[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 26 (Tuesday, February 9, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6389-6391]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-2817]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9112-5]


Notice of a Regional Project Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy 
American) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) 
to the City of Gloucester, MA

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The EPA is hereby granting a 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 Gloucester, Massachusetts (``City'') for the 
purchase of foreign manufactured rotary sludge dewatering presses. This 
is a project specific waiver and only applies to the use of the 
specified product 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 City's proposed 
wastewater treatment facility improvements will include replacement of 
the existing belt filter press for sludge generated at the plant. Based 
upon information submitted by the City and its consultants, it was 
determined that two 6-channel rotary press sludge dewatering units, 
manufactured by Fournier Industries of Quebec, Canada, will meet the 
City's design and performance specifications. The Regional 
Administrator is making this determination based on the review and 
recommendations of the Municipal Assistance Unit. The City, through its 
consulting engineers, has provided sufficient documentation to support 
their 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 two, six channel rotary press sludge dewatering units, 
manufactured by Fournier Industries, by the City, as specified in its 
September 28, 2009 request, as part of the improvements to the 
wastewater treatment facility.

DATES: Effective Date: January 29, 2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Spinale, Environmental Engineer, 
(617) 918-1547, or Katie Connors, Environmental Engineer, (617) 918-
1658, Municipal Assistance Unit (CMU), Office of Ecosystem Protection 
(OEP), U.S. EPA, One Congress Street, CMU, Boston, MA 02114.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with ARRA Sections 1605(c) and 
1605(b)(2), the EPA hereby provides notice that it is granting a 
project waiver of the requirements of Sections 1605(a) of Public Law 
111-5, Buy American requirements, to the City of Gloucester, 
(``City''), Massachusetts for the purchase of two, six channel rotary 
press sludge dewatering units, manufactured by Fournier Industries of 
Quebec, Canada. It has been determined that these rotary presses meet 
the City's technical specifications for design and performance of a 
sludge dewatering unit as part of its wastewater treatment plant 
improvement project. Based on the information provided by the 
applicant, there are no domestically manufactured rotary sludge presses 
that at this time meet the specific design criteria established for 
this unit in the City's project.
    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 is produced in the 
United States, or unless a waiver is provided to the recipient by the 
head of the appropriate agency, here the EPA. A waiver may be provided 
if EPA determines that (1) Applying these requirements would be 
inconsistent with public the 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 wastewater treatment facility for the City is a primary 
treatment plant designed to handle an annual average flow of 7.24 
million gallons per day. The plant began operations in 1984, and in the 
early 1990's the facility was modified to provide an ocean outfall 
extension as well as odor control and disinfection improvements. Plant 
improvements again occurred in the mid-2000's with the replacement of 
various pumps and sludge removal mechanisms. However, no other 
significant expansions or upgrades have occurred during the 25 years of 
operations.
    Most of the equipment at the treatment facility is original 
equipment that has largely reached or exceeded its expected service 
life. The City is now replacing major components of the facility 
through a phased program of equipment replacement and facility 
refurbishment. Included in the first phase of the facility-wide 
improvements is the installation of a new rotary sludge dewatering unit 
to replace the existing belt filter press. The City is requesting a 
waiver from the Buy American Provisions for the purchase of two foreign 
made rotary press sludge dewatering units manufactured by Fournier 
Industries (Quebec, Canada).
    The key selection criteria established by the City and its 
consulting engineers for the sludge dewatering equipment include:

[[Page 6390]]

    <bullet> Maintain or improve the dewatered dry solids concentration 
of 24% or greater.
    <bullet> Minimize service water consumption during operation.
    <bullet> Minimize long term operations and maintenance costs.
    <bullet> Reduce odors and improve working conditions for operators 
by minimizing exposure to odorous and hazardous gases released from the 
sludge as well as exposure to bio-aerosols and pathogens. To achieve 
this goal, enclosed dewatering equipment is required.
    <bullet> Allow for automatic adjustment for variation in feed 
solids concentrations and sludge mix ratios to provide consistent and 
optimum cake solids.
    <bullet> Allow for unattended, automatic operation.
    <bullet> Allow for backup capacity during periods of equipment 
failure and routine maintenance.
    As part of the review of potentially viable sludge dewatering 
units, four technologies were evaluated by the City and their 
consultants: (1) Belt filter press, (2) centrifuge system; (3) screw 
press and (4) rotary press. Of the four technologies, it was determined 
that the rotary sludge press is the preferred technology because it 
ranked the highest in terms of meeting the key criteria highlighted 
above. In particular, the rotary presses manufactured by Fournier 
Industries were identified as a technically and economically feasible 
unit meeting all of the selection criteria established as part of the 
design requirements. The Fournier Rotary Presses are the preferred 
technology for installation at the City's wastewater treatment plant 
because of the following advantages:
    <bullet> High cake solids concentration.
    <bullet> Low odor emissions due to the enclosed design.
    <bullet> Provides for continuous operation and has the flexibility 
to increase capacity based on influent flow.
    <bullet> Low maintenance due to the slow rotational speed, 
requiring minimal operator attention.
    <bullet> Low energy requirements resulting in low operation and 
maintenance costs.
    <bullet> Each channel is an independent self-contained modular unit 
which can be interchanged with other same model rotary presses.
    <bullet> Low noise and vibration output due to low operations 
speeds.
    <bullet> Compact size resulting in smaller building and room 
footprint requirements.
    <bullet> Filtration elements within each channel are of a non-
clogging design which does not require washwater during operation.
    The project specifications stipulate that the rotary press 
equipment be capable of meeting the following design and performance 
criteria:
    <bullet> Type of Unit: six channel rotary press
    <bullet> Blended Sludge Fraction (% Solids):

    60-90% Primary Sludge
    5-10% Scum
    5-30% Septage
    <bullet> Sludge Feed Concentration (% Solids): 2-8%
    <bullet> Dry Solids Feed Rate: 200-400 dry lbs/hr/channel
    <bullet> Hydraulic Sludge Feed Rate: 35-160 gpm
    <bullet> Dewatered Sludge Solids Concentration (% Solids):

    test condition (I)--30% minimum
    test condition (II)--25% minimum

    The project specifications also expressly require that the 
manufacturer of the rotary press have a minimum of 10 years 
demonstrated experience in the design, application, fabrication and 
supply of rotary press equipment for wastewater treatment plants. The 
specifications go on to further require that demonstration of 
experience shall take the form of a list of not less than 10 operating 
sludge dewatering installations of similar service and size including 
process performance data.
    Based on the review of available information, there is only one 
domestic manufacturer of similar rotary type presses for municipal 
sludge. However, this manufacturer only produces one and two channel 
rotary fan presses and currently cannot meet the design specifications 
calling for a six channel rotary press, or the experience requirements 
specified for this proposed project. The domestic manufacturer has only 
been manufacturing and installing its rotary fan press since 2004, 
which is less than the 10 year experience requirement specified for the 
project. For these reasons, the Fournier Industries Rotary Sludge Press 
is the only unit at the present time that is acceptable in terms of 
meeting the design and experience specifications of this project.
    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' '' (``Memorandum''), 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 same Memorandum defines 
``satisfactory quality'' as ``the quality of steel, iron or 
manufactured good specified in the project plans and designs.''
    The City has requested a waiver of the ARRA Buy American provisions 
on the basis of unavailability of a U.S. manufactured product that will 
meet the design and performance criteria specified for the sludge 
dewatering unit. The evaluation of all of the submitted documentation 
by EPA's technical review team supports the City's claim that at this 
time no domestic manufacturer can provide a suitable rotary sludge 
dewatering press which meets the specifications for this unit. Based on 
the information available, and to the best of our knowledge, there do 
not appear to be other rotary press sludge dewatering units 
manufactured in the United States that are available at this time to 
meet the City's design specifications and performance requirements for 
this unit.
    Furthermore, the purpose of the ARRA is to stimulate economic 
recovery by funding current infrastructure construction, not to delay 
projects that are ``shovel ready'' by requiring SRF eligible recipients 
such as the City to revise their design standards and specifications. 
The imposition of ARRA Buy American requirements in this case would 
result in unreasonable delay for this project. To delay this 
construction would directly conflict with a fundamental economic 
purpose of ARRA, which is to create or retain jobs.
    The Municipal Assistance Unit (CMU) has reviewed this waiver 
request and has determined that the supporting documentation provided 
by the City established both a proper basis to specify the particular 
good required and that this manufactured good was not available from a 
producer in the United States able to meet the design specifications 
for the proposed project. The information provided is sufficient to 
meet the following criteria listed under Section 1605(b) of the ARRA 
and in the April 28, 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 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

[[Page 6391]]

from a producer 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. This waiver permits use of ARRA funds for the purchase of 
the two specified Fournier Industries 6-channel rotary press sludge 
dewatering units documented in City's waiver request submittal dated 
September 28, 2009 as part of its wastewater treatment plant 
improvements. This supplementary information constitutes the detailed 
written justification required by Section 1605(c) for waivers based on 
a finding under subsection (b).

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

    Dated: January 29, 2010.
Ira Leighton,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1--New England.
[FR Doc. 2010-2817 Filed 2-8-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P