Browse regulations

Designates the Senior Procurement Executive (SPE) as the official authorized to approve individual and class deviations from federal cost principles, with class deviations requiring coordination with the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council (CAAC).

Maintains a redundant approval layer that consumes resources, encourages regulatory gaming by firms seeking special exceptions, and entrenches a complex cost principle regime that disadvantages small businesses while adding to the inscrutable regulatory codebase.

Delegates authority to the Senior Procurement Executive and Secretary to waive Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) and Disclosure Statement requirements when deemed impractical, referencing FAR 30.201-5 and 48 CFR 9903.202-2.

Adds unnecessary bureaucratic complexity by codifying internal delegation; such procedural rules belong in agency guidance, not the CFR. Keeping it contributes to the 185,000-page labyrinth, increases administrative overhead, and rigidifies internal processes without protecting fundamental liberties or market efficiency.

Federal procurement procedural regulation authorizing class waivers for bid guarantees, setting fees for certified bond/contract copies, and mandating surety fraud reporting with securities protection.

Internal agency procedures that add bureaucratic complexity and costs without clear necessity; these functions can be managed through agency directives and internal controls, reducing CFR bloat and regulatory burden. The fee schedule for records access impedes transparency, while the prescriptive nature limits agency flexibility and innovation in procurement management.

Procedural regulation requiring the Senior Procurement Executive (SPE) to submit waiver requests to the agency head with a recommendation for action, as specified in FAR 23.506(e). This governs internal bureaucratic process for waiver handling.

This internal procedural requirement imposes compliance burden with zero public benefit, forcing rigid bureaucracy over adaptive management. Such micromanagement of agency workflows contributes to the $2 trillion annual regulatory burden and violates Hayekian dispersed knowledge principles—agency officials closest to the issue cannot optimize processes. The unseen cost includes slowed decision-making, reduced accountability, and perpetuation of the regulatory thicket that makes government less efficient while protecting incumbents from operational innovation.

Regulation assigns the Secretary exclusive, non-delegable authority to make determinations and award contracts under FAR 25.603(b) (foreign acquisition).

Non-delegable centralization creates bottlenecks, wastes senior officials' time on routine matters, and prevents local experts from making faster, better-informed contracting decisions, raising costs and slowing procurement.

This regulation establishes a USDA affirmative procurement program (APP) that guides contracting decisions, requiring procurement preferences for certain categories of vendors, and mandates that the Head of Contracting Activity establish instructions to identify radiation protection officers at USDA facilities.

The APP distorts free market competition by steering contracts based on non-economic criteria rather than merit, increasing costs for taxpayers and privileging incumbents. This regulatory preference regime creates hidden compliance burdens, reduces efficiency, and exemplifies the type of industrial policy that violates limited government principles. Even the radiation protection requirement, while potentially beneficial, adds bureaucratic overhead that could be more efficiently managed through market incentives or decentralized operational decisions.

Delegates authority for reviewing liquidated damages, processing bid extensions, reporting violations, maintaining affirmative action goals, and granting waivers related to construction contracts and labor standards.

These regulations enforce affirmative action quotas and labor standards that exceed constitutional authority, impose heavy compliance costs on small businesses, distort market outcomes, and violate equal protection by mandating discrimination based on race and gender. The bureaucratic review processes add unnecessary overhead without improving safety or fairness.

Requires USDA Mission Area senior contracting officials to designate small business coordinators, mandates OSDBU Director to submit reports on procurement preferences, and authorizes HCA to appeal Certificate of Competency issuance to SBA.

Creates administrative overhead and enforces a procurement preference program that distorts market competition, raises costs for taxpayers, and violates free enterprise principles. Unseen consequences include shielding inefficient firms from competition and expanding bureaucratic power.

Mandates insertion of AGAR 452.204-70 contract closeout modification clause in all non-cost-reimbursement contracts; requires HCA and OGC approval for economic price adjustment clauses; authorizes HCA to extend letter contract timelines in extreme circumstances.

Deletion would create inconsistent federal procurement practices, risking taxpayer waste through disputes and inefficiency. The regulation achieves orderly, legally-vetted contracting through a balanced framework of standardization and flexible oversight that ad-hoc alternatives cannot replicate.

Delegates authority to the Head of Contracting Activity to exempt contracts from uniform format and requires Mission Area senior contracting officials to establish procedures for releasing cost information to technical evaluation teams and designating points of contact for unsolicited proposals, referencing FAR 15.305(a)(4).

Imposes unnecessary administrative burdens and complexity on federal procurement, duplicating existing FAR provisions and increasing taxpayer costs while potentially stifling innovation through formalized submission channels for unsolicited proposals.

Delegates authority for bid mistake determinations and requires OGC concurrence; outlines classified information handling.

Mandatory OGC concurrence creates bureaucratic delays and administrative overhead, increasing procurement costs and project timelines. The resulting slowdowns deter contractors and raise prices, ultimately costing taxpayers more than any prevented legal errors.

The regulation mandates that contracting officers insert the AGAR 452.204-70 clause (Modification for Contract Closeout) in all solicitations and contracts using simplified acquisition procedures.

The mandatory clause imposes administrative burdens and compliance costs on every simplified acquisition contract, reduces flexibility, and may create unnecessary disputes over technical compliance; the regulation's benefits are outweighed by these unseen costs and can be achieved through existing contract mechanisms.

Authorizes Heads of Contracting Activity to approve waivers from standard procurement requirements for individual contracts or classes of contracts, requiring documentation in contract files per FAR 12.302(c).

Americans would be worse off without this waiver authority, as it provides essential flexibility to avoid rigid, one-size-fits-all procurement rules that often increase costs without improving outcomes. The ability to grant waivers when justified by specific circumstances prevents wasteful spending and enables more efficient contracting, while documentation requirements maintain accountability. Deleting this would force agencies to apply blanket rules even when exceptions are clearly warranted, raising costs for taxpayers and reducing competition from innovative solutions that don't fit standard molds.

OMB Circular A-119 requires federal agencies to use voluntary consensus standards (industry-developed) instead of creating government-unique standards, with exceptions for legal inconsistency or impracticability. HCAs can submit determinations to OMB through NIST when exceptions are needed, with SPE coordinating recommendations.

This regulation reduces government overreach and compliance costs by deferring to private-sector standards rather than creating bureaucratic ones. Deleting it would lead to agency-specific standards, fragmenting the market and increasing costs for businesses that must comply with multiple conflicting requirements. The policy harnesses market expertise while maintaining necessary exceptions, embodying limited government and free enterprise principles.

Regulation designates USDA's Office of Communications Director as the central printing authority, empowering them to represent USDA before the Joint Committee on Printing, GPO, and other agencies on printing matters.

Internal agency management directive that imposes no requirements on the public or businesses. Belongs in internal USDA procedures, not the Code of Federal Regulations. Zero impact on liberty or economic activity if deleted.