Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 164 / Wednesday, August 25, 2010 / Notices 52323 

approximate. EERE is aware of 

companies in the process of moving 

manufacturing capacity into and out of 

the United States, and new companies 

may emerge that were not included in 

the most recent round of research. As a 

result, these numbers may fluctuate. In 

addition, thin-film solar PV modules are 

not covered by this waiver, as grantees 

have stated, and EERE’s research has 

confirmed, that these products do not 

meet the specifications for most 

Recovery Act projects funded by EERE. 

In the event that a thin film installation 

is being purchased with EERE Recovery 

Act funds, then it would meet the Buy 

American provisions as long as the 

modules were manufactured in the U.S. 

Option 1 is consistent with the 

current interpretation of the Buy 

American provisions, which are 

satisfied as long as final manufacturing 

takes place in the U.S. However, if EERE 

were to choose Option 1, there would be 

only four companies producing solar PV 

modules in the United States that could 

sell their products to EERE grantees. If 

Option 2 were chosen, the market 

would be even more limited, with only 

two companies producing both the cell 

and the module in the United States. 

Finally, for Option 3, an additional five 

companies would be able to compete for 

grantees’ solar PV projects in addition to 

the four that produce modules, bringing 

the total U.S. marketplace benefit to 

nine companies. 

This public interest waiver affirms 

EERE’s determination that the 

manufacturing process for cells and the 

final PV module production represent 

distinct and significant stages in the 

solar PV manufacturing chain. 

Conducting either of these discrete 

activities in the United States creates 

roughly equal numbers of American 

jobs. The design and manufacture of the 

cells also captures the largest portion of 

the intellectual property present in a 

solar array. Designing and increasing the 

efficiency of cells is high-value work 

that directly affects the end product. 

EERE believes the public interest is best 

served by supporting the domestic cell 

manufacturing industry at this time. It is 

therefore in the public interest to issue 

a waiver of the Recovery Act Buy 

American provisions that allows 

grantees to purchase foreign modules 

made with domestically-manufactured 

cells, in addition to domestic modules 

with foreign-produced cells. 

Because the Assistant Secretary 

believes strongly in increasing the 

domestic PV manufacturing capacity in 

the United States, she is limiting the 

duration of this waiver to six months 

from the date it goes into effect, with the 

expectation that there will be an 

increase in the number of companies 

that produce modules in the United 

States containing domesticallymanufactured cells. 

This public interest waiver 

determination also resolves questions 

regarding the applicability of the Buy 

American provisions to numerous 

individual manufactured goods that are 

incidental in cost and technological 

significance but are ultimately 

incorporated into the final solar 

installation. These items, such as charge 

controllers, combiners and disconnect 

boxes, breakers and fuses, racks, 

trackers, lugs, wires, and cables, but 

excluding inverters and batteries, are 

generally low-cost incidental items that 

are incorporated into the installation of 

PV modules and arrays on public 

buildings and public works. This public 

interest waiver for all incidental and 

ancillary items eliminates potential 

questions and ambiguities concerning 

whether the incidental items are final 

manufactured goods or merely 

components of a larger solar module or 

array. 

Issuance of this nationwide public 

interest waiver recognizes EERE’s 

commitment to expeditious costing of 

Recovery Act dollars by enabling 

recipients to easily ascertain whether a 

given solar installation complies with 

the Buy American provision. 

Simultaneously, this waiver advances 

the purpose and the principles of the 

Buy American provision by focusing on 

the highest-value and most laborintensive pieces of solar PV equipment. 

Having established a proper 

justification based on the public 

interest, EERE hereby provides notice 

that on August 6, 2010, a nationwide 

public interest waiver of section 1605 of 

the Recovery Act was issued for 

ancillary solar Photovoltaic (PV) 

equipment as detailed supra. This 

notice constitutes the detailed written 

justification required by Section 1605(c) 

for waivers based on a finding under 

subsection (b). 

This waiver determination is pursuant 

to the delegation of authority by the 

Secretary of Energy to the Assistant 

Secretary for Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy with respect to 

expenditures within the purview of her 

responsibility. Consequently, this 

waiver applies to EERE projects carried 

out under the Recovery Act. This waiver 

expires on February 6, 2011, six months 

from the day it took effect. Furthermore, 

the Assistant Secretary reserves the right 

to revisit and amend this determination 

based on new information or new 

developments. 

