Notice of Buy American Waiver Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, 186-187 [2010-33044]
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186
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 1 / Monday, January 3, 2011 / Notices
it was complete, and determined that
sufficient technical information was
provided in order for NSF to evaluate
the exemption request and to conclude
that an exemption is needed and should
be granted.
III. Exemption
On October 22, 2010, based on the
finding that no domestically produced
anti-roll tank system met all of the
ARRV’s technical specifications and
requirements and pursuant to section
1605(b), the NSF Chief Financial
Officer, in accordance with a delegation
order from the Director of the agency,
granted a limited project exemption of
the Recovery Act’s Buy American
requirements with respect to the
procurement of a passive-controlled
anti-roll tank control system.
Dated: December 23, 2010.
Lawrence Rudolph,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2010–33043 Filed 12–30–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555–01–P
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Notice of Buy American Waiver Under
the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009
AGENCY:
National Science Foundation
(NSF).
jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
ACTION:
Notice.
SUMMARY: NSF is hereby granting a
limited exemption of section 1605 of the
American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), Public Law
111–5, 123 Stat. 115, 303 (2009), with
respect to the purchase of the weather
facsimile machine that will be used in
the Alaska Region Research Vessel
(ARRV). A weather facsimile (weather
fax) is an electronic machine designed
to automatically receive near-real time
marine weather information.
DATES: January 3, 2011.
ADDRESSES: National Science
Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd.,
Arlington, Virginia 22230.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
Jeffrey Leithead, Division of Acquisition
and Cooperative Support, 703–292–
4595.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In
accordance with section 1605(c) of the
Recovery Act and section 176.80 of Title
2 of the Code of Federal Regulations, the
National Science Foundation (NSF)
hereby provides notice that on October
22, 2010, the NSF Chief Financial
Officer (CFO), in accordance with a
delegation order from the Director of the
agency, granted a limited project
VerDate Mar<15>2010
15:48 Dec 30, 2010
Jkt 223001
exemption of section 1605 of the
Recovery Act (Buy American provision)
with respect to the weather fax that will
be used in the ARRV. The basis for this
exemption is section 1605(b)(2) of the
Recovery Act, in that weather faxes of
satisfactory quality are not produced in
the United States in sufficient and
reasonably available commercial
quantities. The cost of the weather fax
is approximately $11,000, which
represents less than .01% of the value
of the total $148 million Recovery Act
award provided toward construction of
the ARRV.
I. Background
The Recovery Act appropriated $400
million to NSF for several projects being
funded by the Foundation’s Major
Research Equipment and Facilities
Construction (MREFC) account. The
ARRV is one of NSF’s MREFC projects.
Section 1605(a) of the Recovery Act, the
Buy American provision, states that
none of the funds appropriated by the
Act ‘‘may be used for a project 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.’’
The ARRV has been developed under
a cooperative agreement awarded to the
University of Alaska, Fairbanks (UAF)
that began in 2007. Shipyard selection
is complete and UAF executed the
construction contract in December 2009.
The purpose of the Recovery Act is to
stimulate economic recovery in part by
funding current construction projects
like the ARRV that are ‘‘shovel ready’’
without requiring projects to revise their
standards and specifications, or to
restart the bidding process again.
Subsections 1605(b) and (c) of the
Recovery Act authorize the head of a
Federal department or agency to waive
the Buy American provision if the head
of the agency finds that: (1) Applying
the provision would be inconsistent
with the public interest; (2) the relevant
goods are not produced in the United
States in sufficient and reasonably
available quantities and of a satisfactory
quality; or (3) the inclusion of the goods
produced in the United States will
increase the cost of the project by more
than 25 percent. If the head of the
Federal department or agency waives
the Buy American provision, then the
head of the department or agency is
required to publish a detailed
justification in the Federal Register.
Finally, section 1605(d) of the Recovery
Act states that the Buy American
provision must be applied in a manner
consistent with the United States’
PO 00000
Frm 00106
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
obligations under international
agreements.
II. Finding That Relevant Goods Are
Not Produced In the United States In
Sufficient and Reasonably Available
Quality
The requirement for a weather fax was
part of the construction specifications
for the ARRV. A weather fax provides
valuable, near-real time weather
information to the ship as an aid for
planning science operations and transit
voyages. It is a standard piece of
electronic bridge equipment throughout
the world as it provides the ship
operator with an excellent and
necessary forecasting tool to assess
weather impact on operations. The
specification requirements for the
weather fax include:
1. Performance, reliability,
maintainability, durability, size, and
weight.
2. Regulatory body approval.
3. Availability of spare parts.
4. Operate within the 2 MHz to 25
MHz range.
5. Built-in receiver.
6. Built-in thermal printer.
7. Human Machine Interface that
allows the operator easy access for
system set-up.
8. Pre-programmed with 150 channels
for the existing facsimile stations worldwide and allow manual programming by
the operator.
9. Internal back-up battery.
10. Automatic start/stop recording
and printing.
An important feature operationally is
being a stand-alone unit with a built in
printer and automatic operation. This
provides the bridge watch with a hard
copy of weather charts and weather
satellite images in the pilothouse
without having to access a computer or
keep track of when a facsimile station is
scheduled to transmit. The automatic
operation is critical to minimize
distractions to the bridge watch who can
then retrieve the hard copy for analysis
at a time that will not impact
navigational duties. Science and routine
vessel operational duties are
demanding, especially in the high
latitudes where the ARRV will operate.
Any unnecessary distractions in the
pilothouse can jeopardize the safety of
the vessel.
The ARRV will operate as a Global
class ship within the U.S. academic
research vessel fleet. As such, it is
expected to deploy worldwide where it
is likely to encounter highly variable
weather conditions. Over the vessel’s
service life, the ARRV is likely to be
deployed to Arctic and Antarctic waters,
the north Pacific and north Atlantic
E:\FR\FM\03JAN1.SGM
03JAN1
jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 1 / Monday, January 3, 2011 / Notices
where the weather conditions change
rapidly and dramatically. Vessels
working in these high latitudes are
subject to demanding and often
dangerous conditions due to low
temperatures, high winds, and rough
seas. Failure to meet any of the
technical requirements would have
severe negative consequences for the
project with regard to operational safety.
The market research for this
exemption was done by the shipyard in
the summer of 2010 and verified by the
UAF project team in July 2010. As noted
in UAF’s request for this exemption, the
shipyard performed market research by
reviewing industry publications, the
Internet (including the Marine
Electronics Journal Web site) and
contacting various electronic supply
companies in order to assess whether
there exists a domestic capability to
provide a weather fax that meets the
necessary requirements for safe and
successful operation world-wide.
Eighteen (18) potential vendors were
identified with only six (6)
manufacturing a weather fax. Of the six,
only one (1) was a U.S. manufacturer.
The shipyard then compared the
existing product lines for compliance
with the weather fax technical
specifications and requirements as
identified above. It was found that the
one U.S. manufacturer did not make a
unit that was stand-alone. Instead, the
system uses a personal computer to
provide both the human interface and
printing capability of the weather
charts. This requires the bridge watch to
actively manage and interface with the
system, which takes their attention from
other navigational and operational
duties. This distraction increases the
likelihood of collision, grounding,
failure to adequately monitor over-theside science operations, and
inadvertently sailing into dangerous
weather conditions. Because of this, all
modern ocean-going vessels have at
least one stand-alone weather fax
system.
The project’s conclusion is there are
no U.S. manufacturers who produce a
suitable weather fax unit that meets all
of the ARRV requirements so an
exemption to the Buy American
requirements is necessary.
In the absence of a domestic supplier
that could provide a requirementscompliant weather fax, UAF requested
that NSF issue a Section 1605
exemption determination with respect
to the purchase of a foreign-supplied,
requirements-compliant weather fax, so
that the vessel will meet the specific
design and technical requirements
which, as explained above, are
necessary for this vessel to be able to
VerDate Mar<15>2010
15:48 Dec 30, 2010
Jkt 223001
perform its mission safely and
successfully. Furthermore, the
shipyard’s market research as verified
by UAF indicated that a weather fax
compliant with the ARRV’s technical
specifications and requirements is
commercially available from foreign
vendors within their standard product
lines.
NSF’s Division of Acquisition and
Cooperative Support (DACS) and other
NSF program staff reviewed the UAF
exemption request submittal, found that
it was complete, and determined that
sufficient technical information was
provided in order for NSF to evaluate
the exemption request and to conclude
that an exemption is needed and should
be granted.
III. Exemption
On October 22, 2010, based on the
finding that no domestically produced
weather fax met all of the ARRV’s
technical specifications and
requirements and pursuant to section
1605(b), the NSF Chief Financial
Officer, in accordance with a delegation
order from the Director of the agency,
granted a limited project exemption of
the Recovery Act’s Buy American
requirements with respect to the
procurement of the marine weather fax.
Dated: December 23, 2010.
Lawrence Rudolph,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2010–33044 Filed 12–30–10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
Programmatic Environmental
Assessment and Final Finding of No
Significant Impact for Exemptions
From the Implementation Deadline for
New Security Requirements
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) has received and
expects to receive exemption requests
from several nuclear power reactor
licensees. Each expected exemption
request will be from the implementation
date requirement of Title 10 of the Code
of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 73.55.
The NRC is authorized to issue
exemptions pursuant to 10 CFR 73.5. In
accordance with 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC
has performed a programmatic
environmental assessment of these
exemption requests. The NRC
concluded that the proposed action
constitutes administrative (timing)
changes that would not impact the
environmental resources near any
specified nuclear power plant. Based
PO 00000
Frm 00107
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
187
upon the results of this programmatic
environmental assessment, the NRC is
issuing a finding of no significant
impact.
Environmental Assessment
Identification of the Proposed Action
The proposed action may include
issuing exemptions to nuclear power
plant licensees for up to 40 nuclear
power plant sites, all of which have
already been granted plant-specific
exemptions granting additional time to
implement some of the new
requirements of 10 CFR 73.55. These
sites are:
Arkansas Nuclear One, Units 1 and 2
Beaver Valley Power Station, Unit Nos. 1
and 2
Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2,
and 3
Brunswick Steam Electric Station, Units 1
and 2
Columbia Generating Station
Cooper Nuclear Station
Crystal River Unit 3 Nuclear Generating Plant
Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station, Unit
No. 1
Diablo Canyon Power Plant, Unit Nos. 1
and 2
Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2
Fermi 2
Fort Calhoun Station, Unit 1
Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, Unit 1
H. B. Robinson Steam Electric Plant, Unit
No. 2
Hope Creek Generating Station, Unit Nos. 1
and 2
Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 1,
2 and 3
James A. Fitzpatrick Nuclear Power Plant
Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant, Units 1
and 2
Millstone Power Station, Unit Nos. 1, 2,
and 3
Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant
North Anna Power Station, Unit Nos. 1
and 2
Palisades Nuclear Plant
Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, Units
1, 2, and 3
Perry Nuclear Power Plant, Unit No. 1
Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station
Point Beach Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2
Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant,
Units 1 and 2
Salem Nuclear Generating Station, Unit Nos.
1 and 2
San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Units
2 and 3
Seabrook Station, Unit No. 1
Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2
Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 1
South Texas Project, Units 1 and 2
Surry Power Station, Unit Nos. 1 and 2
Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Units 1
and 2
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station
Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Station, Unit
No. 1
Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Units 1
and 2
Waterford Steam Electric Station, Unit 3
Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2
E:\FR\FM\03JAN1.SGM
03JAN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 1 (Monday, January 3, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 186-187]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-33044]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Notice of Buy American Waiver Under the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009
AGENCY: National Science Foundation (NSF).
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: NSF is hereby granting a limited exemption of section 1605 of
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act),
Public Law 111-5, 123 Stat. 115, 303 (2009), with respect to the
purchase of the weather facsimile machine that will be used in the
Alaska Region Research Vessel (ARRV). A weather facsimile (weather fax)
is an electronic machine designed to automatically receive near-real
time marine weather information.
DATES: January 3, 2011.
ADDRESSES: National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington,
Virginia 22230.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jeffrey Leithead, Division of
Acquisition and Cooperative Support, 703-292-4595.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with section 1605(c) of the
Recovery Act and section 176.80 of Title 2 of the Code of Federal
Regulations, the National Science Foundation (NSF) hereby provides
notice that on October 22, 2010, the NSF Chief Financial Officer (CFO),
in accordance with a delegation order from the Director of the agency,
granted a limited project exemption of section 1605 of the Recovery Act
(Buy American provision) with respect to the weather fax that will be
used in the ARRV. The basis for this exemption is section 1605(b)(2) of
the Recovery Act, in that weather faxes of satisfactory quality are not
produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available
commercial quantities. The cost of the weather fax is approximately
$11,000, which represents less than .01% of the value of the total $148
million Recovery Act award provided toward construction of the ARRV.
I. Background
The Recovery Act appropriated $400 million to NSF for several
projects being funded by the Foundation's Major Research Equipment and
Facilities Construction (MREFC) account. The ARRV is one of NSF's MREFC
projects. Section 1605(a) of the Recovery Act, the Buy American
provision, states that none of the funds appropriated by the Act ``may
be used for a project 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.''
The ARRV has been developed under a cooperative agreement awarded
to the University of Alaska, Fairbanks (UAF) that began in 2007.
Shipyard selection is complete and UAF executed the construction
contract in December 2009. The purpose of the Recovery Act is to
stimulate economic recovery in part by funding current construction
projects like the ARRV that are ``shovel ready'' without requiring
projects to revise their standards and specifications, or to restart
the bidding process again.
Subsections 1605(b) and (c) of the Recovery Act authorize the head
of a Federal department or agency to waive the Buy American provision
if the head of the agency finds that: (1) Applying the provision would
be inconsistent with the public interest; (2) the relevant goods are
not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably
available quantities and of a satisfactory quality; or (3) the
inclusion of the goods produced in the United States will increase the
cost of the project by more than 25 percent. If the head of the Federal
department or agency waives the Buy American provision, then the head
of the department or agency is required to publish a detailed
justification in the Federal Register. Finally, section 1605(d) of the
Recovery Act states that the Buy American provision must be applied in
a manner consistent with the United States' obligations under
international agreements.
