Nationwide Categorical Waivers Under Section 1605 (Buy American) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), 81922-81923 [2011-33415]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
• Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 250 (Thursday, December 29, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 81922-81923]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-33415]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy


Nationwide Categorical Waivers Under Section 1605 (Buy American) 
of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act)

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. 
Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of Limited Waivers.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is hereby granting a 
nationwide limited waiver of the Buy American requirements of section 
1605 of the Recovery Act under the authority of Section 1605(b)(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), with respect to Recovery Act projects 
funded by EERE for (1) Absorption chillers rated at 205 and 250 tons; 
(2) Thermostatic Regulator Valves that regulate the flow of hot water 
or low pressure steam through free-standing radiators, baseboards, or 
convectors in hot water and two-pipe steam systems; (3) 28 and 30 W 180 
degree LED replacement bulbs for HID street lights; (4) 100% Oil free 
rotary screw variable speed drive water cooled air compressor with a 
factory installed dryer capable of supplying air at <-20 degree dew 
point temperature; (5) high speed electronic governors with actuators 
to replace existing mechanical UG8 and UG40 engine governors; upgraded 
fuel injectors and regulators; and replacement engine pistons and 
cylinder liners; for energy efficiency upgrades in an existing 
Mitsubishi 52/55B or 40/54A diesel generator engine; and (6) Universal 
control modules for use with Novar proprietary communication protocols.

DATES: Effective Date: 10/24/2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christine Platt-Patrick, Office of 
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), (202) 287-1553, 
Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Mailstop EE-2K, 
Washington, DC 20585.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the authority of American Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act Public Law 111-5, section 
1605(b)(2), the head of a Federal department or agency may issue a 
``determination of inapplicability'' (a waiver of the Buy American 
provision) if the iron, steel, or relevant manufactured good is not 
produced or manufactured in the United States in sufficient and 
reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality 
(``nonavailability''). The authority of the Secretary of Energy to make 
all inapplicability determinations was re-delegated to the Assistant 
Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), for EERE 
projects under the Recovery Act, in Redelegation Order No. 00-002.01E, 
dated April 25, 2011. Pursuant to this delegation the Acting Assistant 
Secretary, EERE, has concluded that: (1) Absorption chillers rated at 
205 and 250 tons; (2) Thermostatic Regulator Valves that regulate the 
flow of hot water or low pressure steam through free-standing 
radiators, baseboards, or convectors in hot water and two-pipe steam 
systems; (3) 28 and 30 W 180 degree LED replacement bulbs for HID 
street lights; (4) 100% Oil free rotary screw variable speed drive 
water cooled air compressor with a factory installed dryer capable of 
supplying air at <-20 degree dew point temperature; (5) high speed 
electronic governors with actuators to replace existing mechanical UG8 
and UG40 engine governors; upgraded fuel injectors and regulators; and 
replacement engine pistons and cylinder liners; for energy efficiency 
upgrades in an existing Mitsubishi 52/55B or 40/54A diesel generator 
engine; and (6) Universal control modules for use with Novar 
proprietary communication protocols, are not produced or manufactured 
in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities 
and of a satisfactory quality. The above items, when used on eligible 
EERE Recovery Act-funded projects, qualify for the ``nonavailability'' 
waiver determination.
    EERE has developed a robust process to ascertain in a systematic 
and expedient manner whether or not there is domestic manufacturing 
capacity for the items submitted for a waiver of the Recovery Act Buy 
American provision. This process involves a close collaboration with 
the United States Department of Commerce National Institute of 
Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership 
(MEP), in order to scour the domestic manufacturing landscape in search 
of producers before making any nonavailability determinations.
    The MEP has 59 regional centers with substantial knowledge of, and 
connections to, the domestic manufacturing sector. MEP uses their 
regional centers to `scout' for current or potential manufacturers of 
the product(s) submitted in a waiver request. In the course of this 
interagency collaboration, MEP has been able to find exact or partial 
matches for manufactured goods that EERE grantees had been unable to 
locate. As a result, in those cases, EERE was able to work with the 
grantees to procure American-made products rather than granting a 
waiver.
    Upon receipt of completed waiver requests for the four products in 
the current waiver, EERE reviewed the information provided and 
submitted the relevant technical information to the MEP. The MEP then 
used their network of nationwide centers to scout for domestic 
manufacturers. The MEP reported that their scouting process did not 
locate any domestic manufacturers for these exact or equivalent items.
    In addition to the MEP collaboration outlined above, the EERE Buy 
American Coordinator worked with other manufacturing stakeholders to 
scout for domestic manufacturing capacity or an equivalent product for 
each item contained in this waiver. EERE also conducted significant 
amounts of independent research to supplement MEP's scouting efforts, 
including utilizing the solar experts employed by the Department of 
Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory. EERE's research efforts 
confirmed the MEP findings that the goods included in this waiver are 
not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably 
available quantities and of a satisfactory quality.
    The nonavailability determination is also informed by the inquiries 
and petitions to EERE from recipients of EERE Recovery Act funds, and 
from suppliers, distributors, retailers and trade associations--all 
stating that their individual efforts to locate domestic manufacturers 
for these items have been unsuccessful.
    Specific technical information for the manufactured goods included 
in this non-availability determination is detailed below:
    (1) Absorption chillers rated at 205 and 250 tons.
    This is the third waiver request for absorption chillers, but we 
had not examined the market for US manufacturers of this size in the 
past, there were no US responses to either rfp nor to the MEP request, 
EERE could identify no US manufacturers that could produce chillers 
meeting the specifications.
    (2) Thermostatic Regulator Valves regulate the flow of hot water or 
low pressure steam through free-standing radiators, baseboards, or 
convectors in hot water and two-pipe steam systems.
    These valves provide fast acting modulating control of the space 
temperature through a vapor charge, ensuring the highest level of 
comfort

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control. They are an inexpensive item, a search through the library at 
a local plumbing supply company revealed 12 potential suppliers, none 
of whom manufacture these valves in the US. MEP did not reveal any 
potential or current manufacturers.
    (3) 28 and 30 W 180 degree LED replacement bulbs for HID street 
lights.
    Only for these unique wattages where no other bulbs will fit. No US 
manufacturer was identified that produced a product with this wattage 
by MEP or EERE.
    (4) 100% Oil free rotary screw variable speed drive water cooled 
air compressor with a factory installed dryer capable of supplying air 
at <-20 degree dew point temperature.
    The compressed air needs to be oil free and supplied with no 
humidity because it will damage the process equipment connected to the 
system, and in addition, as the product manufactured is hygroscopic in 
nature, it will tend to absorb humidity of the air thus damaging the 
product. MEP and DOE originally identified 2 possible matches, however, 
neither could provide air with the required humidity levels.
    (5) High speed electronic governors with actuators to replace 
existing mechanical UG8 and UG40 engine governors; upgraded fuel 
injectors and regulators; and replacement engine pistons and cylinder 
liners; for energy efficiency upgrades in an existing Mitsubishi 52/55B 
or 40/54A diesel generator engine.
    These upgrades will improve fuel efficiency and to allow the plant 
to begin using ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel (<15 ppm)--to comply with 
US EPA 2010 Emissions Regulation--because the engines were originally 
made in Japan, the only suppliers of these parts identified were 
Japanese or German.
    (6) Universal control modules for use with Novar proprietary 
communication protocols, where a Novar system was installed previously, 
and where utilizing a domestic control module would mean that the 
existing energy management controls would have to be removed and a new 
energy management controls system would have to replace the existing 
Novar system.
    In these cases, the grantee is unable to use a domestic control 
module because the existing system runs off of a proprietary 
communication protocol (rather than LON or BACnet), and the entire 
system would have to be replaced to install additional controllers. 
Trade organizations, DOE and MEP all agreed that this was the only 
controller capable of properly interfacing with this protocol.
    In light of the foregoing, and under the authority of section 
1605(b)(2) of Public Law 111-5 and Redelegation Order 00-002-01E, with 
respect to Recovery Act projects funded by EERE, I hereby issue a 
``determination of inapplicability'' (a waiver under the Recovery Act 
Buy American provision) for: (1) Absorption chillers rated at 205 and 
250 tons; (2) Thermostatic Regulator Valves that regulate the flow of 
hot water or low pressure steam through free-standing radiators, 
baseboards, or convectors in hot water and two-pipe steam systems; (3) 
28 and 30 W 180 degree replacement bulbs for HID street lights for use 
in Northern Mariana Islands; (4) 100% Oil free rotary screw variable 
speed drive water cooled air compressor with a factory installed dryer 
capable of supplying air at <-20 degree dew point temperature; (5) high 
speed electronic governors with actuators to replace existing 
mechanical UG8 and UG40 engine governors; upgraded fuel injectors and 
regulators; and replacement engine pistons and cylinder liners; for 
energy efficiency upgrades in an existing Mitsubishi 52/55B or 40/54A 
diesel generator engine; and (6) Universal control modules for use with 
Novar proprietary communication protocols.
    Having established a proper justification based on domestic 
nonavailability, EERE hereby provides notice that on October 24, 2011, 
six (6) nationwide categorical waivers of section 1605 of the Recovery 
Act were issued as detailed supra. This notice constitutes the detailed 
written justification required by Section 1605(c) for waivers based on 
a finding under subsection (b).
    This waiver determination is pursuant to the delegation of 
authority by the Secretary of Energy to the Assistant Secretary for 
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy with respect to expenditures 
within the purview of his responsibility. Consequently, this waiver 
applies to all EERE projects carried out under the Recovery Act.

    Authority:  Pub. L. 111-5, section 1605.

    Issued in Washington, DC on October 24, 2011.
Henry Kelly,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 
U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2011-33415 Filed 12-28-11; 8:45 am]
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