[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 149 (Friday, August 1, 2008)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 44955-44956]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-17549]


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GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Part 513

[GSAR Case 2007-G502; Docket 2008-0007; Sequence 16]
RIN 3090-AI67


General Services Acquisition Regulation; GSAR Case 2007-G502; 
Rewrite of GSAR Part 513, Simplified Acquisition Procedures

AGENCY: Office of the Chief Acquisition Officer, General Services 
Administration (GSA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The General Services Administration (GSA) is proposing to 
amend the General Services Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) to revise and 
update the agency's implementation of the Federal Acquisition 
Regulation (FAR) Part 13, Simplified Acquisition Procedures.

DATES: Interested parties should submit written comments to the 
Regulatory Secretariat on or before September 30, 2008 to be considered 
in the formulation of a final rule.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by GSAR Case 2007-G502 by any of 
the following methods:
    <bullet> Regulations.gov: http://www.regulations.gov. Submit 
comments via the Federal eRulemaking portal by inputting ``GSAR Case 
2007-G502'' under the heading ``Comment or Submission''. Select the 
link ``Send a Comment or Submission'' that corresponds with GSAR Case 
2007-G502. Follow the instructions provided to complete the ``Public 
Comment and Submission Form''. Please include your name, company name 
(if any), and ``GSAR Case 2007-G502'' on your attached document.
    <bullet> Fax: 202-501-4067.
    <bullet> Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory 
Secretariat (VPR), 1800 F Street, NW, Room 4041, ATTN: Laurieann 
Duarte, Washington, DC 20405.
    Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite GSAR Case 2007-
G502 in all correspondence related to this case. All comments received 
will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including 
any personal and/or business confidential information provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT For clarification of content, contact 
Ms. Meredith Murphy at (202) 208-6925. For information pertaining to 
the status or publication schedules, contact the Regulatory Secretariat 
(VPR), Room 4041, GS Building, Washington, DC 20405, (202) 501-4755. 
Please cite GSAR Case 2007-G502.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

    This is part of the GSAM Rewrite Project, initiated in 2006 to 
revise, update, and simplify the GSAM. An Advance Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking (ANPR), with a request for comments, was published in the 
Federal Register at 71 FR 7910, February 15, 2006. No public comments 
were received in response to Part 513. Prior to publication of this 
proposed rule, the draft coverage was circulated within GSA to the 
Services and regions. A total of 57 comments, from within the agency, 
were received from 16 commenters. The proposed rule incorporates those 
recommendations where appropriate. The current GSAM Part 513 implements 
three of the FAR Part 13 subparts and the policy at 513.003. There are 
no clauses associated with Part 513, and no supplementary subparts. The 
proposed rule deletes the policy statement at 513.003 and certain GSA-
specific forms that are redundant to standard or optional forms in the 
FAR, as well as the GSAM text associated with them.
    The GSA review team noted that GSAR Part 513 material currently 
coded as regulatory, i.e., GSAR, does not, in fact, contain regulatory 
material. GSAR 513.302-70, 513.303-3(a) and (b), and 513.307 are 
considered policy because these sections merely direct contracting 
officers to use certain forms in certain circumstances, and to include 
any geographic limitations and instructions in Blanket Purchase 
Agreements (BPAs). There are no clauses or solicitation provisions in 
these sections. Therefore, the team has recommended changing the 
referenced material (formerly shaded gray) to GSAM rather than GSAR. 
The effect is to remove all of the Part 513 GSAR material. However, 
this former GSAR material has been retained, with some modifications, 
in the GSAM, which will also be available to the public on the GSAM web 
site, once the revisions are made final.
    The following sections explain in detail the changes that are 
proposed to the former GSAR, now GSAM, Part 513 coverage. This 
information is not being provided for comment, but rather to simply 
notify the reader about changes to the former GSAR, now GSAM.
    513.302-70: References to electronic processing systems were 
updated at 513.302-70, and paragraph (f) relating to the outdated 
Standard Form (SF) 44 procedure was deleted. The GSA Forms 300 and 
300A, Order for Supplies and Services, and Order for Supplies and 
Services--Continuation, respectively, are proposed for removal in favor 
of the preferred Optional Form (OF) 347, Order for Supplies and 
Services, and OF 348, Order for Supplies or Services--Continuation. 
These forms are outdated for a number of reasons:
    <bullet> Part 553 shows GSA Forms 300 and 300A as being 14 pages in 
length; effectively, however, it is a two-page form (Form 300 is the 
front and Form 300A is the back) repeated seven times. With electronic 
commerce, those additional copies are no longer needed.
    <bullet> The form is required to be printed and used in a pin-feed 
format, an outdated technology.
    <bullet> The second page of the form contains outdated clauses. 
Also, including clauses on a GSA form does not allow for frequently 
required updates.
    <bullet> Variations of the GSA Forms 300 and 300A are in use in at 
least four different software systems: NEAR, Pegasys, ITSS, and 
Comprison. However, none of these four systems uses the actual Form 
300, and all four systems have modified the Form 300--but each has 
modified the form in different ways. In other words, there is not a 
single consistent format being used for the GSA Form 300 at GSA.
    OF 347 and OF 348 are very similar to the GSA Forms 300 and 300A, 
without the outdated and duplicative elements of the latter. FAR 
Drafting Conventions establish an order of

[[Page 44956]]

preference as follows: Standard Forms first, Optional Forms second, and 
agency-specific forms third. GSA is in the process of procuring a new 
billing and invoicing system. This should provide the ideal opportunity 
to change over from the GSA forms to the Optional Forms and to make all 
processes consistent. However, we recognize that the change will take 
some time to complete, and we propose to delay the effective date for 
cancellation of the GSA Forms 300 and 300A six months beyond the 
effective date of GSAM Part 513. The delayed effective date will be 
accomplished as part of the GSA Order implementing the revised Part 
513.
    513.303-3: The GSAM addresses four key areas of Blanket Purchase 
Agreements (BPAs) that have presented the most procedural issues for 
procurement personnel. Therefore, the existing GSAM 513.303-3 is 
retained, but it is modified to include reference to the GSA Form 3521, 
Blanket Purchase Agreement. Also, an outdated reference to GSA 525.570 
was deleted.
    513.307: This section currently is a single line authorizing the 
use of the GSA Form 3521 for preparation of a blanket purchase 
agreement. GSA is retaining the form but moving the reference to 
513.303, Blanket purchase agreements (BPAs).
    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 General Services Administration does 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., because the changes are primarily editorial in 
nature. An Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis has, therefore, not 
been performed. We invite comments from small businesses and other 
interested parties. GSA will consider comments from small entities 
concerning the affected GSAR Part 513 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. (GSAR case 2007-G502), in correspondence.

C. Paperwork Reduction Act

    The Paperwork Reduction Act does not apply because the proposed 
changes to the GSAM 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 Part 513

    Government procurement.

    Dated: July 24, 2008.
Al Matera,
Director, Office of Acquisition Policy.
    Therefore, under the authority of 40 U.S.C. 121(c), GSA proposes to 
remove 48 CFR part 513.

PART 5137--[REMOVED]

[FR Doc. E8-17549 Filed 7-31-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-61-S