Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 204 / Tuesday, October 22, 2024 / Notices 84435 

for an individual; organization; or 

government entity to request official 

agency information, records, or 

testimony of an agency employee in a 

legal proceeding when the agency is not 

a party. The request, which respondents 

submit in writing to SSA, must: (1) fully 

set out the nature and relevance of the 

sought testimony; (2) explain why the 

information is not available by other 

means; (3) explain why it is in SSA’s 

interest to provide the testimony; and 

(4) provide the date, time, and place for 

the testimony. Respondents are 

individuals or entities who request 

testimony from SSA employees in 

connection with a legal proceeding. 

Type of Request: Extension of an 

OMB-approved information collection. 

Modality of completion Number of 

respondents 

Frequency 

of response 

Average 

burden per 

response 

(minutes) 

Estimated 

total annual 

burden 

(hours) 

Average 

theoretical 

hourly cost 

amount 

(dollars) * 

Total annual 

opportunity 

cost 

(dollars) ** 

20 CFR 403.100–403.155 ........... 50 1 60 50 * $31.48 ** $1,574 

* We based this figure on the average U.S. worker’s mean hourly wages, as reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics data (https://www.bls.gov/ 

oes/current/oes_nat.htm#00-0000). 

** This figure does not represent actual costs that SSA is imposing on recipients of Social Security payments to complete this application; rather, these are theoretical opportunity costs for the additional time respondents will spend to complete the application. There is no actual charge to 

respondents to complete the application. 

Dated October 17, 2024. 

Tasha Harley, 

Acting Reports Clearance Officer, Social 

Security Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2024–24391 Filed 10–21–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4191–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

[Public Notice: 12568] 

Notice of Public Meeting of the 

Advisory Committee on Responsible 

Business Conduct 

SUMMARY: This notice announces the 

public meeting of the Advisory 

Committee on Responsible Business 

Conduct (RBC Advisory Committee) on 

November 14, 2024, from 9:00 a.m. to 

5:00 p.m. ET. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Emily Santor, Foreign Affairs Analyst, 

telephone: 202–679–5368, email: 

RBCAdvisoryCommittee@state.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The RBC 

Advisory Committee will meet in a 

hybrid meeting on November 14, 2024, 

from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. to hear, 

deliberate, and vote on the preliminary 

recommendations of its subcommittees: 

the Subcommittee on the U.S. National 

Contact Point for the Organization for 

Economic Cooperation and 

Development Guidelines for 

Multinational Enterprises, the 

Subcommittee on National Action Plan 

Implementation, and the Subcommittee 

on Human Rights and Environmental 

Due Diligence. 

Members of the public wishing to 

participate must register by 11:59 p.m. 

ET November 6, 2024, via email to 

RBCAdvisoryCommittee@state.gov, with 

the subject line ‘‘Registration.’’ To 

register, please include your name, title, 

affiliation, and the email you will use to 

access the meeting. The Department will 

provide login information prior to the 

meeting. Meeting minutes and future 

recommendation reports will be 

available to the public at the RBC 

Advisory Committee website and the 

RBC Advisory Committee page of the 

FACA Database. 

Public comments and requests for 

accommodation can be sent to 

RBCAdvisoryCommittee@state.gov and 

must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET on 

November 11, 2024. The subject line for 

comment submissions should include 

‘‘Public Comment.’’ During this 

meeting, there will not be an option for 

members of the public to make oral 

statements. Requests for reasonable 

accommodation should be submitted 

with the subject line ‘‘Accommodations 

Request.’’ Reasonable accommodation 

requests received after the submission 

deadline will be considered but may not 

be possible to fulfill. 

(Authority: 5 U.S.C. 1001 et seq. and 5 U.S.C. 

552) 

Jordyn E. Arndt, 

Senior Foreign Affairs Officer, Office of 

Multilateral and Global Affairs, Department 

of State. 

[FR Doc. 2024–24460 Filed 10–21–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–18–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Highway Administration 

Buy America Waiver Notification 

AGENCY: Federal Highway 

Administration (FHWA), U.S. 

Department of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice provides 

information regarding FHWA’s finding 

that it is appropriate to grant a nonavailability Buy America waiver to the 

Utah Department of Transportation 

(UDOT) for procurement and 

installation of 16 suspended explosive 

charge remote avalanche control 

systems (RACS), which contain nondomestic iron and steel components, 

along Mount Superior overlooking SR– 

210 in Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah. 

The waiver relates specifically to iron 

and steel components that are part of 

the tower, deployment box, and charges 

of the RACS. 

