[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 161 (Friday, August 20, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45506-45508]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-21670]
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COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR SEVERELY DISABLED
Procurement List; Additions
AGENCY: Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely
Disabled.
ACTION: Additions to the Procurement List.
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SUMMARY: This action adds to the Procurement List services to be
[[Page 45507]]
furnished by nonprofit agencies employing persons who are blind or have
other severe disabilities.
EFFECTIVE DATE: September 20, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely
Disabled, Crystal Gateway 3, Suite 310, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway,
Arlington, Virginia 22202-4302.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beverly Milkman (703) 603-7740
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 11, and December 11, 1998,
January 29, May 28, June 18 and 25, and July 2, 1999, the Committee for
Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled published
notices (63 FR 48696 and 68427, and 64 FR 4638, 28972, 32844, 34187,
35987 and 35988) of proposed additions to the Procurement List.
Additions
The Following Comments Pertain to Food Service, Fort Lee, Virginia
Comments were received from a contractor under the 8(a) Program
which is not the current contractor for this service. The commenting
contractor objected to removal of this service from competitive
procurement. The Committee does not consider loss of the opportunity to
bid on a contract, without a showing of further economic impact or a
demonstrated history of dependency on the contract, to be a severe
adverse impact on a contractor.
The Following Comments Pertain to Mailroom and Warehouse Operation,
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Construction Engineering Research
Laboratory, Champaign, Illinois
Comments were received from the current contractor for these
services. The commenter claimed to be a struggling small disadvantaged
business. Loss of its contracts for these services, it claimed, would
halt its expansion and could result in the end of the company. The
commenter also questioned whether blind people would be able to safely
perform the mailroom and warehouse operations involved in providing the
services to the Government.
The percentage of the commenter's total sales which its contracts
for these services represent is slightly higher than the percentage
range which the Committee has historically considered not to constitute
severe adverse impact on a current contractor. However, the Government
contracting activity for these services has informed the Committee that
the commenter's numerous failures to pay its employees performing the
services properly has raised concerns that performance could be
impaired if some or all of the employees walk off the job. The
Department of Labor is currently investigating the commenter for
possible violations of the Service Contract Act related to these
payment problems, and debarment of the commenter from Federal
contracting is a possible result of the investigation. Because current
Federal acquisition regulations permit contracting activities to place
considerable weight on past performance as a factor in assessing the
risk of poor performance on future contracts, the contracting activity
believes that it would be unlikely to award future contracts for these
services to the commenter if the payment problems are not corrected. In
addition, these payment problems could lead to disqualification of the
commenter for future contract awards on the grounds of financial
nonresponsibility.
Under these circumstances, the Committee believes the commenter
would likely not receive future contracts for these services whether or
not the Committee added them to the Procurement List.
Any financial impact the commenter would experience would thus not
necessarily be a direct result of the Committee's addition decision.
Accordingly, the Committee has concluded that addition of these
services to the Procurement List is not likely, in itself, to have a
severe adverse impact on the commenter.
The Committee's determination that the nonprofit agency for the
blind which will be performing these services is capable of doing so is
based on an evaluation of the nonprofit agency's capability which took
into account the ability of blind workers to perform the tasks involved
in a safe manner. Accordingly, the Committee does not agree with the
commenter's contention that blind people cannot safely perform these
tasks.
The Following Material Pertains to All of the Services Being Added to
the Procurement List
After consideration of the material presented to it concerning
capability of qualified nonprofit agencies to provide the services and
impact of the additions on the current or most recent contractors, the
Committee has determined that the services listed below are suitable
for procurement by the Federal Government under 41 U.S.C. 46-48c and 41
CFR 51-2.4.
I certify that the following action will not have a significant
impact on a substantial number of small entities. The major factors
considered for this certification were:
1. The action will not result in any additional reporting,
recordkeeping or other compliance requirements for small entities other
than the small organizations that will furnish the services to the
Government.
2. The action will not have a severe economic impact on current
contractors for the services.
3. The action will result in authorizing small entities to furnish
the services to the Government.
4. There are no known regulatory alternatives which would
accomplish the objectives of the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act (41 U.S.C. 46-
48c) in connection with the services proposed for addition to the
Procurement List.
Accordingly, the following services are hereby added to the
Procurement List:
Base Supply Center and Operation of Individual Equipment Element
Store
Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
Commissary Shelf Stocking, Custodial and Warehousing
Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii
Food Service
Fort Lee, Virginia
Janitorial/Custodial
Agriculture Cotton Annex, 14th and Independence Avenue, Washington,
DC
Janitorial/Custodial
Herbert Hoover Building and White House Visitor's Center, 14th &
Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC
Janitorial/Custodial
Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island
Mailroom and Warehouse Operation
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Construction Engineering Research
Laboratory, Champaign, Illinois
Mailroom Operation
Internal Revenue Service, University Plaza Building, 949 East 36th
Avenue, Room 112, Anchorage, Alaska
Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Coast Guard
Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole (PJKK) Federal Building, 300 Ala
Moana Boulevard, Honolulu, Hawaii
Internal Revenue Service
Edith Green/Wendell Wyatt Federal Building, 1220 SW Third Avenue,
Portland, Oregon
Internal Revenue Service
Jackson Federal Building, 915 Second Avenue, Room 2450, Seattle,
Washington
Recycling Service
March Air Reserve Base, California
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This action does not affect current contracts awarded prior to the
effective date of this addition or options that may be exercised under
those contracts.
Rita L. Wells,
Deputy Director (Policy and Program Coordination).
[FR Doc. 99-21670 Filed 8-19-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6353-01-P
