Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 85 / Tuesday, May 3, 2022 / Notices 26221 

Assistance programs funding 

infrastructure projects. Therefore, HUD 

has determined that it would be 

contrary to the public’s interest to apply 

the BAP to Federal Financial Assistance 

obligated by HUD prior to completion of 

these processes. HUD is hereby 

proposing to waive the application of 

the BAP to its Federal Financial 

Assistance funds obligated for the 

duration of this waiver to allow for the 

completion of the processes as 

described and the receipt of approval 

from OMB for the appropriate 

information collections. 

During the proposed waiver period, 

HUD expects that implementing 

partners will take rapid action to 

prepare for compliance with the new 

requirements, including, for example: 

1. Establishing certification processes 

for grantees and sub-grantees to 

determine Buy America compliance; 

2. Ensuring contractors, 

subcontractors, and suppliers are 

prepared to certify compliance with Buy 

America requirements, and provide all 

relevant information, including contract 

provisions prescribing Buy America 

requirements; 

3. Establishing appropriate diligence 

by grantees and other relevant agencies, 

including audits and reviews as 

appropriate; 

4. Providing further data and 

information to HUD on the domestic 

availability of covered materials, 

including the extent to which compliant 

and non-compliant goods are used 

during the waiver period, which can be 

used to help provide market insights. 

During the proposed waiver period, 

HUD will also work to prepare for 

implementation of new Made in 

America requirements by: 

1. Assessing existing Federal financial 

assistance processes to see where Made 

in America processes can be most 

efficiently added and aligned; 

2. Building new Made in America 

requirements into forthcoming Notice of 

Funding Opportunities, loan programs, 

and other resources provided by the 

Department, as appropriate; 

3. Reviewing existing enforcement 

processes, including stewardship and 

oversight agreements with grantees, 

risk-based reviews, and compliance 

assessment program reviews to ensure 

we are ready to enforce Made in 

America standards. 

4. Reviewing data, information, and 

comments provided by grantees, 

industry, and other partners to further 

assess opportunities, challenges, and the 

availability of domestically-sourced 

construction materials. 

5. Training HUD staff and adopting 

best practices based on interagency 

work. 

By the end of the proposed waiver 

period, the Department expects 

grantees, industry, and other partners to 

be ready to implement Made in America 

standards, consistent with the Act and 

interpreting guidance and standards. To 

the extent appropriate based on 

information gathered during the 

proposed waiver period, the Department 

will consider shortening the period of 

the waiver overall, or for certain 

categories of products, to rapidly 

encourage domestic sourcing. And, to 

the extent grantees, industry, or other 

partners seek future project-specific or 

broader waivers beyond this temporary 

waiver, they should be expected to 

provide rigorous justification of the lack 

of domestic availability—not only the 

difficulty of complying and the need for 

an adjustment period. 

V. Assessment of Cost Advantage of a 

Foreign-Sourced Product 

Under OMB Memorandum M–22–11, 

‘‘Memorandum for Heads of Executive 

Departments and Agencies,’’ published 

on April 18, 2022, agencies are expected 

to assess ‘‘whether a significant portion 

of any cost advantage of a foreignsourced 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. HUD’s analysis 

has concluded that this assessment is 

not applicable to this waiver, as this 

waiver is not based in the cost of 

foreign-sourced products. HUD will 

perform additional market research 

during the duration of the waiver to 

better understand the market to limit the 

use of waivers caused by dumping of 

foreign-sourced products. 

VI. Limited Duration of the Waiver 

HUD remains committed to the 

successful implementation of the 

important BAP across its programs 

providing covered Federal Financial 

Assistance for infrastructure projects 

and will move swiftly towards 

completion of the processes outlined in 

this notice. This waiver is effective as of 

May 14, 2022, and will remain in effect 

for all Federal Financial Assistance for 

infrastructure projects for six months, or 

until HUD publishes a notice extending 

the waiver or a final notice confirming 

the completion of the PRA process 

described. 

VII. Solicitation of Comments on the 

Waiver 

As required under Section 70914 of 

the Act, HUD is soliciting comment 

from the public on the waiver. In 

particular, HUD invites comments on 

the length, purpose, and scope of the 

waiver to allow HUD to make an 

informed final determination on this 

waiver. Please refer to the DATES and 

ADDRESSES sections of this notice for 

information on submission of 

comments. 

Marcia L. Fudge, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2022–09513 Filed 4–29–22; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

[Docket No. FR–6331–N–02] 

General Applicability Waiver of Build 

America, Buy America Provisions as 

Applied to Tribal Recipients of HUD 

Federal Financial Assistance 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, U.S. 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development (HUD). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Build 

America, Buy America Act, this notice 

advises that HUD is proposing a general 

applicability waiver for one year to the 

Buy America Domestic Content 

Procurement Preference (‘‘Buy America 

Preference,’’ or ‘‘BAP’’) as applied to 

Federal Financial Assistance provided 

to Tribes, Tribally Designated Housing 

Entities (TDHEs), and other Tribal 

Entities. In accordance with the Act, 

HUD has found that this general 

applicability waiver is in the public 

interest, as it provides the Department 

with the opportunity to first engage in 

consultation as described in HUD’s 

Tribal Government-to-Government 

Consultation Policy, consistent with 

President Biden’s ‘‘Tribal Consultation 

and Strengthening Nation-to-Nation 

Relationships’’ Memorandum regarding 

the potential application of BAP to such 

entities. 

DATES: Comments on the proposed 

waiver set out in this document are due 

on or before May 14, 2022. This waiver 

is effective for one year after May 14, 

2022, unless, after reviewing any 

comments, HUD publishes a subsequent 

notice in the Federal Register 

explaining any changes to its 

determination to issue the waiver. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit comments on the 


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26222 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 85 / Tuesday, May 3, 2022 / Notices 

1https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_

indian_housing/ih/regs/govtogov_tcp. See also 81 

FR 40893. 

general applicability waiver. Copies of 

all comments submitted are available for 

inspection and downloading at 

www.regulations.gov. To receive 

consideration as public comments, 

comments must be submitted through 

one of two methods, specified below. 

All submissions must refer to the above 

docket number and title. 

1. Electronic Submission of 

Comments. Interested persons may 

submit comments electronically through 

the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 

www.regulations.gov. HUD strongly 

encourages commenters to submit 

comments electronically. Electronic 

submission of comments allows the 

commenter maximum time to prepare 

and submit a comment, ensures timely 

receipt by HUD, and enables HUD to 

make them immediately available to the 

public. Comments submitted 

electronically through the 

www.regulations.gov website can be 

viewed by other commenters and 

interested members of the public. 

Commenters should follow the 

instructions provided on that site to 

submit comments electronically. 

2. Submission of Comments by Mail. 

Comments may be submitted by mail to 

the Regulations Division, Office of 

General Counsel, Department of 

Housing and Urban Development, 451 

7th Street SW, Room 10276, 

Washington, DC 20410–0500. 

No Facsimile Comments. Facsimile 

(FAX) comments will not be accepted. 

Public Inspection of Comments. All 

properly submitted comments and 

communications submitted to HUD will 

be available for public inspection and 

copying between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 

p.m. weekdays at the above address. 

Due to security measures at the HUD 

Headquarters building, an advance 

appointment to review the submissions 

must be scheduled by calling the 

Regulations Division at (202) 708–3055 

(this is not a toll-free number). 

Individuals with speech or hearing 

impairments may access this number 

via TTY by calling the Federal 

Information Relay Service at (800) 877– 

8339 (this is a toll-free number). Copies 

of all submissions are available for 

inspection and downloading at 

www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Joseph Carlile, Department of Housing 

and Urban Development, 451 Seventh 

Street SW, Room 10226, Washington, 

DC 20410–5000 at (202) 402–7082. HUD 

encourages submission of questions 

about this document be sent to 

BuildAmericaBuyAmerica@hud.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Build America, Buy America 

The Build America, Buy America Act 

(the Act) was enacted on November 15, 

2021, as part of the Infrastructure 

Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Public 

Law 117–58. The Act establishes a 

domestic content procurement 

preference, the BAP, for Federal 

infrastructure programs. Section 

70914(a) of the Act establishes that no 

later than 180 days after the date of 

enactment, HUD must ensure that none 

of the funds made available for 

infrastructure projects may be obligated 

by the Department unless it has taken 

steps to ensure that the iron, steel, 

manufactured products, and 

construction materials used in a project 

are produced in the United States. In 

section 70912, the Act further defines a 

project to include ‘‘the construction, 

alteration, maintenance, or repair of 

infrastructure in the United States’’ and 

includes within the definition of 

infrastructure those items traditionally 

included along with buildings and real 

property. 

