CFR Part 51-2
PART 51-2COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND
OR SEVERELY DISABLED
§ 51-2.1 Membership.
§ 51-2.2 Powers and responsibilities.
§ 51-2.3 Notice of proposed addition or deletion.
§ 51-2.4 Determination of suitability.
§ 51-2.5 Committee decision.
§ 51-2.6 Reconsideration of Committee
decision.
§ 51-2.7 Fair market price.
§ 51-2.8 Procurement list.
§ 51-2.9 Oral presentations by interested persons
at Committee meetings.
§ 51-2.1 Membership.
Under the JWOD Act, the Committee is composed of 15 members appointed
by the President. There is one representative from each of the following
departments or agencies of the Government: The Department of Agriculture,
the Department of Defense, the Department of the Army, the Department
of the Navy, the Department of the Air Force, the Department of
Education, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice,
the Department of Labor, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and
the General Services Administration. Four members are private citizens:
One who is conversant with the problems incident to the employment
of blind individuals; one who is conversant with the problems incident
to the employment of persons with other severe disabilities; one
who represents blind individuals employed in qualified nonprofit
agencies for the blind; and one who represents persons with severe
disabilities (other than blindness) employed in qualified nonprofit
agencies employing persons with severe disabilities.
§ 51-2.2 Powers and responsibilities.
The Committee is responsible for carrying out the following functions
in support of its mission of providing employment and training opportunities
for persons who are blind or have other severe disabilities and,
whenever possible, preparing those individuals to engage in competitive
employment:
(a) Establish rules, regulations, and policies to assure effective
implementation of the JWOD Act.
(b) Determine which commodities and services procured by the Federal
Government are suitable to be furnished by qualified nonprofit agencies
employing persons who are blind or have other severe disabilities
and add those items to the Committee's Procurement List. Publish
notices of addition to the Procurement List in the Federal Register.
Disseminate information on Procurement List items to Federal agencies.
Delete items no longer suitable to be furnished by nonprofit agencies.
Authorize and deauthorize central nonprofit agencies and nonprofit
agencies to accept orders from contracting activities for the furnishing
of specific commodities and services on the Procurement List.
(c) Determine fair market prices for items added to the Procurement
List and revise those prices in accordance with changing market
conditions to assure that the prices established are reflective
of the market.
(d) Monitor nonprofit agency compliance with Committee regulations
and procedures.
(e) Inform Federal agencies about the JWOD Program and the statutory
mandate that items on the Procurement List be purchased from qualified
nonprofit agencies, and encourage and assist entities of the Federal
Government to identify additional commodities and services that
can be purchased from qualified nonprofit agencies. To the extent
possible, monitor Federal agencies' compliance with JWOD requirements.
(f) Designate, set appropriate ceilings on fee paid to these central
nonprofit agencies by nonprofit agencies selling items under the
JWOD Program, and provide guidance to central nonprofit agencies
engaged in facilitating the distribution of Government orders and
helping State and private nonprofit agencies participate in the
JWOD Program.
(g) Conduct a continuing study and evaluation of its activities
under the JWOD Act for the purpose of assuring effective and efficient
administration of the JWOD Act. The Committee may study, independently,
or in cooperation with other public or nonprofit private agencies,
problems relating to:
(1) The employment of the blind or individuals with other severe
disabilities.
(2) The development and adaptation of production methods which would
enable a greater utilization of these individuals.
(h) Provide technical assistance to the central nonprofit agencies
and the nonprofit agencies to contribute to the successful implementation
of the JWOD Act.
(i) Assure that nonprofit agencies employing persons who are blind
will have priority over nonprofit agencies employing persons with
severe disabilities in furnishing commodities.
§ 51-2.3 Notice of proposed addition or
deletion.
At least 30 days prior to the Committee's consideration of the
addition or deletion of a commodity or service to or from the Procurement
List, the Committee publishes a notice in the Federal Register announcing
the proposed addition or deletion and providing interested persons
an opportunity to submit written data or comments on the proposal.
Interested persons submitting comments in bound form should also
submit an unbound copy that is capable of being legibly photocopied.
§ 51-2.4 Determination of suitability.
(a) For a commodity or service to be suitable for addition to the
Procurement List, each of the following criteria must be satisfied:
(1) Employment potential. The proposed addition must demonstrate
a potential to generate employment for persons who are blind or
have other severe disabilities.
(2) Nonprofit agency qualifications. The nonprofit agency
(or agencies) proposing to furnish the item must qualify as a nonprofit
agency serving persons who are blind or have other severe disabilities,
as set forth in part 51-4 of this chapter.
(3) Capability. The nonprofit agency (or agencies) desiring
to furnish a commodity or service under the JWOD Program must satisfy
the Committee as to the extent of the labor operations to be performed
and that it will have the capability to meet Government quality
standards and delivery schedules by the time it assumes responsibility
for supplying the Government.
(4) Level of impact on the current contractor for the commodity
or service. (i) In deciding whether or not a proposed addition
to the Procurement List is likely to have a severe adverse impact
on the current contractor for the specific commodity or service,
the Committee gives particular attention to:
(A) The possible impact on the contractor's total sales, including
the sales of affiliated companies and parent corporations. In addition,
the Committee considers the effects of previous Committee actions.
(B) Whether that contractor has been a continuous supplier to the
Government of the specific commodity or service proposed for addition
and is, therefore, more dependent on the income from such sales
to the Government.
(ii) If there is not a current contract for the commodity or service
being proposed for addition to the Procurement List, the Committee
may consider the most recent contractor to furnish the item to the
Government as the current contractor for the purpose of determining
the level of impact.
(b) In determining the suitability of a commodity or service for
addition to the Procurement List, the Committee also considers other
information it deems pertinent, including comments on a proposal
published in the Federal Register to add the commodity or service
to the Procurement List and information submitted by Government
personnel and interested persons. Because the Committee's authority
to establish fair market prices is separate from its authority to
determine the suitability of a commodity or service for addition
to the Procurement List, the Committee does not consider comments
on proposed fair market prices for commodities and services proposed
for addition to the Procurement List to be pertinent to a suitability
determination.
§ 51-2.5 Committee decision.
The Committee considers the particular facts and circumstances
in each case in determining if a commodity or service is suitable
for addition to the Procurement List. When the Committee determines
that a proposed addition is likely to have a severe adverse impact
on a current contractor, it takes this fact into consideration in
deciding not to add the commodity or service to the Procurement
List, or to add only a portion of the Government requirement for
the item. If the Committee decides to add a commodity or service
in whole or in part to the Procurement List, that decision is announced
in the Federal Register with a notice that includes information
on the effective date of the addition.
§ 51-2.6 Reconsideration of Committee
decision.
(a) The Committee may reconsider its decision to add items to the
Procurement List if it receives pertinent information which was
not before it when it initially made the decision. Unless otherwise
provided by the Committee, requests for reconsideration from interested
persons must be received by the Committee within 60 days following
the effective date of the addition in question. A request for reconsideration
must include the specific facts believed by the interested person
to justify a decision by the Committee to modify or reverse its
earlier action.
(b) In reconsidering its decision, the Committee will balance the
harm to the party requesting reconsideration if the item remains
on the Procurement List against the harm which the nonprofit agency
or its employees who are blind or have other severe disabilities
would suffer if the item were deleted from the Procurement List.
The Committee may also consider information bringing into question
its conclusions on the suitability criteria on which it based its
original decision as factors weighing toward a decision to delete
the item, and information concerning possible harm to the Government
and the JWOD Program as factors weighing toward confirmation of
the original decision.
§ 51-2.7 Fair market price.
(a) The Committee is responsible for determining fair market prices,
and changes thereto, for commodities and services on the Procurement
List. The Committee establishes an initial fair market price at
the time a commodity or service is added to the Procurement List.
This initial price is based on Committee procedures, which permit
negotiations between the contracting activity and the nonprofit
agency which will produce or provide the commodity or service to
the Government, assisted by the appropriate central nonprofit agency.
If agreed to by the negotiating parties, the initial price may be
developed using other methodologies specified in Committee pricing
procedures.
(b) Prices are revised in accordance with changing market conditions
under Committee procedures, which include negotiations between contracting
activities and producing nonprofit agencies, assisted by central
nonprofit agencies, or the use of economic indices, changes in nonprofit
agency costs, or other methodologies permitted under these procedures.
(c) Recommendations for initial fair market prices, or changes
thereto, shall be submitted jointly by the contracting activities
and nonprofit agencies concerned to the appropriate central nonprofit
agency. After review and analysis, the central nonprofit agency
shall submit the recommended prices and methods by which prices
shall be changed to the Committee, along with the information required
by Committee pricing procedures to support each recommendation.
The Committee will review the recommendations, revise the recommended
prices where appropriate, and establish a fair market price, or
change thereto, for each commodity or service which is the subject
of a recommendation.
§ 51-2.8 Procurement list.
(a) The Committee maintains a Procurement List which includes the
commodities and services which shall be procured by Government departments
and agencies under the JWOD Act from the nonprofit agency(ies) designated
by the Committee. Copies of the Procurement List, together with
information on procurement requirements and procedures, are available
to contracting activities upon request.
(b) For commodities, including military resale commodities, the
Procurement List identifies the name and national stock number or
item designation for each commodity, and where appropriate, any
limitation on the portion of the commodity which must be procured
under the JWOD Act.
(c) For services, the Procurement List identifies the type of service
to be furnished, the Government department or agency responsible
for procuring the service, and, where appropriate, the activity
or item to be serviced.
(d) Additions to and deletions from the Procurement List are published
in the Federal Register as they are approved by the Committee.
§ 51-2.9 Oral presentations by interested
persons at Committee meetings.
(a) Upon written request from an interested person, that person
may, at the discretion of the Committee Chair, be permitted to appear
before the Committee to present views orally. Generally, only those
persons who have raised significant issues which, if valid, could
influence the Committee's decision in the matter under consideration
will be permitted to appear.
(b) When the Chair has approved the appearance before the Committee
of an interested person who has made a written request:
(1) The name of the spokesperson and the names of any other persons
planning to appear shall be provided to the Committee staff by telephone
at least three working days before the meeting.
(2) In the absence of prior authorization by the Chair, only one
person representing a particular agency or organization will be
permitted to speak.
(3) Oral statements to the Committee and written material provided
in conjunction with the oral statements shall be limited to issues
addressed in written comments which have previously been submitted
to the Committee as the result of notice of proposed rulemaking
in the Federal Register.
(4) Written material to be provided in conjunction with the oral
presentation and an outline of the presentation shall be submitted
to the Committee staff at least three working days before the meeting.
(c) The Committee may also invite other interested persons to make
oral presentations at Committee meetings when it determines that
these persons can provide information which will assist the Committee
in making a decision on a proposed addition to the Procurement List.
Terms of appearance of such persons shall be determined by the Chair.
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