Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 37 / Friday, February 24, 2012 / Notices 11163 

Dated: February 17, 2012. 

Lawrence Rudolph, 

General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2012–4235 Filed 2–23–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7555–01–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: NSF is hereby granting a 

limited exemption 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 superior 

holding power balanced anchors that 

will be used in the Alaska Region 

Research Vessel (ARRV). These anchors 

are required in order to accommodate 

the vessel’s ice breaking bow shape and 

they will save weight. 

DATES: February 24, 2012. 

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 February 

15, 2012, the NSF Chief Financial 

Officer, in accordance with a delegation 

order from the Director of the agency, 

granted a limited project exemption of 

section 1605 of the Recovery Act (Buy 

American provision) with respect to the 

superior holding power balanced 

anchors that will be used in the ARRV. 

The basis for this exemption is section 

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

superior holding power balanced 

anchors of satisfactory quality are not 

produced in the United States in 

sufficient and reasonably available 

commercial quantities. The total cost of 

the three (3) required anchors 

(∼$42,360) represents less than 0.1% of 

the total $148 million Recovery Act 

award provided for 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. UAF executed the 

shipyard contract in December 2009 and 

the project is currently under 

construction. 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 specification for the ARRV 

originally called for standard 

‘‘stockless’’ anchors (the stock is the 

cross arm below the ring on an oldfashioned style anchor), which are in 

common use on commercial and 

military vessels. The design 

requirements in the specification for the 

anchoring system on the ARRV include: 

1. Approved by the American Bureau 

of Shipping with regard to operability, 

quality and size/holding power (6,000 

lbs). 

2. The anchors drop immediately 

upon release. 

3. The anchors do not jam in the 

hawse pipe (chain pipe between the 

hull and deck). 

4. The anchors do not move when 

stowed in heavy seas. 

5. The anchors ‘‘self-stow’’ against the 

hull. 

Failure to meet any of these technical 

requirements would have severe 

negative impacts on safety. Anchors are 

required not only for routine use in port 

or during operations, but in an 

emergency situation (for example, the 

loss of propulsion) to keep the vessel 

from going aground, damaging the hull 

and sinking. In this situation, the 

anchors must release from the ship 

quickly and efficiently. If proper 

anchors are not used, the safety of the 

vessel and the lives of everyone on 

board would be jeopardized. The ARRV 

is approved by the American Bureau of 

Shipping (ABS) to ensure safe design, 

construction, and vessel operation. 

Since proper storage of the anchors in 

the bow of the ship is often difficult to 

achieve, the specification also called for 

the shipyard to construct a physical 

mock-up of the anchoring system, 

which includes the anchors, anchor 

pockets (recesses in the bow that keep 

the anchors from protruding beyond the 

hull), hawse pipes, and anchor winches. 

Through this process, it was found that 

the stockless anchor would not store 

properly in the pockets that were 

required to accommodate the ARRV’s 

specialized ice-breaking bow. To protect 

the anchors during ice operations, the 

pockets were originally set as high in 

the bow as possible. The only way to 

make the stockless anchor work would 

be to put the pockets excessively close 

to the water line, but that would be 

contrary to American Bureau of 

Shipping and international regulatory 

guidance for ice-classed vessels. 

Through continued testing with the 

mock-up, it was found that only a 

‘‘balanced’’ anchor would work with the 

pockets in the proper location. A 

balanced anchor always stows with the 

flukes (the ‘‘hooks’’ that penetrate into 

the bottom) in the same position. 

The specification originally called for 

three (3) anchors; one on each side of 

the bow and one spare on deck. This 

configuration is typical for all 

commercial and military vessels. As 

part of the design effort to reduce 

weight, the shipyard originally 

proposed eliminating the spare anchor, 

which was not considered prudent by 

UAF. As an option, the use of three 

smaller, lighter ‘‘superior’’ holding 

power anchors was proposed during the 

anchoring system evaluation. This 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
11164 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 37 / Friday, February 24, 2012 / Notices 

approach was considered the best 

approach to enhance safety in the event 

one (or both) fitted anchors are lost in 

an emergency situation. Use of superior 

holding power anchors was 

subsequently approved by ABS as long 

as the anchor was sufficiently tested, 

proven, and held an ABS class 

certificate. ABS allows up to a 25 

percent reduction in weight (4,500 lbs 

each) for a total weight savings of over 

a ton. 

The shipyard’s market research 

included an ABS web based data search 

for superior holding power anchors. 

Approximately forty three (43) 

companies world-wide were identified 

that manufacture ABS approved anchors 

of superior holding anchors. Of these, 

only two (2) were U.S. manufacturers. 

Neither company produced an anchor of 

the correct size that will fit in the 

ARRV’s anchor pocket. The pocket 

cannot be made larger because of the 

specialized hull shape of the icebreaking bow as described above. 

The project’s conclusion is that there 

are no U.S. manufacturers who produce 

suitable superior holding power 

balanced anchors that meet all of the 

ARRV requirements, so an exemption 

from the Buy American requirements is 

necessary. 

In the absence of a domestic supplier 

that could provide requirementscompliant superior holding power 

anchors, UAF requested that NSF issue 

a Section 1605 exemption determination 

with respect to the purchase of foreignsupplied, requirements-compliant 

superior holding power balanced 

anchors, so that the vessel will meet the 

specific design and technical 

requirements that, as explained above, 

are necessary for this vessel to be able 

to perform its mission successfully. 

Furthermore, the shipyard’s market 

research indicated that superior holding 

power balanced anchors 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 

exemption request submittal, found that 

it was complete, and determined that 

sufficient technical information was 

provided in order for NSF to evaluate 

the exemption request and to conclude 

that an exemption is needed and should 

be granted. 

III. Exemption 

On February 15, 2012, based on the 

finding that no domestically produced 

superior holding power balanced 

anchors met all of the ARRV’s technical 

specifications and requirements and 

pursuant to section 1605(b), the NSF 

Chief Financial Officer, in accordance 

with a delegation order from the 

Director of the agency signed on May 

27, 2010, granted a limited project 

exemption of the Recovery Act’s Buy 

American requirements with respect to 

the procurement of superior holding 

power balanced anchors. 

Dated: February 16, 2012. 

Lawrence Rudolph, 

General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2012–4233 Filed 2–22–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7555–01–P 

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

Notice of Proposal Review Meetings 

In accordance with the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92– 

463, as amended), the National Science 

Foundation (NSF) announces its intent 

to hold proposal review meetings 

throughout the year. The purpose of 

these meetings is to provide advice and 

recommendations concerning proposals 

submitted to the NSF for financial 

support. The agenda for each of these 

meetings is to review and evaluate 

proposals as part of the selection 

process for awards. The review and 

evaluation may also include assessment 

of the progress of awarded proposals. 

The majority of these meetings will take 

place at NSF, 4201 Wilson, Blvd., 

Arlington, Virginia 22230. 

These meetings will be closed to the 

public. The proposals being reviewed 

include information of a proprietary or 

confidential nature, including technical 

information; financial data, such as 

salaries; and personal information 

concerning individuals associated with 

the proposals. These matters are exempt 

under 5 U.S.C. 552b(c), (4) and (6) of the 

Government in the Sunshine Act. NSF 

will continue to review the agenda and 

merits of each meeting for overall 

compliance of the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act. 

These closed proposal review 

meetings will not be announced on an 

individual basis in the Federal Register. 

NSF intends to publish a notice similar 

to this on a quarterly basis. For an 

advance listing of the closed proposal 

review meetings that include the names 

of the proposal review panel and the 

time, date, place, and any information 

on changes, corrections, or 

cancellations, please visit the NSF Web 

site: http://www.nsf.gov. This 

information may also be requested by 

telephoning, 703/292–8182. 

Dated: February 21, 2012. 

Susanne Bolton, 

Committee Management Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2012–4306 Filed 2–23–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7555–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. NRC–2012–0047] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Emergency Clearance 

Submission for the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 

Review; Comment Request 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of pending NRC action to 

submit an information collection 

request for emergency review to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) and solicitation of public 

comment. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) invites public 

comment about our intention to request 

emergency review and OMB approval of 

the information collection that is 

summarized below. We are required to 

publish this notice in the Federal 

Register under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. chapter 35). In compliance with 

the requirement of section 3506(c)(2)(A) 

of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

we have submitted to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) the 

following requirements for emergency 

review. We are requesting an emergency 

review because the collection of this 

information is needed before the 

expiration of the normal time limits 

under OMB’s regulations at 5 CFR 

1320.13. This is necessary to ensure 

compliance with requirements in 

Section 402 of the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2012, ‘‘* * *’’ We 

cannot reasonably comply with the 

normal clearance procedures because 

the use of normal clearance procedures 

is reasonably likely to prevent or disrupt 

the collection of information as stated in 

5 CFR 1320.13(a)(2)(iii). 

Information pertaining to the 

requirement to be submitted: 

1. Type of submission, new, revision, 

or extension: New. 

2. The title of the information 

collection: Request for Information 

Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.54(f) Regarding 

Recommendations 2.1, 2.3 and 93, of the 

Near-Term Task Force Review of 

Insights from the Fukushima Dai-ichi 

Event. 

2. Current OMB approval number: Not 

applicable. 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES