III.  Regulatory Flexibility Act

DoD does not expect this interim rule to 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.

However, an initial regulatory flexibility analysis has been prepared and is summarized as follows:

The objectives of this interim rule are to--

Require that contracts for the acquisition of tents and other temporary structures provide best value, regardless of whether purchased by DoD or by another agency on behalf of DoD; and

Extend the domestic source restriction of 10 U.S.C. 2533a (the "Berry Amendment") to cover the structural components of tents, in order to promote the use of domestic materials and enhance growth of the United States economy.

The legal basis for this interim rule is sections 368 and 821 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Pub. L. 112-81).

The requirement to award contracts that provide best value to the Government does not have any impact on small business entities, because that is already a general requirement for all acquisitions.

The domestic source restriction on the structural components of tents may affect approximately 40 or less small business concerns at the prime contract level. Review of the Fiscal Year 2011 data on acquisition of items with product or service code 8340 (tents or tarpaulins) identified 49 actions with small business concerns (contracts or orders), estimated value of $48.6 million, of which about 10 percent appeared to be for other than tents (e.g., prefabricated metal buildings and components, metal household furnishings, or electrical equipment). The Federal Procurement Data System does not provide data on components, so it is not known the extent to which the providers of tents currently utilize domestic or foreign structural components. An exception may be granted if a component is domestically nonavailable. However, this rule promotes the use of domestic components, and should, therefore, be favorable to small entities that provide domestic structural components of tents. The requirements of the rule will not apply below the simplified acquisition threshold.

This rule does not impose any reporting or recordkeeping requirements.

The rule does not duplicate, overlap, or conflict with any other Federal rules.

DoD did not identify any significant alternatives that would accomplish the stated objectives of the statute. The rule specifically implements the statutory requirement.

DoD invites comments from small business concerns and other interested parties on the expected impact of this rule on small entities.

DoD will also consider comments from small entities concerning the existing regulations in subparts affected by this rule in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 610. Interested parties must submit such comments separately and should cite 5 U.S.C. 610 (DFARS Case 2012-D015) in correspondence.