51256 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 212 / Friday, November 3, 2017 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

GENERAL SERVICES 

ADMINISTRATION 

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND 

SPACE ADMINISTRATION 

[OMB Control No. 9000–0153; Docket 2017– 

0053; Sequence 17] 

Information Collection; OMB Circular 

A–119 

AGENCY: Department of Defense (DOD), 

General Services Administration (GSA), 

and National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA). 

ACTION: Notice of request for public 

comments regarding an extension to an 

existing OMB clearance. 

SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, the 

Regulatory Secretariat Division (MVCB) 

will be submitting to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) a 

request to review and approve an 

extension of a previously approved 

information collection requirement 

concerning OMB Circular A–119. 

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

January 2, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments 

identified by Information Collection 

9000–0153, OMB Circular A–119, by 

any of the following methods: 

• Regulations.gov: http://

www.regulations.gov. Submit comments 

via the Federal eRulemaking portal by 

searching the OMB control number 

9000–0153. Select the link ‘‘Comment 

Now’’ that corresponds with 

‘‘Information Collection 9000–0153, 

OMB Circular A–119’’. Follow the 

instructions provided on the screen. 

Please include your name, company 

name (if any), and ‘‘Information 

Collection 9000–0153, OMB Circular A– 

119’’ on your attached document. 

• Mail: General Services 

Administration, Regulatory Secretariat 

Division (MVCB), 1800 F Street NW., 

Washington, DC 20405. ATTN: Ms. 

Mandell/IC 9000–0153, OMB Circular 

A–119. 

Instructions: Please submit comments 

only and cite Information Collection 

9000–0153, OMB Circular A–119, in all 

correspondence related to this 

collection. 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: Mr. 

Michael O. Jackson, Procurement 

Analyst, Acquisition Policy Division, 

GSA, 202–208–4949 or email 

michaelo.jackson@gsa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Purpose 

On February 19, 1998, a revised OMB 

Circular A–119, ‘‘Federal Participation 

in the Development and Use of 

Voluntary Consensus Standards and in 

Conformity Assessment Activities,’’ was 

published in the Federal Register at 63 

FR 8545, February 19, 1998. FAR 

Subparts 11.1 and 11.2 were revised and 

a solicitation provision was added at 

52.211–7, Alternatives to GovernmentUnique Standards, to implement the 

requirements of the revised OMB 

circular. If an alternative standard is 

proposed, the offeror must furnish data 

and/or information regarding the 

alternative in sufficient detail for the 

Government to determine if it meets the 

Government’s requirements. 

We believe the burden for FAR 

52.211–7 to be negative, as it is purely 

a permissive means for offerors to 

propose reducing regulatory burden on 

a given solicitation. There are other 

places A–119 has an effect, though we 

believe these to be positive. One is by 

enabling the single process initiative. 

Another is the general replacement of 

Mil standards with commercial 

standards, e.g., ISO 9000. Also, A–119 is 

the basis for the language in FAR 

53.105, which reduces the chaos in data 

standards development. The whole 

purpose of A–119 was to reduce 

regulatory burden by promoting the use 

of industry standards in lieu of federal 

ones. 

To the extent that the data on the 

annual frequency of the use of voluntary 

consensus standards under FAR 

52.211–7 is not available, we believe 

100 is reasonable. As an aside, FAR part 

45 recognizes the use of voluntary 

consensus standards in the management 

of Government property. However, in 

these cases, there is no Government 

standard per se, with the voluntary 

consensus standard serving as the 

Government standard. Consequently, 

when under part 45 voluntary 

consensus standards are used, they are 

not an alternative to a Government 

standard under FAR 52.211–7. 

This collection implements OMB 

Circular A–119, Federal Participation in 

the Development and Use of Voluntary 

Consensus Standards. FAR solicitation 

provision 52.211–7, Alternatives to 

Government-Unique Standards, is the 

collection instrument. We have 

previously indicated that ‘‘to the extent 

that the data on the annual frequency of 

the use of voluntary consensus 

standards under FAR 52.211–7 is not 

available, we believe that 100 is 

reasonable.’’ This is the number that has 

been reported since the inception of this 

PRA collection, which indicates that 

revised data has been consistently 

unavailable since responses are 

provided to contracting personnel at the 

local level in response to a local 

solicitation. We checked the FPDS data 

dictionary and there are no codes to flag 

data fields or provide a count of when 

Mil standards are used in solicitations/ 

contracts. Considering the lack of FPDS 

or other data, we recommend 

continuing the PRA coverage at the 

current level. 

B. Annual Reporting Burden 

Respondents: 100. 

Responses per Respondent: 1. 

Total Responses: 100. 

Hours per Response: 1. 

Total Burden Hours: 100. 

Affected Public: Businesses or other 

for-profit and not-for-profit. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Required to 

obtain or retain benefits. 

Reporting Frequency: On occasion. 

C. Public Comments 

Public comments are particularly 

invited on: Whether this collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of functions of the FAR, 

and whether it will have practical 

utility; whether our estimate of the 

public burden of this collection of 

information is accurate, and based on 

valid assumptions and methodology; 

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and ways in which we can 

minimize the burden of the collection of 

information on those who are to 

respond, through the use of appropriate 

technological collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Obtaining Copies of Proposals: 

Requesters may obtain a copy of the 

information collection documents from 

the General Services Administration, 

Regulatory Secretariat Division (MVCB), 

1800 F Street NW., Washington, DC 

20405, telephone 202–501–4755. Please 

cite OMB Control No. 9000–0153, OMB 

Circular A–119, in all correspondence. 

Dated: October 31, 2017. 

Lorin S. Curit, 

Director, Federal Acquisition Policy Division, 

Office of Government-wide Acquisition 

Policy, Office of Acquisition Policy, Office 

of Government-wide Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2017–23982 Filed 11–2–17; 8:45 am] 

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