Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 35 / Tuesday, February 22, 2011 / Notices 9767 

served by allowing either instance of 

substantial transformation to qualify the 

final solar installation or array as 

compliant with the Buy American 

provisions. 

Conducting either of these discrete 

activities (production of the cells or the 

modules) in the United States creates 

roughly equal numbers of American 

jobs, and aligns squarely with purpose 

and the principles the Recovery Act Buy 

American provision by focusing on the 

highest-value and most labor-intensive 

processes along the solar PV 

manufacturing chain. 

The extension of the Solar Public 

Interest Waiver also demonstrates 

EERE’s commitment to the continued 

swift expenditure of Recovery Act 

funds, by permitting grantees to utilize 

a diverse range of existing 

American-manufactured solar 

technologies. This is a one-time 

extension encouraging grantees to 

complete their projects in an expedient 

manner; strengthening local clean 

energy infrastructure while leveraging 

Recovery Act dollars to support U.S. 

jobs along the solar manufacturing 

supply chain and in high-skill solar 

installation activities. 

For all the reasons outlined above, the 

Assistant Secretary of EERE has 

determined it is in the public interest to 

issue a one-time extension of the Solar 

Public Interest Waiver of the Recovery 

Act Buy American provisions, 

permitting EERE Recovery Act grantees 

to utilize solar PV installations where 

either the cell or the module is 

manufactured in the United States. 

In addition, this extended public 

interest determination waives the Buy 

American requirements for all ancillary 

items that are incidental in cost and 

technological significance, thus 

eliminating ambiguities concerning 

whether the incidental items are final 

manufactured goods or merely 

components of a larger solar module, 

installation or array. These items 

include, but are not limited to, charge 

controllers, combiners and disconnect 

boxes, breakers and fuses, racks, 

trackers, lugs, wires, and cables. 

Inverters and batteries remain subject to 

the Buy American provisions. This 

helps support the solar installation 

industry, because it removes the burden 

from businesses—especially small 

businesses—of verifying the origin of 

each of the many minor components of 

a solar installation or array. This also 

benefits grantees, businesses, American 

taxpayers and the Department of Energy 

by encouraging more competitive bids 

on solar projects. 

Issuance of this nationwide public 

interest waiver recognizes EERE’s 

commitment to expeditious costing of 

Recovery Act dollars by enabling 

recipients to easily ascertain whether a 

given solar installation complies with 

the Buy American provision. 

Simultaneously, this waiver advances 

the purpose and the principles of the 

Buy American provision by focusing on 

the highest-value and most laborintensive pieces of solar PV equipment. 

In light of the foregoing, and under 

the authority of section 1605(b)(1) of 

Public Law 111–5 and the Redelegation 

Order, dated September 17, 2010, with 

respect to Recovery Act projects funded 

by EERE, the Assistant Secretary on 

February 4, 2011 issued an extension of 

the amended ‘‘determination of 

inapplicability’’ (a waiver under the 

Recovery Act Buy American provisions) 

for the following items: (1) 

Domestically-manufactured modules 

containing foreign-manufactured cells, 

(2) Foreign-manufactured modules, 

when completely comprised of 

domestically-manufactured cells, and 

(3) Any ancillary items and equipment 

(including, but not limited to, charge 

controllers, combiners and disconnect 

boxes, breakers and fuses, racks, 

trackers, lugs, wires, cables and all 

otherwise incidental equipment with 

the exception of inverters and batteries) 

when utilized in a solar installation 

involving a U.S. manufactured PV 

module, or a module manufactured 

abroad but comprised exclusively of 

domestically-manufactured cells until 

August 6, 2011. 

This waiver expires August 6, 2011 

(six months from the date of expiration 

of the original waiver). Recipients of 

EERE Recovery Act funds who have 

taken substantial steps to commit funds 

for the purchase of the items covered in 

this waiver by August 6, 2011 will not 

be impacted by the expiration of this 

waiver. 

Furthermore, the Assistant Secretary 

reserves the right to revisit and amend 

this determination based on new 

information or new developments. 

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

Issued in Washington, DC, on February 4, 

2011. 

Cathy Zoi, 

Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of 

Energy. 

[FR Doc. 2011–3849 Filed 2–18–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

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. 

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 (1) two-stage, steam 

heated absorption chillers rated at 500– 

1,500 tons; (2) single wall evacuated 

tube collectors for solar thermal systems 

(when used in an educational context 

for the purposes of comparing relative 

efficiency of solar thermal technologies); 

(3) 2-ton adsorption chillers (for 

educational purposes, or where 

alternative technologies are not 

serviceable); (4) LED Lamp and 

controller for studio lights in a 

television broadcast studio (where a CRI 

(Color Rendition Index) sufficient to 

render accurate flesh tones and natural 

colors and a precise color tuning control 

to dial in exact color temperature for 

accurate colors under multiple lighting 

setups are required); (5) Global 

Positioning System (GPS) Time Source 

Modules (to serve as direct 

communication link between a county 

or city’s Traffic Management System 

(TMS) and the Caltrans Traffic Signal 

Management and Surveillance System 

(CTNET)); and (6) elongated wall-hung 

rear spud toilets (bowl and hardware) 

that will be used on eligible EERE 

Recovery Act-funded projects. 

DATES: Effective Date: January 12, 2011. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Benjamin Goldstein, Energy Technology 

Program Specialist, 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 the 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 

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9768 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 35 / Tuesday, February 22, 2011 / Notices 

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’’). On 

September 17, 2010, the authority of the 

Secretary of Energy to make all 

inapplicability determinations was redelegated to the Assistant Secretary for 

Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy (EERE), for EERE projects under 

the Recovery Act. Pursuant to this 

delegation the Assistant Secretary, 

EERE, has concluded that (1) two-stage, 

steam heated absorption chillers rated at 

500–1500 tons; (2) single wall evacuated 

tube collectors for solar thermal systems 

(when used in an educational context 

for the purposes of comparing relative 

efficiency of solar thermal technologies); 

(3) 2-ton adsorption chillers (for 

educational purposes, or where 

alternative technologies are not 

serviceable); (4) LED Lamp and 

controller for studio lights in a 

television broadcast studio (where a CRI 

(Color Rendition Index) sufficient to 

render accurate flesh tones and natural 

colors and a precise color tuning control 

to dial in exact color temperature for 

accurate colors under multiple lighting 

setups are required); (5) Global 

Positioning System (GPS) Time Source 

Modules (to serve as direct 

communication link between a county 

or city’s Traffic Management System 

(TMS) and the Caltrans Traffic Signal 

Management and Surveillance System 

(CTNET)); and (6) elongated wall-hung 

rear spud toilets (bowl and hardware) 

that will be used on eligible EERE 

Recovery Act-funded projects qualify for 

the ‘‘nonavailability’’ waiver 

determination. 

EERE has developed a rigorous 

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 determination. 

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 Americanmade products rather than granting a 

waiver. 

Upon receipt of completed waiver 

requests for the six products in the 

current waiver, EERE reviewed the 

information provided and submitted the 

relevant technical information to the 

NIST 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 the exact items needed to meet the 

product specifications required by the 

EERE grant recipient. 

In addition to the MEP collaboration 

outlined above, the EERE Buy American 

Coordinator worked with labor unions, 

trade associations and 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 technology experts employed 

by the Department of Energy or 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 numerous 

inquiries 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 have been unsuccessful. 

Having established a proper 

justification based on domestic 

nonavailability, EERE hereby provides 

notice that on January 12, 2011, six 

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 her 

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 January 19, 

2011. 

Cathy Zoi, 

Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of 

Energy. 

[FR Doc. 2011–3850 Filed 2–18–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Project No. 637–022] 

Public Utility District No. 1 Chelan 

County; Notice of Application for 

Amendment of License and Soliciting 

Comments, Motions To Intervene, and 

Protests 

Take notice that the following 

application has been filed with the 

Commission and is available for public 

inspection: 

a. Application Type: Non-Project Use 

of Project Lands and Waters. 

b. Project No.: 637–022. 

c. Date Filed: January 21, 2011. 

d. Applicant: Public Utility District 

No. 1 Chelan County. 

e. Name of Project: Lake Chelan 

Hydroelectric Project. 

f. Location: The project is located on 

the Chelan River in Chelan County near 

the City of Chelan, Washington. 

g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power 

Act 16 U.S.C. 791(a)-825(r). 

h. Applicant Contact: Michele Smith, 

Licensing and Compliance Manager at 

P.O. Box 1231, Wenatchee, Washington. 

Phone: (509) 663–8121. 

i. FERC Contact: Patricia Grant at 

(312) 596–4435; e-mail: 

patricia.grant@ferc.gov. 

j. Deadline for filing comments, 

motions to intervene, and protests, is 30 

days from the issuance date of this 

notice. All documents may be filed 

electronically via the Internet. See, 18 

CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the 

instructions on the Commission’s Web 

site at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/

efiling.asp. If unable to be filed 

electronically, documents may be paperfiled. To paper-file, an original and 

seven copies should be mailed to: 

Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, 888 First Street, NE., 

Washington, DC 20426. Commenters 

can submit brief comments up to 6,000 

characters, without prior registration, 

using the eComment system at http:// 

www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/

ecomment.asp. You must include your 

name and contact information at the end 

of your comments. 

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