SBA has extended the comment period on its proposed size standards to July 2. “Given the scope of the proposal and the nature of the issues raised by the comments received to date, SBA believes that affected businesses need more time to review the proposal and prepare their comments,” the agency said in a statement in the Federal Register.

Comments may be sent to restructure.sizestandards@sba.gov.

SBA has published a final rule amending its size regulations and the regulations applying to appeals of size determinations. The major changes affect the definitions of affiliation and employees. The rule is FR Doc 04-10066 in the May 21 Federal Register.

Agencies would no longer be required to withhold 5% of the amount due under a time-and-materials or labor-hour contract if the Federal Acquisition Regulation councils adopt a proposed rule.

The proposed rule says a contracting officer “may (rather than shall)” withhold partial payment until the contractor delivers a release discharging the government from all liabilities, obligations, and claims arising under the contract.

In a notice in the May 25 Federal Register, the FAR councils said the withholding is not always necessary, since the contractor must deliver the release before it receives final payment. “The Councils are considering revising its policy because the current withholding provisions are administratively burdensome and may, in some situations, result in the withholding of amounts that exceed reasonable amounts needed to protect the Government’s interests,” the notice said.

The councils said the proposed change is intended “to permit contracting officers to use their judgment regarding whether to withhold payments under time-and-materials and labor-hour contracts so that the withhold would be applied only when necessary to protect the Government’s interests. The proposed rule makes it clear that, normally, there should be no need to withhold payments when dealing with contractors that typically comply with contractual release requirements in a timely manner.”

The proposed rule, FAR case 2004-003, is open for public comment until July 26. Comments may be sent to www.regulations.gov.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has published guidelines for federal agencies to use in certifying and accrediting their information systems. It is one of several publications intended to help agencies comply with FISMA, the Federal Information Security Management Act.

NIST Special Publication 800-37 is available at www.nist.gov.

Allegra McCullough has been named SBA’s associate deputy administrator for government contracting and business development. The office oversees federal procurement programs. The position has been vacant since Fred Armendariz resigned last fall.

McCullough has been serving as administrator of the Mid-Atlantic region. Before joining SBA, she was director of the Department of Minority Business Enterprise for Virginia and assistant secretary of the Commonwealth.

The director of SBA’s Seattle district office retired last month and banged the door on his way out.

Bob Meredith told the Puget Sound Business Journal that budget cuts and consolidation have left the agency in “chaotic disarray.” He said the Bush administration’s proposals to eliminate funding for business information centers and microloans are hurting local offices’ ability to provide services.

SBA’s reorganization plan is consolidating loan processing and servicing in central offices to free up local offices to concentrate on outreach.

The agency recently offered buyouts to up to 600 employees, saying it is top-heavy with middle managers.

Looking for opportunities to expand your business into new markets? Try the Defense Department’s notice in the May 18 Federal Register.

DOD listed products that are exempt from the Buy American Act because they are not produced domestically in sufficient quantities to meet the government’s needs. The notice seeks domestic producers for those products.

The business opportunities include bulk agar (that’s a gelatin made from algae and used as a culture medium), hog bristles for brushes, swords and scabbards, and cobra venom.