FedGovContracts.com

Barry McVay's FEDERAL CONTRACTS DISPATCH

DATE: February 10, 2000

FROM: Barry McVay, CPCM

SUBJECT: Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS); Delegation of Class Deviation Authority

SOURCE: Federal Register, February 10, 2000, Vol. 65, No. 28, page 6551

AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DOD)

ACTION: Final Rule

SYNOPSIS: DOD is amending the DFARS to authorize the senior procurement executives for the Army, Navy, the Air Force, and the directors of the Defense Commissary Agency and the Defense Logistics Agency, to approve certain class deviations from the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the DFARS. Also the title of the "Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology" (USD(AT)) is changed to "Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics" (USD(AT&L)), in accordance with Section 911 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (Public Law 106-65).

EFFECTIVE DATE: February 10, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Kathleen Fenk, Defense Acquisition Regulations Council, PDUSD(AT&L)DP(DAR), IMD 3D139, 3062 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-3062, 703-602-0296, fax: 703-602-0350. Cite DFARS Case 99-D027.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: The changes pertaining to the delegation of the class deviation authority are being made to DFARS Subpart 201.4, Deviations from the FAR:

• Paragraph (1) of DFARS 201.402, Policy, is revised to state that the Director of Defense Procurement, Office of the USD(AT&L), is the approval authority for all individual and class deviations from FAR 3.104 or DFARS 203.104, Procurement Integrity; FAR Subpart 27.4 or DFARS 227.4, Rights in Data and Copyrights; FAR Part 30 or DFARS Part 230, Cost Accounting Standards Administration; FAR Subpart 31.1, Applicability, or DFARS Subpart 231.1, Applicability (Contract Cost Principles); FAR Subpart 31.2 or DFARS Subpart 231.2, Contracts with Commercial Organizations; or FAR Part 32, Contract Financing (except Subparts 32.7 and 32.8 and the payment clauses prescribed by FAR Subpart 32.1), or DFARS Part 232, Contract Financing (except DFARS Subparts 232.7 and 232.8). Previously, the Director of Defense Procurement was not authorized to approve individual deviations to FAR Part 30 or DFARS Part 230, but the Director of Defense Procurement was the approval authority for all class deviations.
  
  
• DFARS 201.403, Individual Deviations, which previously had merely referenced the approval requirements in DFARS 201.402, is revised to stat that "individual deviations, except those described in 201.402(1) and paragraph (2) of this section, must be approved in accordance with the department/agency plan prescribed by 201.304(4) [Agency Control and Compliance Procedures]." Paragraph (2) of DFARS 201.403 addresses when a contracting officer outside the United States may deviate from prescribed nonstatutory FAR and DFARS clauses.
  
  
• DFARS 201.404, Class Deviations, which previously had merely referenced the approval requirements in DFARS 201.402, is revised to state that class deviations for which the Director of Defense Procurement is not the approval authority (that is, those not listed in DFARS 201.402(1)) may be approved by "the senior procurement executives for the Army, Navy, and Air Force, and the Directors of the Defense Commissary Agency and the Defense Logistics Agency" if the class deviation does not "have a significant effect beyond the internal operating procedures of the department or agency; have a significant cost or administrative impact on contractors or offerors; diminish any preference given small business concerns by the FAR or DFARS; or extend to requirements imposed by statute or by regulations of other agencies such as the Small Business Administration and the Department of Labor."

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barry McVay at 703-451-5953 or by e-mail to BarryMcVay@FedGovContracts.com.

Return to the Dispatches Library.

Return to the Main Page.