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The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is proposing to amend and update its VA Acquisition Regulation (VAAR) in phased increments to revise or remove any policy superseded by changes in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), to remove procedural guidance internal to VA into the VAAM, and to incorporate any new agency specific regulations or policies. These changes seek to streamline and align the VAAR with the FAR and remove outdated and duplicative requirements and reduce burden on contractors. The VAAM incorporates the VAAR as well as internal agency acquisition policy. VA will rewrite certain parts of the VAAR and VAAM, and as VAAR parts are rewritten, will publish it in the Federal Register. To minimize the number of rules published, VA will combine relatable topics. This Proposed Rule will revise VAAR parts 812 and 813, as well as affected part 852.

Statement of Need:

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is proposing to revise the VAAR to add new policy or regulatory requirements and to remove any guidance that is applicable only to VA’s internal operating processes or procedures. FAR 1.302, Limitations, requires that agency acquisition regulations shall be limited only to those necessary to implement the FAR policies and procedures within the agency and to any additional information needed to supplement the FAR to satisfy the specific needs of the agency. The needed changes include proposing to delete paragraphs when adequately addressed in the FAR, add new subsections to clarify that FAR applies to specific parts, and to remove sections such as the section that deals with internal procedures for obtaining a waiver to tailor solicitations, to be inconsistent with customary commercial practice.

Summary of the Legal Basis:

40 U.S.C. 121(c), 41 U.S.C. 1707  

Alternatives:

The revised VAAR will have 47 parts, grouped into 19 packages. VA did consider grouping all of the parts into one package, which would have resulted in one regulatory action. However, this approach or alternative was tried several years ago and the project ended up being terminated because of the complexity, time spent correcting errors, legal review, and inconsistency amongst the acquisition offices and other agencies. Another alternative would be to do nothing, which would undermine VA’s mission of simplifying the acquisition process and making it easier for potential vendors to do business with the VA.

Anticipated Costs and Benefits:

There are no transfer costs, savings and/or information collection burden costs/savings associated with this rulemaking. VA is merely adding existing and current regulatory requirements to the VAAR parts and removing any guidance that is applicable only to VA’s internal operation processes or procedures and placing that guidance in the Veterans Affairs Acquisition Manual (VAAM).

Risks: