25244 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 88 / Friday, May 7, 2010 / Notices 

of high-speed, high-efficiency magnetic 

bearing turbo-compressors that are 

manufactured in Sweden. 

Section 1605 of the ARRA requires 

that none of the appropriated funds may 

be used for the construction, alteration, 

maintenance, or repair of a public 

building or public work unless all of the 

iron, steel, and manufactured goods 

used in the project are produced in the 

United States, or unless a waiver is 

provided to the recipient by the head of 

the appropriate agency, here EPA. A 

waiver may be provided if EPA 

determines that (1) applying these 

requirements would be inconsistent 

with the public interest; (2) iron, steel, 

and the relevant manufactured goods 

are not produced in the United States in 

sufficient and reasonably available 

quantities and of a satisfactory quality; 

or (3) inclusion of iron, steel, and the 

relevant manufactured goods produced 

in the United States will increase the 

cost of the overall project by more than 

25 percent. 

These manufactured goods will 

provide aeration for Auburn’s activated 

sludge treatment process. The city 

selected the magnetic bearing 

technology because of its ability to 

avoid overheating and its track record of 

providing long-standing reliable 

service—key advantages over the 

competing airfoil bearing technology. 

Auburn’s submissions clearly 

articulated functional reasons that 

justified their technical specifications 

and requirements. 

The April 28, 2009 EPA HQ 

Memorandum, ‘‘Implementation of Buy 

American provisions of Public Law 

111–5, the ‘American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009’,’’ defines 

reasonably available quantity as ‘‘the 

quantity of iron, steel, or relevant 

manufactured good is available or will 

be available at the time needed and 

place needed, and in the proper form or 

specification as specified in the project 

plans and design.’’ 

The applicant met the requirements 

specified for the availability inquiry as 

appropriate to the circumstances by 

conducting an extensive investigation 

into all possible sources for high-speed, 

high-efficiency turbo-compressors. 

Based on the investigation, five 

companies were found to manufacture 

these machines, but only two (ABS and 

one other company) used magnetic 

bearings. Moreover, both of the 

companies that use magnetic bearings 

manufacture their machines overseas. 

Auburn believes that since ABS has 

multiple municipal wastewater 

treatment plant installations in the 

Midwest and that its competitor has 

none, that the ABS turbo-compressor 

technology has been proven and would 

perform reliably in this specific 

application. Therefore, Auburn 

contends that there is no domestic 

product of satisfactory quality available. 

EPA’s national contractor prepared a 

technical assessment report dated 

January 27, 2010, based on the 

submitted waiver request. The report 

determined that the waiver request 

submittal was complete, that adequate 

technical information was provided, 

and that there were no significant 

weaknesses in the justification 

provided. Therefore, based on the 

information provided to EPA and to the 

best of our knowledge at this time, the 

high-speed, high-efficiency magnetic 

bearing turbo-compressors necessary for 

this project are not manufactured in the 

United States, and no other U.S. 

manufactured product can meet 

Auburn’s project performance 

specifications and requirements. 

The purpose of the ARRA is to 

stimulate economic recovery in part by 

funding current infrastructure 

construction, not to delay projects that 

are ‘‘shovel ready’’ by requiring 

communities such as Auburn to revise 

their standards and specifications and to 

start the bidding process again. The 

imposition of ARRA Buy American 

requirements on such projects otherwise 

eligible for ARRA State Revolving Fund 

assistance would result in unreasonable 

delay and thus displace the ‘‘shovel 

ready’’ status for this project. To further 

delay project implementation is in 

direct conflict with a fundamental 

economic purpose of the ARRA, which 

is to create or retain jobs. 

The State and Tribal Programs Branch 

has reviewed this waiver request and 

has determined that the supporting 

documentation provided by Auburn is 

sufficient to meet the criteria listed 

under Section 1605(b) of the ARRA and 

in the April 28, 2009, ‘‘Implementation 

of Buy American provisions of Public 

Law 111–5, the ‘American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009’ 

Memorandum’’: Iron, steel, and the 

manufactured goods are not produced in 

the United States in sufficient and 

reasonably available quantities and of a 

satisfactory quality. The basis for this 

project waiver is the authorization 

provided in Section 1605(b)(2) of the 

ARRA. Due to the lack of production of 

this item in the United States in 

sufficient and reasonably available 

quantities and of a satisfactory quality 

in order to meet Auburn’s project 

performance specifications and 

requirements, a waiver from the Buy 

American requirement is justified. 

The March 31, 2009, Delegation of 

Authority Memorandum provided 

Regional Administrators with the 

authority to issue exceptions to Section 

1605 of the ARRA within the geographic 

boundaries of their respective regions 

and with respect to requests by 

individual grant recipients. Having 

established both a proper basis to 

specify the particular good required for 

this project, and that this manufactured 

good was not available from a producer 

in the United States, Auburn is hereby 

granted a waiver from the Buy American 

requirements of Section 1605(a) of 

Public Law 111–5 for the purchase of 

high-speed, high efficiency magnetic 

bearing turbo-compressors using ARRA 

funds as specified in the community’s 

request of December 21, 2009. This 

supplementary information constitutes 

the detailed written justification 

required by Section 1605(c) for waivers 

‘‘based on a finding under subsection 

(b).’’ 

Authority: Pub. L. 111–5, section 1605. 

Dated: March 25, 2010. 

Walter W. Kovalick, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5. 

[FR Doc. 2010–10918 Filed 5–6–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–9145–4] 

Notice of a Project Waiver of Section 

1605 (Buy American Requirement) of 

the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to 

Warren County, OH (Warren County) 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The EPA is hereby granting a 

project waiver of the Buy American 

requirements of ARRA Section 1605 

under the authority of Section 

1605(b)(2) [manufactured goods are not 

produced in the United States of a 

satisfactory quality] to Warren County 

for the purchase of a Trojan UV 4000 

Plus medium-pressure, high-intensity 

ultraviolet disinfection system to treat 

effluent from the Lower Little Miami 

River Wastewater Treatment Plant. This 

is a project-specific waiver and only 

applies to the use of the specified 

product for the ARRA funded project 

being proposed. Any other ARRA 

project that may wish to use the same 

product must apply for a separate 

waiver based on project-specific 

circumstances. This disinfection system, 

which is supplied by Trojan 

Technologies of London, Ontario, is 

manufactured in Canada and meets 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 88 / Friday, May 7, 2010 / Notices 25245 

Warren County’s performance 

specifications and requirements. The 

Acting Regional Administrator is 

making this determination based on the 

review and recommendations of EPA 

Region 5’s Water Division. Warren 

County has provided sufficient 

documentation to support its request. 

The Assistant Administrator of the 

Office of Administration and Resources 

Management has concurred on this 

decision to make an exception to 

Section 1605 of ARRA. This action 

permits the purchase of a Trojan UV 

4000 Plus medium-pressure, highintensity ultraviolet disinfection system 

for the Lower Little Miami River 

Wastewater Treatment Plant that may 

otherwise be prohibited under Section 

1605(a) of the ARRA. 

DATES: Effective Date: January 26, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Andrew Lausted, SRF Program Manager 

(312) 886–0189, or Puja Lakhani, Office 

of Regional Counsel, (312) 353–3190, 

U.S. EPA Region 5, 77 W. Jackson Blvd., 

Chicago, IL 60604. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with ARRA section 1605(c) 

and pursuant to section 1605(b)(2) of 

Public Law 111–5, the Buy American 

requirements, EPA hereby provides 

notice that it is granting a project waiver 

to Warren County for the acquisition of 

a Trojan 4000 Plus medium-pressure, 

high-intensity ultraviolet disinfection 

system that is manufactured in Canada. 

