Buy America Requirements; End Product Analysis and Waiver Procedures; Public Meeting and Extension of Comment Period, 1976 [E7-473]

Agencies

• Federal Transit Administration
• DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 10 (Wednesday, January 17, 2007)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 1976]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-473]



[[Page 1976]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration

49 CFR Part 661

[Docket No. FTA-2005-23082]
RIN 2132-AA90


Buy America Requirements; End Product Analysis and Waiver 
Procedures; Public Meeting and Extension of Comment Period

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice announcing public meeting and extension of comment 
period.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is holding a public 
meeting on the Buy America second notice of proposed rulemaking 
(SNPRM). The purpose of this meeting is to allow the public to ask 
questions regarding the notice published on November 30, 2006 (71 FR 
69411). Furthermore, due to the complexity of the issues presented in 
the SNPRM, FTA is extending the comment period to February 28, 2007, 
which will allow affected parties time to carefully consider the 
changes made in the SNPRM and the information presented at the public 
meeting.

DATES: Comments should be submitted before February 28, 2007. Late-
filed comments will be considered to the extent practicable.
    Public Meeting Date: FTA will hold a public meeting on February 
13th and 14th of 2007 from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at the Department of 
Transportation (DOT) headquarters building (400 7th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20590, Room 2201). Anyone interested in attending the 
meeting should arrive at the southwest entrance of the DOT building to 
go through security screening. Please allow a minimum of 15 minutes to 
clear security. A summary of the meeting will be posted in the docket. 
FTA will not accept public comment during the public meeting. Instead, 
attendees must submit their comments to the docket in order to have 
their comments considered by FTA.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by the docket number 
[FTA-2005--23082] by any of the following methods:
    1. Web site: https://dms.dot.gov. Follow the instructions for 
submitting comments on the DOT electronic docket site.
    2. Fax: 202-493-2251.
    3. Mail: Docket Management Facility; U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, PL-401, 
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    4. Hand Delivery: Room PL-401 on the plaza level of the Nassif 
Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Instructions: You must include the agency name (Federal Transit 
Administration and Docket number (FTA-2005--23082) for this Notice at 
the beginning of your comments. You should submit two copies of your 
comments if you submit them by mail. If you wish to receive 
confirmation that FTA received your comments, you must include a self-
addressed stamped postcard. Note that all comments received will be 
posted, without change, to https://dms.dot.gov including any personal 
information provided and will be available to Internet users. You may 
review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register 
published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477) or you may visit https://
dms.dot.gov. Docket: For access to the docket to read background 
documents and comments received, go to https://dms.dot.gov at any time 
or to Room PL-401 on the plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 
Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Wong, Attorney-Advisor, Office 
of the Chief Counsel, Federal Transit Administration, 400 Seventh 
Street SW., Room 9316, Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-4011 or 
Richard.Wong@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 28, 2005, FTA published an NPRM 
in the Federal Register (70 FR 71246) discussing a number of proposals 
as mandated by SAFETEA-LU and to provide further clarification of 
existing FTA decisions on Buy America. Due to the complexity of many of 
the Buy America issues addressed in the NPRM and the divergence of 
opinion on important areas, FTA issued a final rule that addressed 
fewer issues than proposed in the NPRM. (71 FR 14112, March 21, 2006.) 
These more routine topics covered in the final rule included: (1) 
Administrative review; (2) A definition of ``negotiated procurement;'' 
(3) A definition of ``contractor;'' (4) Repeal of the general waiver 
for Chrysler vehicles; (5) Certification under negotiated procurements; 
(6) Pre-award and post-award review of rolling stock purchases; and (7) 
Miscellaneous corrections and clarifications to the Buy America 
regulations.
    FTA issued a second notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPRM) on 
November 30, 2006, to address the remaining issues identified in the 
NPRM, but not covered in the final rule, including: (1) Justification 
for public interest waiver; (2) Microprocessor and post-award waivers; 
(3) Definition of ``final assembly;'' (4) The definition of ``end 
product,'' ``system end products,'' and a representative list of end 
products; and (5) Proposed changes to communication equipment and the 
list of rolling stock items in Part 661.
    During the public meeting on February 13th and 14th at DOT 
headquarters, FTA staff will summarize its proposals in the SNPRM and 
staff will be available to answer questions regarding those proposals. 
This is an opportunity for affected parties to receive clarification 
regarding FTA's proposals. The public meeting is not, however, an 
opportunity to submit comments to FTA regarding the proposals contained 
in the SNPRM. Rather, interested parties should submit their comments 
to the docket for this rulemaking as described in the ADDRESSES section 
of this notice.
    In addition, because of the complexity of the issues involved in 
the SNPRM, FTA is extending the comment period for the SNPRM until 
February 28, 2007. This additional time should be sufficient to allow 
those who attend the public meeting to submit comments to the docket 
for this rulemaking.

    Issued this 10th day of January, 2007.
James S. Simpson,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. E7-473 Filed 1-16-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P