44360 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 166 / Friday, August 28, 2009 / Notices 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–8951–2] 

Notice of a Project Waiver of Section 

1605 (Buy American Requirement) of 

the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to 

the Bristol Family Center Water 

System in Bristol, VT, the Kids in the 

Country School Water System in 

Dover, VT, and the Otter Valley Union 

High School Water System in Brandon, 

VT 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The EPA 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 Bristol Family Center Water 

System in Bristol, Vermont, the Kids in 

the Country Water System in Dover, 

Vermont, and the Otter Valley Union 

High School in Brandon, Vermont (the 

‘‘Systems’’) for the purchase of NSF–55 

Class A certified Ultra Violet (UV) 

disinfection equipment. This is a project 

specific waiver and only applies to the 

use of the specified product for the 

ARRA funded projects being proposed. 

Any other ARRA project that may wish 

to use the same product must apply for 

a separate waiver based on project 

specific circumstances. The UV 

disinfection equipment under 

consideration is manufactured outside 

of the United States by a company based 

in Canada and meets the water systems’ 

technical specifications and 

requirements. The Acting Regional 

Administrator is making this 

determination based on the review and 

recommendations of the Municipal 

Assistance Unit. The Systems have 

provided sufficient documentation to 

support each individual 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 the ARRA. This action 

permits the purchase of specific UV 

disinfection equipment for the proposed 

projects being implemented by the 

Bristol Family Center Water System in 

Bristol, Vermont, Kids in the Country 

Water System in Dover, Vermont, and 

Otter Valley Union High School Water 

System in Brandon, Vermont. 

DATES: Effective Date: August 19, 2009. 

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, One Congress Street, CMU, 

Boston, MA 02114. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with ARRA Section 1605(c) 

and pursuant to Section 1605(b)(2) of 

Public Law 111–5, Buy American 

requirements, EPA hereby provides 

notice that it is granting a project waiver 

to the Bristol Family Center Water 

System in Bristol, Vermont, the Kids in 

the Country Water System in Dover, 

Vermont, and the Otter Valley Union 

High School Water System in Brandon, 

Vermont (the ‘‘Systems’’) for the 

acquisition of NSF–55 Class A certified 

Ultra Violet (UV) disinfection 

equipment manufactured outside of the 

United States. 

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, or unless a waiver is 

provided to the recipient by the head of 

the appropriate agency, here 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 the overall project by more than 

25 percent. 

The State of Vermont requires that 

water supply installations must comply 

with the Vermont Standards for Water 

System Design, Construction and 

Protection (Vermont Water Supply 

Rule—Chapter 21). In order to meet 

these standards the State of Vermont 

requires public water systems using UV 

disinfection to use National Sanitation 

Foundation (NSF) Standard 55 

(Ultraviolet Microbial Water Treatment 

Systems) Class A certified UV 

equipment. The State of Vermont, 

Agency of Natural Resources, Water 

Supply Division (VTANR) has identified 

several lines of UV disinfection systems 

with NSF–55 Class A certification, all 

manufactured in Canada. The Water 

Systems are proposing to use the UV 

Pure Hallett 15xs and 30 ultraviolet 

disinfection water systems. The design 

engineer and the VTANR have 

conducted research and determined that 

there are no domestic manufacturers 

that have NSF–55 Class A certification 

at the time of these waiver requests. 

The design engineers for the Bristol 

Family Center Water System indicated 

that they intend to use two Hallett 30 

(30 gpm) UV units for the school 

buildings. The estimated cost for all of 

the UV equipment for Bristol Family 

Center Water System in Bristol, 

Vermont is $4,000. For the Kids in the 

Country Water System, the engineers 

intend to use two Hallett 15xs (15 gpm) 

The estimated cost for all of the UV 

equipment for the Kids in the Country 

Water System in Dover, Vermont is 

$3,400. For the Otter Valley Union High 

School Water System, the design 

engineers intend to use four Hallett 30 

(30 gpm) UV units for the school 

buildings. The estimated cost for all of 

the UV equipment for the Otter Valley 

Union High School Water System in 

Brandon, Vermont is $8,000. 

The designs for all three Systems took 

into account the limited space available 

for retrofitting the water supply and 

distribution systems, as well as the 

attributes of the specific equipment. The 

Systems’ submissions clearly articulated 

functional reasons for their technical 

specifications and requirements, and 

have provided sufficient documentation 

that the relevant manufactured goods 

are not produced in the United States in 

sufficient and reasonably available 

quantity and of a satisfactory quality to 

meet its design specifications and 

requirements. 

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’’. After extensive 

research by the design engineers and the 

VTANR, information has been provided 

to the EPA documenting that there is 

currently no other UV disinfection 

equipment from a domestic 

manufacturer available to meet the 

Systems’ exact design specifications and 

requirements. 

EPA’s national contractor has 

prepared a technical assessment report 

for these Systems dated June 25, 2009 

based on the waiver requests submitted. 

The report determined that the waiver 

request submittal was complete, that 

adequate technical information was 

provided, and that there were no 


hsrobinson on DSK69SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 166 / Friday, August 28, 2009 / Notices 44361 

significant weaknesses in the 

justification provided. The report 

confirmed the waiver applicants’ claim 

that NSF Standard 55 Class A UV 

disinfection equipment of the size 

specified are not available from a 

domestic manufacturer. 

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 these Water Systems, to revise 

their standards and specifications and to 

start the bidding process again. 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 construction must be 

completed prior to September 1, 2009 

when the students return for the new 

school year. 

The Municipal Assistance Unit (CMU) 

has reviewed these waiver requests and 

has determined that the supporting 

documentation provided by the Bristol 

Family Center in Bristol, Vermont, the 

Kids in the Country School in Dover, 

Vermont, and the Otter Valley Union 

High School in Brandon, Vermont is 

sufficient to meet the criteria listed 

under Section 1605(b) of the ARRA and 

in the April 28, 2009, ‘‘Implementation 

of Buy American provisions of Public 

Law 111–5, the ‘American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 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 basis for these project waivers is 

the authorization provided in Section 

1605(b)(2) of the ARRA. 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 

Systems’ technical specifications and 

requirements, a waiver from the Buy 

American requirement is justified. 

The March 31, 2009 Delegation of 

Authority Memorandum provided 

Regional Administrators with the 

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 

these projects, and that this 

manufactured good was not available 

from a producer in the United States, 

the Bristol Family Center Water System, 

Kids in the Country Water System, and 

Otter Valley Union High School Water 

System are hereby granted waivers from 

the Buy American requirements of 

Section 1605(a) of Public Law 111–5 for 

the purchase of the specified UV 

disinfection equipment using ARRA 

funds as documented in the Systems’ 

requests of June 18, 2009. 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: August 19, 2009. 

Ira W. Leighton, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region I, New 

England. 

[FR Doc. E9–20800 Filed 8–27–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–8950–7] 

Notice of a Regional Project Waiver of 

Section 1605 (Buy American) of the 

American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act of 2009 (ARRA) to the Plymouth 

Village Water & Sewer District, New 

Hampshire 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The EPA is hereby granting a 

waiver of the Buy America 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 Plymouth 

Village Water & Sewer District, New 

Hampshire (‘‘District’’) for the purchase 

of a foreign manufactured rotary sludge 

dewatering press. 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 District’s 

proposed wastewater treatment facility 

improvements will include a 

replacement of the existing belt filter 

press for sludge generated at the plant. 

Based upon information submitted by 

the District and its consultants, it was 

determined that a 6 channel rotary press 

sludge dewatering unit, manufactured 

by Fournier Industries of Quebec, 

Canada, will meet the District’s design 

and performance specifications. The 

Acting Regional Administrator is 

making this determination based on the 

review and recommendations of the 

Municipal Assistance Unit. The District 

through its design engineer, 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 a 6 channel 

rotary press sludge dewatering unit, 

manufactured by Fournier Industries, by 

the District, as specified in its June 26, 

2009 waiver request, as part of the 

improvements to the wastewater 

treatment facility. 

DATES: Effective Date: August 17, 2009. 

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 Section 1605(c), 

the EPA hereby provides notice that it 

is granting a project waiver of the 

requirements of Sections 1605(b)(2) of 

Public Law 111–5, Buy American 

requirements, to the Plymouth Village 

Water & Sewer District (‘‘District’’), New 

Hampshire for the purchase of a 6 

channel rotary press sludge dewatering 

unit, manufactured by Fournier 

Industries of Quebec, Canada. It has 

been determined that this rotary press 

meets the District’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 at this time that 

meet the specific design criteria 

established for this unit in the District’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 


hsrobinson on DSK69SOYB1PROD with NOTICES