Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC)
2005-95 included the following five rules:
FAR Case 2013-014:
A final rule amended the FAR to establish the uniform
use of line items in federal procurements.:
A final rule amended the FAR to implement a section of
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year to raise the simplified acquisition thresholds
for special emergency procurement authority from
$300,000 to $750,000 within the United States and from
$1 million to $1.5 million outside the United States.
FAR Case 2015-012:
A final rule amended the FAR to implement a section of
the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations
Act, 2015, that prohibits the use of funds,
appropriated or otherwise made available, for a
contract with an entity that requires employees or
subcontractors to sign an internal confidentiality
agreement that restricts such employees or
subcontractors from lawfully reporting waste, fraud,
or abuse to a designated government representative
authorized to receive such information.
FAR Case 2016-004: A final rule amends the FAR to implement
a section of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2016 to raise the simplified acquisition thresholds for
special emergency procurement authority from $300,000 to
$750,000 within the United States and from $1 million to $1.5
million outside the United States.
FAR Case 2015-012: Effective January 19, a final rule amends
the FAR to implement a section of the Consolidated and Further
Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, that prohibits the use of
funds, appropriated or otherwise made available, for a contract
with an entity that requires employees or subcontractors to sign
an internal confidentiality agreement that restricts such
employees or subcontractors from lawfully reporting waste,
fraud, or abuse to a designated government representative
authorized to receive such information.
FAR Case 2012-022:
A final rule amended the FAR to implement regulatory
clarifications made by the Small Business
Administration regarding the 8(a) program, including, inter
alia: (i)
revisions to the language at FAR 19.804–6(a) to
clarify that offers and acceptances are required for
individual orders under multiple-award contracts that
were not set aside for competition among 8(a)
contractors; (ii) revisions to the language at FAR
19.814(a) to indicate that the SBA Inspector General
can request a formal size determination; and (iii)
revisions to the language at FAR 19.815 regarding the
release of requirements from the 8(a) program, in
order to clarify that any follow-on 8(a) requirement
shall remain in the 8(a) program unless there is a
mandatory source for the requirement pursuant to FAR
8.002 or 8.003 or the SBA agrees to release the
requirement for procurement outside the 8(a) program.
FAR Case 2015-016:
A final rule amended the FAR to implement section 857
of the Carl Levin and Howard P. ‘Buck’ McKeon National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015, which
includes additional requirements relative to the
allowability of costs incurred by a contractor in
connection with a Congressional investigation or
inquiry.
FAR Case 2017-015: A final rule amends the FAR to
remove the clauses associated with the prior Fair Pay
and Safe Workplaces regulations (FAR Case 2014–025).
FAR Case 2015-033: A proposed rule would amend the FAR to
implement Executive Order 13693 (Planning for Federal
Sustainability in the Next Decade) and the biobased
product acquisition provisions of the Agricultural Act
of 2014 (also known as the 2014 Farm Bill).
In accordance with Executive Order 13777, DoD requested
comments on DFARS solicitation
provisions and contract clauses that may be
appropriate for repeal, replacement, or modification.
DFARS Case 2017-D037: A final rule amended the
DFARS to add Latvia as a qualifying country.
DFARS Case 2018-D001: Effective January 1, 2018, a
final rule amended the DFARS to incorporate revised
thresholds for application of the World Trade
Organization Government Procurement Agreement and the
Free Trade Agreements.
The Department of Agriculture proposed to amend the
Guidelines for Designating
Biobased Products for Federal Procurement
(Guidelines) to add 12 sections that will designate 12
product categories composed of intermediate ingredient
and feedstock materials within which biobased products
would be afforded procurement preference by Federal
agencies and their contractors. USDA is also proposing
minimum biobased contents for each of these product
categories.
