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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 12 / Thursday, January 21, 2021 / Proposed Rules
policies, regulations, and standards of the executive agency.
We propose to modify the citation 38
U.S.C. 8153 to 38 U.S.C. 81518153 to correctly cite the complete authority of the statute.
We propose to add the citation of 41
U.S.C. 1121c3 which speaks to the authority of an executive agency under another law to prescribe policies, regulations, procedures, and forms for procurement that are subject to the authority conferred in the cited section, as well as other sections of Title 41 as shown therein.
We also propose to add 41 U.S.C
1303, an updated positive law codification to reflect additional authority of the VA as an executive agency to issue regulations that are essential to implement Governmentwide policies and procedures in the agency, as well as to issue additional policies and procedures required to satisfy the specific needs of the VA.
In 873.101, Policy, we propose to revise the single paragraph to explain more clearly the types of health-care resources that may be procured from VA-affiliated institutions under the authority of 38 U.S.C. 7302, and to explain when and how such resources that are commercial services may be procured from sources that are not affiliated with the Department under 38
U.S.C. 7302.
In 873.102, Definitions, we propose to revise the definition of Commercial service to remove the phrase except construction exceeding $2,000 and architect-engineer services since it is not a limitation contained in 38 U.S.C.
8153.
We propose to revise 873.103, Priority sources, by removing the unnecessary phrase Without regard to FAR
8.002a2 in the first sentence. We also propose to add a statement regarding the applicability of 38 U.S.C.
8127d to this part by inserting a reference to revised policy regarding the priority of AbilityOne covered services as a mandatory source set forth at 808.002 a2 which implements Pub.
L. 116155, the Department of Veterans Affairs Contracting Preference Consistency Act of 2020. AbilityOne covered services remain a priority source under VAAR part 873 as set forth in 808.002a2. We also propose to insert a reference to 873.107, Socioeconomic programs.
In VAAR section 873.104, Competition requirements, we propose to clarify that health-care resources may be acquired on a sole source basis from an institution affiliated with the Department under 38 U.S.C. 7302 if the resource is a commercial service, the
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use of medical equipment or space, or research. Such sole source contracts are not required to be publicized as required by FAR 5.101, nor do they require written justification under 41
U.S.C. 3304e or under FAR part 6. It would also clarify that when acquiring health-care resources from institutions or organizations not affiliated with the VA, then the Department shall permit all responsible sources, as appropriate, to submit a bid, proposal, or quotation for the resources to be procured and to provide for the consideration by the Department of bids, proposals, or quotations so submitted. Such actions shall also be publicized as otherwise required by VAAR section 873.108.
We propose to revise VAAR section 873.105, Acquisition planning, to delete the first paragraph as unnecessary; to redesignate the remaining paragraphs as a, b, and c; to limit the need to assemble an acquisition team to those actions with non-affiliated sources described in VAAR section 873.104b;
and to comply with the requirements of the Veterans First preferences in VAAR
subpart 819.70 and section 873.103
when performing market research.
We propose to revise the title of VAAR section 873.106 to read Exchanges with industry before receipt of proposals. We also propose to remove the reference to FAR part 10 as unnecessary, to add a sentence requiring that any exchange of information must be consistent with procurement integrity requirements in FAR 3.104, to replace the name Central Contractor Registration with that of the current system, System for Award Management, and to require research of the VAs Vendor Information Pages VIP database to help identify potential VIP-listed and verified Veteran-owned small business concerns.
In section 873.107, Socioeconomic programs, we propose to revise and clarify the policy set forth in this section to require implementation of the VA
Rule of Two in accordance with VAAR
subpart 819.70, and make necessary clarifications regarding priority sources and application of other small business programs. These clarifications and revisions are necessary to fully implement the requirements under various U.S. Federal court cases and new legislation, including the U.S.
Supreme Court decision of June 16, 2016, in Kingdomware Technologies, Inc. v. United States, and the recently enacted Public Law 116155, the Department of Veterans Affairs Contracting Preference Consistency Act of 2020, signed on August 8, 2020.
We propose to modify section 873.108, Publicizing contract actions, to
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require publication of only competitive acquisitions, to delete a reference to part 813 to avoid confusion, to remove repetitive language from section 873.104a, and to make other minor edits.
In VAAR section 873.109, General requirements for acquisition of healthcare resources, we propose to revise the section to conform to the requirement of the deviation Class deviation from VA
Acquisition Regulation VAAR
815.303Responsibilities, of December 15, 2016, designating the contracting officer to be the Source Selection Authority SSA unless the HCA has appointed another person to perform that role; to refer to both Performance Work Statements and Statements of Work when discussing specifications; and to correct a cross reference to read 873.111d1ii.
We propose to revise section 873.110, Solicitation provisions, to capitalize all clauses and provisions referenced in the section; to revise paragraph a to clarify the basis for using provision 852.271
70, Late Offers, in solicitations; to correct the reference in b to Alternative Negotiation Techniques to cite 873.111d1, and the reference in c to 873.111d1ii; to revise paragraphs d and e to incorporate the appropriate capitalization of the provisions; and to remove from f the prescription of clause 852.20770, Report of Employment Under Commercial Activities, as that clause is obsolete since the A76 program is not currently effective.
In section 873.111, Acquisition strategies for health-care resources, we propose to make several minor edits to the text; to remove the opening phrase Without regard to FAR 13.003 or 13.500a, as unnecessary; to insert the acronym RFQ and the word subparts paragraph a1; to change the spelling of the word Part in a2
to lower case; to delete existing paragraph c as unnecessary; and to redesignate the remaining paragraphs as c and d.
We propose to revise section 873.113, Exchanges with offerors, to delete in paragraph c the repetitive use of the word perceived; and to correct the citation in paragraph e to 873.111d1
regarding alternative negotiation techniques.
We propose to make two minor edits to the last sentence in paragraph a in 873.115, Proposal revisions, to insert the word all after the word safeguard to stress the need for protecting proposals and revisions, and to delete as unnecessary the word thereto.
In section 873.116, Source selection decision, we propose to replace the term
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