Notice of a Project Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy American Requirement) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to the Canaan Valley Public Service District, WV, 47796-47798 [E9-22429]
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47796
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 179 / Thursday, September 17, 2009 / Notices
2. Electronic access. You may access
this Federal Register document
electronically through the EPA Internet
under the ‘‘Federal Register’’ listings at
https://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr.
A draft agenda is being developed and
will be posted by September 25, 2009,
on EPA’s website at: https://
www.epa.gov/pesticides/ppdc.
II. Background
EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs
(OPP) is entrusted with the
responsibility to help ensure the safety
of the American food supply, the
education and protection from
unreasonable risk of those who apply or
are exposed to pesticides occupationally
or through use of products, and general
protection of the environment and
special ecosystems from potential risks
posed by pesticides.
The Charter for the EPA’s PPDC was
established under the Federal Advisory
Committee Act (FACA), Public Law 92–
463, in September 1995, and has been
renewed every 2 years since that time.
PPDC’s Charter was renewed November
2, 2007, for another 2–year period. The
purpose of PPDC is to provide advice
and recommendations to the EPA
Administrator on issues associated with
pesticide regulatory development and
reform initiatives, evolving public
policy and program implementation
issues, and science issues associated
with evaluating and reducing risks from
use of pesticides. It is determined that
PPDC is in the public interest in
connection with the performance of
duties imposed on the Agency by law.
The following sectors are represented on
the PPDC: Pesticide industry and trade
associations; environmental/public
interest, consumer, and animal rights
groups; farm worker organizations;
pesticide user, grower, and commodity
groups; Federal and State/local/Tribal
governments; the general public;
academia; and public health
organizations.
Copies of the PPDC Charter are filed
with appropriate committees of
Congress and the Library of Congress
and are available upon request.
cprice-sewell on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with NOTICES
III. How Can I Request to Participate in
this Meeting?
PPDC meetings are open to the public
and seating is available on a first-come
basis. Persons interested in attending do
not need to register in advance of the
meeting. Comments may be made
during the public comment session of
each meeting or in writing to the
address listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
VerDate Nov<24>2008
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Jkt 217001
List of Subjects
Environmental protection,
Agricultural workers, Agriculture,
Chemicals, Endangered Species, Foods,
Pesticide labels, Pesticides and pests,
Public health.
Dated: September 11, 2009.
Steve Bradbury,
Acting Director, Office of Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. E9–22424 Filed 9–16–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–S
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[FRL–8958–5]
Clean Air Act Advisory Committee
(CAAAC): Notice of Meeting
AGENCY: Environmental Protection
Agency.
ACTION: Notice of meeting.
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) established the Clean Air
Act Advisory Committee (CAAAC) on
November 19, 1990, to provide
independent advice and counsel to EPA
on policy issues associated with
implementation of the Clean Air Act of
1990. The Committee advises on
economic, environmental, technical,
scientific, and enforcement policy
issues.
DATES AND ADDRESSES: Open meeting
notice; Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. App. 2
Section 10(a)(2), notice is hereby given
that the Clean Air Act Advisory
Committee will hold their next open
meeting on Wednesday October 7, 2009
from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Crowne
Plaza Washington National Airport,
located at 1480 Crystal Drive, Arlington,
VA 22202. Seating will be available on
a first come, first served basis. The
Economic Incentives and Regulatory
Innovations subcommittee will meet on
Tuesday October 6, 2009 from 9:30 a.m.
to 12 p.m. The Permits, New Source
Reviews and Toxics subcommittee will
meet on Tuesday October 6, 2009 from
approximately 12:45 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The meetings will be held at the Crowne
Plaza Washington National Airport,
located at 1480 Crystal Drive, Arlington,
VA 22202. The Mobile Sources
Technical Review subcommittee
(MSTRS) will hold a meeting Tuesday
October 6, 2009 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
with registration beginning at 8:30 a.m.
The meeting will be held at the Crystal
Gateway Marriott Hotel, 1700 Jefferson
Davis Highway, Arlington, VA 22201. A
separate Federal Register has been
created for that meeting. The agenda for
the CAAAC full committee meeting on
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May 14, 2009 will be posted on the
Clean Air Act Advisory Committee Web
site at https://www.epa.gov/oar/caaac/.
