Federal Activities Inventory Reform (FAIR) Act

TABLE OF CONTENTS

OVERVIEW

1.1 What is the purpose of this chapter? The purpose of this chapter is to establish U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) policy for complying with the Federal Activities Inventory Reform (FAIR) Act (P.L. 105-270) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular No. A-76, Performance of Commercial Activities.

1.2 What is the scope of this chapter? This chapter applies to all employees, supervisors, and managers in the Service.

1.3 What is the FAIR Act inventory? 

A. OMB requires that we complete the FAIR Act inventory annually. The inventory:

(1) Is a list categorizing all work our employees perform as commercial or inherently Governmental; and 

(2) Does not include employee names, series, grades, steps, or other personal identifiers.

B. We upload the completed inventory in the OMB MAX system and release it to the Department of the Interior (Department) Office of Acquisition and Property Management (PAM) for their review. The Department releases all bureau and office inventories to OMB.

1.4 What are the objectives of the FAIR Act inventory? The inventory:

A. Provides some of the information we need to make decisions about contracting and workforce planning; and

B. Gives the Department, OMB, and the public information they need about the workforce composition of the Service.

1.5 What are the authorities for this chapter? 

A. FAIR Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-270).

B. OMB Circular No. A-76, Performance of Commercial Activities.

1.6 What is the difference between inherently Governmental and commercial activities?

A. Inherently Governmental activities, for the purposes of this chapter, are duties so intimately related to the public interest that Government employees must perform them. Inherently Governmental activities involve:

(1) Binding the United States to take or not to take some action by contract, policy, regulation, authorization, order, or otherwise;

(2) Determining, protecting, and advancing economic, political, territorial, property, or other interests by military or diplomatic action, civil or criminal judicial proceedings, contract management, or otherwise;

(3) Significantly affecting the life, liberty, or property of private persons; or

(4) Exerting ultimate control over the acquisition, use, or disposition of Government property, including establishing policies or procedures for collecting, controlling, or disbursing appropriated and other Federal funds.

B. Commercial activities are recurring services that a contractor could perform. These activities can often be identified through internet searches for service providers or by using online sites or forums that promote businesses (e.g., a website that gives you a list of roofers if you enter a specific city or zip code). When doing the FAIR Act inventory, we categorize commercial activities into several different areas that have different codes called “reason codes” (see section 1.9).

RESPONSIBILITIES

1.7 Who is responsible for the FAIR Act inventory? See Table 1-1.

Table 1-1: Responsibilities for the FAIR Act Inventory

FAIR ACT INVENTORY PROCESS

1.8 How does the Service perform the annual inventory?

A. At the beginning of each fiscal year, the Branch of Risk Management (RM) revises its inventory guidance. This process involves integrating insights gained from previous experiences, as well as adhering to the latest directives and recommendations issued by the Department and OMB. 

B. After the guidance is complete, RM:

(1) Works with the Division of Human Capital to do a preliminary update of the database for the fiscal year; 

(2) Distributes the early announcement memorandum to the Regional Business Advisors (RBA) and Headquarters Liaisons (HQL) and presents an overview to the team during the monthly RBA/HQL meeting; and 

(3) Sets milestones and sends out a plan and guidance to the Regions and the program offices in Headquarters for them to review and update the database.

C. Directorate members:

(1) Assign managers to update the database throughout their Regions/programs,

(2) Develop interim due dates,

(3) Develop preliminary justifications for positions newly identified as inherently Governmental or commercial “Reason Code A” (see Table 1-2), and 

(4) Notify RM when their Regions/programs have finished updating the inventory database.

D. After the Regions/programs are finished updating the database, RM:

(1) Reviews the updated information in the database for consistency;

(2) Asks the Regions and programs for clarifications and any necessary justifications;

(3) Prepares the draft final inventory and accompanying justifications; 

(4) Sends the draft final inventory and justifications to the Directorate for review; 

(5) Sends the final inventory to the AD – MA and then the Director; and

(6) After receiving the Director’s approval, uploads the final inventory in the OMB MAX database, as required by the FAIR Act and OMB Circular No. A-76, and releases it to the Department’s PAM for final review and Departmental approval.  

E. After PAM reviews and approves the inventory, they release it to OMB.

1.9 How does the Service categorize commercial activities? One of the most important aspects of the inventory is assigning reason codes to commercial activities. OMB defines reason codes that we must use to categorize commercial activities. See Table 1-2.

Table 1-2: Reason Codes for Commercial Activities

1.10 Where can employees find the annual inventory when it is final?

A. OMB publishes a notice of availability of the inventories in the Federal Register.

B. The Department makes it available to Congress.