Notice of a Regional Project Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy American) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to the City of Lowell, MA, 64308-64309 [2010-26260]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
64308
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 201 / Tuesday, October 19, 2010 / Notices
in compliance to a provision in their
Stipulation and Agreement accepted on
August 12, 2010.
Any person desiring to participate in
this rate filing must file in accordance
with Rules 211 and 214 of the
Commission’s Rules of Practice and
Procedure (18 CFR 385.211 and
385.214). Protests will be considered by
the Commission in determining the
appropriate action to be taken, but will
not serve to make protestants parties to
the proceeding. Any person wishing to
become a party must file a notice of
intervention or motion to intervene, as
appropriate. Such notices, motions, or
protests must be filed on or before the
date as indicated below. Anyone filing
an intervention or protest must serve a
copy of that document on the Applicant.
Anyone filing an intervention or protest
on or before the intervention or protest
date need not serve motions to intervene
or protests on persons other than the
Applicant.
The Commission encourages
electronic submission of protests and
interventions in lieu of paper using the
‘‘eFiling’’ link at https://www.ferc.gov.
Persons unable to file electronically
should submit an original and 14 copies
of the protest or intervention to the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC
20426.
This filing is accessible on-line at
https://www.ferc.gov, using the
‘‘eLibrary’’ link and is available for
review in the Commission’s Public
Reference Room in Washington, DC.
There is an ‘‘eSubscription’’ link on the
Web site that enables subscribers to
receive e-mail notification when a
document is added to a subscribed
docket(s). For assistance with any FERC
Online service, please e-mail
FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, or call
(866) 208–3676 (toll free). For TTY, call
(202) 502–8659.
Comment Date: 5 p.m. Eastern time
on Thursday, October 14, 2010.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2010–26243 Filed 10–18–10; 8:45 am]
mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES
BILLING CODE 6717–01–P
VerDate Mar<15>2010
18:35 Oct 18, 2010
Jkt 223001
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[FRL–9214–6]
Notice of a Regional Project Waiver of
Section 1605 (Buy American) of the
American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009 (ARRA) to the City of
Lowell, MA
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA)
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The EPA is hereby granting a
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 City of Lowell, Massachusetts
(‘‘City’’) for the purchase of a foreign
manufactured heat recovery ventilator
for the Lowell Wastewater Treatment
Facility and Warren Street Combined
Sewer Overflow (CSO) Diversion Station
Improvements Project. This is a project
specific waiver and only applies to the
use of the specified product for the
ARRA project being proposed. Any
other ARRA recipient that wishes to use
the same product must apply for a
separate waiver based on project
specific circumstances. Based upon
information submitted by the City and
its consulting engineer, it has been
determined that there are currently no
domestically manufactured heat
recovery ventilators available to meet its
proposed project and performance
specifications. The Regional
Administrator is making this
determination based on the review and
recommendations of the Municipal
Assistance Unit. The Assistant
Administrator of the 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 a foreign
manufactured heat recovery ventilator
by the City, as specified in its July 14,
2010 request.
DATES: Effective Date: October 8, 2010.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Katie Connors, Environmental Engineer,
(617) 918–1658, or David Chin,
Environmental Engineer, (617) 918–
1764, Municipal Assistance Unit (CMU),
Office of Ecosystem Protection (OEP),
U.S. EPA, 5 Post Office Square, Suite
100, Boston, MA 02109–3912.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In
accordance with ARRA Section 1605(c),
the EPA hereby provides notice that it
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00066
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
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
purchase of a non-domestically
manufactured fixed plate heat recovery
ventilator to meet the City’s design and
performance specifications as part of its
proposed Lowell Wastewater Treatment
Facility and Warren Street Combined
Sewer Overflow (CSO) Diversion Station
Improvements Project.
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 a public works project
unless all of the iron, steel, and
manufactured goods used in the project
is produced in the United States, or
unless a waiver is provided to the
recipient by the head of the appropriate
agency, here the EPA. A waiver may be
provided if EPA determines that (1)
Applying these requirements would be
inconsistent with the 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.
