FR1400_20190520_omb

Supporting Statement for the
Procurement Solicitation Package
(FR 1400; OMB No. 7100-0180)
Summary
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), under authority
delegated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has extended for three years, with
revision, the Procurement Solicitation Package (FR 1400; OMB No. 7100-0180)1. The Board
uses the FR 1400 to assist in the competitive process of soliciting proposals from vendors of
goods and services. The FR 1400 family of reports is comprised of the:
 Vendor Database (FR 1400A)
 Solicitation Package (Solicitation, Offer, and Award Form; Supplier Information
Form, Past Performance Data Sheet; and Past Performance Questionnaire)
(FR 1400B)
 Vendor Risk Management Offeror Questionnaire (FR 1400C)
 Subcontracting Report (FR 1400D)
To assist the Board’s competitive vendor solicitation process, the Board revised the
FR 1400 by (1) reformatting and updating the Solicitation Package (FR 1400B), (2) added the
Vendor Risk Management Offeror Questionnaire (FR 1400C), and (3) revised the Subcontracting
Report (FR 1400D) to improve clarity and gather specific information in accordance with the
Board’s subcontracting goals. Lastly, the Board discontinued the use of the Request for Price
Quotation Form (RFP and RFPQ)2. The solicitation documents are typically used in the
procurement of goods, services and construction that are not off-the-shelf items. This
information collection is necessary to collect data on prices, specifications of goods and services,
and qualifications of prospective vendors. The estimated total annual burden for the FR 1400
family of reports is 21,950 hours. The proposed revisions resulted in a net increase of 2,990
hours, for a new estimated total annual burden of 24,940 hours.
Background and Justification
The Procurement Solicitation Package and its associated documents collect information
used in evaluating the competitive bids and contracts submitted by vendors (also referred to as
offerors). Depending upon the goods and services for which the Board is seeking bids, the
vendor is requested to provide a document (proposal) covering not only prices, but also the
means of performing a particular service and a description of the qualification of the staff of the
offeror who will perform the service. In accordance with the evaluation criteria and proposal
instructions established in the Solicitation Package (FR 1400B), the vendor may be requested to
provide past performance and information regarding certain applications. The entire proposal
submitted by the vendor will be utilized by the Board staff to evaluate the solicitation package
documents and select the offer providing the best value.

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This collection was previously titled the Request for Proposal and Request for Price Quotations (RFP and RFPQ).
The purpose of the RFPQ form would be absorbed into the FR 1400B.

In addition, depending upon the vendor selected for the contract award, the vendor is
required to submit the Subcontracting Report (FR 1400D), per the frequency outlined in the
solicitation clause. In order to comply with the mandate of Section 342(c) of the Dodd-Frank
Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank Act), the Subcontracting
Report collects information regarding the vendor’s subcontracting commitments toward
diversity and inclusion of minority-owned and women-owned vendors in subcontracting
activities.
Description of Information Collection
The Board is continuously seeking vendors who are interested in doing business with the
Board through various outreach events, minority/diversity conferences, meetings, and events
targeted to either a specific industry classification of vendors or an upcoming acquisition.
Vendors are encouraged during these efforts to register in the Board’s database of interested
vendors (FR 1400A). A vendor searching the Internet can also find the database via the Board’s
public website3 and elect to register4. In order to register in the Board’s database, the vendor is
required to provide information including, but not limited to, firm size, status, contact
information, and capabilities. This information is then used by Board staff to select vendors who
will receive an upcoming solicitation.
Board staff uses various resources to select appropriate potential vendors for providing a
particular good or service. In addition to source lists from the Board’s database, Board staff uses
the internet, Federal Supply Schedule lists, the Federal Business Opportunity website, and lists
from other government agencies that have acquired similar goods or services.
In announcing an acquisition, Board staff contacts vendors registered in the Board
database5 via electronic mail or by telephone, and provides the documents and applicable
attachments6 included in the Solicitation Package (FR 1400B).
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The Solicitation Package (FR 1400B) includes:
A cover letter,
A Solicitation, Offer, and Award Form (Attachment A) which outlines pertinent dates for
the vendor as well as requires the vendor to input contact information and a summary of
proposed pricing,
A Supplier Information Form (Attachment N) that requires vendor contact information,
demographic, and payment information so that the vendor can be properly established in

The online registration form can be found on the Board’s public website:
https://www.federalreserve.gov/secure/vendorregistration/.
4
The FR 1400A was first introduced in 2012, serving as a modified, electronic version of the Supplier Information
Form (Attachment N of the SOA / Procurement Package).
5
Rarely, and only when the Board does not have a capable vendor for a particular opportunity, it can also post the
acquisition on the Federal Business Opportunities website (https://www.fbo.gov/).
6
Not all of the attachments included with the Solicitation Package constitute information collections under the
Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C, Chapter 35, Subchapter I, Section 3502). Attachment A (Solicitation, Offer,
and Award Form), Attachment I (Past Performance Data Sheet and Past Performance Questionnaire), and
Attachment N (Supplier Information Form) are considered information collections and are being cleared collectively
under FR 1400B.
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the contract writing system and receive payment upon the receipt of a proper and valid
invoice,
A description of the goods or services desired,
How the Board will evaluate the prospective vendors,
How the Board will evaluate the proposal,
Solicitation instructions (how to prepare and submit the proposal, including all deadlines),
Contract terms (work standards, inspections, work delays, work change orders, payment,
taxes, and compliance with various small business and labor laws), and
Representations and certifications vendors make on their own behalf.

The Solicitation, Offer, and Award form (Attachment A of FR 1400B) is required with
proposals offered in response to a solicitation issued by the Board. The form captures
information regarding the effort and requirements as well as the vendor’s information and
proposed response in terms of price. If the vendor is selected for award, the Board will complete
the remaining section of the form and sign the document so that the award is finalized. The
Supplier Information Form (Attachment N of FR 1400B) is required for the entry of a vendor
into the Board’s contract writing and invoice payment system. The Board is the contracting
authority for itself and the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), and this
form is used to delineate which organization the vendor will be supporting, enabling internal
database tracking, proper invoice payment, and tax reporting. Applicants and members of the
Community Advisory Council (CAC) also use the Supplier Information Form to provide banking
information for travel payments.
As a result of the criteria used by the Board to evaluate proposals, the Solicitation
Package may also include the Past Performance Data Sheet and Past Performance Questionnaire
(Attachment I of FR 1400B) if past performance is an evaluation factor. Typically, if past
performance is considered an evaluation factor, the vendor is asked to submit information on up
to three previous contracts whose effort is recent and relevant to the effort required by the
solicitation. The Past Performance Data Sheet is completed by the vendor who is submitting a
proposal to the solicitation and contains data on the previous contract, such as, period of
performance when the work was completed, agency for whom work was performed, estimated
total dollar amount of the effort, and a description of the work. The Past Performance
Questionnaire is given to the point of contact for the previous contract by the vendor so that the
point of contact may complete the questionnaire and provide feedback on the vendor’s
performance in regards to quality, timeliness, customer satisfaction, staffing, and cost control, as
well as overall performance during the course of the previous contract. The Past Performance
Questionnaire is submitted directly to the Board from the point of contact for the previous
contract. The information in both past performance documents is used solely during the
evaluation phase of the acquisition and aids in the designation of rating for the past performance
evaluation factor.
In addition, for solicitations that have subcontracting opportunities and are expected to
exceed $100,000 ($300,000 for construction), a non-covered company vendor is required to
submit a subcontracting plan in its own format, with its proposal. Then, if the vendor is the
chosen vendor and awarded a contract, the vendor is required to provide the quarterly
Subcontracting Reports (FR 1400D) to the Board, which shall document the vendor’s

