[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 56 (Friday, March 22, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17668-17670]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-06581]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
[OMB Control No. 9000-0006; Docket 2012-0076; Sequence 57]
Federal Acquisition Regulation; Submission for OMB Review;
Subcontracting Plans/Individual Subcontract Report (SF-294)
AGENCY: Department of Defense (DOD), General Services Administration
(GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
ACTION: Notice of request for public comments regarding 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
subcontracting plans/individual subcontract report (SF-294). A notice
was published in the Federal Register at 77 FR 69627, on November 20,
2012. One respondent submitted comments.
DATES: Submit comments on or before April 22, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by Information Collection
[[Page 17669]]
9000-0006, Subcontracting Plans/Individual Subcontract Report (SF-294),
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 9000-0006, Subcontracting Plans/
Individual Subcontract Report (SF-294).'' Follow the instructions
provided at the ``Submit a Comment'' screen. Please include your name,
company name (if any), and ``Information Collection 9000-0006,
Subcontracting Plans/Individual Subcontract Report (SF-294)'' 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 9000-0006, Subcontracting Plans/Individual Subcontract
Report (SF-294).
Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite Information
Collection 9000-0006, Subcontracting Plans/Individual Subcontract
Report (SF-294), 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. Karlos Morgan, Procurement
Analyst, Office of Acquisition Policy, GSA (202) 501-2364 or email
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Purpose
In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 19.702, which
implements the statutory requirements of Section 8(d) of the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)), contractors receiving a contract for
more than the simplified acquisition threshold agree to have small
business, small disadvantaged business, women-owned small business,
historically underutilized business zone small business, veteran-owned
small business, and service-disabled veteran-owned small business
concerns participate in the performance of the contract as far as
practicable. Contractors receiving a contract or a modification to a
contract expected to exceed $650,000 ($1,500,000 for construction) must
submit a subcontracting plan that provides maximum practicable
opportunities for the above named concerns. Specific elements required
to be included in the plan are specified in section 8(d) of the Small
Business Act and implemented in FAR subpart 19.7.
In conjunction with the subcontracting plan requirements,
contractors must submit semi-annual reports of their small business
subcontracting progress to the government. With the exception of those
contracts noted in FAR 4.606(c)(5) which states ``Actions that,
pursuant to other authority, will not be entered in FPDS (e.g.,
reporting of the information would compromise national security)'',
contractors must use the electronic Individual Subcontract Report (ISR)
in the Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS) in lieu of the
Standard Form 294, Subcontracting Report for Individual Contracts. The
ISR is the electronic equivalent of the Standard Form 294. The eSRS
streamlines the small business subcontracting program reporting process
and provides the data to agencies in a manner that enables them to more
effectively manage the program. Those contract actions noted in FAR
4.606(c)(5) will continue to use the Standard Form 294.
B. Analysis of Public Comments
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.
Response: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA),
agencies can request OMB approval an existing information collection.
PRA requires that agencies use the Federal Register notice and comment
process, to extend OMB's approval, at least every three years. This
extension, to a previously approved information collection, pertains to
the use of the ISR to collect subcontract award data from prime or
subcontractors that: (a) Hold one or more contracts over $650,000 (over
$1,500,000 for construction); and (b) are required to report
subcontracts awarded to small business, small disadvantaged business,
women-owned small business, historically underutilized business zone
small business, veteran-owned small business, and service-disabled
veteran-owned small business concerns. The ISR is also used to collect
subcontract award data from Alaskan Native Corporations and Indian
Tribe concerns under a subcontracting plan with the Federal government.
For the Department of Defense, the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, and the United States Coast Guard, the ISR collects
subcontract awards for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and
Minority Institutions. Absent this information the suitability of the
contractor to report subcontract award data could not be ascertained.
Further, the contracting officer could not examine the subcontract
award data to assess contractors' compliance with their subcontracting
plans, the Small Business Act, and the FAR.
Comment: The respondent commented that the agency did not
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 the upward
adjustment made to the number of respondents from 103,908 to 129,009
was reasonable. However, the decrease in the estimated hours per
response from 11.90 to 8.5 hours per responses is understated, and that
the average burden on companies is somewhere in the range of 10 to 100
time greater than the estimate put forth in the Federal Register
Notice. For this reason, the respondent provided that 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.
Response: Serious consideration 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 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 OMB guidance for estimating the
paperwork burden put on the entity submitting the information. For
example, consideration is given to entity reviewing instructions; using
technology to collect, process, and disclose information; adjusting
existing practices to comply with requirements; searching data sources;
completing 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
[[Page 17670]]
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 estimated burden
hours for this collection. Given that many of the key data elements are
pre-populated in eSRS from the Federal Procurement Data System and the
System for Award Management (e.g. basic contractual information and
contractor information), combined with the system improvements to
streamline user experience, the amount of training provided, the user
guides and webinars available, and the sample reports provided, the
length of time necessary for reporting subcontracting achievements into
eSRS has been shortened.
As a result, the estimate burden hours published in the Federal
Register at 77 FR 69627, on November 20, 2012 remains a valid estimate
and an upward adjustment is not required at this time. However, 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.
Comment: The respondent commented that the collective burden of
compliance with the information collection requirement greatly exceeds
the agency's estimate and outweighs any potential utility of the
extension.
Response: The Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) was designed to improve
the quality and use of Federal information to strengthen decision-
making, accountability, and openness in government and society. Central
to this process is the solicitation of comments from the public. This
process incorporates and enumerated specification of targeted
information and provides interested parties a meaningful opportunity
for comment on the relevant compliance cost. This process has led to
decreases in the overall collection requirement in regards to the
public. Based on OMB estimates, in FY 2010, the public spent 8.8
billion hours responding to information collections. This was a
decrease of one billion hours, or ten percent from the previous fiscal
year. In effect, the collective burden of compliance for the public is
going down as the Government publishes rule that make the process less
complex, more transparent, and reduces the cost of federal regulations
to both the Contractor community and Government.
C. Annual Reporting Burden
Based on information from eSRS and an estimate of the use of eSRS,
an upward adjustment is being made to the number of respondents, but a
downward adjustment is being made to the average burden hours for
reporting and recordkeeping per response. As a result, a downward
adjustment is being made to the estimated annual reporting burden since
the notice regarding an extension to this clearance published in the
Federal Register at 75 FR 9604, on March 3, 2010.
Respondents: 129,009.
Responses per Respondent: 3.
Total Responses: 387,027.
Average Burden Hours per Response: 8.50.
Total Burden Hours: 3,289,729.50.
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. 9000-0006, Subcontracting Plans/Individual Subcontract Report (SF-
294), in all correspondence.
Dated: March 18, 2013.
William Clark,
Acting Director, Federal Acquisition Policy Division, Office of
Governmentwide Acquisition Policy, Office of Acquisition Policy, Office
of Governmentwide Policy.
[FR Doc. 2013-06581 Filed 3-21-13; 8:45 am]
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