DATES: The effective date of the waiver 

October 23, 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 Brian.Hogge@dot.gov. For legal 

questions, please contact Mr. David 

Serody, FHWA Office of the Chief 

Counsel, (202) 366–1345, or via email at 

David.Serody@dot.gov. 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 U.S. 

Government Publishing Office’s 

database at: www.GovInfo.gov. 

Background 

The FHWA’s Buy America 

requirements for steel and iron are set 

forth at 23 U.S.C. 313 and 23 CFR 

635.410 and require that all steel and 

iron that are permanently incorporated 

into a Federal-aid project must be 

produced in the United States unless a 

waiver is granted, including 

predominantly steel and iron 

components of a manufactured 


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84436 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 204 / Tuesday, October 22, 2024 / Notices 

1Under 23 U.S.C. 313, FHWA has a Buy America 

requirement for manufactured products; however, 

FHWA has a standing waiver under 23 U.S.C. 

313(b), known as the Manufactured Products 

General Waiver, which covers manufactured 

products that are not predominantly steel and iron. 

See 48 FR 53099 (Nov. 25, 1983). 

2While the Build America, Buy America Act 

(BABA), included in the Infrastructure Investment 

and Jobs Act (also known as the ‘‘Bipartisan 

Infrastructure Law’’ (BIL)) (Pub. L. 117–58), sets out 

Buy America preferences for steel, iron, 

manufactured products, and construction materials, 

these preferences only apply to the extent that a 

domestic content procurement preference, as 

described in section 70914 of BABA, does not 

already apply to iron, steel, manufactured products, 

and construction materials. BIL section 70917(a)– 

(b). As FHWA has existing domestic content 

preferences for steel, iron, and manufactured 

products at 23 U.S.C. 313, the requirements under 

23 U.S.C. 313 apply to steel, iron, and 

manufactured products instead of the requirements 

under BABA. As FHWA’s existing Buy America 

requirement does not specifically cover 

construction materials, the Buy America preference 

under section 70914 of BABA applies for 

construction materials. 

3https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/construction/ 

contracts/waivers.cfm?id=175. 

4To meet the requirement that 55 percent of 

components, by cost, be mined, produced, or 

manufactured in the United States for a 

manufactured product containing predominantly 

iron or steel components, a manufacturer may 

choose to domestically produce those components. 

This is different from FHWA’s Buy America 

requirements, which mandate that all 

predominantly steel or iron components be 

domestically produced, regardless of the percent, by 

cost, of which they make up the manufactured 

product. 

product.1 Under these requirements, all 

manufacturing processes, including the 

application of a coating, must occur in 

the United States.2

Under 23 U.S.C. 313(b)(2) and 23 CFR 

635.410(c)(1)(ii), FHWA may waive the 

application of its Buy America 

requirement for steel and iron when 

products are not produced in the United 

States in sufficient and reasonably 

available quantities of a satisfactory 

quality. This notice provides 

information regarding FHWA’s finding 

that it is appropriate to grant UDOT a 

non-availability Buy America waiver for 

procurement of 16 suspended explosive 

charge RACS, which include nondomestic iron and steel components, for 

installation along Mount Superior 

overlooking SR–210 in Little 

Cottonwood Canyon, Utah. For each of 

the 16 RACS, this waiver will cover 

only: (i) the tower; (ii) the deployment 

box; and (iii) the charges (collectively 

‘‘waiver items’’). This waiver does not 

apply to the reinforced foundation of 

the RACS, which consists of anchor kits 

and a base plate; such foundation must 

be domestically sourced and compliant 

with FHWA’s Buy America 

requirements. 

Background on the Project: In 2020, 

the U.S. Army asked all members of the 

Avalanche Artillery Users of North 

America Committee to submit an exit 

plan for their use of military artillery. 

Currently, UDOT leases a P-Ridge 

howitzer from the U.S. Army to fire live 

artillery ammunition for avalanche 

control in Little Cottonwood Canyon. 

This is the only location in North 

America where live artillery is fired 

over inhabited buildings. The UDOT has 

committed to ending the use of the 

howitzer by 2025 and replacing it with 

RACS, which use remotely detonated 

explosives to mitigate avalanches and 

save lives. This project is to install 16 

RACS using suspended explosive 

charges along SR–210 in Little 

Cottonwood Canyon to minimize safety 

concerns from the overhead fire of live 

artillery over inhabited structures. 

Background on Waiver Request: The 

UDOT is part of the Transportation 

Avalanche Research Pool, which has 

identified three main types of RACS 

used in the United States: gas-delivered 

explosives, propelled explosive charges, 

and suspended explosive charges. The 

UDOT believes that the most 

appropriate products for this project 

based on the unique terrain in the 

deployment area are RACS that utilize 

suspended explosive charges. Prior to 

submitting a waiver request, UDOT 

identified only one domestic supplier of 

any type of RACS; however, that 

company uses gas-delivered explosives, 

and such a system is not viable for this 

project due to the extreme terrain, 

excessive rockfall, and extensive 

distance of the required gas line that 

would be needed to operate the system. 

The UDOT also used the National 

Institute of Standards and Technology’s 

Manufacturing Extension Partnership 

Supplier Scouting service to seek out 

any domestic manufacturers of RACS, 

but no domestic alternatives were 

identified. 

The UDOT thus requested a waiver 

for the tower, deployment box, and 

charges that are part of the RACS for 16 

systems that will use suspended 

explosive charges. 

In accordance with section 122 of 

Division F of the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2024 (Pub. L. 118– 

42), section 117 of the SAFETEA–LU 

Technical Corrections Act of 2008 (Pub. 

L. 110–244), and 23 U.S.C. 313(g), 

FHWA posted a notice of the waiver 

request on its website on April 10, 2024, 

soliciting public comment on the intent 

to issue a waiver of the waiver items for 

a 15-day period.3

Waiver Justification Summary 

Comments to the Notice of Waiver 

Request: The FHWA received five 

comments in response to the notice of 

the waiver request. One commenter 

stated that FHWA’s Buy America 

requirements are outdated and indicated 

that FHWA should grant the waiver. 

Another stated that FHWA should grant 

the waiver and argued that FHWA 

should not apply its Buy America 

requirements to predominantly steel 

and iron components. 

Two other commenters provided 

information not relevant to the waiver 

request. One questioned the 

environmental impacts of RACS, which 

is not an issue within the scope of this 

waiver request. 

Another commenter stated that the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) policy eliminated the need for 

the waiver request because OMB 

requirements apply to manufactured 

products, not just iron and steel. The 

FHWA’s Buy America requirements 

with respect to manufactured products, 

however, differ from requirements 

applicable to other Federal Agencies 

under BABA, which was included as 

part of the BIL (Pub. L. 117–58). The 

FHWA has waived its statutory Buy 

America requirements as to all 

manufactured products that are not 

predominantly steel and iron; however, 

FHWA applies its Buy America 

requirements to predominantly iron and 

steel components of manufactured 

products, and such components must 

comply with FHWA’s requirements that 

all iron and steel must be domestically 

manufactured. Although BABA requires 

that manufactured products be 

manufactured in the United States and 

the cost of the manufactured product’s 

components that are mined, produced, 

or manufactured in the United States 

must be greater than 55 percent of the 

total cost of all components of the 

manufactured product, BABA does not 

specifically mandate that iron and steel 

components in particular must be 

domestically manufactured.4 See BIL 

section 70912(6)(B). 

In other words, FHWA applies its 

own Buy America requirements to steel, 

iron, and manufactured products used 

on FHWA funded projects, not the 

standards for steel, iron, and 

manufactured products under BABA. 

See BIL section 70917(a)–(b). 

Accordingly, manufactured products 

used on FHWA funded projects are only 

compliant with Buy America if all of 

their predominantly steel and iron 

components are domestically 

manufactured. Manufactured products 

that meet BABA’s standards, being 

manufactured in the United States and 

having 55 percent of the components, by 

cost, be mined, produced, or 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 204 / Tuesday, October 22, 2024 / Notices 84437 

manufactured in the United States, are 

not inherently compliant with FHWA’s 

Buy America and may not necessarily 

be permanently incorporated into 

FHWA-funded projects. 

Finally, the fifth commenter, 

representing the domestic supplier 

identified by UDOT as using gasdelivered explosives noted above, stated 

that the company was not consulted on 

the viability of its product to work in 

the project terrain and contested the 

statement from UDOT that its products 

are not a viable alternative for the 

project. When determining whether 

steel and iron materials or products are 

not produced in the United States in 

sufficient and reasonably available 

quantities which are of a satisfactory 

quality pursuant to 23 U.S.C. 313(b)(2) 

and 23 CFR 635.410(c)(1)(ii), FHWA 

considers whether the recipient has 

used appropriate due diligence to 

identify domestic products or 

domestically available alternative 

products that meet the recipient’s 

specifications. A comparable product 

that performs a similar function is not 

necessarily a domestic alternative; the 

product must also meet the recipient’s 

specific requirements that are deemed 

necessary in order to achieve the 

performance objectives of the project. 

The FHWA’s statutory requirements do 

not require recipients to change product 

specifications in order to utilize 

domestic products that do not meet the 

recipient’s original specifications. 

Accordingly, as FHWA views this fifth 

commenter as arguing UDOT should 

modify their original specifications to 

accommodate their domestic product, 

FHWA does not believe that this 

commenter has demonstrated that they 

have a suitable domestic alternative. 

In sum, no commenter provided 

information on potential domestic 

manufacturers of suspended explosive 

charge RACS. Thus, UDOT did not 

receive any new information indicating 

that the waiver items could be produced 

by domestic manufacturers from any of 

the commenters. 

The FHWA believes that UDOT has 

made substantial efforts to find suitable 

Buy America-compliant waiver items 

that will safely and effectively serve the 

purpose of this project but that such 

products are unavailable. 

Timing and Need for a Waiver: The 

waiver items are essential to achieving 

the goal of replacing the current use of 

live artillery with a safer remoteactivated system that can provide 

highway avalanche mitigation. 

While UDOT did not request a waiver 

for the reinforced foundation of the 

RACS, as such foundation can be 

domestically manufactured, the waiver 

items are engineered to work together as 

a single system, and exchanging parts of 

the system would reduce the reliability 

and safety of the system. Accordingly, 

the waiver items at issue must be 

purchased and installed as a single 

system, and UDOT has not located any 

domestic manufacturers for the waiver 

items meeting the project’s 

specifications, nor has any domestic 

manufacturer identified the ability to 

produce Buy America-compliant waiver 

items through the public comment 

process. 

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 from 

UDOT and the lack of responsive 

comments to the notice of waiver 

request, 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 

waiver items meeting the project’s 

specifications and is waiving its Buy 

America requirements for steel and iron 

set forth at 23 U.S.C. 313 and 23 CFR 

635.410 for recipient purchases of 16 

RACS using suspended explosive 

charges for avalanche highway 

mitigation in Little Cottonwood Canyon. 

For each RACS, this waiver will cover 

only: (i) the tower; (ii) the deployment 

box; and (iii) the charges (collectively 

‘‘waiver items’’). This waiver does not 

apply to other components of the RACS, 

such as reinforced foundations, which 

must be compliant with FHWA’s Buy 

America requirements. In addition, this 

waiver does not cover additional 

charges purchased for the RACS. 

The waiver applies to the waiver 

items used in the project that are subject 

to FHWA’s Buy America requirements 

as a result of obligations of Federal 

financial assistance made by FHWA for 

the project. 

The UDOT and its contractors and 

subcontractors involved in the 

procurement of the relevant components 

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, 

FHWA is providing this notice as its 

finding that a waiver of its Buy America 

requirements for steel and iron is 

appropriate. The FHWA invites public 

comment on this finding for an 

additional five 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. 110– 

161; 23 CFR 635.410. 

Kristin R. White, 

Acting Administrator, Federal Highway 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2024–24334 Filed 10–21–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration 

[Docket No. FMCSA–2017–0319] 

Parts and Accessories Necessary for 

Safe Operation; Exemption Renewal 

for Agricultural and Food Transporters 

Conference of American Trucking 

Associations 

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA), Department 

of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of final disposition; grant 

of application for exemption. 

SUMMARY: FMCSA announces its 

decision to renew an exemption 

requested by the Agricultural and Food 

Transporters Conference (AFTC) of 

American Trucking Associations (ATA), 

which will allow certain alternative 

methods for the securement of 

agricultural commodities transported in 

wood and plastic boxes and bins and 

large fiberglass tubs, as well as hay, 

straw, and cotton bales that are grouped 

together into large singular units. 

FMCSA concludes that renewing the 

exemption, subject to the terms and 

conditions set forth below, is likely to 

achieve a level of safety equivalent to or 

greater than the level of safety that 

would be achieved absent the 

exemption. 

DATES: This renewed exemption is 

effective April 15, 2024, through April 

15, 2029. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

David Sutula, Chief, Vehicle and 

Roadside Operations Division, Office of 

Carrier, Driver, and Vehicle Safety, 

FMCSA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 

Washington, DC 20590–0001; (202) 366– 

9209; MCPSV@dot.gov. If you have 

questions on viewing or submitting 

material to the docket, call Dockets 

Operations at (202) 366–9826. 


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