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participation achievement on a cumulative basis. Information from the Subcontracting Report is
used to assist the Board in fulfilling the requirement in section 342(e) of the Dodd-Frank Act that
requires the Board to submit to Congress an annual report regarding the fair inclusion of
minorities and women in contracting.
Solicitations that require the vendor to process, store, or transmit data from the Board will
contain the Vendor Risk Management Offeror Questionnaire (FR 1400C). The questionnaire
will be specific to the security controls surrounding the vendor’s proposed application that will
be used to process, store, or transmit the data. Security controls will be defined and prioritized
based on the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA) and the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 800-53 (Security Controls and
Assessment Procedures for Federal Information Systems and Organizations).
All information outlined above is necessary for Board staff to fairly and accurately
evaluate the merits of vendors’ proposals and to select the proposal most advantageous to the
Board, taking into account price and other key factors.
Proposed Revisions
Removal of Request for Price Quotation (RFP and RFPQ) Form. The Board has
discontinued the use of the RFPQ form and incorporated parts of the form into the FR 1400B.
Revisions to FR 1400B – Solicitation Package. The FR 1400B incorporated parts of
the previously utilized Request for Price Quotation (RFP/RFPQ) form into the newly titled
“Solicitation Package”. A solicitation package, depending on the requirements of the
acquisition, may include the Solicitation, Offer, and Award (SOA) form, the cover letter,
Supplier Information Form, Past Performance Data Sheet, Past Performance Questionnaire,
Vendor Risk Management Offeror Questionnaire, and Subcontracting Report.
The Solicitation Package does not change the information collected from vendors during
the proposal phase. The SOA revisions included reformatting and updating the document for
clarity and relevancy with current procurement trends and requirements. For example, this
includes reorganizing sections of the SOA Form so that all sections which relate to the contract
and administration are at the beginning of the document, and sections that are for the solicitation
phase only are at the end of the document and can be easily removed upon contract award.
Additionally, contract clauses needed to be modified to stay relevant with changes to current
laws and procurement trends. As a result of these technical revisions, sections and titles within
the cover letter are updated accordingly.
Addition of FR 1400C – Vendor Risk Management Offeror Questionnaire. The
Board added a new form, the Vendor Risk Management Offeror Questionnaire (FR 1400C). The
Vendor Risk Management Offeror Questionnaire is designed to capture required information
from a vendor for evaluation of the vendor’s application that will be used to either transmit,
store, or process Board data. The questionnaire is specific to the security controls surrounding
the vendor’s proposed application that would be used to process, store, or transmit the data. This
document and the security controls required are defined and prioritized based on the FIMSA and

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the NIST Special Publication 800-53 (Security Controls and Assessment Procedures for Federal
Information Systems and Organizations).
Revisions to the FR 1400D - Subcontracting Report. The Subcontracting Report has
undergone grammatical and non-substantive changes to improve the clarity of questions asked
and to aid in the reporting efforts of the successful vendor awarded a contract. The Board
revised this form to include reporting to align with the subcontracting goals of the Board. The
reporting would be required twice a year by the vendor to provide actual percentages of
subcontracting efforts against goals it proposed during the solicitation phase.
Time Schedule for Information Collection and Publication
The use and input of vendor information into the Board’s vendor database (FR 1400A) is
solely at the discretion of the vendor and may occur at any point in time. However, when Board
staff issues a solicitation, prospective vendors are told when the product is needed or when the
service is to be performed and are given deadlines for inquiries concerning the solicitation as
well as for submitting proposals. All proposals submitted by the deadline shall include the SOA
and Supplier Information Form (FR 1400B). Certain proposals submitted by the deadline,
depending the requirements within the solicitation, shall include the Past Performance Data
Sheet (FR 1400B), Past Performance Questionnaire (FR 1400B), or Vendor Risk Management
Offeror Questionnaire (FR 1400C). When Board staff has selected a proposal and awarded the
contract, all offerors are notified of the decision. The Subcontracting Report (FR 1400D) would
be due following contract award and would be submitted electronically and quarterly by the
prime contractor.
Legal Status
The FR 1400 is authorized pursuant to sections 10 and 11 of the Federal Reserve Act
(FRA) and section 342(c) of the Dodd-Frank Act. Sections 10(3) and 11 of the FRA (12 U.S.C.
243 and 248(l)) grant the Board full authority to manage its buildings and its staff. Section 10(4)
of the FRA (12 U.S.C. 244) authorizes the Board to determine and prescribe the manner in which
its obligations shall be incurred and its disbursements and expenses allowed and paid. Therefore,
the Board can solicit proposals and seek the information in FR 1400 from prospective vendors.
Additionally, the FR 1400 is authorized by section 342(c) of Dodd-Frank (12 U.S.C. 5452(c)),
which requires the Board to develop and implement standards and procedures for the review and
evaluation of contract proposals and for hiring service providers that include a component that
gives consideration to the diversity of a prospective vendor and the fair inclusion of women and
minorities in the workforce of such vendor and any subcontractor.
The FR 1400A is voluntary. For prospective vendors that decide to submit proposals to
the Board, the FR 1400B, 1400C, and 1400D are required to obtain a benefit, in order to be
eligible for the award of a contract.
A vendor generally may request confidential treatment for information submitted during
the solicitation process, and the Board will review the request to determine if the data may be
kept confidential under exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act, which protects from

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disclosure trade secrets and commercial or financial information (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4)).
Consultation Outside the Agency
There has been no consultation outside the agency.
Public Comments
On September 28, 2018, the Board published an initial notice in the Federal Register
(83 FR 49092) requesting public comment for 60 days on the extension, with revision, of the
FR 1400. The comment period for this notice expired on November 27, 2018. The Board did not
receive any public comments. On December 12, 2018, the Board published a final notice in the
Federal Register (83 FR 63886).
Estimate of Respondent Burden
As shown in the table below, the estimated total annual burden for the FR 1400 is 21,950
hours. The proposed revisions resulted in a net increase in burden of 2,990 hours. These
reporting requirements represent less than 1 percent of the Board’s total paperwork burden.
Estimated
number of
respondents7

FR 1400
Current
RFP
RFPQ
Subcontract Report

Annual
frequency

Estimated
average hours
per response

Estimated
annual burden
hours

350
2,200
150

1
1
1

50
2
0.33

17,500
4,400
50
21,950

250
300
20
75

1
1
1
4

1
81
12
0.50

Total

250
24,300
240
150
24,940

Change

2,990

Total
Proposed
FR 1400A
FR 1400B
FR 1400C
FR 1400D

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Of these respondents, 150 for FR 1400A, 180 for the FR 1400B, 12 for the FR 1400C, and 45 for the FR 1400D
are considered small entities as defined by the Small Business Administration (i.e., entities with less than $550
million in total assets), www.sba.gov/document/support--table-size-standards.

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The estimated total annual cost to the public for these collections of information is $1,436,544.8
Sensitive Questions
The Dodd-Frank Act requires the Board to develop and implement standards and
procedures to assess the diversity policies and practices in all business and activities of the
agency at all levels, including procurement, insurance, and all types of contracts. In order to
comply with the mandate and reporting of the Dodd-Frank Act, vendors are asked to submit
information regarding the ownership of their company based on race and ethnicity in the
Supplier Information Form. Also in the Supplier Information Form, vendors are asked to
provide banking information to allow for electronic payment.
Estimate of Cost to the Federal Reserve System
There is no cost associated for collecting this information to the Federal Reserve System.

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Total cost to the public was estimated using the following formula: percent of staff time, multiplied by annual
burden hours, multiplied by hourly rates (30% Office & Administrative Support at $19, 45% Financial Managers at
$71, 15% Lawyers at $69, and 10% Chief Executives at $96). Hourly rates for each occupational group are the
(rounded) mean hourly wages from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), Occupational Employment and Wages
May 2018, published March 29, 2019, www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.t01.htm. Occupations are defined using
the BLS Occupational Classification System, www.bls.gov/soc/.

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