Source: http://federal.elaws.us/fr/3/29/2019/2019-06131
Timestamp: 2020-06-01 18:52:37
Document Index: 77522310

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 2', 'art 1516', 'art 1516', 'art 1552', '§\u20091516', '§\u20091516', '§\u20091516', '§\u20091552', 'arts 1516', 'arts 1516']

2019-06131. Environmental Protection Agency Acquisition Regulation (EPAAR); Award Term Incentive, Federal Register
Home » 2019 Issues » 84 FR (03/29/2019) » 2019-06131. Environmental Protection Agency Acquisition Regulation (EPAAR); Award Term Incentive
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OARM-2018-0610, at https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be Start Printed Page 11921edited or removed from Regulations.gov. The EPA may publish any comment received to its public docket. Do not submit any information electronically that you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered the official comment and should include discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA will generally not consider comments or comment contents located outside of the primary submission (i.e. on the web, cloud, or other file sharing system). For additional submission methods, the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments, please visit: http://www2.epa.gov/​dockets/​commenting-epa-dockets.
1. Submitting Classified Business Information. Only submit CBI to the EPA by mail. Do not submit CBI to the EPA website, https://www.regulations.gov, or email. Clearly mark the part or all of the information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk or CD-ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM as CBI, and then identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket. Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
Follow directions -The Agency may ask you to respond to specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part or section number.
Award terms are a form of incentive contract, offering additional periods of performance without a new competition, rather than additional profit or fee as a reward for achieving prescribed performance measures. Award term incentives were developed in 1997 by the Department of the Air Force and are not described in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). In order to assist EPA contracting officers seeking to use award term incentives, it is necessary to amend the EPAAR to provide clear language of the requirements needed to successfully award and earn award terms.
The proposed rule amends EPAAR part 1516—Types of Contracts, Subpart 1516.4—Incentive Contracts, 1516.406 Contract Clauses, 1516.401-70 Award Term Incentives, and 1516.401-270 Definition. The proposed rule also amends EPAAR part 1552—Solicitation Provisions and Contract Clauses, 1552.216-78 —Award Term Incentive Plan.
1. EPAAR § 1516.406 establishes the prescription for use of related EPAAR clauses, including 1552.216-77, Award Term Incentive, 1552.216-78, Award Term Incentive Plan, and 1552.216-79, Award Term Availability of Funds, in solicitations and contracts when award term incentives are contemplated.
2. EPAAR § 1516.401-270 defines Acceptable Quality Level (AQL) as the minimum percent of deliverables which are compliant with a given performance standard that would permit a contractor to become eligible for an award term incentive.
3. EPAAR § 1516.401-70 sets forth the overall framework governing award term incentives including the prescribed performance measures; i.e., the acceptable quality levels (AQL) which must be achieved by a contractor to become eligible for an award term.
4. EPAAR § 1552.216-78 sets forth the performance criteria and evaluation periods which will serve as the basis for the EPA's decision on whether the contractor is eligible for an award term incentive.
This action does not impose an information collection burden, as defined at 5 CFR 1320.3(b), under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.
The Regulatory Flexibility Act 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 economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. Small entities include small businesses, small organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions. For purposes of assessing the impact of this final rule on small entities, “small entity” is defined as: (1) A small business that meets the definition of a small business found in the Small Business Act and codified at 13 CFR 121.201; (2) a small governmental jurisdiction that is a government of a city, county, town, school district or special district with a population of less than 50,000; or (3) a small organization that is any not-for-profit enterprise which is independently owned and operated and is not dominant in its field. After considering the economic impacts of this rule on small entities, I certify that this action will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. An agency may certify that a rule will not have a significant Start Printed Page 11922economic 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. Award term incentives will be available equally to large and small entities, so this rule will not have a significant economic impact on small entities. Also, this rule seeks to only clarify existing regulations. We continue to be interested in the potential impacts of the rule on small entities and welcome comments on issues related to such impacts.
Title II of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA, Pub. L. 104-4), establishes requirements for Federal agencies to assess the effects of their regulatory actions on State, Local, and Tribal governments and the private sector. This rule contains no Federal mandates (under the regulatory provisions of the Title II of the UMRA) for State, Local, and Tribal governments or the private sector. The rule imposes no enforceable duty on any State, Local or Tribal governments or the private sector. Thus, the rule is not subject to the requirements of sections 202 and 205 of the UMRA.
Section 12(d) (15 U.S.C. 272 note) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (NTTAA), Public Law 104-113, directs EPA to use voluntary consensus standards in its regulatory activities unless to do so would be inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise impractical. Voluntary consensus standards are technical standards (e.g., materials specifications, test methods, sampling procedures and business practices) that are developed or adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies. The NTTAA directs EPA to provide Congress, through OMB, explanations when the Agency decides not to use available and applicable voluntary consensus standards. This action does not involve technical standards. Therefore, EPA is not considering the use of any voluntary consensus standards.
List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 1516 and 1552
For the reasons stated in the preamble, 48 CFR parts 1516 and 1552 are proposed to be amended as set forth below:
Start Part Start Printed Page 11923
2. Amend section 1516.401-70 by revising paragraph (b) to read as follows:
3. Revise section 1516.401-270 to read as follows:
4. Amend section 1516.406 by revising paragraphs (c) and (d) to read as follows:
6. Amend section 1552.216-78 by revising paragraph (e) to read as follows:
[FR Doc. 2019-06131 Filed 3-28-19; 8:45 am]
11920-11923 (4 pages)
EPA-HQ-OARM-2018-0610, FRL-9991-08-OARM
1516.401-70,1516.401-270,1516.406,1552.216-78
2019-06131.pdf
48 CFR 1516.406
48 CFR 1516.401-70
48 CFR 1516.401-270
48 CFR 1552.216-78