Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 109 / Tuesday, June 8, 2010 / Notices 32467 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–9159–7] 

Notice of a Regional Waiver of Section 

1605 (Buy American Requirement) of 

the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to 

the City of Richland (the City) 

Washington 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Regional Administrator 

of EPA Region 10 is hereby granting a 

late waiver request from the Buy 

American requirements of ARRA 

Section 1605(a) 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 City for the purchase and use of 

a 42-inch by 24-inch AWWA C153 

cement lined mechanical joint reducer 

tee fitting, manufactured outside of the 

U.S. This is a project specific waiver 

and only applies to the use of the 

specified product for the ARRA project 

discussed in this notice. Any other 

ARRA recipient that wishes to use the 

same product must apply for a separate 

waiver based on project specific 

circumstances. The City’s waiver 

request included the project schedule 

and purchasing efforts attempting to 

meet Buy American compliance by the 

applicant, contractor and pipeline 

materials supplier. The domestic 

manufacturer notified the piping 

supplier that the shipment of the 

product would be delayed and it 

appears that the supplier on behalf of 

the City, the ARRA recipient, did an 

extensive, seemingly comprehensive, 

and ultimately unsuccessful search for a 

U.S. manufacturer who could meet the 

project specifications in accordance 

with the construction schedule. 

The Regional Administrator is making 

this determination based on the review 

and recommendations of the Grants & 

Strategic Planning Unit. The City has 

provided sufficient documentation to 

support their request. 

DATES: Effective Date: May 21, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Bryan Fiedorczyk, CWSRF ARRA 

Program Management Analyst, Grants 

and Strategic Planning Unit, Office of 

Water & Watersheds (OWW), (206) 553– 

0506, U.S. EPA Region 10 (OWW–137), 

1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900, Seattle, 

WA 98101. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

In accordance with ARRA Section 

1605(c) and OMB regulations at 2 CFR 

Part 176, Subpart B, the EPA hereby 

provides notice that it is granting a late 

project waiver request of the 

requirements of Section 1605(a) of 

Public Law 111–5, Buy American 

requirements, to the City for the 

purchase and use of a 42-inch by 24- 

inch AWWA C153 cement lined 

mechanical joint reducer tee fitting, 

manufactured outside of the U.S. The 

AWWA C153 reducer fittings will be 

incorporated as part of a wastewater 

treatment system upgrade project that 

will replace an energy intensive 

inefficient aeration treatment process 

with a plug flow fine bubble aeration 

system. The improvements will reduce 

energy consumption by more than 70% 

and reduce the discharge of suspended 

solids, biochemical oxygen demand and 

nitrogen into the Columbia River. The 

City received $3,049,304 of ARRA 

funding through the Clean Water State 

Revolving Fund to complete this 

project. The City was unable to find a 

supplier that could provide American 

manufactured reducer fittings to meet 

the project specific requirements and 

the construction schedule agreed upon 

for the project. 

There are several noteworthy factors 

that impact this waiver analysis: (a) It is 

a late request because the waiver request 

came after the construction contract was 

signed; (b) under 2 CFR 176.130(c)(1) 

the applicable non-compliance 

provision regarding unauthorized use of 

foreign manufactured goods, EPA is 

authorized to process a waiver under 2 

CFR 176.120(a) if ‘‘the need for such 

determination otherwise was not 

reasonably foreseeable,’’ and EPA has 

further outlined this process in its April 

28, 2009 memorandum: Implementation 

of Buy American provisions of Public 

Law 111–5, the ‘‘American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009’’ (the April 28 

memorandum); (c) EPA has determined 

that the applicant ordered domestically 

manufactured AWWA C153 reducer 

fittings, and due to the supplier’s 

inability to deliver one of the fittings on 

schedule, the applicant could not 

reasonably foresee they would need to 

request a waiver for a foreign made 

product. 

The project contractor’s piping 

supplier (H.D. Fowler) issued a 

purchase order to the manufacturer (Star 

Pipe Products) for the AWWA C153 

reducer fittings (2 each) on February 23, 

2010. One fitting is associated with the 

modification to the WWTF Aeration 

Basin 2 and the second fitting is 

associated with the modification to the 

WWTF Aeration Basin 1. The contract 

schedule requires that the subject 

product for Basin 2 be delivered to the 

project site by June 2, 2010, which will 

ensure the startup of Basin 2 by August 

5, 2010 and the commissioning of Basin 

2 by September 15, 2010. Work on the 

modification to Basin 1 is scheduled to 

commence immediately following the 

commissioning of Basin 2. The piping 

supplier placed the order with the 

manufacturer on the basis of an agreed 

ship date of May 24, 2010 [90 days from 

receipt of purchase order] for one of the 

two products and an agreed ship date of 

June 23, 2010 [120 days from receipt of 

purchase order] for the second of the 

two products. On March 30, 2010, the 

manufacturer notified the piping 

supplier that the shipment of the 

product would be delayed. The 

estimated time of arrival at the site 

would be June 26, 2010. The delay in 

shipment poses a negative impact to 

project construction costs, schedule, 

and employment. Late delivery would 

push the site piping installation into the 

same time frame as the diffuser 

installation in order to meet the 

project’s contractual completion 

schedule. Since the reducer fitting is a 

central part of the piping scheme, most 

pipe cannot be installed prior to this 

central node being completed. Delay of 

the piping installation would impose 

extra costs of installation equipment 

(excavator, dump truck, and loader) that 

would need to remain on site for an 

additional month. Additionally, the 

contractor would need to lay off two 

full-time equivalent (FTE) employees (of 

the three FTE positions assigned to the 

project) for approximately 18 work days 

(between June 2nd and June 26th, 2010). 

Based on the technical evaluation 

conducted by EPA’s consulting 

contractor (Cadmus), the available 

evidence supports the applicant’s claim 

that the AWWA C153 reducer fitting for 

Basin 2 is not available from a domestic 

manufacturer within a timeframe that 

meets the project’s schedule (i.e., 

delivery to the project site by June 2, 

2010). Further, the domestic 

manufacturer has advised the Grants 

and Strategic Planning Unit that it has 

a substantial back log of orders and will 

not be adversely affected if the City 

cancels the purchase order. 

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 is produced in the 

United States unless a waiver is 

provided to the recipient by EPA. A 

waiver may be provided under Section 

1605(b) if EPA determines that, (1) 


emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with NOTICES
32468 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 109 / Tuesday, June 8, 2010 / Notices 

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 April 28 memorandum 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. Based on additional 

research by EPA’s consulting contractor 

(Cadmus), and to the best of the 

Region’s knowledge at this time, the 

City attempted without success, to meet 

the Buy American requirements. 

Furthermore, the purpose of the ARRA 

provisions was to stimulate economic 

recovery by funding current 

infrastructure construction, not to delay 

projects that are already shovel ready by 

requiring entities, like the City, to halt 

construction pending manufacture of 

domestically produced goods. To 

further delay construction is in direct 

conflict with the most fundamental 

economic purposes of ARRA; to create 

or retain jobs. 

The Grants and Strategic Planning 

Unit has reviewed this waiver request 

and has determined that the supporting 

documentation provided by the City is 

sufficient to meet the following criteria 

listed under Section 1605(b) and in the 

April 28 memorandum: Iron, Steel, and 

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), due to the lack of U.S. 

production of a 42-inch by 24-inch 

AWWA C153 cement lined mechanical 

joint reducer tee fitting, in order to meet 

the City’s design schedule and 

specifications. The March 31, 2009, 

Delegation of Authority Memorandum 

provided Regional Administrators with 

the authority to issue exceptions to 

Section 1605 of 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, 

the City is hereby granted a waiver from 

the Buy American requirements of 

Section 1605(a) of Public Law 111–5 for 

the purchase of a 42-inch by 24-inch 

AWWA C153 cement lined mechanical 

joint reducer tee fitting from a 

manufacturer outside of the U.S. 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: May 21, 2010. 

Dennis J. McLerran, 

Regional Administrator EPA, Region 10. 

[FR Doc. 2010–13619 Filed 6–7–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

FARM CREDIT SYSTEM INSURANCE 

CORPORATION 

Farm Credit System Insurance 

Corporation Board; Regular Meeting 

AGENCY: Farm Credit System Insurance 

Corporation. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the 

regular meeting of the Farm Credit 

System Insurance Corporation Board 

(Board). 

DATES: The meeting of the Board will be 

held at the offices of the Farm Credit 

Administration in McLean, Virginia, on 

June 10, 2010, from 1 p.m. until such 

time as the Board concludes its 

business. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Roland E. Smith, Secretary to the Farm 

Credit System Insurance Corporation 

Board, (703) 883–4009, TTY (703) 883– 

4056. 

ADDRESSES: Farm Credit System 

Insurance Corporation, 1501 Farm 

Credit Drive, McLean, Virginia 22102. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Parts of 

this meeting of the Board will be open 

to the public (limited space available) 

and parts will be closed to the public. 

In order to increase the accessibility to 

Board meetings, persons requiring 

assistance should make arrangements in 

advance. The matters to be considered 

at the meeting are: 

Closed Session 

• FCSIC Report on System 

Performance 

Open Session 

A. Approval of Minutes 

• March 25, 2010 (Open and Closed) 

B. Business Reports 

• FCSIC Financial Report 

• Report on Insured Obligations 

• Quarterly Report on Annual 

Performance Plan 

C. New Business 

• Policy Statement Concerning 

Appraisals 

• Mid-Year Review of Insurance 

Premium Rates 

• FCSIC Strategic Plan FY 2010–2015 

Dated: June 2, 2010. 

Roland E. Smith, 

Secretary, Farm Credit System Insurance 

Corporation Board. 

[FR Doc. 2010–13605 Filed 6–7–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6710–01–P 

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Announcement of Board 

Approval Under Delegated Authority 

and Submission to OMB 

SUMMARY: Background. Notice is hereby 

given of the final approval of proposed 

information collections by the Board of 

Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System (Board) under OMB delegated 

authority, as per 5 CFR 1320.16 (OMB 

Regulations on Controlling Paperwork 

Burdens on the Public). Board-approved 

collections of information are 

incorporated into the official OMB 

inventory of currently approved 

collections of information. Copies of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act Submission, 

supporting statements and approved 

collection of information instrument(s) 

are placed into OMB’s public docket 

files. The Federal Reserve may not 

conduct or sponsor, and the respondent 

is not required to respond to, an 

information collection that has been 

extended, revised, or implemented on or 

after October 1, 1995, unless it displays 

a currently valid OMB control number. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Federal Reserve Board Clearance 

Officer—Michelle Shore—Division of 

Research and Statistics, Board of 

Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System, Washington, DC 20551 (202– 

452–3829). 

OMB Desk Officer—Shagufta 

Ahmed—Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, Office of 

Management and Budget, New 

Executive Office Building, Room 10235, 

Washington, DC 20503. 

Final approval under OMB delegated 

authority to discontinue the following 

report: 

Report title: Survey of Financial 

Management Behaviors of Military 

Personnel. 

Agency form number: FR 1375. 

OMB control number: 7100–0307. 

Frequency: Semi-annually. 

Reporters: Military personnel. 

Estimated annual reporting hours: 

2,640 hours. 


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