[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 181 (Wednesday, September 17, 2008)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 54014-54016]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-21369]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Parts 37 and 52

[FAC 2005-27; FAR Case 2006-027; Item XIII;Docket 2007-0001; Sequence 
5]
RIN 9000-AK54


Federal Acquisition Regulation; FAR Case 2006-027, Accepting and 
Dispensing of $1 Coin

AGENCIES:  Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration 
(GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACTION:  Final rule.

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SUMMARY:  The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense 
Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed to adopt as 
final, with change, the interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition 
Regulation (FAR) to implement Section 104 of the Presidential $1 Coin 
Act of 2005. Section 104 requires that entities that operate any 
business on any premises owned or controlled by the United States be 
capable of accepting and dispensing $1 coins on January 1, 2008. 
Subsequent to this, Pub. L. 110-147 amended 31 U.S.C. 5112(p)(1)(A), to 
allow an exception from the $1 coin dispensing capability requirement 
for vending machines that do not receive currency denominations greater 
than $1.

DATES: Effective Date: September 17, 2008.
    Applicability Date: This rule applies to all service contracts that 
involve business operations conducted in U.S. coins and currency, 
including vending machines, on any premises owned by the United States 
or under the control of any agency or instrumentality of the United 
States. The clause shall be placed in all such solicitations and 
contracts on and after the effective date of this rule. Those 
applicable contracts in existence before January 1, 2008, that do not 
already have the clause shall be modified to include the clause; those 
contracts that have the August 2007 edition of the clause shall be 
modified if the contractor requests, to include the newer version 
contained in this FAC, without requiring consideration from the 
contractor.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Mr. Michael Jackson, Procurement 
Analyst, at (202) 208-4949 for clarification of content. For 
information pertaining to status or publication schedules, contact the 
FAR Secretariat at (202) 501-4755. Please cite FAC 2005-27, FAR case 
2006-027.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

    This final rule amends the FAR to implement the Presidential $1 
Coin Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-145). The Presidential $1 Coin Act of 
2005 requires the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue annually 
four new $1 coins bearing the likenesses of Presidents of the United 
States in the order of their service and to continue to mint and issue 
``Sacagawea-design'' coins for circulation. In order to promote 
circulation of the coins, Section 104 of the Public Law also requires 
that Federal agencies take action so that, by January 1, 2008, entities 
that operate any business, including vending machines, on any premises 
owned by the United States or under the control of any agency or 
instrumentality of the United States, are capable of accepting and 
dispensing $1 coins and that the entities display notices of this 
capability on the business premises. Subsequent to the passage of the 
Presidential Coin Act, Pub. L. 110-147 amended 31 U.S.C. 5112(p)(1)(A), 
to allow an exception from the $1 coin dispensing capability 
requirement for vending machines that do not receive currency 
denominations greater than $1. This will require modification of 
existing covered contracts whose period of performance extends beyond 
the January 1, 2008 date in order to assure compliance with Section 104 
of the Act, as well as compliance with Pub. L. 110-147.
    DoD, GSA, and NASA published an interim rule in the Federal 
Register at 72 FR 46361, August 17, 2007. The 60-day comment period for 
the interim rule ended October 16, 2007. Three respondents provided 
comments. The comments are discussed below.
    Public Comments
    Comment 1: One respondent asked why does the FAR matrix show that 
52.237-11 is applicable to R&D contracts and to A&E contracts?
    R&D contracts and A&E contracts are usually paid by electronic 
funds transfer. There is usually no cash payment involved in such 
contracts. Therefore, why would contractors who provide R&D or A&E 
services have to be capable of accepting dollar coins?
    Response: The inclusion of R&D and A&E contracts in the FAR matrix 
as applicable to 52.237-11 was an inadvertent error.
    Comment 2: One respondent stated in order to implement these 
widespread and extensive changes to vending machines, our members 
simply need more time. Contrary to the statement contained in the 
Federal Register notice, this interim rule does have a significant 
economic impact. It is not accurate to state that ``receiving and 
dispensing the new coins as part of business operations should not add 
to workload or expense'' (72 FR 46361, August 17, 2007). Accordingly, 
we strongly encourage the Councils to account for both the workload and 
expense by extending the compliance date to July 1, 2008.
    Response: Section 104 of the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 (31 
U.S.C. 5112(p)(1)), established the effective date for this provision 
to be January 1, 2008. The effect of this clause is merely to implement 
the provision of law. Notwithstanding, the provision of law cannot be 
modified under these circumstances without further consideration by 
Congress, who passed the provision of law. Pub. L. 110-147 amended 
section 5112(p)(1)(A) of title 31, U.S.C., to allow an exception from 
the $1 coin dispensing capability requirement for vending machines that 
do not receive currency denominations greater than $1. Thus, the 
exception of the law provides relief for those vending machines.
    Comment 3: One respondent requested an amendment to the interim 
rule published in the Federal Register, August 17, 2007, amending 48 
CFR 52 (Solicitation Provisions and Contract Clauses), Section 52.237-
11 (Accepting and Dispensing of $1 Coin) to exempt vending machines on 
Federal property that do not accept currency denominations above $1 
from the requirement to dispense dollar coins.
    Response: The very intent of the statute is to require those 
businesses and instrumentalities operating on Federal property to be 
able to accept and dispense the $1 coin if that business or 
instrumentality is conducting a business whereby coins or currency is 
exchanged. However, Pub. L. 110-147 amended section 5112(p)(1)(A) of 
title

[[Page 54015]]

31, U.S.C., to allow an exception from the $1 coin dispensing 
capability requirement for vending machines that do not receive 
currency denominations greater than $1.
    Comment 4: One commenter stated the key paragraph within Section 
104, (p)(1) is Paragraph A. It states: ``any business operations 
conducted by any such agency, instrumentality, system, or entity that 
involve coins or currency will be fully capable of accepting and 
dispensing $1 coins in connection with such operations;''.
    Commenter stated that they believe it is perfectly reasonable to 
read this paragraph to mean that a vending operation on Federal 
property in which every vending machine accepts dollar coins, every 
bill changer in the operation dispenses dollar coins, and every machine 
that accepts denominations above $1 dispenses dollar coins in change is 
in full compliance with this paragraph.
    Response: Due to the amended language at Pub. L. 110-147, the 
commenter is correct.
    Comment 5: One commenter stated we note that Paragraph (B) requires 
the display of signs and notices denoting $1 coin capability, 
``including on each vending machine.'' Yet Paragraph (A), the key 
paragraph that imposes the general coin acceptance and dispensing 
obligation, lacks this individual vending machine requirement. Again, 
if Congress truly intended to require every vending machine to dispense 
dollar coins in change, it could easily have stated this in the key 
Paragraph, Paragraph A. It did not.
    Response: See response to comment 3.
    Comment 6: One commenter stated requiring vending machines that do 
not accept denominations higher than $1 to dispense dollar coins does 
not serve the purpose of Section 104 of the Presidential Dollar Coin 
Act of 2005. The purpose of Section 104 of the Act, requiring that 
dollar coins be available on all Federal property and that signs be 
posted denoting such availability, is to promote wider distribution and 
use of dollar coins in commerce. The Preamble to Pub. L. 109-145, 
enacted January 4, 2005, states that one of the purposes of the Law is 
``to improve circulation of the $1 coin.'' Requiring machines that 
accept nothing higher than the $1 denomination to be modified to 
dispense dollar coins would not improve circulation of dollar coins. 
Instead, this requirement would involve needless expense.
    Response: Congress did recognize that requiring vending machines 
that did not receive denominations greater than $1 coins, but 
programmed to dispense $1 coins would impair the public's ability to 
circulate $1 coins. Thus, Pub. L. 110-147 amended section 5112(p)(1)(A) 
of title 31, U.S.C., to allow an exception from the $1 coin dispensing 
capability requirement for vending machines that do not receive 
currency denominations greater than $1.
    In reviewing the interim FAR language, the reference to ``higher 
than $1'' in FAR Clauses 37.116-1 Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 (new 
inserted text) and 52.237-11 ``Accepting and Dispensing $1 Coin'' 
paragraph ``b'', be modified to change the wording ``[hellip]higher 
than $1[hellip]'' to read as ``[hellip]greater than $1[hellip]'' since 
this is more consistent with the reference to a currency denomination.
    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 Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, and 
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration certify that this 
final rule 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., because accepting $1 coins as 
part of business operations should not add to workload or expense. 
While it is relatively easy for beverage and other vending machines to 
accept $1 coins, configuring the machines to dispense the $1 coin as 
change is much more difficult. For several years, most vending machines 
have been fully capable of accepting the $1 coin. However, due to the 
vending price of beverages, machines usually have no reason to dispense 
$1 coins as change during a normal transaction, and therefore, are not 
currently set up for this transaction. In order to dispense a $1 coin, 
each machine would need to be individually serviced and retrofitted. In 
the case of coin mechanisms manufactured before the year 2000, these 
mechanisms will have to be replaced. The cost of a new mechanism is 
approximately $300 - $400. In the case of mechanisms manufactured after 
the year 2000, a new coin cassette will cost from $20 - $40. However, 
due to Congress amending the statute and making the $1 coin dispensing 
requirement only apply to those machines that receive currency 
denominations greater than $1, this eases the burden on industry.
    The National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA) is the 
agent that took the lead in causing the amendment to the original 
statute. The December 2007 amendment made an exception to the rule and 
added that vending machines that did not receive denominations over $1 
were released from the requirement of dispensing the $1 coin. NAMA 
informed that most of their members are small businesses. NAMA is of 
the belief that the December 2007 amendment to exempt vending machines 
that do not take greater than $1 from the dispensing requirement will 
protect most small businesses. For those machines that take 
denominations greater than $1, these machines are relatively new and 
already accept the $1 coin and would have to be refitted with 
dispensers that would cost about $40. For those older machines that 
take denominations above $1, these machines will require new parts at a 
cost of about $400.00. NAMA is of the belief that most of the machines 
that take denominations greater than $1 are of the newer variety and 
therefore can be brought into compliance with the dispensing $1 coin 
requirement at an expense of $40. For vending machines already 
configured to accept and dispense the Sacagawea-design $1 coin, which 
has been in circulation since January 2000, there will be no need to 
change or modify equipment. Contracting officers have been instructed 
in the Applicability Date of the preamble to modify contracts upon 
request of the contractor, to change the older version of the clause to 
the newer version without requiring consideration from the contractor.

