Proposed Collection, Comment Request Entitled Small Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program

OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET

Office of Federal Procurement Policy

Proposed Collection, Comment Request Entitled Small Business

Competitiveness Demonstration Program

AGENCY: Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), Office of

Management and Budget (OMB).

ACTION: Notice of request for public comment regarding the

reinstatement, with changes, of a previously approved collection (OMB

Clearance 9000-0100) for which approval is now being requested by OFPP.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

(44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), OFPP is notifying the public concerning a

request to reinstate, with changes, a previously approved information

collection requirement concerning the Small Business Competitiveness

Demonstration Program.

DATES: Comments may be submitted on or before November 30, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Linda G. Williams, Deputy Associate

Administrator, Office of Federal Procurement Policy, 202-395-3302.

ADDRESSES: Comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect

of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing

this burden, should be submitted to the Administrator, Office of

Federal Procurement Policy, Room 352, OEOB, Washington, DC 20503.

Please cite the Small Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Purpose

The Small Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program Act of

1988 (Title VII, Public Law 100-656), as amended, established the Small

Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program (Program). The Program

was established (1) to demonstrate whether or not small businesses in

certain industry groups can compete successfully on an unrestricted

basis for Federal contracts, and (2) to demonstrate whether or not

targeted goaling and management technques can expand Federal contract

opportunities for small businesses in industry categories where such

opportunities historically have been low despite adequate numbers of

small business contractors in the economy. Section 401 of the Small

Business Reauthorization Act of 1997 (Pub. L. 105-135) extends the

Program indefinitely.

Under the current Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), small

businesses are

[[Page 51963]]

required only to represent their status (i.e., whether small, small

disadvantaged, or women-owned small businesses). Section 714(c) of the

Small Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program Act requires each

participating agency to collect data pertaining to the size as well as

the status of the small business concern receiving any award for

services in the four designated industry groups and products or

services in the agencies' ten targeted industry categories. The size of

the small businesses is collected in terms of the number of employees

or dollar volume of sales. The number of employees is based on the

average of the pay periods for the last twelve months. The volume of

sales is based on the average annual gross revenue for the last three

fiscal years (see FAR 19.101). The size information is collected during

the solicitation process as part of the representation requirement.

This data will be used to evaluate the small business impact of the

Program.

The former information collection requirements set forth in section

714(b) of the Small Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program Act,

pertaining to the simplified system to collect data on the

participation of small business concerns as subcontractors under prime

contracts for architectural and engineering (A&E) services, expired on

September 30, 1997. Accordingly, this proposed reinstatement excludes

that data collection requirement.

B. Annual Reporting Burden

Public reporting burden for this collection of information is

estimated to average five minutes per response, including the time to

gather the information and complete the solicitation provision. The

annual reporting burden is estimated as follows: Respondents, 603,524;

responses per respondent, 1; total annual responses, 603,524;

preparation hours per response, .08333, and total response burden

hours, 50,273.

Obtaining Copies of Proposals

A copy of the Paperwork justification is available from the Office

of Federal Procurement Policy, Room 352, OEOB, Washington, DC 20503.

Please cite the Small Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program in

all correspondence.

Deidre A. Lee,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 98-26058 Filed 9-28-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3110-01-P