[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 189 (Monday, September 30, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79685-79687]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22278]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration


Buy America Waiver Notification

AGENCY: Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Highway 
Administration (FHWA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice provides information regarding FHWA's finding that 
it is appropriate to grant a Buy America waiver to the Illinois 
Department of Transportation (IDOT) for the procurement of submersible 
pumps with non-domestic iron and steel components. Specifically, this 
waiver covers the procurement by IDOT of 4 main, submersible pumps with 
discharge capacity of 3,000 gallons per minute (gpm) each and 2 low 
flow submersible pumps with discharge capacity of 921 gpm each 
(``waiver items''), for the relocation of existing Pump Station No. 37.

DATES: The applicable date of the waiver is October 1, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions about this notice, 
please contact Mr. Brian Hogge, FHWA Office of Infrastructure, 202-366-
1562, or via email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1755657e7679395f787070725773786339707861"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4705352e2629690f282020220723283369202831">[email protected]</span></a>. For legal questions, please 
contact Mr. David Serody, FHWA Office of the Chief Counsel, 202-366-
1345, or via email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#490d283f202d671a2c3b262d30092d263d672e263f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c88ca9bea1ace69badbaa7acb188aca7bce6afa7be">[email protected]</span></a>. Office hours for FHWA are 
from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., E.T., Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access

    An electronic copy of this document may be downloaded from the 
Federal Register's home page at: www.FederalRegister.gov and the 
Government Publishing Office's database at: www.GovInfo.gov.

Background

    FHWA's Buy America regulation in 23 CFR 635.410 requires a domestic 
manufacturing process for any steel or iron products (including 
protective coatings) that are permanently incorporated in a Federal-aid 
construction project. The FHWA also applies its Buy America 
requirements to predominantly steel and iron manufactured products and 
predominantly steel and iron components of manufactured products. This 
means that for all predominantly steel or iron materials, products, or 
components delivered to a project site for permanent incorporation into 
a highway project using Title 23, U.S.C. funds, all manufacturing 
processes, including application of a coating, must occur in the United 
States. FHWA's Buy America regulation also provides for a waiver of the 
Buy America requirements when satisfactory quality domestic steel and 
iron products are not produced in the United States in sufficient and 
reasonably available quantities.
    Background on the Waiver Items: IDOT requested a Buy America waiver 
for 4 main submersible pumps with a discharge capacity of 3,000 gpm 
each

[[Page 79686]]

and 2 low flow submersible pumps with a discharge capacity of 921 gpm 
each. IDOT requested a nonavailability waiver due to the inability to 
find domestic manufacturers who could produce a pump that has all 
predominantly iron and steel components in compliance with FHWA's Buy 
America requirements. The waiver items are estimated to cost $300,000.
    Background on the Project: The waiver items will be used in the 
relocation of the existing Pump Station No. 37 out of IL 176 over the 
US 41 bridge abutment and allow IDOT to provide a new pump station 
consistent with IDOT standards. The new pump station is designed to 
accommodate future pumping capacity to support the proposed US 41 at IL 
176 interchange reconstruction reconfiguration.
    Background on Waiver Request: Contracting agencies have 
historically faced difficulty in procuring Buy America-compliant 
submersible pumps.\1\ Prior to submitting the waiver request, IDOT 
sought but failed to identify Buy America-compliant manufacturers for 
the waiver items over a multi-year period from 2017 to 2020. In 2017, 
IDOT contacted 12 pump manufacturers, with 4 not responding and the 
remaining 8 stating that they either do not manufacture submersible 
pumps with domestic steel components or that they could not otherwise 
comply with FHWA's Buy America requirements. IDOT contacted the same 12 
manufacturers in 2020 as well as an additional 3 pump manufacturers. 
Out of these 15, 4 did not respond, 9 stated that they could not meet 
the design intent of the waiver items, and 2 responded that they could 
meet the design intent of the waiver items but could not comply with 
FHWA's Buy America requirements. Neither of those two manufacturers 
could ensure that all predominantly steel components would meet FHWA's 
Buy America requirements.
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    \1\ For example, IDOT requested and received a waiver for the 
use of non-domestic main submersible pumps in 2012. See 77 FR 72433 
(Dec. 6, 2022).
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    In accordance with section 122 of Title I of Division L of the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Pub. L. 117-328), section 117 of 
the SAFETEA-LU Technical Corrections Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-244), and 
23 U.S.C. 313(g), the notice of waiver request was posted on FHWA's 
public facing web page on August 28, 2023, soliciting public comment on 
the intent to issue a waiver of the waiver items for a 15-day 
period.\2\
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    \2\ https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/construction/contracts/waivers.cfm?id=175. The notice of waiver request was also posted to 
the DOT Made in America website and Made in America website at 
https://www.madeinamerica.gov/waivers/federal-financial-assistance/64ee24fcde9c662b02e0a782 on August 29, 2023.
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    Comments to the Notice of Waiver Request: FHWA received comments 
from seven different commenters in response to the notice of waiver 
request. Three commenters broadly supported the waiver and two broadly 
opposed it. The two commenters opposing the waiver did not offer any 
specific information on the availability of Buy America-compliant 
products, nor did they suggest specific, additional actions that IDOT 
could take to maximize its use of goods, products, and materials 
produced in the United States.
    The remaining two commenters represented two different pump 
manufacturers. One pump manufacturer incorrectly stated that the waiver 
items are subject to the manufactured product requirements of the Build 
America, Buy America Act (BABA), enacted as part of the Bipartisan 
Infrastructure Law (BIL) (Pub. L. 117-58). BIL, div. G sections 70901-
27. Manufactured products permanently incorporated into a highway 
project using Title 23, U.S.C. funds are subject to FHWA's Buy America 
requirements, not BABA's manufactured product requirements.\3\ This 
commenter further stated that it anticipated producing BABA-compliant 
pumps in mid-2024 but did not state whether these pumps would be Buy 
America-compliant under FHWA's Buy America requirements at 23 CFR 
635.410. The second pump manufacturer commented that it had the ability 
to produce Buy America-compliant pumps. On September 21, 2023, FHWA 
requested that this manufacturer provide a letter certifying and 
verifying that it could produce Buy America-compliant pumps. On October 
10, 2023, the manufacturer submitted a letter to IDOT, stating that it 
could produce the waiver items domestically. However, after additional 
outreach and discussion with that manufacturer, on January 16, 2024, 
IDOT informed FHWA that the manufacturer was unable to produce a Buy 
America-compliant version of the waiver items because the manufacturer 
could not produce a bare shaft for the pump domestically, meaning that 
it could not produce a pump where all predominantly iron or steel 
components were Buy America-compliant. Thus, no comments received in 
response to the notice of waiver request indicated that the waiver 
items are available domestically.
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    \3\ Pursuant to BABA's manufactured product requirements, the 
manufactured product must be produced in the United States and must 
have 55 percent of its components, by cost, be mined, produced, or 
manufactured in the United States. BABA Sec.  70912(6)(B). Under 
FHWA's Buy America requirements, which apply to iron, steel, and 
manufactured products, all predominantly steel or iron materials, 
products, or components must have all manufacturing processes, 
including application of a coating, occur in the United States; 
however, FHWA has otherwise waived the application of Buy America to 
manufactured products. The FHWA applies these Buy America 
requirements to iron, steel, and manufactured products, not the 
requirements of BABA. See BABA Sec.  70917(a)-(b). For this reason, 
to be permanently incorporated in highway projects using title 23, 
U.S.C. funds, manufactured products must have all manufacturing 
processes of all predominantly steel or iron components occur in the 
United States. A manufactured product is not Buy America-compliant 
if it complies with BABA's manufactured product requirements but has 
foreign predominantly iron or steel components.
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    FHWA also consulted with the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology's Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST-MEP) 
through NIST-MEP's supplier scouting process to consult manufacturers 
from across the Nation. This search period ended in October 2023. This 
supplier scouting process also did not identify any companies that 
could provide compliant pumps.
    Timing and Need for a Waiver: The existing Pump Station No. 37 was 
constructed in the 1930s and can only be accessed from northbound 
traffic on US 41, making maintenance of the station difficult. In 
addition, the dry pit is connected to the grade level space, making the 
entire station a hazardous classified location as there is a direct 
connection to the below grade pumping in the dry pit. The electrical 
and controls equipment are also located at grade level, which is also a 
hazardous classified location, and the electrical and controls 
equipment are not suitable for the hazardous location. These problems 
necessitate replacement of the existing station. IDOT further explained 
that the outlet pipe for the pump station is in very poor condition. 
Relocating the pump station will require the procurement of new pumps 
to accommodate future pumping capacity. The letting of the project has 
been postponed several times as IDOT has been unable to find Buy 
America-compliant pumps. If a waiver is not approved, the relocation of 
the pump station will not be able to proceed.
    Assessment of Cost Advantage of a Foreign-Sourced Product: Under 
OMB 24-02, Agencies are expected to assess ``whether a significant 
portion of any cost advantage of a foreign-sourced product is the 
result of the use of dumped steel, iron, or manufactured products or 
the use of injuriously subsidized steel, iron, or manufactured 
products'' as appropriate before granting a public interest waiver. 
FHWA has concluded that this assessment is not

[[Page 79687]]

applicable to this waiver as this waiver is based on nonavailability 
rather than the cost disadvantage of domestically-sourced products.
    Executive Order 14005: Executive Order (E.O.) 14005, entitled 
``Ensuring the Future is Made in All of America by All of America's 
Workers,'' provides that Federal Agencies should, consistent with 
applicable law, maximize the use of goods, products, and materials 
produced in, and services offered in, the United States. 86 FR 7475 
(Jan. 28, 2021). Based on the information contained in the waiver 
request and the lack of responsive comments to the notice of waiver 
request identifying a domestic source for the waiver items, FHWA 
concludes that issuing a waiver is not inconsistent with E.O. 14005.

Finding and Request for Comments

    Based on all the information available to the Agency, FHWA 
concludes that there are no Buy America-compliant versions of the 
waiver items and is waiving its Buy America requirements set forth at 
23 U.S.C. 313 and 23 CFR 635.410 for the following products used by 
IDOT in the relocation of Pump Station No. 37: 4 main submersible pumps 
with discharge capacity of 3,000 gpm each and 2 low flow submersible 
pumps with discharge capacity of 921 gpm each. This finding only 
includes the specified pumps identified in the waiver request and 
supporting documents included on FHWA's website.
    This waiver is limited to applicable purchases by IDOT, IDOT's 
contractors, or subcontractors (of whatever tier) of the waiver items 
for the Pump Station 37 Project. The waiver does not apply to purchases 
made for any other products or projects. The proposed waiver would be 
effective from the effective date of the final waiver through the 
period of performance and closeout of FHWA's financial assistance for 
the project, which is estimated to be in October 2028.
    IDOT and its contractors and subcontractors involved in the 
procurement of the relevant submersible pumps are reminded of the need 
to comply with the Cargo Preference Act in 46 CFR part 38, if 
applicable.
    In accordance with the provisions of Section 117 of the SAFETEA-LU 
Technical Corrections Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-244), FHWA is providing 
this notice as its finding that a waiver of Buy America requirements is 
appropriate. FHWA invites public comment on this finding for an 
additional 5 days following the effective date of the finding. Comments 
may be submitted to FHWA's website via the link provided to the waiver 
page noted above.
    Authority: 23 U.S.C. 313; Pub. L. 117-328; 23 CFR 635.410.

Kristin R. White,
Acting Administrator, Federal Highway Administration.
[FR Doc. 2024-22278 Filed 9-27-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-22-P


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