Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 22 / Wednesday, February 3, 2010 / Notices 5585 

List of Subjects 

Environmental protection, Pesticides 

and pests, Cancellation order. 

Dated: January 19, 2010. 

Lois Rossi, 

Director, Registration Division, Office of 

Pesticide Program. 

[FR Doc. 2010–2147 Filed 2–2–10; 8:45 a.m.] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–S 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–9108–9] 

Notice of a Regional Project Waiver of 

Section 1605 (Buy American 

Requirement) of the American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 

2009 (ARRA) to the Albany County 

Sewer District (ACSD), NY 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Regional Administrator 

of EPA Region 2 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 Albany County Sewer District 

(ACSD), New York for the purchase of 

a foreign manufactured Organic Rankine 

Cycle (ORC) turbine generator to recover 

waste heat from the sludge incineration 

operation at the ACSD’s North Plant 

wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), 

and to produce electrical power for onsite consumption. The ACSD, through 

its consultant engineers, has indicated 

that no United States manufacturer 

produces an alternative that meets the 

ACSD’s technical specifications; 

specifically, no ORC turbine generator 

manufactured in the United States is of 

adequate capacity to meet the electrical 

power output specifications for the 

proposed WWTP waste heat recovery 

and on-site electricity generation 

project. The foreign ORC turbine 

generators under consideration are 

manufactured by (1) Turboden, in Italy, 

(2) Ormat Technologies, Inc, in Israel, 

and (3) Adoratec, in Germany. This is a 

project specific waiver and only applies 

to the use of the identified 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 

project specific circumstances. The 

Regional Administrator is making this 

determination based on the review and 

recommendations of the Region 2 State 

Revolving Fund Program Team. The 

ACSD 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 ACSD to purchase an ORC 

turbine generator manufactured by (1) 

Turboden (Italy), (2) Ormat 

Technologies, Inc. (Israel) or (3) 

Adoratec (Germany) for the proposed 

WWTP waste heat recovery and on-site 

electricity generation project being 

implemented by the ACSD. 

DATES: Effective Date: January 19, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jane 

Leu, Environmental Engineer, (212) 

637–3815, State Revolving Fund 

Program Team, Division of 

Environmental Planning and Protection, 

U.S. EPA, 290 Broadway, New York, NY 

10007. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with ARRA Section 1605(c) 

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

Public Law 111–5, Buy American 

requirements, the EPA hereby provides 

notice that it is granting a project waiver 

to the Albany County Sewer District 

(ACSD), New York, for the acquisition 

of an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) 

turbine generator manufactured by any 

of the following foreign manufacturers: 

Turboden (Italy), Ormat Technologies, 

Inc. (Israel), or Adoratec (Germany) to 

meet the ACSD’s technical design 

specifications for its proposed North 

Plant wastewater treatment plant 

(WWTP) waste heat recovery and on-site 

electricity generation project. 

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 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. 

The ACSD proposes to modify its 

North Plant WWTP, which has been in 

operation since 1974, to provide 

additional energy savings through the 

installation of a Combined Heat and 

Power (CHP) system. The proposed 

project and design involves the capture 

of waste heat from the solids handling 

process and a system that ducts the 

exhaust gas flow and transports it to a 

waste-heat-oil heater and ORC system. 

The ACSD has requested a waiver from 

the Buy American provision of ARRA 

for a foreign manufactured ORC turbine 

generator to recover waste heat from the 

sludge incineration operation at the 

ACSD’s North Plant WWTP, and to 

produce electrical power for on-site 

consumption. ACSD’s waiver request 

stated that the ORC turbine generators 

manufactured in the United States are 

not of adequate capacity to meet the 

electrical power output specifications 

for the project. The project 

specifications require that the ORC 

turbine generator has a maximum 

electrical generation net power output 

of 1,000 kilowatt (kW) and a minimum 

electrical generation net power output 

of 826 kW. The New York State 

Environmental Facilities Corporation 

administers the Clean Water State 

Revolving Fund on behalf of the New 

York State Department of 

Environmental Conservation, and has 

identified this project for ARRA 

funding. 

ACSD’s waiver request included a 

design and performance specification 

matrix comparing foreign and domestic 

ORC turbine generator manufacturers 

consisting of three foreign (Turboden, 

Ormat Technologies, Inc, and Adoratec) 

and four domestic manufacturers (UTC 

Power, Infinity Turbine, TurboGenix 

and Barber-Nichols, Inc.). The matrix 

provides evidence that three of the four 

domestic manufacturers do not meet the 

electrical power generation output 

required by the project specifications. 

The fourth domestic manufacturer, 

Barber-Nichols, Inc (BNI), was 

identified as a potential domestic 

manufacturer of ORC turbine generators. 

