2022-19284. Information Collection Requirement; Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS); Quality Assurance

AGENCY:

Defense Acquisition Regulations System, Department of Defense (DoD).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Defense Acquisition Regulations System has submitted to OMB for clearance the following proposal for collection of information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act.

DATES:

Consideration will be given to all comments received by October 7, 2022.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title and OMB Number: Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) Part 246, Quality Assurance, and related clauses at 252.246; OMB Control Number 0704-0441.

Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit and not-for-profit institutions.

Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.

Frequency: On occasion.

Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.

Number of Respondents: 34,842.

Annual Responses: 122,024.

Annual Burden Hours: 2,075,685 (includes 39,075 reporting hours and 2,036,610 recordkeeping hours).

Needs and Uses: The information collections under OMB Control Number 0704-0441 pertain to all information that offerors or contractors must submit related to DFARS contract quality assurance programs.

a. 252.246-7003, Notification of Potential Safety Issues. Contracting officers require timely notification of potential safety defects so that (1) systems and equipment likely affected by the situation can be readily identified, and (2) appropriate engineering investigation and follow-on actions can be taken to establish and mitigate risk.

b. 252.246-7005, Notice of Warranty Tracking of Serialized Items. The information provided by offerors under this solicitation provision alerts contracting officers in those cases where the offeror is proposing to provide a warranty for an individual contract line item for which DoD has not specified a warranty in the solicitation. The warranty notice will permit the Government to recognize and utilize any warranty after contract award.

c. 252.246-7006, Warranty Tracking of Serialized Items. The information provided by contractors allows DoD to track warranties for item unique identification (IUID) required items in the IUID registry to obtain maximum utility of warranties provided on contracted items. The identification and enforcement of warranties is essential to the effectiveness and efficiency of DoD's material readiness. Providing visibility and accountability of warranty data associated with acquired goods, from the identification of the requirement to the expiration date of the warranted item, significantly enhances DoD's ability to take full advantage of warranties, resulting in—

(1) Reduced costs;

(2) Ability to recognize benefits included at no additional cost;

(3) Ability to compare performance against Government-specified warranties; and

(4) Identification of sufficient durations for warranties for specific goods.

d. 252.246-7008, Sources of Electronic Parts. The contracting officer uses the information to ensure that the contractor performs the traceability of parts, additional inspection, testing, and authentication required when an electronic part is not obtained from a trusted supplier. The Government may also use this information to more actively perform acceptance.

Comments and recommendations on the proposed information collection should be sent to Ms. Susan Minson, DoD Desk Officer, at [e-mail]. Please identify the proposed information collection by DoD Desk Officer and the Docket ID number and title of the information collection.

You may also submit comments, identified by docket number and title, by the following method: Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.

DoD Clearance Officer: Ms. Angela Duncan. Requests for copies of the information collection proposal should be sent to Ms. Duncan at [e-mail].

Jennifer D. Johnson,

Editor/Publisher, Defense Acquisition Regulations System.