Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 104 / Tuesday, June 2, 2009 / Notices 26397 

of the methods should be directed to the 

appropriate applicant. 

Linda S. Sheldon, 

Acting Director, National Exposure Research 

Laboratory. 

[FR Doc. E9–12789 Filed 6–1–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–8913–1] 

NACEPT Subcommittee on Promoting 

Environmental Stewardship 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: Under the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act, Public Law 92–463, 

EPA gives notice of a meeting of the 

NACEPT Subcommittee on Promoting 

Environmental Stewardship. 

The purpose of the proposed 

Subcommittee on Promoting 

Environmental Stewardship (SPES) of 

the National Advisory Council for 

Environmental Policy and Technology 

(NACEPT) will be to advise the U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

on how to promote broad, organizationwide environmental stewardship 

practices in the regulated community 

and other sectors, as appropriate, in 

order to enhance human health and 

environmental protection. A copy of the 

meeting agenda will be posted at 

http://www.epa.gov/ocem/. 

DATES: The NACEPT Subcommittee on 

Promoting Environmental Stewardship 

will hold an open meeting on June 30, 

2009 (9 a.m.–5 p.m.) and July 1, 2009 (9 

a.m.–4:30 p.m.) Eastern. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the EPA Office of Pesticide Programs, 

One Potomac Yard Conference Center 

(1st Floor), 2777 S. Crystal Dr., 

Arlington, VA 22202. The meeting is 

open to the public, with limited seating 

on a first-come, first-served basis. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Regina Langton, Designated Federal 

Officer, langton.regina@epa.gov, 202– 

566–2178, U.S. EPA Office of Policy, 

Economics, and Innovation (MC1807T), 

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC 20460. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Requests 

to make brief oral comments or provide 

written statements to the SPES should 

be sent to Jennifer Peyser at (202) 965– 

6215 or jpeyser@RESOLV.org. All 

requests must be received no later than 

June 16, 2009. 

Meeting Access: For information on 

access or services for individuals with 

disabilities, please contact Jennifer 

Peyser at (202) 965–6215 or 

jpeyser@RESOLV.org. To request 

accommodation of a disability, please 

contact Jennifer Peyser at least 10 days 

prior to the meeting to give EPA as 

much time as possible to process your 

request. 

Dated: May 22, 2009. 

Regina Langton, 

Designated Federal Officer. 

[FR Doc. E9–12794 Filed 6–1–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–8911–9] 

Notice of Nationwide Waiver of Section 

1605 (Buy America Requirement) of 

American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act of 2009 (ARRA) for Projects that 

Solicited Bids on or after October 1, 

2008 and prior to February 17, 2009 

that are Financed through the Clean or 

Drinking Water State Revolving Funds 

using Assistance Provided under 

ARRA 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The EPA is hereby granting a 

nationwide waiver of the Buy America 

requirements of ARRA Section 1605 

under the authority of Section 

1605(b)(1) (public interest waiver) for 

eligible projects that solicited bids on or 

after October 1, 2008, and prior to 

February 17, 2009, the date of 

enactment of ARRA, and that did so in 

reasonable and prudent, specific 

anticipation of ARRA funding, or any 

other source of timely funding. This 

action permits the use of non-domestic 

iron, steel, and manufactured goods in 

such projects funded by ARRA that may 

otherwise be prohibited under section 

1605(a). 

DATES: Effective Date: May 22, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jordan Dorfman, Attorney-Advisor, 

Office of Wastewater Management, (202) 

564–0614, or Philip Metzger, AttorneyAdvisor, Office of Ground Water and 

Drinking Water, (202) 564–3776, 

Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 

Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, 

DC 20460. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with ARRA Section 1605(c), 

the EPA hereby provides notice that it 

is granting a nationwide waiver of the 

requirements of section 1605(a) of 

Public Law 111–5, Buy American 

requirements, for eligible projects for 

which a Clean or Drinking Water State 

Revolving Fund will conclude or has 

concluded an assistance agreement 

using ARRA funds for projects that 

solicited bids on or after October 1, 2008 

and prior to February 17, 2009. 

