60782 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 201 / Wednesday, October 19, 2005 / Proposed Rules 

collection requirements subject to the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

Public Law 104–13. In addition, 

therefore, it does not contain any 

proposed information collection burden 

‘‘for small business concerns with fewer 

than 25 employees,’’ pursuant to the 

Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 

2002, Public Law 107–198, see 44 U.S.C. 

3506(c)(4). 

The Provisions of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act of 1980 do not apply to 

this proceeding. Members of the public 

should note that from the time a Notice 

of Proposed Rule Making is issued until 

the matter is no longer subject to 

Commission consideration or court 

review, all ex parte contacts are 

prohibited in Commission proceedings, 

such as this one, which involve channel 

allotments. See 47 CFR 1.1204(b) for 

rules governing permissible ex parte 

contacts. 

For information regarding proper 

filing procedures for comments, see 47 

CFR 1.415 and 1.420. 

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 73 

Radio, Radio broadcasting. 

For the reasons discussed in the 

preamble, the Federal Communications 

Commission proposes to amend 47 CFR 

part 73 as follows: 

PART 73—RADIO BROADCAST 

SERVICES 

1. The authority citation for Part 73 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 47 U.S.C. 154, 303, 334 and 336. 

§ 73.202 [Amended] 

2. Section 73.202(b), the Table of FM 

Allotments under Tennessee, is 

amended by adding Charleston, Channel 

250A. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

John A. Karousos, 

Assistant Chief, Audio Division, Media 

Bureau. 

[FR Doc. 05–20844 Filed 10–18–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

GENERAL SERVICES 

ADMINISTRATION 

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND 

SPACE ADMINISTRATION 

48 CFR Parts 2, 4, and 52 

[FAR Case 2005–007] 

RIN 9000–AK33 

Federal Acquisition Regulation; 

Central Contractor Registration –

Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) 

Validation 

AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DoD), 

General Services Administration (GSA), 

and National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Civilian Agency 

Acquisition Council and the Defense 

Acquisition Regulations Council 

(Councils) are proposing to amend the 

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to 

include the process of validating a 

Central Contractor Registration (CCR) 

registrant’s taxpayer identification 

number (TIN) with the Internal Revenue 

Service (IRS) to improve data accuracy 

in the Federal procurement system. 

Additionally, the proposed amendment 

removes outdated language requiring 

modifications of contracts prior to 

December 31, 2003, regarding CCR. 

DATES: Interested parties should submit 

written comments to the FAR 

Secretariat on or before December 19, 

2005 to be considered in the 

formulation of a final rule. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments 

identified by FAR case 2005–007 by any 

of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Agency Web Site: http:// 

www.acqnet.gov/far/ProposedRules/ 

proposed.htm. Click on the FAR case 

number to submit comments. 

• E-mail: farcase.2005–007@gsa.gov. 

Include FAR case 2005–007 in the 

subject line of the message. 

• Fax: 202–501–4067. 

• Mail: General Services 

Administration, Regulatory Secretariat 

(VIR), 1800 F Street, NW, Room 4035, 

ATTN: Laurieann Duarte, Washington, 

DC 20405. 

Instructions: Please submit comments 

only and cite FAR case 2005–007 in all 

correspondence related to this case. All 

comments received will be posted 

without change to http:// 

www.acqnet.gov/far/ProposedRules/ 

proposed.htm, including any personal 

and/or business confidential 

information provided. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The 

FAR Secretariat at (202) 501–4755 for 

information pertaining to status or 

publication schedules. For clarification 

of content, contact Mr. Michael O. 

Jackson, Procurement Analyst, at (202) 

208–4949. Please cite FAR case 2005–

007. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Background 

Vendor registration in the CCR as a 

pre-requisite for being awarded a 

contract has been required in the 

Department of Defense since 1998, for 

Civilian Agencies since 2003. Since 

CCR’s inception, validation of 

registrants’ TINs with the IRS has been 

contemplated in order to improve data 

accuracy throughout the Federal 

procurement system. This capability, 

although actively pursued, was never 

implemented as the Internal Revenue 

Code (I.R.C.) restricts disclosure of TINs 

without the taxpayer’s consent, which 

due to technology at the time, would 

have been costly and inefficient to 

pursue. However, in its Fall 2004 

‘‘Report to Senate Committee on 

Governmental Affairs Permanent 

Subcommittee on Investigations,’’ the 

Federal Contractor Tax Compliance 

Task Force (which included the Office 

of Management and Budget, the 

Department of Treasury, the Department 

of Defense, the General Services 

Administration, the Department of 

Justice, and the IRS) recommended that 

‘‘ . . . a consent-based TIN validation 

under I.R.C. § 6103 should be 

instituted.’’ The capability for a near 

real-time/real-time, web-based solution 

integrating the CCR with an IRS 

validation is now able to be pursued 

due to advancements in technology. The 

FAR was recommended to be updated to 

specifically identify the validation of 

the TINs as a part of CCR registration. 

