19360 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 74 / Tuesday, April 18, 1995 / Rules and Regulations

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kathleen Scheuerle, Mass Media

Bureau, (202) 418–2180.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a

summary of the Commission’s Report

and Order, MM Docket No. 91–240,

adopted March 30, 1995, and released

April 10, 1995. The full text of this

Commission decision is available for

inspection and copying during normal

business hours in the Commission’s

Reference Center (Room 239), 1919 M

Street, NW, Washington, D.C. The

complete text of this decision may also

be purchased from the Commission’s

copy contractors, International

Transcription Services, Inc., 2100 M

Street, NW, Suite 140, Washington, D.C.

20037, (202) 857–3800.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 73

Radio broadcasting.

Part 73 of Title 47 of the Code of

Federal Regulations is amended as

follows:

PART 73—[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for Part 73

continues to read as follows:

Authority: Secs. 303, 48 Stat., as amended,

1082; 47 U.S.C. 154, as amended.

§ 73.202 [Amended]

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

Allotments under Wisconsin, is

amended by removing Channel 241A

and adding Channel 242C2 at Peshtigo.

Federal Communications Commission.

John A. Karousos,

Chief, Allocations Branch, Policy and Rules

Division, Mass Media Bureau.

[FR Doc. 95–9481 Filed 4–17–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–F

GENERAL SERVICES

ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Parts 538 and 552

[APD 2800.12A CHGE 61]

General Services Administration

Acquisition Regulation;

Implementation of Industrial Funding

for Federal Supply Schedules

AGENCY: Office of Acquisition Policy,

GSA.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The General Services

Administration Acquisition Regulation

(GSAR) is amended to modify the

prescription for the Contractor’s Report

of Orders Received clause to reflect the

new title of the clause and to add a

prescription for the new Industrial

Funding Fee clause; to reflect the new

title of the clause in section 552.238–72

and to modify the clause to delete

references to ‘‘orders’’ and substitute

‘‘sales,’’ and to extend the time for

submitting reports from 15 days

following the reporting period to 30

days; and to provide the text of the new

Industrial Funding Fee clause. GSA’s

Federal Supply Service will include the

new Industrial Funding Fee clause in

Federal Supply Schedule solicitations

and contracts. The clause provides

instructions for remittance of an

industrial funding fee based on

quarterly sales reported by contractors

under Federal Supply Schedule

contracts. The amount of the fee is

determined by the Commissioner,

Federal Supply Service. It has been

determined that the initial fee will be 1

percent.

Fees will be included in the prices

charged to ordering activities and

contract award prices will reflect the

total amounts charged. Federal Supply

Schedule contractors will remit fees to

the General Services Administration

based on quarterly contract sales. GSA

will recoup its costs from the ordering

activities through the contractor’s

quarterly remittance.

The General Services Administration

will use the industrial funding fee to

fund the cost of providing supplies and

services through the Federal Supply

Schedule Program. As solicitations are

issued with the new clause, the program

will convert from an operation funded

through congressional appropriations to

a reimbursable activity. GSA’s fiscal

year 1995 budget reflects a $7.8 million

reduction in operating expenses for the

schedules program. The remaining

appropriated monies for the program

will be eliminated over the next two

fiscal years.

DATES: Effective Date: April 18, 1995.

Compliance Date: Solicitations issued

and contracts awarded after April 18,

1995, shall comply with this change.

Existing Federal Supply Schedule

contracts shall be modified over the

next 2 years in accordance with the time

schedule established by the

Commissioner of the Federal Supply

Service or a designee.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Les Davison, Office of GSA Acquisition

Policy, (202) 501–1224.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Public Comments

A notice of proposed rulemaking was

published in the Federal Register on

December 27, 1994. Comments received

from other Federal agencies and from

vendors were considered in formulating

this final rule. The notice and

significant issues and concerns raised

during the comment period are

summarized below.

The notice of December 27, 1994,

proposed implementation of industrial

funding of the Federal Supply Schedule

Program by adjusting schedule prices

upward by 1 percent. Under this

concept, published schedule prices

would include the 1 percent adjustment.

Agencies would order from the

contractor at the adjusted price; the

contractor would invoice GSA to the

award price; GSA would bill agencies

the adjusted price and retain the

difference to fund the program.

Twenty-two responses were received

from Federal agencies. These agencies,

for the most part, objected to the

proposed procedure as administratively

burdensome. Most agencies did not

want GSA to become the centralized

billing and payment point for schedules

transactions. Objections were based

primarily on potential disruptions of

their own agency accounting systems for

agency procedures. Some agencies

stated that they would have to create

separate systems just for schedule

purchases if the proposal was adopted.

Nearly all agencies perceived the

proposed centralized billing and

payment system to be cumbersome,

intrusive and unnecessarily

bureaucratic.

Other concerns frequently raised by

agencies included payments to vendors

without proper verification of

acceptance; payment of the 1 percent fee

for nonschedule items included on

purchase orders for schedule items; and

problems associated with use of the

Governmentwide credit card under such

a system.

Fourteen vendors and associations

responded. Their responses for the most

part indicated that they did not wish

GSA to assume the role of centralized

billing and payment point; that they did

not want to adjust their agency pricelists

to reflect a price other than the contract

award price; and that they found it

burdensome that the agency purchase

order would not reflect their invoiced

amounts.

Based on these comments received

from Federal agencies and industry, the

GSA has determined that

implementation of industrial funding of

the Federal Supply Schedule Program

must be accomplished in the least

disruptive manner possible to both

agencies and contractors and that the

concerns raised must be alleviated.

To accomplish this, GSA has

considered a number of alternatives

suggested by both Federal agencies and

industry. Many respondents suggested
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 74 / Tuesday, April 18, 1995 / Rules and Regulations 19361

that the General Services

Administration collect its 1 percent fee

on a periodic basis, monthly or

quarterly, based on the value of orders

placed. While several agencies

suggested we accomplish this by billing

the agencies, GSA, in light of issues

raised regarding centralized payment

and billing, does not wish to impose any

additional burden on its customer

agencies.

Therefore, in order to implement

industrial funding while addressing the

concerns expressed by respondents to

the previous proposal, GSA has

determined that the most efficient and

least disruptive method of obtaining the

funding is by recouping its costs from

ordering activities through a quarterly

remittance from contractors based on

reported sales. This method will require

no changes in agency ordering or paying

procedures and will have minimal

impact on schedule contractors.

GSA plans to include an initial 1

percent Industrial Funding Fee (IFF) in

its contract award prices which will be

reflected in the total amount charged to

ordering activities. The award price or

discount appearing in schedule

pricelists will already include the 1

percent IFF. The ordering activity will

order from the pricelists and pay

contractors in accordance with current

procedures. Schedule contractors will

then remit to GSA on a quarterly basis

1 percent of the sales under schedule

contracts.

To facilitate this change in funding

the Federal Supply Schedule Program,

the GSA Form 72A, Contractor’s Report

of Orders Received, will be clarified

regarding procedures for reporting.

B. Executive Order 12866

This rule was submitted to the Office

of Management and Budget under

Executive Order 12866.

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act

This final rule will not have a

significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities

under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5

U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Contractors awarded

Federal Supply Schedule contracts by

GSA’s Federal Supply Service will be

impacted by this rule. Currently, the

FSS has 4,922 schedule contracts which

involve sales of approximately $2.7

billion per annum. Seventy six (76)

percent of the schedule contracts are

held by small business concerns. The

changes to the Report of Orders

Received clause are either minor

clarifications or will be beneficial to

contractors, including small business,

because they increase the time available

to contractors for submitting the report;

allow for quarterly summaries instead of

monthly data; and provide sales rather

than orders received which is consistent

with commercial recordkeeping

practices. The new clause, which

provides for payment of an industrial

funding fee, will not have a significant

economic impact on contractors because

the fee will be included in the contract

price(s) and will be taken into account

during the negotiation of the schedule

contract. The procedures established in

the new clause for collection of the

industrial funding fee represent the least

burdensome alternative to both Federal

agencies and contractors. Therefore, a

final regulatory flexibility analysis was

not prepared.

D. Paperwork Reduction Act

The revised clause at 552.238–72,

Contractor’s Report of Sales, contains an

information collection requirement that

is subject to the Paperwork Reduction

Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et sequentia) that

has previously been approved by the

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction

Act and assigned control number 3090–

0121. The changes made to the clause

by this rule do not have an impact on

the information collection requirement

which was previously approved.

Therefore, it has not been submitted to

OMB for approval under the Act.

The new clause at 552.238–77,

Industrial Funding Fee, contains an

information collection requirement that

is subject to the Paperwork Reduction

Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et sequentia). The

clause provides for certain information

to be submitted on the check or with the

payment of the industrial funding fee in

order to permit GSA to identify the

payment as an industrial funding fee

and match it with the appropriate

contract and reporting period. This

information is the same as is normally

required when transmitting payments in

the commercial world and does not

represent a Government-unique

information collection. Therefore, the

estimated burden for this clause under

the Paperwork Reduction Act is zero.