Inspection of Committee Documents:
The Committee agenda and any
documents prepared for the meeting
will be publicly available at the
meeting. Thereafter, these documents,
together with CAAAC meeting minutes,
will be available by contacting the
Office of Air and Radiation Docket and
requesting information under docket
OAR–2004–0075. The Docket office can
be reached by e-mail at: a-and-rDocket@epa.gov or FAX: 202–566–9744.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Concerning the CAAAC, please contact
Pat Childers, Office of Air and
Radiation, U.S. EPA (202) 564–1082,
FAX (202) 564–1352 or by mail at U.S.
EPA, Office of Air and Radiation (Mail
code 6102 A), 1200 Pennsylvania
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20004.
For information on the subcommittees,
please contact the following
individuals: (1) Permits/NSR/Toxics—
Liz Naess, (919) 541–1892; and (2)
Economic Incentives and Regulatory
Innovations—Carey Fitzmaurice, (202)
564–1667 (3) Mobile Source Technical
Review—John Guy, (202) 343–9276
Additional Information on these
meetings, CAAAC, and its
Subcommittees can be found on the
CAAAC Web site: https://www.epa.gov/
oar/caaac/.
For information on access or services
for individuals with disabilities, please
contact Mr. Pat Childers at (202) 564–
1082 or childers.pat@epa.gov. To
request accommodation of a disability,
please contact Mr. Childers, preferably
at least 10 days prior to the meeting, to
give EPA as much time as possible to
process your request.
Dated: September 10, 2009.
Pat Childers,
Designated Federal Official, Clean Air Act
Advisory Committee, Office of Air and
Radiation.
[FR Doc. E9–22413 Filed 9–16–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[FRL–8956–6]
Notice of a Project Waiver of Section
1605 (Buy American Requirement) of
the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to
the Canaan Valley Public Service
District, WV
AGENCY: Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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17SEN1
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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 179 / Thursday, September 17, 2009 / Notices
SUMMARY: The Acting Regional
Administrator of EPA Region 3 is hereby
granting a project waiver of the Buy
American 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 Canaan Valley Public Service
District (CVPSD) for the purchase of
membrane filtrations cassettes, which
are an integral component of the
Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) wastewater
treatment process, at two of its
Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs).
CVPSD indicates that the MBR
treatment process is necessary to
achieve the wastewater treatment levels
required by the National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
permits issued for these WWTPs. The
membrane filtration equipment under
consideration is manufactured by a
company located in Canada and no
United States manufacturer produces an
alternative that meets the CVPSD’s
technical specifications. This is a
project specific waiver and only applies
to the use of the specified product for
the ARRA funded project being
proposed. Any other ARRA project that
may wish to use the same product must
apply for a separate waiver based on the
specific project circumstances. The
Acting Regional Administrator is
making this determination based on the
review and recommendations of the
EPA Region III, Water Protection
Division, Office of Infrastructure and
Assistance. The CVPSD has provided
sufficient documentation to support its
request.
The Assistant Administrator of the
EPA’s Office of Administration and
Resources Management has concurred
on this decision to make an exception
to Section 1605 of ARRA. This action
permits the purchase of membrane
filtration cassettes for the proposed
project being implemented by the
CVPSD.
DATES: Effective Date: August 27, 2009.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Robert Chominski, Deputy Associate
Director, (215) 814–2162, or David
McAdams, Environmental Engineer,
(215) 814–5764, Office of Infrastructure
& Assistance (OIA), Water Protection
Division, U.S. EPA Region III, 1650
Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103–
2029.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In
accordance with ARRA Section 1605(c),
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
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14:35 Sep 16, 2009
Jkt 217001
requirements to the Canaan Valley
Public Service District (CVPSD) for the
acquisition of membrane filtration
cassettes manufactured by GE Water and
Process Technologies located in Canada.
CVPSD has been unable to find an
American made membrane filtration
cassette manufacturer to meet its
specific wastewater requirements.
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 are 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.
CVPSD’s waiver request is to allow
the purchase of four membrane filtration
cassettes for use in improvements to two
existing WWTPs in West Virginia. This
project will upgrade two of its existing
WWTPs by adding a new MBR
treatment process. The membrane
filtration cassette is an integral
component of the MBR treatment
process because it separates the treated
wastewater from the mixed liquor
which comes from the biological
reactors, before the treated wastewater is
disinfected and discharged. After an
engineering analysis of alternate
treatment processes, the CVPSD
determined MBR to be the most
environmentally sound and cost
effective solution. The MBR is an
advanced waste water treatment process
which is designed to meet the high
quality effluent requirements of the
waste load allocation under the NPDES
permit. In addition, in anticipation of
procuring the MBR system, the CVPSD
has already incorporated specific
technical design requirements for
installation of membrane filter cassettes
with the MBR treatment process at their
WWTPs, including specific tankage
footprint, geometry and configuration.
To require CVPSD to redesign its project
would cause an unacceptable delay to
the initiation of construction.
The CVPSD has provided information
to the EPA demonstrating that there are
no membrane filtration cassettes
manufactured in the United States in
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47797
sufficient and reasonable quantity and
of a satisfactory quality to meet the
required technical specification. Four
companies were considered for the
membrane filtration cassettes, none
based in the United States. The CVPSD
has performed market research but was
unsuccessful in its effort to locate any
domestic manufacturers of membrane
filtration cassettes for WWTPs.
The April 28, 2009 EPA HQ
Memorandum, Implementation of Buy
American provisions of P.L. 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 CVPSD has incorporated
specific technical design requirements
for installation of membrane filtration
cassettes at its WWTPs.
The purpose of the ARRA is to
stimulate economic recovery in part by
funding current infrastructure
construction, not to delay projects that
are ‘‘shovel ready’’ by requiring utilities,
such as the CVPSD, to revise their
standards and specifications, institute a
new bidding process, and potentially
choose a more costly, less efficient
project. The imposition of ARRA Buy
American requirements on such projects
otherwise eligible for State Revolving
Fund 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 a fundamental
economic purpose of the ARRA, which
is to create or retain jobs.
Based on additional research
conducted by EPA’s Office of
Infrastructure and Assistance (OIA) in
Region 3, and to the best of the Region’s
knowledge at the time of review, there
do not appear to be other membrane
filtration cassettes manufactured
domestically that would meet the
CVPSD’s technical specification. EPA’s
national contractor prepared a technical
assessment report dated July 15, 2009
based on the waiver request submitted.
The report determined that the waiver
request submittal was complete, that
adequate technical information was
provided, and that there were no
significant weaknesses in the
justification provided. The report
confirmed the waiver applicant’s claim
that there are no American-made
membrane filtration cassettes for use in
MBRs in WWTPs.
The OIA has reviewed this waiver
request and to the best of our knowledge
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47798
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 179 / Thursday, September 17, 2009 / Notices
at the time of review has determined
that the supporting documentation
provided by the CVPSD is sufficient to
meet the 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 CVPSD’s technical
specifications, a waiver from the Buy
American requirement is justified.
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 Canaan Valley
Public Service District is hereby granted
a waiver from the Buy American
requirements of Section 1605(a) of
Public Law 111–5 for the purchase of
four membrane filtration cassettes using
ARRA funds as specified in the
CVPSD’s request of July 1, 2009. This
supplementary information constitutes
the detailed written justification
required by Section 1605(c) for waivers
‘‘based on a finding under subsection
(b).’’
Authority: Pub. L. 111–5, section 1605.
Dated: August 27, 2009.
William C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. E9–22429 Filed 9–16–09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
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FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION
Privacy Act of 1974; Altering a System
of Records
Farm Credit Administration.
Notice of altering a system of
records maintained on individuals;
request for comments.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
SUMMARY: Pursuant to the provisions of
the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (5
U.S.C. 552a), notice is hereby given that
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14:35 Sep 16, 2009
Jkt 217001
the Farm Credit Administration (FCA) is
publishing an amended system notice,
which indicates that the agency is now
maintaining information on employees’
health savings accounts.
DATES: Effective Date: You may send
written comments on or before October
19, 2009. The FCA filed an amended
System Report with Congress and the
Office of Management and Budget on
August 21, 2009. This notice will
become effective without further
publication on October 27, 2009 unless
modified by a subsequent notice to
incorporate comments received from the
public.
ADDRESSES: We offer a variety of
methods for you to submit your
comments. For accuracy and efficiency
reasons, commenters are encouraged to
submit comments by e-mail or through
the FCA’s Web site. As facsimiles (fax)
are difficult for us to process and
achieve compliance with section 508 of
the Rehabilitation Act, we are no longer
accepting comments submitted by fax.
Regardless of the method you use,
please do not submit your comment
multiple times via different methods.
You may submit comments by any of
the following methods:
• E-mail: Send us an e-mail at regcomm@fca.gov.
• FCA Web site: https://www.fca.gov.
Select ‘‘Public Commenters,’’ then
‘‘Public Comments,’’ and follow the
directions for ‘‘Submitting a Comment.’’
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail: Jane Virga, Acting Privacy Act
Officer, Farm Credit Administration,
1501 Farm Credit Drive, McLean, VA
22102–5090.
You may review copies of comments
we receive at our office in McLean,
Virginia, or from our Web site at
https://www.fca.gov. Once you are in the
Web site, select ‘‘Public Commenters,’’
then ‘‘Public Comments,’’ and follow
the directions for ‘‘Reading Submitted
Public Comments.’’ We will show your
comments as submitted but, for
technical reasons, we may omit items
such as logos and special characters.
Identifying information that you
provide, such as phone numbers and
addresses, will be publicly available.
However, we will attempt to remove email addresses to help reduce Internet
spam.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jane
Virga, Acting Privacy Act Officer, Farm
Credit Administration, McLean, Virginia
22102–5090, (703) 883–4019, TTY (703)
883–4020.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This
publication satisfies the requirement of
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
the Privacy Act of 1974 that agencies
publish a system of records notice in the
Federal Register when there is a
revision, change, or addition to the
system of records. The notice reflects
designated points of contact for
inquiring about the system, accessing
the records, and requesting amendments
to the records.
The amended system of records is:
FCA–1, Employee Attendance, Leave,
and Payroll Records—FCA. As required
by 5 U.S.C. 552a(r) of the Privacy Act,
as amended, the FCA has sent notice of
this proposed system of records to the
Office of Management and Budget, the
Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform of the House of
Representatives, and the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs of the Senate. The notice is
published in its entirety below.
FCA–1
SYSTEM NAME:
Employee Attendance, Leave, and
Payroll Records—FCA.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION:
None.
SYSTEM LOCATION:
Farm Credit Administration, 1501
Farm Credit Drive, McLean, VA 22102–
5090 and field offices listed in
Appendix A.
CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE
SYSTEM:
Current and former FCA employees.
CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:
This system contains paper,
electronic, and microfiche files
containing payroll-related information
for FCA employees reported on a
biweekly, year-to-date, and, in some
cases, annual basis. It includes the
‘‘Agency Time Tracking System,’’
payroll and leave data for each
employee including rate and amount of
pay, hours worked, tax and retirement
deductions, leave bank records, life
insurance and health insurance
deductions, savings allotments, savings
bond and charity deductions, health
savings accounts, other financial
deductions, mailing addresses, and
home addresses. The National Finance
Center’s U.S. Department of Agriculture
Personnel Payroll System provides
agency payroll services.
AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:
12 U.S.C. 2243, 2252.
PURPOSES:
We may use information in this
record system to prepare payroll, to
meet Government payroll recordkeeping
E:\FR\FM\17SEN1.SGM
17SEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 179 (Thursday, September 17, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47796-47798]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-22429]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-8956-6]
Notice of a Project Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy American
Requirement) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(ARRA) to the Canaan Valley Public Service District, WV
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 47797]]
SUMMARY: The Acting Regional Administrator of EPA Region 3 is hereby
granting a project waiver of the Buy American 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
Canaan Valley Public Service District (CVPSD) for the purchase of
membrane filtrations cassettes, which are an integral component of the
Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) wastewater treatment process, at two of its
Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs). CVPSD indicates that the MBR
treatment process is necessary to achieve the wastewater treatment
levels required by the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES) permits issued for these WWTPs. The membrane filtration
equipment under consideration is manufactured by a company located in
Canada and no United States manufacturer produces an alternative that
meets the CVPSD's technical specifications. This is a project specific
waiver and only applies to the use of the specified product for the
ARRA funded project being proposed. Any other ARRA project that may
wish to use the same product must apply for a separate waiver based on
the specific project circumstances. The Acting Regional Administrator
is making this determination based on the review and recommendations of
the EPA Region III, Water Protection Division, Office of Infrastructure
and Assistance. The CVPSD has provided sufficient documentation to
support its request.
The Assistant Administrator of the EPA's Office of Administration
and Resources Management has concurred on this decision to make an
exception to Section 1605 of ARRA. This action permits the purchase of
membrane filtration cassettes for the proposed project being
implemented by the CVPSD.
DATES: Effective Date: August 27, 2009.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Chominski, Deputy Associate
Director, (215) 814-2162, or David McAdams, Environmental Engineer,
(215) 814-5764, Office of Infrastructure & Assistance (OIA), Water
Protection Division, U.S. EPA Region III, 1650 Arch Street,
Philadelphia, PA 19103-2029.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with ARRA Section 1605(c), 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 Canaan Valley Public Service District (CVPSD) for
the acquisition of membrane filtration cassettes manufactured by GE
Water and Process Technologies located in Canada. CVPSD has been unable
to find an American made membrane filtration cassette manufacturer to
meet its specific wastewater requirements.
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 are 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.
CVPSD's waiver request is to allow the purchase of four membrane
filtration cassettes for use in improvements to two existing WWTPs in
West Virginia. This project will upgrade two of its existing WWTPs by
adding a new MBR treatment process. The membrane filtration cassette is
an integral component of the MBR treatment process because it separates
the treated wastewater from the mixed liquor which comes from the
biological reactors, before the treated wastewater is disinfected and
discharged. After an engineering analysis of alternate treatment
processes, the CVPSD determined MBR to be the most environmentally
sound and cost effective solution. The MBR is an advanced waste water
treatment process which is designed to meet the high quality effluent
requirements of the waste load allocation under the NPDES permit. In
addition, in anticipation of procuring the MBR system, the CVPSD has
already incorporated specific technical design requirements for
installation of membrane filter cassettes with the MBR treatment
process at their WWTPs, including specific tankage footprint, geometry
and configuration. To require CVPSD to redesign its project would cause
an unacceptable delay to the initiation of construction.
The CVPSD has provided information to the EPA demonstrating that
there are no membrane filtration cassettes manufactured in the United
States in sufficient and reasonable quantity and of a satisfactory
quality to meet the required technical specification. Four companies
were considered for the membrane filtration cassettes, none based in
the United States. The CVPSD has performed market research but was
unsuccessful in its effort to locate any domestic manufacturers of
membrane filtration cassettes for WWTPs.
The April 28, 2009 EPA HQ Memorandum, Implementation of Buy
American provisions of P.L. 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 CVPSD has incorporated specific technical design
requirements for installation of membrane filtration cassettes at its
WWTPs.
The purpose of the ARRA is to stimulate economic recovery in part
by funding current infrastructure construction, not to delay projects
that are ``shovel ready'' by requiring utilities, such as the CVPSD, to
revise their standards and specifications, institute a new bidding
process, and potentially choose a more costly, less efficient project.
The imposition of ARRA Buy American requirements on such projects
otherwise eligible for State Revolving Fund 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 a
fundamental economic purpose of the ARRA, which is to create or retain
jobs.
Based on additional research conducted by EPA's Office of
Infrastructure and Assistance (OIA) in Region 3, and to the best of the
Region's knowledge at the time of review, there do not appear to be
other membrane filtration cassettes manufactured domestically that
would meet the CVPSD's technical specification. EPA's national
contractor prepared a technical assessment report dated July 15, 2009
based on the waiver request submitted. The report determined that the
waiver request submittal was complete, that adequate technical
information was provided, and that there were no significant weaknesses
in the justification provided. The report confirmed the waiver
applicant's claim that there are no American-made membrane filtration
cassettes for use in MBRs in WWTPs.
The OIA has reviewed this waiver request and to the best of our
knowledge
[[Page 47798]]
at the time of review has determined that the supporting documentation
provided by the CVPSD is sufficient to meet the 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 CVPSD's technical
specifications, a waiver from the Buy American requirement is
justified.
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 Canaan
Valley Public Service District is hereby granted a waiver from the Buy
American requirements of Section 1605(a) of Public Law 111-5 for the
purchase of four membrane filtration cassettes using ARRA funds as
specified in the CVPSD's request of July 1, 2009. This supplementary
information constitutes the detailed written justification required by
Section 1605(c) for waivers ``based on a finding under subsection
(b).''
Authority: Pub. L. 111-5, section 1605.
Dated: August 27, 2009.
William C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. E9-22429 Filed 9-16-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