The Bureau of Industry
and Security (BIS) issued a
final rule amending the Export Administration Regulations
(EAR) to implement the India-U.S. Joint Statement of June 7,
2016 (which recognized the United States and India as Major
Defense Partners) and, specifically: (i) to establish a
licensing policy of general approval for exports or reexports
to, or transfers within, India of items subject to the EAR and
controlled only for National Security or Regional Stability
reasons; and (ii) to amend the end use and end user provisions
of the Validated End User (VEU) authorization to state that
items obtained under authorization VEU in India may be used
for either civil or military end uses other than those that
are for use in nuclear, "missile," or chemical or biological
weapons activities.
The BIS issued
a final rule that: (i) requires persons intending to
export or reexport to
Hong Kong any item subject to the EAR and
controlled on the Commerce Control List (CCL) for
national security (NS), missile technology (MT),
nuclear nonproliferation (NP column 1), or chemical
and biological weapons (CB) reasons to obtain, prior
to such export or reexport, a copy of a Hong Kong
import license or a written statement from the Hong
Kong government that such a license is not required;
and (ii) requires persons intending to reexport from
Hong Kong any item subject to the EAR and controlled
for NS, MT, NP column 1, or CB reasons to obtain a
Hong Kong export license or a statement from the Hong
Kong government that such a license is not required.
The BIS amended the EAR) to reflect changes
to the
Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) Annex
that were agreed to by MTCR member countries at the
October 2016 Plenary in Busan, South Korea, and the
March 2016 Technical Experts Meeting (TEM) in
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. This final rule revises
thirteen ECCNs, adds one ECCN, revises two EAR defined terms
(including making other EAR conforming changes for the
use of these two terms) and makes conforming EAR
changes where needed to implement the changes that
were agreed to at the meetings and to better align the
missile technology (MT) controls on the Commerce
Control List (CCL) with the MTCR Annex.
The BIS issued
a final rule revising the CCL, as well as corresponding
parts of the EAR, to implement changes made to the Wassenaar
Arrangement List of Dual-Use Goods and Technologies (WA List)
maintained and agreed to by governments participating in the
Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms
and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies (Wassenaar Arrangement, or
WA) at the December 2016 WA Plenary meeting. This rule
harmonizes the CCL with the agreements reached at the 2016
Plenary meeting by revising Export Control Classification
Numbers (ECCNs) controlled for national security reasons in each
category of the CCL, as well as making other associated changes
to the EAR.
Effective
September 18, without further notice, unless the EPA receives
adverse comments by August 18, a final rule makes
administrative changes (involving updates, corrections and
minor edits) to the EPA's acquisition regulations (EPAAR).
GSAR Case 2016-G508: The GSA amended its Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) (i) to
remove the section regarding internal procedures used by GSA
personnel to monitor contractual actions entered into the
Federal Procurement Data System and (ii) to add a nonregulatory
section in the General Services Acquisition Manual (GSAM)
covering this subject.
In accordance with Executive Order 13777, "Enforcing the
Regulatory Reform Agenda," the GSA
sought input on acquisition regulations, policies,
standards, business practices and guidance issued by
GSA across all of its acquisition, disposal, and sales
programs, that may be appropriate for repeal,
replacement, or modification.
Effective August 24, a final rule
amends the NASA FAR Supplement (NFS) to add policy on the use of
additional contract periods of performance or "award terms" as a
contract incentive.
Effective October 16
(unless adverse comments are received by September
15), NASA is issuing a
direct final rule
to amend the NFS: (i) to remove an outdated reference
to the NASA Acquisition Information System (NAIS)
electronic posting system; and (ii) to revise titles
to agency directives.
The
SBA
proposed to amend its small business size regulations by
incorporating the OMB's NAICS revision for 2017
("NAICS 2017") into its table of small business size
standards, effective October 1. NAICS 2017 created 21
new industries by reclassifying, combining, or
splitting 29 existing industries under changes made to
NAICS in 2012 ("NAICS 2012"). SBA’s proposed size
standards for these 21 new industries will result in
an increase to size standards for six NAICS 2012
industries and part of one industry, a decrease to
size standards for two, a change in the size standards
measure from average annual receipts to number of
employees for one, and no change in size standards for
twenty industries and part of one industry.
The SBA issued a final rule amending the
rules of practice of the OHA to implement section 869 of
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 and
section 1833 of the National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2017, which authorize the OHA to decide
Petitions for Reconsideration of Size Standards after the SBA
publishes a final rule in the Federal
Register to revise, modify, or establish
a size standard.
The SBA adopted, without change,
its proposed revisions to small business size standards by
incorporating the OMB's NAICS revision for 2017 into the SBA's
table of
small business size standards and, thereby, identifying 21
new industries (by reclassifying, combining, or splitting 29
existing industries under changes made to NAICS in 2012). SBA’s
size standards for these 21 new industries have resulted in an
increase to size standards for six NAICS 2012 industries and
part of one industry, a decrease to size standards for two, a
change in the size standards measure from average annual
receipts to number of employees for one industry, and no change
in size standards for twenty industries and part of one
industry.
The SBA updated the NAICS codes
authorized for use in the
Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Program (WOSB
Program) in order to reflect the OMB's NAICS revision for
2017, identified as NAICS 2017, which created 21 new
industries by reclassifying, combining, or splitting 29 NAICS
2012 industry codes. These changes would impact eight of the
2012 NAICS codes designated for use under the WOSB Program.
In compliance with
Sections 1832 and 1833 of the National Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Year 2017, the SBA proposed to amend the OHA's
rules of practice to implement procedures for protests of
eligibility for inclusion in the VA Center for Verification and
Evaluation (CVE) database, and procedures for appeals of denials
and cancellations of inclusion in the CVE database.
The State Department issued a final rule revising
Category XV (Spacecraft and Related Articles) of
the U.S. Munitions List to describe more precisely the
articles warranting control in that category. The
Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security
made corresponding
changes to the Commodity Control List.
The Department
amended the ITAR to enable U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
to implement the International Trade Data System (ITDS), which
will allow businesses
to electronically submit the data required to import or
export cargo, as provided by Executive Order 13659 and the
Security and Accountability for Every Port Act of 2006 (SAFE
Port Act).
The State Department requested comments from the
public regarding recent revisions to
Category XII of the United States Munitions List (USML).
In light of the ongoing transition of the USML to a
more "positive list" pursuant to the President’s
Export Control Reform initiative, the Department
requests that the public comment on (1) alternatives
to controls on certain items when "specially designed
for a military end user," (2) the scope of the control
in paragraph (b)(1), and (3) certain technical
parameters that the Department is evaluating to
replace "specially designed" controls.
The Treasury
Department amended its
acquisition regulation to permit agency officials to obtain
taxpayer return information as part of responsibility
determinations to check whether prospective awardees are in
compliance with tax laws or have unpaid tax liabilities.
The VA proposed to amend and update its acquisition
regulation (the "VAAR")
to revise or remove
any policy that has been superseded by
changes in the FAR, to remove any
procedural guidance that is internal to
the VA, and to incorporate any new
regulations or policies. These proposals are being made in
increments, and
one of which covers the sections of the
VAAR concerning "Types of Contracts" and "Bonds
and Insurance."
The VA proposed additional
revisions to
Parts 801-803, 812, 814, 822, and 852 of the VAAR
to update it and harmonize it with the FAR.
The VA issued an interim final rule requiring reverification
of SDVOSB/VOSB status only
every three years rather than biennially.
Subsequently, the VA converted this to a
final rule.
The VA
withdrew a proposed rule amending the regulations
governing the VA’s VOSB Verification Program.
This website links to resources on the web
concerning government contracting. It is not intended to provide
legal advice. Moreover, I do not vouch for the completeness,
currency, or accuracy of the sites to which it links. If you
have comments, suggestions for new links, or corrections,
please email me.