I. Background

DoD, GSA, and NASA published an interim rule in the Federal Register at 75 FR 34277 on June 16, 2010, to implement section 826, Market Research, of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Pub. L. 110-181). Section 826 establishes additional requirements in subsection (c) of 10 U.S.C. 2377. As a matter of policy, these requirements are extended to all executive agencies. Specifically, the head of the agency must conduct market research before issuing an indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity task or delivery order for a noncommercial item in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold. In addition, a prime contractor with a contract in excess of $5 million for the procurement of items other than commercial items is required to conduct market research before making purchases that exceed the simplified acquisition threshold for or on behalf of the Government. Three respondents submitted 16 comments on the interim rule.