Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 62 / Thursday, March 31, 2011 / Notices 17857 

Issued on: March 8, 2011. 

Al Armendariz, 

Regional Administrator, U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, Region 6. 

[FR Doc. 2011–7602 Filed 3–30–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL –9288–6] 

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 Amarillo, TX 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: 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 Amarillo, Texas (‘‘City’’) 

for the purchase of a 5 horsepower (HP) 

non-clog submersible pump, with NSF 

compliant wetted parts and 

appurtenances. As the pump will be 

submersed in the drinking water wet 

well, the project specification requires 

that all wetted components of the pump 

be manufactured with NSF 61 

compliant materials. The 5 HP non-clog 

submersible pump, with NSF compliant 

wetted parts and appurtenances is 

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 a 5 HP non-clog 

submersible pump, with NSF compliant 

wetted parts and appurtenances not 

manufactured in America, for the 

proposed project being implemented by 

the City. 

DATES: Effective Date: March 8, 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 

of the requirements of Section 1605(a) of 

Public Law 111–5, Buy American 

requirements to the City for the 

acquisition of a 5 HP non-clog 

submersible pump, with NSF compliant 

wetted parts and appurtenances. The 

City has been unable to find an 

American made submersible pump with 

NSF 61 compliant wetted components 

to meet its specific requirements. 

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 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 5 HP non-clog submersible pump 

is part of a high service pump and 

transfer station at the City’s Osage 

Treatment Plant, which pumps water 

out of the wet well of the City’s water 

treatment plant. Because the pump will 

be submerged in potable drinking water, 

the project specifications require the 

pump’s components that are in contact 

with the water in the wet well be 

constructed of materials that are NSF 61 

Standard compliant. In addition, the 

project specifications require the 

following materials to be used for given 

pump parts. 

(1) Cast iron: The pump case, motor 

housing, and impeller. 

(2) Stainless steel: Pump shaft (wetted 

portion), guide rails, lifting chains, 

fasteners, and metal seal parts. 

(3) Viton (a fluoropolymer): O-rings. 

(4) Silicon-carbide: Seals. 

The City clarified that NSF 61 

compliance standards supersede certain 

components of the project 

specifications. In particular, the pump 

case, motor housing, and impeller are 

required to be constructed of stainless 

steel, and the seals are required to be 

fabricated of Viton or EPDM polymer. 

The City also indicated that the pump 

is not required to be NSF 61 Standard 

certified, but is required to have wetted 

components constructed of materials 

such as stainless steel that would not 

leach hazardous materials into the 

drinking water. The specifications also 

identified four acceptable 

manufacturers: Flygt, Fairbanks Morse, 

Wilo EMU, and Hydromatic. The City 

contacted all four manufacturers and 

confirmed that they could not provide a 

pump manufactured in the U.S. that 

meets the project specifications. 

Based on additional research 

conducted by EPA Region 6, there does 

not appear to be any domestic 5 HP nonclog submersible pump, with NSF 

compliant wetted parts and 

appurtenances that would meet the 

City’s technical specifications. EPA’s 

national contractor prepared a technical 

assessment report based on the waiver 

request submittal. The report confirmed 

the waiver applicant’s claim that there 

is no American-made 5 HP non-clog 

submersible pump, with NSF compliant 

wetted parts and appurtenances. 

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 the OMB 

Guidance at 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 the City’s 

project specification for this 5 HP nonclog submersible pump, with NSF 

compliant wetted parts and 

appurtenances. The waiver request is 


wwoods2 on DSK1DXX6B1PROD with NOTICES
17858 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 62 / Thursday, March 31, 2011 / Notices 

submitted after the contract date 

because the specification in the contract 

documents for this submersible pump 

named four U.S. manufacturers as 

potential bidders. It was unknown at the 

time that these four U.S. manufacturers 

could not completely meet the Buy 

American provision because the 

specification required the pump be 

completely constructed of NSF 

approved materials. This situation 

resulted from the lack of reasonably 

foreseeable circumstances, since the 

pump manufacturers originally assumed 

they could meet the specification before 

the bid of this project. There is no 

indication that the City 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 the City’s waiver request, a 

foreseeable late request, as though it had 

been timely made since there is no gain 

by the City and no loss by the 

government due to the late request. 

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 City has 

incorporated specific technical design 

requirements for installation of pump in 

its potable drinking water system. 

Therefore, it meets the requirements of 

the ‘‘satisfactory quality’’ criterion for 

requesting a waiver from the Buy 

American provisions of Public Law 

111–5. 

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 utilities, 

such as the City, to revise their 

standards and specifications, institute a 

new bidding process, and potentially 

choose a more costly, less efficient 

project. The imposition of ARRA Buy 

American requirements on such projects 

otherwise eligible for State Revolving 

Fund 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 a fundamental 

economic purpose of the ARRA, which 

is to create or retain jobs. 

The Region 6 Water Quality 

Protection Division has reviewed this 

waiver request, and has determined that 

the supporting documentation provided 

by the City is sufficient to meet the 

criteria listed under ARRA, Section 

1605(b), Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) regulations at 2 CFR 

176.60–176.170, and in the April 28, 

2009, memorandum, Implementation of 

Buy American provisions of Public Law 

111–5, the ‘‘American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009.’’ The basis for 

this project waiver is the authorization 

provided in ARRA, 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 technical 

specifications, a waiver from the Buy 

American requirement is justified. 

EPA headquarters’ 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 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, 

the City is hereby granted a waiver from 

the Buy American requirements of 

ARRA, Section 1605(a) of Public Law 

111–5 for the purchase of a 5 HP nonclog submersible pump, with NSF 

compliant wetted parts and 

appurtenances, using ARRA funds, as 

specified in the City’s request. This 

supplementary information constitutes 

the detailed written justification 

required by ARRA, Section 1605(c), for 

waivers ‘‘based on a finding under 

subsection (b).’’ 

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

Dated: March 8, 2011. 

Al Armendariz, 

Regional Administrator, U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, Region 6. 

[FR Doc. 2011–7606 Filed 3–30–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

Notice of Public Information 

Collection(s) Being Reviewed by the 

Federal Communications Commission, 

Comments Requested 

March 21, 2011. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Communications 

Commission, as part of its continuing 

effort to reduce paperwork burden 

invites the general public and other 

Federal agencies to take this 

opportunity to comment on the 

following information collection(s), as 

required by the Paperwork Reduction 

Act (PRA) of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501–3520. 

Comments are requested concerning: 

(a) Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

Commission, including whether the 

information shall have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of the Commission’s 

burden estimate; (c) ways to enhance 

the quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information collected; (d) ways to 

minimize the burden of the collection of 

information on the respondents, 

including the use of automated 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology, and (e) ways to 

further reduce the information 

collection burden on small business 

concerns with fewer than 25 employees. 

The FCC may not conduct or sponsor 

a collection of information unless it 

displays a currently valid OMB control 

number. No person shall be subject to 

any penalty for failing to comply with 

a collection of information subject to the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) that 

does not display a currently valid OMB 

control number. 

DATES: Written Paperwork Reduction 

Act (PRA) comments should be 

submitted on or before May 31, 2011. If 

you anticipate that you will be 

submitting PRA comments, but find it 

difficult to do so within the period of 

time allowed by this notice, you should 

advise the FCC contact listed below as 

soon as possible. 

ADDRESSES: Direct all PRA comments to 

the Federal Communications 

Commission via e-mail to PRA@fcc.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Judith B. Herman, Office of Managing 

Director, (202) 418–0214. For additional 

information, contact Judith B. Herman, 

OMD, 202–418–0214 or e-mail 

judith-b.herman@fcc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

OMB Control Number: 3060–0805. 

Title: Section 90.527, Regional Plan 

Requirements; Section 90.523, 

Eligibility; and Section 90.1211, 

Regional Plan Shared Use of 4.9 GHz. 

Form No.: N/A. 

Type of Review: Revision of a 

currently approved collection. 

Respondents: Business or other forprofit, not-for-profit institutions and 

state, local or tribal government. 

Number of Respondents and 

Responses: 20,516 respondents, 20,516 

responses. 

Estimated Time per Response: 

.5 hours—200 hours. 


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