2015-07887. Small Business Mentor Protégé Program; Small Business Size Regulations; Government Contracting Programs; 8(a) Business Development/Small Disadvantaged Business Status Determinations; HUBZone Program; Women-Owned Small Business Federal ...

AGENCY:

U.S. Small Business Administration.

ACTION:

Proposed rule; extension of comment period.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is extending the comment period for the proposed rule published in the Federal Register on February 5, 2015. The comment period is scheduled to close on April 6, 2015. SBA is extending the comment period an additional 30 days in response to the significant level of interest generated by the proposed rule and requests from multiple stakeholders for an extension. Given the scope of the proposed rule and the nature of the issues raised by the comments received to date, SBA believes that affected businesses need more time to review the proposal and prepare their comments.

DATES:

The comment period for the proposed rule published on February 5, 2015 is extended to May 6, 2015.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments, identified by RIN: 3245-AG24, by any of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
• For mail, paper, disk, or CD/ROM submissions: Brenda Fernandez, U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Policy, Planning and Liaison, 409 Third Street SW., 8th Floor, Washington, DC 20416.
• Hand Delivery/Courier: Brenda Fernandez, U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Policy, Planning and Liaison, 409 Third Street SW., 8th Floor, Washington, DC 20416.

SBA will post all comments on www.regulations.gov. If you wish to submit confidential business information (CBI) as defined in the User Notice at www.regulations.gov,, you must submit such information to Brenda Fernandez, U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Policy, Planning and Liaison, 409 Third Street SW., 8th Floor, Washington, DC 20416, or send an email to [e-mail]. Highlight the information that you consider to be CBI and explain why you believe SBA should hold this information as confidential. SBA will review your information and determine whether it will make the information public.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Brenda Fernandez, Office of Policy, Planning and Liaison, 409 Third Street SW., Washington, DC 20416; [phone]; [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

In the rule published on February 5, 2015 at 80 FR 6618, SBA proposed to implement provisions of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 and the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013, which pertain to the establishment of a Government-wide mentor protégé program for all small business concerns. The rule would also make minor changes to the mentor-protégé provisions for the 8(a) Business Development program in order to make the mentor-protégé rules for each of the programs as consistent as possible. The rule would amend the current joint venture provisions to clarify the conditions for creating and operating joint venture partnerships, including the effect of such partnerships on any mentor-protégé relationships. Finally, the rule would make several additional changes to current size, 8(a) Office of Hearings and Appeals or HUBZone regulations, concerning among other things, ownership and control, changes in primary industry, standards of review and interested party status for some appeals.

Sean F. Crean,

Director, Office of Government Contracting.