[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 36 (Friday, February 22, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12318-12319]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-04111]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
[OMB Control No. 9000-0068; Docket 2012-0076; Sequence 55]
Federal Acquisition Regulation; Submission for OMB Review;
Economic Price Adjustment
AGENCY: Department of Defense (DOD), General Services Administration
(GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
ACTION: Notice of request for an extension to an existing OMB
clearance.
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SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the
Regulatory Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a
previously approved information collection requirement concerning
economic price adjustment. A notice was published in the Federal
Register at 77 FR 69442, on November 19, 2012. One respondent submitted
comments.
DATES: Submit comments on or before March 25, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by Information Collection 9000-
0068, Economic Price Adjustment by any of the following methods:
Regulations.gov: http://www.regulations.gov. Submit
comments via the Federal eRulemaking portal by searching the OMB
control number. Select the link ``Submit a Comment'' that corresponds
with ``Information Collection 9000-0068, Economic Price Adjustment''.
Follow the instructions provided at the ``Submit a Comment'' screen.
Please include your name, company name (if any), and ``Information
Collection 9000-0068, Economic Price Adjustment'' on your attached
document.
Fax: 202-501-4067.
Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory
Secretariat (MVCB), 1275 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20417. ATTN:
Hada Flowers/IC 9000-0068, Economic Price Adjustment.
Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite Information
Collection 9000-0068, Economic Price Adjustment, in all correspondence
related to this collection. 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: Mr. Michael O. Jackson, Procurement
Analyst, Office of Governmentwide Acquisition Policy, GSA (202) 208-
4949 or email [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Purpose
FAR 16.203, Fixed-price contracts with economic price adjustment,
and associated clauses at 52.216-2, 52.216-3, and 52.216-4 provide for
upward and downward revision of the stated contract price upon
occurrence of specified contingencies. In order for the contracting
officer to be aware of price changes, the firm must provide pertinent
information to the Government. The information is used to determine the
proper amount of price adjustments required under the contract.
B. Discussion and Analysis
One respondent submitted public comments on the extension of the
previously approved information collection. The analysis of the public
comments is summarized as follows:
Comment: The respondent commented that the extension of the
information collection would violate the fundamental purposes of the
Paperwork Reduction Act because of the burden it puts on the entity
submitting the information and the agency collecting the information.
The respondent opposes granting the extension of the information
collection requirement.
Response: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA),
agencies can request an OMB approval of an existing information
collection. The PRA requires that agencies use the Federal Register
notice and comment process, to extend the OMB's approval, at least
every three years. This extension, to a previously approved information
collection, pertains to FAR 16.203, Fixed-price contracts with economic
price adjustment, and associated clauses at 52.216-2, 52.216-3, and
52.216-4 which provide for upward and downward revision of the stated
contract price upon occurrence of specified contingencies. In order for
the contracting officer to be aware of price changes, the firm must
provide pertinent information to the Government. The information is
used to determine the proper amount of price adjustments required under
the contract. Not granting this extension would consequently eliminate
FAR clauses that provide a benefit to the public and the agency
collecting the information.
Comment: The respondent commented that the agency did not
[[Page 12319]]
accurately estimate the public burden challenging that the agency's
methodology for calculating it is insufficient and inadequate and does
not reflect the total burden. The respondent indicated that .25 hours
or 15 minutes per response for the level of effort involved under the
relevant clauses is unrealistically low. For this reason, the
respondent provided that the agency should reassess the estimated total
burden hours and revise the estimate upwards to be more accurate, as
was done in FAR Case 2007-006. The same respondent also provided that
the burden of compliance with the information collection requirement
greatly exceeds the agency's estimate and outweighs any potential
utility of the extension.
Response: Serious consideration is given, during the open comment
period, to all comments received and adjustments are made to the
paperwork burden estimate based on reasonable considerations provided
by the public. This is evidenced, as the respondent notes, in FAR Case
2007-006 where an adjustment was made from the total preparation hours
from three to 60. This change was made considering particularly the
hours that would be required for review within the company, prior to
release to the Government.
The burden is prepared taking into consideration the necessary
criteria in OMB guidance for estimating the paperwork burden put on the
entity submitting the information. For example, consideration is given
to an entity reviewing instructions; using technology to collect,
process, and disclose information; adjusting existing practices to
comply with requirements; searching data sources; completing and
reviewing the response; and transmitting or disclosing information. The
estimated burden hours for a collection are based on an average between
the hours that a simple disclosure by a very small business might
require and the much higher numbers that might be required for a very
complex disclosure by a major corporation. Also, the estimated burden
hours should only include projected hours for those actions which a
company would not undertake in the normal course of business. Careful
consideration went into assessing the burden for this collection, and
although the respondent did not provide a specific recommendation for
an increase of time per response, an adjustment is made to the
estimated total burden. At any point, members of the public may submit
comments for further consideration, and are encouraged to provide data
to support their request for an adjustment.
C. Annual Reporting Burden
The estimated annual reporting burden is being adjusted upward
since published in the Federal Register at 74 FR 64085, on December 7,
2009. The upward adjustment is based on a revised number of respondents
obtained from the Federal Procurement Data System--Next Generation
(FPDS-NG) data for fixed-price contracts with economic price
adjustments, and consideration of the public comment.
Respondents: 11,945.
Responses per Respondent: 1.
Annual Responses: 11,945.
Hours per Response: 1.5.
Total Burden Hours: 17,918.
Obtaining Copies of Proposals: Requesters may obtain a copy of the
information collection documents from the General Services
Administration, Regulatory Secretariat (MVCB), 1275 First Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20417, telephone (202) 501-4755. Please cite OMB Control
No. 9000-0068, Economic Price Adjustment, in all correspondence.
Dated: February 19, 2013.
William Clark,
Acting Director, Federal Acquisition Policy Division, Office of
Governmentwide Acquisition Policy, Office of Acquisition Policy, Office
of Governmentwide Policy.
[FR Doc. 2013-04111 Filed 2-21-13; 8:45 am]
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