15722 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 65 / Tuesday, April 7, 2009 / Notices 

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OF THE PRIVACY ACT: 

None. 

[FR Doc. E9–7818 Filed 4–6–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–8789–9] 

Notice of Nationwide Waiver of Section 

1605 (Buy American Requirement) of 

American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act of 2009 (ARRA) for Projects With 

Debt Incurred on or After October 1, 

2008 and Before February 17, 2009 

That Are Refinanced Through the 

Clean or Drinking Water State 

Revolving Funds Using Assistance 

Provided Under ARRA 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The EPA is hereby granting a 

nationwide waiver of the Buy American 

requirements of ARRA Section 1605 

under the authority of Section 

1605(b)(1) (public interest waiver) for 

eligible projects for which debt was 

incurred on or after October 1, 2008 and 

before February 17, 2009, the date of 

enactment of ARRA. This action permits 

the use of non-domestic iron, steel, and 

manufactured goods in such projects 

funded by ARRA that may otherwise be 

prohibited under section 1605(a). 

DATES: Effective Date: April 1, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Cynthia Dougherty, Director, Office of 

Ground Water and Drinking Water, 

(202) 564–3750 or Jim Hanlon, Director, 

Office of Wastewater Management, (202) 

564–0748, Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue 

NW., Washington, DC 20460. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with ARRA Section 1605(c), 

the EPA hereby provides notice that it 

is granting a nationwide waiver of the 

requirements of section 1605(a) of 

Public Law 111–5, Buy American 

requirements, for eligible projects for 

which a Clean or Drinking Water State 

Revolving Fund (SRF) has concluded or 

will conclude an assistance agreement 

using ARRA funds to refinance a debt 

incurred on or after October 1, 2008, 

and before February 17, 2009. 

The basis for the nationwide waiver is 

the authorization in the SRF 

appropriations heading of ARRA for 

refinancing using ARRA funds of certain 

debt obligations, as follows: 

That notwithstanding section 603(d)(2) of 

the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and 

section 1452(f)(2) of the Safe Drinking Water 

Act, funds may be used to buy, refinance or 

restructure the debt obligations of eligible 

recipients only where such debt was incurred 

on or after October 1, 2008. 

In the ordinary course of SRF 

business, refinancing of any existing 

debt obligations of assistance recipients 

eligible for refinancing is an allowable 

type of assistance under the sections 

referenced in the ARRA provision 

above, largely irrespective of when the 

debt was incurred. As the purpose of the 

SRF provisions of ARRA was to 

stimulate economic recovery by funding 

current infrastructure construction, the 

purpose of this ARRA provision was not 

to provide more advantageous financing 

for any projects whose construction had 

substantially already occurred. Rather, 

with the House of Representatives’ 

passage of H.R. 7110 in late September 

2008 giving notice of Congress’ strong 

interest in economic recovery 

legislation, this refinancing provision 

was intended to include within the 

favorable financing terms of ARRA, 

eligible projects undertaken after that 

time (and within the Fiscal Year 2009 

timeframe of ARRA as a supplemental 

appropriation) in anticipation of ARRA. 

Moreover, as the debate on the 

legislation that ultimately became 

ARRA continued through November 

and December, 2008 into January and 

February, 2009, States and utilities 

increasingly reported that action on 

eligible projects that State SRFs wished 

to support and for which there was 

available funding under the base SRF 

program were being deferred, in the 

hope of obtaining more advantageous 

financing terms from the ARRA 

appropriation. In part because this 

deferral of financing and construction 

for genuinely ‘‘shovel ready’’ projects 

was in direct conflict with the most 

fundamental economic recovery 

purposes of ARRA, Congress adopted 

this refinancing provision to enable 

eligible projects which began creating 

jobs after October 1, 2008, to receive 

ARRA funding to recognize and support 

those projects’ contribution to economic 

recovery. This is confirmed in the 

declaration of the Joint Explanatory 

Statement of the Conference (H. Rpt. 

111–16, at 444) that ‘‘[t]o ensure that 

funds are used to create jobs, the bill 

also limits the use of the revolving 

funds to buy, refinance, or restructure 

debt incurred prior to October 1, 2008.’’ 

The proponents of projects that fall 

within the scope of this SRF refinancing 

provision for ARRA had, in order to 

obtain the initial financing, specified 

designs which may include elements 

which have limited or often no domestic 

availability, many may have solicited 

bids from prospective contractors, and 

some subsequently awarded 

construction contracts, and in some 

cases began construction, prior to the 

February 17, 2009, enactment of ARRA. 

All of these actions were in fulfillment 

of Congress’ intention in passing ARRA 

and in particular, adopting this SRF 

refinancing provision, to create jobs and 

spur economic recovery ‘‘by 

commencing activities and expenditures 

as expeditiously as possible.’’ (See 

ARRA Section 3.) 

Moreover, in all cases of initial 

financing prior to February 17, the 

project proponents were proceeding in 

good faith and without fair notice as to 

the existence and statutory scope of any 

Buy American requirement. 

The imposition of ARRA’s Buy 

American requirements on projects 

eligible for SRF assistance whose 

assistance applicants had already 

obtained financing on or after October 1, 

2008 and prior to February 17, 2009, the 

date on which those requirements were 

imposed, would in all cases entail timeconsuming delay and thus displace the 

‘‘shovel ready’’ status of these projects. 

This would frustrate Congress’ specific 

and explicit intent to allow for the use 

of ARRA funds to refinance those 

projects through the SRFs, as well as for 

expeditious construction generally. 

ARRA Section 1605(b)(1) authorized the 

Administrator to waive the 

requirements of Section 1605(a) in any 

case or category of cases in which she 

finds that applying subsection (a) would 

be inconsistent with the public interest. 

Therefore, for the foregoing reasons, 

imposing ARRA’s Buy American 

requirements for the category of cases 

described herein is not in the public 

interest. This supplementary 

information constitutes the ‘‘detailed 

written justification’’ required by 

Section 1605(c) for waivers ‘‘based on a 

finding under subsection (b).’’ 

Authority: Public Law 111–5, section 1605. 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 65 / Tuesday, April 7, 2009 / Notices 15723 

Dated: April 1, 2009. 

Michael H. Shapiro, 

Acting Assistant Administrator for Water. 

[FR Doc. E9–7828 Filed 4–6–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–8790–3] 

Science Advisory Board Staff Office; 

Request for Nominations of Experts To 

Provide Advice on Mold Issues in 

Indoor Environments 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice request for nominations. 

SUMMARY: The EPA Science Advisory 

Board (SAB) Staff Office is requesting 

nominations to form an Ad Hoc panel, 

under the auspices of the SAB, to 

provide advice to the EPA on mold 

issues in indoor environments. 

DATES: Nominations should be 

submitted by April 28, 2009 per the 

instructions below. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any 

member of the public wishing further 

information regarding this Request for 

Nominations may contact Dr. K. Jack 

Kooyoomjian, Designated Federal 

Officer (DFO), via telephone/voice mail 

at (202) 343–9984; via e-mail at 

kooyoomjian.jack@epa.gov or at the U.S. 

EPA Science Advisory Board (1400F), 

1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 

Washington, DC 20460. General 

information about the SAB can be found 

in the SAB Web site at http:// 

www.epa.gov/sab. The EPA technical 

contact for this review is Dr. Mary E. 

Clark, Assistant Director for Science, 

Office of Radiation and Indoor Air 

(ORIA), who may be contacted via 

telephone at (202) 343–9348 or by email at clark.marye@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background: Physical inspection for 

water damage and mold is a key part of 

the Office of Radiation and Indoor Air’s 

(ORIA’s) mold remediation guidance 

(http://www.epa.gov/mold/). EPA’s 

current indoor air guidance does not 

recommend routine sampling for mold. 

Rather, guidance for mitigating indoor 

mold states that if mold growth occurs 

in a building, the water problem must 

be fixed and the mold growth removed. 

The Agency’s Office of Research and 

Development (ORD) has developed a 

tool, the Environmental Relative 

Moldiness Index (ERMI) (http:// 

www.epa.gov/microbes/moldtech.htm) 

to screen indoor environments. The 

ERMI relies on collection of a dust 

sample from the building in question. 

Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) from 

mold in the dust is analyzed using a 

mold-specific quantitative Polymerase 

Chain Reaction (PCR) methodology. The 

analytical results are then compared to 

the ERMI, which generates a numeric 

score that predicts whether the tested 

space is likely to have higher or lower 

mold levels than outdoors, and by 

extension, predicts whether occupants 

are more or less likely to be exposed to 

mold. The analysis also indicates some 

of the types of mold present. The ERMI 

may also have utility in screening 

buildings where mold is suspected, but 

not visible. 

ORD and ORIA view the ERMI as a 

prototype research tool at the current 

state of development. However, the 

Agency has received questions from the 

general public, other government 

agencies and non-governmental 

organizations concerning mold issues. 

There have also been requests for 

guidance on the broader use of the ERMI 

and its relationship to existing EPA 

mold sampling, as well as other mold 

issues. Since the ERMI has not been 

validated for such applications, the 

Agency is interested in clarifying the 

role and use of ERMI in mold 

remediation guidance, especially in the 

aftermath of water-related emergencies, 

such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. 

The Agency has requested that the SAB 

provide advice on the technical 

applicability and limitations of the 

ERMI; its utility for identifying natural 

background and mold contaminated 

environments, identifying mold species 

and associated mycotoxins; the need for 

guidance on the use of ERMI for 

emergency response situations (such as 

flooding); the pros and cons of ERMI; 

and other approaches that might be 

employed. 

Request for Nominations: The SAB 

Staff Office is requesting nominations to 

form an Ad Hoc panel to provide advice 

to the Agency on mold issues as 

described above. The SAB was 

established by 42 U.S.C. 4365 to provide 

independent scientific and technical 

advice, consultation, and 

recommendations to the EPA 

Administrator on the technical basis for 

Agency positions and regulations. The 

Ad Hoc panel will provide advice 

through the chartered SAB, and will 

comply with the provisions of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act 

(FACA) and all appropriate SAB 

procedural policies. 

To address EPA’s need for scientific 

and technical advice, the SAB Staff 

Office is seeking individuals with 

nationally recognized expertise, 

experience, knowledge, and field 

experience in the following disciplinary 

areas with a specific focus on mold 

growth, exposure, effects, 

biodeterioration, building evaluation, 

and mold remediation in indoor 

environments: 

(1) Epidemiology related to molds, 

fungi and bacteria; Microbiology related 

to molds, fungi and bacteria; 

(2) Toxicology of molds, fungi and 

bacteria; 

(3) Risk assessment related to indoor 

air quality, dampness and mold 

producing and mold biodeterioration 

conditions; 

(4) Measurement statistics, biostatistics, modeling and analysis of data 

on mold remediation; 

(5) Emergency response and 

remediation associated with 

environmental microbiology and bioaerosols; 

(6) Environmental medicine, 

industrial hygiene, public health, or 

other medical fields related to mold 

exposures; and 

(7) Risk perception and risk 

communication. 

Process and Deadline for Submitting 

Nominations: Any interested person or 

organization may nominate qualified 

individuals to this Ad Hoc panel in the 

areas of expertise described above. 

Nominations should be submitted in 

electronic format through the SAB Web 

site at the following URL http:// 

www.epa.gov/sab; or directly via the 

Form for Nominating Individuals to 

Panels of the EPA Science Advisory 

Board link found at URL: http:// 

www.epa.gov/sab/panels/ 

paneltopics.html. Please follow the 

instructions for submitting nominations 

carefully. To be considered, 

nominations should include all of the 

information required on the associated 

forms. Anyone unable to submit 

nominations using the electronic form 

and who has any questions concerning 

the nomination process may contact Dr. 

K. Jack Kooyoomjian, DFO, as indicated 

above in this notice. Nominations 

should be submitted in time to arrive no 

later than April 28, 2009. 

For nominees to be considered, please 

include: Contact information; a 

curriculum vitae; a biosketch of no more 

than two paragraphs (containing 

information on the nominee’s current 

position, educational background, areas 

of expertise and research activities, 

service on other advisory committees 

and professional societies; the 

candidate’s special expertise related to 

the panel being formed; and sources of 

recent grant and/or contract support). 

The EPA SAB Staff Office will 

acknowledge receipt of nominations. 

The names and biosketches of qualified