Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 23 / Thursday, February 4, 2010 / Notices 5783 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2010–2267 Filed 2–3–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy 

Request for Information (RFI) 

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Department of 

Energy. 

ACTION: Request for information (RFI). 

SUMMARY: The Department of Energy 

(DOE) is requesting information from 

stakeholders on questions pertaining to 

Section 1605—the Buy American 

provisions—of the American Recovery 

and Reinvestment Act (‘‘Recovery Act’’) 

of 2009, Public Law 111–5. DOE is 

seeking information organized into two 

distinct parts. Part 1 requests technical 

information from stakeholders seeking 

to ascertain the availability of 

manufactured goods produced in the 

United States that are needed to carry 

out projects funded by the Office of 

Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy. Part 2 requests information on 

questions pertaining to the application 

and implementation (programmatic 

questions) of the Buy American 

provisions in Recovery Act projects 

funded by the Office of Energy 

Efficiency and Renewable Energy. 

DATES: Written comments and 

information are requested on or before 

11:59 pm Eastern Time on Thursday, 

February 18, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons may 

submit information by any of the 

following methods: 

• E-mail (preferred method): 

buyamerican@ee.doe.gov. Include 

‘‘Response to Buy American RFI’’ in the 

subject line of the message. 

• Mail: Mr. Benjamin Goldstein, U.S. 

Department of Energy, Office of 

Weatherization and Intergovernmental 

Programs, Mailstop EE–2K, 1000 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121. Please 

submit one signed paper original. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Mr. 

Benjamin Goldstein, U.S. Department of 

Energy, Office of Weatherization and 

Intergovernmental Programs, Mailstop 

EE–2K, 1000 Independence Avenue, 

SW., Washington, DC 20585–0121. 

Please submit one signed paper original. 

• Instructions: All submissions 

received must include the agency name 

(DOE) and identify this RFI. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Direct requests for additional 

information to Mr. Benjamin Goldstein, 

U.S. Department of Energy, Office of 

Weatherization and Intergovernmental 

Programs, Mailstop EE–2K, 1000 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121. E-mail: 

buyamerican@ee.doe.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. 

Department of Energy’s Office of Energy 

Efficiency and Renewable Energy 

(EERE) received $16.8 billion in 

Recovery Act appropriations for EERE’s 

programs and initiatives (for more 

information, please visit http:// 

www1.eere.energy.gov/recovery/). EERE 

is committed to achieving the goals of 

the Recovery Act—stimulating the 

economy and creating or retaining 

jobs—while simultaneously advancing 

the EERE mission of strengthening the 

United States’ energy security, 

environmental quality, and economic 

vitality. With these objectives in mind, 

EERE is working to ensure that Recovery 

Act funds are deployed swiftly and 

effectively by recipients of financial 

assistance (‘‘grantees’’). 

Some grantees have encountered 

difficulties in procuring certain 

manufactured goods in compliance with 

the Buy American provisions. Under the 

Recovery Act, DOE can make an 

exception to the Buy American 

provisions (a ‘‘waiver’’), based on the 

criteria outlined in Section 1605(b)(2) of 

the Recovery Act and in 2 CFR 

176.80(a)(1). One such criteria is where 

manufactured goods are not produced in 

the United States in sufficient and 

reasonable quantities and of a 

satisfactory quality (‘‘nonavailability’’). 

EERE may consider issuing individual 

or categorical waivers if there are items 

that qualify for a determination of 

nonavailability. However, EERE wishes 

to ensure that any such determinations 

are based on a complete record obtained 

in a thorough, transparent and 

expedited manner. Toward this end, 

EERE is requesting grantees and other 

Recovery Act stakeholders to use Part 1 

of this RFI to identify and provide 

technical specifications for products 

that may be potential candidates for 

waivers of Buy American provisions in 

EERE-funded projects based on the 

domestic nonavailability criteria. 

The products and technical 

specifications submitted in response to 

Part 1 of this RFI will be catalogued and 

disseminated to the domestic 

manufacturing community in order to 

ascertain the manufacturing capacity for 

these products; all as part of the EERE 

due diligence process before 

considering issuing any waivers based 

on nonavailability criteria. EERE will 

then make the results of our 

determinations available to grantees and 

the general public through the Federal 

Register, the EERE Web site, and 

additional channels as necessary. 

EERE is not at this time specifically 

requesting information, inquiries or 

expressions of interest from the 

manufacturing community. EERE will 

be executing a separate process to 

engage the manufacturing community 

around the products identified in Part 1 

of this RFI. 

Additionally, the Buy American 

provisions found in Section 1605 of the 

Recovery Act have generated numerous 

questions pertaining to their application 

and implementation (programmatic 

questions) in projects around the 

country. EERE has provided grantees 

with a number of avenues to seek 

additional information about the Buy 

American provisions, and has a Web 

site that provides responses to some of 

the most common questions: http:// 

www1.eere.energy.gov/recovery/ 

buy_american_provision.html. 

To further assist grantees in 

understanding and implementing the 

Buy American provisions, EERE will 

use responses to Part 2 of this RFI to 

inform the content of forthcoming Buy 

American-specific guidance to be issued 

by EERE and available on the EERE Buy 

American Web site. 

EERE strongly encourages responses 

from grantees and other Recovery Act 

stakeholders. These include, but are not 

limited to: Recipients of EERE Recovery 

Act financial assistance, state and local 

officials, contractors, and other 

interested parties. 

Request for Information (RFI) 

Submission Guidelines 

Responses to this RFI must be 

submitted or postmarked no later than 

11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on February 18, 

2010. 

E-mail responses must be provided as 

a Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx), or 

compatible, attachment to the email 

responding to either Part 1 or Part 2. 

Responses to both Part 1 and Part 2 

must be submitted as two separate 

Microsoft Word documents (see below). 

Respondents are requested to provide 

the following information at the start of 

their response to this RFI: 

• Associated government/company/ 

institution name (if applicable). 

• Contact information to allow for 

follow-up questions as necessary. 

This RFI is seeking responses 

organized into two distinct Parts: 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
5784 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 23 / Thursday, February 4, 2010 / Notices 

Part 1 

EERE is seeking information on 

specific iron, steel and manufactured 

goods that stakeholders have found 

difficult to procure from domestic 

manufacturers in compliance with the 

Recovery Act Buy American provisions. 

EERE is requesting information on 

products that are not produced or 

manufactured in the United States in 

sufficient and reasonably available 

commercial quantities of a satisfactory 

quality in the time frame required. The 

type of information EERE is seeking is 

outlined below. EERE requests that 

stakeholders provide sufficient 

information to describe the technical 

specifications of the manufactured 

goods. 

Submission format: Please provide the 

following information to the absolute 

best of your abilities. A small photo 

should be included (pasted) at the 

bottom of the Part 1 document if one is 

available. Please use as much space as 

necessary to adequately communicate 

the technical specifications for the 

particular manufactured good in 

question. If you are submitting 

information for multiple manufactured 

goods, please fill out one template for 

each, and begin each additional 

submission on a fresh page in the 

document. 

1. Item description (1–2 sentences): 

2. Application: (how and where the 

item is used). 

3. Item class: (mechanical, electrical, 

electro-mechanical, electronic, etc.). 

4. Item materials: 

5. Item size: 

6. Likely manufacturing processes: 

7. Is this a Commercially Available 

Off the Shelf (COTS) item, or a custom 

component? 

8. Is a full set of technical 

specifications or data available for this 

item? If so, how can these be accessed? 

9. Noteworthy performance 

requirements: 

10. Other technical info, including 

manufacturing tolerances or testing 

requirements, if relevant: 

11. DOE Program Grant with which 

this item is affiliated—please be as 

specific as possible. 

12. What are the current major 

procurement issues being encountered? 

(e.g., locating a U.S. supplier, cost, 

quality, delivery time, etc.). 

13. Anticipated procurement 

numbers, in terms of item quantity and/ 

or $ amount: 

14. Potential future or related 

procurement info: (caveat any predictive 

info as not being guaranteed). 

15. Other relevant business info: 

(anything else worth noting about the 

item or opportunity not addressed 

elsewhere on this form). 

16. Paste small digital photo below if 

one is available: 

Part 2 

DOE is interested in identifying issues 

related to the Buy American provisions 

that may not be well understood by 

grantees. DOE requests information as to 

the areas of the Buy American 

provisions for which grantees have 

questions. It is not the intent of this 

request to provide responses to the 

questions submitted. DOE intends only 

to rely on the questions submitted for 

the purpose of potentially developing 

future guidance, should such guidance 

be necessary. 

EERE is seeking information on 

programmatic questions relating to the 

applicability and/or implementation of 

the Buy American provisions of the 

Recovery Act in general, in specific 

projects, and/or in relation to individual 

technologies that may be deployed by 

recipients of financial assistance under 

EERE Recovery Act-funded programs. 

(Examples of programmatic questions 

might include: What is the definition of 

a ‘‘manufactured good?’’ Are solar panels 

installed on public buildings subject to 

the Buy American provisions? Do goods 

covered by NAFTA and produced in a 

NAFTA country satisfy the Buy 

American requirements? If Recovery Act 

funds are leveraged alongside private or 

philanthropic capital to increase the 

size or scope of a public project, do the 

Buy American provisions apply to the 

entire project or just the activities 

funded by Recovery Act dollars?) The 

format by which to submit 

programmatic questions is outlined in 

the paragraph below. 

Submission Format: Please articulate, 

in as clear and concise language as 

possible, the exact question(s) you have 

regarding the applicability and 

implementation of the Recovery Act 

Buy American provisions under 

programs of the DOE EERE office. If 

your question relates to a specific 

project with unique circumstances 

please provide the relevant details. 

Multiple questions may be submitted, 

separated as individual paragraphs in 

the Word document. Please limit 

submissions to two (2) pages. 

A response to this RFI will not be 

viewed as a binding commitment to 

develop or pursue the ideas discussed. 

DOE will not pay for information 

provided under this RFI. This RFI is not 

accepting applications for financial 

assistance or financial incentives. DOE 

has no obligation to respond to those 

who submit comments or questions, 

and/or give any feedback on any 

decision made based on the comments 

received. DOE thanks you for your 

assistance and comments in helping to 

achieve the goals of the Recovery Act. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on January 29, 

2010. 

Cathy Zoi, 

Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy. 

[FR Doc. 2010–2378 Filed 2–3–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket No. AD10–4–000] 

Guidance on Preparation of MarketBased Rate Filings and Electric 

Quarterly Reports by Public Utilities; 

Notice of Technical Conference 

January 28, 2010. 

Take notice that Commission staff 

will convene a technical conference in 

the above-referenced proceeding on 

Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 9 a.m. 

(Eastern Standard Time) in the 

Commission Meeting Room at the 

Commission’s Washington, DC 

headquarters, 888 First Street, NE., 

Washington, DC 20426. A separate 

notice will be issued by the Commission 

at a later date to announce the final 

agenda of the technical conference. 

The March 3, 2010 technical 

conference will focus on the mechanics 

of how to prepare an initial electric 

public utility market-based rate 

application and subsequent filings 

(including triennial market power 

reviews and change in status filings), as 

well as the requirement to submit 

Electric Quarterly Reports to the 

Commission once a seller has received 

market-based rate authorization. At the 

technical conference staff will also 

address the most frequently-asked 

questions that arise on electric marketbased rate filings, the most common 

errors that are made in such filings, and 

highlight what tools are currently 

available to sellers in order to simplify 

the market-based rate application 

process as well as the preparation of 

subsequent required filings. 

The technical conference is open to 

all interested persons. Interested 

persons planning on attending the 

technical conference are strongly 

encouraged to submit in writing any 

questions or specific topics that they 

would like addressed during the 

technical conference. Suggestions 

should be submitted to both Ryan 

Anderson at ryan.anderson@ferc.gov 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES