Notice of a Regional Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy American Requirement) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to the City of Airway Heights (the City), Washington, 62403-62404 [2011-26091]
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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 195 / Friday, October 7, 2011 / Notices
aspects of the method should be
directed to the applicant.
Jewel F. Morris,
Acting Director, National Exposure Research
Laboratory.
[FR Doc. 2011–26092 Filed 10–6–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[FRL–9476–9]
Notice of a Regional Waiver of Section
1605 (Buy American Requirement) of
the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to
the City of Airway Heights (the City),
Washington
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The Regional Administrator
of EPA Region 10 is hereby granting a
waiver from the Buy American
requirements of ARRA Section 1605(a)
under the authority of Section
1605(b)(2) [manufactured goods are not
produced in the United States in
sufficient and reasonably available
quantities and of a satisfactory quality]
to the City for the purchase of six
Carrier split ductless air conditioning
(AC) units, manufactured in Mexico and
South Korea. This is a project specific
waiver and only applies to the use of the
specified products 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. The waiver applicant
states that AC systems are required to
provide a constant temperature for the
electrical control room as part of the
City’s project to upgrade of the
wastewater treatment plant. The City’s
consulting engineer requested the
Carrier AC system products based on
specifications on the project plans for
six Carrier split ductless AC units. The
City has provided sufficient
documentation to support their request.
This action allows the installation of the
six specified ductless AC units as noted
in the City’s June 22, 2011, request and
additional follow up documentation.
DATES: Effective Date: September 21,
2011.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Michelle Tucker, CWSRF Coordinator,
Grants and Strategic Planning Unit,
Office of Water & Watersheds (OWW),
(206) 553–1414, U.S. EPA Region 10
(OWW–137), 1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite
900, Seattle, WA 98101.
jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:33 Oct 06, 2011
Jkt 226001
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(a) of
Public Law 111–5, Buy American
requirements, to the City for purchase of
six non-domestic manufactured Carrier
split ductless (AC) units. The City
requires the AC systems to provide a
constant temperature for the electrical
control room as part of the City’s project
to upgrade of the wastewater treatment
plant. The City planned to purchase and
install the identified six ductless split
AC units and one ducted unit from
Carrier. The units are needed to keep
the motor starters, control equipment,
power transformers, circuit breakers,
and other electronic controlling
equipment at the wastewater treatment
plant from overheating. The City’s
consultant conducted due diligence and
research with five product suppliers of
AC systems in the Eastern Washington
area. The City’s consultant concluded
that there are no domestically produced
ductless AC systems that could meet the
product specifications.
EPA has also evaluated the City’s
request to determine if its submission is
considered late or if it could be
considered timely, as per OMB
regulations 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 contact 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 regulation, 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 the City’s
requirement for ductless split AC units.
The waiver request was submitted after
contract signing; however, it was
reasonably unforeseeable. ARRA Buy
American documentation for the AC
units was not supplied with the initial
submittal in January 2010. Pending resubmittal of the documentation, the City
discovered that the units had a plate
stamped ‘‘Made in Mexico’’ in
September 2010. The City checked with
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
PO 00000
Frm 00068
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
62403
the Department of Ecology and EPA to
determine if the units were eligible
under the Section 1605(d) trade
agreement exception; EPA confirmed
the units were not eligible for that
exception. The City spent several
months coordinating back and forth
with the manufacturer and the
contractor to explain that they were not
covered by any international trade
agreements and that an alternate means
of compliance was necessary. The
drafting of the project-specific
availability waiver began in March
2011. The City delayed submitting the
waiver request to investigate a potential
domestic manufacturer (Enviromaster
International) lead, which ultimately
did not work out. Since the City was
investigating various means of Buy
American compliance through gathering
adequate documentation, coordinating
with the manufacturer and contractor,
and researching potential domestic
manufacturers, the circumstance of
applying for a waiver after the start of
construction was not foreseen. EPA has
evaluated this information and will
consider the City’s waiver request as a
timely request since it was reasonably
unforeseeable.
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
‘‘satisfactory quality’’ as the quality of
iron, steel or the relevant manufactured
good as specified in the project plans
and design. The City provided
information to the EPA representing
there are no current domestic
manufacturers of the six ductless split
air conditioning units. EPA’s contractor
reviewed the information provided by
the City and determined that City’s
claim that no domestically
manufactured air conditioner units exist
that meets the project specifications for
the six split ductless AC units is
supported by the available information.
Furthermore, the purpose of the
ARRA provisions was to stimulate
economic recovery by funding current
infrastructure construction, not to delay
projects that are already shovel ready by
requiring entities, like the City, to revise
their design and potentially choose a
more costly and less effective project.
The implementation of ARRA Buy
American requirements on such projects
eligible for CWSRF assistance would
result in unreasonable delay and thus
displace the ‘‘shovel ready’’ status for
this project. To further delay
construction is in direct conflict with
the most fundamental economic
purposes of ARRA, to create or retain
jobs.
E:\FR\FM\07OCN1.SGM
07OCN1
62404
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 195 / Friday, October 7, 2011 / Notices
The Grants and Strategic Planning
Unit has reviewed this waiver request
and has determined that the supporting
documentation provided by the City is
sufficient to establish a proper basis.
The basis for this project waiver is the
authorization provided in Section
1605(b)(2), due to the lack of production
of this product in the United States in
sufficient and reasonably available
quantities and of a satisfactory quality
in order to meet the City’s design
specifications.
The March 31, 2009 Delegation of
Authority Memorandum provided
Regional Administrators with the
authority to issue exceptions to Section
1605 of ARRA within the geographic
boundaries of their respective regions
and with respect to requests by
individual assistance 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
manufacturer in the United States, the
City is hereby granted a waiver from the
Buy American requirements of Section
1605(a) of Public Law 111–5 for the
purchase of six Carrier split ductless AC
units, manufactured in Mexico and
South Korea, for a wastewater treatment
plant project specified in the City’s
waiver request of June 22, 2011. This
supplementary information constitutes
the detailed written justification
required by Section 1605(c) for waivers
based on a finding under subsection (b).
Authority: Public Law 111–5, section
1605.
Dated: September 21, 2011.
Dennis J. McLerran,
Regional Administrator, EPA, Region 10.
[FR Doc. 2011–26091 Filed 10–6–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[FRL–9477–2]
Notice of a Project Waiver of Section
1605 (Buy American Requirement) of
the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to
the City of West Monroe, LA
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
AGENCY:
ACTION:
The Regional Administrator
of EPA Region 6 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 City of West Monroe (‘‘the City’’)
for the purchase of the selected carbon
steel pipe fittings and appurtenances
(elbows, tees and flanges) to be
incorporated in the Sparta Reuse
Project—Waste Water Treatment
Facility. The required carbon steel pipe
fittings and appurtenances are
manufactured by foreign manufacturers
and no United States manufacturer
produces an alternative that meets the
City’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
Regional Administrator is making this
determination based on the review and
recommendations of the EPA Region 6,
Water Quality Protection Division. The
City 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 the selected
carbon steel pipe fittings and
appurtenances not manufactured in
America, for the proposed project being
implemented by the City.
DATES: Effective Date: September 26,
2011.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Nasim Jahan, Buy American
Coordinator, (214) 665–7522, SRF &
Projects Section, Water Quality
Protection Division, U.S. EPA Region 6,
1445 Ross Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75202–
2733.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In
accordance with ARRA Section 1605(c)
and 1605(b)(2), EPA hereby provides
notice that it is granting a project waiver
SUMMARY:
Description
jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Notice.
Quantity
16-in. STD LR 90o elbow ..............................................
20-in. STD LR 90o elbow ..............................................
24-in. STD LR 90o elbow ..............................................
20-in. STD LR 45o elbow ..............................................
8-in. STD TEE ...............................................................
24-in. STD Raised Face Blind Flange ..........................
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:33 Oct 06, 2011
Jkt 226001
PO 00000
Frm 00069
6
3
16
1
42
2
of the requirements of Section 1605(a) of
Public Law 111–5, Buy American
requirements to the City for the
acquisition of selected carbon steel pipe
fittings and appurtenances (elbows, tees
and flanges). The City has been unable
to find American made carbon steel
pipe fittings and appurtenances to meet
its specific water requirements.
Section 1605 of 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.
The City has provided information to
the EPA demonstrating that there are no
carbon steel pipe fittings and
appurtenances manufactured in the
United States in sufficient and
reasonable quantity and of a satisfactory
quality to meet the required technical
specification. The City indicated that of
the ten US companies contacted, seven
could not meet the requirement to
provide the fittings and flanges
manufactured from carbon steel sourced
from steel mills in the United States.
The remaining three companies
contacted did not respond to requests
for information regarding the sources of
metals used in the fabrication of their
products.
The project specifications include
requirements for the following pipe
fittings and flanges:
Material
Carbon
Carbon
Carbon
Carbon
Carbon
Carbon
Fmt 4703
Steel
Steel
Steel
Steel
Steel
Steel
Sfmt 4703
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
Code standard
ANSI A234 WPB
ANSI A234 WPB
ANSI A234 WPB
ANSI A234 WPB
ANSI A234 WPB
150# ANSI A105
E:\FR\FM\07OCN1.SGM
07OCN1
...............
...............
...............
...............
...............
...............
Connection
type
Butt weld.
Butt weld.
Butt weld.
Butt weld.
Butt weld.
Not applicable.
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 195 (Friday, October 7, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62403-62404]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-26091]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9476-9]
Notice of a Regional Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy American
Requirement) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(ARRA) to the City of Airway Heights (the City), Washington
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Regional Administrator of EPA Region 10 is hereby granting
a waiver from the Buy American requirements of ARRA Section 1605(a)
under the authority of Section 1605(b)(2) [manufactured goods are not
produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available
quantities and of a satisfactory quality] to the City for the purchase
of six Carrier split ductless air conditioning (AC) units, manufactured
in Mexico and South Korea. This is a project specific waiver and only
applies to the use of the specified products 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. The waiver applicant states that AC systems are required
to provide a constant temperature for the electrical control room as
part of the City's project to upgrade of the wastewater treatment
plant. The City's consulting engineer requested the Carrier AC system
products based on specifications on the project plans for six Carrier
split ductless AC units. The City has provided sufficient documentation
to support their request. This action allows the installation of the
six specified ductless AC units as noted in the City's June 22, 2011,
request and additional follow up documentation.
DATES: Effective Date: September 21, 2011.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michelle Tucker, CWSRF Coordinator,
Grants and Strategic Planning Unit, Office of Water & Watersheds (OWW),
(206) 553-1414, U.S. EPA Region 10 (OWW-137), 1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite
900, Seattle, WA 98101.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with ARRA Section 1605(c), the
EPA hereby provides notice that it is granting a project waiver of the
requirements of Section 1605(a) of Public Law 111-5, Buy American
requirements, to the City for purchase of six non-domestic manufactured
Carrier split ductless (AC) units. The City requires the AC systems to
provide a constant temperature for the electrical control room as part
of the City's project to upgrade of the wastewater treatment plant. The
City planned to purchase and install the identified six ductless split
AC units and one ducted unit from Carrier. The units are needed to keep
the motor starters, control equipment, power transformers, circuit
breakers, and other electronic controlling equipment at the wastewater
treatment plant from overheating. The City's consultant conducted due
diligence and research with five product suppliers of AC systems in the
Eastern Washington area. The City's consultant concluded that there are
no domestically produced ductless AC systems that could meet the
product specifications.
EPA has also evaluated the City's request to determine if its
submission is considered late or if it could be considered timely, as
per OMB regulations 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 contact 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
regulation, 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 the City's
requirement for ductless split AC units. The waiver request was
submitted after contract signing; however, it was reasonably
unforeseeable. ARRA Buy American documentation for the AC units was not
supplied with the initial submittal in January 2010. Pending re-
submittal of the documentation, the City discovered that the units had
a plate stamped ``Made in Mexico'' in September 2010. The City checked
with the Department of Ecology and EPA to determine if the units were
eligible under the Section 1605(d) trade agreement exception; EPA
confirmed the units were not eligible for that exception. The City
spent several months coordinating back and forth with the manufacturer
and the contractor to explain that they were not covered by any
international trade agreements and that an alternate means of
compliance was necessary. The drafting of the project-specific
availability waiver began in March 2011. The City delayed submitting
the waiver request to investigate a potential domestic manufacturer
(Enviromaster International) lead, which ultimately did not work out.
Since the City was investigating various means of Buy American
compliance through gathering adequate documentation, coordinating with
the manufacturer and contractor, and researching potential domestic
manufacturers, the circumstance of applying for a waiver after the
start of construction was not foreseen. EPA has evaluated this
information and will consider the City's waiver request as a timely
request since it was reasonably unforeseeable.
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 ``satisfactory quality'' as the
quality of iron, steel or the relevant manufactured good as specified
in the project plans and design. The City provided information to the
EPA representing there are no current domestic manufacturers of the six
ductless split air conditioning units. EPA's contractor reviewed the
information provided by the City and determined that City's claim that
no domestically manufactured air conditioner units exist that meets the
project specifications for the six split ductless AC units is supported
by the available information.
Furthermore, the purpose of the ARRA provisions was to stimulate
economic recovery by funding current infrastructure construction, not
to delay projects that are already shovel ready by requiring entities,
like the City, to revise their design and potentially choose a more
costly and less effective project. The implementation of ARRA Buy
American requirements on such projects eligible for CWSRF assistance
would result in unreasonable delay and thus displace the ``shovel
ready'' status for this project. To further delay construction is in
direct conflict with the most fundamental economic purposes of ARRA, to
create or retain jobs.
[[Page 62404]]
The Grants and Strategic Planning Unit has reviewed this waiver
request and has determined that the supporting documentation provided
by the City is sufficient to establish a proper basis. The basis for
this project waiver is the authorization provided in Section
1605(b)(2), due to the lack of production of this product in the United
States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a
satisfactory quality in order to meet the City's design specifications.
The March 31, 2009 Delegation of Authority Memorandum provided
Regional Administrators with the authority to issue exceptions to
Section 1605 of ARRA within the geographic boundaries of their
respective regions and with respect to requests by individual
assistance 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 manufacturer in the United
States, the City is hereby granted a waiver from the Buy American
requirements of Section 1605(a) of Public Law 111-5 for the purchase of
six Carrier split ductless AC units, manufactured in Mexico and South
Korea, for a wastewater treatment plant project specified in the City's
waiver request of June 22, 2011. This supplementary information
constitutes the detailed written justification required by Section
1605(c) for waivers based on a finding under subsection (b).
Authority: Public Law 111-5, section 1605.
Dated: September 21, 2011.
Dennis J. McLerran,
Regional Administrator, EPA, Region 10.
[FR Doc. 2011-26091 Filed 10-6-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
