7240 Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 12 / Tuesday, January 21, 2025 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials 

Safety Administration 

[Docket No. PHMSA–2024–0151] 

Pipeline Safety: Project-Specific 

Waiver of the Build America, Buy 

America Act Requirements for City 

Utilities of Springfield, Missouri for 

Certain Products Under the Natural 

Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety 

and Modernization Grant Program 

AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous 

Materials Transportation, Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Pipeline and Hazardous 

Materials Safety Administration 

(PHMSA) is waiving the Build America, 

Buy America (BABA) Act’s domestic 

preference requirements for certain 

products that City Utilities of 

Springfield, Missouri, (City Utilities) 

will use in its Natural Gas Distribution 

Infrastructure Safety and Modernization 

(NGDISM) grant project, due to 

unavailability, project cost, or public 

good. The waiver would exempt the 

following products used in City 

Utilities’ project from BABA 

requirements on the basis of 

nonavailability: locator markers; meter 

stops with insulated unions; magnesium 

anodes; 1A meter swivels, nuts, and 

washers; and direct bury lugs. 

DATES: The effective date of the waiver 

is January 22, 2025. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

questions about this notice, please 

contact Mr. Louis Cardenas, Office of 

Pipeline Safety, by phone at 832–208– 

0132, or by email at Louis.Cardenas@

dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Electronic Access and Filing 

A copy of this notice and all 

background material may be viewed 

online at https://www.regulations.gov 

using the docket number listed above. 

Electronic retrieval help and guidelines 

are also available at https://

www.regulations.gov. An electronic 

copy of this document also may be 

downloaded from the Office of the 

Federal Register’s website at 

www.FederalRegister.gov or the 

Government Publishing Office’s website 

at www.GovInfo.gov. 

Background 

The NGDISM grant program was 

authorized by the Infrastructure 

Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (Pub. L. 

117–58). The program provides federal 

funding to municipal- or communityowned natural gas utilities (not 

including for-profit entities) to repair, 

rehabilitate, or replace their natural gas 

distribution pipeline systems or 

portions thereof, or to acquire 

equipment to (1) reduce incidents and 

fatalities, and (2) avoid economic losses. 

The IIJA appropriates $200 million per 

year for each of Fiscal Years (FY) 2022 

through 2026 for the NGDISM grant 

program ($1 billion in total). The IIJA 

provides that two percent of this 

amount shall be used to pay the 

administrative expenses of the NGDISM 

grant program. Accordingly, the total 

amount expected to be awarded as grant 

funding over the five-year period is 

$980,000,000. 

Congress also enacted the BABA Act, 

providing that ‘‘none of the funds made 

available for a Federal financial 

assistance program for infrastructure 

. . . may be obligated for a project 

unless all of the iron, steel, 

manufactured products, and 

construction materials used in the 

project are produced in the United 

States.’’ IIJA, Public Law 117–58, sec. 

70914(a). Under IIJA section 70914(b), 

PHMSA has authority to waive the 

requirements of BABA (1) if a domestic 

product is unavailable; (2) if using a 

domestic product would present an 

unreasonable cost; or (3) if application 

of BABA would not be in the public 

interest. 

In FY2022, City Utilities was awarded 

$10 million in NGDISM grant funding to 

help fund its ‘‘Legacy Plastic Pipe 

Replacement Project,’’ which it initiated 

in 2010. Of the $10 million awarded for 

this project the materials covered by the 

waiver only represent an estimated 

0.72% or $72,000. City Utilities operates 

approximately 500 miles of ‘‘Aldyl A’’ 

plastic distribution pipeline within 

disadvantaged areas of Springfield, 

Missouri. The $10 million awarded 

would allow City Utilities to speed up 

its ‘‘Legacy Plastic Pipe Replacement 

Project’’ by funding the replacement of 

approximately 13.7 miles of legacy 

Aldyl A pipe and approximately 1,409 

legacy plastic gas services with modern, 

industry-standard polyethylene pipe. 

City Utilities will also use the grant 

funds to install a locator system on the 

new pipeline, allowing the pipe to be 

located during future excavation 

activities that may occur near the 

pipeline, thereby preventing damage to 

the pipeline and improving pipeline 

safety. 

Proposed Waiver and Request for 

Comments 

On September 27, 2024, PHMSA 

published a Notice of Proposed ProjectSpecific Waiver of the Build America, 

Buy America Act Requirements for City 

Utilities of Springfield, Missouri for 

Certain Products and Request for 

Comment (89 FR 79362) for certain 

products on the basis of nonavailability. 

The specific essential products City 

Utilities sought a waiver for are listed 

below: 

• Locator Markers: Locator markers 

are small devices placed on buried pipe 

and valves designed to help operators 

locate the facilities to help prevent 

damage to the pipe from excavation 

equipment. (NAICS: 325211) 

• Meter Stops with Insulated Union: 

Meter Stops are valves that are installed 

on a natural gas riser upstream of the 

meter to serve as a shut-off valve to 

control the flow of gas into the meter 

and subsequently into the building’s gas 

system. They are crucial for 

maintenance and emergencies, or when 

the gas service needs to be shut off. 

Insulated Unions are fittings attached to 

the above ground portion of a natural 

gas utility riser to electrically insulate 

(i.e., isolate) a structure from the 

pipeline system to prevent corrosion. 

(NAICS: 332919) 

• Magnesium Anodes: Magnesium 

anodes are blocks of magnesium that are 

attached to steel pipe to protect against 

corrosion damage. (NAICS: 335999) 

• 1A Meter Swivels, Nuts, and 

Washers: Meter swivels, nuts, and 

washers are fasteners used to secure a 

gas meter assembly. (NAICS: 33251/ 

332722) 

• Direct Bury Lugs: Direct Bury Lugs 

are waterproof connectors used for 

splicing low-voltage wires, like those 

used in tracer wire, without cutting the 

main line wire. They simplify 

installation and increase the longevity 

of the connection with pre-filled 

silicone sealant for waterproofing. 

(NAICS: 332999) 

On December 13, 2023, City Utilities 

issued an Invitation for Bids (‘‘IFB’’) 

seeking, among other products, locator 

markers; meter stops with insulated 

union; magnesium anodes; 1A meter 

swivels, nuts, and washers; and direct 

bury lugs. The IFB remained open for 

more than a month, between December 

13, 2023, and January 15, 2024. In 

response to the IFB, City Utilities 

received seven responsive bids. 

However, each of the respondents to the 

IFB represented that they would not be 

able to certify compliance with BABA 

requirements for the above listed 

products. 

Additionally, prior to City Utilities 

requesting this waiver, PHMSA 

independently engaged the supplier 

scouting services of the National 

Institute of Standards and Technology 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 12 / Tuesday, January 21, 2025 / Notices 7241 

Manufacturing Extension Partnership 

(NIST MEP) to search for domestic 

manufacturers of 1A meter swivels, 

nuts, and washers. At the conclusion of 

the process, NIST MEP identified 

several companies who stated they had 

the capability to manufacture these 

products. However, these companies 

declined to do so because it would be 

cost prohibitive for them to begin 

domestic manufacture of these products 

in the quantities that City Utilities needs 

to purchase for its NGDISM project. 

Accordingly, supplier scouting did not 

result in identification of any sources 

that could or would manufacture these 

products domestically. 

On these bases, PHMSA has 

determined that locator markers; meter 

stops with insulated unions; magnesium 

anodes; 1A meter swivels, nuts, and 

washers; and direct bury lugs are not 

manufactured in the United States in 

sufficient and reasonably available 

quantities. 

Discussion of Public Comments 

PHMSA has reviewed the single 

supportive comment received in the 

initial 15-day comment period during 

our consideration of the proposed 

waiver, as required by Section 

70914(c)(2) of the IIJA. The public 

comment regarding the City Utilities 

project specific NGDISM waiver was 

received by October 15, 2024. The 

commenter noted its potential need for 

the same products and they ‘‘fully 

support the granting of this waiver to 

City Utilities of Springfield, MO.’’ 

Summary of Changes in the Final 

Waiver 

There are no changes to the proposed 

waiver. As there was a single public 

comment in support of this waiver, 

there are no public comments that 

require changes to the proposed waiver. 

Final Waiver 

Based on its review of the waiver 

request, and in consideration of 

supportive comment received on the 

proposed waiver, PHMSA is waiving the 

requirements of BABA for the above 

listed products for City Utilities’ 

‘‘Legacy Plastic Pipe Replacement’’ 

project funded by NGDISM grant funds. 

The waiver is applicable only to City 

Utilities’ project; it is not applicable to 

any other NGDISM grant recipient’s 

projects. The waiver is effective from 

the date of the final waiver through the 

period of performance and closeout of 

PHMSA’s financial assistance for the 

project, which is estimated to be June 

30, 2029. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on January 15, 

2025, under authority delegated in 49 CFR 

1.97. 

Tristan H. Brown, 

Deputy Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2025–01356 Filed 1–17–25; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–60–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials 

Safety Administration 

[Docket No. PHMSA–2024–0131] 

Pipeline Safety: Waiver of the Build 

America, Buy America Act 

Requirements for Gas Service Risers, 

Gas Service Regulators, and Gas 

Meters Under the Natural Gas 

Distribution Infrastructure Safety and 

Modernization Program 

AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous 

Materials Safety Administration 

(PHMSA), Department of Transportation 

(DOT). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Pipeline and Hazardous 

Materials Safety Administration 

(PHMSA) is waiving the Build America, 

Buy America (BABA) Act’s domestic 

preference requirements for certain 

products widely used in natural gas 

distribution systems on the basis of 

nonavailability. The waiver will apply 

to awards obligated on or after the 

effective date of the final waiver for 

recipients of funding under the Natural 

Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety 

and Modernization (NGDISM) Grant 

Program and, in the case of awards 

obligated prior to the effective date, all 

expenditures for covered products 

incurred after the effective date. The 

waiver will expire after three years after 

the effective date of the final waiver. 

DATES: The effective date of the waiver 

is January 22, 2025. The waiver will 

expire on January 21, 2028. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

questions about this notice, please 

contact Ms. Shakira Mack, Office of 

Pipeline Safety, by phone at 202–366– 

5090, or by email at Shakira.Mack@

dot.gov. Office hours for PHMSA are 

from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST, 

Monday through Friday, except federal 

holidays. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Electronic Access and Filing 

A copy of this Notice and all 

background material, along with 

electronic retrieval help and guidelines, 

may be viewed online at https://

www.regulations.gov using the docket 

number listed above. An electronic copy 

of this document also may be 

downloaded from the Office of the 

Federal Register’s website at 

www.FederalRegister.gov and the 

Government Publishing Office’s website 

at www.GovInfo.gov. 

Background 

The NGDISM program was authorized 

by the Infrastructure Investment and 

Jobs Act (IIJA) (Pub. L. 117–58). The 

program provides federal funding to 

municipal- or community-owned 

natural gas utilities (not including forprofit entities) to repair, rehabilitate, or 

replace their natural gas distribution 

pipeline systems or portions thereof, or 

to acquire equipment to (1) reduce 

incidents and fatalities and (2) avoid 

economic losses. The IIJA appropriates 

$200 million per year for each of fiscal 

years (FY) 2022 through 2026 for the 

NGDISM program ($1 billion in total). 

The IIJA provides that two percent of 

this amount shall be used to pay the 

administrative expenses of the NGDISM 

program. Accordingly, the total amount 

expected to be awarded as grant funding 

over the five-year period is 

approximately $980,000,000. In FY22, 

PHMSA awarded approximately $196 

million to 37 municipal- and 

community-owned natural gas utilities 

across the nation to fund pipeline 

replacement projects and the purchase 

of leak-detection equipment. In FY23, 

PHMSA awarded $391 million to 65 

applicants; and in FY24 PHMSA 

awarded another $196 million to 56 

applicants. This brings current overall 

program totals to $784 million granted 

to 158 applicants, where funds are 

rehabilitating the natural gas system or 

acquiring equipment to improve public 

safety and reduce economic losses. 

PHMSA expects that a very small 

portion of NGDISM funding (less than 

about $1.9 million) would be spent each 

year on the products waived from BABA 

requirements. 

In the same legislation, Congress also 

enacted the BABA Act, which provides 

that ‘‘none of the funds made available 

for a Federal financial assistance 

program for infrastructure . . . may be 

obligated for a project unless all of the 

iron, steel, manufactured products, and 

construction materials used in the 

project are produced in the United 

States.’’ See IIJA, Public Law 117–58, 

sec. 70914(a). Under IIJA Section 

70914(b), PHMSA has authority to 

waive the requirements of BABA (1) if 

a domestic product is unavailable; (2) if 

using a domestic product would present 

an unreasonable cost; or (3) if 

application of BABA would not be in 

the public interest. 


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