The following is a summary of the comments received and the Agency disposition of those comments. The Defense Acquisition Regulation Supplement regulations for hotline posters promote contractor self-governance and ethical behavior by allowing contractor hotlines and corresponding contractor hotline posters to be used in lieu of Government hotlines and posters. We will add language similar to the DoD regulations to our final rule which will allow contractor hotlines to be promoted in lieu of the Office of Inspector General hotlines, as long as a contractor has its own internal reporting mechanism and program, such as a hotline. If a contractor lacks its own internal reporting mechanism and program, posting of the EPA Office of Inspector General Hotline will be required. In an attempt to avoid having multiple agency hotline posters, representatives responsible for drafting the Federal Acquisition Regulation recently met but were unable to reach a consensus on the contents of a Government-wide Office of Inspector General Hotline clause.
Different agencies have different requirements for such a clause.
This will give contractors flexibility by allowing them to defer to their own established business ethics hotlines and internal processes, if an internal hotline process is available. The RFA generally requires an agency to prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis of any rule subject to notice and comment rulemaking requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act or any other statute, unless the agency certifies that the rule will not have a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. Small entities include small businesses, small organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions. After considering the economic impacts of this proposed rule on small entities, I certify that this action will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. Thus, an agency may certify that a rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities if the rule relieves regulatory burden, or otherwise has a positive economic effect on all of the small entities subject to the rule.