81 FR 55405 - Agency for International Development Acquisition Regulation (AIDAR): Agency Warrant Program for Individual Cooperating Country National Personal Services Contractors (CCNPSCs)
AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 161 (August 19, 2016)
Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 161 (August 19, 2016)
| Page Range | 55405-55408 | |
| FR Document | 2016-19709 |
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 161 (Friday, August 19, 2016)] [Proposed Rules] [Pages 55405-55408] From the Federal Register Online [www.thefederalregister.org] [FR Doc No: 2016-19709] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 48 CFR Parts 701, 722 and Appendix J RIN 0412-AA80 Agency for International Development Acquisition Regulation (AIDAR): Agency Warrant Program for Individual Cooperating Country National Personal Services Contractors (CCNPSCs) AGENCY: U.S. Agency for International Development. ACTION: Proposed rule. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) proposes to amend the Agency for International Development Acquisition Regulation (AIDAR) to incorporate a warrant program for cooperating [[Page 55406]] country national personal service contractors (CCN PSCs) into the regulation. The purpose of the CCN PSC warrant program is not only to address a shortage of U.S. direct-hire contracting officers by delegating limited contracting officer authorities to a select number of Cooperating Country National personal services contractors, but also to bolster the Agency to succeed in terms of building long-term, host country technical capacity to materially assist the Missions with procurement responsibility. In addition, USAID is proposing to clarify that third country nationals (TCNs) and cooperating country nationals (CCNs) employment requirements, contained in section 722.170, do not apply to consultants. DATES: Comments must be received no later than October 18, 2016. ADDRESSES: Address all comments concerning this notice to Lyudmila Bond, Bureau for Management, Office of Acquisition and Assistance, Policy Division (M/OAA/P), Room 867, SA-44, Washington, DC 20523-2052. Submit comments, identified by title of the action and Regulatory Information Number (RIN) by any of the following methods: 1. Through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov by following the instructions for submitting comments. 2. By Mail addressed to: USAID, Bureau for Management, Office of Acquisition & Assistance, Policy Division, Room 867J, SA-44, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20523-2052. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lyudmila Bond, Telephone: 202-567-4753 or Email: [email protected]. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A. Instructions All comments must be in writing and submitted through one of the methods specified in the Addresses section above. All submissions must include the title of the action and RIN for this rulemaking. Please include your name, title, organization, postal address, telephone number, and email address in the text of the message. Please note that USAID recommends sending all comments to the Federal eRulemaking Portal because security screening precautions have slowed the delivery and dependability of surface mail to USAID/ Washington. After receipt of a comment and until finalization of the action, all comments will be made available at http://www.regulations.gov for public review without change, including any personal information provided. We recommend you do not submit information that you consider Confidential Business Information (CBI) or any information that is otherwise protected from disclosure by statute. USAID will only address substantive comments on the rule. Comments that are insubstantial or outside the scope of the rule may not be considered. B. Background USAID is seeking comments on the proposed rule as described below: (1) 722.170 Employment of Third Country Nationals (TCN's) and Cooperating Country Nationals (CCN's) In response to numerous inquiries, USAID is proposing a revision of this section of the AIDAR to clarify that employment requirements for TCN and CCN employees of a contractor do not apply to consultants. It is the responsibility of a contractor to determine whether an individual being hired is an employee or a consultant. (2) Cooperating Country National (CCN) Warrant Program Background In 2011, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) approved a two-year Worldwide CCN Administrative Contracting and Agreement Officer (ACO/AAO) Pilot Warrant Program. The purpose of this program was to address the shortage of USAID contracting officers and build long-term, host country technical capacity to materially assist the Missions with procurement responsibility. USAID is located in offices in over 80 countries with programs in over 100 nations. USAID operates in a fluid environment responding to a myriad of crises such as war, natural disasters, epidemics, as well as its long term mission of ending extreme poverty, promoting resilient, democratic societies while advancing our security and prosperity. The warranted contracting force to manage this effort consists of 150 US direct hire foreign service contracting officers overseas, 105 direct hire civil service contract officers, 83 warranted foreign service executive officers, 3 warranted US personal service contractors managing mission's acquisition portfolio, and 4 warranted US personal service contractors serving as executive officers. In addition to, and perhaps partially because of having such a relatively small warranted work force to manage a portfolio that is large and varied with a global footprint, the foreign service contracting staff has one of the highest attrition rates in USAID's work force. USAID made a strategic decision to create a cadre of highly qualified Cooperating Country Nationals, who have demonstrated high potential for assuming responsibilities to serve as administrative contracting officers within designated Missions. The purpose was to alleviate some of the workload of our contracting officer staff. During the two phases of the program, USAID added 6 warranted CCN administrative contracting officers. Currently, by the end of fiscal year 2016, we anticipate that there will be approximately 12 warranted CCN contracting officers. While a seemingly small number, that would represent an 8 percent increase of our overseas US direct hire warranted contracting officer staff. When designing the CCN Pilot Warrant Program, USAID consulted with the Senior Procurement Executive at the State Department and the unions. The State Department's SPE advised that State conducted a similar pilot several years ago, to great success. They now have a permanent program that extends limited authority to their locally- employed staff in selected countries. The vice president of the American Foreign Service Association concurred with the Pilot, and was pleased by several of its protections. Based on that two-year pilot program, revisions were made to the program structure to better suit the Agency's needs before the permanent program was launched in September 2014. USAID eliminated the portion of the program that allowed for third country nationals to receive warrants. A comprehensive review of the CCN Pilot Warrant Program underscored a need to broaden participation through among other things, revision of qualifications and inclusion of full obligation warrant authority up to $150,000 per transaction and an annual cumulative amount of $1 million at the CCN Grade 13 Level to assist the Missions' procurement function. A better understanding of CCN grades and the grading process allowed for better clarity of expectations for Missions and warrant applicants. To help mitigate CCN inexperience from leading to mistakes or malfeasance, the revised CCN Warrant Program includes several levels of obligation authority and non-monetary administrative responsibility correlating to CCN grade/experience within the acquisition backstop. Increasing degrees of responsibility and/or obligation authority, as applicable, are granted. The permanent CCN Warrant Program currently establishes three levels of [[Page 55407]] contracting officer responsibilities that can be designated to a CCN personal services contractor depending on the needs of each mission, complexity and dollar value of the acquisitions, and the individual's experience, training, education, business acumen, judgment, reputation and grade level. At the first level, a CCN PSC may be delegated authority for select contract administration functions listed in (48 CFR) FAR 42.302(a), including, for example, conducting post-award orientation conferences, approving contractors' requests for payments under the progress payments or performance-based payments clauses. At the second level, in addition to performing the administrative functions discussed above, a CCN PSC contracting officer may be delegated authority to obligate incremental funding of any amount within the scope and total estimated cost of a contract (to include task orders and purchase orders). At the third and highest participating grade level, in addition to the incremental funding obligation authority and post-award administration duties described in levels one and two above, a CCN PSC contracting officer may be delegated authority to execute new awards for a total award amount not to exceed one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000). This authority is further subject to a new award cumulative obligation limit of one million dollars ($1 million) per Fiscal Year. No deviation from these limitations is authorized. Regulatory Authorities and Limitations (48 CFR) FAR part 1 establishes the authority for Agency heads to select and appoint contracting officers and it does not specify that contracting officers must be U.S. citizen direct-hire employees of the Federal government. (48 CFR) FAR part 7.5 includes contracting officer duties in the list of inherently governmental functions or functions that must be treated as such, but does not exclude personal services contractors hired under a statutory authority from performing such functions. (48 CFR) AIDAR 701.603-70 currently limits delegations of contracting officer authorities to U.S. citizen direct-hire employees of the U.S. Government as a matter of Agency policy. However, section 4(b)(3) of (48 CFR) AIDAR Appendix D and the corresponding section of Appendix J contain an exception for PSCs to be delegated contracting officer authority with approval from the Assistant Administrator for the Bureau of Management. In September 2014, USAID issued a two-year class deviation