Authority: Pub. L. 111–5, section 1605. 

Issued in Washington, DC on August 16, 

2010. 

Cathy Zoi, 

Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of 

Energy. 

[FR Doc. 2010–21115 Filed 8–24–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy 

Nationwide Categorical Waivers Under 

Section 1605 (Buy American) of the 

American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) 

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of 

Energy (DOE). 

ACTION: Notice of limited waivers. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Energy (DOE) is hereby granting a 

nationwide limited waiver of the Buy 

American requirements of section 1605 

of the Recovery Act under the authority 

of Section 1605(b)(2) (iron, steel, and 

the relevant manufactured goods are not 

produced in the United States in 

sufficient and reasonably available 

quantities and of a satisfactory quality) 

with respect to: 24-leaf, motorized DMX 

iris units; induction lamps and ballasts 

for induction lighting systems 

(excluding fixtures for induction 

lighting); Enphase micro-inverters for 

solar photovoltaic systems; gas or 

propane commercial-scale high 

efficiency condensing wall hung boiler 

with indirect water heater, 94% or 

greater efficiency and a BTU output 

below 350,000, constructed with 

SA240–316 Ti stainless steel; largeformat solar thermal collectors for 

integrated district heating systems 

(includes only high-performance flat 

plate solar collectors that possess the 

ability to limit the convective heat loss 

from the absorber plate to the cover 

glass, effectively minimizing heat losses 

to less than 2.6 W/m2K; the capability 

of sustaining output temperatures of 195 

degrees F; and a gross collector area of 

greater than 150 ft2); turbochargers for 

Mitsubishi/Man 52/55B diesel generator 

engine (only in circumstances where 

replacing an existing MAN/NA48T 

turbocharger); and Liebert Variable 

Speed Upgrade Kits and Liebert iCOM 

Control Upgrade kits for the Liebert 

Chilled Water Deluxe heating, cooling, 

and humidification space conditioner 

that will be used on eligible EERERecovery Act funded projects. 

DATES: Effective Date: August 11, 2010. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
52324 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 164 / Wednesday, August 25, 2010 / Notices 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Benjamin Goldstein, Energy Technology 

Program Specialist, Office of Energy 

Efficiency and Renewable Energy 

(EERE), (202) 287–1553, Department of 

Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, 

SW., Mailstop EE–2K, Washington, DC 

20585. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the 

authority of the Recovery Act, Public 

Law 111–5, section 1605(b)(2), the head 

of a federal department or agency may 

issue a ‘‘determination of 

inapplicability’’ (a waiver of the Buy 

American provision) if the iron, steel, or 

relevant manufactured good is not 

produced or manufactured in the United 

States in sufficient and reasonably 

available quantities and of a satisfactory 

quality (‘‘nonavailability’’). On 

November 10, 2009, the Secretary of 

Energy delegated the authority to make 

all inapplicability determinations to the 

Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency 

and Renewable Energy (EERE), for EERE 

projects under the Recovery Act. 

Pursuant to this delegation the Assistant 

Secretary, EERE, has concluded that 24- 

leaf, motorized DMX iris units (items 

used in conjunction with a Source 4 

lighting instrument in the theatrical 

lighting business); Induction lamps and 

ballasts for induction lighting systems 

(this waiver does not include fixtures 

for induction lighting, which are readily 

available from domestic manufacturers); 

Enphase micro-inverters for solar 

photovoltaic systems; gas or propane 

commercial-scale high efficiency 

condensing wall hung boiler with 

indirect water heater, 94% or greater 

efficiency and a BTU output below 

350,000, constructed with SA240–316 

Ti stainless steel; large-format solar 

thermal collectors for integrated district 

heating systems (includes only highperformance flat plate solar collectors 

that possess the ability to limit the 

convective heat loss from the absorber 

plate to the cover glass, effectively 

minimizing heat losses to less than 2.6 

W/m2K; the capability of sustaining 

output temperatures of 195 degrees F; 

and a gross collector area of greater than 

150 ft2); turbochargers for Mitsubishi/ 

Man 52/55B diesel generator engine 

(only in circumstances where replacing 

an existing MAN/NA48T turbocharger); 

and Liebert Variable Speed Upgrade 

Kits and Liebert iCOM Control Upgrade 

kits for the Liebert Chilled Water Deluxe 

heating, cooling, and humidification 

space conditioner that will be used on 

eligible EERE-Recovery Act funded 

projects qualify for the ‘‘nonavailability’’ 

waiver determination. 

EERE has developed a robust process 

to ascertain in a systematic and 

expedient manner whether or not there 

is domestic manufacturing capacity for 

the items submitted for a waiver of the 

Recovery Act Buy American provision. 

This process involves a close 

collaboration with the United States 

Department of Commerce National 

Institute of Standards and Technology 

(NIST) Manufacturing Extension 

Partnership (MEP), in order to scour the 

domestic manufacturing landscape in 

search of producers before making any 

nonavailability. 

The NIST MEP has 59 regional centers 

with substantial knowledge of, and 

connections to, the domestic 

manufacturing sector. MEP uses their 

regional centers to ‘scout’ for current or 

potential manufacturers of the 

product(s) submitted in a waiver 

request. In the course of this interagency 

collaboration, MEP has been able to find 

exact or partial matches for 

manufactured goods that EERE grantees 

had been unable to locate. As a result, 

in those cases, EERE was able to work 

with the grantees to procure Americanmade products rather than granting a 

waiver. 

Upon receipt of completed waiver 

requests for the seven products in the 

current waiver, EERE reviewed the 

information provided and submitted the 

relevant technical information to the 

NIST MEP. The MEP then used their 

network of nationwide centers to scout 

for domestic manufacturers. The NIST 

MEP reported that their scouting 

process did not locate any domestic 

manufacturers for these exact or 

equivalent items. 

In addition to the MEP collaboration 

outlined above, the EERE Buy American 

Coordinator worked with labor unions, 

trade associations and other 

manufacturing stakeholders to scout for 

domestic manufacturing capacity or an 

equivalent product for each item 

contained in this waiver. EERE also 

conducted significant amounts of 

independent research to supplement 

MEP’s scouting efforts, including 

utilizing the solar experts employed by 

the Department of Energy’s National 

Renewable Energy Laboratory. EERE’s 

research efforts confirmed the MEP 

findings that the goods included in this 

waiver are not produced in the United 

States in sufficient and reasonably 

available quantities and of a satisfactory 

quality. 

The nonavailability determination is 

also informed by the inquiries and 

petitions to EERE from recipients of 

EERE Recovery Act funds, and from 

suppliers, distributors, retailers and 

trade associations—all stating that their 

individual efforts to locate domestic 

manufacturers have been unsuccessful. 

Having established a proper 

justification based on domestic 

nonavailability, EERE hereby provides 

notice that on August 11, 2010, seven 

nationwide categorical waivers of 

section 1605 of the Recovery Act were 

issued as detailed supra. This notice 

constitutes the detailed written 

justification required by Section 1605(c) 

for waivers based on a finding under 

subsection (b). 

This waiver determination is pursuant 

to the delegation of authority by the 

Secretary of Energy to the Assistant 

Secretary for Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy with respect to 

expenditures within the purview of her 

responsibility. Consequently, this 

waiver applies to EERE projects carried 

out under the Recovery Act. 

Authority: Pub. L. 111–5, section 1605. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on August 16, 

2010. 

Cathy Zoi, 

Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of 

Energy. 

[FR Doc. 2010–21116 Filed 8–24–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket No. CP10–483–000] 

Dominion Transmission, Inc.; Notice of 

Request Under Blanket Authorization 

August 18, 2010. 

Take notice that on August 11, 2010, 

Dominion Transmission, Inc. 

(Dominion), 120 Tredegar Street, 

Richmond, Virginia 23219, filed a prior 

notice request pursuant to sections 

157.205, 157.208, and 157.211 of the 

Commission’s regulations under the 

Natural Gas Act (NGA) for authorization 

to drill two new wells located in the 

North Summit Storage Field in Fayette 

County, Pennsylvania. Specifically, 

Dominion proposes to drill two new 

injection/withdrawal wells (UW–209 

and UW–210). Dominion states that the 

certificated physical parameters, 

including total inventory, reservoir 

pressure, reservoir and buffer 

boundaries, and certificated capacity 

(including injection and withdrawal 

capacity) of the North Summit Storage 

Field will remain unchanged with the 

drilling of the two new wells, all as 

more fully set forth in the application, 

which is on file with the Commission 

and open to public inspection. The 

filing may also be viewed on the Web 

at http://www.ferc.gov using the 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES