The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) issued a final rule, effective August 22, 2013, that adopts, without change, the interim final rule originally published in the Federal Register on June 27, 2012.
This new rule implements a portion of the Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006, which requires the VA to verify ownership and control of veteran-owned small businesses (VOSBs), including service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs), in order for these firms to participate in VA acquisitions set-asides for SDVOSB/VOSBs.
Specifically, this final rule requires re-verification of SDVOSB/VOSB status only every two years rather than annually.
The purpose of this change is to reduce the administrative burden on SDVOSB/VOSBs regarding participation in VA acquisitions set asides for these types of firms. Verified SDVOSB/VOSBs are placed on the Vendor Information Page (VIP) at www.vetbiz.gov.
The new rule can be found at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-08-22/pdf/2013-20488.pdf.
