5564 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 22 / Wednesday, February 3, 2010 / Notices 

District, 3502 Highway 30, La Grande, 

Oregon 97850; Telephone: (541) 962– 

8582. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This will 

be the first meeting of the Committee 

since reauthorization of Public Law 

106–393. The meeting will focus on 

introducing new Committee members, 

becoming familiar with duties and 

responsibilities, selecting a chairperson, 

reviewing and recommending 2009 and 

2010 project proposals that meet the 

intent of the Act. The meeting is open 

to the public. A public input 

opportunity will be provided, and 

individuals will have the opportunity to 

address the committee at that time. 

Dated: January 27, 2010. 

Jen Fitzpatrick, 

Acting Forest Supervisor. 

[FR Doc. 2010–2277 Filed 2–2–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Utilities Service 

Notice of a Project Waiver of Section 

1605 (Buy American Requirement) of 

the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) That 

Has Been Granted to the Plymouth 

Village Water & Sewer District, New 

Hampshire 

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The United States Department 

of Agriculture (USDA) grants 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 Plymouth Village Water & Sewer 

District, New Hampshire (‘‘District’’) for 

the purchase of a foreign manufactured 

rotary sludge dewatering press. This is 

a project specific waiver and only 

applies to the use of the specified 

product for the ARRA project being 

proposed. Any other ARRA recipient 

that wishes to use the same product 

must apply for a separate waiver based 

on project specific circumstances. The 

District’s proposed wastewater 

treatment facility improvements will 

include a replacement of the existing 

belt filter press for sludge generated at 

the plant. Based upon information 

submitted by the District and its 

consultants, it was determined that a 

rotary press sludge dewatering unit, 

manufactured by Fournier Industries of 

Quebec, Canada, will meet the District’s 

design and performance specifications. 

The Secretary is making this 

determination based on the review and 

recommendations of the Rural 

Development Buy American 

Coordinator. The District through its 

design engineer has provided sufficient 

documentation to support its request. 

The Undersecretary for Rural 

Development concurred on this decision 

to waive Section 1605 of ARRA. This 

action permits the purchase of a 6 

channel rotary press sludge dewatering 

unit, manufactured by Fournier 

Industries, by the District, as specified 

in its October 7, 2009 waiver request, as 

part of the improvements to the 

wastewater treatment facility. 

DATES: Effective Date: February 3, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Dallas Tonsager, 

Undersecretary, Rural Development, 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 

Independence Avenue, Room 205–W, 

Washington, DC 20250–0107, (202) 720– 

4581. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Benjamin Shuman, Senior 

Environmental Engineer, Engineering 

and Environmental Staff, (202) 720– 

1784, Rural Utilities Service, U. S. 

Department of Agriculture, 1400 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–1571. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with ARRA Section 1605(c) 

and pursuant to Section 1605(b)(2), 

USDA hereby provides notice that it is 

granting a project specific waiver of the 

Buy American Requirements of ARRA, 

to the Plymouth Village Water & Sewer 

District (‘‘District’’), New Hampshire for 

the purchase of a rotary press sludge 

dewatering unit, manufactured by 

Fournier Industries of Quebec, Canada. 

I. Background 

Section 1605(a) of 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, or unless a waiver is 

provided to the recipient by the head of 

the appropriate department or agency, 

here the Secretary of USDA. A waiver 

may be granted if the Secretary 

determines that (1) Applying these 

requirements would be inconsistent 

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

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 manufactured goods 

produced in the United States will 

increase the cost of the overall project 

by more than 25 percent. The District 

has requested a waiver from the Buy 

American Requirement for the purchase 

of a foreign made rotary press sludge 

dewatering unit as part of its wastewater 

treatment plant improvement project. 

