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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 124 / Thursday, July 1, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
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h Specific Questions for Comment To understand the exact scope of the impact of this rule and how this impact could be affected in subsequent rulemaking, GSA welcomes input on the following assumptions and questions regarding anticipated impact on affected parties.
Assumption 1: As previously stated, GSA assumes that most Federal lessors maintaining high-security leased space or Federal lessors that are competing for solicitations for high-security leased space are already familiar with the majority of the requirements of this rule, or, similarly, will not find the requirements of this interim rule as anything significantly more than what is currently expected. GSA previously implemented ownership disclosures requirements through internal policy,48
GSAs Request for Lease Proposals or solicitations, GSAs guidance through its public-facing Leasing Desk Guide,49
Leasing Alerts and Lease Acquisition Circulars.50
Question 1: If this assumption is not valid, to what extent are the requirements in this rule significantly different from what GSA has currently been doing as part of its procedures for foreign ownership disclosure?
Assumption 2: GSA estimates that this rule will impact mainly the Federal lessor industry.
Question 2: If this assumption is not valid, is there another industrys to which this rule will cause significant impact or disruption?
Assumption 3: The impact of this rule will not significantly change the way current Federal lessors interact with GSA or other Federal agencies with independent leasing authority.
Question 3: If this assumption is not valid, to what extent will this rule change how you interact with GSA or other Federal agencies with independent leasing authority?
48 In March 2017, GSAs Office of Leasing issued Leasing Alert LAFY1706 requiring Lease Contracting Officers LCOs to determine whether the ownership of leased space is identified as a foreign-owned entity and to notify the client agency in such instances, so that the agency can take any needed security mitigation measures. The Leasing Alert outlined the procedures to make this determination which involved a review of the entitys SAM registration; the Leasing Alert also required this review for all lease procurements and novations, regardless of the Facility Security Level FSL.
In October 2018, GSA added a Foreign Ownership and Financing Representation, to be included with all Request for Lease Proposals RLP
packages issued for prospectus-level lease projects.
This paper representation required the offeror to confirm both foreign ownership and foreign financing.
49 GSA Leasing Desk Guide Desk Guide.
50 GSAs Leasing Alerts and Lease Acquisition Circulars LAC.

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Assumption 4: The impact of this rule will not significantly reduce the number of lessors competing for High-Security Leased Space solicitations.
Question 4: If this assumption is not valid, to what extent will this rule reduce the likelihood of youlessor to the Federal Government for HighSecurity Leased Spacefrom not competing for future solicitations of High-Security Leased Space?
Assumption 5: The compliance activities, and associated costs, estimated by GSA are stated at Section VI.e.
Question 5: Is there a compliance activity that GSA has failed to consider?
If so, please specify the activity, explain the activity, describe the impact of the activity, and please estimate the annual cost of such activities and subsequent yearly activity costs.
Question 6: Is there a compliance activity that GSA has noted that is significantly understated in terms of annual and subsequent costs? If so, which compliance activity and what specifically was understated? Please explain how the compliance activity should be estimated.
Assumption 7: Other agencies relying upon GSAs leasing authority have similar profiles of high security leases in their inventory.
Question 7: What information is available to better estimate high security leases in other agency inventories?
Assumption 8: GSA sufficiently detailed all compliance requirements for the rule.
Question 9: What additional information or guidance do you view as necessary to effectively comply with this rule?
Question 10: What other challenges do you anticipate facing in effectively complying with this rule?
Question 11: What thoughts or observations would you like to share regarding foreign ownership, including beneficial ownership, for GSA to consider in subsequent rule-making?
VII. Executive Order 12866 and 13563
Executive Orders E.O.s 12866 and 13563 direct agencies to assess all costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives and, if regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that maximize net benefits including potential economic, environmental, public health and safety effects, distributive impacts, and equity. E.O. 13563 emphasizes the importance of quantifying both costs and benefits, of reducing costs, of harmonizing rules, and of promoting flexibility. This interim rule has been reviewed in accordance with E.O. 12866

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Section 6b and determined by OMB to be a significant regulatory action. See Section VI for a regulatory impact analysis of the rule.
VIII. Congressional Review Act The Congressional Review Act, 5
U.S.C. 801 et seq., as amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally provides that before a major rule may take effect, the agency promulgating the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule, to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the United States. A major rule cannot take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register. This interim rule has been reviewed and determined by OMB
not to be a major rule under 5 U.S.C.
8042.
IX. Regulatory Flexibility Act The General Services Administration 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 performed, and is summarized as follows:
The purpose of this interim rule is to implement certain requirements outlined in the Secure Federal LEASEs Act Pub. L. 116
276 into the GSAR.
The objective of the rule is to prescribe appropriate policies and procedures to address the risks of foreign ownership of Government-leased real estate and requires the disclosure of ownership information for high-security space leased to accommodate a Federal agency. One new representation and one new clause have been developed to support these policies and procedures: GSAR
552.27033 representation and GSAR
552.27034 clause. Both will be required in all novations, solicitations and contracts for leased space that 1 will be occupied by Federal employees for nonmilitary activities;
and 2 have a facility security level of III, IV, or V.
A new representation requirement at GSAR
552.27033 will be incorporated into all new lease awards, options exercised for current leases, lease extensions, and ownership changes for high-security leased space.
Except where otherwise provided, the statutory disclosure requirements shall apply with respect to any lease or novation agreement entered into on or after June 30, 2021, involving high-security leased space.
That includes new, replacing, succeeding, and superseding leases, renewal options, extensions, and novations. This includes actions involving small entities. The representation requires offerors for highsecurity leased space to identify whether the immediate owner, highest-level owner, or an entity involved in the financing of the lease is foreign-owned. If so, they must represent
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