13 CFR 125 - GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING PROGRAMS

SBA is reopening the comment period for the proposed rule published in the Federal Register on October 5, 2011 at 76 FR 61626. In that rule SBA proposed to amend its regulations to implement provisions of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (Jobs Act) pertaining to small business subcontracting. SBA proposed to amend its program regulations to provide for a “covered contract” (a contract for which a small business subcontracting plan is required, currently valued above $1.5 million for construction and $650,000 for all other contracts), a prime contractor must notify the contracting officer in writing whenever the prime contractor does not utilize a subcontractor used in preparing its bid or proposal during contract performance. SBA also proposed to amend its regulations to require a prime contractor to notify a contracting officer in writing whenever the prime contractor reduces payments to a subcontractor or when payments to a subcontractor are 90 days or more past due. In addition, SBA proposed to clarify that the contracting officer is responsible for monitoring and evaluating small business subcontracting plan performance. SBA also proposed to clarify which subcontracts must be included in subcontracting data reporting, which subcontracts should be excluded, and the way subcontracting data is reported. SBA also proposed to make other changes to update its subcontracting regulations, including changing subcontracting plan thresholds and referencing the electronic subcontracting reporting system (eSRS). Some of the SBA's proposed changes would require the contracting officer to review subcontracting plan reports within 60 days of the report ending date. Finally, SBA also proposed to address how subcontracting plan requirements and credit towards subcontracting goals can be implemented in connection with Multi-agency, Federal Supply Schedule, Multiple Award Schedule and Government-wide Acquisition indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity, (IDIQ) contracts. SBA is reopening the comment period in response to the significant level of interest generated by the proposed rule among small businesses. 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.

SBA is reopening the comment period for the proposed rule published in the Federal Register on October 7, 2011. In that rule SBA proposed to amend its regulations to implement provisions of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (Jobs Act) pertaining to small business size and status integrity. SBA proposed to amend its program regulations to implement statutory provisions establishing that there is a presumption of loss equal to the value of the contract or other instrument when a concern willfully seeks and receives an award by misrepresentation. SBA proposed to amend its program regulations to implement statutory provisions that provide that the submission of an offer or application for an award intended for small business concerns will be deemed a size or status certification or representation in certain circumstances. SBA proposed to amend its program regulations to implement statutory provisions that provide that an authorized official must sign in connection with a size or status certification or representation for a contract or other instrument. SBA proposed to amend its regulations to implement statutory provisions that provide that concerns that fail to update their size or status in the Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA) database (or any successor thereto) at least annually shall no longer be identified in the database as small or some other socioeconomic status, until the representation is updated. SBA proposed to amend its regulations to clarify when size is determined for purposes of entry into the 8(a) Business Development and HUBZone programs. The proposed rule provided a 30-day comment period closing on November 7, 2011. SBA is reopening the comment period for an additional 30 days in response to the significant level of interest generated by the proposed rule among small businesses. 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.

This direct final rule contains various amendments conforming SBA regulations to changes made by the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 to several SBA programs, including business lending, disaster lending, and contract bundling. This rule also makes additional conforming changes to ensure that the regulations governing certain fees payable in the business loan programs are consistent with the related statutory authority in the Small Business Act.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA or Agency) is proposing to amend its regulations to implement provisions of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (Jobs Act) pertaining to small business size and status integrity. SBA is proposing to amend its program regulations to implement statutory provisions establishing that there is a presumption of loss equal to the value of the contract or other instrument when a concern willfully seeks and receives an award by misrepresentation. SBA is proposing to amend its program regulations to implement statutory provisions that provide that the submission of an offer or application for an award intended for small business concerns will be deemed a size or status certification or representation in certain circumstances. SBA is proposing to amend its program regulations to implement statutory provisions that provide that an authorized official must sign in connection with a size or status certification or representation for a contract or other instrument. SBA is proposing to amend its regulations to implement statutory provisions that provide that concerns that fail to update their size or status in the Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA) database (or any successor thereto) at least annually shall no longer be identified in the database as small or some other socioeconomic status, until the representation is updated. Finally, SBA is proposing to amend its regulations to clarify when size is determined for purposes of entry into the 8(a) Business Development and HUBZone programs.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA or Agency) is proposing to amend its regulations to implement provisions of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, which pertain to small business subcontracting. SBA is proposing to amend its regulations to provide for a “covered contract” (a contract for which a small business subcontracting plan is required, currently valued above $1.5 million for construction and $650,000 for all other contracts), a prime contractor must notify the contracting officer in writing whenever the prime contractor does not utilize a subcontractor used in preparing its bid or proposal during contract performance. SBA is also proposing to amend its regulations to require a prime contractor to notify a contracting officer in writing whenever the prime contractor reduces payments to a subcontractor or when payments to a subcontractor are 90 days or more past due. In addition, SBA is proposing to clarify that the contracting officer is responsible for monitoring and evaluating small business subcontracting plan performance. SBA is also proposing to clarify which subcontracts must be included in subcontracting data reporting, which subcontracts should be excluded, and the way subcontracting data is reported. SBA is also proposing to make other changes to update its subcontracting regulations, including changing subcontracting plan thresholds and referencing the electronic subcontracting reporting system (eSRS). Some of the SBA's proposed changes would require the contracting officer to review subcontracting plan reports within 60 days of the report ending date. Finally, SBA is also proposing to address how subcontracting plan requirements and credit towards subcontracting goals can be implemented in connection with Multi-agency, Federal Supply Schedule, Multiple Award Schedule and Government-wide Acquisition indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) published a document in the Federal Register on Friday, March 25, 2011, concerning the Small Business Act Tour: Selected Provisions Having an Effect on Government that announced a series of public meetings on the implementation of provisions of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (SBJA). This document corrects the DATES section and the Event Information table.

The U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) Office of Government Contracting and Business Development (GC/BD) is tasked with implementing several provisions of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (SBJA). On Monday, March 7, 2011, SBA announced a series of public meetings on its implementation of these provisions. The dates, times and locations, as well as registration information, are set forth below. SBA is providing this supplementary information on the government contracting provisions of the SBJA to provide background and focus input.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA or Agency) is amending its regulations to clarify the effect, across all small business programs, of initial and appeal eligibility decisions on the procurement in question; increase the amount of time that SBA has to render formal size determinations; require that SBA's Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) issue a size appeal decision within 60 calendar days of the close of the record, if possible; increase the amount of time that SBA has to file North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code appeals; alter the NAICS code appeal procedures to comply with a Federal Court decision; clarify that contracting officers must reflect final agency eligibility decisions in Federal procurement databases and goaling statistics; and make other changes to size status protest and appeal rules.