GSA has a blanket approval under

control number 3090–0250 from OMB

for information collections with a zero

burden estimate.

Comments on the information

collections cited above may be

submitted to the Office of Information

and Regulatory Affairs of OMB,

Attention: Desk Officer for GSA,

Washington, DC 20503 and to the Office

of Acquisition Policy (V), GSA, 18th &

F Streets, NW, Washington, DC 20405.

List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 538 and

552

Government procurement.

Accordingly, 48 CFR Parts 538 and

552 are amended as follows:

1. The authority citation for 48 CFR

Parts 538 and 552 continues to read as

follows:

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

PART 538—GSA SCHEDULE

CONTRACTING

2. Section 538.203–71 is amended by

revising paragraph (a) and adding a new

paragraph (f) to read as follows:

538.203–71 Solicitation provisions and

contract clauses.

(a) The contracting officer shall insert

the clause at 552.238–72, Contractor’s

Report of Sales, in solicitations issued

and contracts awarded under GSA’s

schedule program. Paragraph (b) may be

modified as necessary to meet program

requirements. If it is necessary to

identify the official responsible for

preparing the report, the contracting

officer may use the clause with its

Alternate I. When the clause is used by

IRMS the contracting officer shall use

the clause with its Alternate II.

* * * * *

(f) Contracting officers in the Federal

Supply Service (FSS) shall insert the

clause at 552.238–77, Industrial

Funding Fee, in solicitations and

contracts awarded under the single

award schedule and multiple award

schedule programs.

PART 552—SOLICITATION

PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT

CLAUSES

3. Section 552.238–72 is amended by

revising the heading and revising

paragraphs (a) and (b) of the basic clause

to read as follows:

552.238–72 Contractor’s report of sales.

* * * * *

Contractor’s Report of Sales (APR 1995)

(a) Contractors shall furnish quarterly the

dollar value (rounded to the nearest whole

dollar) of all sales under the contract during

the preceding 3-month period to include any

partial month. A separate report for each

National Stock Number (NSN), Special Item

Number (SIN), or subitem shall be prepared

and submitted, unless otherwise specified,

on GSA Form 72A.

(b) The report is due in the office specified

below or specified at the time of award 30

days following the completion of the

reporting period. A report is required even

when no sales occur during the reporting

period. Sales for orders that extend beyond

the contract period will be reported within

60 days of final delivery.

* * * * *
19362 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 74 / Tuesday, April 18, 1995 / Rules and Regulations

4. Section 552.238–77 is added to

read as follows:

552.238–77 Industrial funding fee.

As prescribed in 538.203–71(f), insert

the following clause:

Industrial Funding Fee (APR 1995)

(a) Contractors shall pay the Federal

Supply Service, GSA, an industrial funding

fee (IFF) at the end of each contract quarter.

The IFF shall be remitted at the same time

the GSA Form 72A, Contractor’s Report of

Sales, is submitted under clause 552.238–72,

Contractor’s Report of Sales. The IFF equals

lllll * of total sales reported on GSA

Form 72A. The IFF reimburses the GSA

Federal Supply Service for the costs of

operating the Federal Supply Schedules

Program and recoups its operating costs from

ordering activities. Offerors should include

the IFF in the prices submitted with their

offer. The fee will be included in the award

price(s) and reflected in the total amount

charged to ordering activities.

(b) The IFF amount due shall be paid by

check or electronic funds transfer to the

‘‘General Services Administration.’’ Where

multiple special item numbers and/or

contracts are involved, the IFF’s may be

consolidation into one payment. To ensure

that the payment is credited properly, the

Contractor should identify the check or

electronic transmission as an ‘‘Industrial

Funding Fee’’ and include the following

information: contract number(s); report

amount(s); and report period(s).

(1) If the IFF payment is made by check,

it should be forwarded to the following

address:

General Services Administration

lllllllllllllllllllll

lllllllllllllllllllll

lllllllllllllllllllll

(2) If the IFF payment is made by

electronic funds transfer through the

Automated Clearing House (ACH), the

Contractor should provide their financial

institution with the following information for

use in making payments: (i) the ACH

Transmission Routing Number of the

[Contracting officer to insert the name of the

bank]: [Contracting officer to insert the

Routing Number] and (ii) the GSA Account

Number: [Contracting officer to insert the

GSA Account Number]. Contractors may call

[Contracting officer to insert the phone

number] (GSA Accounts Receivable) with

questions regarding payments through the

ACH.

