GSA recently issued notification that MAS Refresh 11 will be issued on April 11, 2022. Refresh 11 will be issued to revise a clause note for 52.223-99, Ensuring Adequate COVID-19 Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors (OCT 2021) (Deviation).
On March 31, 2022, GSA issued a Supplement to Class Deviation CD-2021-13 for Executive Order 14042 Injunctions. The supplement provides instructions on how GSA contracting activities are to implement injunctions related to the class deviation. This includes the injunction issued on February 10, 2022, by the United States District Court of Arizona that prohibits the inclusion of a clause implementing the vaccination requirement for federal contractors and subcontractors in any contract to which a contracting party is domiciled in or headquartered in Arizona, or where work will be principally performed in the state of Arizona.
In accordance with the Supplement requirements, GSA has updated the clause note for 52.223-99 to read as follows:
The Government will take no action to enforce the clause implementing requirements of Executive Order 14042, absent further written notice from the agency, where the place of performance identified in the contract is in a U.S. state or outlying area subject to a court order prohibiting the application of requirements pursuant to the Executive Order (hereinafter, “Excluded State or Outlying Area”). In all other circumstances, the Government will enforce the clause, except for contractor employees who perform substantial work on or in connection with a covered contract in an Excluded State or Outlying Area, or in a covered contractor workplace located in an Excluded State or Outlying Area. A current list of such Excluded States and Outlying Areas is maintained at https://www.saferfederalworkforce.gov/contractors/.
FAR Clause 52.223-99 is considered to be self-deleting:
- in any contract or order issued after February 10, 2022, that meets one or both of the following criteria: (1) an entity domiciled or headquartered in the state of Arizona, including the state of Arizona, or any of its agencies, is a party to the contract, or (2) work under the contract is to be performed principally in the state of Arizona.
- for extensions, options or renewals, if work is either principally performed in Arizona, or where a party is headquartered or domiciled in Arizona.
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