80 FR 75907 - Federal Acquisition Regulation; Further Amendments to Equal Employment Opportunity

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 233 (December 4, 2015)

DoD, GSA, and NASA have adopted as final, without change, an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement Executive Order (E.O.) 13672, entitled, ``Further Amendments to Executive Order 11478, Equal Employment Opportunity in the Federal Government, and Executive Order 11246, Equal Employment Opportunity,'' and a final rule issued by the Department of Labor (DOL).

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 233 (Friday, December 4, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 75907-75908]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-30457]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

48 CFR Parts 1, 22, and 52

[FAC 2005-85; FAR Case 2015-013; Item II; Docket No. 2015-0013, 
Sequence No. 1]
RIN 9000-AN01


Federal Acquisition Regulation; Further Amendments to Equal 
Employment Opportunity

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

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: DoD, GSA, and NASA have adopted as final, without change, an 
interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to 
implement Executive Order (E.O.) 13672, entitled, ``Further Amendments 
to Executive Order 11478, Equal Employment Opportunity in the Federal 
Government, and Executive Order 11246, Equal Employment Opportunity,'' 
and a final rule issued by the Department of Labor (DOL).

DATES: Effective: December 4, 2015.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Edward Loeb, Procurement Analyst, 
at 202-501-0650 for clarification of content. For information 
pertaining to status or publication schedules, contact the Regulatory 
Secretariat at 202-501-4755. Please cite FAC 2005-85, FAR Case 2015-
013.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    DoD, GSA, and NASA published an interim rule in the Federal 
Register at 80 FR 19504 on April 10, 2015, to implement E.O. 13672, 
entitled, ``Further Amendments to Executive Order 11478, Equal 
Employment Opportunity in the Federal Government, and Executive Order 
11246, Equal Employment Opportunity,'' and a final rule issued by the 
Department of Labor at 41 CFR part 60. One public comment was submitted 
on the interim rule.

II. Discussion and Analysis

    The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition 
Regulations Council (the Councils) reviewed the public comment in the 
development of the final rule. The respondent had pointed to an error 
in a clause number in the interim rule publication. The error in FAR 
52.213-4 was corrected in a Technical Amendment to Federal Acquisition 
Circular 2005-82 published in the Federal Register at 80 FR 26427 on 
May 7, 2015; therefore no further change to the interim rule is 
required.

III. Executive Orders 12866 and 13563

    Executive Orders (E.O.s) 12866 and 13563 direct agencies to assess 
all costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if 
regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize 
net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public 
health and safety effects, distributive impacts, and equity). E.O. 
13563 emphasizes the importance of quantifying both costs and benefits, 
of reducing costs, of harmonizing rules, and of promoting flexibility. 
This is not a significant regulatory action and, therefore, was not 
subject to review under Section 6(b) of E.O. 12866, Regulatory Planning 
and Review, dated September 30, 1993. This rule is not a major rule 
under 5 U.S.C. 804.

IV. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    DoD, GSA, and NASA have prepared a Final Regulatory Flexibility 
Analysis (FRFA) consistent with the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 
U.S.C. 604, et seq. The FRFA is summarized as follows:

    This rule is necessary to implement Executive Order (E.O.) 
13672, ``Further Amendments to Executive Order 11478, Equal 
Employment Opportunity in the Federal Government, and Executive 
Order 11246, Equal Employment Opportunity,'' and a final rule issued 
by the DOL at 41 CFR part 60, which published in the Federal 
Register at 79 FR 72985 on December 09, 2014.
    The interim rule, published on April 10, 2015, provides for a 
uniform policy to

[[Page 75908]]

prohibit discrimination in Federal Government procurement by adding 
sexual orientation and gender identity to the prohibited bases of 
discrimination established by E.O. 11246.
    No public comments were submitted in response to the initial 
regulatory flexibility analysis. Therefore, there were no issues to 
assess and no changes were made to the interim rule.
    The rule will apply to all contracts and subcontracts subject to 
the Equal Opportunity FAR clause 52.222-26, which is prescribed for 
all contracts over $10,000 that are not completely exempted. Using 
Fiscal Year 2013 Federal Procurement Data System and Federal 
Subcontract Reporting System data it is estimated that awards were 
made to 168,758 unique small businesses and that subcontracts were 
awarded to 61,816 unique small businesses. It is noted that there is 
likely a good measure of overlap between the unique small businesses 
that receive Federal awards and those that receive subcontract 
awards resulting in a likely overestimated total of 230,574.
    Recordkeeping and reporting requirements involve regulatory 
familiarization and administrative costs associated with 
incorporating revised language into policies, instructions, notices 
to employees, and subcontracts. Other changes made by the rule, such 
as the prohibition of segregation of facilities are expected to have 
only minimal cost impacts as they do not require modification or 
construction of additional facilities, but rather to provide equal 
access to existing facilities. An analysis of estimated costs of the 
regulatory changes was prepared for the DOL final rule, which 
published in the Federal Register at 79 FR 72985 on December 09, 
2014.
    No significant alternatives to the rule were identified that 
would accomplish the stated objectives of the E.O. and the DOL 
implementing regulations. Every effort has been made to minimize the 
burdens imposed.

    Interested parties may obtain a copy of the FRFA from the 
Regulatory Secretariat. The Regulatory Secretariat has submitted a copy 
of the FRFA to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business 
Administration.

V. Paperwork Reduction Act

    The Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35) does apply; 
however, the information collection authorization is under the DOL 
regulations and is assigned OMB Control Number 1250-0009, entitled, 
``Prohibiting Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender 
Identity by Contractors and Subcontractors.'' This collection under 
1250-0009 will be incorporated into 1250-0001 and 1250-0003.

List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 1, 22, and 52

    Government procurement.

    Dated: November 20, 2015.
William Clark,
Director, Office of Government-wide Acquisition Policy, Office of 
Acquisition Policy, Office of Government-wide Policy.

Interim Rule Adopted as Final Without Change

    Accordingly, the interim rule amending 48 CFR parts 1, 22, and 52, 
which was published in the Federal Register at 80 FR 19504 on April 10, 
2015, is adopted as final without change.

[FR Doc. 2015-30457 Filed 12-3-15; 8:45 am]
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