Department of Energy Acquisition Regulation (DEAR)

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY <CFR>48 CFR Chapter 9</CFR> <RIN>RIN 1991-AC17</RIN> <SUBJECT>Department of Energy Acquisition Regulation (DEAR)</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Department of Energy. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) is publishing a final rule comprehensively revising its Acquisition Regulation in order to update and streamline the policies, procedures, provisions and clauses that are applicable to the Department's contracts. This rulemaking updates or eliminates coverage that is obsolete or that unnecessarily duplicates the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and retains only that coverage which either implements or supplements the FAR for the award and administration of the DOE's contracts. The rule adds several new clauses and amends several existing clauses in order to promote more uniform application of the DOE's contract award and administration policies. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> This rule is effective December 13, 2024. </EFFDATE> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Mr. Jason Taylor, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Management, Office of Acquisition Management at (301) 518-2257 or by email at <E T="03">jason.taylor@hq.doe.gov.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. Background</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Renumbering</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Discussion of Comments and Changes From the Proposed Rule</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Section-by-Section Analysis</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">V. Regulatory Review</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Review Under Executive Orders 12866, 13563 and 14094</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Review Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Review Under the Paperwork Reduction Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Review Under the National Environmental Policy Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Review Under Executive Order 13132</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">F. Review Under Executive Order 12988</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">G. Review Under the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">H. Review Under the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 1999</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">I. Review Under Executive Order 12630</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">J. Review Under the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2001</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">K. Review Under Executive Order 13211</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">L. Congressional Notification</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VI. Approval of the Office of the Secretary</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Background</HD> The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), 48 CFR chapter 1, is the primary regulation for use by all executive agencies in their acquisition of supplies and services with appropriated funds. The Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (OFPP Act), 41 U.S.C. 1702, authorizes the issuance of agency-specific acquisition regulations that implement or supplement the FAR. Pursuant to this authority, DOE and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) promulgated the Department of Energy Acquisition Regulation (DEAR), set forth at 48 CFR chapter 9, to provide uniform acquisition policies and procedures for DOE and NNSA. This final rule to update the DEAR is issued under that same authority. Over the past decade, DOE has worked to improve the way it conducts business with its contractors by strengthening contract management policies and practices and implementing new processes throughout the Department complex. In the spirit of alleviating unnecessary regulatory burdens while remaining prudent stewards of taxpayer resources, DOE undertook a review of its acquisition framework, including the DEAR. As a result of that process, DOE issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) on October 26, 2023, proposing amendments to the DEAR to update or remove obsolete provisions, incorporate class deviations, streamline policies and procedures where appropriate, and implement ten new clauses which would standardize clause language and eliminate the need for various local clauses in current use (88 FR 73644). In response to comments received on the NOPR, DOE has made several changes to the proposed language, as discussed in more detail in section III of this document but left the majority of the proposed language unchanged. This final rule amends the DEAR to correct inconsistencies, remove provisions which unnecessarily duplicate coverage contained in the FAR, delete outdated information, and renumber DEAR provisions where required, in order to comport with the FAR numbering. The final rule includes revisions to 48 CFR parts 901, 902, 903, 904, 908, 909, 912, 915, 916, 917, 922, 923, 925, 926, 927, 931, 932, 933, 935, 936, 941, 942, 945, 951, 952, and 970. <HD SOURCE="HD1">II. Renumbering</HD> As discussed in the proposed rule, DOE is renumbering existing and proposed DEAR sections that have section numbers containing two dashes ( <E T="03">e.g.,</E> section 915.404-4-70), in order to conform with the FAR numbering system as outlined at 48 CFR 1.105-2. DOE is also making conforming changes to other sections of the DEAR as necessary to implement the new numbering. Finally, DOE is also renumbering existing DEAR sections in subparts 923 and 970.23 as necessary to conform with the recent restructuring of FAR Part 23 accomplished under FAR Case 2022-006. Conforming changes have been made in other sections of the DEAR as necessary to implement the new numbering. The following table provides an overview of the redesignations: <GPOTABLE COLS="2" OPTS="L2,tp0,i1" CDEF="s50,r50"> <TTITLE> </TTITLE> <CHED H="1">Previous section</CHED> <CHED H="1">New section</CHED> <ROW> <ENT I="22">Subpart 901.3:</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">901.301.70</ENT> <ENT> 901.301-70</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="22">Subpart 915.4:</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">915.404-2</ENT> <ENT> 915.404-2000</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">915.404-2-70</ENT> <ENT> 915.404-2700</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">915.404-4</ENT> <ENT> 915.404-4000</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">915.404-4-70</ENT> <ENT> 915.404-4700</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">915.404-4-70-1</ENT> <ENT> 915.404-4710</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">915.404-4-70-2</ENT> <ENT> 915.404-4720</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">915.404-4-70-3</ENT> <ENT> 915.404-4730</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">915.404-4-70-4</ENT> <ENT> 915.404-4740</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">915.404-4-70-5</ENT> <ENT> 915.404-4750</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">915.404-4-70-6</ENT> <ENT> 915.404-4760</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">915.404-4-70-7</ENT> <ENT> 915.404-4770</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">915.404-4-70-8</ENT> <ENT> 915.404-4780</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">915.404-4-71</ENT> <ENT> 915.404-4800</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">915.404-4-71-1</ENT> <ENT> 915.404-4810</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">915.404-4-71-2</ENT> <ENT> 915.404-4820</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">915.404-4-71-3</ENT> <ENT> 915.404-4830</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">915.404-4-71-4</ENT> <ENT> 915.404-4840</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">915.404-4-71-5</ENT> <ENT> 915.404-4850</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">915.404-4-71-6</ENT> <ENT> 915.404-4860</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">915.404-4-72</ENT> <ENT> 915.404-4900</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="22">Subpart 923.1:</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">923.101</ENT> <ENT> 923.170</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">923.102</ENT> <ENT> 923.171</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">923.103</ENT> <ENT> 923.172</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01" O="xl">Subpart 923.5:</ENT> <ENT>Subpart 926.5:</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">923.500</ENT> <ENT> 926.500</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">923.570</ENT> <ENT> 926.570</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">923.570-1</ENT> <ENT> 926.570-1</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">923.570-2</ENT> <ENT> 926.570-2</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">923.570-3</ENT> <ENT> 926.570-3</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01" O="xl">Subpart 923.9:</ENT> <ENT>Subpart 923.4:</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">923.903</ENT> <ENT> 923.404</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="22">Subpart 927.2:</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">927.206-1</ENT> <ENT> 927.202</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">927.206-2</ENT> <ENT> 927.202-5</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">927.207</ENT> <ENT> 927.203</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">927.207-1</ENT> <ENT> 927.203-1</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="22">Subpart 927.3:</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">927.300</ENT> <ENT> 927.302</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">927.302</ENT> <ENT> 927.302-70</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="22">Subpart 927.4:</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">927.402-2</ENT> <ENT> 927.402</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">927.404</ENT> <ENT> 927.404-70</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">927.404-70</ENT> <ENT> 927.404-71</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="22">Subpart 970.04:</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">970.0407-1</ENT> <ENT> 970.0407-100</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">970.0407-1-1</ENT> <ENT> 970.0407-110</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">970.0407-1-2</ENT> <ENT> 970.0407-120</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">970.0407-1-3</ENT> <ENT> 970.0407-130</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="22">Subpart 970.15:</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">970.1504-1</ENT> <ENT> 915.1504-100</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">970.1504-1-1</ENT> <ENT> 970.1504-101</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">970.1504-1-2</ENT> <ENT> 970.1504-102</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">970.1504-1-3</ENT> <ENT> 970.1504-103</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">970.1504-1-4</ENT> <ENT> 970.1504-104</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">970.1504-1-5</ENT> <ENT> 970.1504-105</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">970.1504-1-6</ENT> <ENT> 970.1504-106</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">970.1504-1 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 841k characters. 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