EPA has determined that the City’s
waiver request may be treated as timely
even though the request was made after
the construction contract was signed.
Consistent with the direction of the
OMB Guidance at 2 CFR176.120, EPA
has evaluated the City’s request to
determine if the request constitutes a
late request. EPA will generally regard
waiver requests with respect to
components that were specified in the
bid solicitation or in a general/primary
construction contract as ‘‘late’’ if
submitted after the contract date.
However, in this case EPA has
determined that the City’s request,
though made after the date that the
contract was signed, can be evaluated as
timely because the need for a waiver
was not reasonably foreseeable. After
the contract date, during the shop
drawing review, a domestic specified
fixed plate heat recovery ventilator was
found to be unavailable by the
contractor. The need for a waiver was
not determined until after the contractor
had completed a search for a domestic
manufacturer and had confirmed that
there were no domestically made fixed
plate heat recovery ventilators available
to meet project specifications.
Accordingly, EPA will evaluate the
request as a timely request.
E:\FR\FM\19OCN1.SGM
19OCN1
mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 201 / Tuesday, October 19, 2010 / Notices
The City is requesting a waiver from
the Buy American provision of ARRA
for one Cleanair Designs Heat Recovery
Ventilator for use in the proposed
activated sludge treatment building. The
unit is scheduled for installation on the
roof. The unit will provide ventilation
and heating to the building and the
design includes an air-to-air heat
exchanger. The exchanger will recover
energy in the exhaust air stream and
transfer it to the fresh air stream,
reducing the energy consumption
during the heating season, with zero
cross-contamination between the air
streams.
The City has researched foreign and
domestic manufacturers of fixed plate
heat recovery ventilators and has
determined that domestic manufacturers
are not able to manufacture a unit that
meets all the project specifications. The
specifications require that the heat
exchanger be constructed with a
polypropylene plate. The polypropylene
plate was specified because the
atmosphere inside the building where
the heat recovery ventilator will be
installed will be very corrosive. The
polypropylene plate will better resist
the corrosive return air circulated
through the heat exchanger than a
standard aluminum plate.
An evaluation of all of the submitted
documentation by EPA’s technical
review team supports and confirms the
City’s claim that there are currently no
domestic manufacturers that can
provide a suitable fixed plate heat
recovery ventilator to meet project
specifications. The consulting engineer
for the City identified two domestic
manufacturers in the United States.
Neither of the two companies currently
manufactures heat recovery units that
meet all the project specifications. An
independent review of the submitted
documentation by EPA’s national
contractor found four possible domestic
manufacturers. However, none of the
manufacturers contacted currently
provides a product that meets the
specifications and project requirements.
In addition, the evaluation of the
supporting documentation
demonstrated that foreign manufactured
heat recovery ventilators are available
and will be able to meet the proposed
project design and specifications.
Furthermore, the purpose of the
ARRA is to stimulate economic recovery
by funding current infrastructure
construction, not to delay or curtail
entirely projects that are ‘‘shovel ready’’
by requiring potential SRF eligible
recipients, such as the City of Lowell,
MA, to revise their design standards and
specifications. To curtail entirely this
construction would directly conflict
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:24 Oct 18, 2010
Jkt 223001
with a fundamental economic purpose
of ARRA, which is to create or retain
jobs.
The April 28, 2009 EPA HQ
Memorandum, ‘‘Implementation of Buy
American provisions of Public Law
111–5, the ‘American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009’ ’’
(‘‘Memorandum’’), 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 same Memorandum
defines ‘‘satisfactory quality’’ as ‘‘the
quality of steel, iron or manufactured
good specified in the project plans and
designs.’’
The Municipal Assistance Unit (CMU)
has reviewed this waiver request and
has determined that the supporting
documentation provided by the City
establishes both a proper basis to
specify a particular manufactured good,
and that the domestically manufactured
good that is currently available does not
meet the design specifications for the
proposed project. The information
provided is sufficient to meet the
following criteria listed under Section
1605(b) of the ARRA and in the April
28, 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 March 31, 2009 Delegation of
Authority Memorandum provided
Regional Administrators with the
temporary authority to issue exceptions
to Section 1605 of the 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 of Lowell, MA is hereby granted
a waiver from the Buy American
requirements of Section 1605(a) of
Public Law 111–5. This waiver permits
use of ARRA funds for the purchase of
a non-domestically manufactured fixed
plate heat recovery ventilator
documented in City’s waiver request
submittal dated July 14, 2010. 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.
PO 00000
Frm 00067
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
64309
Dated: October 8, 2010.
Ira W. Leighton,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region
1—New England.
[FR Doc. 2010–26260 Filed 10–18–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention
[Docket Number NIOSH–220]
Components for Evaluation of DirectReading Monitors for Gases and
Vapors and Addendum
National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH) of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC),
Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS).
ACTION: Notice of draft publication
available for public comment.
AGENCY:
The National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH) of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC)
announces the availability of the
following draft publication for public
comment. The document and its
addendum are entitled, respectively,
‘‘Components for Evaluation of DirectReading Monitors for Gases and Vapors’’
and ‘‘Addendum to Components for
Evaluation of Direct-Reading Monitors
for Gases and Vapors: Hazard Detection
in First Responder Environments.’’ The
draft documents and instructions for
submitting comments can be found at:
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docket/
review/docket220. The document
expands the 1995 method development
and evaluation experimental testing
methods to direct-reading monitors for
gases and vapors. These Components
are provided for laboratory users,
consensus standard setting bodies, and
manufacturers of direct-reading
instrumentation and are compatible
with the Instrumentation, Systems, and
Automation Society guidelines. The
addendum to the document expands the
applicability of the Components by
presenting methods to be used in
evaluating direct-reading monitors for
hazard detection in First Responder
environments. The 1995 document,
entitled ‘‘Guidelines for Air Sampling
and Analytical Method Development
and Evaluation,’’ can be viewed at:
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/
95–117/.
This guidance does not have the force
and effect of the law.
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\19OCN1.SGM
19OCN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 201 (Tuesday, October 19, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64308-64309]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-26260]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9214-6]
Notice of a Regional Project Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy
American) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)
to the City of Lowell, MA
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The EPA is hereby granting a 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 City of Lowell, Massachusetts (``City'') for the
purchase of a foreign manufactured heat recovery ventilator for the
Lowell Wastewater Treatment Facility and Warren Street Combined Sewer
Overflow (CSO) Diversion Station Improvements Project. This is a
project specific waiver and only applies to the use of the specified
product for the ARRA project being proposed. Any other ARRA recipient
that wishes to use the same product must apply for a separate waiver
based on project specific circumstances. Based upon information
submitted by the City and its consulting engineer, it has been
determined that there are currently no domestically manufactured heat
recovery ventilators available to meet its proposed project and
performance specifications. The Regional Administrator is making this
determination based on the review and recommendations of the Municipal
Assistance Unit. The Assistant Administrator of the 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 a foreign manufactured heat recovery ventilator by the
City, as specified in its July 14, 2010 request.
DATES: Effective Date: October 8, 2010.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katie Connors, Environmental Engineer,
(617) 918-1658, or David Chin, Environmental Engineer, (617) 918-1764,
Municipal Assistance Unit (CMU), Office of Ecosystem Protection (OEP),
U.S. EPA, 5 Post Office Square, Suite 100, Boston, MA 02109-3912.
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 purchase of a non-domestically
manufactured fixed plate heat recovery ventilator to meet the City's
design and performance specifications as part of its proposed Lowell
Wastewater Treatment Facility and Warren Street Combined Sewer Overflow
(CSO) Diversion Station Improvements Project.
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 a public works project unless all of the
iron, steel, and manufactured goods used in the project is produced in
the United States, or unless a waiver is provided to the recipient by
the head of the appropriate agency, here the EPA. A waiver may be
provided if EPA determines that (1) Applying these requirements would
be inconsistent with the 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.
EPA has determined that the City's waiver request may be treated as
timely even though the request was made after the construction contract
was signed. Consistent with the direction of the OMB Guidance at 2
CFR176.120, EPA has evaluated the City's request to determine if the
request constitutes a late request. EPA will generally regard waiver
requests with respect to components that were specified in the bid
solicitation or in a general/primary construction contract as ``late''
if submitted after the contract date. However, in this case EPA has
determined that the City's request, though made after the date that the
contract was signed, can be evaluated as timely because the need for a
waiver was not reasonably foreseeable. After the contract date, during
the shop drawing review, a domestic specified fixed plate heat recovery
ventilator was found to be unavailable by the contractor. The need for
a waiver was not determined until after the contractor had completed a
search for a domestic manufacturer and had confirmed that there were no
domestically made fixed plate heat recovery ventilators available to
meet project specifications. Accordingly, EPA will evaluate the request
as a timely request.
[[Page 64309]]
The City is requesting a waiver from the Buy American provision of
ARRA for one Cleanair Designs Heat Recovery Ventilator for use in the
proposed activated sludge treatment building. The unit is scheduled for
installation on the roof. The unit will provide ventilation and heating
to the building and the design includes an air-to-air heat exchanger.
The exchanger will recover energy in the exhaust air stream and
transfer it to the fresh air stream, reducing the energy consumption
during the heating season, with zero cross-contamination between the
air streams.
The City has researched foreign and domestic manufacturers of fixed
plate heat recovery ventilators and has determined that domestic
manufacturers are not able to manufacture a unit that meets all the
project specifications. The specifications require that the heat
exchanger be constructed with a polypropylene plate. The polypropylene
plate was specified because the atmosphere inside the building where
the heat recovery ventilator will be installed will be very corrosive.
The polypropylene plate will better resist the corrosive return air
circulated through the heat exchanger than a standard aluminum plate.
An evaluation of all of the submitted documentation by EPA's
technical review team supports and confirms the City's claim that there
are currently no domestic manufacturers that can provide a suitable
fixed plate heat recovery ventilator to meet project specifications.
The consulting engineer for the City identified two domestic
manufacturers in the United States. Neither of the two companies
currently manufactures heat recovery units that meet all the project
specifications. An independent review of the submitted documentation by
EPA's national contractor found four possible domestic manufacturers.
However, none of the manufacturers contacted currently provides a
product that meets the specifications and project requirements. In
addition, the evaluation of the supporting documentation demonstrated
that foreign manufactured heat recovery ventilators are available and
will be able to meet the proposed project design and specifications.
Furthermore, the purpose of the ARRA is to stimulate economic
recovery by funding current infrastructure construction, not to delay
or curtail entirely projects that are ``shovel ready'' by requiring
potential SRF eligible recipients, such as the City of Lowell, MA, to
revise their design standards and specifications. To curtail entirely
this construction would directly conflict with a fundamental economic
purpose of ARRA, which is to create or retain jobs.
The April 28, 2009 EPA HQ Memorandum, ``Implementation of Buy
American provisions of Public Law 111-5, the `American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009' '' (``Memorandum''), 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 same Memorandum defines
``satisfactory quality'' as ``the quality of steel, iron or
manufactured good specified in the project plans and designs.''
The Municipal Assistance Unit (CMU) has reviewed this waiver
request and has determined that the supporting documentation provided
by the City establishes both a proper basis to specify a particular
manufactured good, and that the domestically manufactured good that is
currently available does not meet the design specifications for the
proposed project. The information provided is sufficient to meet the
following criteria listed under Section 1605(b) of the ARRA and in the
April 28, 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 March 31, 2009 Delegation of Authority Memorandum provided
Regional Administrators with the temporary authority to issue
exceptions to Section 1605 of the 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 of Lowell, MA
is hereby granted a waiver from the Buy American requirements of
Section 1605(a) of Public Law 111-5. This waiver permits use of ARRA
funds for the purchase of a non-domestically manufactured fixed plate
heat recovery ventilator documented in City's waiver request submittal
dated July 14, 2010. 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: October 8, 2010.
Ira W. Leighton,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1--New England.
[FR Doc. 2010-26260 Filed 10-18-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
