58382 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 185 / Friday, September 24, 2010 / Notices 

manufacturer is aware of the scheduling 

implications and has offered to provide 

the sluice gates at no cost, other than for 

freight and field service charges. The 

Town, which could not reasonably 

foresee the need for a waiver to the Buy 

American provision of the ARRA, 

submitted a waiver request immediately 

(July 9th, 2010) after they were informed 

by the manufacturer of the delivery 

oversight. 

Re-ordering the gates and having them 

manufactured in the Massachusetts 

facility would delay the upgrade work 

to the final clarifiers by at least three 

months. Unfortunately, the existing 

final clarifier equipment has already 

failed, and since existing wastewater 

flows at the wastewater treatment plant 

are currently at seasonal lows, the most 

opportune time to install the new sluice 

gates would be during the July and 

August time frame. 

Furthermore, the purpose of the 

ARRA is to stimulate economic recovery 

by funding current infrastructure 

construction, not to delay or require the 

substantial redesign of projects that are 

‘‘shovel ready,’’ such as this project at 

the Bristol, Rhode Island Wastewater 

Treatment Plant. The implementation of 

the ARRA Buy American requirements 

in this case would result in additional 

cost for this project and unreasonable 

delay in its completion. Such delay 

would also directly conflict with a 

fundamental economic purpose of 

ARRA, which is to create or retain jobs. 

More importantly, the imposition of the 

Buy American requirement would result 

in additional risk to water quality 

protection. 

The Municipal Assistance Unit (CMU) 

has reviewed this waiver request and 

has determined that the supporting 

documentation provided by the Town’s 

design engineer established a proper 

basis to specify that using the domestic 

manufactured good would be 

inconsistent with the public interest of 

the Town of Bristol, Rhode Island. The 

information provided is sufficient to 

meet the following criteria listed under 

Section 1605(b)(1) of the ARRA and in 

the April 28, 2009 Memorandum: 

Applying these requirements would be 

inconsistent with the public interest. 

The March 31, 2009 Delegation of 

Authority Memorandum provided 

Regional Administrators with the 

temporary 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 using 

a domestically available alternative 

manufactured good would be 

inconsistent with the public interest, the 

Town of Bristol, Rhode Island 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 installation 

and utilization of foreign manufactured 

influent and effluent sluice gates as 

documented in the Town’s waiver 

request submittal dated July 9, 2010. 

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: September 15, 2010. 

Ira W. Leighton, 

Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region 

1—New England. 

[FR Doc. 2010–23968 Filed 9–23–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–9206–3] 

Notice of a Regional Project Waiver of 

Section 1605 (Buy American) of the 

American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act of 2009 (ARRA) to the City of 

Lowell, MA 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The EPA is hereby granting a 

waiver of the Buy American 

requirements of ARRA Section 1605 

under the authority of Section 

1605(b)(1) [inconsistent with the public 

interest] to the City of Lowell, 

Massachusetts (City) for the purchase of 

a foreign manufactured 30-inch 

diameter pipe tee fitting for a finished 

water pipe at the Lowell Water 

Treatment Facility. This is a projectspecific 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 projectspecific circumstances. The proposed 

work involved repairing an existing 30- 

inch cement lined ductile iron fitting on 

a finished water line in the Lowell 

Water Treatment Facility. Based upon 

information submitted by the City’s 

consulting engineer, EPA has concluded 

that, under the given circumstances (i.e. 

emergency standby situation, the need 

to minimize disruption in water 

transmission service), requiring the 

installation of an alternative domestic 

manufactured pipe fitting would be 

inconsistent with the public interest, 

and that a waiver of the Buy American 

provisions is justified. The Regional 

Administrator is making this 

determination based on the review and 

recommendations of the Municipal 

Assistance Unit. The Assistant 

Administrator of the Office of 

Administration and Resources 

Management has concurred on this 

decision to make an exception to the 

requirements of Section 1605(a) of 

ARRA. This action allows the purchase 

and installation of the foreign 

manufactured 30-inch pipe fitting 

media, as specified in its June 18, 2010 

request. 

DATES: Effective Date: September 15, 

2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Katie Connors, Environmental Engineer, 

(617) 918–1658, or, David Chin, 

Environmental Engineer, (617) 918– 

1764, Municipal Assistance Unit (CMU), 

Office of Ecosystem Protection (OEP), 

U.S. EPA, 5 Post Office Square, Suite 

100, Boston, MA 02109–3912. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with ARRA Section 1605(c), 

the 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 City of Lowell, 

Massachusetts for the purchase of a nondomestic 30-inch diameter pipe fitting 

for a finished water pipe at the Lowell 

Water Treatment Facility. EPA has 

evaluated the City’s basis for procuring 

a 30-inch diameter pipe fitting from 

China at a cost of $4,000. Based on the 

information provided by the City’s 

design engineer, EPA has determined 

that it is inconsistent with the public 

interest for the City to have pursued the 

purchase of a domestically 

manufactured 30-inch diameter pipe 

fitting under the specific circumstances 

encountered by the City. 

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 a public works project 

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 

agency, here the EPA. A waiver may be 

provided under Section 1605(b) 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 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 185 / Friday, September 24, 2010 / Notices 58383 

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. 

When a recipient or sub-recipient has 

used foreign iron, steel, and/or 

manufactured goods for an ARRA 

project without authorization, as is the 

case here, OMB’s regulation at 2 CFR 

176.130 directs EPA to take appropriate 

action, which may include processing a 

determination concerning the 

inapplicability of Section 1605 of ARRA 

in accordance with 2 CFR 176.120. 

Consistent with the direction of 2 CFR 

176.120, EPA will generally consider a 

waiver request made after obligating 

ARRA funds for a project to be a ‘‘late’’ 

request. However, in this case EPA has 

determined that the City’s request, 

though made after the date the contract 

was signed and after use of the foreign 

pipe fitting, can be evaluated as timely 

because the City could not reasonably 

have foreseen the need for such a 

determination until after initiating the 

work. Accordingly, EPA will evaluate 

the request as if it were timely. 

The City is requesting a waiver of the 

Buy American provision for a 30-inch 

diameter pipe fitting that was 

manufactured in China which replaced 

an existing 30-inch diameter cement 

lined ductile iron fitting on a finished 

water line at the Lowell Water 

Treatment facility. According to the 

City’s design engineer, the existing 30- 

inch diameter pipe fitting had been 

leaking for some time at the threaded 

connection with a 2-inch air release 

valve. The original intent of the City 

was to remove the air release valve, 

clean the threads, perform the necessary 

repairs, and re-install the existing 30- 

inch fitting. However, in the event of a 

possible break in the pipe delivery 

system or if the existing fitting failed 

during the repair work, a new 30-inch 

diameter pipe fitting had to be on-site 

on an emergency standby basis. As a 

result, the City explored having a 30- 

inch diameter pipe fitting on-site before 

they could start any additional repair 

work. 

During the week of May 3rd, 2010, the 

City was informed by three suppliers/ 

vendors that a 30-inch diameter 

domestic pipe fitting would not be 

available on an emergency standby basis 

unless the City purchased it outright. 

Based on information provided by the 

City’s consulting engineer, due to the 

large size of the fitting, vendors would 

only make their imported 30-inch tee 

pipe fittings available on standby status, 

but not their domestic pipe fittings. As 

a result, no domestic-made fittings of 

that size were available for stand-by in 

an emergency situation that would meet 

technical specifications. The City could 

not find a supplier/vendor that would 

promise right of first refusal on a 

domestic manufactured pipe fitting 

without purchasing it in full. None of 

the available vendors would allow the 

City the opportunity to return a 30-inch 

diameter domestic pipe fitting, if the 

City had decided on not installing it. 

The City decided to order a 30-inch 

diameter foreign manufactured pipe 

fitting (made in China at a cost to the 

City of Lowell of $4,000) to have it 

available on an emergency standby basis 

to minimize plant shutdown and any 

disruption of water service delivery, in 

the event total replacement became 

necessary or if the pipe delivery system 

failed. The City had planned to repair 

and re-install the existing pipe fitting, 

but once the repair work had begun, it 

was determined that complete 

replacement was the proper approach to 

take. During the week of June 14th, the 

new foreign manufactured 30-inch 

diameter pipe fitting was installed. 

Fortunately, and more importantly, no 

disruption of water transmission service 

took place due to proper planning. The 

City then made the request to the EPA 

for a waiver on June 18, 2010, 

immediately after the emergency 

replacement work took place and it 

could not reasonably foresee the need 

for such a determination until after 

initiating the repair work and 

determining that a complete 

replacement of the pipe fitting was the 

proper course of action. 

Furthermore, the purpose of the 

ARRA is to stimulate economic recovery 

by funding current infrastructure 

construction, not to delay or require the 

substantial redesign of projects that are 

‘‘shovel ready,’’ such as this project at 

the Lowell Water Treatment Plant. The 

imposition of ARRA Buy American 

requirements in this case would have 

likely resulted in unreasonable 

additional cost for this project and delay 

in its completion. Such delay would 

also directly conflict with a 

fundamental economic purpose of 

ARRA, which is to create or retain jobs. 

More importantly, the imposition could 

have resulted in a risk to public health 

had water service been interrupted for 

any extended period of time. 

The Municipal Assistance Unit (CMU) 

has reviewed this waiver request and 

has determined that the supporting 

documentation provided by the City’s 

design engineer established a proper 

basis to specify that using the domestic 

manufactured good would be 

inconsistent with the public interest of 

the City of Lowell. The information 

provided is sufficient to meet the 

following criteria listed under Section 

1605(b)(1) of the ARRA and in the April 

28, 2009 Memorandum: Applying these 

requirements would be inconsistent 

with the public interest. 

The March 31, 2009 Delegation of 

Authority Memorandum provided 

Regional Administrators with the 

temporary 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 using 

a domestically available alternative 

manufactured good would be 

inconsistent with the public interest, the 

City of Lowell, Massachusetts 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 

a foreign manufactured 30-inch 

diameter pipe fitting documented in the 

City’s waiver request submittal dated 

June 18, 2010. 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: September 15, 2010. 

Ira W. Leighton, 

Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region 

1—New England. 

[FR Doc. 2010–23988 Filed 9–23–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–9205–5] 

Science Advisory Board Staff Office 

Request for Nominations of Experts for 

the Review of Great Lakes Restoration 

Initiative Action Plan 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The EPA Science Advisory 

Board (SAB) Staff Office is requesting 

public nominations for technical experts 

to form an SAB panel to review the 

interagency Great Lakes Restoration 

Initiative (GLRI) Action Plan which 

describes restoration priorities, goals, 

objectives, measurable ecological 

targets, and specific actions. 

DATES: Nominations should be 

submitted by October 15, 2010 per 

instructions below. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES