The two councils that amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation published seven new rules in the Federal Register today.
The one I found the most interesting was this rule, which finalizes an interim rule encouraging food service contractors to donate “wholesome excess food to nonprofit organizations that provide assistance to food-insecure people in the United States.”
That its publication comes during the holiday season, when we’re all more aware of the needs of local food banks, is likely a coincidence. But it serves as a nice reminder that in these tough economic times, when demand is outpacing donations in many places, the federal government and its contractors have the power to help all year long, avoiding waste on more than one level.
Kudos to the two FAR councils for finalizing this. Although it is not a contract requirement, I hope many contractors follow it anyway.
In addition to the food donation rule, the FAR issued the following:
- A rule finalizing the requirement for all new information technology products agencies purchase to comply with Internet Protocol Version 6.
- A rule prohibiting the use of government purchase card to pay vendors that owe money (taxes, fines, etc.) to the government. This rule does NOT apply to purchases below the $3,000 micro-purchase threshold, which are the majority of purchase card transactions.
- A rule about what travel costs and a rule about what retirement costs contractors can charge the government for.
- A rule that repeals the Bush-era requirement for contractors to post information about the right for employees to not join unions.
- And a rule that institutes some technical amendments.