The basis for the nationwide waiver is 

the requirement in the SRF 

appropriations heading of ARRA Title 

VII for giving priority to those projects 

that are ready to proceed to construction 

within 12 months of the enactment of 

ARRA, as follows: 

That, notwithstanding the priority rankings 

they would otherwise receive under each 

program, priority for funds appropriated 

herein shall be given to projects on a State 

priority list that are ready to proceed to 

construction within 12 months of the date of 

enactment of this Act. 

This waiver also relies on the 

requirement in the SRF appropriations 

heading that all funds must be under 

contract or construction within 12 

months of the enactment of ARRA, as 

follows: 

That the Administrator shall reallocate 

funds appropriated herein for the Clean and 

Drinking Water State Revolving Funds 

(Revolving Funds) that are not under contract 

or construction within 12 months of the date 

of enactment of this Act. 

As authorized by the Federal Water 

Pollution Control Act and the Safe 

Drinking Water Act, base State programs 

(not appropriated under ARRA) are not 

required to meet a deadline for having 

appropriated funds under contract or 

under construction. States are required 

to commit funds appropriated to 

projects within 1 year. Binding 

commitments, in the context of the SRF 

programs, are typically executed in the 

form of loan agreements. Loan 

agreements, however, do not carry a 

particular statutory deadline for 

assistance recipients to enter contracts 

or to begin construction. For 

appropriations under ARRA, however, 

States are required to ensure that all 

funds are under contract or construction 

within 1 year of enactment of ARRA. 

In order to meet the special 

requirements authorized by ARRA, most 

importantly the requirement to have all 

funds under contract or construction 

within 12 months of enactment, States 

began the development of priority lists 

and intended use plans (IUP) prior to, 

and in anticipation of, passage of the 

Act. Such advance planning was 

considered crucial by both States and 

EPA. EPA actively encouraged such 

planning in anticipation of possible 

deadlines for construction. Those States 

that effectively planned for such an 

eventuality took the additional step of 

26398 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 104 / Tuesday, June 2, 2009 / Notices 

encouraging potential assistance 

recipients to begin the planning and 

design phase of project construction, 

and in some cases, actually solicit bids 

on the plans and designs. Projects that 

have solicited bids are in most cases 

considered to be in a ready-to-proceed 

category as among projects listed on 

State IUPs. Under the exceptional 

emphasis on expeditious construction of 

ARRA’s SRF language quoted above, 

States will generally give the highest 

priority for ARRA SRF funding to 

eligible projects that clearly qualify to 

be in a ready-to-proceed category. This 

statutory language also confirms the 

appropriateness of proactive steps States 

had taken to encourage SRF projects’ 

readiness for expeditious construction. 

Moreover, the ARRA SRF language cited 

in EPA’s nationwide waiver for 

refinanced projects specified October 1, 

2008 as the opening of the window 

within which initiation of relevant 

action can properly be considered done 

‘‘in anticipation of ARRA’’ (74 FR 

15722). 

To be included under this waiver, 

potential assistance recipients must 

show a verifiable basis on which they 

believed it was reasonable and prudent 

to solicit bids for these projects prior to 

concluding an assistance agreement 

with the State SRF. Such verification 

will show some objective basis under 

which these actions were reasonably 

and prudently undertaken in specific 

anticipation of ARRA funding, or any 

other source of timely funding. Such 

action may include an affirmative 

communication from a funding source, 

such as a binding commitment, high 

placement on a priority list, or other 

indicative and verifiable 

communication from an SRF or other 

government funding source, or 

regarding any affirmative steps taken to 

secure private bond financing from an 

appropriate industry entity. Any such 

objective verification would show that 

bid solicitations were undertaken 

reasonably and prudently, in order to 

fulfill Congress’ intent in passing ARRA 

and in particular to create jobs and spur 

economic recovery ‘‘by commencing 

activities and expenditures as 

expeditiously as possible’’ (See ARRA 

Section 3(b)). 