II. Finding That Relevant Goods Are Not Produced In the United StatesIn
Sufficient and Reasonably Available Quality
The requirement for a weather fax was part of the construction
specifications for the ARRV. A weather fax provides valuable, near-real
time weather information to the ship as an aid for planning science
operations and transit voyages. It is a standard piece of electronic
bridge equipment throughout the world as it provides the ship operator
with an excellent and necessary forecasting tool to assess weather
impact on operations. The specification requirements for the weather
fax include:
1. Performance, reliability, maintainability, durability, size, and
weight.
2. Regulatory body approval.
3. Availability of spare parts.
4. Operate within the 2 MHz to 25 MHz range.
5. Built-in receiver.
6. Built-in thermal printer.
7. Human Machine Interface that allows the operator easy access for
system set-up.
8. Pre-programmed with 150 channels for the existing facsimile
stations world-wide and allow manual programming by the operator.
9. Internal back-up battery.
10. Automatic start/stop recording and printing.
An important feature operationally is being a stand-alone unit with
a built in printer and automatic operation. This provides the bridge
watch with a hard copy of weather charts and weather satellite images
in the pilothouse without having to access a computer or keep track of
when a facsimile station is scheduled to transmit. The automatic
operation is critical to minimize distractions to the bridge watch who
can then retrieve the hard copy for analysis at a time that will not
impact navigational duties. Science and routine vessel operational
duties are demanding, especially in the high latitudes where the ARRV
will operate. Any unnecessary distractions in the pilothouse can
jeopardize the safety of the vessel.
The ARRV will operate as a Global class ship within the U.S.
academic research vessel fleet. As such, it is expected to deploy
worldwide where it is likely to encounter highly variable weather
conditions. Over the vessel's service life, the ARRV is likely to be
deployed to Arctic and Antarctic waters, the north Pacific and north
Atlantic
[[Page 187]]
where the weather conditions change rapidly and dramatically. Vessels
working in these high latitudes are subject to demanding and often
dangerous conditions due to low temperatures, high winds, and rough
seas. Failure to meet any of the technical requirements would have
severe negative consequences for the project with regard to operational
safety.
The market research for this exemption was done by the shipyard in
the summer of 2010 and verified by the UAF project team in July 2010.
As noted in UAF's request for this exemption, the shipyard performed
market research by reviewing industry publications, the Internet
(including the Marine Electronics Journal Web site) and contacting
various electronic supply companies in order to assess whether there
exists a domestic capability to provide a weather fax that meets the
necessary requirements for safe and successful operation world-wide.
Eighteen (18) potential vendors were identified with only six (6)
manufacturing a weather fax. Of the six, only one (1) was a U.S.
manufacturer. The shipyard then compared the existing product lines for
compliance with the weather fax technical specifications and
requirements as identified above. It was found that the one U.S.
manufacturer did not make a unit that was stand-alone. Instead, the
system uses a personal computer to provide both the human interface and
printing capability of the weather charts. This requires the bridge
watch to actively manage and interface with the system, which takes
their attention from other navigational and operational duties. This
distraction increases the likelihood of collision, grounding, failure
to adequately monitor over-the-side science operations, and
inadvertently sailing into dangerous weather conditions. Because of
this, all modern ocean-going vessels have at least one stand-alone
weather fax system.
The project's conclusion is there are no U.S. manufacturers who
produce a suitable weather fax unit that meets all of the ARRV
requirements so an exemption to the Buy American requirements is
necessary.
In the absence of a domestic supplier that could provide a
requirements-compliant weather fax, UAF requested that NSF issue a
Section 1605 exemption determination with respect to the purchase of a
foreign-supplied, requirements-compliant weather fax, so that the
vessel will meet the specific design and technical requirements which,
as explained above, are necessary for this vessel to be able to perform
its mission safely and successfully. Furthermore, the shipyard's market
research as verified by UAF indicated that a weather fax compliant with
the ARRV's technical specifications and requirements is commercially
available from foreign vendors within their standard product lines.
NSF's Division of Acquisition and Cooperative Support (DACS) and
other NSF program staff reviewed the UAF exemption request submittal,
found that it was complete, and determined that sufficient technical
information was provided in order for NSF to evaluate the exemption
request and to conclude that an exemption is needed and should be
granted.
III. Exemption
On October 22, 2010, based on the finding that no domestically
produced weather fax met all of the ARRV's technical specifications and
requirements and pursuant to section 1605(b), the NSF Chief Financial
Officer, in accordance with a delegation order from the Director of the
agency, granted a limited project exemption of the Recovery Act's Buy
American requirements with respect to the procurement of the marine
weather fax.
Dated: December 23, 2010.
Lawrence Rudolph,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2010-33044 Filed 12-30-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P
