A.  Summary of Significant Changes

Changes were made to the proposed rule as a result of the public comments and the publication of FAR Case 2007-012 in the Federal Register at 76 FR 14548 on March 16, 2011. Specifically, all text in the proposed rule under FAR 8.405-2(e) has been relocated to FAR 8.404(h). FAR Case 2007-012 strengthened competition requirements for orders placed under the Federal Supply Schedules. As a result, FAR 8.405-2(e)(2)(ii) has been deleted and references to FAR part 12 at FAR subpart 8.4 have been removed.

Additional changes were made during deliberation of the final rule to require these same safeguards on the use of time-and-materials (T&M) and labor-hour (LH) orders for Blanket Purchase Agreements awarded under the Federal Supply Schedule Program.