[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 146 (Tuesday, July 30, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45928-45929]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-18218]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
[OMB Control No. 9000-0173; Docket 2012-0076; Sequence 52]
Submission for OMB Review; Limitations on Pass-Through Charges
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 a previously approved
information collection requirement regarding Limitations on Pass-
Through Charges. A notice was published in the Federal Register at 77
FR 69440, on November 19, 2012. One comment was received.
DATES: Submit comments on or before August 29, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by Information Collection 9000-
0173, Limitations on Pass-Through Charges 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 9000-0173, Limitations on
Pass-Through Charges''. Follow the instructions provided at the
``Submit a Comment'' screen. Please include your name, company name (if
any), and ``Information Collection 9000-0173, Limitations on Pass-
Through Charges'' on your attached document.
Fax: 202-501-4067.
Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory
Secretariat (MVCB), 1800 F Street NW.,, 2nd floor, Washington, DC
20405. ATTN: Hada Flowers/IC 9000-0173, Limitations on Pass-Through
Charges.
Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite Information
Collection 9000-0173, Limitations on Pass-Through Charges, in all
correspondence related to this collection. Submit comments regarding
this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of
information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to: FAR
Desk Officer, OMB, Room 10102, NEOB, Washington, DC 20503. 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. Edward N. Chambers, Procurement
Analyst, Office of Acquisition Policy, at telephone (202) 501-3221 or
via email to [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Purpose
To enable contracting officers to verify that pass-through charges
are not excessive, the clause at FAR 52.215-22, Limitations on Pass-
Through Charges--Identification of Subcontract Effort, requires
offerors submitting a proposal for a contract, task order, or delivery
order to provide the following information with its proposal:
(1) The percent of effort the offeror intends to perform and the
percent expected to be performed by each subcontractor.
(2) If the offeror intends to subcontract more than 70 percent of
the total cost of work to be performed--
(i) The amount of the offeror's indirect costs and profit/fee
applicable to the work to be performed by the subcontractor(s); and,
(ii) A description of the value added by the offeror as related to
the work to be performed by the subcontractor(s).
(3) If any subcontractor intends to subcontract to a lower-tier
subcontractor more than 70 percent of the total cost of work to be
performed under its subcontract--
(i) The amount of the subcontractor's indirect costs and profit/fee
applicable to the work to be performed by the lower-tier
subcontractor(s); and,
(ii) A description of the value added by the subcontractor as
related to the work to be performed by the lower-tier subcontractor(s).
In addition, if the amount of the effort to be subcontracted by the
contractor or a subcontractor changes from the amount identified in the
proposal such that it exceeds 70 percent of the total cost of work to
be performed, the clause at FAR 52.215-23, Limitations on Pass-Through
Charges, requires contractors to provide a description of the value
added by the contractor or subcontractor, as applicable, as related to
the subcontract effort.
B. Discussion and Analysis
One respondent submitted public comments on the extension of the
previously approved information collection. The analysis of their
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 Reduction Act (PRA),
agencies can request OMB approval of an existing information
collection. The 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 FAR clause 52.215-22. This clause requires
offerors submitting a proposal for a contract, task order, or delivery
order to provide
[[Page 45929]]
certain information on its projected subcontracting activities with its
proposal. Absent the reporting under this clause, the Government would
be vulnerable to charges from prime contractors related to subcontract
activity which did not provide commensurate or even any value to the
contract.
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 the estimate of a
half hour per response per respondent is understated, and that a more
realistic estimate would be in the range of 40 to 80 hours per
response. 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 respondent also provided that the burden of compliance with the
information collection requirement 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 although, the respondent provided estimates of
responses and burden hours, the estimates cannot be confirmed with any
degree of certainty to totally rely on the information. However, it is
determined that an upward adjustment from the previously approved
information collection is warranted at this time based upon
consideration of the information provided in the public comment.
C. Annual Reporting Burden
There is no centralized database in the Federal Government that
maintains information regarding the use of the clauses at FAR 52.215-22
and FAR 52.215-23. Therefore, subject matter experts were consulted to
obtain additional information that helped in estimating the revised
public burden.
For this information collection requirement data from Fiscal Year
(FY) 2012 was retrieved from the Federal Procurement Data System--Next
Generation (FPDS-NG). The parameters for this information collection
were defined based on the prescription from the applicable clauses.
Based on a comprehensive review of the prescriptions for the applicable
clauses, it was determined that the types of contracts associated with
this information collection are:
(1) For civilian agencies, cost-reimbursement type contracts and
the total estimated contract or order value exceeds the simplified
acquisition threshold (SAT).
(2) For DoD, the total estimated contract or order value exceeds
the threshold for obtaining cost or pricing data in 15.403-4
($700,000); and the contract type is expected to be any contract type
except--
(i) A firm-fixed-price contract awarded on the basis of adequate
price competition;
(ii) A fixed-price contract with economic price adjustment awarded
on the basis of adequate price competition;
(iii) A firm-fixed-price contract for the acquisition of a
commercial item;
(iv) A fixed-price contract with economic price adjustment, for the
acquisition of a commercial item;
(v) A fixed-price incentive contract awarded on the basis of
adequate price competition; or
(vi) A fixed-price incentive contract for the acquisition of a
commercial item.
For civilian agencies, FPDS-NG shows 3,017 contracts awarded to
2,258 unique vendors were applicable to the clauses associated with
this information collection. For DOD, FPDS-NG shows 1,376 contracts
awarded to 1,119 unique vendors were applicable to the clauses
associated with this information collection. This equates to a total of
4,393 contracts awarded to 3,377 unique vendors. Based on discussions
with subject matter experts, it was determined that 4,393 contract
awards was a sufficient baseline for estimating the number of
solicitations that would include the applicable clause. It is estimated
that 3 responses would be submitted in response to a solicitation that
included the applicable clauses, for a total of 13,179 estimated
respondents per year. The number of responses per respondent is
estimated at one. It is also determined that the estimated time
required to read and prepare a response is increased from 60 minutes to
120 minutes. This determination is based on the consideration of public
comments.
These revisions represent an increase from the previously approved
information collection.
Respondents: 13,179.
Responses per Respondent: 1.
Total Responses 13,179.
Hours per Response: 2.
Total Burden Hours: 26,358.
Obtaining Copies of Proposals: Requesters may obtain a copy of the
information collection documents from the General Services
Administration, Regulatory Secretariat (MVCB), 1800 F Street NW., 2nd
floor, Washington, DC 20405, telephone (202) 501-4755. Please cite OMB
Control No. 9000-0173, Limitations on Pass-Through Charges, in all
correspondence.
Dated: July 24, 2013.
Karlos Morgan,
Acting Director, Federal Acquisition Policy Division, Office of
Governmentwide Acquisition Policy, Office of Acquisition Policy, Office
of Governmentwide Policy.
[FR Doc. 2013-18218 Filed 7-29-13; 8:45 am]
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