II.  Discussion and Analysis

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (the Councils) reviewed the comments in the development of the final rule. Respondents submitted comments covering the following nine categories: (1) Conformance with the Small Business Jobs Act; (2) The $103 million threshold reference; (3) Posting requirements; (4) Eliminate distinctions between single-award and multiple-award BPAs; (5) Competition requirements for establishing BPAs and allowing flexibility in establishing BPA ordering procedures; (6) BPA requirements and health-care programs; (7) Competition above the SAT is a burden; (8) Seeking price reduction is inconsistent with competition; and (9) Modify FSS contracts to change the Maximum Order Threshold (MOT) to the SAT. A discussion of the comments and the changes made to the rule as a result of those comments are provided as follows: