Notice of a Regional Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy American Requirement) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to the City of Ocean Shores (the City), Washington for the Purchase of Resin Beads (Miex® DOC Resin) Manufactured Outside of the United States Under the Section 1605 Waiver Authority Based on the Conclusion That Iron, Steel, and the Relevant Manufactured Goods Are Not Produced in the United States in Sufficient and Reasonably Available Quantities and of a Satisfactory Quality, 40817-40818 [E9-19465]
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 155 / Thursday, August 13, 2009 / Notices
• Part 61—National Emission
Standards For Hazardous Air Pollutants;
• Part 62—Approval and
Promulgation of State Plans for
Designated Facilities and Pollutants;
• Part 63—National Emission
Standards For Hazardous Air Pollutants
For Source Categories;
• Part 70—State Operating Permit
Programs;
• Part 123—State Program
Requirements (National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System Permit
Program);
• Part 147—State, Tribal, and EPAadministered Underground Injection
Control Programs; and
• Part 282—Approved Underground
Storage Tank Programs.
WAECY was notified of EPA’s
determination to approve its application
with respect to the authorized programs
listed above in a letter dated August 6,
2009.
Dated: August 6, 2009.
Lisa Schlosser,
Director, Office of Information Collection.
[FR Doc. E9–19463 Filed 8–12–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[FRL–8945–4]
Notice of a Regional Waiver of Section
1605 (Buy American Requirement) of
the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to
the City of Ocean Shores (the City),
Washington for the Purchase of Resin
Beads (Miex® DOC Resin)
Manufactured Outside of the United
States Under the Section 1605 Waiver
Authority Based on the Conclusion
That Iron, Steel, and the Relevant
Manufactured Goods Are Not
Produced in the United States in
Sufficient and Reasonably Available
Quantities and of a Satisfactory Quality
erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with NOTICES
AGENCY: Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
SUMMARY: The Acting Regional
Administrator of EPA Region 10, is
hereby granting a waiver of the Buy
America requirements of ARRA Section
1605 under the authority of Section
1605(b)(2) [manufactured goods are not
produced in the United States in
sufficient and reasonably available
quantities and of a satisfactory quality]
to the City for the purchase of resin
beads (MIEX® DOC Resin) supplied by
Orica Ltd, in Victoria, Australia and
manufactured in Australia. The
VerDate Nov<24>2008
15:29 Aug 12, 2009
Jkt 217001
applicant indicates that MIEX® DOC
Resin is necessary to the MIEX®
process, a treatment process evaluated
in pilot studies and selected for
implementation. While the majority of
other equipment is manufactured in the
U.S., the MIEX® DOC Resin is only
manufactured in Australia. It is patented
and no alternative exists which can be
used with the MIEX® process. The
Acting Regional Administrator is
making this determination based on the
review and recommendations of the
Drinking Water Unit. The City has
provided sufficient documentation to
support their request.
DATES: Effective Date: July 24, 2009.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rick
Green, DWSRF Coordinator, Drinking
Water Unit (DWU), Office of Water &
Watersheds (OWW), (206) 553–8504,
U.S. EPA Region 10 (OWW–136), 1200
Sixth Avenue, Suite 900, Seattle, WA
98101.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
In accordance with ARRA Section
1605(c), the EPA hereby provides notice
that it is granting a project waiver of the
requirements of Section 1605(b)(2) of
Public Law 111–5, Buy American
requirements, to the City for the
acquisition of resin beads (MIEX® DOC
Resin) supplied by Orica Ltd, in
Victoria, Australia and manufactured in
Australia. The applicant indicates that
MIEX® DOC Resin is necessary to the
MIEX® process, a treatment process
evaluated in pilot studies at the City and
selected for use. While the majority of
other equipment is manufactured in the
U.S., the MIEX® DOC Resin is only
manufactured in Australia. It is patented
and no alternative exists which can be
used with the MIEX® process. Section
1605 of the ARRA requires that none of
the appropriated funds may be used for
the construction, alteration,
maintenance, or repair of a public
building or public work unless all of the
iron, steel, and manufactured goods
used in the project is produced in the
United States unless a waiver is
provided to the recipient by EPA. A
waiver may be provided if EPA
determines that (1) applying these
requirements would be inconsistent
with public interest; (2) iron, steel, and
the relevant manufactured goods are not
produced in the United States in
sufficient and reasonably available
quantities and of a satisfactory quality;
or (3) inclusion of iron, steel, and the
relevant manufactured goods produced
in the United States will increase the
cost of the overall project by more than
25 percent.
The construction project being
undertaken by the City is treatment of
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
40817
water from a shallow aquifer, which
contains problematic levels of iron,
manganese, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia,
organic nitrogen, and organic carbon.
Based on the results of pilot studies, the
City chose to use a combination of
greensand filtration and the MIEX®
process to treat this water supply. The
community chose this treatment process
over the alternatives of ultrafiltration or
nanofiltration because the capital costs
are significantly lower, the electrical
consumption is significantly less, and
there is much less water wasted during
the treatment process.
The City’s submission clearly
articulates entirely reasonable reasons
for choosing the type of technology that
it chose for this project and has
provided sufficient documentation that
the relevant manufactured goods are not
produced in the United States in
sufficient and reasonably available
quantity and of a satisfactory quality to
meet its technical specifications.
The April 28, 2009 EPA HQ
Memorandum, Implementation of Buy
American provisions of Pubilc Law
111–5, the ‘‘American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009’’, defines
‘‘reasonably available quantity’’ as the
quantity of iron, steel, or relevant
manufactured good is available or will
be available at the time needed and
place needed, and in the proper form or
specification as specified in the project
plans and design. The City has
incorporated specific technical design
features for the proposed project based
on pilot studies which demonstrated
that the combination of greensand
filtration and MIEX treatment is the best
alternative.
The City has provided information to
the EPA representing that there are
currently no resin beads manufactured
in the United States that have the exact
same product specifications in place.
The City has also provided certification
from its supplier representing that there
are no beads of comparable quality
available from a domestic manufacturer
to meet its exact specifications.
Based on additional research by EPA’s
consulting contractor (Cadmus), and to
the best of the Region’s knowledge at
this time, there does not appear to be
other resin beads available to meet the
City’s specifications.
Furthermore, the purpose of the
ARRA provisions was to stimulate
economic recovery by funding current
infrastructure construction, not to delay
projects that are already shovel ready by
requiring entities, like the City, to revise
their design and potentially choose a
more costly and less efficient project.
The imposition of ARRA Buy American
requirements on such projects eligible
E:\FR\FM\13AUN1.SGM
13AUN1
40818
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 155 / Thursday, August 13, 2009 / Notices
for DWSRF assistance would result in
unreasonable delay and thus displace
the ‘‘shovel ready’’ status for this
project. To further delay construction is
in direct conflict with the most
fundamental economic purposes of
ARRA; to create or retain jobs.
The Drinking Water Unit (DWU) has
reviewed this waiver request and has
determined that the supporting
documentation provided by the City is
sufficient to meet the following criteria
listed under Section 1605(b) and in the
April 28, 2009, Implementation of Buy
American provisions of Public Law
111–5, the ‘‘American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009’’
Memorandum: Iron, steel, and the
manufactured goods are not produced in
the United States in sufficient and
reasonably available quantities and of a
satisfactory quality.
The basis for this project waiver is the
authorization provided in Section
1605(b)(2), due to the lack of production
of this product in the United States in
sufficient and reasonably available
quantities and of a satisfactory quality
in order to meet the City’s design
specifications.
The March 31, 2009 Delegation of
Authority Memorandum provided
Regional Administrators with the
authority to issue exceptions to Section
1605 of ARRA within the geographic
boundaries of their respective regions
and with respect to requests by
individual grant recipients.
Having established both a proper
basis to specify the particular good
required for this project, and that this
manufactured good was not available
from a producer in the United States,
the City is hereby granted a waiver from
the Buy American requirements of
Section 1605(a) of Public Law 111–5 for
the purchase of resin beads (MIEX®
DOC Resin) supplied by Orica Ltd, in
Victoria, Australia and manufactured in
Australia as specified in the City’s
request of June 26, 2009. This
supplementary information constitutes
the detailed written justification
required by Section 1605(c) for waivers
based on a finding under subsection (b).
erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with NOTICES
Authority: Pubic Law 111–5, section 1605.
Issued on: July 28, 2009.
Michelle Pirzadeh,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA, Region
10.
[FR Doc. E9–19465 Filed 8–12–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
VerDate Nov<24>2008
15:29 Aug 12, 2009
Jkt 217001
FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE
CORPORATION
Notice of Agency Meeting
Pursuant to the provisions of the
‘‘Government in the Sunshine Act’’ (5
U.S.C. 552b), notice is hereby given that
at 9:03 a.m. on Tuesday, August 11,
2009, the Board of Directors of the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
met in closed session to consider
matters related to the Corporation’s
resolution activities.
In calling the meeting, the Board
determined, on motion of Director
Thomas J. Curry (Appointive), seconded
by Vice Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg,
concurred in by Ms. Julie L. Williams,
acting in the place and stead of Director
John C. Dugan (Comptroller of the
Currency), Director John E. Bowman
(Acting Director, Office of Thrift
Supervision), and Chairman Sheila C.
Bair, that Corporation business required
its consideration of the matters which
were to be the subject of this meeting on
less than seven days’ notice to the
public; that no earlier notice of the
meeting was practicable; that the public
interest did not require consideration of
the matters in a meeting open to public
observation; and that the matters could
be considered in a closed meeting by
authority of subsections (c)(4), (c)(6),
(c)(8), (c)(9)(A)(ii), and (c)(9)(B) of the
‘‘Government in the Sunshine Act’’ (5
U.S.C. 552b(c)(4), (c)(6), (c)(8),
(c)(9)(A)(ii), and (c)(9)(B)).
The meeting was held in the Board
Room of the FDIC Building located at
550–17th Street, NW., Washington, DC.
Dated: August 11, 2009.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Robert E. Feldman,
Executive Secretary.
[FR Doc. E9–19492 Filed 8–12–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY
OFFICE
System of Personnel Records
AGENCY:
Government Accountability
Office.
ACTION: Notice of Establishment of
Human Capital Management System of
Records.
SUMMARY: The Government
Accountability Office (GAO) proposes to
establish a new system of personnel
records under its privacy regulations,
Privacy Procedures for Personnel
Records. This Human Capital
Management System of Records
encompasses GAO payroll- and
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personnel-related information
maintained by GAO and exchanged
with the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s National Finance Center
(USDA/NFC) and the U.S. Department
of the Treasury’s HR Connect program
(Treasury/HR Connect). To support its
human capital management activities,
GAO has entered into interagency
agreements with these two Federal
Executive Branch agencies as shared
service providers. USDA/NFC provides
payroll and personnel information
processing (Department of Agriculture,
Systems of Record Notice OP–1), and
Treasury/HR Connect operates a human
capital management support system
(Department of Treasury .001—Treasury
Payroll and Personnel System). The
policies and procedures described in
this notice are intended to ensure that
personal information contained in
GAO’s personnel records is protected as
provided by GAO’s privacy regulation.
DATES: Comments may be submitted on
or before September 14, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent
to: Government Accountability Office,
Privacy Office, Room 1127, 441 G St.,
NW., Washington, DC 20548, or by email to privacy@gao.gov. Please include
reference to ‘‘Comment: Human Capital
Management System of Records’’ at the
top of a comment letter or in the subject
line of an e-mail.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
information about GAO human capital
information management, contact the
Chief Human Capital Officer,
Government Accountability Office,
Room 1157, 441 G St., NW.,
Washington, DC 20548; e-mail,
HCOhelp@gao.gov. For information
about GAO privacy protections, contact
the Chief Agency Privacy Officer,
Government Accountability Office,
Room 1127, 441 G St., NW.,
Washington, DC 20548; e-mail, privacy
@gao.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
A. GAO. GAO is an independent,
nonpartisan Legislative Branch agency
that examines a wide range of
government activities and provides
analyses, recommendations, and other
assistance to help Congress make sound
oversight, policy, and funding
decisions. As a Legislative Branch
agency, GAO is not subject to the
privacy and information security laws
applicable to Executive Branch
agencies, such as the Privacy Act of
1974 (Privacy Act), Federal Information
Security Management Act of 2002
(FISMA), the E-Government Act of 2002
(E-Government Act), and Office of
E:\FR\FM\13AUN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 155 (Thursday, August 13, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40817-40818]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-19465]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8945-4]
Notice of a Regional Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy American
Requirement) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(ARRA) to the City of Ocean Shores (the City), Washington for the
Purchase of Resin Beads (Miex[supreg] DOC Resin) Manufactured Outside
of the United States Under the Section 1605 Waiver Authority Based on
the Conclusion That Iron, Steel, and the Relevant Manufactured Goods
Are Not Produced in the United States in Sufficient and Reasonably
Available Quantities and of a Satisfactory Quality
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Acting Regional Administrator of EPA Region 10, is hereby
granting a waiver of the Buy America requirements of ARRA Section 1605
under the authority of Section 1605(b)(2) [manufactured goods are not
produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available
quantities and of a satisfactory quality] to the City for the purchase
of resin beads (MIEX[supreg] DOC Resin) supplied by Orica Ltd, in
Victoria, Australia and manufactured in Australia. The applicant
indicates that MIEX[supreg] DOC Resin is necessary to the MIEX[supreg]
process, a treatment process evaluated in pilot studies and selected
for implementation. While the majority of other equipment is
manufactured in the U.S., the MIEX[supreg] DOC Resin is only
manufactured in Australia. It is patented and no alternative exists
which can be used with the MIEX[supreg] process. The Acting Regional
Administrator is making this determination based on the review and
recommendations of the Drinking Water Unit. The City has provided
sufficient documentation to support their request.
DATES: Effective Date: July 24, 2009.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rick Green, DWSRF Coordinator,
Drinking Water Unit (DWU), Office of Water & Watersheds (OWW), (206)
553-8504, U.S. EPA Region 10 (OWW-136), 1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900,
Seattle, WA 98101.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
In accordance with ARRA Section 1605(c), the EPA hereby provides
notice that it is granting a project waiver of the requirements of
Section 1605(b)(2) of Public Law 111-5, Buy American requirements, to
the City for the acquisition of resin beads (MIEX[supreg] DOC Resin)
supplied by Orica Ltd, in Victoria, Australia and manufactured in
Australia. The applicant indicates that MIEX[supreg] DOC Resin is
necessary to the MIEX[supreg] process, a treatment process evaluated in
pilot studies at the City and selected for use. While the majority of
other equipment is manufactured in the U.S., the MIEX[supreg] DOC Resin
is only manufactured in Australia. It is patented and no alternative
exists which can be used with the MIEX[supreg] process. Section 1605 of
the ARRA requires that none of the appropriated funds may be used for
the construction, alteration, maintenance, or repair of a public
building or public work unless all of the iron, steel, and manufactured
goods used in the project is produced in the United States unless a
waiver is provided to the recipient by EPA. A waiver may be provided if
EPA determines that (1) applying these requirements would be
inconsistent with public interest; (2) iron, steel, and the relevant
manufactured goods are not produced in the United States in sufficient
and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality; or
(3) inclusion of iron, steel, and the relevant manufactured goods
produced in the United States will increase the cost of the overall
project by more than 25 percent.
The construction project being undertaken by the City is treatment
of water from a shallow aquifer, which contains problematic levels of
iron, manganese, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, organic nitrogen, and
organic carbon. Based on the results of pilot studies, the City chose
to use a combination of greensand filtration and the MIEX[supreg]
process to treat this water supply. The community chose this treatment
process over the alternatives of ultrafiltration or nanofiltration
because the capital costs are significantly lower, the electrical
consumption is significantly less, and there is much less water wasted
during the treatment process.
The City's submission clearly articulates entirely reasonable
reasons for choosing the type of technology that it chose for this
project and has provided sufficient documentation that the relevant
manufactured goods are not produced in the United States in sufficient
and reasonably available quantity and of a satisfactory quality to meet
its technical specifications.
The April 28, 2009 EPA HQ Memorandum, Implementation of Buy
American provisions of Pubilc Law 111-5, the ``American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009'', defines ``reasonably available quantity''
as the quantity of iron, steel, or relevant manufactured good is
available or will be available at the time needed and place needed, and
in the proper form or specification as specified in the project plans
and design. The City has incorporated specific technical design
features for the proposed project based on pilot studies which
demonstrated that the combination of greensand filtration and MIEX
treatment is the best alternative.
The City has provided information to the EPA representing that
there are currently no resin beads manufactured in the United States
that have the exact same product specifications in place. The City has
also provided certification from its supplier representing that there
are no beads of comparable quality available from a domestic
manufacturer to meet its exact specifications.
Based on additional research by EPA's consulting contractor
(Cadmus), and to the best of the Region's knowledge at this time, there
does not appear to be other resin beads available to meet the City's
specifications.
Furthermore, the purpose of the ARRA provisions was to stimulate
economic recovery by funding current infrastructure construction, not
to delay projects that are already shovel ready by requiring entities,
like the City, to revise their design and potentially choose a more
costly and less efficient project. The imposition of ARRA Buy American
requirements on such projects eligible
[[Page 40818]]
for DWSRF assistance would result in unreasonable delay and thus
displace the ``shovel ready'' status for this project. To further delay
construction is in direct conflict with the most fundamental economic
purposes of ARRA; to create or retain jobs.
The Drinking Water Unit (DWU) has reviewed this waiver request and
has determined that the supporting documentation provided by the City
is sufficient to meet the following criteria listed under Section
1605(b) and in the April 28, 2009, Implementation of Buy American
provisions of Public Law 111-5, the ``American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009'' Memorandum: Iron, steel, and the
manufactured goods are not produced in the United States in sufficient
and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality.
The basis for this project waiver is the authorization provided in
Section 1605(b)(2), due to the lack of production of this product in
the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and
of a satisfactory quality in order to meet the City's design
specifications.
The March 31, 2009 Delegation of Authority Memorandum provided
Regional Administrators with the authority to issue exceptions to
Section 1605 of ARRA within the geographic boundaries of their
respective regions and with respect to requests by individual grant
recipients.
Having established both a proper basis to specify the particular
good required for this project, and that this manufactured good was not
available from a producer in the United States, the City is hereby
granted a waiver from the Buy American requirements of Section 1605(a)
of Public Law 111-5 for the purchase of resin beads (MIEX[supreg] DOC
Resin) supplied by Orica Ltd, in Victoria, Australia and manufactured
in Australia as specified in the City's request of June 26, 2009. This
supplementary information constitutes the detailed written
justification required by Section 1605(c) for waivers based on a
finding under subsection (b).
Authority: Pubic Law 111-5, section 1605.
Issued on: July 28, 2009.
Michelle Pirzadeh,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA, Region 10.
[FR Doc. E9-19465 Filed 8-12-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
