DoD is proposing to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement to implement section 1823 and paragraph (b) of section 1813 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017.  These sections amend the DoD Pilot Mentor-Protégé Program (the Program) as follows:

• The definition of "affiliation" between mentor firms and protégé firms is revised to follow the Small Business Administration (SBA) definition of "affiliation," under which mentors and protégés are not considered to be affiliated solely because of their mentor-protégé relationship. Affiliation affects SBA's determination of the size of a business concern (i.e., whether it meets the size standard for small business for a particular industry).
• The requirements associated with affiliation are revised to specify that a mentor firm may not enter into a mentor-protégé agreement with a protégé firm under the Program if SBA has made a determination of affiliation. In addition, if DoD has reason to believe, based on SBA's regulations regarding affiliation, that the mentor firm is affiliated with the protégé firm, then DoD will request that SBA make a determination regarding affiliation.
• The types of assistance that a mentor firm may obtain for a protégé firm are revised to include assistance obtained from women's business centers described in section 29 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656).
• The types of assistance that a mentor firm may provide to a protégé firm are revised to include assistance in understanding Federal contract regulations, including the Federal Acquisition Regulation and the DFARS, after awarding a subcontract under the Program.

This rule will add new types of developmental assistance for mentors to provide to their protégés, who will benefit from that assistance. However, mentor firms may receive credit toward the goals in their small business subcontracting plan for the funds they spend on developmental assistance for their protégé firms.