Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Assistance Procedures

Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Assistance Procedures- Eligible Industries On October 1, 2008, SBA published in the Federal Register a proposed rule on The Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Assistance Procedures--Eligible Industries (73 FR 57014). The proposed rule sought comments from the public on a data issue involving the Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contract Assistance Procedures, which were finalized on October 1, 2008 (73 FR 56940). Specifically, SBA was seeking comments on two data sets: (1) The Central Contractor Registration (CCR) data set which was used in the RAND report to determine the representation of WOSBs in Federal procurement in the various industries, and (2) a non-public Survey of Business Owners (SBO) data set from the Economic Census, which was not previously used in the RAND report to determine the representation of WOSBs in Federal procurement in the various industries. This request for comments was intended to stimulate dialogue on available data sets and would be evaluated to determine which data set will provide the soundest basis to identify industries in which WOSBs are underrepresented in Federal procurement. The original comment period was from October 1, 2008, through October 31, 2008. There is significant Congressional and public interest in extending the comment period. In addition, SBA is reviewing the relevance of the standard for disparity studies discussed in the Federal Circuit's decision in Rothe Development Corporation v. Department of Defense. Therefore, SBA is reopening the comment period until March 13, 2009. SBA believes that all affected parties would find it beneficial to have more time to review the proposed rule and prepare their comments. SUMMARY: SBA is reopening the comment period for an additional 60 days. DATES: Comments on the proposed rule on The Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Assistance Procedures--Eligible Industries, must be received on or before March 13, 2009. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by 3245-AF80, by any of the following methods: Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Mail, Hand Delivery/Courier: Dean Koppel, Assistant Director, Policy, Planning and Research, Office of Government Contracting, (202) 205-6460, U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 3rd Street, SW., Washington, DC 20416. All comments will be posted on http://www.regulations.gov. If you wish to submit confidential business information (CBI) as defined in the User Notice at http://www.regulations.gov, please submit the comments to Dean Koppel and highlight the information that you consider to be CBI and explain why you believe this information should be held confidential. SBA will make a final determination as to whether the comments will be published or not. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dean Koppel, Assistant Director, Policy, Planning and Research, Office of Government Contracting, (202) 205-6460. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Authority: 15 U.S.C. 634. Calvin Jenkins, Acting Associate Administrator for Government Contracting and Business Development.	Defense procurement case cited in delay of women's contracting program By Elizabeth Newell The Small Business Administration has become one of the first agencies to explore whether a recent court ruling striking down the legality of the Defense Department's small disadvantaged business program has broader ramifications. SBA announced on Monday that it was reopening the comment period for the long-delayed women's contracting program and extending it for 60 days, partially in light of the ruling. The extension will allow stakeholders additional time to submit formal comments on a September 2008 revised plan to declare women-owned small businesses under-represented in 31 industries and allow set-aside contracts for women-owned firms in those industries. SBA said that by granting the extension it was acquiescing to requests from Congress and members of the public, and noted that agency officials were assessing the November U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's Rothe Development Corp. v. Department of Defense decision and its potential relevance to the women's program. Full story: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=41788&dcn=e_gvet