Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 38 / Monday, February 27, 2012 / Notices 11595 

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 quiet 

seawater system balancing valves that 

will be used in the Alaska Region 

Research Vessel (ARRV). These valves 

regulate the proper flow of cooling 

water to the ship’s major machinery. 

DATES: February 27, 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 

quiet seawater system balancing valves 

that will be used in the ARRV. The basis 

for this exemption is section 1605(b)(2) 

of the Recovery Act, in that balancing 

valves 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 balancing valves 

(∼$43,500) 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 

Cavitation, which is the formation of 

small bubbles due to a vacuum being 

created when the flow of water is not 

smooth, is an important factor to control 

for underwater radiated noise. 

Cavitation is most prevalent on 

propellers, but can occur whenever an 

improperly designed part of the hull 

moves through the water or water flows 

through an improperly designed portion 

of a system. The ARRV is specifically 

designed to meet a low underwater 

radiated noise standard that relates to 

fish hearing (Specification Section 

073.2). This standard is critical to 

science operations in that if the noise 

from the vessel is too high, the behavior 

of the species being studied will be 

changed, which negatively impacts the 

population data being collected. If the 

vessel does not meet this low 

underwater radiated noise standard, the 

science mission requirements will not 

be met. All modern research vessels are 

being built with low underwater noise 

in mind not only because of improved 

science capabilities but also because of 

the growing understanding of the 

negative environmental effects of noise 

in the water, particularly for marine 

mammals. 

The balancing valves are part of the 

seawater cooling system on the ARRV 

and are necessary to adjust proper flow 

rates to major equipment so that they 

operate at the proper temperature. The 

valves are installed in the system 

piping, and the intake for this system 

connects directly to the sea through an 

opening in the hull. Any cavitation 

noise quickly travels through the water 

in the pipes and then radiates out into 

the water. The ARRV specification 

Section 523 specifies that the seawater 

cooling system is a ‘‘noise critical’’ 

system. This particular system is always 

in operation, and the design and 

installation of the system and its 

components affects the vessel’s 

underwater radiated noise signature 

(noise emitting into the open water from 

the vessel). Orifice plates, flat plates 

with the correctly-sized hole are 

commonly used for balancing seawater 

systems in vessels, but they cause 

significant cavitation. Orifice plates are 

only suitable for vessels that are not 

designed to reduce underwater radiated 

noise. Therefore, technical requirements 

for selecting the quiet seawater system 

balancing valves used in the ARRV 

include: 

1. Developed from materials suitable 

for use in seawater; 

2. Designed for ‘‘Quiet Type’’: Valve 

body and internal components 

specifically designed for smooth flow 

and low cavitation; 

3. Sized the same as the nominal pipe 

size in which they are installed (smaller 

size increases the chances of cavitation). 

Failure to meet any of these technical 

requirements would have severe 

negative consequences for the project by 

preventing the vessel from meeting the 

specified low underwater radiated noise 

standard described above. 

If the valves are not suitable for use 

in seawater, then they will prematurely 

fail, which could in turn cause 

overheating of the machinery or require 

operating the vessel at reduced 

performance until repairs can be made. 

Also, if not made for seawater, the body 

and internal component will erode, 

change the shape, and in turn cause 

cavitation. 

If the valves are not specifically 

designed and sized for smooth water 

flow, cavitation will occur and the 

vessel’s low underwater radiated noise 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
11596 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 38 / Monday, February 27, 2012 / Notices 

requirement will not be met. The 

underwater radiated noise limit is being 

achieved through a material 

specification (specifically calling out 

hardware requirements to the shipyard) 

as opposed to a performance 

specification where the shipyard has 

responsibility for meeting the 

requirement any way they see fit. 

Therefore, UAF bears full responsibility 

for this capability, which makes any 

deviation from the specifications an 

even greater risk to project success. 

The ‘‘quiet’’ seawater system 

balancing valves are larger than 

conventional balancing valves, and 

future replacement of non-compliant 

valves would entail costly re-design and 

re-work of the entire cooling system. 

Because of the piping size, type, and 

location, this would cost between 

$300,000 and 500,000 or roughly 10 

times the cost of the compliant valves. 

The market research included trade 

publication and Web based searches for 

balancing valves of all types. 

Approximately thirty (30) companies 

were identified that manufacture 

balancing valves. Of these, only five (5) 

appeared to produce valves that would 

meet specification requirements (based 

on the information found on company 

Web sites) and therefore warranted 

additional investigation (via telephone 

and email) by the shipyard. Of the five, 

only two (2) companies were identified 

that could produce low cavitation, 

marine-grade seawater system balancing 

valves; one was both foreign-owned and 

manufactured, while the other was U.S.- 

owned and foreign-manufactured. The 

shipyard decided to pursue the U.S.- 

owned valve company as the best 

option, but this purchase would still 

require an exemption due to foreign 

manufacture. 

The project’s conclusion is that there 

are no U.S. manufacturers who produce 

a suitable seawater system balancing 

valves that meet all of the ARRV 

requirements, so an exemption to the 

Buy American requirements is 

necessary. 

In the absence of a U.S. manufacturer 

that could provide requirementscompliant quiet seawater system 

balancing valves, UAF requested that 

NSF issue a Section 1605 exemption 

determination with respect to the 

purchase of a foreign-supplied, 

requirements-compliant quiet seawater 

system balancing valves, 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 quiet seawater system balancing 

valves compliant with the ARRV’s 

technical specifications and 

requirements are commercially available 

from a U.S. company within their 

standard product lines, but are 

manufactured overseas, which 

necessitates an exemption. 

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 

quiet seawater system balancing valves 

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 quiet seawater 

system balancing valves. 

Dated: February 17, 2012. 

Lawrence Rudolph, 

General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2012–4460 Filed 2–24–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7555–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 50–423; NRC–2012–0044] 

Central Vermont Public Service 

Corporation, Millstone Power Station, 

Unit 3; Notice of Consideration of 

Approval of Application Regarding 

Proposed Acquisition and Opportunity 

for a Hearing 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of request for license 

transfer, opportunity to comment, 

opportunity to request a hearing. 

DATES: Comments must be filed by 

March 28, 2012. A request for a hearing 

must be filed by March 19, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: You may access information 

and comment submissions related to 

this document by searching on http:// 

www.regulations.gov under Docket ID 

NRC–2012–0044. You may submit 

comments by the following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2012–0044. Address 

questions about NRC dockets to Carol 

Gallagher; telephone: 301–492–3668; 

email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. 

• Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, 

Chief, Rules, Announcements, and 

Directives Branch (RADB), Office of 

Administration, Mail Stop: TWB–05– 

B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Washington, DC 20555– 

0001. 

• Fax comments to: RADB at 301– 

492–3446. 

For additional direction on accessing 

information and submitting comments, 

see ‘‘Accessing Information and 

Submitting Comments’’ in the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this document. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Carleen J. Sanders, Project Manager, 

Plant Licensing Branch I–2, Division of 

Operating Reactor Licensing, Office of 

Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555. Telephone: 

301–415–1603; email: 

carleen.sanders@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Accessing Information and 

Submitting Comments 

A. Accessing Information 

Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2012– 

0044 when contacting the NRC about 

the availability of information regarding 

this document. You may access 

information related to this document by 

the following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2012–0044. 

• NRC’s Agencywide Documents 

Access and Management System 

(ADAMS): You may access publiclyavailable documents online in the NRC 

Library at http://www.nrc.gov/readingrm/adams.html. To begin the search, 

select ‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and 

then select ‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS 

Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS, 

please contact the NRC’s Public 

Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 

1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by 

email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The 

application dated September 9, 2011, as 

supplemented by letter dated November 

4, 2011, is available electronically under 

ADAMS Accession Nos. ML11256A051 

and ML11311A148, respectively. 

• NRC’s PDR: You may examine and 

purchase copies of public documents at 

the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One 

White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 

Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. 


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