II. HUD’s Progress in Implementation of 

the Act 

Since the enactment of the Act, HUD 

has worked diligently to implement the 

BAP. Consistent with the requirements 

of section 70913 of the Act, HUD has 

produced a report that identifies and 

evaluates all of HUD’s Federal Financial 

Assistance programs with potentially 

eligible uses of funds that include 

infrastructure as defined by the Act to 

determine which programs would be in 

compliance with the BAP and which 

would be considered inconsistent with 

section 70914 of the Act and thus 

‘‘deficient’’ as defined by section 

70913(c) of the Act. The report was 

submitted to Congress and the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) and 

published in the Federal Register 

within 60 days after the date of 

enactment of the Act, on January 19, 

2022. Specifically, HUD published the 

required report in a notice entitled 

‘‘Identification of Federal Financial 

Assistance Infrastructure Programs 

Subject to the Build America, Buy 

America Provisions of the Infrastructure 

Investment and Jobs Act’’ in compliance 

with section 70913. 87 FR 2894. In the 

report, HUD erred on the side of overinclusiveness in accordance with OMB 

guidance, finding that none of HUD’s 

discretionary funding programs 

reviewed to date fully meet the BAP 

requirements outlined in section 70914 

of the Act and are considered 

‘‘deficient’’ under the definition in 

section 70913(c). Since issuing the 

report, HUD has held regular meetings 

with Departmental offices and consulted 

administrative and economic data to 

plan to implement the Act. 

III. Waivers 

Under Section 70914(b), HUD has 

authority to waive the application of a 

domestic content procurement 

preference when (1) application of the 

preference would be contrary to the 

public interest, (2) the materials and 

products subject to the preference are 

not produced in the United States at a 

sufficient and reasonably available 

quantity or satisfactory quality, or (3) 

inclusion of domestically produced 

materials and products would increase 

the cost of the overall project by more 

than 25 percent. Section 70914(c) 

provides that a waiver under 70914(b) 

must be published by the agency with 

a detailed written explanation for the 

proposed determination and provide a 

public comment period of not less than 

15 days. Information on this waiver may 

be found at the web page at this link: 

https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/ 

general_counsel/BABA. 

IV. Public Interest in a General 

Applicability Waiver of Buy America 

Provisions for Tribes, TDHEs, and 

Other Tribal Entities 

In this notice, HUD is seeking 

comment on a general applicability 

waiver of the BAP to HUD’s Federal 

Financial Assistance awards to provide 

the Department with sufficient time to 

comply with HUD’s Tribal consultation 

process. HUD’s Tribal Government-toGovernment Consultation Policy 1 was 

adopted in compliance with Executive 

Order 13175, ‘‘Consultation with Indian 

Tribal Governments,’’ and outlines the 

internal procedures and principles HUD 

must follow when communicating and 

coordinating on HUD programs and 

activities that affect Native American 

Tribes. HUD’s Tribal consultation policy 

recognizes the right of Tribes to selfgovernment and facilitates Tribal 

participation and input in HUD’s 

implementation of programs and 

Federal financial assistance directed to 

Tribal communities. 

As HUD’s previous Federal Register 

Notice advised, many of the 

Department’s programs will be subject 

to the BAP and have previously not 

required compliance with similar Buy 

American preferences. In fiscal year 

2022, Tribes, TDHEs, and other Tribal 

Entities will receive $1 billion through 

the Department’s programs where 

infrastructure is an eligible activity, and 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 85 / Tuesday, May 3, 2022 / Notices 26223 

may be subject to the BAP. HUD 

believes that full compliance with the 

BAP will create ongoing demand for 

domestically produced products and 

deepen domestic supply chains. 

Because the potential application of 

BAP mandated by the Act would be new 

to the majority of HUD’s programs and 

Federal Financial Assistance, HUD has 

not had the benefit of engaging in 

consultation pursuant to its Tribal 

Consultation policy concerning the 

application of the BAP to Tribes, 

TDHEs, and other Tribal Entities. 

Because of the significance and 

potentially wide scope of new 

requirements necessary to demonstrate 

compliance with BAP or to seek waivers 

of BAP for specific products or projects, 

it is imperative that HUD take time to 

engage in Tribal consultation and then 

fully consider information gathered 

through such consultation in 

determining how best to ensure 

compliance with the Act in connection 

with Federal Financial Assistance 

awards to Tribes, TDHEs, and other 

Tribal Entities. HUD believes that the 

Tribal consultation process is key to the 

successful implementation of the BAP 

across its covered Federal Financial 

Assistance programs funding 

infrastructure projects and that a full 

and meaningful Tribal consultation 

process will allow HUD to determine 

the potential impact of the Act’s Buy 

America Preference on Tribal 

governments and communities and will 

inform a tailored implementation for 

Tribal recipients that recognizes the 

sovereignty and unique status of Tribal 

governments. Therefore, HUD has 

determined that it would be contrary to 

the public’s interest to apply the BAP 

prior to completion of these Tribal 

consultation processes. HUD is hereby 

waiving the application of the BAP to its 

Federal Financial Assistance awards to 

Tribes, TDHEs, and other Tribal Entities 

obligated for the duration of this waiver 

to allow sufficient time for completion 

of the Tribal consultation processes 

regarding how BAP should be applied to 

Tribes, TDHEs, and other Tribal 

Entities. HUD may choose to consult 

with Tribes in coordination with other 

Federal agencies that also fund Tribal 

infrastructure projects. 

V. Assessment of Cost Advantage of a 

Foreign-Sourced Product 

Under OMB Memorandum M–22–11, 

‘‘Memorandum for Heads of Executive 

Departments and Agencies,’’ published 

on April 18, 2022, agencies are expected 

to assess ‘‘whether a significant portion 

of any cost advantage of a foreignsourced 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. HUD’s analysis 

has concluded that this assessment is 

not applicable to this waiver, as this 

waiver is not based in the cost of 

foreign-sourced products. 

VI. Limited Duration of the Waiver 

HUD remains committed to the 

successful implementation of the 

important BAP across its programs 

providing covered Federal Financial 

Assistance for infrastructure projects, 

recognizing the unique relationship it 

has with Tribes, TDHEs, and other 

Tribal Entities receiving HUD Federal 

Financial Assistance for infrastructure 

projects. HUD is committed to engaging 

in a timely consultation process as 

noted above. 

This waiver is effective as of May 14, 

2022, and will remain in effect for all 

Federal Financial Assistance for 

infrastructure projects obligated to 

Tribes, TDHEs, and other Tribal Entities 

for one year, or until HUD publishes a 

notice extending the waiver or a final 

notice confirming the completion of 

HUD’s Tribal consultation process and 

announcing the termination of this 

general applicability waiver. 

VII. Solicitation of Comments 

As required under Section 70914 of 

the Act, HUD is soliciting comment 

from the public on the waiver. Please 

refer to the DATES and ADDRESSES

sections of this notice for information 

on submission of comments. 

Marcia L. Fudge, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2022–09511 Filed 4–29–22; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R2–ES–2022–N019; 

FXES11130200000–223–FF02ENEH00] 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants; Recovery Permit 

Applications 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of receipt of permit 

applications; request for comments. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, invite the public to 

comment on the following applications 

for a permit to conduct activities 

intended to recover and enhance 

endangered species survival. With some 

exceptions, the Endangered Species Act 

prohibits certain activities that may 

impact endangered species unless a 

Federal permit allows such activity. The 

ESA also requires that we invite public 

comment before issuing these permits. 

DATES: To ensure consideration, please 

submit your written comments by June 

2, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: 

Document availability: Request 

documents by phone or email: Marty 

Tuegel 505–248–6651, marty_tuegel@

fws.gov. 

Comment submission: Submit 

comments by email to fw2_te_permits@

fws.gov. Please specify the permit 

application you are interested in by 

number (e.g., Permit Record No. 

PER1234567). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Marty Tuegel, Supervisor, 

Environmental Review Division, 505– 

248–6651. Individuals in the United 

States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of 

hearing, or have a speech disability may 

dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to 

access telecommunications relay 

services. Individuals outside the United 

States should use the relay services 

offered within their country to make 

international calls to the point-ofcontact in the United States. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

With some exceptions, the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), 

prohibits activities that constitute take 

of listed species unless a Federal permit 

is issued that allows such activity. The 

ESA’s definition of ‘‘take’’ includes 

hunting, shooting, harming, wounding, 

or killing, and also such activities as 

pursuing, harassing, trapping, capturing, 

or collecting. 

The ESA and our implementing 

regulations in the Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR) at title 50, part 17, 

provide for issuing such permits and 

require that we invite public comment 

before issuing permits for activities 

involving listed species. 

A recovery permit we issue under the 

ESA, section 10(a)(1)(A), authorizes the 

permittee to conduct activities with 

endangered or threatened species for 

scientific purposes that promote 

recovery or enhance the species’ 

propagation or survival. These activities 

often include such prohibited actions as 

capture and collection. Our regulations 

implementing section 10(a)(1)(A) for 

these permits are found at 50 CFR 17.22 

for endangered wildlife species, 50 CFR 

17.32 for threatened wildlife species, 50 

CFR 17.62 for endangered plant species, 


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