[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:
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.
Fax: 202-501-4067.
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:
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.
The form is required to be printed and used in a pin-feed
format, an outdated technology.
The second page of the form contains outdated clauses.
Also, including clauses on a GSA form does not allow for frequently
required updates.
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