Browse regulations

Internal DOL procurement procedures establishing roles, delegation of authority, and coordination requirements for handling protests filed with GAO and appeals to the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals. Defines contracting officer responsibilities, nondelegable HCA authorities for award approvals and GAO reporting, and mandatory referrals to OIG for fraud.

These internal procedural rules ensure fair, consistent, and accountable government procurement by establishing clear authority chains, required legal coordination, and oversight integration (GAO, OIG, CBCA). Eliminating this structure would concentrate power in unelected bureaucrats, increase risk of arbitrary decisions and fraud, and undermine competitive bidding integrity—directly harming taxpayers and honest contractors. The administrative costs are negligible compared to the systemic benefits of transparency and rule-bound decision-making in spending public funds.

Department of Labor procurement regulations requiring multi-level approval for advance/unusual progress payments, pre-approval for payment suspensions, and mandatory inclusion of specific clauses (LoGO and invoice submission) in all contracts.

Creates unnecessary bureaucratic delays and administrative costs, disproportionately harming small businesses with slower payments and rigid contractual requirements that fail to accommodate diverse contracting scenarios.

The regulation requires the Head of Contracting Activity (HCA) or designee to perform functions in FAR 28.106-6(c) and mandates that contracting officers refer evidence of criminal or fraudulent activities by individual sureties to the Office of Inspector General (OIG).

Deletion would reduce fraud oversight in federal contracting, increasing taxpayer risk. The rule ensures mandatory, consistent reporting of suspicious activity to the OIG, which is critical for accountability and preventing losses from fraudulent bonds.

A Department of Labor procurement regulation mandating that contracting officers include the Privacy Breach Notification Requirements clause (DOLAR 2952.224-70) in virtually all solicitations and contracts, with exemption only for commercially available off-the-shelf items.

Imposes uniform compliance costs across all contractors without risk-based tailoring, disproportionately burdens small businesses, and duplicates state-level breach notification regimes already governing many contractors. Federal procurement should streamline requirements rather than expand mandatory clauses that increase overhead and deter market participation.

Establishes the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) within DOL's procurement structure and mandates that all acquisition officials prioritize opportunities for small and disadvantaged businesses in DOL contracting, in compliance with FAR and internal directives.

Creates costly bureaucratic overhead, distorts merit-based procurement by inserting size and demographic preferences, increases compliance burdens on acquisition officials, and perpetuates the very barriers to entry it claims to address—helping incumbent firms navigate set-asides rather than removing underlying regulations that disproportionately harm small businesses.

Specifies OSPE's procedures for unsolicited proposals: Director of S&A as point of contact, compliance with FAR 15.6, exclusion of proposals resembling planned procurements, and mandatory cost-sharing/savings for research proposals.

Deletion would risk waste, fraud, and missed savings by eliminating structured evaluation and cost controls. The rule ensures proposals are properly vetted, conflicts avoided, and taxpayer value prioritized via mandatory cost-sharing — safeguards hard to replicate without formal requirements.

Requires inclusion of IPv6 compliance clause in all federal IT solicitations and awards above the micro-purchase threshold, mandating that acquired products and services support Internet Protocol Version 6.

Deletion would waste taxpayer dollars on technology that rapidly becomes obsolete and non-interoperable. IPv6 is the necessary successor to exhausted IPv4 addressing; without this requirement, federal systems risk being unable to communicate with the modern internet, requiring costly emergency upgrades later. The compliance burden is minimal since virtually all contemporary IT products already support IPv6 as industry standard.

Delegates to the Senior Procurement Executive (SPE) authority to waive FAR subpart 9.5 debarment/suspension rules, requires written HCA requests with conflict analysis, and mandates insertion of organizational conflict of interest clause in service contracts.

This internal agency procedure duplicates existing FAR frameworks, adding bureaucratic layers (SPE, HCA, Solicitor, Agency Head reviews) that delay legitimate contracting and increase administrative costs without demonstrable benefit. The waiver process itself invites regulatory capture by creating a centralized gatekeeper for exceptions.

Two federal contracting requirements: (1) Senior Procurement Executive (SPE) must approve contract consolidations per FAR 7.107-2, adding a layer of bureaucratic review; (2) Mandatory inclusion of DOLAR 2952.207-70 telework clause in all service and construction contracts, dictating contractor personnel work arrangements.

These rules exemplify unnecessary regulatory layering that inflates procurement costs and reduces efficiency. The SPE consolidation approval creates a bottleneck that delays awarding contracts and raises costs—passed to taxpayers. The mandatory telework clause forces one-size-fits-all workplace mandates on private contractors, distorting their labor management and adding compliance burden, disproportionately harming small contractors with fewer resources to navigate complex clauses. Both provisions reflect bureaucratic mission creep: the government dictates terms of work for private entities without clear evidence that these mandates achieve outcomes that market competition and existing labor laws wouldn't handle better at lower cost. The unseen damage includes reduced competition (smaller firms drop out), higher contract prices, and slower delivery of services to the public.

Delegates to the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management the authority to determine exemptions from public synopsis requirements for federal contract actions under FAR 5.202(b), requiring consultation as a check.

Creates unchecked bureaucratic discretion that can be used to favor connected contractors, reduce transparency, and undermine competition. The consultation requirement is insufficient to prevent regulatory capture. Better to have clear statutory criteria or no exemptions.

Mandates inclusion of a Records Management Requirements clause (DOLAR 2952.204-70) in all solicitations and contracts where contractors handle federal records, ensuring proper management, preservation, and security of government documents regardless of medium.

Deletion would risk loss of government records, impair transparency and accountability, violate the Federal Records Act, and leave sensitive information improperly managed. The modest compliance costs are justified by protecting essential government functions and public access to records.

Establishes definitions and procedural requirements for reporting and enforcing anti-gratuity rules in federal contracting, delegating violation determination to HCA and contract voiding authority to SPE.

Adds unnecessary bureaucratic complexity to enforcement mechanisms already covered by existing FAR clauses and OIG authority; creates reporting burdens without clear justification; multiple layers of delegation increase confusion, delay, and potential for regulatory capture while imposing compliance costs on contractors and government personnel.

Defines key procurement roles (Head of Agency, Head of Contracting Activity, Senior Procurement Executive) within the Department of Labor, establishing authority for acquisition actions and oversight.

Deleting these definitions would create ambiguity about procurement authority, risking unauthorized commitments, reduced accountability, and increased waste of taxpayer funds. Clear, codified lines of responsibility are essential for preventing fraud and ensuring efficient contracting—a standard hard to maintain without explicit regulatory guidance.

The DOLAR is the Department of Labor's procurement regulation supplement to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). It establishes internal procedures for how DOL contracts, including numbering systems, contracting officer authority, deviation approvals, and required contract clauses. It governs the department's purchasing of goods and services.

This agency supplement adds a redundant layer of bureaucracy atop the already-massive FAR system. Each cabinet department having its own acquisition regulation multiplies complexity and compliance costs without justification. The FAR itself should be streamlined and agencies should follow uniform rules; separate DOLAR creates unnecessary administrative overhead, deviates from private-sector efficiency, and exemplifies bureaucratic mission creep. Contracting should follow standard commercial practices with minimal customization, not require a bespoke 48 CFR chapter for each agency.

This regulation establishes cost principles for Department of Energy contracts, defining allowable costs for pricing, subcontract evaluation, pre-contract expenses, litigation, and whistleblower-related legal costs. It specifies procedures for contracting officers and includes thresholds for applying special clauses.

It protects taxpayer interests by ensuring government contracts reimburse only reasonable, allocable costs and prohibits funding illegal retaliation against whistleblowers, preventing waste that would exceed the compliance burden.