from 48 CFR) AIDAR 701.603-70 to establish the permanent CCN PSC warrant program to allow a limited number of selected and qualified CCN PSCs to be delegated contracting officer authorities. In conjunction with the approval of the class deviation described above, the Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Management approved a class exception to the limitations in (48 CFR) AIDAR Appendix J 4(b)(3). By this rule USAID is proposing to revise (48 CFR) AIDAR to permanently authorize delegation of contracting officer authorities to a limited number of selected and qualified CCN PSCs. Discussion Prior to establishing the permanent CCN warrant program, the Agency reviewed the risks associated with issuing CO warrants to Non-U.S. citizens who are not direct-hire employees of USAID. In particular, such factors as proper accountability, adequate security considerations, conflicts of interest, and appropriate legal jurisdiction over the employee were considered. Adequate management controls and warrant limitations established under the CCN PSC warrant program, as discussed below, were established to mitigate such risks. To address the risks associated with adequate accountability and conflict of interest, the warrant program requires candidates for the CCN PSC warrant program to show commitment to the profession by meeting stringent acquisition competencies, education and training requirements. In addition to meeting these requirements, potential candidates must have extensive experience in Direct U.S. Federal Government Contracting and clearly demonstrate professional and ethical behavior. When reviewing applications for a CCN PSC warrant, the agency contacts past performance references (typically, the candidate's last three Supervisory Contracting Officers) and any other sources deemed appropriate for signs of potential risks or cautions that may be detrimental to the responsibilities inherent in this Program. The candidate's supervisor must also attest to the candidate's education, training, experience, business acumen, judgment, character, reputation and ethical behavior. Additionally, the Program requires the CCN contracting officer's supervisor to closely and frequently monitor the CCN PSC's work and review performance and progress every six months. This review is followed by periodic reviews conducted by the Bureau for Management, Office of Acquisition and Assistance, Evaluation Division, which is responsible for the program implementation. CCN PSC contracting officers will support the functions of the overseas Mission's Office of Acquisition & Assistance (A&A), which typically include acquisition and assistance awards implementing the Agency's foreign assistance programs and activities. CCN PSC contracting officers are currently not delegated authority to award any personal services contracts. The program also limits delegated authority for select contract administration functions listed in (48 CFR) FAR 42.302(a), specifically, the contracting officer functions in which disputes or possible legal challenges may arise due to decisions of the contracting officer, functions related to novation and contractor name changes, which may be a result of changes in a contractor's business structure as governed under applicable U.S. state law and other functions based on U.S. state laws, functions related to small business contracting matters and those requiring extensive knowledge of specific U.S. laws and government-wide policies not specifically related to contracting. Accordingly, the functions specified in items 5-7, 9-12, 18, 21-26, 29, 32,50, 52-55, 62-63, 66 and 68-71 of (48 CFR) FAR 42.302(a) will not be redelegated to CCN PSC contracting officers. To address conflict of interest concerns, the program relies on the standard clause entitled ``Compliance with Laws and Regulations Applicable Abroad'', included in all personal services contracts with CCNs, that mandates compliance with the Standards of Conduct for Executive Branch Employees. These standards, available at https://www2.oge.gov/web/oge.nsf/All%20Documents/5D633072D0B2DB5085257E96006A90E7?opendocument, contain two provisions addressing financial interests that conflict with an individual's official duties. The first provision, entitled ``Disqualifying financial interests,'' prohibits an employee from participating in an official government capacity in a matter in which he has a financial interest or in which his spouse, minor child, employer, or any one of several other specified persons has a financial interest. The second provision, entitled ``Prohibited financial interests,'' contains authority by which agencies may prohibit employee from acquiring or retaining certain financial interests. To address the security concerns, the Program uses the current process, in which the USAID Office of [[Page 55408]] Security and Department of State, Office of Security conduct background checks on potential personal service contractors. Recognizing the fact that some countries may not have adequate legal systems or may be unwilling to provide assistance in prosecuting their citizens for U.S. procurement infractions, the CCN PSC Warrant Program established the following management controls designed to minimize the risk that such legal actions might be necessary: --Stringent eligibility criteria, --Reasonable single purchase and cumulative annual limits for new awards. --CCN participation in this program is limited to one candidate per contracting officer warrant level per overseas mission. This limitation may be expanded only if it is deemed by the Senior Procurement Executive to be in the best interest of the Agency. --Ongoing risk assessments are performed throughout the Program implementation to assure compliance with the program requirements. USAID is seeking public comments on the proposed changes to the AIDAR to implement the agency CCN PSC Warrant Program. C. Impact Assessment (1) Regulatory Planning and Review. Under E.O. 12866, USAID must determine whether a regulatory action is ``significant'' and therefore subject to the requirements of the E.O. and subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). USAID has determined that this Rule is not an ``economically significant regulatory action'' under Section 3(f)(1) of E.O. 12866. This proposed rule is not a major rule under 5 U.S.C. 804. (2) Regulatory Flexibility Act. The rule will not have an impact on a substantial number of small entities within the meaning of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq. Therefore, an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis has not been performed. (3) Paperwork Reduction Act. The proposed rule does not establish a new collection of information that requires the approval of the Office of Management and Budget under the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35). List of Subjects in 48 CFR Chapter 7 Parts 701, 722 and Appendix J Government procurement. For the reasons discussed in the preamble, USAID amends 48 CFR Chapter 7 as set forth below: 0 1. The authority citation for 48 CFR Chapter 7 parts 701, 722 and Appendix J continues to read as follows: Authority: Sec. 621, Pub. L. 87-195, 75 Stat. 445, (22 U.S.C. 2381) as amended; E.O. 12163, Sept. 29, 1979, 44 FR 56673; and 3 CFR 1979 Comp., p. 435. PART 701--FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION SYSTEM Subpart 701.6--Career Development, Contracting Authority, And Responsibilities 0 2. Amend 701.603-70 by adding two sentences to the end to read as follows: 701.603-70 Designation of contracting officers. * * * However, upon approval of an exception by the Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Management (AA/M), in accordance with the limitations in AIDAR Appendix D, the Senior Procurement Executive may designate a USPSC as a Contracting Officer or delegate the USPSC authority to sign obligating and subobligating documents. The Senior Procurement Executive may also delegate limited contracting officer authority to Cooperating Country National personal service contractors (CCN PSCs) who meet the requirements in the Agency's warrant program for CCN PSCs, as specified in Appendix J. PART 722--APPLICATION OF LABOR LAWS TO GOVERNMENT ACQUISITION Subpart 722.1--Basic Labor Policies 0 3. Amend 722.170 by adding two sentences at the end of paragraph(a) to read as follows: 722.170 Employment of third country nationals (TCN's) and cooperating country nationals (CCN's). (a) * * * This policy does not apply to consultants, as defined in AIDAR Clause 752.202-1(e), who are engaged to advise the contractor on a temporary or intermittent basis and do not receive standard benefits available to the contractor's employees. It is the contractor's responsibility to identify if the individual being hired is an employee or a consultant. * * * * * 0 4. Revise paragraphs (b)(3)b. and (b)(4) to read as follows: Appendix J to Chapter 7--Direct USAID Contracts With a Cooperating Country National and With a Third Country National for Personal Services Abroad 4--Policy * * * * * (b) Limitations on Personal Services Contracts. (3) * * * b. They may not be designated as Contracting Officers or delegated authority to sign obligating or subobligating documents, unless specifically delegated limited contracting officer authority by the Senior Procurement Executive. In order to be delegated limited contracting officer authority, Cooperating Country National PSCs (CCN PSCs) must meet the requirements in the Agency's warrant program for CCN PSCs. * * * * * (4) Exceptions. Exceptions to the limitations in (b)(3)(a), (c), (d) and (e) must be approved by the Assistant Administrator for Management (AA/M). * * * * * Dated: July 27, 2016. Roy Plucknett, Chief Acquisition Officer. [FR Doc. 2016-19709 Filed 8-18-16; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6116-01-P
![Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 161 / Friday, August 19, 2016 / Proposed Rules 55405
deficient.1 The approval of Rule 432 is impose additional requirements beyond H. Executive Order 13211: Actions That
limited because EPA is simultaneously those imposed by state law. Significantly Affect Energy Supply,
proposing a limited disapproval of Rule Distribution, or Use
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)
432 under section 110(k)(3). If this This action is not subject to Executive
limited disapproval is finalized, it will I certify that this action will not have Order 13211, because it is not a
trigger sanctions under CAA section 179 a significant economic impact on a significant regulatory action under
and 40 CFR 52.31 unless the EPA substantial number of small entities Executive Order 12866.
