02-3182. Federal Acquisition Regulation; Information Collection; Bid/Offer Acceptance Period

AGENCIES:

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.

SUMMARY:

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a currently approved information collection requirement concerning bid/offer acceptance period. The clearance currently expires on April 30, 2002.

Public comments are particularly invited on: Whether this collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of functions of the FAR, and whether it will have practical utility; whether our estimate of the public burden of this collection of information is accurate, and based on valid assumptions and methodology; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways in which we can minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, through the use of appropriate technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

DATES:

Submit comments on or before April 12, 2002.

ADDRESSES:

Submit comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to the General Services Administration, FAR Secretariat (MVP), 1800 F Street, NW, Room 4035, Washington, DC 20405. Please cite OMB Control No. 9000-0044, Bid/Offer Acceptance Period, in all correspondence.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ralph DeStefano, Acquisition Policy Division, GSA [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Purpose

Bid acceptance period is the period of time from receipt of bids that is available to the Government to award the contract. This acceptance period is normally established by the Government. However, the bidder may establish a longer acceptance period than the minimum acceptance period set by the Government by providing a period of time in the blank. There are instances when the Government is unable to award a contract within the acceptance period due to unforeseen complications. Rather than incur the costly expense of readvertising, the Government requests the bidders to extend their bids for a longer period of time.

These data are placed with the respective bids and placed in the contract file to become a matter of record.

B. Annual Reporting Burden

Respondents: 308.

Responses Per Respondent: 40.

Annual Responses: 12,320.

Hours Per Response: .017.

Total Burden Hours: 209.

Obtaining Copies of Proposals

Requesters may obtain a copy of the information collection package from the General Services Administration, FAR Secretariat (MVP), Room 4035, 1800 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20405, telephone [phone]. Please cite OMB Control No. 9000-0044, Bid/Offer Acceptance Period, in all correspondence.

Dated: February 5, 2002.

Al Matera,

Director, Acquisition Policy Division.