Justification and Approval of Sole-Source 8(a) Contracts (FAR Case 2009-038)

Summary:

FAC 2005-58 adopts as final, without change, an interim rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement a section of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010. This section requires the head of an agency to execute and make public prior to award, the justification for an 8(a) sole-source contract in an amount exceeding $20 million.

Supplementary Information:

I.  Background

DoD, GSA, and NASA published an interim rule in the Federal Register at 76 FR 14559 on March 16, 2011, to implement section 811 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (NDAA for FY 2010) (Pub. L. 111-84). Section 811 prohibits the award of a sole-source contract in an amount over $20 million under the 8(a) Business Development Program authority (15 U.S.C. 637(a)) without first obtaining a written Justification and Approval (J&A) approved by an appropriate official and making public the J&A and related information. Section 811 does not institute any requirement for J&As for sole-source 8(a) contracts less than or equal to $20 million.

Nine respondents submitted comments on the interim rule.

II.  Discussion and Analysis

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (the Councils) reviewed the public comments in the development of the final rule. A discussion of the comments is provided here.

Dates:

The Effective Date for this final rule is 18 April 2012.

Click here to read the entire Federal Register notice for this rule.