[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 40 (Wednesday, February 28, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 7456-7457]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-4499]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Office of Operations
48 CFR Parts 401 through 453
RIN 0599-AA00
Agriculture Acquisition Regulation; Review and Revision
AGENCY: Office of Operations, Department of Agriculture.
ACTION: Advance notice of proposed rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: The Agriculture Acquisition Regulation (AGAR) is the
Department of Agriculture's agency acquisition regulation, issued to
implement or supplement the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). The
Department of Agriculture has started to revise the AGAR to eliminate
obsolete and unnecessary material and to incorporate regulatory changes
required by recent statutes, Executive Orders, Office of Federal
Procurement Policy Letters, and changes to the FAR. The Department of
Agriculture is seeking public comment to assist its effort to
streamline and to revise the AGAR.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before April 29, 1996. However,
the revision is an ongoing process and comments received after the due
date will be considered.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to: U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Office of Operations, Procurement Policy Division, Room 1546-S,
Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Joseph J. Daragan, Office of Operations, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250, (202) 720-5729.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The AGAR implements the FAR, where further
implementation is needed, and supplements the FAR when coverage is
needed for subject matter not covered by the FAR. The AGAR was first
published in the Federal Register in March, 1984 (49 FR 12111, March
28, 1984). Since then, three changes to the AGAR have been published in
the Federal Register. The last published change to the AGAR was
Agriculture Acquisition Circular Number 3, which was published in
March, 1990 (55 FR 7334, March 1, 1990). The bulk of material in the
AGAR dates to its initial publication, or to Agriculture Acquisition
Circular Number 2, an amendment to the AGAR published in February, 1988
(53 FR 6062, February 29, 1988). The AGAR thus contains a number of
obsolete references which must be updated or stricken from the AGAR. A
thorough revision of the AGAR is necessary to reflect the regulatory
changes in the FAR which implement the Federal Acquisition Streamlining
Act of 1994. The AGAR must also incorporate other changes necessitated
by Executive Orders and recent Office of Federal Procurement Policy
Letters. Furthermore, the AGAR is being revised as part of the National
Performance Review (NPR) program to eliminate unnecessary regulations
and improve those that remain in force.
As an initial step in the NPR regulatory review initiative, the
Department of Agriculture identified parts of the AGAR which required
updating or streamlining. The Department's review indicated that almost
all parts required revision. Accordingly, the Department plans to
revise all parts of the AGAR and to republish the entire regulation in
the Federal Register. To develop the revised regulation, the Department
is seeking comments and suggestions from the public concerning what
changes should be made to the AGAR. Both general comments concerning
the AGAR and comments concerning specific sections of the AGAR (48 CFR
parts 401 through 453) are invited.
[[Page 7457]]
List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 401 through 453
Government contracts, Government procurement.
Ira L. Hobbs,
Director of Operations.
[FR Doc. 96-4499 Filed 2-27-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-98-M