Additionally, Subpart 4.11, Central 

Contractor Registration, contains 

language that was included when this 

subpart was implemented in the FAR in 

2003. This outdated language required 

modifications of contracts by December 

31, 2003, to include CCR registration 

requirements. As this date is past, the 

case removes the associated language. 

The rule is proposing to amend the 

FAR by—

1. Modifying FAR 2.101 to indicate 

that the validation requirement for 

‘‘registered in CCR’’ includes TIN 

matching. 

2. Removing FAR 4.1103(a)(3)(i) thru 

4.1103(a)(3)(ii) and a part of 4.1104 to 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 201 / Wednesday, October 19, 2005 / Proposed Rules 60783 

remove the language requiring action by 

December 31, 2003. 

3. Adding detail to the FAR clause at 

52.204–7, Central Contractor 

Registration, to specifically identify 

validation of the TIN as a part of the 

definition ‘‘Registered in the CCR 

Database,’’ and to indicate that consent 

is part of that process. 

4. Removing Alternate I to FAR clause 

52.204–7, Central Contractor 

Registration. 

This is not a significant regulatory 

action and, therefore, was not subject to 

review under Section 6(b) of Executive 

Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and 

Review, dated September 30, 1993. This 

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

804. 

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Councils do not expect this 

proposed rule to 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., as no new 

requirements are being placed on the 

vendor community. An Initial 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis has, 

therefore, not been performed. We invite 

comments from small businesses and 

other interested parties. The Councils 

will consider comments from small 

entities concerning the affected FAR 

Parts 2, 4, and 52 in accordance with 5 

U.S.C. 610. Interested parties must 

submit such comments separately and 

should cite 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq. (FAR 

case 2005–007), in correspondence. 

C. Paperwork Reduction Act 

The Paperwork Reduction Act does 

not apply because the proposed changes 

to the FAR do not impose information 

collection requirements that require the 

approval of the Office of Management 

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

seq. 

List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 2, 4, 

and 52 

Government procurement. 

Dated: October 12, 2005. 

Gerald Zaffos, 

Director, Contract Policy Division. 

Therefore, DoD, GSA, and NASA 

propose amending 48 CFR parts 2, 4, 

and 52 as set forth below: 

1. The authority citation for 48 CFR 

parts 2, 4, and 52 continues to read as 

follows: 

Authority: 40 U.S.C. 121(c); 10 U.S.C. 

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

PART 2—DEFINITIONS OF WORDS 

AND TERMS 

2. Amend section 2.101 by revising 

paragraph (2) of the definition 

‘‘Registered in the CCR database’’ to 

read as follows: 

2.101 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

Registered in the CCR database * * * 

* * * * * 

(2) The Government has validated all 

mandatory data fields, to include 

validation of the Taxpayer Identification 

Number (TIN) with the Internal Revenue 

Service (IRS), and has marked the 

record ‘‘Active’’. The contractor will be 

required to provide consent for TIN 

validation to the Government as a part 

of the CCR registration process. 

* * * * * 

PART 4—ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS 

4.1103 [Amended] 

3. Amend section 4.1103 by removing 

paragraph (a)(3) and redesignating 

paragraphs (b), (c), (d), and (e) as (a)(3), 

(b), (c) and (d), respectively. 

4.1104 [Amended] 

4. Amend section 4.1104 by removing 

the last sentence. 

PART 52—SOLICITATION PROVISIONS 

AND CONTRACT CLAUSES 

5. Amend section 52.204–7 by 

revising the date of the clause; in 

paragraph (a) by revising paragraph (2) 

of the definition ‘‘Registered in the CCR 

database’’; and by removing Alternate I. 

The revised text reads as follows: 

52.204–7 Central Contractor Registration. 

* * * * * 

Central Contractor Registration (DATE) 

(a) * * * 

* * * * * 

Registered in the CCR database * * * 

* * * * * 

(2) The Government has validated all 

mandatory data fields, to include 

validation of the Taxpayer Identification 

Number (TIN) with the Internal Revenue 

Service (IRS), and has marked the 

record ‘‘Active’’. The Contractor will be 

required to provide consent for TIN 

validation to the Government as a part 

of the CCR registration process. 

[FR Doc. 05–20869 Filed 10–18–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6820–EP–S