(c) If the full amount of the IFF is not paid

within 30 calendar days after the end of the

applicable reporting period, it shall

constitute a contract debt to the United States

Government under the terms of FAR 32.6.

The Government may exercise all rights

under the Debt Collection Act of 1982,

including withholding or setting off

payments and interest on the debt (see FAR

52.232–17, Interest).

(d) Failure to submit sales reports,

falsification of sales reports, and/or failure to

pay the IFF in a timely manner may result

in termination or cancellation of this

contract. Willful failure or refusal to furnish

the required reports, falsification of sales

reports, or failure to make timely payment of

the IFF constitutes a cause for terminating

the contractor for default under FAR 52.249–

9, Default (Fixed-Priced Supply and Service).

(End of Clause)

*The percentage amount of the fee to be

inserted in the above clause shall be

determined and provided to contracting

officers by the Commissioner, Federal Supply

Service, or a designee.

Dated: March 27, 1995.

Ida M. Ustad,

Associate Administrator for Acquisition

Policy.

[FR Doc. 95–9353 Filed 4–17–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6820–61–M

48 CFR Parts 552 and 570

[APD 2800.12A CHGE 60]

RIN–AF66

General Services Administration

Acquisition Regulation; Leasing Real

Property

AGENCY: Office of Acquisition Policy,

GSA.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The General Services

Administration Acquisition Regulation

(GSAR) is amended to modify the

Proposals for Adjustment clause to

reflect the statutory increase in the

threshold for submission of cost or

pricing data from $100,000 to $500,000;

to reflect the current small business size

standard in the definition of small

business; to eliminate requirements for

obtaining appraisals in connection with

the acquisition of leasehold interests in

real property; to reflect the new

statutory threshold of $500,000 for

submission of cost or pricing data and

to make other editorial changes for

clarity; to reflect the elimination of

requirements for appraisals and to

eliminate reference to automatic

renewal clauses which are no longer

used; to reflect the new statutory

threshold of $500,000 for submission of

cost or pricing data; and to remove the

requirement for Forms 387, Analysis of

Value Statement, 3516, Solicitation

Provisions, 3517, General Clauses, and

3518, Representations and

Certifications. GSA is deleting all forms

which contain solicitation provisions

and/or contract clauses from the

regulation. The regulation will continue

to prescribe solicitation provisions and/

or contract clauses which are to be

included in solicitations or contracts.

EFFECTIVE DATE: April 18, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Tom Wiznowski, Office of GSA

Acquisition Policy, (202) 501–1224.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

This rule implements section 1251 of

the Federal Acquisition Streamlining

Act (FASA), Pub. L. 103–355, October

13, 1994 as it applies to the acquisition

of leasehold interests in real property.

Section 1251, among other things,

increased the threshold for submission

of cost or pricing data from $100,000 to

$500,000 for civilian agencies. The

increase in the threshold was effective

upon enactment. FASA also provides

that prime contracts entered into on or

before the effective date of enactment of

FASA shall be amended, without

requiring consideration, to reflect the

increased threshold upon the request of

a contractor.

This rule also implements one of the

recommendations made by a GSA

process re-engineering team for

improving the process for acquiring

leasehold interests in real property. The

reengineering team recommended that

the requirement for obtaining appraisals

in connection with certain leases of real

property be eliminated. This rule

eliminates the requirement for

appraisals but provides for the use of a

market survey or an appraisal to

establish a basis for use of the market

price exemption from the requirement

for obtaining certified cost or pricing

data.

B. Executive Order 12866

This rule was submitted to the Office

of Management and Budget under

Executive Order 12866.

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act

The General Services Administration

certifies that this final rule will not have

a significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities

under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5

U.S.C. 601 et seq.) because most leases

of real property awarded to small

entities are awarded on a competitive

basis or on the basis of an established

market price and the requirement for

certified cost or pricing data do not

apply. The elimination of the

requirement for obtaining an appraisal

in certain circumstances when acquiring

a leasehold interest will have no impact

on small entities offering to lease space

to the Government. Therefore, a final

regulatory flexibility analysis was not

prepared.

D. Paperwork Reduction Act

The Paperwork Reduction Act does

not apply because the changes to the

GSAR do not impose recordkeeping

information collection requirements or

collection of information from offerors,