III. Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration certify that this final rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities within the meaning of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq., because affected small businesses are currently required to comply with CAS 412 and CAS 415.

While small businesses are otherwise not subject to CAS, they are subject to selected standards for the purpose of determining allowability of costs under Government contracts. Among these standards are CAS 412 and CAS 415 as set forth in FAR 31.205-6(q). For small businesses currently using CAS 415, there will be no increase in cost or effort. For small businesses that must change from CAS 412 to CAS 415, the possible change from measuring costs in accordance with CAS 412 to CAS 415 would result, at most, in a negligible increase in administrative burden because of the similarities between CAS 412 and CAS 415. The potential increase of administrative effort, albeit minor, will be offset by the uniformity and consistency in accounting for deferred compensation costs achieved by this rule that will benefit all entities by reducing their administrative burden.