Debarment list proposed to go electronic

The Defense Department, NASA and the General Services Administration have jointly proposed changing the Federal Acquisition Regulation to overhaul the database that tracks companies excluded from federal procurements.<br>

The Defense Department, NASA and the General Services Administration have jointly proposed changing the Federal Acquisition Regulation to overhaul the database that tracks companies excluded from federal procurements.

The list would no longer be published in hard-copy form but would be maintained electronically, according to a notice published Dec. 1 in the Federal Register. The new Excluded Parties List System, which GSA would maintain, would enable agencies to update the parties debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment or declared ineligible.

By entering the data themselves, agencies will update content in real time, improve system reliability, eliminate the need for a hard-copy list, provide access to archival data and improve the ability to verify entries, the Federal Register notice said.

This is a proposed change only; interested parties may submit comments by Jan. 30. Comments should be sent to General Services Administration, FAR Secretariat (MVA), 1800 F St., NW, Room 4035, Attn: Laurie Duarte, Washington, DC 20405. Electronic comments should be sent to farcase.2002-023@gsa.gov.