2014-24242. Federal Acquisition Regulation; Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-77; Small Entity Compliance Guide

AGENCIES:

Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACTION:

Small Entity Compliance Guide.

SUMMARY:

This document is issued under the joint authority of DOD, GSA, and NASA. This Small Entity Compliance Guide has been prepared in accordance with section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. It consists of a summary of the rules appearing in Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-77, which amends the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). An asterisk (*) next to a rule indicates that a regulatory flexibility analysis has been prepared. Interested parties may obtain further information regarding these rules by referring to FAC 2005-77, which precedes this document. These documents are also available via the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov.

DATES:

October 14, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For clarification of content, contact the analyst whose name appears in the table below. Please cite FAC 2005-77 and the FAR case number. For information pertaining to status or publication schedules, contact the Regulatory Secretariat at 202-501-4755.

Rules Listed in FAC 2005-77

Item	Subject	FAR case	Analyst
* I	Federal Contracting Programs for Minority-Owned and Other Small Businesses	2009-016	Uddowla.
* II	Irrevocable Letters of Credit	2011-023	Davis.
* III	Uniform Procurement Identification	2012-023	Loeb.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Summaries for each FAR rule follow. For the actual revisions and/or amendments made by these rules, refer to the specific item numbers and subjects set forth in the documents following these item summaries. FAC 2005-77 amends the FAR as specified below:

Item I—Federal Contracting Programs for Minority-Owned and Other Small Businesses (FAR Case 2009-016)

This final rule amends the FAR to remove certain coverage involving procurements with small disadvantaged business concerns and certain institutions of higher education that is based on authority which has expired and been found to be unconstitutional by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. These changes harmonize the FAR with current statutory authorities. The impact of this rule on small businesses should be minimal, given that the coverage applied only to prime contracting opportunities in specific North American Industry Classification System codes, and was applicable to only three Government agencies, (DoD, NASA and U.S. Coast Guard). The obligation of Federal Agencies to meet or exceed the statutory five percent small disadvantaged business goals at the prime and subcontracting levels are not affected by this rule.

Item II—Irrevocable Letters of Credit (FAR Case 2011-023)

This final rule amends the FAR to remove all references to Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) Pamphlet No. 7, Use of Irrevocable Letters of Credit (ILC). This change is necessary to update the sources of data required to verify the credit worthiness of a financial entity issuing or confirming an ILC.

This final rule has no significant impact on the Government and contractors including small business entities and imposes no new requirements. Contracting Officers are currently required to verify the credit worthiness of a financial entity issuing or confirming an ILC and will benefit from this updated information to conduct an accurate analysis.

Item III—Uniform Procurement Identification (FAR Case 2012-023)

This final rule amends the FAR to implement a uniform Procurement Instrument Identification (PIID) numbering system, which will require the use of Activity Address Codes (AACs) as the unique identifier for contracting offices and other offices, in order to standardize procurement transactions across the Federal Government. Agencies shall comply with the new PIID procedures in FAR subpart 4.16 by October 1, 2017, for new solicitations and contract awards.

Dated: September 30, 2014.

William Clark,

Acting Director, Office of Government-Wide Acquisition Policy, Office of Acquisition Policy, Office of Government-Wide Policy.