81 FR 95141 - Submission for OMB Review; Payment of Subcontractors

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 248 (December 27, 2016)

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Regulatory Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a currently approved information collection requirement concerning Payment of Subcontractors.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 248 (Tuesday, December 27, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 95141-95142]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-31130]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[OMB Control No. 9000-0196; Docket No. 2016-0053; Sequence 33]


Submission for OMB Review; Payment of Subcontractors

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

ACTION: Notice of request for public comments regarding an extension to 
an existing OMB clearance.

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SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the 
Regulatory Secretariat will be submitting to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a 
currently approved information collection requirement concerning 
Payment of Subcontractors.

DATES: Submit comments on or before January 26, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments regarding this burden estimate or any other 
aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for 
reducing this burden to: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs 
of OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for GSA, Room 10236, NEOB, Washington, 
DC 20503. Additionally submit a copy to GSA by any of the following 
methods:
     Regulations.gov: http://www.regulations.gov. Submit 
comments via the Federal eRulemaking portal by searching for OMB 
control number 9000-0196, Payment of Subcontractors. Select the link 
``Submit a Comment'' that corresponds with ``9000-0196; Payment of 
Subcontractors.'' Follow the instructions provided at the ``Submit a 
Comment'' screen. Please include your name, company name (if any), and 
``9000-0196; Payment of Subcontractors'' on your attached document.
     Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory 
Secretariat Division (MVCB), 1800 F Street NW.,

[[Page 95142]]

Washington, DC 20405. ATTN: Ms. Flowers/IC 9000-0196.
    Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite IC 9000-0196, in 
all correspondence related to this case. All comments received will be 
posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any 
personal and/or business confidential information provided. To confirm 
receipt of your comment(s), please check www.regulations.gov, 
approximately two to three days after submission to verify posting 
(except allow 30 days for posting of comments submitted by mail).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Curtis E. Glover, Sr., Procurement 
Analyst, at 202-501-1448, or email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

A. Purpose

    Section 1334 of the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010 
(Pub. L. 111-240) and the Small Business Administration's Final Rule at 
78 FR 42391, Small Business Subcontracting, published on July 16, 2013, 
and effective August 15, 2013, requires the prime contractor to self-
report to the contracting officer when the prime contractor makes late 
or reduced payments to small business subcontractors. In addition, the 
contracting officer is required to record the identity of contractors 
with a history of late or reduced payments to small business 
subcontractors in the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity 
Information System (FAPIIS). FAR Part 42 is revised to include in the 
past performance evaluation reduced or untimely payments reported to 
the contracting officer by the prime contractor in accordance with the 
clause at 52.242-XX, Payments to Small Business Subcontractors, that 
are determined by the contracting officer to be unjustified.
    A notice was published in the Federal Register at 81 FR 3087, on 
January 20, 2016, as part of a proposed rule under FAR Case 2014-004. 
Two comments were received on the information collection.

B. Discussion and Analysis

    Comment: Two respondents stated that the Councils had 
underestimated the public burden in regards to the proposed rule. One 
respondent commented that the FAR Council has greatly underestimated 
the implementation burden on commercial item and COTS item contractors, 
especially considering the broad definition of ``subcontractor'' that 
applies to the proposed rule. The other respondent believed that the 
estimate of reporting time of only two hours per respondent is grossly 
underestimated. This negligible amount of time assumes that all 
contractors can easily identify from their payment systems which 
subcontractors are small businesses. The respondent believed that this 
is often not the case, and that the small business size status of a 
subcontractor may be unknown to the contractor's other accounting 
systems. The other respondent commented that since the Small Business 
Jobs Act of 2010 does not specifically require that the subcontractor 
payment clause apply to commercial contracts, the respondent 
recommended that the FAR Council seek additional information about the 
burden on contractors before a determination is made to apply the 
payment of subcontractor requirements to commercial item acquisitions. 
The respondent did not find that the availability of limited 
information indicated that the burden may not be significant, as 
described in the proposed rule. Rather, initial feedback from 
contractors suggested that the burdens associated with reporting under 
the rule will have a significant impact.
    Response: The respondents do not offer data with which to support 
changing the current estimated public burden hours. However, since this 
is a new rule without an empirical frame of reference, the public 
reporting burden is reviewed every three years and can be adjusted as 
necessary.
    Public comments are particularly invited on: Whether this 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
functions of the FAR, and whether it will have practical utility; 
whether our estimate of the public burden of this collection of 
information is accurate, and based on valid assumptions and 
methodology; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and ways in which we can minimize the 
burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, 
through the use of appropriate technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.

C. Annual Reporting Burden

    Respondents: 5,457.
    Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Total Annual Responses: 5,457.
    Hours per Response: 2.
    Total Burden Hours: 10,914.
    Obtaining Copies of Proposals: Requesters may obtain a copy of the 
information collection documents from the General Services 
Administration, Regulatory Secretariat Division (MVCB), 1800 F Street 
NW., Washington, DC 20405, telephone 202-501-4755. Please cite OMB 
Control Number 9000-0196, Payment of Subcontractors, in all 
correspondence.

    Dated: November 15, 2016.
Lorin S. Curit,
Director, Federal Acquisition Policy Division, Office of Governmentwide 
Acquisition Policy, Office of Acquisition Policy, Office of 
Governmentwide Policy.
[FR Doc. 2016-31130 Filed 12-23-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6820-EP-P