9000-0037 Supporting Statement

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

INFORMATION COLLECTION

FOR PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION

OMB Control No. 9000-0037, PRESOLICITATION NOTICE AND RESPONSE

A. Justification.

1. Administrative requirements. Presolicitation notices are used by the Government for several reasons, one of which is to aid prospective contractors in submitting proposals without undue expenditure of effort, time, and money. The Government also uses the presolicitation notices to control printing and mailing costs. The presolicitation notice response is used to determine the number of solicitation documents needed and to assure that interested offerors receive the solicitation documents. The FAR sections affected are: 4.5; 14.205; 15.201(c) and 36.213-2.

2. Uses of information. The responses are placed in the contract file and referred to when solicitation documents are ready for mailing. After mailing, the responses remain in the contract file and become a matter of record.

3. Consideration of information technology. FedBizOpps is an electronic method for publicizing contract opportunities.

4. Efforts to identify duplication. This requirement is being issued under the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) which has been developed to standardize Federal procurement practices and eliminate unnecessary duplication.

5. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other entities, describe methods used to minimize burden. The burden applied to small businesses is the minimum consistent with applicable laws, Executive orders, regulations, and prudent business practices.

6. Describe consequence to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently. Collection of information on a basis other than solicitation-by-solicitation is not practical.

7. Special circumstances for collection. Collection is generally consistent with guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.6.

8. Efforts to consult with persons outside the agency. A 60 day notice was published in the Federal Register at 82 FR 40001, on August 23, 2017. No comments were received. A 30-day notice was published in the Federal Register at 82 FR 58205 on December 11, 2017.

9. Explanation of any decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees. Not applicable.

10. Describe assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents. This information is disclosed only to the extent consistent with prudent business practices and current regulations.

11. Additional justification for questions of a sensitive nature. No sensitive questions are involved.

12 & 13. Estimated total annual public hour and cost burden. The number of presolicitation notices issued government-wide in the last 365 days (as of August 11, 2017) per FedBizOpps was 7952. We estimate that three respondents on average would reply to a presolicitation notice. Seventy percent of the respondents would be replying to a presolicitation notice for the first time. Based on this info, we feel that the estimated respondents would number 16,699. We also estimate that each respondent on average would reply to three presolicitation notices a year. Time required to read and prepare information is estimated at 5 minutes per completion. The estimated cost per response is $3.52.

Estimated respondents/yr..................................16,699

Responses annually x 3

Total annual responses....................................50,097

Estimated hrs/response x .08

Estimated total burden/hrs.................................4,008

Average wage .............................................x $44*

Estimated cost to the public............................$176,352

*Based on the OPM GS-11/step 10 salary ($32.59 an hour) plus 36.25 percent burden, rounded to the nearest dollar, or $44.00 an hour. The burden rate used is that mandated by OMB memorandum M-08-13 for use in public-private competition, as updated by OMB for the current year. Reference Salary Table 2017-GS, Effective January 2017, found at www.opm.gov).

14. Estimated cost to the Government. Time required for Governmentwide review is estimated at 10 minutes per response.

Annual Reporting Burden and Cost

Total annual responses....................................50,097

Review time per response x .167

Total burden hours.........................................8,366

Average wages and overhead ....x $44*

Total Government cost...................................$368,104

*Based on the OPM GS-11/step 10 salary ($32.59 an hour) plus 36.25 percent burden, rounded to the nearest dollar, or $44.00 an hour. The burden rate used is that mandated by OMB memorandum M-08-13 for use in public-private competition, as updated by OMB for the current year. Reference Salary Table 2017-GS, Effective January 2017, found at www.opm.gov).

15. Explain reasons for program changes or adjustments reported in Item 13 or 14. The information collection burden hour requirement in the FAR has increased due to the additional number of presolicitation notices issued by the Federal Government in FedBizOpps. This had the effect of expanding the number of respondents who would be affected by the collection.

16. Outline plans for published results of information collections. Results will not be tabulated or published.

17. Approval not to display expiration date. Not applicable.

18. Explanation of exception to certification statement. Not applicable.

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods.

Statistical methods are not used in this information collection.

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