V. Regulatory Flexibility Act

A final regulatory flexibility analysis has been prepared consistent with the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq., and is summarized as follows:

The need for this rule is to implement section 821 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 (Pub. L. 111-383). Section 821 prohibits specification of the use of fire-resistant rayon fiber in solicitations issued before January 1, 2015.

The objectives of this rule are to prohibit specification of the use of fire-resistant rayon fiber in solicitations issued before January 1, 2015, as required by the statute. This will provide opportunity for offerors to propose alternative solutions to meet DoD requirements.

The legal basis for this rule is section 821 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 (Pub. L. 111-383).

Nine respondents disagreed with the statement in the initial regulatory flexibility analysis that the impact on small businesses will be minimal. The respondents cited two points on which they disagree with the analysis:

According to the respondents, Nomex is not a substitute for fire-resistant rayon fiber for the manufacture of all types of military uniforms. The respondents stated that Nomex is widely used in flight suits, but not in ground troop uniforms, unless used with cotton. Cotton requires topical fire resistant treatment, which is not permanent for the life of the fiber. According to the respondents, the alternatives to the use of fire-resistant rayon are "next best" as a permanent fire-resistant solution in hot and humid environments and are also more expensive.

The respondents stated further that dozens of small businesses currently supply DoD with uniforms made using fire-resistant rayon fibers. The impact on small business can be significant if designing new products and producing existing programs becomes restrained by availability of raw materials.

Although small businesses may be involved in providing military uniforms using fire-resistant rayon fibers, there is nothing in this rule that prohibits the use of fire-resistant rayon fibers. If fire-resistant rayon is as superior to the alternative fire-resistant fibers as stated by the respondents, then competition from alternative fibers should have little impact on small business because there will likely be small businesses engaged in the manufacture of the military uniforms containing an alternative fiber. Furthermore, there is nothing in this final rule that would restrain the availability of raw materials.

The two major sources of fire-resistant fiber used in DoD products either come from DuPont (product called Nomex) or The Lenzing Group, Austria (product called Fire Resistant Rayon). In order to manufacture a fire-resistant uniform currently being sourced by the services, three products are blended together to meet desired cost, availability, and performance criteria:

Nylon.

Para-aramid (Kevlar by DuPont or Twaron by Teijin (The Netherlands)).

Either Nomex (DuPont) or Fire Resistant Rayon (Lenzing).

DuPont is a domestic large business and the other manufacturers of fire-resistant fiber are foreign. However, small businesses are involved in the supply of the military uniforms that utilize the foreign fire-resistant rayon.

There were no comments filed by the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration in response to the rule.

There are no reporting or recordkeeping requirements.

The requirements of the rule are the minimum requirements necessary to meet the requirements of the statute. Although small businesses are involved in manufacture of the uniforms, there is nothing in this rule that prohibits the continued acquisition of military uniforms containing fire-resistant rayon fiber or that would hinder acquisition of that fire-resistant fiber from Austria. Further, if another type of fire-resistant fiber is competitively selected (such as Nomex from DuPont), there will probably still be small businesses engaged in the manufacture of the military uniforms containing that fiber.