Federal Acquisition Regulation; Federal Acquisition Circular 2024-02; Small Entity Compliance Guide

AGENCY:

Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACTION:

Small Entity Compliance Guide (SECG).

SUMMARY:

This document is issued under the joint authority of DoD, GSA, and NASA. This Small Entity Compliance Guide has been prepared in accordance with section 212 of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996. It consists of a summary of the rule appearing in Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2024–02, which amends the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). Interested parties may obtain further information regarding this rule by referring to FAC 2024–02, which precedes this document.

DATES:

December 22, 2023.

ADDRESSES:

The FAC, including the SECG, is available at https://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For clarification of content, contact the analyst whose name appears in the table below. Please cite FAC 2024–02 and the FAR Case number. For information pertaining to status or publication schedules, contact the Regulatory Secretariat Division at 202–501–4755 or GSARegSec@gsa.gov. An asterisk (*) next to a rule indicates that a regulatory flexibility analysis has been prepared.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A summary for the FAR rule follows. For the actual revisions and/or amendments made by this FAR rule, refer to the specific subject set forth in the document preceding this summary. FAC 2024–02 amends the FAR as follows:

Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects (FAR Case 2022–003)

This final rule amends the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement Executive Order (E.O.) 14063, Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects. E.O. 14063 expands the definition of “construction,” raises the threshold for a large-scale construction project from $25 million to $35 million and establishes a series of exceptions to the PLA requirements. Additionally, the E.O. mandates that Federal Government agencies require the use of project labor agreements (PLAs) for large-scale Federal construction projects, where the total estimated cost of the construction contract to the Government is $35 million or more, unless an exception applies. The final rule is not expected to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities participating on a project that requires a PLA because the E.O. limits the requirement for mandatory PLAs to projects exceeding $35 million, unless an exception applies.