9256 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 39 / Monday, March 1, 2010 / Notices 

11–3–09285 was lodged with the United 

States District Court for the Eastern 

District of Pennsylvania. 

In this action the United States sought 

reimbursement of response costs 

incurred in connection with the release 

or threatened release of hazardous 

substances at the North Penn 12 

Superfund Site, Worcester Township, 

Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (the 

‘‘Site’’). The Consent Decree obligates 

the Settling Defendant to reimburse 

$10,429.94 of the United States’ past 

response costs paid in connection with 

the Site, and to pay future response 

costs to be incurred by the United States 

at the Site as well. 

The Department of Justice will receive 

for a period of thirty (30) days from the 

date of this publication comments 

relating to the Consent Decree. 

Comments should be addressed to the 

Assistant Attorney General, 

Environment and Natural Resources 

Division, and either emailed to 

pubcomment-ees.enrd@usdoj.gov or 

mailed to P.O. Box 7611, U.S. 

Department of Justice, Washington, DC 

20044–7611, and should refer to United 

States v. Schlumberger Technology 

Corporation, Civil Action No. 2:10-cv00783–TON, D.J. Ref. 90–11–3–09285. 

The Consent Decree may be examined 

at the Office of the United States 

Attorney, Eastern District of 

Pennsylvania, 615 Chestnut Street, Suite 

1250 Philadelphia, PA 19106, and at 

U.S. EPA Region 3. During the public 

comment period, the Consent Decree 

may also be examined on the following 

Department of Justice Web site, http:// 

www.usdoj.gov/enrd/ 

Consent_Decrees.html. A copy of the 

Consent Decree may also be obtained by 

mail from the Consent Decree Library, 

P.O. Box 7611, U.S. Department of 

Justice, Washington, DC 20044–7611 or 

by faxing or e-mailing a request to Tonia 

Fleetwood (tonia.fleetwood@usdoj.gov), 

fax no. (202) 514–0097, phone 

confirmation number (202) 514–1547. In 

requesting a copy from the Consent 

Decree Library, please enclose a check 

in the amount of $6.75 (@ 25 cents per 

page reproduction cost) payable to the 

U.S. Treasury or, if by e-mail or fax, 

forward a check in that amount to the 

Consent Decree Library at the stated 

address. 

Maureen Katz, 

Assistant Chief, Environmental Enforcement 

Section, Environment and Natural Resources 

Division. 

[FR Doc. 2010–4060 Filed 2–26–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4410–15–P 

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

Notice of Buy American Waiver Under 

the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 

AGENCY: National Science Foundation 

(NSF). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The National Science 

Foundation (NSF) has granted a limited 

waiver of section 1605 of the American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 

(Recovery Act), Public Law 111–5, 123 

Stat. 115, 303 (2009), with respect to the 

purchase of the bow thruster that will be 

used in the Alaska Region Research 

Vessel (ARRV). A bow thruster is a 

propulsion device that is built into a 

vessel’s bow to make it more 

maneuverable and better able to hold a 

certain position or orientation at sea. 

DATES: March 1, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: National Science 

Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd., 

Arlington, Virginia 22230. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Jeffrey Leithead, Division of Acquisition 

and Cooperative Support, 703–292– 

4595. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with section 1605(c) of the 

Recovery Act and section 176.80 of Title 

2 of the Code of Federal Regulations, the 

National Science Foundation (NSF) 

hereby provides notice that on January 

28, 2010, the NSF Director granted a 

limited project waiver of section 1605 of 

the Recovery Act (Buy American 

provision) with respect to the bow 

thruster that will be used in the ARRV. 

The basis for this waiver is section 

1605(b)(2) of the Recovery Act, in that 

360-degree azimuthing, 686-kW (920 

hp), ice certified bow thrusters of 

satisfactory quality are not produced in 

the United States in sufficient and 

reasonably available commercial 

quantities. The cost of the bow thruster 

represents approximately 0.5% of the 

total $148 million Recovery Act award 

provided toward construction of the 

ARRV. 

I. Background 

The Recovery Act appropriated $400 

million to NSF for several projects being 

funded by the Foundation’s Major 

Research Equipment and Facilities 

Construction (MREFC) account. The 

ARRV is one of NSF’s MREFC projects. 

Section 1605(a) of the Recovery Act, the 

Buy American provision, states that 

none of the funds appropriated by the 

Act ‘‘may be used for a project 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.’’ 

The ARRV has been developed under 

a cooperative agreement awarded to the 

University of Alaska, Fairbanks (UAF) 

that began in 2007. Shipyard selection 

is complete and UAF executed the 

construction contract in December 2009. 

The purpose of the Recovery Act is to 

stimulate economic recovery in part by 

funding current construction projects 

like the ARRV that are ‘‘shovel ready’’ 

without requiring projects to revise their 

standards and specifications, or to 

restart the bidding process again. 

Subsections 1605(b) and (c) of the 

Recovery Act authorize the head of a 

Federal department or agency to waive 

the Buy American provision if the head 

of the agency finds that: (1) Applying 

the provision would be inconsistent 

with the public interest; (2) the relevant 

goods are not produced in the United 

States in sufficient and reasonably 

available quantities and of a satisfactory 

quality; or (3) the inclusion of the goods 

produced in the United States will 

increase the cost of the project by more 

than 25 percent. If the head of the 

Federal department or agency waives 

the Buy American provision, then the 

head of the department or agency is 

required to publish a detailed 

justification in the Federal Register. 

Finally, section 1605(d) of the Recovery 

Act states that the Buy American 

provision must be applied in a manner 

consistent with the United States’ 

obligations under international 

agreements. 

II. Finding That Relevant Goods Are 

Not Produced in the United States in 

Sufficient and Reasonably Available 

Quality 

The vessel’s operational design 

requirements, as set forth in the Science 

Mission Requirements and documented 

in the UAF’s proposal, dictate two 

particular bow thruster specifications: 

(1) A certification for use in ice to 

permit independent operations in the 

Arctic; and (2) a requirement to hold the 

ship in a specific location or orientation 

for science operations. Consequently, a 

design was prepared that included a 

bow thruster and an ice wedge located 

on the hull. An ice wedge is a projection 

at the front of a vessel below the water 

line that moves ice to the sides as the 

bow breaks and pushes it down. This 

particular hull form, together with the 

requirements to hold the ship in a 

certain position at sea, further 

constrains the bow thruster design, 

resulting in the following four technical 

requirements of any bow thruster for 

this particular vessel: 

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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 39 / Monday, March 1, 2010 / Notices 9257 

• Size—The unit must fit within the 

space allocated in the hull and ice 

wedge; 

• Power—Minimum 686-kW rated 

(920 hp); 

• Capability—360-degree thrust 

(azimuthing steering control); 

• Certification for use in ice—No hull 

protrusion(s), tunnel with propeller, or 

any feature that subjects the thruster to 

ice damage along the hull form, per 

American Bureau of Shipping Rules for 

Building and Classing Vessels, Polar 

Class PC–5. 

Failure to meet any of these four 

technical requirements would have 

severe negative consequences for the 

capabilities of the vessel. It is not 

feasible to modify the shape of the hull 

forward to accommodate a thruster of a 

different configuration, since the hull 

shape has been optimized for ice 

breaking through extensive testing over 

the past four years. Any changes at this 

point would significantly affect vessel 

capabilities. Reduction of the minimum 

power, or elimination of the 360-degree 

thrust requirement, would also result in 

a vessel that could not successfully 

support open water science equipment 

deployments in the Arctic. Vessels 

working in the Arctic are subject to 

demanding and often dangerous 

conditions due to low temperatures, 

high winds, and rough seas as well as 

ice. Accepting a design that is 

susceptible to ice damage could render 

the bow thruster inoperable under these 

severe conditions, thereby jeopardizing 

the safety of the vessel and personnel 

aboard. Such compromises also produce 

a ship that would not be allowed to 

operate independently in the Arctic 

under emerging international 

agreements which require minimum 

standards for equipment survivability 

for vessels operating in polar waters 

(Arctic and Antarctic). Independent 

operation is critical to cost-effective 

science support. Requiring the ARRV to 

be escorted by another, more ice-capable 

vessel could add over $6M in outside 

charter cost for NSF and the other 

funding agencies for every 100 days in 

the ice. Frequent damage as a result of 

using a non-compliant design would 

add significant annual program cost for 

maintenance and repair (in excess of 

$100K per incident depending on the 

extent of damage) once the vessel goes 

into operation. This financial loss is in 

addition to the lost science 

opportunities caused by delay in sailing. 

As noted in UAF’s request for this 

waiver, UAF performed market research 

in April and early May of 2009 that 

initially found that bow thrusters are 

generally available in manufacturers’ 

commercial product lines. UAF then 

conducted additional market research 

by reviewing industry publications and 

the Internet, and by attending an 

industry suppliers’ conference, in order 

to assess whether there exists a 

domestic capability to provide a bow 

thruster that meets the necessary 

requirements for safe and successful 

operation in Arctic waters. 

After identifying 15 potential 

domestic suppliers, UAF compared the 

existing product lines for compliance 

with the bow thruster technical 

specifications and requirements as 

identified above. 

Beginning with an assessment of 

power requirements, the bow thrusters 

offered by 12 domestic firms either did 

not meet the 686-kW rated minimum or 

the companies simply served as 

distributors of others’ product lines. 

Two of the remaining three domestic 

suppliers did not provide bow thrusters 

that meet the required ice certification 

standards, because their products rely 

upon tunnels with propellers or units 

that extended from the hull; these 

features make this type of bow thruster 

susceptible to ice damage which, as 

explained above, could render them 

inoperable under the severe conditions 

inherent in Arctic operations. The final, 

most capable domestic manufacturer of 

bow thrusters did comply with the 

stated size, power and (potentially) 

capability requirements. However, this 

bow thruster relies upon controllable 

vanes that are fitted to the thruster 

discharge nozzles to achieve the 360- 

degree thrust capability. The 

controllable vanes make the bow 

thrusters susceptible to ice damage 

which, as explained above, could render 

them inoperable under the severe 

conditions inherent in Arctic 

operations. 

In the absence of a domestic supplier 

that could provide a requirementscompliant bow thruster, UAF requested 

that NSF issue a Section 1605 waiver 

determination with respect to the 

purchase of foreign-supplied, 

requirements-compliant bow thruster, 

so that the vessel will contain a bow 

thruster that meets the specific design 

and technical requirements which, as 

explained above, are necessary for this 

vessel to be able to perform its Arctic 

mission safely and successfully. 

Furthermore, UAF’s market research 

indicated that bow thrusters compliant 

with the ARRV’s technical 

specifications and requirements are 

commercially available from foreign 

vendors within their standard product 

lines. 

NSF’s Division of Acquisition and 

Cooperative Support (DACS) and other 

NSF program staff reviewed the UAF 

waiver request submittal, found that it 

was complete, and determined that 

sufficient technical information was 

provided in order for NSF to evaluate 

the waiver request and to conclude that 

a waiver is needed and should be 

granted. 

III. Waiver 

On January 28, 2010, based on the 

finding that no domestically produced 

bow thruster met all of the ARRV’s 

technical specifications and 

requirements and pursuant to section 

1605(b), the Director of the National 

Science Foundation granted a limited 

project waiver of the Recovery Act’s Buy 

American requirements with respect to 

the procurement of a 360-degree 

azimuthing, 686-kW, ice classed bow 

thruster. 

Dated: February 24, 2010. 

Lawrence Rudolph, 

General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2010–4170 Filed 2–26–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7555–01–P 

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

SBA Lender Risk Rating System 

AGENCY: Small Business Administration. 

ACTION: Notice of revised Risk Rating 

System; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: This notice implements 

changes to the Small Business 

Administration’s (SBA’s) Risk Rating 

System (Risk Rating System). The Risk 

Rating System is an internal tool to 

assist SBA in assessing the risk of each 

active 7(a) Lender’s and Certified 

Development Company’s (CDC’s) SBA 

loan operations and loan portfolio. 

Consistent with industry best practices, 

SBA recently redeveloped the model 

used to calculate the composite risk 

ratings to ensure that the Risk Rating 

System remains current and predictive 

as technologies and available data 

evolve. SBA is publishing this notice 

with a request for comments to provide 

the public with an opportunity to 

comment and to allow for any necessary 

adjustments as the industry moves 

through the economic cycle. 

DATES: This notice is effective March 1, 

2010. 

Comment Date: Comments must be 

received on or before April 30, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by RIN number [INSERT RIN 

NUMBER], by any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

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