Proposed Changes To FAR

DOD, GSA, and NASA are proposing to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to change order level size and socioeconomic status re-representation requirements. As GSA Federal Supply Schedules are exempt from this requirement the contracting officer can require re-representation at their discretion. The Small Business Administration (SBA) amended its regulations to require small business identified at FAR 19.000(a)(3) to re-represent their size and socioeconomic status for orders set aside exclusively for small businesses that are under an un-restricted multiple award schedule contract, except for those with reserves. Also, small business concerns must re-represent their socioeconomic status for orders issued under a small business set-aside multiple-award contract or the set-aside part of a multiple-award contract where the orders are further set aside for a particular socioeconomic category which differs from the underlying multiple-award contract or the set-aside part of the multiple-award contract.

For industry that would like to submit comments to this proposed rule here are the instructions per the government:

Submit comments in response to FAR Case 2020–016 to the Federal eRulemaking portal at https://www.regulations.gov by searching for “FAR Case 2020–016”. Select the link “Comment Now” that corresponds with “FAR Case 2020–016”. Follow the instructions provided at the “Comment Now” screen. Please include your name, company name (if any), and “FAR Case 2020–016” on your attached document. If your comment cannot be submitted using https://www.regulations.gov, call or email the points of contact in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document for alternate instructions.

Please submit comments only and cite “FAR Case 2020–016” in all correspondence related to this case. Comments received generally will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal and/or business confidential information provided. Public comments may be submitted as an individual, as an organization, or anonymously (see frequently asked questions at https://www.regulations.gov/faq ). To confirm receipt of your comment(s), please check https://www.regulations.gov, approximately two to three days after submission to verify posting.

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