06-5704. Federal Acquisition Regulation; Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-10; 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 the Secretary of Defense, the Administrator of General Services and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 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 rules appearing in Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-10 which amend the 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 2005-10 which precedes this document. These documents are also available via the Internet at http://www.acquisition.gov/​far.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

Laurieann Duarte, FAR Secretariat, [phone]. For clarification of content, contact the analyst whose name appears in the table below.

Item	Subject	FAR case	Analyst
I	Central Contractor Registration—Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) Validation	2005-007	Jackson.
II	Procedures Related to Procurement Center Representatives	2006-003	Cundiff.
III	Submission of Cost or Pricing Data on Noncommercial Modifications of Commercial Items	2004-035	Olson.
IV	Implementation of Wage Determinations OnLine (WDOL) (Interim)	2005-033	Sochon.
V	Free Trade Agreements—El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua (Interim)	2006-006	Sochon.
VI	Buy-Back of Assets	2004-014	Olson.
VII	Technical Amendments

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Summaries for each FAR rule follow. For the actual revisions and/or amendments to these FAR cases, refer to the specific item number and subject set forth in the documents following these item summaries.

FAC 2005-10 amends the FAR as specified below:

Item I—Central Contractor Registration—Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) Validation (FAR Case 2005-007)

The rule adds the process of the government validating a Central Contractor Registration (CCR) registrant's taxpayer identification number (TIN) with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to improve the quality of data in the CCR and the federal procurement system. Additionally, the rule removes outdated language requiring modifications of contracts prior to December 31, 2003, regarding CCR.

Item II—Procedures Related to Procurement Center Representatives (FAR Case 2006-003)

This final rule amends the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to provide internal procedures to cover situations when the FAR requires interaction with a procurement center representative and one has not been assigned to the procuring activity or contract administration office. It primarily impacts contracting officers and procurement center representatives.

Item III—Submission of Cost or Pricing Data on Noncommercial Modifications of Commercial Items (FAR Case 2004-035)

This final rule amends the interim rule issued in FAC 2005-004 and implements an amendment to 10 U.S.C. 2306a. The policy requires that the exception from the requirement to obtain certified cost or pricing data for a commercial item does not apply to noncommercial modifications of a commercial item that are expected to cost, in the aggregate, more than $500,000 or 5 percent of the total price of the contract, whichever is greater. Section 818 of Public Law 108-375, the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2005 applies to offers submitted, and to modifications of contracts or subcontracts made, on or after June 1, 2005. This new policy results from a statute which changed 10 U.S.C. 2306a. 10 U.S.C. 2306a applies only to contracts or task or delivery orders funded by DoD, NASA, and the Coast Guard. The new policy does, however, also apply to contracts awarded or task or delivery orders placed on behalf of DoD, NASA, or the Coast Guard by an official of the United States outside of those agencies, because the statutory requirement of Section 818 applies to the funds provided by DoD, NASA, or the Coast Guard.

The change to the interim rule clarifies the policy to ensure it is applied properly. The threshold in the rule applies to an instant contract action, not to the total value of all contract actions and, as applicable to subcontractors, the threshold applies to the value of the subcontract, not the value of the prime contract.

Item IV—Implementation of Wage Determinations OnLine (WDOL) (FAR Case 2005-033) (Interim)

This interim rule implements the Department of Labor (DOL) Wage Determinations OnLine (WDOL) internet website as the source for Federal contracting agencies to obtain wage determinations issued by the DOL for service contracts subject to the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act (SCA) and for construction contracts subject to the Davis-Bacon Act (DBA). The rule amends the FAR to direct Federal contracting agencies to obtain DBA and SCA wage determinations from the WDOL website.

The Contracting Officer (CO) will be able to check the WDOL website (http://www.wdol.gov) to find the applicable wage determination for a contract action subject to the SCA or DBA. If the WDOL database does not contain the applicable wage determination for a SCA contract action, the CO must use the e98 process to request a wage determination from DOL. The e98 means a DOL approved electronic application, (available at http://www.wdol.gov), whereby a contacting officer submits pertinent information to the DOL and requests a wage determination directly from the Wage and Hour Division. With regard to DBA requirements, if the WDOL database does not contain the applicable wage determination for a DBA contract action, the CO must request a wage determination by submitting SF-308 to DOL.

The WDOL and e98 processes replace the paper Standard Forms 98 and 98a. In addition, Standard Forms 99, 98, and 98a are deleted from FAR Part 53. This interim rule also incorporates new geographical jurisdictions for DOL's Wage and Hour Regional Offices and eliminates FAR references to the Government Printing Office (GPO) publication of general wage determinations.

Item V—Free Trade Agreements—El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua (FAR Case 2006-006) (Interim)

This interim rule allows contracting officers to purchase the goods and services of El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua without application of the Buy American Act, if the acquisition is subject to the Free Trade Agreements. The U.S. Trade Representative negotiated the Dominican Republic—Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic. However, the agreements will not all take effect at the same time. This agreement with El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua joins the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Australia, Chile, Morocco, and Singapore Free Trade Agreements which are already in the FAR. The threshold for applicability of the Dominican Republic—Central America—United States Free Trade Agreement is $64,786 for supplies and services (the same as other Free Trade Agreements to date except Morocco and Canada) and $7,407,000 for construction (the same as all other Free Trade Agreements to date except NAFTA).

Item VI—Buy-Back of Assets (FAR Case 2004-014)

This final rule amends the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) contract cost principle for depreciation costs. The final rule adds language which addresses the allowability of depreciation costs of reacquired assets involved in a sale and leaseback arrangement.

Item VII—Technical Amendments

Editorial changes are made at FAR 8.714, 33.102, and 52.225-11 in order to update references.

Dated: June 20, 2006.

Ralph De Stefano,

Director, Contract Policy Division.