NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (NASA)
Statement of Regulatory Priorities
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) aim is to increase human understanding of the solar system and the universe that contains it, and to improve American aeronautics ability. NASA's basic organization consists of the Headquarters, nine field Centers, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (a Federally Funded Research and Development Center), and several component installations which report to Center Directors. Responsibility for overall planning, coordination, and control of NASA programs is vested in NASA Headquarters located in Washington, DC.
NASA continues to implement programs according to its 2014 Strategic Plan. The Agency's mission is to "Drive advances in science, technology, aeronautics, and space exploration to enhance knowledge, education, innovation, economic vitality, and stewardship of the Earth." The FY 2014 Strategic Plan, (available at http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/
files/files/2014 NASA Strategic Plan.pdf), guides NASA's program activities through a framework of the following three strategic goals:
In the decades since Congress enacted the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, NASA has challenged its scientific and engineering capabilities in pursuing its mission, generating tremendous results and benefits for humankind. NASA will continue to push scientific and technical boundaries in pursuit of these goals.
International Regulatory Cooperation
As the President noted in Executive Order 13609, "international regulatory cooperation, consistent with domestic law and prerogatives and U.S. trade policy, can be an important means of promoting" public health, welfare, safety, and our environment as well as economic growth, innovation, competitiveness, and job creation. Accordingly, in Executive Order 13609, the President requires each executive agency to include in its Regulatory Plan a summary of its international regulatory cooperation activities that are reasonably anticipated to lead to significant regulations.
In August 2009, the President directed a broad-based interagency review of the U.S. export control system, with the goal of strengthening national security by focusing efforts on controlling the most critical products and technologies and by enhancing the competitiveness of US manufacturing and technology sectors. While NASA does not have any regulations implementing this initiative, the Agency does serve on the interagency review team in a consultative and supportive role for this process, along with the Department of Defense, the Department of State and the Department of Commerce.
In addition, NASA serves as one of the signatories to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). The FAR at 48 CFR chapter 1, contains procurement regulations that apply to NASA and other Federal agencies. Pursuant to 41 U.S.C. section 1302 and FAR 1.103(b), the FAR is jointly prepared, issued, and maintained by the Secretary of Defense, the Administrator of General Services, and the Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, under their several statutory authorities. NASA implements and supplements FAR requirements through the NASA FAR Supplement (NFS), 48 CFR chapter 18. NASA finalized the entire NFS rewrite initiative this year to eliminate unnecessary and burdensome regulations, clarify regulatory language, and simplify processes. More than 1.9 million hours of information collection requirements (ICRs) were identified as no longer required and duplicative of active FAR-level ICRs. Specifically, OMB control numbers 2700-0085, 2700-0086, and 2700-0087 were discontinued as part of the NFS rewrite initiative. The Agency will continue to analyze the NFS to implement procurement-related statutes, Executive orders, NASA initiatives, and Federal procurement policy that streamline current processes and procedures.
Retrospective Review of Existing Regulations
Pursuant to section 6 of Executive Order 13579 "Regulation and Independent Regulatory Agencies" (Jul. 11, 2011), NASA regulations associated with its retrospective review and analysis are described in the Agency's final retrospective plan of existing regulations. NASA's final plan and updates can be found at http://www.nasa.gov/open, under the Open Government News. Below describes the rulemakings that were recently completed or are near completion.
Rulemakings that were streamlined and reduced unjustified burdens
1. Discrimination on Basis of Handicap [14 CFR 1251] - NASA is finalizing its section 504 regulations to incorporate changes to the definition of disability required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Amendments Act of 2008, include an affirmative statement of the longstanding requirement for reasonable accommodations in programs, services, and activities, include a definition of direct threat and a provision describing the parameters of the existing direct threat defense to a claim of discrimination, clarify the existing obligation to provide auxiliary aids and services to qualified individuals with disabilities, update the methods of communication that recipients may use to inform program beneficiaries of their obligation to comply with section 504 to reflect changes in technology, adopt updated accessibility standards applicable to the design, construction, and alteration of buildings and facilities, establish time periods for compliance with these updated accessibility standards, provide NASA with access to recipient data and records to determine compliance with section 504, and make administrative updates to correct titles. These amendments will reduce administrative burdens imposed on the public.
2. NASA FAR Supplement: Safety and Health Measures and Mishap Reporting [48 CFR 1852.233] - NASA is finalizing its regulations to revise a current clause related to safety and health measures and mishaps reporting by narrowing the application of the clause, resulting in a decrease in the reporting burden on contractors while reinforcing the measures contractors at NASA facilities must take to protect the safety of their workers, NASA employees, the public, and high value assets These amendments will streamline and reduce reporting requirements imposed on the public.
3. NASA FAR Supplement: Drug and Alcohol Free Workplace and Mission Critical Systems Personnel Reliability Program [48 CFR 1823, 1846, and 1852] - NASA amended its regulations to remove requirements related to the discontinued Space Flight Mission Critical System Personnel Reliability Program (PRP) and to revise requirements related to contractor drug and alcohol testing. These amendments eliminated contractors' costs and burden for implementing PRP [80 FR 60552].
4. Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards [2 CFR 1800] - NASA amended is regulations to incorporate requirements for the use of the Federal Awardee Performance & Integrity Information Systems, in accordance with OMB's uniform guidance. These amendments are expected to reduce duplication and risk associated with administering grants and cooperative agreements; the chance of errors, and allows for the timely closeout of grants and cooperative agreements [80 FR 54701].
5. NASA Far Supplement: Denied Access to NASA Facilities [48 CFR 1852.242-72] - NASA amended its regulations to remove "Observance of Legal Holidays" and added in its place a new clause entitled, "Denied Access to NASA Facilities," because the October 2013 Government shutdown revealed a need for NASA to be specific and differentiate between conditions when contractor employees may be denied access to their work location in a NASA facility. These amendments standardize procedures and provide greater clarity to contractors on conditions when contractors may be denied access to NASA facilities due to a Government shutdown [80 FR 52642].
6. NASA FAR Supplement #3 - NASA amended its regulations to eliminate unnecessary regulatory text, streamline overly-burdensome regulations, clarify language, and simplify processes where possible [80 FR 36719].
Rulemakings that was modified, streamlined, expanded, or repealed
7. Space Flight [14 CFR 1214] - NASA is proposing to amend its regulations to remove language that refers to the retired Space Shuttle Program and to clarify language for other ongoing programs that requires some of this rule to remain in place.
8. NASA Protective Services [14 CFR 1204] - NASA is amending its traffic enforcement regulation to correct citations, and to clarify the regulation's scope, policy, responsibilities, procedures, and violation descriptions.
9. Processing of Monetary Claims [14 CFR 1261] - NASA is amending its regulations to change the amount to collect installment payments from $20,000 to $1000 to align with Title II, Claims of the United States Government, section 3711(a)(2) Collection and Compromise. This regulation will also be amended to include the rules for the use of contractors for debt collection and new provisions allowing for debts to be transferred to the Treasury Department for direct collection, as prescribed by Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act of 1990.
10. Duty Free Entry of Space Articles [14 CFR 1217] - NASA amended its regulations to remove language that refers to the Space Shuttle Program and to clarify language for other ongoing programs that require some of this rule to remain in place [80 FR 45864].
11. Removal of Obsolete Regulations [14 CFR 1216] - NASA amended its regulations to remove regulatory text that is covered in internal NASA policies and requirements [80 FR 30352].
12. Administrative Updates [14 CFR 1207, 1245, 1262, 1263, 1264, & 1266] NASA amended its regulations to make administrative updates to correct spelling citations [80 FR 42028].
Rulemaking that is of particular concerns to small business
13. NASA Capitalization Threshold [48 CFR 1845 and 1852] - NASA issued an interim rule amending the NASA FAR Supplement to increase the NASA capitalization threshold from $100,000 to $500,000. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommends that capital asset thresholds should be periodically reevaluated to ensure their continuing relevance and that they are established at a level that would not omit a significant amount of assets from the balance sheet. Accordingly, the NASA Office of the Chief Financial Officer conducted a review of the current NASA capital asset threshold of $100,000 and determined an increase in the capital asset threshold to $500,000 was warranted. NASA expects this rule to benefit NASA contractors by reducing some of the administrative burden associated with financial reporting of NASA property in the custody of contractors. Of the 568 NASA contracts awarded in 2014, approximately 114 contracts (20%) that required reporting of Government property were awarded to small businesses. [80 FR 51957].
Abstracts for other regulations that will be amended or repealed between October 2015 and October 2016 are reported in the fall 2015 edition of Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulation actions.