83 FR 57482 - Submission for OMB Review; Subcontracting Plans

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 221 (November 15, 2018)

Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Regulatory Secretariat Division will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an extension of a previously approved information collection requirement regarding small business subcontracting plans.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 221 (Thursday, November 15, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57482-57483]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-24931]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[OMB Control No. 9000-0007; Docket No. 2018-0003; Sequence No. 6]


Submission for OMB Review; Subcontracting Plans

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the 
Regulatory Secretariat Division will be submitting to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve an 
extension of a previously approved information collection requirement 
regarding small business subcontracting plans.

DATES: Submit comments on or before December 17, 2018.

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:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: This website provides the 
ability to type short comments directly into the comment field or 
attach a file for lengthier comments. Go to http://www.regulations.gov 
and follow the instructions on the site.
     Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory 
Secretariat Division (MVCB), 1800 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20405. 
ATTN: Ms. Mandell/IC 9000-0007, Subcontracting Plans.
    Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite Information 
Collection 9000-0007, Subcontracting Plans, in all correspondence 
related to this collection. Comments received generally 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: Ms. Zenaida Delgado, Procurement 
Analyst, at telephone 202-969-7207, or email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Purpose

    This information collection requirement, OMB Control No. 9000-0007, 
currently titled ``Summary Subcontract Report,'' is proposed to be 
retitled ``Subcontracting Plans,'' due to consolidation with currently 
approved information collection requirement OMB Control No. 9000-0006, 
Subcontracting Plans/Individual Subcontract Report (SF 294) and ISRS, 
and 9000-0192, Utilization of Small Business Subcontractors.
    This clearance covers the information that offerors and contractors 
must submit to comply with the requirements in Federal Acquisition 
Regulation (FAR) 52.219-9, Small Business Subcontracting Plans, 
regarding subcontracting plans as follows:
    1. Subcontracting plan. In accordance with Section 8(d) of the 
Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)), any contractor receiving a 
contract for more than the simplified acquisition threshold must agree 
in the contract that small business, veteran-owned small business, 
service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, 
small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business concerns 
will have the maximum practicable opportunity to participate in 
contract performance. Further, 15 U.S.C. 637(d) imposes the requirement 
that contractors receiving a contract that is expected to exceed, or a 
contract modification that causes a contract to exceed, $700,000 ($1.5 
million for

[[Page 57483]]

construction) and has subcontracting possibilities, shall submit an 
acceptable subcontracting plan that provides maximum practicable 
opportunities for small business, veteran-owned small business, 
service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, 
small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business concerns. 
Specific elements required to be included in the plan are specified in 
section 8(d) of the Small Business Act and implemented in FAR subpart 
19.7 and the clause at 52.219-9.
    2. Summary Subcontract Report (SSR). In conjunction with the 
subcontracting plan requirements, contractors with subcontracting plans 
must submit an annual summary of subcontracts awarded as prime and 
subcontractors for each specific Federal Government agency. Contractors 
submit the information in a SSR through the Electronic Subcontracting 
Reporting System (eSRS). This is required for all contractors with 
subcontracting plans regardless of the type of plan (i.e., commercial 
or individual).
    3. Individual Subcontract Report (ISR). In conjunction with the 
subcontracting plan requirements, contractors with individual 
subcontracting plans must submit semi-annual reports of their small 
business subcontracting progress. Contractors submit the information 
through eSRS in an ISR, the electronic equivalent of the Standard Form 
(SF) 294, Subcontracting Report for Individual Contracts. Contracts 
that are not reported in the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) in 
accordance with FAR 4.606(c)(5) do not submit ISRs in eSRS; they will 
continue to use the SF 294 to submit the information to the agency.
    4. Written explanation for not using a small business subcontractor 
as specified in the proposal or subcontracting plan. Section 1322 of 
the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (Jobs Act), Public Law 111-240, 
amends the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(6)) to require as part 
of a subcontracting plan that a prime contractor make good faith effort 
to utilize a small business subcontractor during performance of a 
contract to the same degree the prime contractor relied on the small 
business in preparing and submitting its bid or proposal. If a prime 
contractor does not utilize a small business subcontractor as described 
above, the prime contractor is required to explain, in writing, to the 
contracting officer the reasons why it is unable to do so.