approves subsequent SIP revisions that under the RFA. This action will not
correct the rule deficiencies within 18 impose any requirements on small I. National Technology Transfer and
months of the effective date of the final entities beyond those imposed by state Advancement Act (NTTAA)
action. law. Section 12(d) of the NTTAA directs
Note that Rule 432 has been adopted the EPA to use voluntary consensus
by the BCAQMD, and the EPA’s final D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act standards in its regulatory activities
limited disapproval would not prevent (UMRA) unless to do so would be inconsistent
the local agency from enforcing it. The with applicable law or otherwise
This action does not contain any
limited disapproval also would not impractical. The EPA believes that this
unfunded mandate as described in
prevent any portion of the rule from action is not subject to the requirements
UMRA, 2 U.S.C. 1531–1538, and does
being incorporated by reference into the of section 12(d) of the NTTAA because
not significantly or uniquely affect small
federally enforceable SIP as discussed in application of those requirements would
governments. This action does not
a July 9, 1992 EPA memo found at: be inconsistent with the CAA.
impose additional requirements beyond
http://www.epa.gov/nsr/ttnnsr01/gen/
those imposed by state law. J. Executive Order 12898: Federal
pdf/memo-s.pdf.
Accordingly, no additional costs to Actions To Address Environmental
We will accept comments from the
State, local, or tribal governments, or to Justice in Minority Populations and
public on the proposed limited approval
the private sector, will result from this Low-Income Population
and limited disapproval for the next 30
action.
days. The EPA lacks the discretionary
E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism authority to address environmental
III. Incorporation by Reference
justice in this rulemaking.
In this rule, the EPA is proposing to This action does not have federalism
include in a final EPA rule regulatory implications. It will not have substantial List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
text that includes incorporation by direct effects on the states, on the Environmental protection, Air
reference. In accordance with relationship between the national pollution control, Incorporation by
requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, the EPA is government and the states, or on the reference, Intergovernmental relations,
proposing to finalize the incorporation distribution of power and New Source Review, Ozone, Particulate
by reference the BCAQMD rules responsibilities among the various matter, Reporting and recordkeeping
described in Table 1 of this preamble. levels of government. requirements, Volatile organic
The EPA has made, and will continue compounds.
F. Executive Order 13175: Coordination
to make, these materials available With Indian Tribal Governments Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
electronically through
Dated: August 9, 2016.
www.regulations.gov and at the EPA This action does not have tribal
Alexis Strauss,
Region IX Office (please contact the implications, as specified in Executive
person identified in the FOR FURTHER Order 13175, because the SIP is not Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this approved to apply on any Indian [FR Doc. 2016–19766 Filed 8–18–16; 8:45 am]
preamble for more information). reservation land or in any other area BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
IV. Statutory and Executive Order where the EPA or an Indian tribe has
Reviews demonstrated that a tribe has
jurisdiction, and will not impose AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL
Additional information about these substantial direct costs on tribal DEVELOPMENT
statutes and Executive Orders can be governments or preempt tribal law.
found at http://www2.epa.gov/laws- Thus, Executive Order 13175 does not 48 CFR Parts 701, 722 and Appendix J
regulations/laws-and-executive-orders. apply to this action. RIN 0412–AA80
A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of
Planning and Review and Executive Agency for International Development
Children From Environmental Health Acquisition Regulation (AIDAR):
Order 13563: Improving Regulation and Risks and Safety Risks
Regulatory Review Agency Warrant Program for Individual
The EPA interprets Executive Order Cooperating Country National
This action is not a significant Personal Services Contractors
13045 as applying only to those
regulatory action and was therefore not (CCNPSCs)
regulatory actions that concern
submitted to the Office of Management
environmental health or safety risks that AGENCY: U.S. Agency for International
and Budget (OMB) for review.
the EPA has reason to believe may
jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Development.
B. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) disproportionately affect children, per ACTION: Proposed rule.
This action does not impose an the definition of ‘‘covered regulatory
information collection burden under the action’’ in section 2–202 of the SUMMARY: The U.S. Agency for
PRA because this action does not Executive Order. This action is not International Development (USAID)
subject to Executive Order 13045 proposes to amend the Agency for
1 If this proposed rule is finalized, Butte County because it does not impose additional International Development Acquisition
Rules 400, 401 and 432, will supersede the existing requirements beyond those imposed by Regulation (AIDAR) to incorporate a
SIP approved rules listed in Table 2. state law. warrant program for cooperating
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![55408 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 161 / Friday, August 19, 2016 / Proposed Rules
Security and Department of State, Office ■ 1. The authority citation for 48 CFR (b) Limitations on Personal Services
of Security conduct background checks Chapter 7 parts 701, 722 and Appendix Contracts.
on potential personal service J continues to read as follows: (3) * * *
contractors. Recognizing the fact that b. They may not be designated as
Authority: Sec. 621, Pub. L. 87–195, 75 Contracting Officers or delegated authority to
some countries may not have adequate Stat. 445, (22 U.S.C. 2381) as amended; E.O. sign obligating or subobligating documents,
legal systems or may be unwilling to 12163, Sept. 29, 1979, 44 FR 56673; and 3 unless specifically delegated limited
provide assistance in prosecuting their CFR 1979 Comp., p. 435. contracting officer authority by the Senior
citizens for U.S. procurement Procurement Executive. In order to be
infractions, the CCN PSC Warrant PART 701—FEDERAL ACQUISITION delegated limited contracting officer
Program established the following REGULATION SYSTEM authority, Cooperating Country National
management controls designed to PSCs (CCN PSCs) must meet the
Subpart 701.6—Career Development, requirements in the Agency’s warrant
minimize the risk that such legal actions Contracting Authority, And
might be necessary: program for CCN PSCs.
Responsibilities * * * * *
—Stringent eligibility criteria,
■ 2. Amend 701.603–70 by adding two (4) Exceptions. Exceptions to the
—Reasonable single purchase and limitations in (b)(3)(a), (c), (d) and (e) must
cumulative annual limits for new sentences to the end to read as follows:
be approved by the Assistant Administrator
awards. 701.603–70 Designation of contracting for Management (AA/M).
—CCN participation in this program is officers. * * * * *
limited to one candidate per * * * However, upon approval of an Dated: July 27, 2016.
contracting officer warrant level per exception by the Assistant
overseas mission. This limitation may Roy Plucknett,
Administrator for the Bureau for Chief Acquisition Officer.
be expanded only if it is deemed by Management (AA/M), in accordance
the Senior Procurement Executive to with the limitations in AIDAR [FR Doc. 2016–19709 Filed 8–18–16; 8:45 am]
be in the best interest of the Agency. Appendix D, the Senior Procurement BILLING CODE 6116–01–P
—Ongoing risk assessments are Executive may designate a USPSC as a
performed throughout the Program Contracting Officer or delegate the
implementation to assure compliance USPSC authority to sign obligating and DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
with the program requirements. subobligating documents. The Senior
USAID is seeking public comments on Procurement Executive may also National Oceanic and Atmospheric
the proposed changes to the AIDAR to delegate limited contracting officer Administration
implement the agency CCN PSC authority to Cooperating Country
Warrant Program. National personal service contractors 50 CFR Parts 300 and 679
C. Impact Assessment (CCN PSCs) who meet the requirements [Docket No. 151001910–6690–01]
in the Agency’s warrant program for
(1) Regulatory Planning and Review. RIN 0648–BF42
CCN PSCs, as specified in Appendix J.
Under E.O. 12866, USAID must
determine whether a regulatory action is PART 722—APPLICATION OF LABOR Fisheries of the Exclusive Economic
‘‘significant’’ and therefore subject to LAWS TO GOVERNMENT Zone Off Alaska; Allow the Use of
the requirements of the E.O. and subject ACQUISITION Longline Pot Gear in the Gulf of Alaska
to review by the Office of Management Sablefish Individual Fishing Quota
and Budget (OMB). USAID has Subpart 722.1—Basic Labor Policies Fishery; Amendment 101
determined that this Rule is not an ■ 3. Amend 722.170 by adding two AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries
‘‘economically significant regulatory sentences at the end of paragraph(a) to Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
action’’ under Section 3(f)(1) of E.O. read as follows: Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
12866. This proposed rule is not a major Commerce.
rule under 5 U.S.C. 804. 722.170 Employment of third country ACTION: Proposed rule; request for
(2) Regulatory Flexibility Act. The nationals (TCN’s) and cooperating country
nationals (CCN’s).
comments.
rule will not have an impact on a
substantial number of small entities (a) * * * This policy does not apply SUMMARY: NMFS issues a proposed rule
within the meaning of the Regulatory to consultants, as defined in AIDAR to implement Amendment 101 to the
Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq. Clause 752.202–1(e), who are engaged to Fishery Management Plan for
Therefore, an Initial Regulatory advise the contractor on a temporary or Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA
Flexibility Analysis has not been intermittent basis and do not receive FMP) for the sablefish individual fishing
performed. standard benefits available to the quota (IFQ) fisheries in the Gulf of
(3) Paperwork Reduction Act. The contractor’s employees. It is the Alaska (GOA). This proposed rule
proposed rule does not establish a new contractor’s responsibility to identify if would authorize the use of longline pot
collection of information that requires the individual being hired is an gear in the GOA sablefish IFQ fishery.
the approval of the Office of employee or a consultant. This proposed rule would establish
Management and Budget under the * * * * * management measures to minimize
Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. ■ 4. Revise paragraphs (b)(3)b. and (b)(4) potential conflicts between hook-and-
jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
chapter 35). to read as follows: line and longline pot gear used in the
List of Subjects in 48 CFR Chapter 7 Appendix J to Chapter 7—Direct USAID sablefish IFQ fisheries in the GOA. This
Parts 701, 722 and Appendix J Contracts With a Cooperating Country proposed rule also includes proposed
National and With a Third Country regulations developed under the
Government procurement. Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982
National for Personal Services Abroad
For the reasons discussed in the (Halibut Act) to authorize harvest of
preamble, USAID amends 48 CFR 4—Policy halibut IFQ caught incidentally in
Chapter 7 as set forth below: * * * * * longline pot gear used in the GOA
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Document Created: 2016-08-19 01:35:17
Document Modified: 2016-08-19 01:35:17
| Category | Regulatory Information | |
| Collection | Federal Register | |
| sudoc Class | AE 2.7: GS 4.107: AE 2.106: | |
| Publisher | Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration | |
| Section | Proposed Rules | |
| Action | Proposed rule. | |
| Dates | Comments must be received no later than October 18, 2016. | |
| Contact | Lyudmila Bond, Telephone: 202-567-4753 or Email: [email protected] | |
| FR Citation | 81 FR 55405 | |
| RIN Number | 0412-AA80 | |
| CFR Citation | 48
CFR
701 48 CFR 722 |
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