[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 88 (Friday, May 6, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 26235-26238]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-10423]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
48 CFR Part 1552
[EPA-HQ-OARM-2010-0764; FRL-9288-4]
EPAAR Clause for Compliance with EPA Policies for Information
Resources Management
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) amends the EPA
Acquisition Regulation (EPAAR) to update policy, procedures, and
contract clauses. The proposed rule provides revisions to the clause
for Compliance with EPA Policies for Information Resources Management.
This revision provides updates to out-dated information currently in
the clause.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 6, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OARM-2010-0764, by one of the following methods:
http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line
instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail: [email protected].
Fax: (202) 566-1753.
Mail: EPA-HQ-OARM-2010-0764, OEI Docket, Environmental
Protection Agency, 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC
20460. Please include a total of three (3) copies.
Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center--Attention OEI Docket,
EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20004.
Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of
boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OARM-
2010-0764. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included
in the public docket without change, and may be made available online
at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov
or e-mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site is an ''anonymous
access'' system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact
information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you
send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without going through
www.regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be automatically captured
and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public
docket, and made available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic
comment, EPA recommends that you include your name and other contact
information in the body of your comment, and with any disk or CD-ROM
you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical
difficulties, and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be
able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of
special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects
or viruses. For additional information about EPA's public docket, visit
the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy.
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically
in http://www.regulations.gov, or in hard copy at the Office of
Environmental Information (OEI) Docket, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room 3334,
1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The Public Reading Room is
open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding
legal holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is
(202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the EPA Docket Center is
(202) 566-1752. This Docket Facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30
p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donna S. Blanding, Policy, Training,
and Oversight Division, Office of Acquisition Management (3802R),
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: 202-564-1130; fax number: 202-
565-2475; e-mail address: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through
http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. 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
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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.
2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments,
remember to:
Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other
identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and
page number).
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.
Explain why you agree or disagree, suggest alternatives,
and substitute language for your requested changes.
Describe any assumptions and provide any technical
information and/or data that you used.
If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how
you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be
reproduced.
Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and
suggest alternatives.
Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the
use of profanity or personal threats.
Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period
deadline identified.
II. Background
In May, 2010 during the review of clause 1552.211-79 the EPA Office
of Environmental Information (OEI), the Office of Acquisition
Management (OAM) and other offices found information within this clause
to be outdated. The proposed administrative updates to the clause will
bring it in line with current EPA policy.
III. Proposed Rule
This proposed rule amends the EPAAR to revise the following within
the Compliance with EPA Policies for Information Resources Management
clause:
1. Paragraph (a)(5) of said EPAAR clause states that this clause
applies to services that are subject to the Brooks Act of 1965. The
Brooks Act has been repealed as it relates to Information Technology
and has been replaced with the Clinger-Cohen Act. The Clinger-Cohen Act
is sufficiently covered in the Information Resource Management
documents and does not need to be separately called out.
2. Paragraphs (b)(3)(Enterprise Architecture) and (4)(Earned Value
Management) is deleted.
3. Paragraph (b)(2), Groundwater Program Information Resources
Management Requirement, is deleted, and the OEI Quality group, plans on
updating these documents and removing obsolete references. Also, the
document, EPA Order 7500.1A--Minimum Set of Data elements for
Groundwater, can only be found in a repository of documents on the
Office of Human Resources Web site and the National Service Center for
Environmental Publications Web site. As a result, the Office of Water
stated the EPA Order could be removed from this clause.
4. Paragraph (c), Printing, is deleted. The printing office does
not offer these services. If a contractor requires these documents be
printed, they can request such from the contracting officer.
5. Paragraph (d), Electronic Access, is obsolete and should be
deleted and replaced with the proposed paragraph (d).
6. All offices agreed that information on EPA's section 508 policy
needed to be included in the clause.
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review
This action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under the
terms of Executive Order (EO) 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and
therefore, not subject to review under the EO.
B. Paperwork Reduction Act
This action does not impose an information collection burden under
the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.
No information is collected under this action.
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), as Amended by the Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA), 5 U.S.C. 601 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 today's 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; and
(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. This action
revises a current EPAAR provision and does not impose requirements
involving capital investment, implementing procedures, or record
keeping. This rule will not have a significant economic impact on small
entities.
D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
Title II of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), Public
Law 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.
E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism
Executive Order 13132, entitled ``Federalism'' (64 FR 43255, August
10, 1999), requires EPA to develop an accountable process to ensure
``meaningful and timely input by State and Local officials in the
development of regulatory policies that have federalism implications.''
``Policies that have federalism implications'' is defined in the
Executive Order to include regulations that have ``substantial direct
effects on the States, on the relationship between the national
government and the States, or on the distribution of power and
responsibilities among the various levels of government.''
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This rule does not have federalism implications. It will not have
substantial direct effects on the States, on the relationship between
the national government and the States, or on the distribution of power
and responsibilities among the various levels of government, as
specified in Executive Order 13132. Today's rule on Compliance with EPA
Policies for Information Resources Management provides updates to
outdated information currently in the clause, these changes are
administrative. Thus, Executive Order 13132 does not apply to this
rule. In the spirit of Executive Order 13132, and consistent with EPA
policy to promote communications between EPA and State and local
governments, EPA specifically solicits comment on this proposed action
from State and local officials.
F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation and Coordination With Indian
Tribal Governments
Executive Order 13175, entitled ``Consultation and Coordination
with Indian Tribal Governments'' (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000),
requires EPA to develop an accountable process to ensure ``meaningful
and timely input by tribal officials in the development of regulatory
policies that have tribal implications.'' This rule does not have
tribal implications, as specified in Executive Order 13175. Today's
rule on Compliance with EPA Policies for Information Resources
Management provides updates to outdated information currently in the
clause, these changes are administrative.
Thus, Executive Order 13175 does not apply to this action. EPA
specifically solicits additional comment on this proposed action from
tribal officials.
G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental
Health and Safety Risks
Executive Order 13045, entitled ``Protection of Children from
Environmental Health and Safety Risks'' (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997),
applies to any rule that: (1) Is determined to be economically
significant as defined under Executive Order 12886, and (2) concerns an
environmental health or safety risk that may have a proportionate
effect on children. This rule is not subject to Executive Order 13045
because it is not an economically significant rule as defined by
Executive Order 12866, and because it does not involve decisions on
environmental health or safety risks.
H. Executive Order 13211: Actions That Significantly Affect Energy
Supply, Distribution, or Use
This proposed rule is not subject to Executive Order 13211,
``Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy
Supply, Distribution of Use'' (66 FR 28335 (MAY 22, 2001), because it
is not a significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866.
I. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (NTTAA)
Section 12(d) (15 U.S.C. 272 note) of NTTA, Public Law 104-113,
directs EPA to use voluntary consensus standards in it 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 NTTA directs EPA to provide
Congress, through OMB, explanations when the Agency decides not to use
available and applicable voluntary consensus standards.
J. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions To Address Environmental
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations
Executive Order (EO) 12898 (59 FR 7629 (Feb. 16, 1994) establishes
federal executive policy on environmental justice. Its main provision
directs federal agencies, to the greatest extent practicable and
permitted by law, to make environmental justice part of their mission
by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high
and adverse human health or environmental effects of their programs,
policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income
populations in the United States.
EPA has determined that this proposed rule will not have
disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental
effects on minority or low-income populations because it does not
affect the level of protection provided to human health or the
environment. This proposed rulemaking does not involve human health or
environmental affects.
This proposed rulemaking does not involve technical standards.
Therefore, EPA is not considering the use of any voluntary consensus
standards.
List of Subjects in 48 CFR Part 1552
Environmental protection, Government procurement.
Dated: March 16, 2011.
John R. Bashista,
Director, Office of Acquisition Management.
Therefore, 48 CFR Chapter 15 is proposed to be amended as set forth
below:
PART 1552--DESCRIBING AGENCY NEEDS
1. The authority citation for part 1552 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; Sec. 205(c), 63 Stat. 390, as amended,
40 U.S.C. 486(c); and 41 U.S.C. 418b.
2. Revise section 1552.211-79 to read as follows:
1552.211-79 Compliance with EPA Policies for Information Resources
Management.
As prescribed in 1511.011-79, insert the following clause:
Compliance With EPA Policies for Information Resources Management
(a) Definition. Information Resources Management (IRM) is defined
as any planning, budgeting, organizing, directing, training, promoting,
controlling, and managing activities associated with the burden,
collection, creation, use and dissemination of information. IRM
includes both information itself and the management of information and
related resources such as personnel, equipment, funds, and technology.
Examples of these services include but are not limited to the
following:
(1) The acquisition, creation, or modification of a computer
program or automated data base for delivery to EPA or use by EPA or
contractors operating EPA programs.
(2) The analysis of requirements for, study of the feasibility of,
evaluation of alternatives for, or design and development of a computer
program or automated data base for use by EPA or contractors operating
EPA programs.
(3) Services that provide EPA personnel access to or use of
computer or word processing equipment, software, or related services.
(4) Services that provide EPA personnel access to or use of: Data
communications; electronic messaging services or capabilities;
electronic bulletin boards, or other forms of electronic information
dissemination; electronic record-keeping; or any other automated
information services.
(b) General. The Contractor shall perform any IRM related work
under this contract in accordance with the IRM policies, standards, and
procedures set forth on the Office of Environmental Information policy
Web site. Upon
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receipt of a work request (i.e. delivery order, task order, or work
assignment), the Contractor shall check this listing of directives. The
applicable directives for performance of the work request are those in
effect on the date of issuance of the work request. The 2100 Series
(2100-2199) of the Agency's Directive System contains the majority of
the Agency's IRM policies, standards, and procedures.
(c) Section 508 Requirements. Contract deliverables are required to
be compliant with Section 508 requirements. The Environmental
Protection Agency policy for 508 compliance can be found on the
Agency's Directive System identified in section (d) of this clause
under policy number CIO 2130.0, Accessible Electronic and Information
Technology. Additional information on Section 508 including EPA's 508
policy can be found at http://www.epa.gov/accessibility.
(d) Electronic Access. A complete listing, including full text, of
documents included in the 2100 Series of the Agency's Directive System
is maintained on the EPA Public Access Server on the Internet at http://epa.gov/docs/irmpoli8/.
[FR Doc. 2011-10423 Filed 5-5-11; 8:45 am]
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