C. Paperwork Reduction Act

    The Paperwork Reduction Act does not apply because the 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 37 and 52

    Government procurement.

    Dated: September 9, 2008
Al Matera,
Director, Office of Acquisition Policy.

0
Accordingly, the interim rule amending 48 CFR parts 37 and 52 which was 
published in the Federal Register at 72 FR 46361, August 17, 2007, is 
adopted as a final rule with the following changes:
0
1. The authority citation for 48 CFR parts 37 and 52 continues to read 
as follows:


[[Page 54016]]


    Authority:  40 U.S.C. 121(c); 10 U.S.C. chapter 137; and 42 
U.S.C. 2473(c).

PART 37--SERVICE CONTRACTING

0
2. Amend section 37.116-1 by removing from the second sentence the 
words ``United States''; and adding a sentence to the end of the 
paragraph to read as follows:


37.116-1  Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005.

    * * * Pub. L. 110-147 amended 31 U.S.C. 5112(p)(1)(A) to allow an 
exception from the $1 coin dispensing capability requirement for those 
vending machines that do not receive currency denominations greater 
than $1.

PART 52--SOLICITATION PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT CLAUSES

0
3. Amend section 52.212-5 by revising the date of the clause and 
paragraph (c)(7) to read as follows:


52.212-5  Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes 
or Executive Orders--Commercial Items.

* * * * *
    CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS REQUIRED TO IMPLEMENT STATUTES OR 
EXECUTIVE ORDERS--COMMERCIAL ITEMS (SEP 2008).
* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (7) 52.237-11, Accepting and Dispensing of $1 Coin (SEP 2008) 
(31 U.S.C. 5112(p)(1)).
* * * * *
0
4. Amend section 52.237-11 by revising the date of the clause and 
paragraph (b) to read as follows:


52.237-11  Accepting and Dispensing of $1 Coin.

* * * * *
    ACCEPTING AND DISPENSING OF $1 COIN (SEP 2008)
* * * * *
    (b) All business operations conducted under this contract that 
involve coins or currency, including vending machines, shall be 
fully capable of--
    (1) Accepting $1 coins in connection with such operations; and
    (2) Dispensing $1 coins in connection with such operations, 
unless the vending machine does not receive currency denominations 
greater than $1.
* * * * *
    (End of clause)
[FR Doc. E8-21369 Filed 9-16-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-EP-S