01-12243. Federal Acquisition Circular 97-26; Introduction

AGENCIES:

Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACTION:

Summary presentation of interim rules.

SUMMARY:

This document summarizes the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) rules agreed to by the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council in this Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 97-26. A companion document, the Small Entity Compliance Guide (SECG), follows this FAC. The FAC, including the SECG, is available via the Internet at http://www.arnet.gov/​far.

DATES:

For effective dates and comment dates, see separate documents which follow.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

The FAR Secretariat, Room 4035, GS Building, Washington, DC 20405, [phone], for information pertaining to status or publication schedules. For clarification of content, contact the analyst whose name appears in the table below in relation to each FAR case or subject area. Please cite FAC 97-26 and specific FAR case number(s). Interested parties may also visit our website at http://www.arnet.gov/​far.

Item	Subject	FAR case	Analyst
I	Electronic Commerce in Federal Procurement	1997-304	Moss.
II	Executive Order 13202, Preservation of Open Competition and Government Neutrality Towards Government Contractors' Labor Relations on Federal and Federally Funded Construction Projects	2001-016	Nelson.
III	Executive Order 13204, Revocation of Executive Order On Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Certain Contracts	2001-017	Klein.

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.

Federal Acquisition Circular 97-26 amends the FAR as specified below:

Item I—Electronic Commerce in Federal Procurement (FAR Case 1997-304)

This interim rule amends the FAR to (a) further implement section 850 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998, Pub. L. 105-85 (section 850) and (b) implement section 810 of the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (Pub. L. 106-398, section 810). Section 850 calls for the use of cost-effective procedures and processes that employ electronic commerce in the conduct and administration of Federal procurement systems. This includes the designation in the FAR of a single point of universal electronic public access to Governmentwide procurement opportunities (the “Governmentwide Point of Entry” or “GPE”). Section 810 allows agencies to provide access to notices through the GPE, as designated in the FAR, instead of publishing them via the Commerce Business Daily (CBD).

This rule designates Federal Business Opportunities (“FedBizOpps”) as the GPE. Agencies have until October 1, 2001, to complete their transition to, or integration with, FedBizOpps. By that date, all agencies must use FedBizOpps to provide access to public notices of procurement actions over $25,000 that are currently required to be published in the CBD along with associated solicitations and amendments. In addition, agencies will not be required to provide notice in the CBD as of January 1, 2002, since access to this information will be provided via the Internet through FedBizOpps.

Item II—Executive Order 13202, Preservation of Open Competition and Government Neutrality Towards Government Contractors' Labor Relations on Federal and Federally Funded Construction Projects (FAR Case 2001-016)

This interim rule amends the FAR to provide language in Part 36 and revises Subparts 17.6 and 22.1 to add cross-references to Part 36. The Executive order provides that agencies may not require or prohibit offerors, contractors, or subcontractors from entering into or adhering to agreements with one or more labor organizations. It also permits agency heads to exempt a project from the requirements of the Executive order under special circumstances but the exemption may not be related to the possibility of, or an actual labor dispute.

Item III—Executive Order 13204, Revocation of Executive Order on Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Certain Contracts (FAR Case 2001-017)

This interim rule amends the FAR to remove Subpart 22.12, Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Certain Contracts. Executive Order 12933, Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Certain Contracts (October 20, 1994), required that building service contracts for public buildings include a clause requiring the contractor under a contract that succeeds a contract for performance of similar services at the same public building to offer certain employees under the predecessor contract, a right of first refusal to employment under the new contract. E.O. 12933 was implemented in the FAR in Subpart 22.12.

On February 17, 2001, President George W. Bush signed E.O. 13204 rescinding E.O. 12933 and calling for the prompt recession of any orders, rules, regulations, guidelines, or policies implementing or enforcing E.O. 12933, to the extent consistent with law. Contracting officers should not take any action on any complaint filed under former FAR Subpart 22.12.

Effective March 23, 2001, the Department of Labor rescinded its rule implementing E.O. 12933 (66 FR 16126, March 23, 2001).

Dated: May 10, 2001.

Al Matera,

Director, Acquisition Policy Division.

Federal Acquisition Circular

Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 97-26 is issued under the authority of the Secretary of Defense, the Administrator of General Services, and the Administrator for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

All Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) changes and other directive material contained in FAC 97-26 are effective May 16, 2001.

Dated: April 25, 2001.

Deidre A. Lee,

Director, Defense Procurement.

Dated: April 12, 2001.

David A. Drabkin,

Deputy Associate Administrator, Office of Acquisition Policy, General Services Administration.

Dated: April 13, 2001.

James A. Balinskas,

Acting Associate Administrator for Procurement, National Aeronautics and Space Administration.