Browse regulations

Requires electronic and information technology supplies and services acquired through sealed-bid procedures to comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, which mandates accessibility for people with disabilities. Establishes contracting authority for heads of contracting activities to make determinations under sealed-bid procedures and post-award mistake claims.

Accessibility requirements prevent discrimination against people with disabilities in federal procurement, ensuring equal access to government services and information. Without this regulation, millions of Americans with disabilities would face barriers to using federal technology systems, creating a separate but unequal digital infrastructure that would cost far more to retrofit later and violate fundamental civil rights principles.

Requires federal agencies to ensure electronic and information technology is accessible to people with disabilities, mandating compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act for IT acquisitions and purchase card transactions.

Without this regulation, federal IT systems would exclude millions of Americans with disabilities, creating digital barriers that violate equal access principles and force disabled citizens to rely on costly workarounds or forgo essential government services entirely.

Requires HHS contracting offices to use the HHS Smarter Buying Program to the maximum extent practicable and to acquire commercially available, Section 508-compliant electronic and information technology whenever possible.

Deletion would risk higher procurement costs and reduced accessibility compliance. The Smarter Buying Program achieves economies of scale hard for individual offices to replicate, while the commercial item preference ensures Section 508 goals are met efficiently through market solutions rather than costly custom work.

This regulation mandates accessibility compliance for HHS-funded events in public accommodations, requires conference sponsorship approval, and enforces Paperwork Reduction Act compliance for data collection from 10+ persons. It establishes contracting officer responsibilities for ensuring Section 508 EIT compliance and accessibility standards in public facilities.

Creates unnecessary bureaucratic burden on contractors and HHS staff, distorts market incentives for accessibility, and duplicates existing civil rights protections. The PRA compliance requirement adds costly paperwork delays without meaningful benefit, while the conference sponsorship approval process centralizes decisions that should be made at the operational level.

Requires federal agencies and contractors to conduct market research prior to procurement actions, as specified in FAR Part 10, to determine the availability of commercial items, assess pricing, and identify potential sources, thereby promoting competition and informed purchasing decisions.

Eliminating mandatory market research would destroy procurement integrity, leading to non-competitive contracts, price gouging, and waste. The regulation prevents backroom deals and ensures taxpayers get value; voluntary compliance is unrealistic given powerful incentives to skip competition.

This regulation establishes procedures for suspending or debarring contractors from federal contracts, including definitions of roles, processes for determining debarment, and requirements for reporting suspected misconduct by contractors.

This regulation protects taxpayers by ensuring federal contracts go to responsible, ethical contractors and preventing fraud, waste, and abuse in government procurement. Without these safeguards, the government would be vulnerable to unscrupulous contractors who could defraud taxpayers or deliver substandard work on critical projects.

This regulation establishes HHS policy for government printing and related supplies, requiring written justification for restricted acquisitions and designating a central printing authority.

Federal printing regulations are unnecessary bureaucratic overhead that can be handled by market mechanisms and existing procurement processes without central government control.

FAR 7.105 mandates written acquisition plans for HHS purchases above simplified threshold, setting content requirements for planning, market research, and competition strategy.

Imposes paperwork costs and delays that favor incumbents over small innovators while providing marginal oversight benefit better achieved through post-audit mechanisms.

HHS-specific process for non-competitive procurement approvals requiring Competition Advocate (non-delegable) and Senior Procurement Executive; redefines 'single source' to include 'limited sources' for public health emergency acquisitions.

Adds unnecessary bureaucratic layers and bottlenecks through non-delegable Competition Advocate requirement, increasing administrative costs and procurement delays; expands executive discretion to reduce competition in public health emergency acquisitions, leading to higher taxpayer costs without commensurate oversight benefits.

This regulation mandates public disclosure of federal contract awards funded by the Prevention and Public Health Fund (PPHF), requiring presolicitation and award notices to be posted on HHS websites within specific timeframes to enhance transparency.

This regulation creates costly compliance requirements for government contractors without clear public benefit. The administrative burden of posting notices within 1-5 day windows, maintaining HHS websites, and tracking PPHF funding sources adds hidden costs that ultimately reduce healthcare funding available for actual prevention and public health programs. The transparency achieved is minimal compared to existing FAR disclosure requirements, while the compliance costs distort market incentives and create barriers for small contractors.

These regulations govern federal procurement reporting requirements, particularly for the Prevention and Public Health Fund, creating extensive reporting obligations for contractors and HHS officials.

Creates massive compliance costs with minimal public benefit - contractors must track separate fund accounting, submit detailed reports, and face performance penalties, all while HHS must review and post reports. The regulatory burden far exceeds any transparency gained.

HHS supplemental procurement procedures for reporting and handling suspected violations of anti-gratuities, anti-lobbying, and conduct standards, mandating contracting officer reviews, HCA approvals (non-delegable), and requiring specific clauses and posters.

Duplicative of FAR, adds compliance costs and delays, deters small business participation, concentrates power non-delegably, and creates bureaucratic inertia. Corruption is adequately addressed by existing criminal laws and FAR; this supplement distorts market incentives with unseen costs outweighing marginal benefits.

Establishes definitions for key contracting roles within HHS: Agency head (Secretary or designee), Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) who monitors contractor performance on technical, schedule, and cost aspects, and Head of Contracting Activity (HCA) who has broad acquisition authority within divisions.

These definitions provide essential clarity for federal contracting operations, ensuring accountability and proper oversight of taxpayer-funded contracts. Without these standardized definitions, there would be ambiguity about who has authority to manage contracts, potentially leading to mismanagement of billions in federal spending and reduced oversight of contractor performance.

The HHS Acquisition Regulation (HHSAR) is a supplemental procurement regime published at 48 CFR chapter 3. It implements and deviates from the FAR, covering legal requirements, HHS-wide policies, and provisions with significant contractor impact. It governs contracting officer authority, unauthorized commitments, and ratification procedures.

The HHSAR unnecessarily duplicates the FAR, adding to the $2 trillion compliance burden and 185,000-page regulatory labyrinth. It imposes significant administrative costs on contractors—particularly small businesses—who must track an extra layer of agency-specific rules. Necessary controls can be achieved through FAR deviations and internal HHS guidance, not CFR codification, reducing complexity and barriers to entry.

Establishes the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) framework in the 3550-3700 MHz band, creating a three-tiered system: Priority Access Licenses (PALs) auctioned by the FCC, General Authorized Access for unlicensed shared use, and incumbent user protections for federal/military operations. Mandates registration with Spectrum Access Systems (SAS), imposes technical requirements, establishes protection zones and exclusion zones, and sets interference management protocols.

Creates a complex government-controlled regime that replaces spontaneous market coordination with bureaucratic licensing, registration, and centrally-managed spectrum allocation. The SAS system embodies the knowledge problem—no central planner can efficiently determine optimal spectrum use across thousands of locations and uses. Compliance costs, licensing barriers, and protection zones favor incumbents over innovators, violate property rights principles, and impose hidden taxes through reduced competition and innovation. Federal overreach into spectrum management violates Tenth Amendment federalism. The entire framework could emerge organically through private coordination and tort law if government dismantled this artificial construct.