(a) A Contracting Officer shall not award a timber sale contract unless that officer makes an affirmative determination of purchaser responsibility. In the absence of information clearly indicating that the prospective purchaser is responsible, the Contracting Officer shall conclude that the prospective purchaser does not qualify as a responsible purchaser.

(b) To determine a purchaser to be responsible, a Contracting Officer must find that:

(1) The purchaser has adequate financial resources to perform the contract or the ability to obtain them;

(2) The purchaser is able to perform the contract within the contract term taking into consideration all existing commercial and governmental business commitments;

(3) The purchaser has a satisfactory performance record on timber sale contracts. A prospective purchaser that is or recently has been seriously deficient in contract performance shall be presumed not to be responsible, unless the Contracting Officer determines that the circumstances were beyond the purchaser's control and were not created through improper actions by the purchaser or affiliate, or that the purchaser has taken appropriate corrective action. Past failure to apply sufficient tenacity and perseverance to perform acceptably under a contract is strong evidence that a purchaser is not a responsible contractor. The Contracting Officer shall consider the number of contracts involved and extent of deficiency of each in making this evaluation;

(4) The purchaser has a satisfactory record of integrity and business ethics;

(5) The purchaser has or is able to obtain equipment and supplies suitable for logging the timber and for meeting the resource protection provisions of the contract;

(6) The purchaser is otherwise qualified and eligible to receive an award under applicable laws and regulations.

(c) If the prospective purchaser is a small business concern and the Contracting Officer determines that the purchaser does not qualify as a responsible purchaser on an otherwise acceptable bid, the Contracting Officer shall refer the matter to the Small Business Administration which will decide whether or not to issue a Certificate of Competency.

(d) Affiliated concerns, as defined in §223.49(a)(5) of this subpart are normally considered separate entities in determining whether the concern that is to perform the contract meets the applicable standards for responsibility. However, the Contracting Officer shall consider an affiliate's past performance and integrity when they may adversely affect the prospective purchaser's responsibility.

[53 FR 33132, Aug. 30, 1988]