10866 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 45 / Tuesday, March 9, 2010 / Notices 

allowed for the exchange of shoreline 

access rights of equal or greater value. 

TVA determined that the environmental 

impacts of the modification of SMP 

would not materially differ from the 

impacts quantified in the original EIS 

and that the effect of removing the 

Maintain and Gain provision is 

adequately addressed in the EIS. The 

environmental and project goals of the 

SMI and SMP would still be met 

without the Maintain and Gain program. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Charles P. Nicholson, Program Manager, 

NEPA Compliance, Environment and 

Technology, Tennessee Valley 

Authority, 400 West Summit Hill Drive, 

WT 11D, Knoxville, Tennessee 37902– 

1499; telephone (865) 632–3582 or email cpnicholson@tva.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1999, 

TVA adopted SMP to implement the 

April 1999 TVA Board decision to adopt 

the preferred alternative (Blended 

Alternative) of the November 1998 EIS 

entitled ‘‘Shoreline Management 

Initiative: An Assessment of Residential 

Shoreline Development Impacts in the 

Tennessee Valley.’’ In June 1999, TVA 

published a ROD in the Federal Register 

(64 FR 300092, June 4, 1999) reflecting 

this decision. The Blended Alternative 

emphasized conservation of shoreline 

resources and no net loss of public 

lands while providing for reasonable 

access and compatible use of the 

shoreline by adjacent residents. It also 

included the Maintain and Gain 

program that allowed TVA to consider 

requests from property owners without 

shoreline access rights to obtain those 

rights in exchange for eliminating 

shoreline access rights of equal or 

preferably greater length and value; 

such exchanges would result in no net 

loss, or preferably a net gain, of public 

shoreline. 

TVA recently reviewed the Maintain 

and Gain program. Since its inception in 

1999, TVA has approved nine Maintain 

and Gain requests for the exchange of 

water access rights on TVA reservoirs, 

which have resulted in only a small 

increase in the amount of shoreline 

protected. The closing of 7,113 linear 

feet of shoreline for private water use 

access rights and opening 6,036 linear 

feet of shoreline access rights to private 

landowners has yielded a net gain of 

1,077 linear feet of shoreline closed to 

residential water use access. Overall, 

this is less than one-tenth of 1 percent 

of the 4,100 miles of shoreline available 

for private water use throughout the 

Tennessee Valley. 

The Maintain and Gain program was 

used infrequently, and the decisions 

required to be made thereunder were 

vulnerable to some inconsistency. TVA 

has determined that the elimination of 

the Maintain and Gain program would 

have minor and insignificant 

environmental impacts and that such 

impacts would not significantly differ 

from the impacts quantified in the 

original EIS. The environmental and 

project goals of the SMI and SMP would 

still be met. Consequently, the TVA 

Board of Directors terminated the 

Maintain and Gain program on August 

20, 2009. The termination of the 

Maintain and Gain program does not 

affect the other key components of SMP, 

such as the use of vegetation 

management plans, limits to the size of 

residential water use facilities, use of 

shoreline management zones, 

management of access/view corridor 

size, use of best management practices 

for construction, management of 

vegetation, stabilization of shoreline 

erosion, and education activities. 

Dated: February 25, 2010. 

Anda Ray, 

Senior Vice President of Environment and 

Technology and Environmental Executive. 

[FR Doc. 2010–4663 Filed 3–8–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8120–08–P 

UTAH RECLAMATION MITIGATION 

AND CONSERVATION COMMISSION 

Notice of a Project Waiver of Section 

1605 (Buy American Requirement) of 

the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 to the Utah 

Division of Wildlife Resources 

(Division) 

AGENCY: Utah Reclamation Mitigation 

and Conservation Commission. 

ACTION: Buy American Exception under 

the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009. 

SUMMARY: The Utah Reclamation 

Mitigation and Conservation 

Commission (Commission) hereby 

provides notice that on February 17, 

2010, the Commission’s Executive 

Director 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 certain water 

quality treatment and monitoring 

equipment that will be used in a project 

funded under the Recovery Act (Pub. L. 

111–5) and implemented through the 

Central Utah Project Completion Act 

Program (CUPCA). 

DATES: The Recovery Act Buy American 

waiver was signed February 17, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Utah Reclamation 

Mitigation and Conservation 

Commission, 230 South 500 East, Suite 

230, Salt Lake City, Utah 84102–2045. 

Internet address: http:// 

www.mitigationcommission.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Maureen Wilson, Project Coordinator, 

Utah Reclamation Mitigation and 

Conservation Commission, 801–524– 

3166. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with section 1605(c) of the 

Recovery Act and with section 176.80 of 

Title 2 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations, the Commission hereby 

provides notice that on February 17, 

2010, the Executive Director granted a 

limited waiver of section 1605 of the 

Recovery Act (Buy American provision) 

with respect to certain water quality 

treatment and monitoring equipment 

components that will be used in a 

project funded under the Recovery Act. 

The basis for this waiver is a nonavailability determination pursuant to 

section 1605(b)(2) of the Recovery Act. 

I. Background 

Agreement No. 09FCUT–RA04 June 

Sucker Facility Improvements— 

Fisheries Experiment Station between 

the Commission and the State of Utah, 

Division of Wildlife Resources 

(Division) was entered into pursuant to 

the Recovery Act, for the purpose of 

funding hatchery improvements for 

culture of June sucker, an endangered 

species. The hatchery improvements 

include expansion of a recirculation 

system that allows optimal water 

temperatures for culture of June sucker. 

The recirculation system requires water 

treatment and water quality monitoring. 

In 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.’’ 

Subsections 1605(b) and (c) of the 

Recovery Act authorize the head of a 

Federal department or agency to waive 

the Buy American provision by finding 

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 a Federal department or agency 

waives the Buy American provision, 

then the head is required to publish a 


sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 45 / Tuesday, March 9, 2010 / Notices 10867 

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. Nonavailability Finding 

The Commission’s Executive Director 

determined—as applied to certain water 

quality treatment and monitoring 

equipment components to be used in a 

hatchery rearing June sucker, an 

endangered species—application of the 

Buy American provision is not possible 

because the components, specifically 

rotating drum filter upgrades and a 

water quality monitoring system 

expansion, are not available from 

American manufacturers in sufficient 

and reasonably available commercial 

quantities of a satisfactory quality. 

Expansion of the recirculation system 

requires adding a second drum filter for 

aquaculture water treatment. The 

existing system uses a drum filter 

manufactured by PRAqua Supplies 

Ltd.—Nanaimo, British Columbia, 

Canada. The Division owns an RFM 

4872 drum filter also manufactured by 

PRAqua Supplies Ltd that will be used 

for the system expansion. This drum 

filter requires modification with new 

drum filter seals, screen panels and a 

new control panel to be suitable for use 

in the aquaculture system. This will 

allow the expanded system to match the 

existing equipment and drum filter. 

The existing recirculation facility is 

equipped with a variety of automated 

sensors that allow system operators to 

monitor water quality, flow and 

temperature in the fish hatchery. The 

existing equipment was provided and 

installed by Point Four Systems Inc. of 

Coquitlam, BC, Canada. 

Recirculation system expansion will 

also require new components to expand 

aquaculture water quality monitoring. 

New components will include 

additional oxygen sensors, flow meters 

and related control panel wiring to 

connect to the existing system. Use of 

components sharing the same 

manufacturer will allow efficient 

operation of equipment that is in place. 

New monitoring system components 

that will function with existing 

components are not available from 

American manufacturers in sufficient 

and reasonably available commercial 

quantities of a satisfactory quality. 

III. Waiver 

On February 17, 2010 based on the 

non-availability finding discussed above 

and pursuant to ARRA section 1605(c), 

the Commission’s Executive Director 

granted a limited waiver of the Recovery 

Act’s Buy American requirements with 

respect to Agreement No. 09FCUT– 

RA04 between the Commission and 

Division for the aforementioned 

components of a hatchery recirculation 

system. 

Dated: February 25, 2010. 

Michael C. Weland, 

Executive Director. 

[FR Doc. 2010–4775 Filed 3–8–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–05–P 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

Determinations Concerning Illnesses 

Discussed in the Institute of Medicine 

Report on Gulf War and Health: 

Updated Literature Review of Depleted 

Uranium 

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: As required by law, the 

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 

hereby gives notice that the Secretary of 

Veterans Affairs, under the authority 

granted by the Persian Gulf War 

Veterans Act of 1998, Public Law 105– 

277, title XVI, 112 Stat. 2681–742 

through 2681–749 (codified at 38 U.S.C. 

1118), has determined not to establish a 

presumption of service connection at 

this time, based on exposure to depleted 

uranium in the Persian Gulf during the 

Persian Gulf War, for any of the 

diseases, illnesses, or health effects 

discussed in the July 30, 2008, report of 

the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the 

National Academy of Sciences (NAS), 

titled Gulf War and Health: Updated 

Literature Review of Depleted Uranium. 

This determination does not in any way 

preclude VA from granting service 

connection for any disease, including 

those specifically discussed in this 

notice, nor does it change any existing 

rights or procedures. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Nancy Copeland, Regulations Staff 

(211D), Compensation and Pension 

Service, Veterans Benefits 

Administration, Department of Veterans 

Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC 20420, telephone (202) 

461–9685. (This is not a toll-free 

number.) 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Statutory Requirements 

The Persian Gulf War Veterans Act of 

1998, Public Law 105–277, title XVI, 

112 Stat. 2681–742 through 2681–749 

(codified at 38 U.S.C. 1118), and the 

Veterans Programs Enhancement Act of 

1998, Public Law 105–368, 112 Stat. 

3315, previously directed the Secretary 

to seek to enter into an agreement with 

the NAS IOM to review and evaluate the 

scientific literature regarding 

associations between illness and 

exposure to specific toxic agents, 

environmental or wartime hazards, or 

preventive medicines or vaccines to 

which service members may have been 

exposed during service in the Southwest 

Asia theater of operations during the 

Persian Gulf War. 

In 1998, IOM began a program to 

examine the scientific and medical 

literature on the potential health effect 

of specific agents and hazards to which 

Gulf War Veterans might have been 

exposed during their deployment. Five 

reports have examined health outcomes 

related to (1) depleted uranium (DU), 

pyridostigmine bromide, sarin, and 

vaccines (Volume 1); (2) insecticides 

and solvents; (3) fuels, combustion 

products, and propellants; (4) health 

effects of serving in the Gulf War 

irrespective of exposure information; 

and (5) infectious diseases. A sixth IOM 

report, Gulf War and Health, Volume 6: 

Deployment Related Stress, examined 

the physiologic, psychologic, and 

psychosocial effects of deploymentrelated stress. 

The present report updates the review 

of DU presented in Volume 1. When 

Volume 1 was published, few studies of 

health outcomes of exposure to DU had 

been conducted. Therefore, the IOM 

studied the health outcomes of exposure 

to natural and processed uranium in 

workers at plants that processed 

uranium ore for use in weapons. After 

evaluating the literature, the IOM 

concluded that there was inadequate or 

insufficient evidence to determine 

whether an association exists between 

uranium exposure and 14 health 

outcomes: lymphatic cancer; bone 

cancer; nervous system disease; 

reproductive or developmental 

dysfunction; non-malignant respiratory 

disease; gastrointestinal disease; 

immune-mediated disease; effects on 

hematologic measures; genotoxic effects; 

cardiovascular effects; hepatic disease; 

dermal effects; ocular effects; and 

musculoskeletal effects. The IOM also 

concluded that there was limited or 

suggestive evidence of no association 

between uranium and clinically 

significant renal dysfunction and 

between uranium and lung cancer at 

specified cumulative internal doses. 

Although previously used, the Gulf 

War marked the first time that DU 

munitions and armor were used 

extensively by the military. DU was 

used by the U.S. military for both 

offensive and defensive purposes in the 


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