Section 1605 of the ARRA requires 

that none of the appropriated funds may 

be used for the construction, alteration, 

maintenance, or repair of a public 

building or public work unless all of the 

iron, steel, and manufactured goods 

used in the project are produced in the 

United States, or unless a waiver is 

provided to the recipient by the head of 

the appropriate agency, here EPA. A 

waiver may be provided if EPA 

determines that (1) Applying these 

requirements would be inconsistent 

with the public interest; (2) iron, steel, 

and the relevant manufactured goods 

are not produced in the United States in 

sufficient and reasonably available 

quantities and of a satisfactory quality; 

or (3) inclusion of iron, steel, and the 

relevant manufactured goods produced 

in the United States will increase the 

cost of the overall project by more than 

25 percent. 

These manufactured goods will 

provide wastewater effluent disinfection 

for Warren County’s Lower Little Miami 

River Wastewater Treatment Plant. Early 

in the design process, the County 

decided to use a UV system that utilizes 

a medium pressure UV lamp. Warren 

County’s plant is relatively large and a 

medium pressure UV system uses many 

fewer UV lamps than a low pressure 

system, and consequently has reduced 

operation and maintenance costs and 

requires a much smaller building to 

house the UV system. 

While there are two companies that 

manufacture medium pressure UV 

systems that are marketed in the United 

States for use in wastewater 

disinfection, each manufacturer 

implements the technology differently 

which generally requires a completely 

different facility layout. Based on cost 

and technical concerns, the County 

decided in 2008—prior to the enactment 

of ARRA—to finalize plant design using 

the Trojan 4000 Plus medium-pressure, 

high intensity ultraviolet disinfection 

system with an open-channel 

configuration that will meet the capacity 

requirements of the project. 

The April 28, 2009 EPA HQ 

Memorandum, ‘‘Implementation of Buy 

American provisions of Public Law 

111–5, the ‘American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009’,’’ defines 

reasonably available quantity as ‘‘the 

quantity of iron, steel, or relevant 

manufactured good is available or will 

be available at the time needed and 

place needed, and in the proper form or 

specification as specified in the project 

plans and design.’’ 

Here, the applicant met the 

requirements specified for the 

availability inquiry by conducting an 

extensive investigation into all possible 

sources for medium-pressure, high 

intensity ultraviolet disinfection 

systems that can meet the capacity 

requirements of the project. The one 

potential alternative to the Trojan 4000 

Plus system, an Americanmanufactured, medium-pressure 

ultraviolet disinfection system for 

wastewater, was a closed-vessel, in-pipe 

system rather than an open-channel 

system. Use of this alternative would 

require a substantial and costly redesign 

of the disinfection facility from the 

project specifications as finalized in 

2008. Based on the information 

provided to EPA and to the best of our 

knowledge at this time, because the 

Trojan 4000 Plus is the only system that 

can meet the design specification for an 

open-channel medium-pressure highintensity UV disinfection system, EPA 

believes that there is no domestic 

product of satisfactory quality available 

to meet this justified specification. 

The purpose of the ARRA is to 

stimulate economic recovery in part by 

funding current infrastructure 

construction, and not to delay projects 

that are ‘‘shovel ready’’ by requiring 

communities such as Warren County to 

revise substantially their project design 

and specifications, start the bidding 

process again, and potentially choose a 

more costly, less efficient project. In this 

situation, the imposition of ARRA Buy 

American requirements on a project 

otherwise eligible for ARRA State 

Revolving Fund assistance would result 

in unreasonable delay and thus displace 

the ‘‘shovel ready’’ status for this project. 

To further delay project implementation 

is in direct conflict with a fundamental 

economic purpose of the ARRA, which 

is to create or retain jobs. 

Based on the submitted waiver 

request, EPA’s national contractor 

prepared a technical assessment report 

dated November 3, 2009. The report 

determined that the waiver request 

submittal was complete, that adequate 

technical information was provided, 

and that there were no significant 

weaknesses in the justification that was 

provided. The report confirmed the 

waiver applicant’s claim that there are 

no comparable domestic products that 

can meet the design specifications for 

the project. Therefore, based on the 

information provided to EPA and to the 

best of our knowledge at this time, the 

medium-pressure, high-intensity openchannel configuration ultraviolet 

disinfection system necessary for this 

project is not manufactured in the 

United States, and no other U.S. 

manufactured product can meet Warren 

County’s project performance 

specifications and requirements. 

The State and Tribal Programs Branch 

has reviewed this waiver request and 

has determined that the supporting 

documentation provided by Warren 

County is sufficient to meet the criteria 

listed under Section 1605(b) of the 

ARRA and in the April 28, 2009, 

‘‘Implementation of Buy American 

provisions of Public Law 111–5, the 

‘American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act of 2009’ Memorandum’’: Iron, steel, 

and the manufactured goods are not 

produced in the United States in 

sufficient and reasonably available 

quantities and of a satisfactory quality. 

The basis for this project waiver is the 

authorization provided in Section 

1605(b)(2) of the ARRA. Due to the lack 

of production of this item in the United 

States in sufficient and reasonably 

available quantities and of a satisfactory 

quality to meet Warren County’s project 

performance specifications and 

requirements, a waiver from the Buy 

American requirement is justified. 

The March 31, 2009, Delegation of 

Authority Memorandum provided 

Regional Administrators with the 

authority to issue exceptions to Section 

1605 of the ARRA within the geographic 

boundaries of their respective regions 

and with respect to requests by 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
25246 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 88 / Friday, May 7, 2010 / Notices 

individual grant recipients. Having 

established both a proper basis to 

specify the particular good required for 

this project, and that this manufactured 

good was not available from a producer 

in the United States, Warren County is 

hereby granted a waiver from the Buy 

American requirements of Section 

1605(a) of Public Law 111–5 for the 

purchase of a Trojan 4000 Plus mediumpressure, high-intensity ultraviolet 

disinfection system using ARRA funds 

as specified in the community’s request 

of October 29, 2009. This 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION constitutes 

the detailed written justification 

required by Section 1605(c) for waivers 

‘‘based on a finding under subsection 

(b).’’ 

Authority: Pub. L. 111–5, section 1605. 

Dated: January 26, 2010. 

Walter W. Kovalick, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5. 

[FR Doc. 2010–10911 Filed 5–6–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–9146–9] 

Notice of a Project Waiver of Section 

1605 (Buy American Requirement) of 

the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to 

the Albuquerque Bernalillo County 

Water Utility Authority, New Mexico 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Regional Administrator 

of EPA Region 6 is hereby granting a 

project waiver of the Buy American 

requirements of ARRA Section 1605 

under the authority of Section 

1605(b)(2) [manufactured goods are not 

produced in the United States in 

sufficient and reasonably available 

quantities and of a satisfactory quality] 

to the Albuquerque Bernalillo County 

Water Utility Authority (‘‘ABCWUA’’) 

for the purchase of three hundred 

acoustic leak detection sensors/loggers 

(‘‘loggers’’) and one fully programmable 

radio transceiver. The loggers and radio 

transceiver under consideration are 

manufactured by Gutermann, Inc., and 

no United States manufacturer produces 

an alternative that meets the ABCWUA’s 

technical specifications. This is a 

project specific waiver and only applies 

to the use of the specified product for 

the ARRA funded project being 

proposed. Any other ARRA project that 

may wish to use the same product must 

apply for a separate waiver based on the 

specific project circumstances. The 

Regional Administrator is making this 

determination based on the review and 

recommendations of the EPA Region 6, 

Water Quality Protection Division. The 

ABCWUA has provided sufficient 

documentation to support its request. 

The Assistant Administrator of the 

EPA’s Office of Administration and 

Resources Management has concurred 

on this decision to make an exception 

to Section 1605 of ARRA. This action 

permits the purchase of three hundred 

loggers and one radio transceiver 

containing goods not manufactured in 

America, for the proposed project being 

implemented by the ABCWUA. 

DATES: Effective Date: April 28, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Nasim Jahan, Buy American 

Coordinator, (214) 665–7522, SRF & 

Projects Section, Water Quality 

Protection Division, U.S. EPA Region 6, 

1445 Ross Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75202– 

2733. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with ARRA Section 1605(c) 

and 1605(b)(2), EPA hereby provides 

notice that it is granting a project waiver 

of the requirements of Section 1605(a) of 

Public Law 111–5, Buy American 

requirements to the ABCWUA for the 

acquisition of three hundred loggers and 

one radio transceiver (Model: 

Gutermann Zonescan 820). The 

ABCWUA has been unable to find an 

American made logger manufacturer to 

meet its specific requirements of cross 

correlation functionality for pinpointing 

leaks throughout its water distribution 

system. 

Section 1605 of the ARRA requires 

that none of the appropriated funds may 

be used for the construction, alteration, 

maintenance, or repair of a public 

building or public work unless all of the 

iron, steel, and manufactured goods 

used in the project are produced in the 

United States unless a waiver is 

provided to the recipient by EPA. A 

waiver may be provided if EPA 

determines that (1) applying these 

requirements would be inconsistent 

with public interest; (2) iron, steel, and 

the relevant manufactured goods are not 

produced in the United States in 

sufficient and reasonably available 

quantities and of a satisfactory quality; 

or (3) inclusion of iron, steel, and the 

relevant manufactured goods produced 

in the United States will increase the 

cost of the overall project by more than 

25 percent. 

The ABCWUA is implementing a 

comprehensive asset management 

program, and leak detection is critical to 

better management of its water system 

assets. The ABCWUA desires to quickly 

and efficiently locate leaks in its 

wastewater distribution system and 

seeks ARRA funding to purchase loggers 

that can easily be deployed on the water 

distribution system, that are noninvasive, and are designed to detect 

noise generated from vibrations of water 

escaping from pipes. Efficient leak 

detection provides timely data on the 

types of leak and potential cause. It 

helps the utility authority in identifying 

high priority assets needing 

rehabilitation/replacement, which can 

effectively reduce the chances of 

catastrophic failure. 

Accordingly, the ABCWUA on 

January 22, 2010 concluded an ARRA 

assistance agreement with the State of 

New Mexico to a fund a project to 

procure and deploy leak detection 

equipment for its distribution system. 

The bid documents for the project 

include the specifications for loggers 

and one radio transceiver having cross 

correlation functionality for exactly 

pinpointing leaks throughout the water 

distribution system. The ABCWUA had 

received four bids for this project on 

January 20, 2010, and upon identifying 

Gutermann as the only bidder to 

provide a data logger that included this 

cross-correlation functionality, 

submitted a timely waiver request to 

EPA on February 5, 2010. 

The ABCWUA is requesting a waiver 

for the use of three hundred loggers and 

one programmable radio transceiver 

(Model: Gutermann Zonescan 820) on 

the basis that there are no domestic 

manufacturers of the loggers that will 

meet the ABCWUA product 

specifications. 

The ABCWUA authority received four 

bids for the acoustic leak detection 

equipment project. Among the four 

bidders, the bid submitted by 

Gutermann was the only leak detection 

logger that met ABCWUA’s 

specifications. Specifically, the logger 

was required to have the feature of cross 

correlation functionality for pinpointing 

leaks. Gutermann’s Zonescan 820 

loggers automatically perform leak noise 

correlation for pinpointing the leak 

location. In addition, automatic multicorrelation provides precise positions 

between all loggers in the same project 

area. As this feature maximizes the 

efficiency and effectiveness of the 

crucial functions of enabling the 

ABCWUA to conserve and prevent 

contamination of scarce water supplies 

that have already been treated to comply 

with National Primary Drinking Water 

Regulations, EPA finds that the 

ABCWUA’s specification of this feature 

is justified. 

Although there are loggers that are 

manufactured in the United States, the 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES