Acquisition Rules to be Reviewed The Federal Acquisition Regulation Council is asking for comment on its plan to review acquisition rules, including several rules that affect small contractors. The review is being conducted in response to President Obama’s executive order, “Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review.” The order says each agency must “periodically review its existing significant regulations to determine whether such regulations should be modified, streamlined, expanded or repealed to make the agency’s regulatory program more effective and or less burdensome in achieving its regulatory objectives.” According to an announcement in the June 3 Federal Register, the FAR Council has tentatively identified eight priority initiatives for analysis and follow-up action over the next two years. The initiatives include: •Re-examining the process for applying new regulatory requirements to commercial item acquisitions and small (simplified) purchases; •Exploring opportunities to accelerate payments to small businesses; •Reviewing rules governing communications with vendors before awarding contracts; •Reducing number of competitions that result in only one offer; •Revisiting the process for reviewing past performance information; •Working with SBA to modernize rules for using contract set-asides and small business subcontracting plans; •Restructuring rules addressing conflicts of interest; and •Clarifying rules addressing the use of competition for blanket purchase agreements. The preliminary plan is available at www.whitehouse.gov/21stcenturygov/ actions/21st-century-regulatory-system. Comments are due by July 5.