice of 

changes in the Federal Register and to 

no longer publish paper copies of 

general wage determinations through 

the Government Printing Office (GPO). 

WDOL offers users the opportunity to 

request e-mail notice of future revisions 

to a wage determination they have 

selected for a specific period of time, or 

until a specific date. 

For SCA wage determinations, the 

DOL proposed to eliminate the paper 

Form SF–98 and replace it with an 

electronic e98 process by which 

contracting agencies may continue to 

request SCA wage determinations from 

the WHD. The DOL also proposed to 

allow use of WDOL as an alternative 

means of obtaining SCA wage 

determinations. The DOL further 

proposed to update pertinent statutory 

citations for applicable laws to reflect 

amendments to Title 40 of the U.S. Code 

and to make other minor editorial 

revisions and updates to its regulations. 

The development of WDOL required 

an update of the existing regulations, 

which now also provides a basis for 

updating related information in the 

Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) 

to be compatible with the DOL rule. 

WDOL does not affect how the WHD 

determines prevailing wages under 

either the SCA or DBA. 

29 CFR Part 1 

The proposed rule adopted the WDOL 

website as the single source for 

obtaining DBA general wage 

determinations and eliminated 

publication of notices in the Federal 

Register. Notice of future modifications 

and supersedeas general wage 

determinations will be posted on 

WDOL. The proposed rule also 

eliminated references to GPO 

publication of general wage 

determinations, although GPO may 

continue, at its discretion, to publish 

general wage determinations. The 

proposed rule retained the requirement 

in the current regulations under 29 CFR 

1.5 that Federal contracting agencies 

request a wage determination by 

preparing and mailing Form SF–308 to 

the Department of Labor, for those 

infrequent situations when a DBA 

general wage determination is not 

available through WDOL. The DOL 

processed fewer than 100 Forms SF–308 

in FY 2004, and did not believe 

providing Federal agencies with an 

electronic submission option in these 

rare cases justified the considerable 

expense that developing such a system 

would require. 

29 CFR Part 4 

The proposal drew upon 

technological advances of recent years 

and the wide use of electronic 

communication and information 

sharing. It replaced the paper Standard 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 165 / Friday, August 26, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 50889 

Form SF–98 request and response 

process for obtaining SCA wage 

determinations with an electronic e98 

process and enabled contracting 

agencies alternatively to use the WDOL 

website to obtain SCA wage 

determinations. 

The DOL has been working with 

contracting agencies to develop better 

and more efficient mechanisms for 

agencies to obtain SCA wage 

determinations. With the advent and 

expansion of the Internet in the mid1990s, several contracting agencies 

approached the WHD seeking the ability 

to access and download SCA wage 

determinations. The vast majority of the 

covered service contracts awarded by 

these agencies were either options or 

renewals, and the applicable SCA wage 

determinations for these contracts were 

well established. By this time, the WHD 

had developed a standard set of SCA 

wage determinations that applied to 

most of these contracts. The National 

Technical Information Service (NTIS) 

had posted these wage determinations 

on the Internet for information 

purposes, and the agencies requested 

the ability to download and use these 

standard wage determinations in 

appropriate situations. This led to the 

WHD entering into Memoranda of 

Understanding (MOUs) with several 

agencies to allow them to use these 

standard wage determinations without 

first submitting an SF–98. Under the 

MOUs, the agencies agreed to train their 

personnel in the proper selection and 

use of SCA wage determinations. The 

agencies also agreed to monitor the SCA 

wage determinations database and to 

use any subsequent revisions of the 

applicable wage determinations that 

were issued before the applicable 

procurement dates specified in the SCA 

regulations. After the agency selected an 

applicable SCA wage determination, it 

would notify the WHD of its selection 

by the submission of a Form SF–98 after 

the fact. 

This MOU program further 

implemented the remedial purpose of 

the SCA by requiring that participating 

agencies monitor the SCA wage 

determination database and use the 

latest revisions published in a timely 

manner before award or commencement 

of the contract. With the paper Form 

SF–98, the WHD had no mechanism to 

follow-up and advise contracting 

agencies when wage determinations 

were revised or updated. Because the 

MOU program proved to be quite 

successful, it subsequently was 

expanded to numerous other agencies. 

An interagency work group composed 

of representatives from the Office of 

Management and Budget, Department of 

the Army, Department of the Air Force, 

Department of the Navy, Army Corps of 

Engineers, General Services 

Administration, NTIS and the 

Department of Energy began 

development of a new online system 

designed to consolidate the best 

practices of agencies operating under 

the MOU program. The work group also 

looked at adding non-standard wage 

determinations to the online system. 

Principal objectives of the work group 

were the elimination of the paper Form 

SF–98 and the availability of wage 

determinations electronically. 

At the same time, the WHD was 

developing an electronic request and 

response system to replace Form SF–98. 

The WHD began live tests of the e98 

system in FY 2003. During FY 2003, the 

WHD received and responded to more 

than 12,000 e98 submissions. A 

computer responds to a significant 

number of the e98 requests immediately 

while the requester is online. The 

remaining requests are referred to an 

analyst and the response is usually sent 

later the same day or the next day. For 

all requests, the e98 system is designed 

to track individual requests by the 

procurement dates listed on the request, 

and when a wage determination that 

would affect a particular procurement is 

revised, an amended email response is 

sent to the contracting agency. 

The site developed by the WDOL 

work group integrates the e98 process 

with the best practices developed under 

the MOU program. WDOL offers users a 

number of unique features in a webbased environment. The site includes: 

(1) guidance to contracting officers on 

selecting the appropriate wage 

determination for each contract action; 

(2) access to the most current SCA and 

DBA wage determinations, as well as an 

alert service for notification of future 

revisions to particular wage 

determinations; and, (3) access to 

databases containing archived wage 

determinations under both the SCA and 

DBA. 

To facilitate contracting officers 

selecting the appropriate SCA wage 

determination, the WDOL site leads the 

requester through a ‘‘decision tree’’ 

consisting of a series of questions. Based 

upon the responses to these questions, 

the WDOL site will either identify an 

SCA wage determination or direct the 

requester to submit an e98. A link to the 

e98 site is provided. In addition, the 

WDOL site gives the requester the 

option of going directly to the e98 site 

without having to go through the 

‘‘decision tree’’ selection process. If a 

contracting officer has any question 

regarding the selection of the proper 

SCA wage determination, the WDOL 

site directs the contracting officer to the 

e98. 

As clearly indicated on the WDOL 

Web site, compliance with the decision 

tree selection process and the guidance 

provided by the User’s Guide does not 

relieve the contracting officer or other 

program user of the requirement to 

carefully review the contract or 

solicitation, the FAR and its 

Supplements, other Federal agency 

acquisition regulations or the DOL 

regulations related to these actions. If 

the DOL discovers and determines, 

whether before or after contract award, 

that the correct SCA wage determination 

was not included in a covered contract, 

the contracting officer, within 30 days of 

notification by the DOL, is required to 

include in the contract the applicable 

wage determination issued by the DOL. 

(See 29 CFR 4.5(c)(2).) 

III. Summary of Comments 

DOL received five comments in 

response to the Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking, discussed further below, 

from the: Office of the Under Secretary 

of Defense (DOD); Army Corps of 

Engineers (Army); Department of the 

Navy, Office of the Assistant Secretary 

for Research, Development and 

Acquisition (Navy); Contract Services 

Association (CSA); and International 

Association of Machinists and 

Aerospace Workers. All comments 

generally support the automated 

environment for obtaining wage 

determinations that underlies the 

proposed rule; however, several 

comments recommend minor revisions. 

Some of the recommendations address 

issues that are beyond the scope of the 

proposed rule. 

The CSA urges removing the 

references in proposed §§ 1.2(e) and 

4.1a(i) that ‘‘the term WDOL will apply 

to any other Internet Web site or 

electronic means that the Department of 

Labor may approve for these purposes,’’ 

in addition to http://www.wdol.gov. The 

CSA believes the definition may cause 

potential confusion among contractors 

and contracting agencies. These sections 

define the term, ‘‘WDOL.’’ The proposed 

rule allows more flexibility and 

accommodates future technological 

advances without the delays that might 

otherwise be associated with procedural 

regulatory changes. The final rule 

retains the references. 

The Navy urges revising or 

eliminating the current requirement in 

§ 1.4 for contracting agencies to provide 

the DOL with an annual summary of 

their construction plans for the coming 

year. The final rule retains the 

requirement. The Navy believes much of 

the information provided in these 

50890 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 165 / Friday, August 26, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 

reports could be extracted from various 

reports used for other purposes. These 

construction reports are not related to 

the process for obtaining wage 

determinations and are not part of the 

proposed rule. In the past, the WHD has 

used these reports to identify localities 

with the greatest need for new DavisBacon wage surveys. Although the WHD 

is testing new processes that might 

allow regularly scheduled Davis-Bacon 

wage surveys of all areas of the country, 

it is not yet clear that such processes 

will totally eliminate the need for some 

targeted surveys. In addition, it is not 

clear that the other sources identified by 

the Navy would provide the same level 

of detail and information as called for 

under § 1.4 of the Regulations. The DOL 

does not believe that further action on 

this recommendation is warranted at 

this time and that the suggestion would 

necessitate reopening the notice and 

comment process. The DOL will give 

careful consideration to the Navy’s 

recommendation, if it undertakes 

further rulemaking regarding the DavisBacon Act in the future. 

The DOD and Navy recommend 

replacing the detailed discussion in 

§ 1.5(b) regarding the requirements for 

completing Form SF–308 with a more 

general statement and provide for an 

electronic submission option. The final 

rule retains the existing provision, 

because the DOL does not believe 

providing Federal agencies with an 

electronic submission option for the rare 

instances in which an agency files Form 

SF–308 justifies the considerable 

expense that developing such a system 

would require. The DOL processed 

fewer than 100 Forms SF–308 in FY 

2004. 

The CSA recommends amending the 

definition of ‘‘wage determination’’ in 

§ 4.1a(h) to clarify the effective date and 

applicability of wage determinations. 

This definition is not part of the 

proposed regulatory changes. The 

Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 

U.S.C. 553, normally requires notice and 

an opportunity for public comment 

when an agency amends a substantive 

rule. The APA, however, contains 

exceptions to the notice and comment 

provisions for (1) ‘‘interpretive rules, 

general statements of policy, or rules of 

agency organization, procedure, or 

practice’’ and (2) rules where the agency 

for good cause finds that notice and 

public comment are ‘‘impracticable, 

unnecessary, or contrary to the public 

interest.’’ Agencies may immediately 

adopt rules subject to the exceptions. 

The suggested change regarding the date 

on which a wage determination 

becomes effective, without including a 

reference to the applicability of the 

determination, helps to clarify the 

WDOL process and augments § 4.4(c)(1) 

of the proposed rule. The section makes 

clear that a contracting agency using the 

WDOL process bears full responsibility 

for selecting the correct wage 

determination. The rule, however, also 

requires the contracting agency to 

amend a contract if the DOL 

subsequently determines the contracting 

agency applied an incorrect wage 

determination to a specific contract; 

thus, an inapplicable wage 

determination does not become 

applicable because the contracting 

agency has inserted it into the 

contracting action. The final rule 

incorporates the suggestion to include 

when a wage determination becomes 

effective by adding a new sentence to 

the existing definition for wage 

determination in § 4.1a(h) to read, ‘‘A 

wage determination is effective upon its 

publication on the WDOL website or 

when a Federal agency receives a 

response from the Department of Labor 

to an e98.’’ The DOL hereby finds, 

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B), that 

notice and public comment procedures 

on this clarification of the definition of 

‘‘wage determination’’ in § 4.1a(h) are 

impracticable and unnecessary and 

would not further the public interest. 

The DOD and Navy want the 

definition for the term, ‘‘e98,’’ in 

§ 4.1a(j) to include the Internet address 

for WDOL. The agencies believe such a 

change would help clarify how to locate 

the e98. The DOL agrees this could 

improve access to the e98. The final rule 

includes the Web site. 

The CSA believes proposed § 4.3(c) 

requires minor clarification by adding 

the word, ‘‘revision,’’ to the discussion 

of methods by which an existing wage 

determination may become obsolete in 

the last sentence. The CSA points out 

that the remainder of the section 

discusses ‘‘revisions’’ of wage 

determinations. The DOL agrees the 

change may help in understanding the 

requirement, and the final rule 

incorporates this change. The CSA also 

recommends relocating the proposed 

description in § 4.3(c) of what a wage 

determination includes and its 

significance to the definitions found in 

§ 4.1a. The final rule retains the 

description in its present location, 

because the DOL believes the overall 

discussion of wage determinations in 

§ 4.3 remains a more appropriate 

context for information found in a wage 

determination and its significance. 

The CSA also urges revising proposed 

§ 4.3(e) to (1) make all effective SCA 

wage determinations and any 

underlying collective bargaining 

agreements and locality wage 

determinations available for public 

inspection at all WHD District Offices 

and (2) clarify the availability of 

archived wage determinations through 

WDOL. The proposed regulation 

provides for the DOL to make wage 

determinations available for public 

inspection through the National and five 

Regional Offices of the WHD during 

regular business hours and through 

WDOL. The proposed WDOL rule 

parallels the ‘‘public inspection’’ 

provisions that exist in the current rule 

geared for review of only paper 

documents and, adds an on-line viewing 

feature available through WDOL. The 

final rule does not provide for public 

inspection of wage determinations at 

WHD District Offices but does highlight 

the availability of archived copies of 

wage determinations through WDOL. 

WHD District Offices are not staffed in 

a way that would allow public 

inspections of wage determinations in 

the District Offices. In addition, the 

proposed change would require the 

agency to either maintain a supply of 

printed copies of all wage 

determinations available or a computer 

available for public use at each District 

Office. Adoption of the recommendation 

would impose a regulatory requirement 

to make staff available and print copies 

of all wage determinations in each 

District Office and could impose a new 

demand for resources not presently 

available. Persons in outlying areas may 

access wage determinations through the 

Internet and facilities to access the 

Internet are available at public libraries. 

Availability of a DOL computer for 

public inspection could also present 

potential security concerns for DOL’s 

information technology systems. The 

WDOL website does have a capability to 

allow the viewing of archival copies of 

wage determinations that are not 

current, and the final rule makes that 

availability clear. The DOL has also 

incorporated this suggestion in 

§ 1.6(c)(3)(v), with respect to DavisBacon wage determinations. 

The DOL has received several 

suggestions regarding § 4.4, Obtaining a 

wage determination. The CSA urges 

inserting ‘‘applicable,’’ when referring 

to wage determinations in effect for a 

particular contracting action in § 4.4(a). 

The CSA wants this change since the 

FAR SCA price adjustment clause uses 

‘‘applicable’’ to describe the basis for 

changing pricing when a new wage 

determination takes effect, tribunals use 

‘‘applicable’’ when determining which 

wage determination is appropriate for 

price adjustment, and DOL uses the 

term for enforcement purposes. The 

final rule does not include the reference. 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 165 / Friday, August 26, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 50891 

The DOL believes the proposed 

regulation sufficiently outlines the 

relevant applicable requirements and 

the reasons for not adopting a similar 

suggestion discussed in relation to 

§ 4.1a(h) also apply to this situation. 

The CSA also suggests adding the 

issuance of any task order issued 

pursuant to a GSA Schedule contract or 

blanket purchase agreement for 

commercial services to the illustrative 

list of contracting actions for which a 

contracting agency must obtain a wage 

determination in § 4.4(a)(1). The CSA 

believes adding the reference may be 

prudent, given the continuing growth of 

GSA Schedule and commercial service 

contracting. The final rule does not add 

the example. The DOL believes naming 

GSA schedule contracts and blanket 

purchase agreements may cause some 

confusion, because no individual task or 

purchase order determines the amount 

of the contract. The existing provisions 

of § 4.142 provides guidance by stating 

these contracts would ordinarily 

constitute contracts within the intent of 

the Act under judicially established 

principles. 

A third CSA recommendation 

encourages adding a statement in 

§ 4.4(a)(3)(i) highlighting that a 

contracting agency may select a wage 

determination through WDOL, in 

addition to obtaining it from DOL. The 

final rule does not include the 

additional statement. The proposed rule 

requires a contracting agency to obtain 

a wage determination for each location 

in which work may be performed, if the 

place of performance is unknown at the 

time of solicitation. In addition to the 

e98 process, contracting agencies may 

obtain wage determinations from DOL 

through WDOL. Section 4.4 (a)(2) 

provides a general discussion of the 

methods and § 4.4(b) and (c) provide 

specific discussions of the different 

ways in which a contracting agency may 

obtain a wage determination. In a 

related recommendation, the CSA 

suggests removing the provision in this 

section that requires use of the wage 

determination incorporated in the 

contract documents. The CSA believes 

the wage determinations apply to 

service employees in specific localities, 

not to contractors. The CSA also 

presents a view that, when a contractor 

relocates work, contracting agencies 

should use the WDOL or e98 process to 

obtain a new wage determination for the 

location in which the work performance 

actually takes place. The final rule 

retains the provision. The DOL does not 

believe that further action on this 

recommendation is warranted at this 

time and it would necessitate reopening 

the notice and comment process. 

