Notice of a Project Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy American Requirement) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to the Wayne County Department of Public Services in Wayne County, MI (Wayne County), 38162-38163 [2011-16389]
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38162
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 125 / Wednesday, June 29, 2011 / Notices
Dated: June 16, 2011.
Lois Rossi,
Director, Registration Division, Office of
Pesticide Programs.
[FR Doc. 2011–16042 Filed 6–24–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[FRL–9426–8]
Notice of a Project Waiver of Section
1605 (Buy American Requirement) of
the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to
the Wayne County Department of
Public Services in Wayne County, MI
(Wayne County)
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The EPA 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 of a
satisfactory quality] to Wayne County
for the purchase of Link-Pipe PVC
products in various pipe diameters for
sewer pipe repair in seventeen locations
throughout the Rouge Valley Sewage
Disposal System in Wayne County,
Michigan. This is a project-specific
waiver and only applies to the use of the
specified products 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 project-specific
circumstances. These Link-Pipe PVC
products, which are manufactured in
Canada, meet Wayne County’s
performance specifications and
requirements. The Regional
Administrator is making this
determination based on the review and
recommendations of EPA Region 5’s
Water Division. Wayne County has
provided sufficient documentation to
support its request. 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 Link-Pipe PVC
products in various pipe diameters for
sewer pipe repair that may otherwise be
prohibited under Section 1605(a) of the
ARRA.
DATES: Effective Date: June 29, 2011.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Andrew Lausted, SRF Program Manager
(312) 886–0189, or Puja Lakhani, Office
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:48 Jun 28, 2011
Jkt 223001
of Regional Counsel, (312) 353–3190,
U.S. EPA Region 5, 77 W. Jackson Blvd.,
Chicago, IL 60604.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In
accordance with ARRA Section 1605(c)
and pursuant to Section 1605(b)(2) of
Public Law 111–5, Buy American
requirements, EPA hereby provides
notice that it is granting a project waiver
to Wayne County, Michigan, for the
acquisition of Link-Pipe PVC in various
pipe diameters that are manufactured in
Canada.
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, or unless a waiver is
provided to the recipient by the head of
the appropriate agency, here 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.
The Link-Pipe PVC products will
allow for efficient and effective sewer
pipe repair at seventeen locations
throughout the Rouge Valley Sewage
Disposal System. Wayne County
selected Link-Pipe products to allow for
trenchless spot repair of sanitary sewer
interceptor lines. The snap-out PVC
repair sleeves are designed to quickly
and easily repair damaged/leaking
sanitary sewers without excavation—a
requirement for the project since many
of the sewer interceptor repair sites are
located in remote wetlands and forested
areas where access is restricted. Wayne
County’s submissions clearly articulated
the functional reasons that justified
their technical specifications and
requirements.
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’,’’ 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 applicant met the requirements
specified for the availability inquiry as
PO 00000
Frm 00055
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
appropriate to the circumstances by
conducting an extensive investigation
into all possible sources for products to
repair sewer pipe 42 to 78 inches in
diameter. Based on the investigation,
several companies were found to
manufacture sewer repair products, but
none were able to meet all of the criteria
in the project specifications, namely
snap-out repair sleeves consisting of
rigid polyvinylchloride pipe material
conforming to material standards known
as Normal Impact Type 1 PVC 12454–
B, snap-out parts connected by noncorrodible metal hinges, and sleeves to
repair sewer pipe between 42 to 78
inches in diameter. Therefore, Wayne
County contends that there is no
domestic product of satisfactory quality
available.
EPA’s national contractor prepared a
technical assessment report based on
the submitted waiver request. 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. Therefore, based
on the information provided to EPA and
to the best of our knowledge at this
time, the Link-Pipe PVC snap-out sewer
repair sleeves necessary for this project
are not manufactured in the United
States, and no other U.S. manufactured
product can meet Wayne County’s
project performance specifications and
requirements.
EPA has also evaluated Wayne
County’s request to determine if its
submission is considered late or if it
could be considered timely, as per the
OMB Guidance at 2 CFR 176.120. 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, EPA could also
determine that a request be evaluated as
timely, though made after the date that
the contract was signed, if the need for
a waiver was not reasonably foreseeable.
If the need for a waiver is reasonably
foreseeable, then EPA could still apply
discretion in these late cases as per the
OMB Guidance, which says ‘‘the award
official may deny the request.’’ For
those waiver requests that do not have
a reasonably unforeseeable basis for
lateness, but for which the waiver basis
is valid and there is no apparent gain by
the ARRA recipient or loss on behalf of
the government, then EPA will still
consider granting a waiver.
In this case, there are no U.S.
manufacturers that meet Wayne
County’s project specifications for PVC
repair sleeves that fit sewer pipe 42 to
E:\FR\FM\29JNN1.SGM
29JNN1
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 125 / Wednesday, June 29, 2011 / Notices
78 inches in diameter. The waiver
request was submitted after the contract
was signed due to the large size of the
project, which led to Wayne County not
being made aware that there are no
domestic equivalents for the PVC repair
sleeves in question until after the
contract was signed. There is no
indication that Wayne County failed to
request a waiver in order to avoid the
requirements of the ARRA, particularly
since there are no domestically
manufactured products available that
meet the project specifications. EPA will
consider Wayne County’s waiver
request, a foreseeable late request, as
though it had been timely made since
there is no gain by Wayne County and
no loss by the government due to the
late request.
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 loan
recipients such as Wayne County to
revise their standards and specifications
and to start the bidding process again.
The imposition of ARRA Buy American
requirements on such projects otherwise
eligible for ARRA State Revolving Fund
assistance would result in unreasonable
delay and thus displace the ‘‘shovel
ready’’ status for this project. To further
delay project implementation is in
direct conflict with a fundamental
economic purpose of the ARRA, which
is to create or retain jobs.
EPA has reviewed this waiver request
and has determined that the supporting
documentation provided by Wayne
County is sufficient to meet the criteria
listed under Section 1605(b) of the
ARRA 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) of the ARRA. Due to the lack
of production of this item in the United
States in sufficient and reasonably
available quantities and of a satisfactory
quality in order to meet Wayne County’s
project performance specifications and
requirements, 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 the ARRA within the geographic
boundaries of their respective regions
and with respect to requests by
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:48 Jun 28, 2011
Jkt 223001
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, Wayne County is
hereby granted a waiver from the Buy
American requirements of Section
1605(a) of Public Law 111–5 for the
purchase of Link-Pipe PVC products in
various pipe diameters using ARRA
funds as specified in the community’s
request. This supplementary
information constitutes the detailed
written justification required by Section
1605(c) for waivers ‘‘based on a finding
under subsection (b).’’
Authority: P.L. 111–5, section 1605.
Dated: February 3, 2011.
Susan Hedman,
Regional Administrator, Region 5.
[FR Doc. 2011–16389 Filed 6–28–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[FRL–9426–7]
Notice of a Project Waiver of Section
1605 (Buy American Requirement) of
the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to
the Metropolitan Council
Environmental Services of St. Paul, MN
(MCES)
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The EPA 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 of a
satisfactory quality] to MCES of St. Paul,
Minnesota, for the purchase of four
combination air release/vacuum valves
(ARVs) to prevent failure or blockage of
the South St. Paul Forcemain (pressure
pipe) located in St. Paul, Minnesota.
This is a project-specific waiver and it
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 project-specific
circumstances. These ARVs, which are
manufactured in Israel, meet MCES’s
performance specifications and
requirements. The Regional
Administrator is making this
determination based on the review and
recommendations of EPA Region 5’s
Water Division. MCES has provided
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00056
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
38163
sufficient documentation to support its
request. 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 four
combination ARVs for the South St.
Paul Forcemain project that may
otherwise be prohibited under Section
1605(a) of the ARRA.
DATES: Effective Date: June 29, 2011.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Andrew Lausted, SRF Program Manager
(312) 886–0189, or Joseph Williams,
Office of Regional Counsel, (312) 886–
6631, U.S. EPA Region 5, 77 W. Jackson
Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In
accordance with ARRA Section 1605(c)
and pursuant to Section 1605(b)(2) of
Public Law 111–5, Buy American
requirements, EPA hereby provides
notice that it is granting a project waiver
to MCES of St. Paul, Minnesota, for the
South St. Paul Forcemain project, for
the acquisition of four combination
ARVs that are manufactured in Israel.
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, or unless a waiver is
provided to the recipient by the head of
the appropriate agency, here 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.
These manufactured goods will
prevent failure or blockage of the South
St. Paul Forcemain pressure pipe. MCES
started using these particular ARVs
seven years ago and they have become
their standard air release vacuum valve.
They were selected as their standard
because of their light weight, ease of
installation and maintenance, simplicity
of operation, excellent performance, and
low cost. MCES’s submissions clearly
articulated functional reasons that
justified their technical specifications
and requirements.
The April 28, 2009 EPA HQ
Memorandum, ‘‘Implementation of Buy
American provisions of Public Law
E:\FR\FM\29JNN1.SGM
29JNN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 125 (Wednesday, June 29, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38162-38163]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-16389]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9426-8]
Notice of a Project Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy American
Requirement) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(ARRA) to the Wayne County Department of Public Services in Wayne
County, MI (Wayne County)
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The EPA 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 of a satisfactory quality] to Wayne County for the purchase of
Link-Pipe PVC products in various pipe diameters for sewer pipe repair
in seventeen locations throughout the Rouge Valley Sewage Disposal
System in Wayne County, Michigan. This is a project-specific waiver and
only applies to the use of the specified products 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 project-specific
circumstances. These Link-Pipe PVC products, which are manufactured in
Canada, meet Wayne County's performance specifications and
requirements. The Regional Administrator is making this determination
based on the review and recommendations of EPA Region 5's Water
Division. Wayne County has provided sufficient documentation to support
its request. 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 Link-Pipe PVC products in various pipe diameters for sewer
pipe repair that may otherwise be prohibited under Section 1605(a) of
the ARRA.
DATES: Effective Date: June 29, 2011.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew Lausted, SRF Program Manager
(312) 886-0189, or Puja Lakhani, Office of Regional Counsel, (312) 353-
3190, U.S. EPA Region 5, 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with ARRA Section 1605(c) and
pursuant to Section 1605(b)(2) of Public Law 111-5, Buy American
requirements, EPA hereby provides notice that it is granting a project
waiver to Wayne County, Michigan, for the acquisition of Link-Pipe PVC
in various pipe diameters that are manufactured in Canada.
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, or unless a waiver is provided to the recipient by the
head of the appropriate agency, here 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.
The Link-Pipe PVC products will allow for efficient and effective
sewer pipe repair at seventeen locations throughout the Rouge Valley
Sewage Disposal System. Wayne County selected Link-Pipe products to
allow for trenchless spot repair of sanitary sewer interceptor lines.
The snap-out PVC repair sleeves are designed to quickly and easily
repair damaged/leaking sanitary sewers without excavation--a
requirement for the project since many of the sewer interceptor repair
sites are located in remote wetlands and forested areas where access is
restricted. Wayne County's submissions clearly articulated the
functional reasons that justified their technical specifications and
requirements.
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','' 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 applicant met the requirements specified for the availability
inquiry as appropriate to the circumstances by conducting an extensive
investigation into all possible sources for products to repair sewer
pipe 42 to 78 inches in diameter. Based on the investigation, several
companies were found to manufacture sewer repair products, but none
were able to meet all of the criteria in the project specifications,
namely snap-out repair sleeves consisting of rigid polyvinylchloride
pipe material conforming to material standards known as Normal Impact
Type 1 PVC 12454-B, snap-out parts connected by non-corrodible metal
hinges, and sleeves to repair sewer pipe between 42 to 78 inches in
diameter. Therefore, Wayne County contends that there is no domestic
product of satisfactory quality available.
EPA's national contractor prepared a technical assessment report
based on the submitted waiver request. 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. Therefore, based on the information
provided to EPA and to the best of our knowledge at this time, the
Link-Pipe PVC snap-out sewer repair sleeves necessary for this project
are not manufactured in the United States, and no other U.S.
manufactured product can meet Wayne County's project performance
specifications and requirements.
EPA has also evaluated Wayne County's request to determine if its
submission is considered late or if it could be considered timely, as
per the OMB Guidance at 2 CFR 176.120. 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, EPA could also determine
that a request be evaluated as timely, though made after the date that
the contract was signed, if the need for a waiver was not reasonably
foreseeable. If the need for a waiver is reasonably foreseeable, then
EPA could still apply discretion in these late cases as per the OMB
Guidance, which says ``the award official may deny the request.'' For
those waiver requests that do not have a reasonably unforeseeable basis
for lateness, but for which the waiver basis is valid and there is no
apparent gain by the ARRA recipient or loss on behalf of the
government, then EPA will still consider granting a waiver.
In this case, there are no U.S. manufacturers that meet Wayne
County's project specifications for PVC repair sleeves that fit sewer
pipe 42 to
[[Page 38163]]
78 inches in diameter. The waiver request was submitted after the
contract was signed due to the large size of the project, which led to
Wayne County not being made aware that there are no domestic
equivalents for the PVC repair sleeves in question until after the
contract was signed. There is no indication that Wayne County failed to
request a waiver in order to avoid the requirements of the ARRA,
particularly since there are no domestically manufactured products
available that meet the project specifications. EPA will consider Wayne
County's waiver request, a foreseeable late request, as though it had
been timely made since there is no gain by Wayne County and no loss by
the government due to the late request.
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 loan recipients such as Wayne
County to revise their standards and specifications and to start the
bidding process again. The imposition of ARRA Buy American requirements
on such projects otherwise eligible for ARRA State Revolving Fund
assistance would result in unreasonable delay and thus displace the
``shovel ready'' status for this project. To further delay project
implementation is in direct conflict with a fundamental economic
purpose of the ARRA, which is to create or retain jobs.
EPA has reviewed this waiver request and has determined that the
supporting documentation provided by Wayne County is sufficient to meet
the criteria listed under Section 1605(b) of the ARRA 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) of the ARRA. Due to the
lack of production of this item in the United States in sufficient and
reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality in order
to meet Wayne County's project performance specifications and
requirements, 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 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, Wayne
County is hereby granted a waiver from the Buy American requirements of
Section 1605(a) of Public Law 111-5 for the purchase of Link-Pipe PVC
products in various pipe diameters using ARRA funds as specified in the
community's request. This supplementary information constitutes the
detailed written justification required by Section 1605(c) for waivers
``based on a finding under subsection (b).''
Authority: P.L. 111-5, section 1605.
Dated: February 3, 2011.
Susan Hedman,
Regional Administrator, Region 5.
[FR Doc. 2011-16389 Filed 6-28-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