B. Public Comment

    A 60 day notice was published in the Federal Register at 83 FR 
38311, on August 6, 2018. No comments were received.

C. Annual Reporting Burden

    1. Subcontracting plan. Subcontracting plans are provided on a 
contract-by-contract basis for individual subcontracting plans. 
Individual subcontracting plans cover the entire contract period, 
including options. Commercial plans are provided on an entity basis and 
cover the fiscal year of the contractor. The time required for 
development of the plan (including commercial and individual plans) is 
estimated as follows:
    Respondents: 4,350.
    Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Total Annual Responses: 4,350.
    Hours per Response: 5.
    Total Burden Hours: 21,750.
    2. Summary Subcontract Report (SSR). SSRs are submitted annually 
for all types of subcontracting plans. One SSR is submitted for each 
commercial subcontracting plan. For individual subcontracting plans, an 
SSR is required for every agency that funds work under the contract 
that the plan covers. Time required for reading, preparing information, 
and data entry into eSRS is estimated as follows:

Commercial Plan

    Respondents: 1,653.
    Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Total Annual Responses: 1,653.
    Hours per Response: 2.
    Total Burden Hours: 3,306.

Individual Plan Without Order Level Reporting

    Respondents: 10,885.
    Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Total Annual Responses: 10,885.
    Hours per Response: 1.5.
    Total Burden Hours: 16,327.5.

Individual Plan With Order Level Reporting

    Respondents: 197.
    Responses per Respondent: 3.
    Total Annual Responses: 591.
    Hours per Response: 1.5.
    Total Burden Hours: 886.5.
    3. Individual Subcontract Report (ISR). ISRs are submitted semi-
annually for each contract with an individual subcontracting plan. The 
ISR consists of data for subcontracting under a given contract. ISRs 
are not required for commercial plans. Time required for reading, 
preparing information, and data entry into eSRS is estimated as 
follows:

Individual Plan Without Order-Level Reporting Requirement

    Respondents: 10,855.
    Responses per Respondent: 2.
    Total Annual Responses: 21,710.
    Hours per Response: 2.
    Total Burden Hours: 43,420.

Individual Plan--With Order-Level Reporting Requirement

    Respondents: 197.
    Responses per Respondent: 2.
    Total Annual Responses: 394.
    Hours per Response: 5.
    Total Burden Hours: 1,970.
    4. Written explanation for not using a small business subcontractor 
as specified in the proposal or subcontracting plan. This explanation 
is submitted on a contract-by-contract basis. FPDS for FY 2017 
identified 3,808 contracts with individual subcontracting plans and 542 
entities awarded contracts with commercial plans, for a total of 4,350 
plans for FY 2017. We estimate that at most 50%, or 2,175, of these 
contracts with subcontracting plans may have instances of the prime 
contractor not using a small business subcontractor to the same extent 
used in preparing the bid or proposal. We estimate two hours as the 
average time required to read and prepare information for this 
collection.
    Respondents: 2,175.
    Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Total Annual Responses: 2,175.
    Hours per Response: 2.
    Total Burden Hours: 4,350.
    5. Summary.
    Respondents: 30,312.
    Total Annual Responses: 41,758.
    Total Burden Hours: 92,010.
    Obtaining Copies: 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 No. 9000-
0007, Subcontracting Plans, in all correspondence.

    Dated: November 9, 2018.
Janet Fry,
Director, Federal Acquisition Policy Division, Office of Governmentwide 
Acquisition Policy, Office of Acquisition Policy, Office of 
Governmentwide Policy.
[FR Doc. 2018-24931 Filed 11-14-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-EP-P