Voglio sapere a riguardo di…

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 12 / Thursday, January 21, 2021 / Proposed Rules commercial service or the use of medical equipment or space, and is to be acquired from an entity not described in paragraph a1 of this section, contracting officers shall permit all responsible sources, as appropriate, to submit a bid, proposal, or quotation for the resource to be procured, and provide for the consideration by VA of bids, proposals, or quotations so submitted.
38 U.S.C. 8153a3B
2 Acquisition of health-care resources identified in paragraph b1
of this section shall be publicized as otherwise required by 873.108.
Moreover, for any such acquisition described in paragraph b1 of this section to be conducted on a sole source basis, the contracting officer must prepare a justification that includes the information and is approved at the levels prescribed in FAR part 6.303. 38
U.S.C. 8153a3D

jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with PROPOSALS

873.105

Acquisition planning.

a For the acquisition of health-care resources consisting of commercial services or the use of medical equipment or space from non-affiliated institutions as described in 873.104b, where the acquisition is expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold SAT, an acquisition team must be assembled. The team shall be tailored by the contracting officer for each particular acquisition expected to exceed the SAT. The team should consist of a mix of staff, appropriate to the complexity of the acquisition, and may include fiscal, legal, administrative, and technical personnel, and such other expertise as necessary to assure a comprehensive acquisition plan. The team should include the small business advocate representing the contracting activity or a higher-level designee. At a minimum, the team must include the contracting officer and a representative of the Office of General Counsel and the requesting service. 38 U.S.C. 8153
b The contracting officer or the acquisition team, as appropriate, must conduct market research, including satisfying the requirements of VAAR
808.002a2 and 873.107, Socioeconomic programs, and a VA
Rule of Two determination. It is the responsibility of the contracting officer to ensure the requirement is appropriately publicized and information about the procurement opportunity is adequately disseminated as set forth in 873.107. 38 U.S.C. 8153
c In lieu of the requirements of FAR
part 7 addressing documentation of the acquisition plan, the contracting officer may conduct an acquisition strategy meeting with cognizant offices to seek approval for the proposed acquisition
VerDate Sep<11>2014

15:58 Jan 19, 2021

Jkt 253001

approach. If a meeting is conducted, briefing materials shall be presented to address the acquisition plan topics and structure in FAR 7.105. Formal written minutessummarizing decisions, actions, and conclusionsshall be prepared and included in the contract file, along with a copy of the briefing materials. 38 U.S.C. 8153
873.106 Exchanges with industry before receipt of proposals.

a Exchange of information among all interested parties involved in an acquisition described in 873.104b, from the earliest identification of a requirement through release of the solicitation, is encouraged. Any exchange of information must be consistent with procurement integrity requirements in FAR 3.104. The nature and extent of exchanges between the Government and industry shall be a matter of the contracting officers discretion for acquisitions not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold or the acquisition teams discretion, as coordinated by the contracting officer. 38 U.S.C. 8153
b Techniques to promote early exchange of information include 1 Industry or small business conferences;
2 Public hearings;
3 Market research in accordance with FAR 10.002b, which shall be followed to the extent that the provisions therein would provide relevant information;
4 One-on-one meetings with potential offerors;
5 Presolicitation notices;
6 Draft requests for proposals RFPs;
7 Requests for information RFIs;
8 Presolicitation or preproposal conferences;
9 Site visits;
10 Electronic notices e.g., internet;
and 11 Use of the System for Award Management SAM see http
www.sam.gov/.
12 Researching VAs Vendor Information Pages VIP database at https www.vip.vetbiz.va.gov/.
873.107

Socioeconomic programs.

a The Veterans First Contracting Program in VAAR subpart 819.70 takes precedence over other small business programs. 38 U.S.C. 81278128
b1 Except for contract actions subject to 808.002a2, competitive contract actions not otherwise excluded under this part shall be set-aside for VIP-listed service-disabled veteranowned small business SDVOSB
concerns or veteran-owned small business VOSB concerns if the
PO 00000

Frm 00017

Fmt 4702

Sfmt 4702

6285

contracting officer has a reasonable expectation that two or more eligible small business concerns owned and controlled by Veterans will submit offers and that the award can be made at a fair and reasonable price that offers best value to the United States. 38
U.S.C. 81278128
2 The contracting officer shall proceed with the acquisition under the simplified procedures of this part considering priority sources see 808.008a2 and 873.103 and preferences for other small businesses in accordance with 819.20370 and 819.7004. 38 U.S.C. 8153
c Without regard to FAR
13.003b1, 19.203, 19.502, the head of the contracting activity HCA may approve a waiver from the requirement for any set-aside for small business participation when a waiver is determined to be in the best interest of the Government. 38 U.S.C. 8153
d The contracting officer shall ensure priorities for veteran-owned small businesses are implemented within the VA hierarchy of small business program preferences, established by 38 U.S.C. 8127 and 8128, as implemented in VAAR subpart 819.70, the Veterans First Contracting Program. Specifically, the contracting officer shall consider preferences for verified service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses SDVOSBs first, then preferences for verified veteran-owned small businesses VOSBs. These priorities will be followed by preferences for other small business concerns in accordance with FAR
19.203, 819.20370 and 819.7004. 38
U.S.C. 8153
873.108

Publicizing contract actions.

a All competitive acquisitions under this part, except as provided in paragraph b of this section, for dollar amounts in excess of the SAT, shall be publicly announced utilizing a medium designed to permit all responsible sources, as appropriate under the provisions of this part, to submit a bid, proposal, or quotation as appropriate.
1 The publication medium may include the internet, including the Governmentwide point of entry GPE, and local, regional or national publications or journals, as appropriate, at the discretion of the contracting officer, depending on the complexity of the acquisition.
2 Notice shall be published for a reasonable time prior to issuance of a solicitation, depending on the complexity or urgency of the acquisition, in order to afford potential offerors a reasonable opportunity to respond. If the notice includes a
E:FRFM21JAP1.SGM

21JAP1