Notice2022-18393
Tribal Consultation for Ownership and Control and Contractual Assistance; Requirements for the 8(a) Business Development (BD) Program and other Planned 8(a) BD Program Regulatory Proposals
Primary source
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Published
August 26, 2022
Issuing agencies
Small Business Administration
Abstract
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA or Agency) announces that it is holding tribal consultation meetings in Anchorage, Alaska, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Washington, DC, as well as a Listening Session in Honolulu, Hawaii, concerning forthcoming proposed revisions to the 8(a) Business Development (BD) program regulations. Additionally, SBA requests comments and input on how best to propose several program policies the Agency is contemplating that would impact Alaska Native Corporations (ANC), tribes, Native Hawaiian Organizations (NHO) (collectively, "entities"), and 8(a) Participants owned by such entities. Testimony presented at these tribal consultations will become part of the administrative record for SBA's consideration when the Agency deliberates on approaches to changes in the 8(a) BD program regulations.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 165 (Friday, August 26, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 165 (Friday, August 26, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52602-52604]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-18393]
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SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Tribal Consultation for Ownership and Control and Contractual
Assistance; Requirements for the 8(a) Business Development (BD) Program
and other Planned 8(a) BD Program Regulatory Proposals
AGENCY: Small Business Administration.
ACTION: Notice of tribal consultation meeting; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA or Agency)
announces that it is holding tribal consultation meetings in Anchorage,
Alaska, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and
Washington, DC, as well as a Listening Session in Honolulu, Hawaii,
concerning forthcoming proposed revisions to the 8(a) Business
Development (BD) program regulations. Additionally, SBA requests
comments and input on how best to propose several program policies the
Agency is contemplating that would impact Alaska Native Corporations
(ANC), tribes, Native Hawaiian Organizations (NHO) (collectively,
``entities''), and 8(a) Participants owned by such entities. Testimony
presented at these tribal consultations will become part of the
administrative record for SBA's consideration when the Agency
deliberates on approaches to changes in the 8(a) BD program
regulations.
DATES: The Tribal Consultation meeting dates are as follows:
1. Wednesday, September 14, 2022, 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (AKDT),
Anchorage, Alaska. Pre-registration for this Tribal Consultation
meeting is requested by September 9, 2022.
2. Tuesday, September 20, 2022, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (MDT),
Albuquerque, New Mexico. Pre-registration for this Tribal Consultation
meeting is requested by September 16, 2022.
3. Thursday, September 22, 2022, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (CDT),
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Pre-registration for this Tribal Consultation
meeting is requested by September 19, 2022.
4. Wednesday, October 5, 2022, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (EDT),
Washington, DC. Pre-registration for this Tribal Consultation meeting
is requested by September 30, 2022.
5. The Listening Session will be held on Wednesday, September 28,
2022, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (HST), Honolulu, Hawaii. Pre-registration
for this Listening Session is requested by September 23, 2022.
ADDRESSES:
Meeting Locations:
1. The Tribal Consultation meeting in Anchorage, Alaska will be
held at the Z.J. Loussac Public Library, 3600 Denali Street, Anchorage,
AK 99503.
2. The Tribal Consultation meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico will
be held at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, 2401 12th Street NW,
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87104.
3. The Tribal Consultation meeting in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma will
be held at the Metro Technology Centers, Springlake Campus Health
Careers Center, 1720 Springlake Drive, Oklahoma City, OK 73111.
4. The Tribal Consultation meeting in Washington, DC will be held
at SBA Headquarters, 409 Third Street SW, Washington, DC 20416.
Commenters and attendees may participate in-person or remotely at this
consultation meeting.
5. The Listening Session in Honolulu, Hawaii will be held at the
SBA Hawaii District Office, 500 Ala Moana Boulevard, Suite 1-306,
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813.
Pre-registration: Send pre-registration requests to attend and/or
testify to Chequita Carter of SBA's Office of Native American Affairs,
U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 3rd Street SW, Washington, DC
20416; <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#dc9fb4b9ada9b5a8bdf29fbdaea8b9ae9cafbebdf2bbb3aa"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ffbc979a8e8a968b9ed1bc9e8d8b9a8dbf8c9d9ed1989089">[email protected]</span></a>; or Facsimile to (202) 481-2177.
Comments: You may submit comments, identified by Regulations
Identifier Number (RIN) 3245-AH70, by any of the following methods:
<bullet> Email: to Jackson S. Brossy, Assistant Administrator,
Office of Native American Affairs, U.S. Small Business Administration,
at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#582c2a313a39343b37362b2d34392c313736182b3a39763f372e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b1c5c3d8d3d0ddd2dedfc2c4ddd0c5d8dedff1c2d3d09fd6dec7">[email protected]</span></a>.
<bullet> Mail (for paper, disk, or CD-ROM submissions): to Jackson
S. Brossy, Assistant Administrator, Office of Native American Affairs,
U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 3rd Street SW, Washington, DC
20416.
Instructions: All submissions received will become part of the
administrative record for any rulemaking resulting from these tribal
consultation meetings and listening session. As such, comments received
may be posted on <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>. If you wish to submit
confidential business information (CBI) as defined in the User Notice
at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>, please submit the comments to Jackson S.
Brossy and highlight the information that you consider to be CBI and
explain why you believe this information should be held confidential.
SBA will make a final determination as to whether the comments will be
published.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chequita Carter, Program Assistant for
[[Page 52603]]
SBA's Office of Native American Affairs, at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#cd8ea5a8bcb8a4b9ace38eacbfb9a8bf8dbeaface3aaa2bb"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="12517a7763677b66733c517360667760526170733c757d64">[email protected]</span></a> or
(202) 205-6680 or by facsimile to (202) 481-2177. This phone number can
also be reached by individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, or who
have speech disabilities, through the Federal Communications
Commission's TTY-Based Telecommunications Relay Service teletype
service at 711.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
SBA is planning to issue a proposed rule concerning the 8(a) BD
program regulations under RIN 3245-AH70. The proposed rule is intended
to clarify regulatory provisions relating to both program eligibility
and 8(a) contracts to eliminate confusion among small businesses and
procuring activities. SBA anticipates that the proposed rule will be
published prior to the tribal consultation meetings and the Listening
Session announced in this Notice. SBA is seeking comments and input on
the changes identified in the proposed rule.
Among other things, the proposed rule would require an entity, as
part of its entity-owned business concern's 8(a) application, to
establish a Community Benefits Plan laying out its commitments to give
back to the Native community in several specific identified ways. SBA
understands that not all of those commitments will come to fruition.
Projected givebacks may be unattainable where actual revenues do not
meet expectations or if other unforeseen business needs occur. However,
SBA believes that there should be some programmatic consequences where
estimated revenues were obtained but not all the committed benefits are
given to the community. SBA is considering proposing certain
consequences to the regulations to encourage entities to meet their
commitments. SBA is seeking comments on what type of consequences
should be imposed where SBA determines that an entity has not made good
faith efforts to meet its stated commitments. One possibility that SBA
is considering would be to disallow that entity from admitting any new
business concerns to the 8(a) BD program until the entity meets the
previous commitments with its business concern(s) already participating
in the program. SBA is also considering whether there should be any
other restrictions, such as restricting the award of additional sole
source 8(a) contracts to any 8(a) Participant owned by the entity if
SBA determines that the entity did not make good faith efforts to meet
the commitments set forth in its Community Benefits Plan. SBA
specifically asks for comments as to whether these consequences would
be fair and reasonable. Additionally, SBA is seeking input on how best
to encourage entities to meet their stated give-back goals.
In addition to the above referenced regulatory proposals, SBA is
contemplating making the following substantive changes to the
regulations governing the 8(a) BD program, and requests comments and
input on how best to develop proposed regulatory revisions. Any such
revisions would not be promulgated under RIN 3245-AH70; rather, SBA
would propose them under a separate rulemaking after considering
testimony from the tribal consultation meetings and the Listening
Session.
The 8(a) BD program has positively impacted Native American
communities through individual as well as tribal, ANC, and NHO
participation. The dual purposes of tribal/ANC/NHO participation in the
8(a) BD program are: to develop viable small business concerns while at
the same time creating opportunities to provide significant benefits to
the Native communities that they serve. In this regard, SBA accepts
that a portion of an entity-owned Participant's receipts must be
retained for business development purposes. However, the clear
legislative intent of entity participation in the 8(a) BD program is to
benefit Native and underserved communities using the revenues derived
from the program. Thus, while SBA recognizes that in-kind contributions
can be beneficial to Native and underserved communities, SBA believes
entities participating in the 8(a) BD program should contribute a
portion of their receipts to the communities they serve. SBA seeks to
ensure that both of these purposes are advanced and invites comments on
how best that can be accomplished.
Since 2011, the 8(a) BD regulations have required each Participant
owned by a Tribe, ANC, or NHO to annually submit to SBA information
showing how the Tribe, ANC, or NHO has provided benefits to the
applicable Native community due to the Tribe's/ANC's/NHO's
participation in the 8(a) BD program through one or more firms. SBA is
considering a proposal to require more precise cash benefit
distributions to the applicable Native community to standardize SBA's
collection and tracking of community benefits and in response to an
observation that not all entities appear to be allocating an
appropriate share of their 8(a) receipts to the communities they serve.
To this end, some entity-owned Participants appear to report
significant benefits primarily or exclusively in the form of in-kind
contributions and, specifically, volunteer work performed by principals
of the entity or its Participants.
SBA is considering a rule that would propose to establish a target
that a certain percentage of the entity's 8(a) receipts combined from
all its Participants should be distributed as a cash contribution to
benefit the Native or underserved community. SBA is specifically
seeking comments on: the target percentage amount that should be
distributed as a cash contribution; whether the target should be tied
to an entity's gross 8(a) receipts, or to profits derived by the
entity's 8(a) Participants; whether the target percentage amount should
increase based on how long an entity has owned business concerns
participating in the 8(a) BD program or based on the number of
Participants an entity owns; whether certain non-cash contributions or
investments in the community should be considered in this measurement,
including, but not limited to, community member employment; and any
other measures SBA should consider to promote the dual purposes of
tribal/ANC/NHO participation in the 8(a) BD program. The SBA
additionally welcomes any estimates of costs to meet this requirement
annually, as well as any feasibility concerns with such a requirement.
The SBA also welcomes comments from any entity that has other proposed
methods to track community benefits and reinvestment.
II. Tribal Consultation Meetings
The purpose of these tribal consultation meetings is to conform to
the requirements of Executive Order 13175, Consultation and
Coordination With Indian Tribal Governments (65 FR 67249), and SBA's
Tribal Consultation Policy (<a href="https://www.sba.gov/document/support-sba-tribal-consultation-policy">https://www.sba.gov/document/support-sba-tribal-consultation-policy</a>); to provide interested parties with an
opportunity to discuss their views on the issues; and for SBA to obtain
the views of SBA's stakeholders on approaches to the 8(a) BD program
regulations. SBA considers tribal consultation meetings a valuable
component of its deliberations and believes that this tribal
consultation meeting will allow for constructive dialogue with the
Tribal community, Tribal Leaders, Tribal Elders, elected members of
Alaska Native Villages or their appointed representatives, and
principals of tribally-owned and ANC-owned firms participating in the
8(a) BD program.
The format of these tribal consultation meetings will consist of a
panel of SBA representatives who will preside over the session. The
oral and written
[[Page 52604]]
testimony as well as any comments SBA receives will become part of the
administrative record for SBA's consideration. Written testimony may be
submitted in lieu of oral testimony. SBA will analyze the testimony,
both oral and written, along with any written comments received. SBA
officials may ask questions of a presenter to clarify or further
explain the testimony. The purpose of the tribal consultation is to
assist SBA with gathering information to guide SBA's review process and
to potentially develop new proposals. SBA requests that the comments
focus on SBA's planned rulemaking relating to the 8(a) BD program,
general issues as they pertain to the 8(a) BD regulations, or the
unique concerns of the Tribal communities. SBA requests that commenters
do not raise issues pertaining to other SBA small business programs.
Presenters are encouraged to provide a written copy of their testimony.
SBA will accept written material that the presenter wishes to provide
that further supplements his or her testimony. Electronic or digitized
copies are encouraged.
Each tribal consultation meeting will be held for one day. The
meeting in Anchorage, Alaska will begin at 9:00 a.m. and end at 2:30
p.m. (AKST), with a break from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.; the meeting in
Albuquerque, New Mexico will begin at 10:00 a.m. and end at 3:00 p.m.
(MDT), with a break from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.; the meeting in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma will begin at 10:00 a.m. and end at 3:00 p.m.
(CDT), with a break from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.; the meeting in
Washington, DC will begin at 10:00 a.m. and end at 3:00 p.m. (EDT),
with a break from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.; and the Listening Session in
Honolulu, Hawaii will begin at 10:00 a.m. and end at 3:00 p.m. (HST),
with a break from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. SBA will adjourn early if all
those scheduled have delivered their testimony.
III. Registration
SBA respectfully requests that any elected or appointed
representative of the tribal communities or principal of a tribally-
owned, ANC-owned, or NHO-owned 8(a) firm that is interested in
attending please pre-register in advance and indicate whether you would
like to testify at the hearing. However, pre-registration is not
required for attendance. SBA requests that attendees register with SBA
no later than: September 9, 2022, for the consultation meeting in
Anchorage; September 16, 2022, for the consultation meeting in
Albuquerque; September 19, 2022, for the consultation meeting in
Oklahoma City; September 30, 2022, for the consultation meeting in
Washington, DC; and September 23, 2022, for the Listening Session in
Honolulu. To register, please contact Chequita Carter of SBA's Office
of Native American Affairs in writing at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#de9db6bbafabb7aabff09dbfacaabbac9eadbcbff0b9b1a8"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e9aa818c989c809d88c7aa889b9d8c9ba99a8b88c78e869f">[email protected]</span></a> or by
facsimile to (202) 481-2177. If you are interested in testifying,
please include the following information relating to the person
testifying: Name, Organization affiliation, Address, Telephone number,
Email address and Fax number. For those who wish to remotely attend or
participate in the Washington, DC, tribal consultation meeting, SBA
will provide further instructions upon registration. SBA will attempt
to accommodate all interested parties that wish to present testimony.
Based on the number of registrants it may be necessary to impose time
limits to ensure that everyone who wishes to testify has the
opportunity to do so. SBA will confirm in writing the registration of
presenters and attendees.
IV. Information on Service for Individuals With Disabilities
For information on facilities or services for individuals with
disabilities or to request special assistance at the tribal
consultation meeting, contact Chequita Carter at the telephone number
or email address indicated under the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section of this notice.
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 634 and E.O. 13175, 65 FR 67249.
Jackson S. Brossy,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Native American Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2022-18393 Filed 8-25-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8026-09-P
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