voluntarily exclude itself from participation in Government contracting/subcontracting for a specified period or because of a Notice of Proposal to Debar.

(4) Any official. When information is discovered which may indicate potential criminal or civil fraud activity, such information must be referred promptly to the EPA Office of Inspector General.

(5) Debarring Official's responsibility. The Debarring Official shall:

(i) Review referrals from the HCA together with the HCA's recommendations, if any, and determine whether further consideration by the Debarring Official is warranted and take such actions as are required by FAR subpart 9.4;

(ii) Obtain the HCA's recommendation prior to reaching a voluntary exclusion settlement with a Contractor in lieu of debarment;

(iii) Promptly notify the HCA of Contractors with whom a settlement in lieu of debarment has been reached under which the Contractor voluntarily excludes itself from or restricts its participation in Government contracting/subcontracting for a specified period; and of Contractors who have received a Notice of Proposal to Debar. (b) [Reserved]

1509.407 Suspension.

1509.407-3 Procedures.

The procedures prescribed in 1509.4063(a) shall be followed under conditions which appear to warrant suspension of a Contractor.

Subpart 1509.5—Organizational Conflicts of Interests

1509.500 Scope of subpart.

This subpart establishes EPA policy and procedures for identifying, evaluating, and resolving organizational conflicts of interest. EPA's policy is to avoid, neutralize, or mitigate organizational conflicts of interest. If EPA is unable to neutralize or mitigate the effects of a potential conflict of interest, EPA will disqualify the prospective contractor or will terminate the con

tract when potential or actual conflicts are identified after award.

[49 FR 8839, Mar. 8, 1984; 49 FR 24734, June 15, 1984]

1509.502 Applicability.

This subpart applies to all EPA contracts except agreements with other Federal agencies. However, this subpart applies to contracts with the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the 8(a) program.

1509.503 Waiver.

The Head of the Contracting Activity may waive any general rule or procedure of this subpart by determining that its application in a particular situation would not be in the Government's interest. Any request for waiver must be in accordance with FAR 9.503. The Assistant General Counsel for Contracts and Information Law shall be consulted on such waiver requests.

[49 FR 8839, Mar. 8, 1984, as amended at 61 FR 29316, June 10, 1996]

1509.505-4 Obtaining access to proprietary information.

Contractors gaining access to confidential business information of other companies in performing advisory services for EPA shall comply with the special requirements of 40 CFR part 2 and the provisions of their contracts relating to the treatment of confidential business information.

1509.505-70 Information sources.

(a) Disclosure. Prospective EPA Contractors responding to solicitations or submitting unsolicited proposals shall provide information to the Contracting Officer for use in identifying, evaluating, or resolving potential organizational conflicts of interest. The submittal may be a certification or a disclosure, pursuant to paragraph (a) (1) or (2) of this section.

(1) If the prospective contractor is not aware of any information bearing on the existence of any organizational conflict of interest, it may so certify.

(2) Prospective contractors not certifying in accordance with paragraph (a)(1) of this section must provide a disclosure statement which describes concisely all relevant facts concerning any

past, present, or planned interests relating to the work to be performed and bearing on whether they, including their chief executives, directors, or any proposed consultant or subcontractor, may have a potential organizational conflict of interest.

(b) Failure to disclose information. Any prospective contractor failing to provide full disclosure, certification, or other required information will not be eligible for award. Nondisclosure or misrepresentation of any relevant information may also result in disqualification from award, termination of the contract for default, or debarment from Government contracts, as well as other legal action or prosecution. In response to solicitations, EPA will consider any inadvertent failure to provide disclosure certification as a "minor informality" (as explained in

FAR

ticular acquisition (see Section 1509.507-1(a));

(2) When the procurement is with another Federal agency (however, the provision is included in solicitations issued under the Small Business Administration's (SBA) 8(a) program);

and

(3) When the procurement is accomplished through simplified acquisition procedures, use of the provision is optional.

[49 FR 8839, Mar. 8, 1994. Redesignated and amended at 59 FR 18619, Apr. 19, 1994; 61 FR 57337, Nov. 6, 1996; 62 FR 33572, June 20, 1997] 1509.507-2 Contract clause.

(a) The Contracting Officer shall inIclude the clause at 1552.209-71 in all contracts in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold and, as appropriate, in simplified acquisition procedures. Contracts for other than Superfund work shall include Alternate I in this clause in lieu of paragraph (e).

(b) The Contracting Officer shall inIclude the clause at 1552.209-73 in all solicitations and contracts for Superfund work in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold and, as appropriate, in small purchases for Superfund work.

(c) The Contracting Officer shall inIclude the clause at 1552.209-74 or its alternates in the following solicitations and contracts for Superfund work in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold and, as appropriate, in simplified acquisition procedures for Superfund work. The Contracting Officer shall include the clause at 1552.20974 in all Alternative Remedial Contracting Strategy (ARCS) solicitations and contracts, except Site Specific solicitations and contracts. Alternate I shall be used in all Time Critical Rapid Response (TCRR) solicitations and contracts, except site specific solicitations and contracts. The term "TCRR" in the Limitation of Future Contracting clauses includes not only TCRR solicitations and contracts but Emergency Response Cleanup Services (ERCS) and other emergency type solicitations and contracts. TCRR pilot scale studies are included in the term "treatability studies". Alternate II shall be used in all Technical Assistance Team (TAT) solicitations and contracts. Alternate III shall be used in all Environmental

Services Assistance Team (ESAT) solicitations and contracts. Alternate IV shall be used in all Technical Enforcement Support (TES) solicitations and contracts. Alternate V shall be used in all Superfund Headquarters Support solicitations and contracts. The Contracting Officer is authorized to modify paragraph (c) of Alternate V to reflect any unique limitations applicable to the program requirements. Alternate VI shall be used in all Site Specific solicitations and contracts.

(d) The Contracting Officer shall insert the clause at 1552.209-75 in Superfund solicitations and contracts in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold, where the solicitation or contract does not include (EPAAR) 48 CFR 1552.211-74, Work Assignments, Alternate I, or a similar clause requiring conflict of interest certifications during contract performance. This clause requires an annual conflict of interest certification from contractors when the contract does not require the submission of other conflict of interest certifications during contract performance. Contracts requiring annual certifications include: Site Specific contracts, the Contract Laboratory Program (CLP), and the Sample Management Office (SMO) contracts. The annual certification requires a contractor to certify that all organizational conflicts of interest have been reported, and that its personnel performing work under EPA contracts or relating to EPA contracts have been informed of their obligation to report personal and organizational conflicts of interest to the Contractor. The annual certification shall cover the one-year period from the date of contract award for the initial certification, and a one-year period starting from the previous certification for subsequent certifications. The certification must be received by the Contracting Officer no later than 45 days after the close of the certification period covered.

[59 FR 18619, Apr. 19, 1994, as amended at 61 FR 57337, Nov. 6, 1996]

PART 1511-DESCRIBING AGENCY NEEDS

Sec.

1511.000 Scope of part.

assignments are used. For Superfund contracts, except for contracts which require annual conflict of interest certificates (e.g., Site Specific contracts, the Contract Laboratory Program (CLP), and Sample Management Office (SMO) contracts), the Contracting Officer shall use the clause with either Alternate I or Alternate II. Alternate I shall be used for contractors who have at least 3 years of records that may be searched for certification purposes. Alternate II shall be used for contractors who do not have at least three years of records that may be searched.

1511.011-75 Working files.

Contracting Officers shall insert the contract clause at 1552.211-75 in all applicable EPA contracts where accurate working files on all work documentation is required in the performance of the contract.

1511.011-76 Legal analysis.

Contracting Officers shall insert the clause at 1552.211-76 when it is determined that the contract involves legal analysis.

1513.000 Scope of part.

This part prescribes EPA policies and procedures for the acquisition of supplies, nonpersonal services, and construction from commercial sources, the aggregate amount of which does not exceed the simplified acquisition threshold.

Subpart 1513.1-General

1513.170 Competition exceptions and justification for sole source simplified acquisition procedures.

1513.170-1 Contents of sole source justifications.

The program office submitting the procurement request must submit, as a separate attachment, a brief written statement in support of sole source acquisitions exceeding the micro-purchase threshold. The statement must cite one or more of the circumstances in FAR 6.302 and the necessary facts to support each circumstance. Although program offices may not cite the authority in FAR 6.302-7, the public interest may be used as a basis to support a sole source acquisition. If the acquisition has been synopsized as a notice of

proposed sole source acquisition, the statement must include the results of the evaluation of responses to the synopsis.

Subpart 1513.4-Imprest Fund
[Reserved]

Subpart 1513.5-Purchase Orders 1513.505 Purchase order and related forms.

Contracting Officers may use the EPA Form 1900-8, Procurement Request/Order, in lieu of Optional Forms 347 and 348 for individual purchases prepared in accordance with the instructions printed on the reverse thereof (see 1553.213-70).

[61 FR 57338, Nov. 6, 1996. Redesignated at 62 FR 33572, June 20, 1997]

(a) It is the general policy of the Environmental Protection Agency that Contractor or vendor prescribed leases or maintenance agreements for equipment shall not be executed.

(b) The Contracting Officer shall, where appropriate, insert the clause at 1552.213-70, Notice to Suppliers of Equipment, in orders for purchases or leases of automatic data processing equipment, word processing, and similar types of commercially available equipment for which vendors, as a matter of routine commercial practice, have developed their own leases and/or customer service maintenance agreements.

194-198 D-01--2