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Federal Market Intelligence for Small Business |
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2018 Regulations Review Pt. IIIDid you miss any key regulatory actions in 2018? Here is the final installment of Set-Aside Alert’s overview of 2018 actions affecting small business federal contractors. Kaspersky ban: Interim rule went into effect July 16 prohibiting federal contractors from utilizing Russia-based Kaspersky Lab products or services. (https://bit.ly/2zH1Pgo). Undefinitized contract actions: DOD issued a final rule requiring contracting officers to document the risk to the contractor during the undefinitized period (performance begun but terms not negotiated). It does not apply below the Simplified Acquisition threshold or to commercial items (https://bit.ly/2NRa3Wg). Cyber emergency authorities: DOD, NASA and GSA proposed a rule to expand emergency procurement authorities for supplies or services for cyber attack recovery or defense, raising the micropurchase threshold for such items to $20,000 domestically and the simplified acquisition threshold to up to $750,000 domestically. (https://bit.ly/2uljpBB). NIST rule on patent ownership: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) modified its regulations on the Bayh-Dole Act, to clarify reporting requirements and streamline license applications, among other goals. One of the changes may create uncertainty regarding contractor ownership of patents. (https://bit.ly/2upatLy and https://bit.ly/2Jqoa1m) Per diems: Per diem rates for federal employees traveling for work and for contractor employees on cost-plus contracts rose to up to $94 a day for lodging (up by $1) and $55 a day for meals and incidentals (up by $4 a day), effective Oct. 1. (https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates) DUNS replacement: The General Services Administration published a solicitation for replacing “DUNS” number as the identifier of contractors and grantees. DUNS, owned by Dun & Bradstreet, has been used since 1994. Advocates have been urging non-proprietary identifiers. (https://bit.ly/2LUCy31) Paid sick leave: The regulation requiring paid sick leave for federal contractors went into effect Aug. 22. It requires that employees on certain federal contracts can earn up to 7 days or more of paid sick leave annually, including paid leave for family care. (https://bit.ly/2w69fWq) Non-Retaliation Rule: The final rule for non-retaliation for disclosure of employee compensation went into effect Aug. 22. (https://bit.ly/2MDlMdt) Joint Employer Standard: The National Labor Relations Board has proposed to overturn and replace the Obama-era Joint Employer Standard. The controversial 2015 rule expanded the concept of joint employer to include indirect control over workers, possibly in a franchise. Read more at https://bit.ly/2NoBJoP. Performance payments: DOD proposed a controversial rule that would limit up-front payments to contractors and instead would pay a larger share based on project benchmarks. After a strong negative reaction from three contractor trade associations, the rule was withdrawn. New VA/SBA definitions: The Veterans Affairs Dept. and Small Business Administration implemented final rules that modify how ownership and control of veteran-owned small businesses and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses are defined and verified. The VA agreed to apply the SBA’s regulations in its verifications of such firms. Both the VA final rule and the SBA final rule became effective on Oct. 1. (https://bit.ly/2NKt6oI, https://bit.ly/2OjLkgx and https://bit.ly/2QnL79v) Unpriced schedules contracts: DOD, Coast Guard and NASA published a proposed rule that would give agency heads the discretionary authority to not include price or cost as an evaluation criterion when awarding services contracts that are acquired at an hourly rate. (https://bit.ly/2xYtNAg and http://thecgp.org/procurement-trick-or-treat.html) HUBZone overhaul: The SBA proposed comprehensive regulations for HUBZones, including loosening the rules on how employee residency is defined. Also, HUBZone firms would be allowed to recertify that they meet the employee-living-in-zone requirement—and all other HUBZone requirements—once a year, instead of each time they bid on a contract. (https://bit.ly/2RtmDMC) Interagency acquisition vehicles: GSA recently issued a class deviation letter allowing agencies to use interagency acquisition vehicles more easily. (https://bit.ly/2DhQZh0). Also, the DoD released a final rule removing the requirement to make a best procurement approach determination in order to use an interagency acquisition vehicle (https://bit.ly/2B2mUiJ). Limitations on subcontracting: Proposed rule is released to align the SBA’s final rule from 2016 on limitations on subcontracting with the Federal Acquisition Regulation. Read more at https://bit.ly/2El1PnO. DOD issued a class deviation on Dec. 3 making the limitations on subbing effective immediately. https://bit.ly/2BVrcKG. LPTA: The DOD proposed a rule to limit use of LPTA source selection processes. (https://bit.ly/2Ei7VVW) A-E and construction set-asides: The DoD published a proposed rule regarding set-asides for architect and engineering services and construction design contracts. See https://bit.ly/2G7MGYM for more details. Production surge: DOD issued a final rule amending the Defense Federal Acquisitions Regulation Supplement to revise a clause relating to “production surge” terminology. It took effect Dec. 4. Read the final rule at https://bit.ly/2G5Q727. Ombudsman clause: The FAR councils proposed to add a new clause to multiple-award IDIQ contracts that provides contact information for the agency’s task-and-delivery-order ombudsman, and a description of the ombudsman’s responsibilities. Read more at https://bit.ly/2P4PiKQ. Construction manager/constructor: The GSA issued a proposed rule to adopt a project delivery method known as construction manager as constructor (CMc). The method is used in the private sector. Read more at https://bit.ly/2F9JcEH.
(URLs in Set-Aside Alert have been shortened by the bit.ly URL shortener)
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