[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 192 (Friday, October 3, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51827-51828]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-26328]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR SEVERELY DISABLED


Procurement List; Additions and Deletion

AGENCY: Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely 
Disabled.

ACTION: Additions to and deletion from the Procurement List.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This action adds to the Procurement List commodities and 
services to be furnished by nonprofit agencies employing persons who 
are blind or have other severe disabilities, and deletes from the 
Procurement List a service previously furnished by such agencies.

EFFECTIVE DATE: November 3, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely 
Disabled, Crystal Square 3, Suite 403, 1735 Jefferson Davis Highway, 
Arlington, Virginia 22202-3461.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beverly Milkman, (703) 603-7740.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On February 14, June 27, July 25, August 1 
and 15, 1997, the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or 
Severely Disabled published notices (62 FR 6946, 34686, 40049, 41339 
and 43698) of proposed additions to and deletion from the Procurement 
List:

Additions

The Following Comments Pertain to Laundry/Dry Cleaning Service, 
Quantico, VA

    Comments were received from the current contractor in response to a 
Committee request for sales data. The contractor indicated that 
addition of this service to the Procurement List would have a severe 
impact on the subsidiary which is performing the service but would not 
result in the economic collapse of the parent company. The contractor 
also claimed that the addition would have a severe impact on two 
subcontractors involved in performing the service, and would require 
the contractor to terminate several employees.
    The Committee looks at impact on the entire corporate structure of 
a contractor when it makes its assessment of the impact a Procurement 
List addition will have, not just the subsidiary that performs the 
service. In this case, that impact is far below the level which the 
Committee considers to be severe adverse impact.
    The contractor indicated that its activities in the contract are 
limited to pickup and delivery of laundry and dry cleaning and 
performing adminstrative functions, while the actual laundering and dry 
cleaning operations are provided, respectively, by two subcontractors. 
The contractor provided data for the two subcontractors to indicate 
that impact of the addition on them would be severe.
    The nonprofit agency will be performing all the functions of the 
current contractor and its laundry subcontractor. It will be 
subcontracting the dry cleaning to the current dry cleaning 
subcontractor initially, and that contractor will continue to have the 
opportunity to bid on subcontracts for dry cleaning, so the addition 
will not have a severe adverse impact on that subcontractor. The 
percentage of sales which the current laundry subcontractor will lose 
because of the Procurement List addition does not rise to the level 
which the Committee normally considers to be severe adverse impact.
    The unemployment rate for people with severe disabilities exceeds 
65 percent, which is far above the rate for most other people in this 
country. Consequently, the Committee believes that any loss of 
employment by the current contractor's employees is outweighed by the 
jobs which will be created for people with severe disabilities. In 
addition, given the scope of the project, the Committee does not 
believe that the number of employees mentioned by the current 
contractor will be displaced as a direct result of the Committee's 
action.
    After consideration of the material presented to it concerning 
capability of qualified nonprofit agencies to provide the commodities 
and services and impact of the additions on the current or most recent 
contractors, the Committee has determined that the commodities and 
services listed below are suitable for procurement by the Federal 
Government under 41 U.S.C. 46-48c and 41 CFR 51-2.4.
    I certify that the following action will not have a significant 
impact on a

[[Page 51828]]

substantial number of small entities. The major factors considered for 
this certification were:
    1. The action will not result in any additional reporting, 
recordkeeping or other compliance requirements for small entities other 
than the small organizations that will furnish the commodities and 
services to the Government.
    2. The action will not have a severe economic impact on current 
contractors for the commodities and services.
    3. The action will result in authorizing small entities to furnish 
the commodities and services to the Government.
    4. There are no known regulatory alternatives which would 
accomplish the objectives of the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act (41 U.S.C. 46-
48c) in connection with the commodities and services proposed for 
addition to the Procurement List.
    Accordingly, the following commodities and services are hereby 
added to the Procurement List:

Commodities

Office and Miscellaneous Supplies

(Requirements for Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington)

Services

Grounds Maintenance, Base Hospital, Buildings 5520, 5521 & 5522, 
Edwards Air Force Base, California

Janitorial/Custodial

VA Outpatient Clinic, Las Vegas, Nevada

Janitorial/Custodial

Federal Building, 209 Broadway, New York, New York

Laundry/Dry Cleaning

U.S. Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Virginia

    This action does not affect current contracts awarded prior to the 
effective date of this addition or options that may be exercised under 
those contracts.

Deletion

    I certify that the following action will not have a significant 
impact on a substantial number of small entities. The major factors 
considered for this certification were:
    1. The action will not result in any additional reporting, 
recordkeeping or other compliance requirements for small entities.
    2. The action will not have a severe economic impact on future 
contractors for the service.
    3. The action will result in authorizing small entities to furnish 
the service to the Government.
    4. There are no known regulatory alternatives which would 
accomplish the objectives of the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act (41 U.S.C. 46-
48c) in connection with the service deleted from the Procurement List.
    The following service is hereby deleted from the Procurement List: 
Document Destruction, Internal Revenue Service, Cincinnati Service 
Center, 200 West Fourth Street, Covington, Kentucky.
Beverly L. Milkman,
Executive Director.
[FR Doc. 97-26328 Filed 10-2-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6353-01-P