[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 56 (Friday, March 22, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17667-17668]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-06626]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
[OMB Control No. 9000-0094; Docket 2012-0076; Sequence 21]
Federal Acquisition Regulation; Submission for OMB Review;
Debarment and Suspension
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
debarment and suspension. A notice was published in the Federal
Register at 77 FR 43079, on July 23, 2012. One comment was received.
DATES: Submit comments on or before April 22, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by Information Collection 9000-
0094, Debarment and Suspension, 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 9000-0094, Debarment and Suspension''.
Follow the instructions provided at the ``Submit a Comment'' screen.
Please include your name, company name (if any), and ``Information
Collection 9000-0094, Debarment and Suspension'' 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 9000-0094, Debarment and Suspension.
Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite Information
Collection 9000-0094, Debarment and Suspension, 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: Ms. Patricia Corrigan, Procurement
Analyst, Office of Acquisition Policy, at (202) 208-1963 or via email
at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Purpose
The FAR requires contracts to be awarded to only those contractors
determined to be responsible. Instances where a firm, its principals,
or subcontractors, have been indicted, convicted, suspended, proposed
for debarment, debarred, or had a contract terminated for default are
critical factors to be considered by a Government contracting officer
in making a responsibility determination. FAR 52.209-5 and 52.212-3(h),
Certification Regarding Responsibility Matters, and FAR 52.209-6,
Protecting the Government's Interest when Subcontracting with
Contractors Debarred, Suspended, or Proposed for Debarment, require the
disclosure of this information.
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 because of the burden it puts on the entity
submitting the information and the agency collecting the information.
Response: In accordance with the Paperwork Required 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 Debarment, Suspension, and Other Responsibility
Matters, FAR Subpart 9.1, Subpart 9.4, 52.209-5, 52.212-3(h) and
52.209-6. This information collection, in compliance with Executive
Order 12549, Debarment and Suspension, is necessary to determine the
responsibility of prospective contractors, to ensure that contractors
protect the interests of the Government when issuing subcontracts under
Government contracts, and ensure business integrity in contract
performance. Not granting this extension would consequently eliminate a
key process for assessing contractor
[[Page 17668]]
responsibility and protecting the Government's interests.
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 stated that the ``estimate
of four responses per contractor per year is unrealistically low
because almost all solicitations will include FAR 52.209-5 and 52.212-
3(h) * * * we believe, based on the experience of our members, that
most companies will be required to meet this requirement from 20 to
more than 100 times per year.'' Further, the respondent commented that
the estimate of 0.083 hours of burden per response was low when
considering the time and effort necessary for a company to gather
responsibility data. 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. 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 estimated burden
hours for this collection, and it is determined that an upward
adjustment is not required at this time related to the responses per
respondent. The estimate of four responses per respondent is based upon
contractor use of the Online Representation and Certifications
Application (ORCA) function in the System for Award Management (SAM)
rather than the completion of representations and certifications for
each solicitation/contract for which a vendor submits an offer. The
ORCA function was developed to eliminate the administrative burden for
contractors of submitting the same information to various contracting
offices, and to establish a common source for this information to
procurement offices across the Government. Prior to the ORCA function's
implementation, prospective contractors were required to submit
representations and certifications in paper form for each individual
contract award. Under these conditions, a response rate of 20 to more
than 100 times per year per contractor as suggested by the respondent
may have been necessary. However, using the ORCA function in SAM, a
contractor can enter their representations and certification
information once for use on all Federal contracts and solicitations.
FAR 4.1201(a) requires prospective contractors to complete electronic
annual representations and certifications at the SAM Internet site in
conjunction with required registration in the Central Contractor
Registration (CCR) function in SAM. The representations and
certifications are effective until one year from the date of submission
or update to the ORCA function in SAM. For purposes of this information
collection, initial data entry plus three updates per year was
considered reasonable and was used to estimate the number of responses
per respondent per year, i.e., 4 responses per respondent.
We have reassessed the hours of burden per response based on the
respondent's comment, and have determined that an upward estimate of
thirty minutes or approximately six times the original estimate of
0.083 would provide a more accurate measure of the time required to
complete and review each response.
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.
C. Annual Reporting Burden
Respondents: 162,000.
Responses per Respondent: 4.
Annual Responses: 648,000.
Hours per Response: 0.50.
Total Burden Hours: 324,000.
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. 9000-0094, Debarment and Suspension, 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. 2013-06626 Filed 3-21-13; 8:45 am]
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