The purchase of the new rotary sludge 

press is intended to replace the existing 

belt filter press which is approaching 

the end of its useful life. The estimated 

cost of the overall improvements to the 

District’s wastewater treatment plant is 

$5.2 million, of which the cost of the 

foreign made rotary sludge press unit is 

priced at $330,000. In designing the 

wastewater treatment plant, the 

District’s design engineers evaluated the 

various technologies based on the 

following factors: 

• Maintain the current annual average 

dewatered sludge cake solids of 

approximately 25% or higher. 

• Improve environmental working 

conditions in the dewatering area by 

minimizing worker exposure to odorous 

and hazardous gases released from the 

sludge as well as exposure to 

bioaerosols and pathogens. Enclosed 

dewatering equipment will achieve this 

goal. 

• Automatically adjust for variation 

in feed solids concentrations and sludge 

mix ratios to provide consistent and 

optimum cake solids. 

• Allow for unattended, automatic 

operation freeing up operators for other 

needed tasks. 

• Keep the dewatering operation as 

simple as possible while still 

maintaining optimum dewatering 

performance. 

• Allow for some degree of backup 

capacity during periods of equipment 

failure and routine maintenance. 

• Equipment must have a proven 

track record of low annual operation 

and maintenance costs and reliability. 

As part of the review of potentially 

viable sludge dewatering units, four 

technologies were considered by the 

District and their consultants based on 

the above listed criteria: (1) Rotary 

press; (2) screw press; (3) centrifuge; 

and (4) belt filter press. Of the four 

technologies, the District determined 

that a rotary sludge press is the desired 

technology because it ranked the highest 

in terms of meeting the key criteria 

highlighted above. According to data 

submitted by the District’s design 

engineers and reviewed by USDA, the 

foreign made rotary press sludge 

dewatering unit meets the District’s 

technical specifications for design and 

performance of a rotary press sludge 

dewatering unit as part of its wastewater 

treatment plant improvement project. 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 22 / Wednesday, February 3, 2010 / Notices 5565 

The technical specifications for the 

proposed wastewater treatment facility 

states: ‘‘[t]he Contractor shall furnish, 

install and field test a complete rotary 

press sludge dewatering system.’’ 

According to the District, the only rotary 

press sludge dewatering unit that meets 

that above described technical 

specifications is not manufactured in 

the United States. As a result, the 

District requested a waiver of the ARRA 

Buy American provisions on the basis of 

nonavailability of a U.S. manufactured 

product that will meet the design and 

performance criteria specified for this 

rotary press sludge dewatering unit. 

II. Nonavailability Finding 

The Secretary has determined that, 

based on the information available, and 

to the best of USDA’s knowledge, there 

do not appear to be other rotary press 

sludge dewatering units manufactured 

in the United States that are available at 

this time to meet the District’s design 

specifications and performance 

requirements for this project. 

The evaluation by USDA’s technical 

review team and engineers supports the 

District’s claim that a suitable rotary 

press sludge dewatering unit which 

meets the specifications for this project 

is not available in sufficient and 

reasonably available commercial 

quantities of a satisfactory quality that is 

manufactured in the United States. 

USDA’s technical review team and 

engineers reviewed a memorandum 

submitted by the District describing the 

foreign equipment that fits the technical 

specifications for the rotary press sludge 

dewatering unit and the process the 

District followed in adopting the rotary 

press design. USDA’s technical review 

team and engineers conducted a 

nationwide review of equipment 

vendors, manufacturers’ representatives, 

and associated resources typically relied 

on by engineers who design wastewater 

treatment facilities. The purpose of 

USDA’s review process was to 

determine whether there were any 

sludge dewatering rotary presses 

manufactured in the United States that 

meet the District’s design specifications 

and performance requirements. In 

addition, USDA’s technical review team 

and engineers interviewed the District’s 

design engineer and sales engineers for 

a United States manufacturer that 

produced a dewatering rotary press. It 

was determined that the one 

domestically manufactured rotary press 

located by USDA engineers was not 

suitable for the District’s performance 

requirements. As a result of its review, 

to the best of the USDA’s knowledge 

there are no sludge dewatering presses 

manufactured in the United States that 

meet the District’s design specifications 

and performance requirements for the 

District’s wastewater treatment plant. 

The Rural Development Buy 

American Coordinator has reviewed this 

waiver request and has determined that 

the supporting documentation provided 

by the District established a proper basis 

that the manufactured good was not 

available from a producer in the United 

States able to meet the design 

specifications and performance 

requirements for the proposed project. 

III. Waiver 

Having established a proper basis that 

this manufactured good was not 

available from a producer in the United 

States, the District is hereby granted a 

waiver from the Buy American 

requirements of Section 1605(a) of 

Public Law 111–5. This waiver permits 

use of ARRA funds for the purchase of 

the specified Fournier Industries 6 

channel rotary press sludge dewatering 

unit documented in District’s waiver 

request submittal dated October 7, 2009 

as part of its wastewater treatment plant 

improvements. 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. 

Thomas J. Vilsack, 

Secretary, United States of America. 

[FR Doc. 2010–2217 Filed 2–2–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

The Department of Commerce will 

submit to the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) for clearance the 

following proposal for collection of 

information under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 

chapter 35). 

Agency: U.S. Census Bureau. 

Title: Report of Building or Zoning 

Permits Issued for New PrivatelyOwned Housing Units. 

OMB Control Number: 0607–0094. 

Form Number(s): C–404. 

Type of Request: Revision of a 

currently approved collection. 

Burden Hours: 17,539. 

Number of Respondents: 19,375. 

Average Hours per Response: 9 

minutes. 

Needs and Uses: The Census Bureau 

is requesting a three-year extension of a 

currently approved collection of the 

Form C–404, otherwise known as the 

Building Permits Survey (BPS), with 

minor revisions to the data collection 

form. 

The Census Bureau produces statistics 

used to monitor activity in the large and 

dynamic construction industry. Given 

the importance of this industry, several 

of the statistical series are key economic 

indicators. Three such series are 

dependent on the BPS: (1) Housing 

Units Authorized by Building Permits, 

(2) Housing Starts, and (3) New OneFamily Houses Sold. These statistics 

help state, local, and federal 

governments, as well as private 

industry, analyze this important sector 

of the economy. The building permit 

series are available monthly based on a 

sample of building permit offices, and 

annually based on the entire universe of 

permit offices. Published data from the 

survey can be found on the Census 

Bureau’s Web site at http:// 

www.census.gov/permits. 

The Census Bureau collects these data 

primarily by mail using the Form C– 

404. Data are also collected via Internet 

web pages and receipt of electronic files. 

Form C–404 requests information on the 

number and valuation of new 

residential housing units authorized by 

building permits. The current form is 

titled ‘‘Report of New Privately-Owned 

Residential Building or Zoning Permits 

Issued’’. We plan to change the title to 

‘‘Report of Building or Zoning Permits 

Issued for New Privately-Owned 

Housing Units’’ to clarify the data being 

requested. 

The proposed form includes several 

minor changes to the version of Form C– 

404 currently in use. Item 2 of the 

current form instructs respondents to 

provide details about geographic 

coverage changes in the Comments 

section; on the proposed new form, 

there are spaces in Item 2 itself to enter 

the same information. The checkboxes 

in Item 3a were revised for clarity, and 

Item 3f (the total of Items 3b–3e) was 

removed because we determined that 

respondents need not calculate these 

totals. The limit on the dollar valuation 

of permits which require additional 

information in Item 4 was adjusted for 

inflation. Other minor improvements 

were made to the format and layout of 

the form. The instructions on the back 

of the form were also modified to 

improve their clarity and completeness. 

These changes to the form will not have 

a measurable effect on respondent 

burden. 

The Census Bureau uses the Form C– 

404 to collect data that will provide 

estimates of the number and valuation 

of new residential housing units 

authorized by building permits. About 

one-half of the permit offices are 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES