[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 203 (Friday, October 20, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 54199-54200]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-26011]
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COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR SEVERELY DISABLED
41 CFR Part 51-5
Mandatory Source Requirement
AGENCY: Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely
Disabled.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: This rule revises the Committee's mandatory source requirement
regulation to permit sales of Javits-Wagner-O'Day (JWOD) products to
the Government through commercial distributors as well as the
Committee's traditional sources of supply.
EFFECTIVE DATE: November 20, 1995.
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: G. John Heyer (703) 603-7740. Copies
of this notice will be made available on request in computer diskette
format.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Entities of the Government desiring to buy
commodities and services which are on the Committee's Procurement List
are required by law (41 U.S.C. 48) to buy them from a qualified
nonprofit agency designated by the Committee at the fair market price
established by the Committee, in accordance with the Committee's rules
and regulations. The Committee has traditionally interpreted this
statutory mandate as requiring a direct buying relationship between a
Government entity and a nonprofit agency. The Committee's mandatory
source requirement regulation, 41 CFR 51-5.2, is based on this
interpretation.
In light of ongoing changes in Federal procurement, the Committee
has reexamined its traditional interpretation of its statute and has
concluded that the regulatory authority it has been granted allows it
to prescribe by regulation that its products may be procured through
commercial distributors. As Government distributors such as the General
Services Administration and the Defense Logistics Agency have long been
providing these products to Government agencies, the Committee does not
believe that this new interpretation is a departure from the statutory
scheme which Congress established for the Committee to create jobs for
people who are blind or have other severe disabilities by requiring
Government agencies to purchase commodities and services from nonprofit
agencies which employ these people.
The former version of the mandatory source requirement regulation
mentioned the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as one of the
Government central supply agencies which distribute commodities
produced by the JWOD Program. Because VA has closed its depot system, a
specific reference to VA does not appear in the new regulation. The new
regulation retains the requirement that persons providing commodities
to Government agencies by contract are required to order them from the
same Committee-authorized sources the Government agencies would use if
they bought the commodities directly.
Public Comments on the Proposed Rule
The Committee published the proposed rule in the Federal Register
of July 28, 1995 (60 FR 38784). Four comments were received, one of
which indicated that the commenter had no comments on the proposed rule
at that time.
One commenter requested that the rule identify specific commercial
distributors which would be authorized to serve as JWOD distributors.
Another commenter asked questions about the process to be used to
authorize commercial distributors of JWOD commodities. However, as
indicated in the preamble to both the proposed and final rules, the
purpose of this rulemaking is merely to create the regulatory authority
needed to permit the Committee to use commercial distributors in the
future if appropriate. The process and criteria to be used to authorize
the distributors, as well as the identities of the distributors, have
not yet been determined.
Another commenter requested that the reference in paragraph 51-
5.2(b) of the proposed rule to ``sources authorized by the Committee''
be changed to ``sources authorized and/or recognized by the
Committee.'' The change would permit retrospective recognition of a
commercial distributor's status as an authorized JWOD distributor. This
change would be contrary to the Committee's intent to authorize
commercial JWOD distributors, if at all, only after assuring that they
meet appropriate criteria. Consequently, the proposed change has not
been adopted.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
I certify that this proposed revision of the Committee regulations
will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of
small entities because the revision clarifies program policies and does
not essentially change the impact of the regulations on small entities.
Paperwork Reduction Act
The Paperwork Reduction Act does not apply to this proposed rule
because it contains no information collection or recordkeeping
requirements as defined in that Act and its regulations.
Executive Order No. 12866
The Committee has been exempted from the regulatory review
requirements of the Executive Order by the Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs.
[[Page 54200]]
Additionally, the proposed rule is not a significant regulatory action
as defined in the Executive Order.
List of Subjects in 41 CFR Part 51-5
Government procurement, Handicapped.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, Part 51-5 of Title 41,
Chapter 51 of the Code of Federal Regulations is amended as follows:
PART 51-5--CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS
1. The authority citation for Part 51-5 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 41 U.S.C. 46-48c.
2. Section 51-5.2 is amended by revising paragraphs (b) and (c),
removing paragraphs (d) and (e), and redesignating paragraph (f) as
paragraph (d), to read as follows:
Sec. 51-5.2 Mandatory source requirement.
* * * * *
(b) Purchases of commodities on the Procurement List by entities of
the Government shall be made from sources authorized by the Committee.
These sources may include nonprofit agencies, central nonprofit
agencies, Government central supply agencies such as the Defense
Logistics Agency and the General Services Administration, and certain
commercial distributors. Identification of the authorized sources for a
particular commodity may be obtained from the central nonprofit
agencies at the addresses noted in Sec. 51-6.2 of this chapter.
(c) Contracting activities shall require other persons providing
commodities which are on the Procurement List to entities of the
Government by contract to order these commodities from the sources
authorized by the Committee.
(d) * * *
Dated: October 17, 1995.
Beverly L. Milkman,
Executive Director.
[FR Doc. 95-26011 Filed 10-19-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-33-P
