Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 222 / Monday, November 20, 2023 / Notices 80717 

to control organisms in the IATCS since 

there are no registered alternatives 

available that meet the required criteria. 

This emergency request proposed a use 

of a new (unregistered) chemical and in 

accordance with the requirements at 40 

CFR 166.24(a)(1), a notice of receipt 

published in the Federal Register on 

August 25, 2023, to allow a public 

comment period that closed on 

September 11, 2023. The specific 

exemption was authorized on 

September 29, 2023, and effective 

October 7, 2023 to October 7, 2024. 

C. Annual Report of Crisis Exemptions 

Declared and Revoked 

Three crisis exemptions were 

declared, and zero crisis exemptions 

were revoked between October 1, 2022, 

and September 30, 2023. 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 136 et seq. 

Dated: November 13, 2023. 

Charles Smith, 

Director, Registration Division, Office of 

Pesticide Programs. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25602 Filed 11–17–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OW–2023–0396; FRL 11285–01– 

OW] 

Request for Information Regarding 

Products and Categories of Products 

Used in Water Infrastructure Programs 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice; request for information 

(RFI). 

SUMMARY: To support further 

development of multiple funding 

programs for water infrastructure 

subject to the requirements of the Build 

America, Buy America Act, the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

invites public comment to inform the 

domestic availability of multiple 

products used in the construction, 

alteration, and/or maintenance of water 

infrastructure. The EPA is inviting 

comments to enable the agency to have 

the most comprehensive and current 

information available on the domestic 

market for BABA-covered products for 

its programs and the water 

infrastructure programs of other 

agencies. The EPA, along with the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, the U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development, the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency, the Department of 

Transportation, and the U.S. 

Department of the Interior, are 

especially interested in comments 

detailing domestic materials sourcing, 

market readiness, other product supply 

considerations, and whether specific 

water infrastructure products or their 

components are manufactured in the 

United States. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before December 20, 2023, to allow 

for their consideration during 

development of these funding programs. 

The EPA may consider comments 

received after the due date to the extent 

practicable. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

OW–2023–0396, by any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

https://www.regulations.gov (our 

preferred method). Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Once submitted, comments cannot be 

edited or removed from 

www.regulations.gov. 

• Mail: U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, EPA Docket Center, 

Water Docket, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 

Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, 

DC 20460. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: EPA 

Docket Center, WJC West Building, 

Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue 

NW, Washington, DC 20004. The Docket 

Center’s hours of operations are 8:30 

a.m.–4:30 p.m., Monday–Friday (except 

Federal holidays). 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the Docket ID No. for this 

notice. Comments received may be 

posted without change to https://

www.regulations.gov/, including any 

personal information provided. For 

detailed instructions on sending 

comments, see the ‘‘Public 

Participation’’ heading of the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this document. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Timothy Connor, Chemical Engineer, 

Office of Wastewater Management at 

(202) 566–1059, or via email at 

connor.timothy@epa.gov; or Leslie 

Corcelli, Physical Scientist, Office of 

Ground Water and Drinking Water at 

(202) 564–3825, or corcelli.leslie@

epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Public Participation 

Submit your comments, identified by 

Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OW–2023– 

0396, at https://www.regulations.gov 

(our preferred method), or the other 

methods identified in the ADDRESSES

section. Once submitted, comments 

cannot be edited or removed from the 

docket. The EPA may publish any 

comment received to its public docket. 

Do not submit to the EPA’s docket at 

https://www.regulations.gov any 

information you consider to be 

Confidential Business Information, 

Proprietary Business Information, or 

other information where disclosure is 

restricted by statute. If you wish to 

submit information containing CBI, 

contact Timothy Connor 

(connor.timothy@epa.gov) with any 

questions on the EPA’s secure CBI 

protocol or to initiate Agency 

procedures for submitting confidential 

information. After contacting the EPA 

regarding your intent to submit CBI, a 

secure data exchange will be initiated 

and detailed instructions will be 

provided. Multimedia submissions 

(audio, video, etc.) must be 

accompanied by a written comment. 

The written comment is considered the 

official comment and should include 

discussion of all points you wish to 

make. The EPA will generally not 

consider comments or comment 

contents located outside of the primary 

submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or 

other file sharing system). Please visit 

https://www.epa.gov/dockets/ 

commenting-epa-dockets for additional 

submission methods; the full EPA 

public comment policy; information 

about CBI, PBI, or multimedia 

submissions; and general guidance on 

making effective comments. 

II. General Information 

The Infrastructure Investments and 

Jobs Act (Pub. L. 117–58, Nov. 15, 2021) 

provides $50 billion of new funding for 

water infrastructure, funding that 

includes domestic content requirements 

(see details below). These developments 

provide an opportunity for significant 

expansion of domestic capacity. 

Additionally, the IIJA and the Inflation 

Reduction Act (Pub. L. 117–69, Aug. 16, 

2022) collectively provide more than 

$10 billion of additional funding to the 

Department of Interior, Bureau of 

Reclamation for aging infrastructure, 

water delivery systems for rural 

communities, and to increase water 

supply. The EPA wishes to work in 

coordination with other agencies and 

with private industry to provide clear 

and consistent demand signals for 

products used in water infrastructure 

projects. 

The purpose of this Request for 

Information (RFI) is to improve Federal 

agencies’ understanding of the current 

state of the domestic market for 

products required to service drinking, 

agricultural, wastewater treatment and 

delivery systems. 

The Build America, Buy America Act 

requires iron, steel, manufactured 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
80718 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 222 / Monday, November 20, 2023 / Notices 

products, and construction materials 

used in infrastructure projects funded 

by Federal financial assistance to be 

produced in the United States. While 

BABA provides the opportunity for the 

EPA and other agencies to issue certain 

waivers to these requirements, approval 

depends on many factors, including 

availability of domestically sourced 

materials and products. Responses to 

this RFI will improve the agencies’ 

understanding of the current domestic 

market for these products to effectively 

implement BABA for projects funded by 

its water infrastructure programs and to 

evaluate the potential need for shortterm product waivers from BABA 

requirements if products are 

unavailable. 

In this RFI, the agency provides a 

brief background of water infrastructure 

programs in the EPA’s Office of Water, 

includes background information on 

BABA provisions, and requests 

comments and responses regarding 

products or categories of products for 

specific areas of interest. This RFI also 

includes guidance on submitting 

comments, procedures for submitting 

CBI, and where to find additional 

information. 

Responding to This RFI 

Please indicate in your written 

comments the area of interest (product 

or category of product) and the topic 

number(s) below you are commenting 

on and provide specific examples or 

information to illustrate your comments 

where possible. You do not need to 

address every topic and should focus on 

those where you have relevant expertise 

or experience. In all cases, to the extent 

possible, please cite any public data 

related to or that support your 

responses. If data are available, but nonpublic, describe such data to the extent 

permissible. Responses with specific 

data are especially useful. As discussed 

in Section I, CBI is protected from 

public disclosure when properly 

submitted. 

Background 

In this section, the agency provides 

background information on the Office of 

Water infrastructure programs subject to 

the BABA requirements. The IIJA, also 

known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure 

Law, appropriated $50 billion to the 

EPA to strengthen the nation’s drinking 

water and wastewater infrastructure. 

The IIJA includes BABA, establishing 

new and expanded domestic preference 

requirements for infrastructure projects 

that receive Federal financial assistance. 

(Pub. L. 117–58, Nov. 15, 2021, sec. 

70901–52). Importantly, BABA 

requirements apply to all Federal 

financial assistance programs that 

include infrastructure projects. 

Currently, the EPA’s Office of Water 

administers at least seventeen programs 

that provide Federal financial assistance 

for water infrastructure, including the 

Drinking Water State Revolving Fund 

(DWSRF) program, the Clean Water 

State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) 

program, and the Water Infrastructure 

Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) 

program. These programs address 

critical water infrastructure needs 

through construction, alteration, or 

repair of water, wastewater, and 

stormwater infrastructure, including, 

but not limited to, lead service line 

replacement, water quality 

improvements, source water protection, 

treatment of emerging contaminants, 

and climate resilience. 

Through this RFI, the EPA seeks 

information regarding the domestic 

availability of specific water 

infrastructure products identified in this 

notice. The agency is interested in 

promptly obtaining more information on 

this and other issues discussed in this 

notice to assess if enough products/ 

systems are currently available to 

comply with BABA requirements or 

whether sufficient products would be 

available in the future, and if so, when. 

This information will also be supplied 

to USDA, USACE, FEMA, HUD, DOT, 

and Interior which also manage water 

infrastructure programs. 

Build America, Buy America Act 

BABA requires each covered Federal 

agency to ensure that ‘‘none of the funds 

made available for a Federal financial 

assistance program for 

infrastructure. . . [are] obligated for a 

project unless all of the iron, steel, 

manufactured products, and 

construction materials used in the 

project are produced in the United 

States’’ except if a waiver is granted. 

(Pub. L. 117–58, sec. 70914.) These 

requirements apply to an entire 

infrastructure project funded by Federal 

financial assistance, including those 

funded by the EPA water infrastructure 

programs, even if it is also funded by 

non-Federal funds. The EPA is 

committed to ensuring strong and 

effective BABA implementation and 

compliance. 

For all predominantly iron or steel 

products used in infrastructure projects 

that involve the obligation of Federal 

financial assistance, all manufacturing 

processes of the iron and/or steel 

components, beginning with initial 

melting and including application of a 

coating, must occur in the United States 

(matching the American Iron and Steel 

statutory requirements). (Pub. L. 117– 

58, sec. 70912(6)(A).) Per the ‘‘Build 

America, Buy America Act 

Implementation Procedures for EPA 

Office of Water Federal Financial 

Assistance Programs’’ dated November 

3, 2022, the EPA interprets a 

predominantly iron and steel product as 

‘‘. . . made primarily (more than 50 

percent) of iron and/or steel by 

materials cost . . ..’’ This is consistent 

with the American Iron and Steel 

statutory requirements. 

Manufactured products must be 

produced in the United States, meaning 

the final point of manufacturing must 

occur in the United States and the cost 

of the components of the manufactured 

product that are mined, produced, or 

manufactured in the United States is 

greater than 55 percent of the total cost 

of all components of the manufactured 

product. (Pub. L. 117–58, sec. 

70912(6)(B).) 

For construction materials, all 

manufacturing processes must occur in 

the United States. (Pub. L. 117–58, sec. 

70912(6)(c).) Construction materials 

include incorporated products primarily 

made of non-ferrous metals, plastic and 

polymer-based products (including 

polyvinylchloride), fiber optic cable 

(including drop cable), optical fiber, 

glass, lumber, engineered wood, and 

drywall. (Pub. L. 117–58, sec. 70911(5) 

and 2 CFR 184.6.) 

Request for Comments and Information 

In this section, the agency describes 

four general topics that it anticipates 

will be addressed for the products or 

categories of products listed below. To 

inform BABA implementation for the 

EPA’s Office of Water and the additional 

Federal water infrastructure programs, 

including those administered by USDA, 

USACE, FEMA, HUD, DOT, and 

Interior, the EPA requests comments 

and information from the public on the 

following products or categories of 

products: 

• lead service line replacement 

components (including but not limited 

to, service line, service saddle, 

corporation stop, curb stops, curb stop 

boxes and lids, service line fittings, 

water meters, meter setters, meter boxes, 

check valves and shut-off/isolation 

valves); 

• valve actuators (electric/pneumatic/ 

manual); 

• pumps and pump motors; 

• stainless steel products and 

domestic mills, especially small 

diameter pipe and fittings; 

• PFAS treatment systems and media, 

especially granular activated carbon 

(GAC); 

• controls and switches; 

• analytical instrumentation; 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 222 / Monday, November 20, 2023 / Notices 80719 

• supervisory control and data 

acquisition (SCADA) systems; 

• backup power products and 

systems; 

• blowers and aeration equipment; 

• gear reducers; 

• drives (including variable frequency 

drives (VFDs)); 

• ultraviolet (UV) water treatment 

systems; 

• membrane and other filtration 

systems (e.g., ion exchange, membrane, 

and reverse osmosis); 

• clarifier mechanisms; 

• disinfection systems; 

• conveyors; 

• dewatering equipment (such as 

compressors and presses, including belt 

presses); 

• floating surface aerators; 

• ozone generators; 

• measurement sensors; 

• water meters and associated 

communications devices; 

• automated level control gates; and 

• other critical water infrastructure 

products, including whether they 

comply with applicable BABA 

requirements. 

For each of these products or 

categories of products and based on 

your current understanding of BABA 

requirements, the EPA is requesting the 

following information about the 

following four general topics: domestic 

materials sourcing and manufacturing, 

market readiness, delivery lead times 

and other. At the beginning of your 

response, please specify the products for 

which you are providing an answer: 

Products: Please clearly identify the 

products or categories of products for 

which you are providing a response. If 

you are referring to ‘‘other critical water 

infrastructure products and systems,’’ 

please provide a detailed description of 

the product or system. 

1. Domestic Materials Sourcing and 

Manufacturing: 

a. For each of the products or 

categories of products you identified, 

please specify whether the product 

meets BABA requirements (described 

above) or is currently manufactured in 

the United States to meet a domestic 

final assembly condition. (Yes or no). 

b. Please identify whether the 

products in your response fall within 

the iron and steel, manufactured 

products, or construction materials 

categories of BABA. 

c. If you answered ‘‘Yes’’ to Topic 

1(a), to the best of your knowledge. 

i. Please identify all manufacturers 

that can either meet BABA requirements 

or can currently manufacture products 

or categories of products you specified 

in the United States. For products that 

meet the condition of manufactured in 

the United States, please identify the 

manufacturing location and percentage 

of components manufactured in the 

United States as calculated by cost of 

components (if known). 

ii. What is the current production 

capacity of the products that can meet 

BABA requirements? 

iii. What is the anticipated growth in 

BABA-compliant capacity over the next 

five years? Does this anticipated growth 

consider the more than $50 billion in 

increased funding described above? 

Please explain. 

iv. For products able to meet BABA 

requirements, what is the estimated lead 

time from purchase order to delivery to 

the project site? Has this lead time 

increased or decreased in recent years? 

d. If you answered ‘‘No’’ to Topic 1a: 

i. What actions are manufacturers 

taking/could take to increase the 

manufacturing of products that will 

meet BABA requirements? 

ii. What additional support or 

incentives (e.g., financial, rulemaking 

certainty, etc.) are needed to ensure a 

sufficient supply of products that meet 

BABA requirements? 

iii. How long might it take to 

implement the steps needed to increase 

or begin production of BABA compliant 

products? 

iv. If a plan is in place to manufacture 

BABA compliant products, what is the 

volume of specific products that will 

follow BABA requirements and in what 

time frame? 

v. Will the volume of BABA 

compliant products be ramped up over 

time, and, if so, at what annual growth 

rate? 

vi. What are the limiting factors for 

the product’s ability to meet criteria for 

BABA compliance? For example, are 

there components of these products for 

which it is hard to meet BABA 

requirements? Please describe each 

component separately and indicate 

approximately what percent of 

component value it represents. 

2. Market Readiness: 

a. For all products specified in Topic 

1(a), provide your observations on the 

current and near-term demand expected 

for these products or categories of 

products. Does this estimate of future 

demand consider the more than $50 

billion in increased funding described 

above? Please explain. 

b. Provide information regarding 

whether the current and/or near-term 

manufacturing capacity would be 

adequate to meet the expected market 

demand. 

Please specify any factors helping or 

preventing the industry from meeting 

the expected demand today and in the 

near-term and provide information on 

the current and expected availability or 

unavailability of key components or 

sub-components of the product or 

category of products you specified. 

c. Are there supply chain issues that 

make it difficult to credibly 

communicate the existence of increased 

demand, or to credibly commit that 

such demand will be forthcoming? If so, 

please describe as specifically as 

possible. 

3. Timing: 

a. Where known, for each product/ 

category of products specified in Topic 

1, specify the current range of expected 

product delivery timeframes. Are any 

existing supply chain delays applicable 

or anticipated for the product(s) or 

critical components of the product(s)? 

b. Provide information, if available, 

on expected delivery timeframe 

outlooks through the near-term future. 

Provide information, if known, on 

whether current timing delivery 

concerns are related to a temporary 

disruption. 

c. Provide information on the current 

and expected near-term average 

customer delivery time. 

d. Provide information regarding 

global supply chain constraints, local 

permitting, safety requirements and 

needs that may affect delivery 

timeframes or extend installation time. 

4. Other Practical Considerations: 

Please specify any other considerations 

for the EPA regarding production, 

products, systems, equipment, or 

components of products used in water 

infrastructure. 

Radhika Fox, 

Assistant Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25515 Filed 11–17–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–11549–01–R6] 

Underground Injection Control 

Program; Hazardous Waste Injection 

Restrictions; Petition for Exemption 

Issuance—Class I Hazardous Waste 

Injection; Rubicon LLC, Geismar 

Louisiana Facility, Louisiana 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of a final decision on a 

no migration petition issuance. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that an 

issuance of an exemption to the land 

disposal restrictions, under the 1984 

Hazardous and Solid Waste 

Amendments to the Resource 

Conservation and Recovery Act, is 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1