NIST Seeks Comments Regarding Davis-Bacon Compliance under the CHIPS Incentives Program created by the SWACCA-Supported CHIPS and Science Act
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) seeks comments on a new ICR regarding Davis-Bacon and Related Act compliance in connection with the CHIPS Incentives Program. NIST notes that, under 5 CFR 5.7(b), all federal agencies administering programs subject to Davis-Bacon wage provisions – which includes the CHIPS Incentives Program administered by the CHIPS Program Office (CPO) – are required to submit a report of all new covered contracts/projects and all compliance and enforcement activities every six months to the Department of Labor (DOL). SWACCA successfully advocated for the Davis-Bacon Act requirements in the CHIPS and Science Act in 2022 that this notice is seeking to enforce.
To comply with this requirement, CPO must collect contract and enforcement information from CHIPS and Science Act Incentives Program awardees, NIST’s direct contractors, and other prime contractors that administer the Department of Commerce’s programs subject to Davis-Bacon requirements. Under this ICR, the CPO will require that such entities complete and submit a Semi-Annual Enforcement Report every six months, in April and October each year. Specifically, these entities will be required to submit contract and enforcement information to CPO by April 20th and October 20th each year, so that all reports can be combined into the CHIPS Semi-Annual Enforcement Report and submitted to DOL by their respective due dates, which are April 30 and October 31 of each year.
Comments are due by June 10, 2024 and should be submitted by email to Liz Reinhart at PRAcomments@doc.gov.
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