The ACSD’s revised waiver request, 

however, indicated that BNI was no 

longer a viable domestic candidate for 

the ORC turbine generator based upon 

the following: (1) An e-mail from BNI to 

ACSD dated July 17, 2008, stating that 

BNI does not provide complete turbine 

generator packages (as required in the 

project specifications), and (2) an e-mail 

from BNI to ACSD dated August 13, 

2008, declining ACSD’s invitation to bid 

on this project. 

The information provided to EPA by 

the ACSD was confirmed through a 

technical review by EPA’s national 

contractor of the submitted 

documentation. To the best of EPA’s 

knowledge at this time, there does not 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
5586 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 22 / Wednesday, February 3, 2010 / Notices 

appear to be any Americanmanufactured ORC turbine generator 

available to meet the ACSD’s project 

design specifications for its North Plant 

WWTP. The ACSD’s submission clearly 

articulates entirely functional reasons 

for its technical specifications, and has 

provided sufficient documentation that 

the relevant manufactured goods are not 

produced in the United States in 

sufficient and reasonably available 

quantity and of a satisfactory quality to 

meet its technical specifications. 

The April 28, 2009, EPA Headquarters 

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 the 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,’’ and satisfactory 

quality as ‘‘the quality of iron, steel, or 

the relevant manufactured good as 

specified in the project plans and 

designs.’’ 

Based on additional research 

conducted by the State Revolving Fund 

Program Team of the Division of 

Environmental Planning and Protection 

and to the best of the Region’s 

knowledge at the time of the review, 

there do not appear to be other ORC 

turbine generators manufactured 

domestically that would meet the 

ACSD’s technical specifications. 

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 potential 

SRF eligible recipients, such as the 

ACSD, to revise their design standards 

and specifications. The imposition of 

ARRA Buy American requirements on 

such projects otherwise eligible for State 

Revolving Fund assistance would result 

in unreasonable delay and thus displace 

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

To further delay construction is in 

direct conflict with the fundamental 

purpose of the ARRA, which is to 

preserve and create jobs and promote 

economic recovery. 

The State Revolving Fund Program 

Team has reviewed this waiver request 

and has determined that the supporting 

documentation provided by the ACSD 

establishes both a proper basis to 

specify the particular good required and 

that the manufactured good was not 

available from a producer in the United 

States to meet the design specifications 

for the proposed project. The 

information provided is sufficient to 

meet the criteria listed under Section 

1605(b), OMB’s regulation at 2 CFR 

176.100, and in the EPA Headquarters 

April 28, 2009, Memorandum, 

‘‘Implementation of Buy American 

provisions of Public Law 111–5, the 

‘American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act of 2009’:’’ 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). Due to the lack of production 

of this product in the United States in 

sufficient and reasonably available 

quantities and of a satisfactory quality 

in order to meet the ACSD’s technical 

specifications, a waiver from the Buy 

American requirement is justified. 

The Administrator’s 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 ACSD is hereby granted a waiver 

from the Buy American requirements of 

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

the purchase of an ORC turbine 

generator from any of the following 

foreign manufacturers: Turboden (Italy), 

Ormat Technologies, Inc. (Israel), or 

Adoratec (Germany) to meet the ACSD’s 

technical design specifications for its 

North Plant WWTP waste heat recovery 

and on-site electricity generation project 

using ARRA funds, as specified in the 

ACSD’s request of September 30, 2009, 

and as revised on October 28, 2009. 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. 

Dated: January 19, 2010. 

Judith A. Enck, 

Regional Administrator, Region 2. 

[FR Doc. 2010–2253 Filed 2–2–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–9108–8] 

Notice of a Regional Project Waiver of 

Section 1605 (Buy American 

Requirement) of the American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 

2009 (ARRA) to the West Milford 

Township Municipal Utilities Authority 

(WMTMUA), New Jersey 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Regional Administrator 

of EPA Region 2 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 WMTMUA, New Jersey, for the 

purchase of a membrane bio-reactor 

(MBR) unit that uses flat-plate 

membrane cartridges. The WMTMUA’s 

proposed upgrade of its Awosting 

Sewage Treatment Plant to a MBR 

facility requires utilizing flat-plate 

membrane cartridges. No United States 

manufacturer produces a MBR unit with 

flat-plate membrane cartridges that meet 

the specifications for the project. The 

only MBR unit that incorporates the flatplate membrane cartridges and meets 

the WMTMUA’s specifications is 

manufactured in Japan by Kubota. This 

is a project specific waiver and only 

applies to the use of the identified 

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 project specific 

circumstances. The Regional 

Administrator is making this 

determination based on the review and 

recommendations of the Region 2 State 

Revolving Fund Program Team. The 

WMTMUA 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 Kubota MBR 

unit that uses flat-plate MBR membrane 

cartridges for the ARRA-funded project 

being implemented by WMTMUA, New 

Jersey. 

DATES: Effective Date: January 19, 2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jane 

Leu, Environmental Engineer, (212) 

637–3815, State Revolving Fund 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES