AGC Preparing Recovery Act Comments to FAR Council

On March 31, 2009, the FAR Councils issued a series of interim rules amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) in order to implement several key provisions set forth in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.On a finding of "urgent and compelling reasons," the interim rules were issued without any opportunity for prior public comment.  The FAR Councils will, however, take into consideration public comments submitted on or before June 1, 2009 in formulation of the final rule. Inorder to facilitate a dialogue between AGC members and the government, AGC hasset up a special portal located at the AGC Legislative Action Center and highlighted the key issues that must be addressed:

• Recovery Act - Buy American Requirements for Construction Material
• Recovery Act - Publicizing ContractActions
• Recovery Act - Reporting Requirements
• Recovery Act - Whistleblower Protections
• Recovery Act - GAO/IG Access

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) also issued its own guidance on April 23establishing government-wide guidance and standard award terms for agencies to include in financial assistance awards (namely, grants, cooperative agreements and loans) as part of their implementation of the Recovery Act. Public comments are due by June 22:

• Recovery Act - OMB Interim Guidance

AGC has been working to solicit comments from members and is preparing to submit comments on behalf of the entire association by the June 1 deadline.