[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 243 (Monday, December 20, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79374-79375]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-31894]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9241-2]


Notice of a Regional Project Waiver of Section 1605 (Buy 
American) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) 
to the Woodlake Tax District in Woodbury, CT

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 Woodlake Tax District (``District'') in Woodbury, 
Connecticut for the purchase of a submersible well pump as part of the 
construction of a new bedrock well field and raw water transmission 
line. 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. Based upon 
information submitted by the District and its consulting engineer, it 
has been determined that there are currently no domestically 
manufactured submersible well pumps available to meet its proposed 
project specifications. The Regional Administrator is making this 
determination based on the review and recommendations of the Municipal 
Assistance Unit. 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 a 3 inch diameter submersible well pump by the District, as 
specified in its October 19, 2010 request.

DATES: Effective Date: December 10, 2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katie Connors, Environmental Engineer, 
(617) 918-1658, or David Chin, Environmental Engineer, (617) 918-1764, 
Municipal Assistance Unit (CMU), Office of Ecosystem Protection (OEP), 
U.S. EPA, 5 Post Office Square, Suite 100, Boston, MA 02109-3912.

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 District for the purchase of a non-domestically 
manufactured 3 inch diameter submersible well pump to meet the 
District's specifications as part of the construction of a new bedrock 
well field and raw water transmission line.
    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 a public works project 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 the 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

[[Page 79375]]

the overall project by more than 25 percent.
    Consistent with the direction of the OMB Guidance at 2 CFR 176.120, 
EPA has evaluated the District's request to determine if the request 
constitutes a late request. 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, in this case EPA has determined that 
the District's request, though made after the date that the contract 
was signed, can be evaluated as timely because the need for a waiver 
was not reasonably foreseeable. During construction, one of the three 
bedrock wells became unstable and required additional PVC casing to be 
installed the length of the well. Due to the additional PVC casing in 
the well, the 4 inch diameter well pump specified during design could 
no longer be utilized and a smaller 3 inch diameter submersible well 
pump was needed. The recipient could not reasonably have foreseen the 
need for a waiver prior to the changed circumstances which developed 
during construction. Accordingly, EPA will evaluate the request as a 
timely request.
    The District is requesting a waiver from the Buy American provision 
of ARRA for one 3 inch diameter, 1 horsepower, single phase submersible 
well pump manufactured by Grundfos Pump Corporation. The unit is 
scheduled for installation by the end of November 2010. During drilling 
and pump testing of one of the three bedrock wells within the well 
field, a soft rock layer was discovered in the formation and the well 
appeared to be unstable. An additional 4 inch PVC casing was installed 
the length of the well to help prevent caving and allow flexibility to 
install the pump below the soft rock layer. With the additional casing 
in place, the original 4 inch diameter well pump that was specified 
during design could no longer be used as it exceeded the diameter of 
the modified well.
    The District has researched foreign and domestic manufacturers of 3 
inch diameter submersible well pumps and has determined that domestic 
manufacturers are not able to manufacture a well pump that meets the 
necessary 3 inch diameter. The District was only able to identify 
Grundfos Pump Corporation that manufactures a 3 inch diameter, 1 
horsepower, single phase submersible well pump.
    An evaluation of all of the submitted documentation by EPA's 
technical review team supports and confirms the District's claim that 
there are currently no domestic manufacturers that can provide a 
submersible well pump that meets the necessary size constraints. The 
consulting engineer for the District identified three domestic 
manufacturers in the United States. None of the companies currently 
manufacture 3 inch diameter submersible well pumps. An independent 
review of the submitted documentation by EPA's national contractor 
found four additional possible domestic manufacturers. However, none of 
the manufacturers contacted currently provides a product that meets the 
size constraints. In addition, the evaluation of the supporting 
documentation demonstrated that foreign manufactured 3 inch diameter 
submersible well pumps are available and will be able to meet the 
proposed specifications.
    Furthermore, the purpose of the ARRA is to stimulate economic 
recovery by funding current infrastructure construction, not to delay 
or curtail entirely projects that are ``shovel ready'' by requiring 
potential SRF eligible recipients, such as the Woodlake Tax District, 
to revise their design standards and specifications. To curtail 
entirely this construction would directly conflict with a fundamental 
economic purpose of ARRA, which is to create or retain jobs.
    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 Municipal Assistance Unit (CMU) has reviewed this waiver 
request and has determined that the supporting documentation provided 
by the District establishes both a proper basis to specify a particular 
manufactured good, and that the domestically manufactured good that is 
currently available does not meet the 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 temporary authority to issue 
exceptions to Section 1605 of the 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 Woodlake Tax 
District 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 a non-domestically manufactured 3 inch 
diameter submersible well pump documented in District's waiver request 
submittal dated October 19, 2010. 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: December 10, 2010.
Ira W. Leighton,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1--New England.
[FR Doc. 2010-31894 Filed 12-17-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P