Federal Acquisition Regulation; Contractor Responsibility, Labor Relations Costs, and Costs Relating to Legal and Other Proceedings-Revocation

The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (FAR Council) published in the Federal Register at 66 FR 17758, April 3, 2001, a proposed rule (April proposed rule) with request for public comment. The April proposed rule proposed revoking a final rule published in the Federal Register at 65 FR 80255, December 20, 2000 (December final rule). The December final rule addressed responsibility, labor relations costs, and costs incurred in legal and other proceedings. This rule finalizes the aforementioned April proposed rule. An interim FAR rule was published in the Federal Register at 66 FR 17754, April 3, 2001, concurrently with the April proposed rule. The interim rule immediately stayed the December final rule (under FAR case 1999-010, Responsibility, Labor Relations Costs, and Costs Relating to Legal and Other Proceedings). During the stay, the FAR text was restored to the text as it existed before January 19, 2001. The FAR Council intended the stay to last for 270 days from April 3, 2001 (December 29, 2001), or until finalization of the April proposed rule, whichever was sooner. In a separate document being published elsewhere in this issue, the FAR Council is terminating the stay. The FAR Council published in the Federal Register at 66 FR 23134, May 7, 2001, an extension of the April proposed rule public comment period from June 4, 2001, to July 6, 2001, and a notice of a public meeting on the April proposed rule, which was conducted on June 18, 2001.