The DOD and Navy recommend 

revising § 4.4(b)(1) to have WDOL use 

the applicable solicitation or contract 

number for tracking purposes, instead of 

the WDOL system assigning a unique 

number. The final rule does not 

incorporate this recommendation, 

because it would require redesign of the 

WDOL system and how it interfaces 

with internal DOL programs, as well as 

considerable additional resources that 

are presently not available. 

The DOD and Navy also recommend 

changing the proposed requirement in 

§ 4.4(b)(3) for a contracting agency to 

monitor email addresses to having 

contracting agencies resubmit an e98 

with a new email address each time an 

email address changes. These agencies 

also believe the DOL should establish an 

internal policy of requesting electronic 

delivery and read receipts. The final 

rule retains the monitoring requirement 

and does not establish a policy of 

requesting electronic delivery and read 

receipts. The proposed rule makes clear 

that contracting agencies obtaining wage 

determinations through WDOL bear the 

responsibility for insuring they 

incorporate the correct wage 

determination into any contracting 

action. The rule also provides flexibility 

to contracting agencies in how they 

accomplish that standard. The ‘‘email 

monitoring provision’’ of proposed 

§ 4.4(b)(3) is similar to the proposed 

§ 4.4(c)(3) requirement for contracting 

agencies to monitor the WDOL website 

to determine whether the applicable 

wage determination has been revised. 

There may also be situations, such as 

periods of leave (e.g., 2-week vacation), 

during which contracting agencies may 

not believe it practical to update email 

addresses; thus, to require resubmission 

of an e98 in all cases could be unduly 

burdensome. The WDOL website 

provides a method for contracting 

agencies to contact the Division. The 

DOL believes the WDOL contact process 

is sufficient. 

The DOD and Navy recommend 

replacing the phrase ‘‘geographic area’’ 

in §§ 4.4(b)(5) and (c)(4) with ‘‘locality,’’ 

to make the wording consistent with 

§ 4.163(i). The DOL agrees and the final 

rule reflects the modification. 

The DOD and Navy also seek to revise 

§ 4.4(b)(5) and 4.5(d) to have the 

contracting officer follow up with the 

DOL, if the contracting agency has not 

received a response within 10 business 

days of the submission of the original 

e98 notice or within 15 business days of 

the submission of the collective 

bargaining agreement. They further 

suggest the regulation specify an email 

address and a telephone number where 

such follow up should be made. The 

DOL has not adopted the suggested 

changes in the final rule. Proposed 

§ 4.4(b)(1) provides for the requester to 

receive a response indicating the request 

has been referred to an analyst, if the 

DOL does not provide a final response 

to an e98 while the requester is online. 

The e98 will be assigned a unique serial 

number to facilitate follow-up should 

that become necessary. Although the 

regulations do not provide specific 

timeframes for a further response by an 

analyst, the initial e98 response states 

that a further response will be provided 

within five days. The additional 

response is usually provided on the 

same day or the next day; however some 

cases may require additional time. 

When the DOL requires additional time 

or information, the analyst working on 

the request will provide an interim 

reply informing the requestor of the 

need and that further response will 

come from the email address of the 

analyst working on the e98 request. If 

the contracting officer needs to followup on his/her e98, it would be more 

efficient to address such follow-up 

directly to the analyst working on the 

e98. In those rare instances where the 

contracting officer does not receive at 

least an interim response from an 

analyst within five days of submission, 

the instructions for the e98 provide both 

an email address and a telephone 

number where requests for assistance or 

a status report may be sent. The DOL 

believes including telephone numbers 

and email addresses in the regulations 

is not the most efficient way to ensure 

contracting officers have access to the 

current address and telephone number, 

because such information may change. 

The DOL also believes contracting 

officers accustomed to using the internet 

for submitting e98s will most likely 

return to the e98 website, rather than 

turn to the DOL regulations to seek an 

email address or telephone number to 

follow-up on their e98 submission. The 

DOL believes that these matters are 

adequately addressed within the e98 

system and the proposed regulations. 

The CSA recommends adding a 

reference to the ‘‘changes’’ clause in an 

SCA contract to the requirement in 

§ 4.4(c)(1) for contracting agencies to 

amend contracts by incorporating the 

correct wage determination as 

determined by DOL. The CSA believes 

the change is appropriate, because the 

proposed regulations (1) affect Federal 

agency procurement procedures and (2) 

are for contracting agencies. The final 

rule does not contain such a provision. 

The DOL believes the proposed rule 

adequately states the obligations 

contracting agencies have when a 

50892 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 165 / Friday, August 26, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 

contracting agency incorporates an 

incorrect wage determination and that 

the FAR is the appropriate vehicle to 

address the concern raised by the CSA. 

The CSA suggests the DOL refer to 

‘‘information,’’ instead of ‘‘document,’’ 

in § 4.5(a)(1), and the final rule reflects 

this recommendation. The CSA believes 

the change would make the regulation 

more consistent with the purpose of the 

regulation, to take advantage of wide 

use of electronic communication and 

information sharing. The types of 

‘‘documents’’ contemplated by the 

proposed rule are the wage 

determination, including revisions 

received timely, for the contracting 

action. The DOL believes contracting 

agencies currently routinely use paper 

copies of wage determinations for 

insertion into contracting actions; 

however, the proposed rule would not 

preclude use of electronic documents. 

DOL, however, believes the more 

common use of ‘‘documents’’ as 

referring to paper and the broader use of 

‘‘information’’ and ‘‘data’’ for 

information technology purposes make 

a sufficiently compelling case to adopt 

the suggestion. 

The CSA urges the DOL to divide 

§ 4.5(a)(2) into a general introductory 

statement and two subsections 

pertaining to special circumstances. The 

final rule incorporates this 

recommendation, because the DOL 

agrees this may increase understanding 

of the regulatory requirements. The CSA 

also recommends the DOL reduce the 

10-day time frame discussed in the 

second sentence of § 4.5(a)(2). The CSA 

believes a 5-day period would still 

allow contracting agencies time to 

provide electronic notification to 

offerors of the amended solicitation and 

still allow offerors sufficient time to 

amend their proposals. The final rule 

does not include this second change. 

The current and proposed rule allow 

agencies to make a determination that 

there is not a reasonable time to notify 

bidders of a revised wage determination, 

if the agency receives notice of the 

revision less than 10 days before the bid 

opening. The DOL believes use of 

electronic communication may cause 

contracting agencies to have fewer 

instances in which they will make a 

finding of insufficient time; however, it 

remains appropriate for contracting 

agencies to have an ability to exercise 

this discretion based on varying factual 

circumstances. The CSA further seeks to 

change this section by (1) making any 

revised wage determinations received 

after final proposal revisions 

inapplicable to negotiated procurements 

and (2) adding a provision requiring 

contracting agencies to make 

modifications within half the time 

currently allowed and (3) requiring 

corresponding adjustment in the 

contract price. The final rule does not 

include the requested changes, because 

they exceed the intended scope of the 

proposed rule, and the DOL believes 

further action on this recommendation 

would require reopening the notice and 

comment process. The DOD and Navy 

suggest removal of the fourth sentence 

of this proposed section, as initially 

drafted, which provides that, if (1) the 

contract does not specify a start of 

performance date which is within 30 

days from the award and/or (2) 

performance of such procurement does 

not commence within this 30-day 

period, the DOL shall be notified and 

any notice of a revision received by the 

agency not less than 10 days before 

commencement of the contract shall be 

effective. The agencies believe on-line 

access to wage determinations through 

WDOL and the e98 process make it 

unnecessary to continue the 

requirement for contracting agencies to 

submit blanket notifications to the DOL 

for all contracts specifying a start of 

performance date of more than 30 days, 

originally developed under the paper 

Form SF–98 process. The final rule does 

not include the notification 

requirement, but the remainder of the 

requirement has been retained. 

The CSA urges that § 4.5(a)(3) 

highlight that a contracting agency has 

received an initial or a revised wage 

determination on the date the DOL (1) 

posts the determination to the WDOL 

Web site or (2) sends the determination 

through the e98 response process. The 

CSA believes it is critical to emphasize 

that a wage determination becomes 

effective when published on the WDOL 

Web site, and not only when the 

contracting agency receives an e98 

response from DOL, since proposed 

§ 4.4, Obtaining a wage determination, 

addresses identification of the initial 

wage determination (whether by the 

WDOL or e98 process). The final rule 

now includes references to the initial 

wage determination and e98 process in 

§ 4.5(a)(3). The proposed rule only 

mentions the date of publication on 

WDOL or date on which an agency 

receives a revised determination from 

the DOL; however, the proposed rule 

does not indicate that contracting 

agencies may also receive initial wage 

determinations through the e98 process. 

The DOL agrees the clarification 

proposed by the CSA could reduce 

confusion over the date of receipt and 

make it more congruous with § 4.4. 

The CSA recommends revising 

§ 4.5(c) by referring to an ‘‘applicable’’ 

wage determination, changing the time 

frame for inserting the appropriate wage 

determination from 30 to 15 days from 

the date of the DOL notification and 

incorporating a reference to the changes 

clause of the contract. The final rule 

does not adopt these changes, for 

reasons previously explained. 

The DOD and Navy recommend 

§ 4.5(d) direct the contracting officer to 

incorporate a complete copy of the 

collective bargaining agreement into the 

contract action, if a timely response to 

the e98 has not been received and the 

e98 involves a collective bargaining 

agreement. The final rule does not 

include this prescription, because it 

may not be the most efficient approach 

in all cases and the existing proposal 

provides adequate guidance and greater 

flexibility in addressing the underlying 

concern. Proposed § 4.5(d) provides that 

the WHD should be contacted for 

guidance in cases where the contracting 

agency has filed an e98 and has not 

received a response. While it is possible 

that the guidance will be to include the 

entire collective bargaining agreement 

in the contract action, such action may 

not be necessary in all cases. 

The DOD, Army and Navy also 

express a belief that the § 4.8 

requirement regarding use of Form SF– 

99 (Notice of Award of Contract) is no 

longer needed and its continuation 

creates an unnecessary duplication of 

contract reporting, in view of the 

enhanced reporting capabilities of the 

Federal Procurement Data System 

(FPDS). The agencies ask the DOL to 

eliminate the reporting requirement. 

The proposed rule does not include any 

changes in § 4.8 or this reporting 

requirement. The SCA coverage 

threshold for application of SCA wage 

determinations is $2,500; however, § 4.8 

of the current rule requires that when a 

contract over $10,000 is awarded and 

the agency does not report the award to 

the FPDS via Form SF–279 (FPDS 

Individual Contract Action Report) or its 

equivalent, the agency is expected to 

furnish a Form SF–99 to the Wage and 

Hour Division unless it makes other 

arrangements for notifying the Division 

of such awards. The $10,000 reporting 

threshold was adopted in the SCA rules 

in 1983 to be consistent with the thenapplicable small purchase threshold and 

reporting requirements of the FPDS. 

Prior to 1983, a Form SF–99 was 

required for all SCA contracts in excess 

of S2,500. This procedural rule, thus, 

originally established a reporting 

requirement between a federal 

contracting agency and the DOL only if 

the contract award data was not already 

being reported to the FPDS, thereby 

eliminating any duplication of reporting 

requirements and reducing existing 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 165 / Friday, August 26, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 50893 

paperwork and reporting burdens on the 

agencies. The FPDS reporting threshold 

via Form SF–279, however, has since 

been increased to $25,000. The change 

in the FPDS reporting threshold, thus, 

has created the additional reporting 

burden. In any event, in the interest of 

eliminating any unanticipated 

paperwork and reporting burdens 

imposed by § 4.8, the DOL has decided 

to discontinue the use of Standard Form 

99 and eliminate the reporting 

requirement entirely. The APA 

exception to the notice-and-comment 

procedures applies to this situation. The 

DOL finds, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 

553(b)(3)(B), that notice and public 

comment procedures on this procedural 

reporting rule are impracticable and 

unnecessary and would not further the 

public interest. Accordingly, the final 

rule removes and reserves § 4.8 and the 

DOL will discontinue using Form SF– 

99. 

The CSA suggests removal of 

§ 4.50(a)(2), in the absence of any 

correlation between the provision and 

the wide use of electronic 

communication and information 

sharing, or moving the discussion to 

§ 4.56, Review and reconsideration of 

wage determinations. The final rule 

retains this provision as proposed 

without change. The section stresses 

that (1) various prevailing wage 

determinations may apply in a 

particular locality and (2) the 

application of these different prevailing 

wage determinations will depend upon 

the nature of the contracts to which they 

are applied. These differences and 

variations in wage determinations 

require that contracting agencies 

observe the proper protocol required by 

the WDOL processes when selecting the 

appropriate wage determination. The 

provisions of § 4.56 provide an appeal 

right for any interested party affected by 

a wage determination to request the 

Wage and Hour Administrator to review 

and reconsider it. 

The CSA also urges revising the last 

sentence of § 4.54(b), to provide for the 

issuance of wage determinations for 

various localities identified by the 

contracting agency as set forth in 

§ 4.4(a)(3)(i) ‘‘using the e98 process or 

4.4(c) using the WDOL process.’’ The 

final rule does not adopt the suggested 

change. Section 4.54 discusses 

situations where services are to be 

performed for a Federal agency at the 

site of the successful bidder, in contrast 

to services to be performed at a specific 

Federal facility or installation, or in the 

locality of such installation. The 

location where the work will be 

performed often cannot be ascertained 

at the time of bid advertisement or 

solicitation. The § 4.4(a) introductory 

discussion of obtaining wage 

determinations applies equally to wage 

determinations obtained through either 

the e98 or WDOL processes, 

respectively explained in § 4.4 (b) and 

(c). 

The CSA recommends inserting a 

requirement in § 4.55(a) for the WHD to 

review wage determinations no less 

often than once every two years and also 

seeks other changes, consistent with the 

recommendation for § 4.54. The final 

rule does not include these changes. 

The current and proposed regulations 

require periodic review of wage 

determinations but do not impose the 

maximum two-year interval between 

such reviews. The general requirement 

in SCA section 4(d) for the periodic 

update of wage determinations directs 

the contracting agencies to update wage 

determinations in awarded multi-year 

contracts. It is not a directive to DOL to 

update its wage determination database 

no less often than every two years. The 

DOL has not made these remaining 

changes, for the reasons discussed. 

The CSA recommends adding a 

reference to the ‘‘changes’’ clause in an 

SCA contract to § 4.144(c)(1), pertaining 

to contract modifications affecting the 

amount of a contract. The final rule does 

not add the reference for the reasons 

previously stated. The proposed section 

merely conforms the provision to the 

e98 process and reflects the current 

regulation in all other respects. 

The CSA makes a general 

recommendation to substitute ‘‘website’’ 

for ‘‘Internet Web site’’ and to remove 

quotation marks from e98. The final rule 

incorporates these plain language 

changes. The final rule does not adopt 

the CSA recommendation to replace 

‘‘Government’’ with ‘‘Department of 

Labor,’’ because the DOL does not host 

the WDOL Web site. 

IV. Regulatory Flexibility, Executive 

Order 12866; Small Business 

Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act 

This regulation affects Federal agency 

procurement procedures and will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities 

within the meaning of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq. The 

agency certified to this effect to the 

Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the U.S. 

Small Business Administration. 

This rule has been treated as a 

significant rulemaking, although not 

economically significant or major, and 

has, therefore, been reviewed by OMB. 

V. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

For purposes of the Unfunded 

Mandates Reform Act of 1995, 2 U.S.C. 

1532, this rule does not include any 

Federal mandate that may result in 

excess of $100 million in expenditures 

by state, local and tribal governments in 

the aggregate or by the private sector. 

VI. Executive Order 13132 (Federalism) 

The rule does not have federalism 

implications as outlined in Executive 

Order 13132. The rule does 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. 

VII. Executive Order 13175, Indian 

Tribal Governments 

This rule does not have ‘‘tribal 

implications’’ under Executive Order 

13175 and does not require a tribal 

summary impact statement. The rule 

does not have ‘‘substantial direct effects 

on one or more Indian tribes, on the 

relationship between the Federal 

government and Indian tribes or on the 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities between the Federal 

government and Indian tribes.’’ 

VIII. Effects on Families 

The undersigned hereby certifies that 

the rule will not adversely affect the 

well-being of families, as discussed 

under section 654 of the Treasury and 

General Government Appropriations 

Act, 1999. 

IX. Executive Order 13045, Protection 

of Children 

This rule has no environmental health 

risk or safety risk that may 

disproportionately affect children. 

X. Environmental Impact Assessment 

A review of this rule in accordance 

with the requirements of the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.; the 

regulations of the Council on 

Environmental Quality, 40 CFR 1500 et 

seq.; and the Departmental NEPA 

procedures, 29 CFR part 11, indicates 

the rule will not have a significant 

impact on the quality of the human 

environment. There is, thus, no 

corresponding environmental 

assessment or an environmental impact 

statement. 

XI. Executive Order 13211, Energy 

Supply 

This rule is not subject to Executive 

Order 13211. It will not have a 

significant adverse effect on the supply, 

distribution or use of energy. 

50894 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 165 / Friday, August 26, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 

XII. Executive Order 12630, 

Constitutionally Protected Property 

Rights 

This rule is not subject to Executive 

Order 12630, because it does not 

involve implementation of a policy 

‘‘that has takings implications’’ or that 

could impose limitations on private 

property use. 

XIII. Executive Order 12988, Civil 

Justice Reform Analysis 

This rule was drafted and reviewed in 

accordance with Executive Order 12988 

and will not unduly burden the Federal 

court system. The rule was: (1) 

Reviewed to eliminate drafting errors 

and ambiguities; (2) written to minimize 

litigation; and (3) written to provide a 

clear legal standard for affected conduct 

and to promote burden reduction. 

List of Subjects 

29 CFR Part 1 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Government contracts, 

Investigations, Labor, Minimum wages, 

Recordkeeping requirements, Reporting 

requirements, Wages. 

29 CFR Part 4 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Government contracts, 

Investigations, Labor, Minimum wages, 

Penalties, Recordkeeping requirements, 

Reporting requirements, Wages. 

Signed at Washington, DC, this 18th day of 

August, 2005. 

Victoria A. Lipnic, 

Assistant Secretary for Employment 

Standards. 

Alfred B. Robinson, Jr., 

Deputy Administrator, Wage and Hour 

Division. 

■ For the reasons set forth above, title 

29, parts 1 and 4, of the Code of Federal 

Regulations are amended as set forth 

below. 

TITLE 29—LABOR 

PART 1—PROCEDURES FOR 

PREDETERMINATION OF WAGE 

RATES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 1 is 

revised to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; R.S. 161, 64 Stat. 

1267; Reorganization Plan No. 14 of 1950, 5 

U.S.C. appendix; 40 U.S.C. 3141 et seq.; 40 

U.S.C. 3145; 40 U.S.C. 3148; and the laws 

listed in appendix A of this part. 

■ 2. Paragraph (e) is added to section 1.2 

to read as follows: 

§ 1.2 Definitions.1

* * * * * 

(e) The term Wage Determinations 

OnLine (WDOL) shall mean the 

Government Internet Web site for both 

Davis-Bacon Act and Service Contract 

Act wage determinations available at 

http://www.wdol.gov. In addition, 

WDOL provides compliance assistance 

information. The term will also apply to 

any other Internet Web site or electronic 

means that the Department of Labor may 

approve for these purposes. 

■ 3. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of § 1.5 are 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 1.5 Procedure for requesting wage 

determinations. 

(a) The Department of Labor publishes 

general wage determinations under the 

Davis-Bacon Act on the WDOL Internet 

Web site. If there is a general wage 

determination applicable to the project, 

the agency may use it without notifying 

the Department of Labor, Provided, That 

questions concerning its use shall be 

referred to the Department of Labor in 

accordance with § 1.6(b). 

(b)(1) If a general wage determination 

is not available, the Federal agency shall 

request a wage determination under the 

Davis-Bacon Act or any of its related 

prevailing wage statutes by submitting 

Form SF–308 to the Department of 

Labor at this address: U.S. Department 

of Labor, Employment Standards 

Administration, Wage and Hour 

Division, Branch of Construction 

Contract Wage Determination, 

Washington, DC 20210. In preparing 

Form SF–308, the agency shall check 

only those classifications that will be 

needed in the performance of the work. 

Inserting a note such as ‘‘entire 

schedule’’ or ‘‘all applicable 

classifications’’ is not sufficient. 

Additional classifications needed that 

are not on the form may be typed in the 

blank spaces or on a separate list and 

attached to the form. 

(2) In completing SF–308, the agency 

shall furnish: 

(i) A sufficiently detailed description 

of the work to indicate the type of 

construction involved. Additional 

description or separate attachment, if 

necessary for identification of type of 

project, shall be furnished. 

(ii) The county (or other civil 

subdivision) and State in which the 

proposed project is located. 

(3) Such request for a wage 

determination shall be accompanied by 

any pertinent wage payment 

information that may be available. 

When the requesting agency is a State 

highway department under the FederalAid Highway Acts as codified in 23 

U.S.C. 113, such agency shall also 

include its recommendations as to the 

wages which are prevailing for each 

classification of laborers and mechanics 

on similar construction in the area. 

* * * * * 

■ 4. Paragraphs (a)(2), (c)(3)(iv) and 

(c)(3)(v) of § 1.6 are revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 1.6 Use and effectiveness of wage 

determinations. 

(a) * * * 

(2) General wage determinations 

issued pursuant to § 1.5(a), notice of 

which is published on WDOL, shall 

contain no expiration date. 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 

(3) * * * 

(iv) If under paragraph (c)(3)(i) of this 

section the contract has not been 

awarded within 90 days after bid 

opening, or if under paragraph (c)(3)(ii) 

or (iii) of this section construction has 

not begun within 90 days after initial 

endorsement or the signing of the 

agreement to enter into a housing 

assistance payments contract, any 

modification, notice of which is 

published on WDOL prior to award of 

the contract or the beginning of 

construction, as appropriate, shall be 

effective with respect to that contract 

unless the head of the agency or his or 

her designee requests and obtains an 

extension of the 90-day period from the 

Administrator. Such request shall be 

supported by a written finding, which 

shall include a brief statement of the 

factual support, that the extension is 

necessary and proper in the public 

interest to prevent injustice or undue 

hardship or to avoid serious impairment 

in the conduct of Government business. 

The Administrator will either grant or 

deny the request for an extension after 

consideration of all the circumstances. 

(v) A modification to a general wage 

determination is ‘‘published’’ within the 

meaning of this section on the date 

notice of a modification or a 

supersedeas wage determination is 

published on WDOL or on the date the 

agency receives actual written notice of 

the modification from the Department of 

Labor, whichever occurs first. Archived 

versions of Davis-Bacon and Related 

Acts wage determinations that are no 

longer current may be accessed in the 

‘‘Archived DB WD’’ database of WDOL 

for information purposes only. 

Contracting officers should not use an 

archived wage determination in a 

contract action without prior approval 

of the Department of Labor. 

* * * * * 

■ 5. Items 19 and 20 in Appendix A of 

part 1 are revised to read as follows: 

Appendix A to Part 1 

* * * * * 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 165 / Friday, August 26, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 50895 

19. National Visitors Center Facilities Act 

of 1968 (sec. 110, 82 Stat. 45; 40 U.S.C. 808). 

Note: Section applying labor standards 

provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act repealed 

August 21, 2002, by 116 Stat. 1318, Pub. L. 

107–217. 

20. Appalachian Regional Development 

Act of 1965 (sec. 402, 79 Stat. 21; 40 U.S.C. 

14701). 

* * * * * 

■ 6. Appendix B of Part 1 is revised to 

read as follows: 

Appendix B to Part 1 

Northeast Region 

For the States of Connecticut, Delaware, 

District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, 

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, 

New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode 

Island, Vermont, Virgin Islands, Virginia and 

West Virginia: 

Regional Administrator, Wage and Hour 

Division, Employment Standards 

Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 

Curtis Center, 170 South Independence Mall 

West, Room 850 West, Philadelphia, PA 

19106 (Telephone: 215–861–5800, FAX: 215– 

861–5840). 

Southeast Region 

For the States of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, 

Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South 

Carolina and Tennessee: 

Regional Administrator, Wage and Hour 

Division, Employment Standards 

Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 61 

Forsyth Street, SW., Room 7M40, Atlanta, GA 

30303 (Telephone 404–893–4531, FAX: 404– 

893–4524). 

Midwest Region 

For the States of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, 

Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, 

Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin: 

Regional Administrator, Wage and Hour 

Division, Employment Standards 

Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 

230 South Dearborn Street, Room 530, 

Chicago, IL 60604–1591 (Telephone: 312– 

596–7180, FAX: 312–596–7205). 

Southwest Region 

For the States of Arkansas, Colorado, 

Louisiana, Montana, New Mexico, North 

Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, 

Utah and Wyoming: 

Regional Administrator, Wage and Hour 

Division, Employment Standards 

Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 

525 South Griffin Street, Suite 800, Dallas, 

TX 75202–5007 (Telephone: 972–850–2600, 

FAX: 972–850–2601). 

Western Region 

For the States of Alaska, American Samoa, 

Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, 

Nevada, Oregon and Washington: 

Regional Administrator, Wage and Hour 

Division, Employment Standards 

Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 71 

Stevenson Street, Suite 930, San Francisco, 

CA 94105, (Telephone: 415–848–6600, FAX: 

415–848–6655). 

■ 7. Appendix C of part 1 is deleted. 

PART 4—LABOR STANDARDS FOR 

FEDERAL SERVICE CONTRACTS 

■ 8. The authority citation for part 4 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 41 U.S.C. 351 et seq.; 41 U.S.C. 

38 and 39; 5 U.S.C. 301. 

Subpart A—Service Contract Labor 

Standards Provisions and Procedures 

■ 9. In § 4.1a, paragraphs (b) and (h) are 

revised and paragraphs (i) and (j) are 

added, to read as follows: 

§ 4.1a Definitions and use of terms. 

(b) Secretary includes the Secretary of 

Labor, the Assistant Secretary for 

Employment Standards, and their 

authorized representatives. 

* * * * * 

(h) Wage determination includes any 

determination of minimum wage rates 

or fringe benefits made pursuant to the 

provisions of sections 2(a) and/or 4(c) of 

the Act for application to the 

employment in a locality of any class or 

classes of service employees in the 

performance of any contract in excess of 

$2,500 which is subject to the 

provisions of the Service Contract Act of 

1965. A wage determination is effective 

upon its publication on the WDOL Web 

site or when a Federal agency receives 

a response from the Department of 

Labor to an e98. 

(i) Wage Determinations OnLine 

(WDOL) means the Government Internet 

Web site for both Davis-Bacon Act and 

Service Contract Act wage 

determinations available at http:// 

www.wdol.gov. In addition, WDOL 

provides compliance assistance 

information and a link to submit an e98 

or any electronic means the Department 

of Labor may approve for this purpose. 

The term will also apply to any other 

Internet Web site or electronic means 

that the Department of Labor may 

approve for these purposes. 

(j) The e98 means a Department of 

Labor approved electronic application 

(http://www.wdol.gov), whereby a 

contracting officer submits pertinent 

information to the Department of Labor 

and requests a wage determination 

directly from the Wage and Hour 

Division. The term will also apply to 

any other process or system the 

Department of Labor may establish for 

this purpose. 

■ 10. In § 4.3, paragraphs (b) through (d) 

are revised and paragraph (e) is added, 

to read as follows: 

§ 4.3 Wage determinations. 

* * * * * 

(b) As described in subpart B of this 

part—Wage Determination Procedures, 

two types of wage determinations are 

issued under the Act: Prevailing in the 

locality or Collective Bargaining 

Agreement (Successorship) wage 

determinations. The facts related to a 

specific solicitation and contract will 

determine the type of wage 

determination applicable to that 

procurement. In addition, different 

types of prevailing wage determinations 

may be issued depending upon the 

nature of the contract. While prevailing 

wage determinations based upon crossindustry survey data are applicable to 

most contracts covered by the Act, in 

some cases the Department of Labor 

may issue industry specific wage 

determinations for application to 

specific types of service contracts. In 

addition, the geographic scope of 

contracts is often different and the 

geographic scope of the underlying 

survey data for the wage determinations 

applicable to those contracts may be 

different. 

(c) Such wage determinations will set 

forth for the various classes of service 

employees to be employed in furnishing 

services under such contracts in the 

appropriate localities, minimum 

monetary wage rates to be paid and 

minimum fringe benefits to be furnished 

them during the periods when they are 

engaged in the performance of such 

contracts, including, where appropriate 

under the Act, provisions for 

adjustments in such minimum rates and 

benefits to be placed in effect under 

such contracts at specified future times. 

The wage rates and fringe benefits set 

forth in such wage determinations shall 

be determined in accordance with the 

provisions of sections 2(a)(1), (2), and 

(5), 4(c) and 4(d) of the Act from those 

prevailing in the locality for such 

employees, with due consideration of 

the rates that would be paid for direct 

Federal employment of any classes of 

such employees whose wages, if 

Federally employed, would be 

determined as provided in 5 U.S.C. 5341 

or 5 U.S.C. 5332, or from pertinent 

collective bargaining agreements with 

respect to the implementation of section 

4(c). The wage rates and fringe benefits 

so determined for any class of service 

employees to be engaged in furnishing 

covered contract services in a locality 

shall be made applicable by contract to 

all service employees of such class 

employed to perform such services in 

the locality under any contract subject 

to section 2(a) of the Act which is 

entered into thereafter and before such 

determination has been rendered 

obsolete by a withdrawal, modification, 

revision, or supersedure. 

(d) Generally, wage determinations 

issued for solicitations or negotiations 

for any contract where the place of 

50896 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 165 / Friday, August 26, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 

performance is unknown will contain 

minimum monetary wages and fringe 

benefits for the various geographic 

localities where the work may be 

performed which were identified in the 

initial solicitation. (See § 4.4(a)(3)(i).) 

(e) Wage determinations will be 

available for public inspection during 

business hours at the Wage and Hour 

Division, Employment Standards 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Labor, Washington, DC, and copies will 

be made available on request at Regional 

Offices of the Wage and Hour Division. 

In addition, most prevailing wage 

determinations are available online from 

WDOL. Archived versions of SCA wage 

determinations that are no longer 

current may be accessed in the 

‘‘Archived SCA WD’’ database of WDOL 

for information purposes only. 

Contracting officers should not use an 

archived wage determination in a 

contract action without prior approval 

of the Department of Labor. 

■ 11. Section 4.4 is revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 4.4 Obtaining a wage determination. 

(a)(1) Sections 2(a)(1) and (2) of the 

Act require that every contract and any 

bid specification therefore in excess of 

$2,500 contain a wage determination 

specifying the minimum monetary 

wages and fringe benefits to be paid to 

service employees performing work on 

the contract. The contracting agency, 

therefore, must obtain a wage 

determination prior to: 

(i) Any invitation for bids; 

(ii) Request for proposals; 

(iii) Commencement of negotiations; 

(iv) Exercise of option or contract 

extension; 

(v) Annual anniversary date of a 

multi-year contract subject to annual 

fiscal appropriations of the Congress; or 

(vi) Each biennial anniversary date of 

a multi-year contract not subject to such 

annual appropriations, if so authorized 

by the Wage and Hour Division. 

(2) As described in § 4.4(b), wage 

determinations may be obtained from 

the Department of Labor by 

electronically submitting an e98 

describing the proposed contract and 

the occupations expected to be 

employed on the contract. Based upon 

the information provided on the e98, the 

Department of Labor will respond with 

the wage determination or wage 

determinations that the contracting 

agency may rely upon as the correct 

wage determination(s) for the contract 

described in the e98. Alternatively, 

contracting agencies may select and 

obtain a wage determination using 

WDOL. (See § 4.4(c).) Although the 

WDOL Web site provides assistance to 

the agency to select the correct wage 

determination for the contract, the 

agency remains responsible for the wage 

determination selected. 

(3)(i) Where the place of performance 

of a contract for services subject to the 

Act is unknown at the time of 

solicitation, the solicitation need not 

initially contain a wage determination. 

The contracting agency, upon 

identification of firms participating in 

the procurement in response to an 

initial solicitation, shall obtain a wage 

determination for each location where 

the work may be performed as indicated 

by participating firms. An applicable 

wage determination must be obtained 

for each firm participating in the 

bidding for the location in which it 

would perform the contract. The 

appropriate wage determination shall be 

incorporated in the resultant contract 

documents and shall be applicable to all 

work performed thereunder (regardless 

of whether the successful contractor 

subsequently changes the place(s) of 

contract performance). 

(ii) There may be unusual situations, 

as determined by the Department of 

Labor upon consultation with a 

contracting agency, where the procedure 

in paragraph (a)(3)(i) of this section is 

not practicable in a particular situation. 

In these situations, the Department may 

authorize a modified procedure that 

may result in the subsequent issuance of 

wage determinations for one or more 

composite localities. 

(4) In no event may a contract subject 

to the Act on which more than five (5) 

service employees are contemplated to 

be employed be awarded without an 

appropriate wage determination. (See 

section 10 of the Act.) 

(b) e98 process— 

(1) The e98 is an electronic 

application used by contracting agencies 

to request wage determinations directly 

from the Wage and Hour Division. The 

Division uses computers to analyze 

information provided on the e98 and to 

provide a response while the requester 

is online, if the analysis determines that 

an existing wage determination is 

currently applicable to the procurement. 

The response will assign a unique serial 

number to the e98 and the response will 

provide a link to an electronic copy of 

the applicable wage determination(s). If 

the initial computer analysis cannot 

identify the applicable wage 

determination for the request, an online 

response will be provided indicating 

that the request has been referred to an 

analyst. Again, the online response will 

assign a unique serial number to the 

e98. After an analyst has reviewed the 

request, a further response will be sent 

to the email address identified on the 

e98. In most cases, the further response 

will provide an attachment with a copy 

of the applicable wage determination(s). 

In some cases, however, additional 

information may be required and the 

additional information will be requested 

via email. After an applicable wage 

determination is sent in response to an 

e98, the e98 system continues to 

monitor the request and if the 

applicable wage determination is 

revised in time to affect the 

procurement, an amended response will 

be sent to the email address identified 

on the e98. 

(2) When completing an e98, it is 

important that all information requested 

be completed accurately and fully. 

However, several sections are 

particularly important. Since most 

responses are provided via email, a 

correct email address is critically 

important. Accurate procurement dates 

are essential for the follow-up response 

system to operate effectively. An 

accurate estimate of the number of 

service employees to be employed 

under the contract is also important 

because section 10 of the Act requires 

that a wage determination be issued for 

all contracts that involve more than five 

service employees. 

(3) Since the e98 system automatically 

provides an amended response if the 

applicable wage determination is 

revised, the email address listed on the 

e98 must be monitored during the full 

solicitation stage of the procurement. 

Communications sent to the email 

address provided are deemed to be 

received by the contracting agency. A 

contracting agency must update the 

email address through the ‘‘help’’ 

process identified on the e98, if the 

agency no longer intends to monitor the 

email address. 

(4) For invitations to bid, if the bid 

opening date is delayed by more than 

sixty (60) days, or if contract 

commencement is delayed by more than 

sixty (60) days for all other contract 

actions, the contracting agency shall 

submit a revised e98. 

(5) If the services to be furnished 

under the proposed contract will be 

substantially the same as services being 

furnished in the same locality by an 

incumbent contractor whose contract 

the proposed contract will succeed, and 

if such incumbent contractor is 

furnishing such services through the use 

of service employees whose wage rates 

and fringe benefits are the subject of one 

or more collective bargaining 

agreements, the contracting agency shall 

reference the union and the collective 

bargaining agreement on the e98. The 

requester will receive an e-mail 

response giving instructions for 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 165 / Friday, August 26, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 50897 

submitting a copy of each such 

collective bargaining agreement together 

with any related documents specifying 

the wage rates and fringe benefits 

currently or prospectively payable 

under such agreement. After receipt of 

the collective bargaining agreement, the 

Wage and Hour Division will provide a 

further e-mail response attaching a copy 

of the wage determination based upon 

the collective bargaining agreement. If 

the place of contract performance is 

unknown, the contracting agency will 

submit the collective bargaining 

agreement of the incumbent contractor 

for incorporation into a wage 

determination applicable to a potential 

bidder located in the same locality as 

the predecessor contractor. If such 

services are being furnished at more 

than one locality and the collectively 

bargained wage rates and fringe benefits 

are different at different localities or do 

not apply to one or more localities, the 

agency shall identify the localities to 

which such agreements have 

application. If the collective bargaining 

agreement does not apply to all service 

employees under the contract, the 

agency shall identify the employees 

and/or work subject to the collective 

bargaining agreement. In the event the 

agency has reason to believe that any 

such collective bargaining agreement 

was not entered into as a result of arm’slength negotiations, a full statement of 

the facts so indicating shall be 

transmitted with the copy of such 

agreement. (See § 4.11.) If the agency 

has information indicating that any such 

collectively bargained wage rates and 

fringe benefits are substantially at 

variance with those prevailing for 

services of a similar character in the 

locality, the agency shall so advise the 

Wage and Hour Division and, if it 

believes a hearing thereon pursuant to 

section 4(c) of the Act is warranted, 

shall file its request for such hearing 

pursuant to § 4.10 at the time of filing 

the e98. 

(6) If the proposed contract is for a 

multi-year period subject to other than 

annual appropriations, the contracting 

agency shall provide a statement in the 

comments section of the e98 concerning 

the type of funding and the 

contemplated term of the proposed 

contract. Unless otherwise advised by 

the Wage and Hour Division that a wage 

determination must be obtained on the 

annual anniversary date, a new wage 

determination shall be obtained on each 

biennial anniversary date of the 

proposed multi-year contract in the 

event its term is for a period in excess 

of two years. 

(c) WDOL process— 

(1) Contracting agencies may use the 

WDOL Web site to select the applicable 

prevailing wage determination for the 

procurement. The WDOL site provides 

assistance to the agency in the selection 

of the correct wage determination. The 

contracting agency, however, is fully 

responsible for selecting the correct 

wage determination. If the Department 

of Labor subsequently determines that 

an incorrect wage determination was 

applied to a specific contract, the 

contracting agency, in accordance with 

§ 4.5, shall amend the contract to 

incorporate the correct wage 

determination as determined by the 

Department of Labor. 

(2) If an applicable prevailing wage 

determination is not available on the 

WDOL site, the contracting agency must 

submit an e98 in accordance with 

§ 4.4(b). 

(3) The contracting agency shall 

monitor the WDOL site to determine 

whether the applicable wage 

determination has been revised. 

Revisions published on the WDOL site 

or otherwise communicated to the 

contracting officer within the 

timeframes prescribed in § 4.5(a)(2) are 

applicable and must be included in the 

resulting contract. 

(4) If the services to be furnished 

under the proposed contract will be 

substantially the same as services being 

furnished in the same locality by an 

incumbent contractor whose contract 

the proposed contract will succeed, and 

if such incumbent contractor is 

furnishing such services through the use 

of service employees whose wage rates 

and fringe benefits are the subject of one 

or more collective bargaining 

agreements, the contracting agency may 

prepare a wage determination that 

references the collective bargaining 

agreement by incorporating that wage 

determination, with a complete copy of 

the collective bargaining agreement 

attached thereto, into the successor 

contract action. It need not submit a 

copy of the collective bargaining 

agreement to the Department of Labor 

unless requested to do so. If the place 

of contract performance is unknown, the 

contracting agency will prepare a wage 

determination on WDOL and attach the 

collective bargaining agreement of the 

incumbent contractor and make both the 

wage determination and collective 

bargaining agreement applicable to a 

potential bidder located in the same 

locality as the predecessor contractor. 

(See section 4.4(a)(3).) If such services 

are being furnished at more than one 

locality and the collectively bargained 

wage rates and fringe benefits are 

different at different localities or do not 

apply to one or more localities, the 

agency shall identify the localities to 

which such agreements have 

application. If the collective bargaining 

agreement does not apply to all service 

employees under the contract, the 

agency shall identify the employees 

and/or work subject to the collective 

bargaining agreement. In the event the 

agency has reason to believe that any 

such collective bargaining agreement 

was not entered into as a result of arm’slength negotiations, a full statement of 

the facts so indicating shall be 

transmitted to the Wage and Hour 

Division with the copy of such 

agreement. (See § 4.11.) If the agency 

has information indicating that any such 

collectively bargained wage rates and 

fringe benefits are substantially at 

variance with those prevailing for 

services of a similar character in the 

locality, the agency shall so advise the 

Wage and Hour Division and, if it 

believes a hearing thereon pursuant to 

section 4(c) of the Act is warranted, 

shall file its request for such hearing 

pursuant to § 4.10. A wage 

determination based upon the collective 

bargaining agreement must be included 

in the contract until a hearing or a final 

ruling of the Administrator determines 

that the collective bargaining agreement 

was not reached as the result of arm’slength negotiations or was substantially 

at variance with locally prevailing rates. 

Any questions regarding timeliness or 

applicability of collective bargaining 

agreements must be referred to the 

Department of Labor for resolution. 

(5) If the proposed contract is for a 

multi-year period subject to other than 

annual appropriations, the contracting 

agency shall, unless otherwise advised 

by the Wage and Hour Division, obtain 

a new wage determination on each 

biennial anniversary date of the 

proposed multi-year contract in the 

event its term is for a period in excess 

of two years. 

■ 12. Section 4.5 is amended by revising 

paragraphs (a), (c), and (d) to read as 

follows: 

§ 4.5 Contract specification of determined 

minimum wages and fringe benefits. 

(a) Any contract in excess of $2,500 

shall contain, as an attachment, the 

applicable, currently effective wage 

determination specifying the minimum 

wages and fringe benefits for service 

employees to be employed thereunder, 

including any information referred to in 

paragraphs (a)(1) or (2) of this section; 

(1) Any wage determination from the 

Wage and Hour Division, Employment 

Standards Administration, Department 

of Labor, responsive to the contracting 

agency’s submission of an e98 or 

obtained through WDOL under § 4.4; or 

50898 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 165 / Friday, August 26, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 

(2) Any revision of a wage 

determination issued prior to the award 

of the contract or contracts which 

specifies minimum wage rates or fringe 

benefits for classes of service employees 

whose wages or fringe benefits were not 

previously covered by wage 

determinations, or which changes 

previously determined minimum wage 

rates and fringe benefits for service 

employees employed on covered 

contracts in the locality. 

(i) However, revisions received by the 

Federal agency later than 10 days before 

the opening of bids, in the case of 

contracts entered into pursuant to 

competitive bidding procedures, shall 

not be effective if the Federal agency 

finds that there is not a reasonable time 

still available to notify bidders of the 

revision. 

(ii) In the case of procurements 

entered into pursuant to negotiations (or 

in the case of the execution of an option 

or an extension of the initial contract 

term), revisions received by the agency 

after award (or execution of an option or 

extension of term, as the case may be) 

of the contract shall not be effective 

provided that the contract start of 

performance is within 30 days of such 

award (or execution of an option or 

extension of term). Any notice of a 

revision received by the agency not less 

than 10 days before commencement of 

the contract shall be effective, if: 

(A) The contract does not specify a 

start of performance date which is 

within 30 days from the award; and/or 

(B) Performance of such procurement 

does not commence within this 30-day 

period. 

(iii) In situations arising under section 

4(c) of the Act, the provisions in 

§ 4.1b(b) apply. 

(3) For purposes of using WDOL 

databases containing prevailing wage 

determinations, the date of receipt by 

the contracting agency will be the date 

of publication on the WDOL Web site or 

on the date the agency receives actual 

notice of an initial or revised wage 

determination from the Department of 

Labor through the e98 process, 

whichever occurs first. 

* * * * * 

(c) Where the Department of Labor 

discovers and determines, whether 

before or subsequent to a contract 

award, that a contracting agency made 

an erroneous determination that the 

Service Contract Act did not apply to a 

particular procurement and/or failed to 

include an appropriate wage 

determination in a covered contract, the 

contracting agency, within 30 days of 

notification by the Department of Labor, 

shall include in the contract the 

stipulations contained in § 4.6 and any 

applicable wage determination issued 

by the Administrator or his authorized 

representative through the exercise of 

any and all authority that may be 

needed (including, where necessary, its 

authority to negotiate or amend, its 

authority to pay any necessary 

additional costs, and its authority under 

any contract provision authorizing 

changes, cancellation, and termination). 

With respect to any contract subject to 

section 10 of the Act, the Administrator 

may require retroactive application of 

such wage determination. (See 53 

Comp. Gen. 412, (1973); Curtiss-Wright 

Corp. v. McLucas, 381 F. Supp. 657 (D 

NJ 1974); Marine Engineers Beneficial 

Assn., District 2 v. Military Sealift 

Command, 86 CCH Labor Cases ¶33,782 

(D DC 1979); Brinks, Inc. v. Board of 

Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System, 466 F. Supp. 112 (D DC 1979), 

466 F. Supp. 116 (D DC 1979).) (See also 

32 CFR 1–403.) 

(d) In cases where the contracting 

agency has filed an e98 and has not 

received a response from the 

Department of Labor, the contracting 

agency shall, with respect to any 

contract for which section 10 to the Act 

and § 4.3 for this part mandate the 

inclusion of an applicable wage 

determination, contact the Wage and 

Hour Division by e-mail or telephone for 

guidance. 

§ 4.8 [Removed and Reserved] 

■ 13. Section 4.8 is removed and 

reserved. 

Subpart B—Wage Determination 

Procedures 

■ 14. Section 4.50 is revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 4.50 Types of wage and fringe benefit 

determinations. 

The Administrator specifies the 

minimum monetary wages and fringe 

benefits to be paid as required under the 

Act in two types of determinations: 

(a) Prevailing in the locality. (1) 

Determinations that set forth minimum 

monetary wages and fringe benefits 

determined to be prevailing for various 

classes of service employees in the 

locality (sections 2(a)(1) and 2(a)(2) of 

the Act) after giving ‘‘due 

consideration’’ to the rates applicable to 

such service employees if directly hired 

by the Federal Government (section 

2(a)(5) of the Act). 

(2) The prevailing wage 

determinations applicable to most 

contracts covered by the Act are based 

upon cross-industry survey data. 

However, in some cases the Department 

of Labor may issue industry specific 

wage determinations for application to 

specific types of service contracts. In 

addition, the geographic scope of 

contracts is often different and the 

geographic scope of the underlying 

survey data for the wage determinations 

applicable to those contracts may be 

different. Therefore, a variety of 

different prevailing wage 

determinations may be applicable in a 

particular locality. The application of 

these different prevailing wage 

determinations will depend upon the 

nature of the contracts to which they are 

applied. 

(b) Collective Bargaining Agreement— 

(Successorship). Determinations that set 

forth the wage rates and fringe benefits, 

including accrued and prospective 

increases, contained in a collective 

bargaining agreement applicable to the 

service employees who performed on a 

predecessor contract in the same 

locality. (See sections 2(a)(1) and (2) as 

well as 4(c) of the Act.) 

■ 15. Paragraph (b) of § 4.54 is revised 

to read as follows: 

§ 4.54 Locality basis of wage and fringe 

benefit determinations. 

* * * * * 

(b) Where the services are to be 

performed for a Federal agency at the 

site of the successful bidder, in contrast 

to services to be performed at a specific 

Federal facility or installation, or in the 

locality of such installation, the location 

where the work will be performed often 

cannot be ascertained at the time of bid 

advertisement or solicitation. In such 

instances, wage determinations will 

generally be issued for the various 

localities identified by the agency as set 

forth in § 4.4(a)(3)(i). 

* * * * * 

■ 16. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of § 4.55 are 

revised to read as follows: 

§ 4.55 Issuance and revision of wage 

determinations. 

(a) Determinations will be reviewed 

periodically and where prevailing wage 

rates or fringe benefits have changed, 

such changes will be reflected in revised 

determinations. For example, in a 

locality where it is determined that the 

wage rate which prevails for a particular 

class of service employees is the rate 

specified in a collective bargaining 

agreement(s) applicable in that locality, 

and such agreement(s) specifies 

increases in such rates to be effective on 

specific dates, the determinations would 

be revised to reflect such changes as 

they become effective. Revised 

determinations shall be applicable to 

contracts in accordance with the 

provisions of § 4.5(a) of subpart A. 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 165 / Friday, August 26, 2005 / Rules and Regulations 50899 

(b) Determinations issued by the Wage 

and Hour Division with respect to 

particular contracts are required to be 

incorporated in the invitations for bids 

or requests for proposals or quotations 

issued by the contracting agencies, and 

are to be incorporated in the contract 

specifications in accordance with § 4.5 

of subpart A. In this manner, 

prospective contractors and 

subcontractors are advised of the 

minimum monetary wages and fringe 

benefits required under the most 

recently applicable determination to be 

paid the service employees who perform 

the contract work. These requirements 

are the same for all bidders so none will 

be placed at a competitive disadvantage. 

* * * * * 

Subpart C—Application of the 

McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract 

Act 

■ 17. Paragraphs (e)(1)(iv)(A) and 

(e)(2)(iii)(A) of § 4.123 are revised to 

read as follows: 

§ 4.123 Administrative limitations, 

variances, tolerances and exemptions. 

* * * * * 

(e) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(iv)(A) If the Administrator 

determines after award of the prime 

contract that any of the requirements in 

paragraph (e)(1) of this section for 

exemption has not been met, the 

exemption will be deemed inapplicable, 

and the contract shall become subject to 

the Service Contract Act, effective as of 

the date of the Administrator’s 

determination. In such case, the 

corrective procedures in § 4.5(c) shall be 

followed. 

* * * * * 

(2) * * * 

(iii)(A) If the Administrator 

determines after award of the prime 

contract that any of the requirements in 

paragraph (e)(2) of this section for 

exemption has not been met, the 

exemption will be deemed inapplicable, 

and the contract shall become subject to 

the Service Contract Act. In such case, 

the corrective procedures in § 4.5(c) 

shall be followed. 

* * * * * 

■ 18. Section 4.144 is revised to read as 

follows: 

§ 4.144 Contract modifications affecting 

amount. 

Where a contract that was originally 

issued in an amount not in excess of 

$2,500 is later modified so that its 

amount may exceed that figure, all the 

provisions of section 2(a) of the Act, and 

the regulations thereunder, are 

applicable from the date of modification 

to the date of contract completion. In 

the event of such modification, the 

contracting officer shall immediately 

obtain a wage determination from the 

Department of Labor using the e98 

application or directly from WDOL, and 

insert the required contract clauses and 

any wage determination issued into the 

contract. In the event that a contract for 

services subject to the Act in excess of 

$2,500 is modified so that it cannot 

exceed $2,500, compliance with the 

provisions of section 2(a) of the Act and 

the contract clauses required thereunder 

ceases to be an obligation of the 

contractor when such modification 

becomes effective. 

[FR Doc. 05–16779 Filed 8–25–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–27–P