Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 37 / Friday, February 24, 2012 / Notices 11161 

believe they may be entitled to 

additional benefits under the EUC08 

program, or who wish to inquire about 

their rights under the program, should 

contact their State Workforce Agency. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Scott Gibbons, U.S. Department of 

Labor, Employment and Training 

Administration, Office of 

Unemployment Insurance, 200 

Constitution Avenue NW., Frances 

Perkins Bldg. Room S–4524, 

Washington, DC 20210, telephone 

number (202) 693–3008 (this is not a 

toll-free number) or by email: 

gibbons.scott@dol.gov. 

Signed in Washington, DC, this 16th day of 

February 2012. 

Jane Oates, 

Assistant Secretary, Employment and 

Training Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2012–4294 Filed 2–23–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4510–FW–P 

LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION 

Sunshine Act Meeting 

DATE AND TIME: The Legal Services 

Corporation’s Promotion & Provision for 

the Delivery of Legal Services 

Committee will meet March 9, 2012. 

The meeting will commence at 12 p.m., 

Eastern Standard Time, and will 

continue until the conclusion of the 

Committee’s agenda. 

LOCATION: F. William McCalpin 

Conference Center, Legal Services 

Corporation Headquarters Building, 

3333 K Street NW., Washington, DC 

20007. 

PUBLIC OBSERVATION: Members of the 

public who are unable to attend but 

wish to listen to the public proceeding 

may do so by following the telephone 

call-in directions provided below but 

are asked to keep their telephones 

muted to eliminate background noises. 

From time to time the presiding Chair 

may solicit comments from the public. 

CALL-IN DIRECTIONS FOR OPEN SESSIONS: 

• Call toll-free number: 1–866–451– 

4981; 

• When prompted, enter the 

following numeric pass code: 

5907707348 

• When connected to the call, please 

immediately ‘‘MUTE’’ your telephone. 

STATUS OF MEETING: Open. 

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: 

1. Approval of Agenda 

2. Approval of minutes of the 

Committee’s meeting of January 20, 

2012 

3. Discussion of Committee members’ 

self-evaluations for 2011 and the 

Committee’s goals for 2012 

4. Discussion on use of video taping 

of Committee presentations for 

preservation and dissemination 

5. Facilitating grantee staff to 

participate in ‘‘peer’’ review visits of 

other grantees and/or OPP program 

quality visits 

6. Public comment 

7. Consider and act on other business 

8. Consider and act on adjournment of 

meeting 

CONTACT PERSON FOR INFORMATION: 

Katherine Ward, Executive Assistant to 

the Vice President & General Counsel, at 

(202) 295–1500. Questions may be sent 

by electronic mail to 

FR_NOTICE_QUESTIONS@lsc.gov. 

ACCESSIBILITY: LSC complies with the 

American’s with Disabilities Act and 

Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation 

Act. Upon request, meeting notices and 

materials will be made available in 

alternative formats to accommodate 

individuals with disabilities. 

Individuals who need other 

accommodations due to disability in 

order to attend the meeting in person or 

telephonically should contact Katherine 

Ward, at (202) 295–1500 or 

FR_NOTICE_QUESTIONS@lsc.gov, at 

least 2 business days in advance of the 

meeting. If a request is made without 

advance notice, LSC will make every 

effort to accommodate the request but 

cannot guarantee that all requests can be 

fulfilled. 

Dated: February 21, 2012. 

Mattie Cohan, 

Senior Assistant General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. 2012–4441 Filed 2–22–12; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 7050–01–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 

propulsion shaft bulkhead seals that 

will be used in the Alaska Region 

Research Vessel (ARRV). These seals 

protect the vessel from progressive 

flooding in the event of an emergency. 

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 

propulsion shaft bulkhead seals that 

will be used in the ARRV. The basis for 

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

the Recovery Act, in that propulsion 

shaft bulkhead seals of satisfactory 

quality are not produced in the United 

States in sufficient and reasonably 

available commercial quantities. The 

total cost of the two required propulsion 

shaft bulkhead seals (∼$82,000) 

represents less than 0.1% of the total 

$148 million Recovery Act award 

provided toward 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 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
11162 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 37 / Friday, February 24, 2012 / Notices 

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 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. 

One significant path for vessel noise to 

be transmitted into the water is from 

rotating or vibrating machinery that is in 

contact with elements of the ship’s 

structure, such as bulkheads (walls) and 

decks (floors). The vibration then goes 

directly into the water from the hull. 

The way to prevent this is to eliminate 

direct contact with the ship’s structure 

or lower it to acceptable levels using 

properly designed vibration mounts 

made of a flexible material, such as 

rubber or springs. 

The ship’s main propulsion shafts, 

which connect the electric drive motors 

to the azimuthing thrusters (Z-drive), 

are a significant source of vibration. The 

vessel has two main thruster units for 

speed, ice breaking, and 

maneuverability, and it therefore has 

two propulsion shafts. Originally, both 

the motor and the thruster were in the 

same compartment. However, the hull 

had to be lengthened six feet due to 

weight, which necessitated the creation 

of a separate motor room. Because of 

U.S. Coast Guard requirements to 

prevent progress flooding between 

compartments in the event of damage to 

the hull, all penetrations (including the 

shaft) require a means to make the 

opening water tight. Therefore, the 

technical requirements that were 

developed by UAF for selecting the 

propulsion shaft bulkhead seals used in 

the ARRV include: 

1. Certified by the American Bureau 

of Shipping (ABS). 

2. Withstand water pressures when 

flooding in the hull is over 10 feet deep. 

3. Sized to properly fit the diameter 

of the propulsion shaft. 

4. Accommodate all angular and 

directional fluctuations of the shaft 

when rotating. 

5. Accommodate shaft speeds up to 

1079 RPM. 

6. Suitable for the marine 

environment (temperatures, contact 

with sea water, bilge water, etc.). 

7. Be split seal/housing type to allow 

installation and/or removal after shaft 

installation. 

8. Be non-contact type under normal 

operations to prevent shaft vibration 

from transmitting to the hull. 

Failure to meet any of these technical 

requirements would jeopardize safety 

and operability, and would prevent the 

vessel from meeting the specified low 

underwater radiated noise requirements. 

The unique aspect of the MIDE 

Marine propulsion shaft bulkhead seal 

is its hydrogel embedded foam. This 

foam enables the seal to not contact the 

rotating shaft during the majority of its 

life. When a flooding event occurs, the 

hydrogel embedded foam uses the water 

from the flooding to swell and provide 

a robust and reliable seal against the 

shaft, protecting the vessel from 

progressive flooding. Rigorous testing to 

U.S. Navy standards has demonstrated 

that the seal can operate for up to 1,000 

hours with the seal engaged after a 

flooding. By not normally contacting the 

shaft the seal has no wearing 

components (which means less 

maintenance and easier installation), 

and for the ARRV has the added benefit 

of not transmitting any shaft vibrations 

to the hull. In an emergency situation, 

meeting the low underwater radiated 

noise standards is of no concern. MIDE 

Marine is a U.S. company based in 

Massachusetts, but manufactures their 

product overseas. 

The shipyard conducted trade 

publication and web based searches for 

bulkhead and shaft seals of all types. A 

web search generated an initial list of 

189 U.S. companies that might 

manufacture the required seal type. 

Ultimately, the list was reduced to forty 

(40) by researching those that had 

marine applications. A detailed review 

of the forty (40) remaining companies 

was conducted and only one company 

(MIDE Marine) was found to have an 

ARRV compliant non-contact type 

propulsion shaft bulkhead seal. Further 

discussion with MIDE Marine revealed 

that the seals are manufactured 

overseas. The shipyard decided to 

pursue the propulsion shaft bulkhead 

seal available from MIDE Marine, a U.S.- 

owned company, as the only supplier 

whose product meets technical 

requirements, but this purchase still 

requires an exemption due to foreign 

manufacture. 

In the absence of a domestic 

manufacturer that could provide 

requirements-compliant propulsion 

shaft bulkhead seals, UAF requested 

that NSF issue a Section 1605 

exemption determination with respect 

to the purchase of foreign-supplied, 

requirements-compliant propulsion 

shaft bulkhead seals, 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 propulsion shaft bulkhead seals 

compliant with the ARRV’s technical 

specifications and requirements are 

commercially available from a U.S. 

company within their standard product 

line, 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 

propulsion shaft bulkhead seals meet 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 propulsion shaft 

bulkhead seals. 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
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