The imposition of ARRA’s Buy 

American requirements on projects 

eligible for SRF assistance whose 

assistance applicants had solicited bids 

on or after October 1, 2008 and prior to 

February 17, 2009, the date when those 

requirements were imposed, would 

require the time-consuming rebidding of 

those projects and potentially a 

redesign. Specifically, those projects 

that can show a reasonable and prudent 

basis to solicit bids prior to the passage 

of the ARRA would be harmed by the 

imposition of these requirements post 

bid solicitation. This imposition would 

particularly conflict with the intentions 

and objectives of the bases on which 

those projects reasonably and prudently 

solicited bids for project construction 

prior to the passage of the ARRA: based 

on an affirmative communication by a 

State SRF program, or in order to meet 

requirements set forth or identified by a 

financing agency or source of funds in 

order to ensure receipt of financing for 

the project. This would clearly frustrate 

Congress’ expressed intent for 

expeditious construction of projects 

supported by the State Revolving Funds 

or that had otherwise made themselves 

ready to proceed, and may imperil 

portions of States’ ARRA funding if it 

renders them unable to meet ARRA’s 

stringent time requirements for the 

entirety of their SRF appropriations. 

These projects are most likely to 

proceed to construction in a relatively 

short period of time, thereby creating 

jobs and stimulating the economy. 

ARRA Section 1605(b)(1) authorized 

the Administrator to waive the 

requirements of Section 1605(a) in any 

case or category of cases in which she 

finds that applying subsection (a) would 

be inconsistent with the public interest. 

Therefore, for the foregoing reasons, 

applying Buy America requirements to 

projects that reasonably and prudently 

solicited bids prior to the passage of 

ARRA in specific anticipation of ARRA 

funding, or any other source of timely 

funding, would be inconsistent with the 

public interest. 

Authority: Public Law 111–5, section 1605. 

Dated: May 22, 2009. 

Michael Shapiro, 

Acting Assistant Administrator for Water. 

[FR Doc. E9–12793 Filed 6–1–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–8911–8] 

Notice of Nationwide Waiver of Section 

1605 (Buy American Requirement) of 

American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act of 2009 (ARRA) for de minimis 

Incidental Components of Projects 

Financed Through the Clean or 

Drinking Water State Revolving Funds 

Using Assistance Provided Under 

ARRA 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The EPA is hereby granting a 

nationwide waiver of the Buy American 

requirements of ARRA Section 1605 

under the authority of Section 

1605(b)(1) (public interest waiver) for de 

minimis incidental components of 

eligible water infrastructure projects 

funded by ARRA. This action permits 

the use of non-domestic iron, steel, and 

manufactured goods when they occur in 

de minimis incidental components of 

such projects funded by ARRA that may 

otherwise be prohibited under section 

1605(a). 

DATES: Effective Date: May 22, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jordan Dorfman, Attorney-Advisor, 

Office of Wastewater Management, (202) 

564–0614, or Philip Metzger, AttorneyAdvisor, Office of Ground Water and 

Drinking Water, (202) 564–3776, 

Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 

Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC 20460. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with ARRA Section 1605(c), 

the EPA hereby provides notice that it 

is granting a nationwide waiver of the 

requirements of section 1605(a) of 

Public Law 111–5, Buy American 

requirements, allowing the use of nondomestic iron, steel, and manufactured 

goods when they occur in de minimis 

incidental components of eligible 

projects for which a Clean or Drinking 

Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) has 

concluded or will conclude an 

assistance agreement using ARRA 

funds, where such components 

comprise no more than 5 percent of the 

total cost of the materials used in and 

incorporated into a project. 

Among the General Provisions of the 

American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act of 2009 (ARRA), Section 1605(a) 

requires that ‘‘all of the iron, steel, and 

manufactured goods used in’’ a public 

works project built with ARRA funds 

must be produced in the United States, 

unless the head of the respective 

Federal department or agency 

determines it necessary to waive this 

requirement based on findings set forth 

in Section 1605(b). In addition, 

expeditious construction of SRF projects 

is made a high priority by a provision 

in the ARRA Title VII appropriations 

heading for the SRFs, which states 

‘‘[t]hat the Administrator shall 

reallocate funds * * * where projects 

are not under contract or construction 

within 12 months of’’ ARRA enactment 

(February 17, 2010). The finding 

relevant to this waiver is that ‘‘applying 

[ARRA’s Buy American requirement] 

would be inconsistent with the public 

interest’’ (1605(b)(1)).