Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 104 / Tuesday, June 2, 2009 / Notices 26399 

In implementing ARRA section 1605, 

EPA must ensure that the section’s 

requirements are applied consistent 

with congressional intent in adopting 

this section and in the broader context 

of the purposes, objectives, and other 

provisions of ARRA applicable to 

projects funded under the Clean and 

Drinking Water State Revolving Funds 

(SRF), particularly considering the 

SRFs’ 12 month ‘‘contract or 

construction’’ requirement. 

Further, also in the context of ARRA’s 

SRF ‘‘contract or construction’’ 

deadline, Congress’ overarching 

directive to 

[t]he President and the heads of Federal 

departments and agencies [is that they] shall 

manage and expend the funds made available 

in this Act so as to achieve the purposes [of 

this Act], including commencing 

expenditures and activities as quickly as 

possible consistent with prudent 

management. [ARRA Section 3(b)] 

Water infrastructure projects typically 

contain a relatively small number of 

high-cost components incorporated into 

the project that are iron, steel, and 

manufactured goods, such as pipe, 

tanks, pumps, motors, instrumentation 

and control equipment, treatment 

process equipment, and relevant 

materials to build structures for such 

facilities as treatment plants, pumping 

stations, pipe networks, etc. In bid 

solicitations for a project, these highcost components are generally clearly 

described via project specific technical 

specifications. For these major 

components, utility owners and their 

contractors are generally familiar with 

the conditions of availability, the 

approximate cost, and the country of 

manufacture of available components. 

Every water infrastructure project also 

involves the use of literally thousands of 

miscellaneous, generally low-cost 

components that are essential for but 

incidental to the construction, and are 

incorporated into the physical structure 

of the project, such as nuts, bolts, other 

fasteners, tubing, gaskets, etc. These 

incidental components are subject to the 

Buy American requirement of ARRA 

Section 1605(a), as stated above. 

In contrast with the situation 

applicable to major components with 

regard to country of manufacture, 

availability, and procurement process, 

the situation applicable to these 

incidental components is one where the 

country of manufacture and the 

availability of alternatives are not 

readily or reasonably identifiable prior 

to procurement in the normal course of 

business. Particular under the time 

constraints outlined above, it would be 

laborious, likely unproductive as to 

feasible alternatives, and 

disproportionate to the costs and time 

involved for an owner or their 

contractor to pursue such inquiries. 

EPA undertook multiple inquiries to 

identify the approximate scope of these 

de minimis incidental components 

within water infrastructure projects. 

EPA consulted informally with many 

major associations representing 

equipment manufacturers and suppliers, 

construction contractors, consulting 

engineers, and water and wastewater 

utilities, and a contractor performed 

targeted interviews with several wellestablished water infrastructure 

contractors and firms who work in a 

variety of project sizes, and regional and 

demographic settings. The contractor 

asked the following questions: 

—What percentage of total project costs 

were consumables or incidental costs? 

—What percentage of materials costs 

were consumables or incidental costs? 

—Did these percentages vary by type of 

project (drinking water vs. 

wastewater; treatment plant vs. pipe)? 

The responses were consistent across 

the variety of settings and project types, 

and indicated that the percentage of 

total costs for drinking water or 

wastewater infrastructure projects 

comprised by these incidental 

components is generally not in excess of 

5 percent of the total cost of the 

materials used in and incorporated into 

a project. In drafting this waiver, EPA 

has considered the de minimis 

proportion of project costs generally 

represented by each individual type of 

these incidental components within the 

hundreds or thousands of types of such 

components comprising those 

percentages, the fact that these types of 

incidental components are obtained by 

contractors in many different ways from 

many different sources, and the 

disproportionate cost and delay that 

would be imposed on projects if EPA 

did not issue this waiver. 

Under such specific circumstances 

associated with these particular types of 

incidental components, EPA has found 

that it would be inconsistent with the 

public interest—and particularly with 

ARRA’s directives to ensure expeditious 

SRF construction consistent with 

prudent management, as cited above—to 

require that the national origins of these 

components be identified in compliance 

with Section 1605(a). Accordingly, EPA 

is hereby issuing a national waiver from 

the requirements of ARRA Section 

1605(a) for the incidental components 

described above as a de minimis factor 

in the project, where such components 

comprise no more than 5 percent of the 

total cost of the materials used in and 

incorporated into a project. 

Assistance recipients who wish to use 

this waiver should in consultation with 

their contractors determine the items to 

be covered by this waiver, must retain 

relevant documentation as to those 

items in their project files, and must 

summarize in reports to the State the 

types and/or categories of items to 

which this waiver is applied, the total 

cost of incidental components covered 

by the waiver for each type or category, 

and the calculations by which they 

determined the total cost of materials 

used in and incorporated into the 

project. 

Therefore, for the foregoing reasons, 

imposing ARRA’s Buy American 

requirements for the category of de 

minimis incidental components 

described herein is not in the public 

interest. 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 22, 2009. 

Michael H. Shapiro, 

Acting Assistant Administrator for Water. 

[FR Doc. E9–12792 Filed 6–1–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

Notice of Public Information 

Collection(s) Being Reviewed by the 

Federal Communications Commission 

for Extension Under Delegated 

Authority, Comments Requested 

May 26, 2009. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Communications 

Commission, as part of its continuing 

effort to reduce paperwork burden 

invites the general public and other 

Federal agencies to take this 

opportunity to comment on the 

following information collection(s), as 

required by the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501–3520. An 

agency may not conduct or sponsor a 

collection of information unless it 

displays a currently valid control 

number. No person shall be subject to 

any penalty for failing to comply with 

a collection of information subject to the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) that 

does not display a valid control number. 

Comments are requested concerning (a) 

whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

Commission, including whether the 

information shall have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of the Commission’s 

burden estimate; (c) ways to enhance 

26400 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 104 / Tuesday, June 2, 2009 / Notices 

the quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information collected; and (d) ways to 

minimize the burden of the collection of 

information on the respondents, 

including the use of automated 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology. 

DATES: Persons wishing to comment on 

this information collection should 

submit comments by August 3, 2009. If 

you anticipate that you will be 

submitting comments, but find it 

difficult to do so within the period of 

time allowed by this notice, you should 

advise the contact listed below as soon 

as possible. 

ADDRESSES: Direct all PRA comments to 

Nicholas A. Fraser, Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB), via fax 

at 202–395–5167, or via the Internet at 

Nicholas_A._Fraser@omb.eop.gov and 

to Judith-B.Herman@fcc.gov, Federal 

Communications Commission (FCC). To 

submit your comments by e-mail send 

them to: PRA@fcc.gov. 

To view a copy of this information 

collection request (ICR) submitted to 

OMB: (1) Go to the Web page http:// 

www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain, 

(2) look for the section of the Web page 

called ‘‘Currently Under Review’’, (3) 

click the downward-pointing arrow in 

the ‘‘Select Agency’’ box below the 

‘‘Currently Under Review’’ heading, (4) 

select ‘‘Federal Communications 

Commission’’ from the list of agencies 

presented in the ‘‘Select Agency’’ box, 

(5) click the ‘‘Submit’’ button to the 

right of the ‘‘Select Agency’’ box and (6) 

when the list of FCC ICRs currently 

under review appears, look for the title 

of this ICR (or its OMB Control Number, 

if there is one) and then click on the ICR 

Reference Number to view detailed 

information about this ICR. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

additional information, send an e-mail 

to Judith B. Herman at JudithB.Herman@fcc.gov or call her at 202– 

418–0214. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

OMB Control Number: 3060–0817. 

Title: Computer III Further Remand 

Proceedings: BOC Provision of 

Enhanced Services (ONA 

Requirements), CC Docket No. 95–20. 

Form No.: N/A. 

Type of Review: Extension of a 

currently approved collection. 

Respondents: Business or other forprofit. 

Number of Respondents: 4 

respondents; 12 responses. 

Estimated Time per Response: 2–50 

hours. 

Frequency of Response: On occasion 

and semi-annual reporting requirements 

and third party disclosure requirement. 

Obligation to Respond: Mandatory. 

Statutory authority for these information 

collections are contained in 47 U.S.C. 

Sections 151, 152, 154, 161 and 208 of 

the Communications Act of 1934, as 

amended. 

Total Annual Burden: 216 hours. 

Total Annual Cost: N/A. 

Privacy Act Impact Assessment: N/A. 

Nature and Extent of Confidentiality: 

The Commission is not requesting that 

the respondents submit confidential 

information to the FCC. However, 

applicants may request confidentiality 

and request confidential treatment for 

information they believe to be 

confidential under 47 CFR 0.459 of the 

Commission’s rules. 

Needs and Uses: The Commission 

will submit this information collection 

to the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) after this 60-day comment period 

in order to obtain the full three-year 

clearance from them. The Commission 

is requesting an extension (no change in 

the reporting and/or third party 

disclosure requirements) of this 

information collection. The Commission 

is reporting a minor adjustment to the 

estimated number of responses. There is 

no change to the estimated annual 

burden hours or the number of 

respondents. Bell Operating Companies 

(BOCs) are required to post their 

Comparably Efficient Interconnection 

(CEI) plans and amendments on their 

publicly accessible Internet sites. The 

requirement extends to all CEI plans for 

new or modified telemessaging or alarm 

monitoring services and for new or 

amended payphone services. If the BOC 

receives a good faith request for a plan 

from someone who does not have 

Internet access, the BOC must notify 

that person where a paper copy of the 

plan is available for public inspection. 

The CEI plans will be used to ensure 

that BOCs comply with Commission 

policies and regulations safeguarding 

against potential anticompetitive 

behavior by the BOCs in the provision 

of information services. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Marlene H. Dortch, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E9–12844 Filed 6–1–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

[DA 09–1115] 

Notice of Debarment 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Enforcement Bureau (the 

‘‘Bureau’’) debars Ms. Cynthia K. Ayer 

from the schools and libraries universal 

service support mechanism (or ‘‘E–Rate 

Program’’) for a period of three years. 

The Bureau takes this action to protect 

the E–Rate Program from waste, fraud 

and abuse. 

DATES: Debarment commences on the 

date Ms. Cynthia K. Ayer receives the 

debarment letter or June 2, 2009, 

whichever date come first, for a period 

of three years. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Rebekah Bina, Federal Communications 

Commission, Enforcement Bureau, 

Investigations and Hearings Division, 

Room 4–C330, 445 12th Street, SW., 

Washington, DC 20554. Rebekah Bina 

may be contacted by phone at (202) 

418–7931 or e-mail at 

Rebekah.Bina@fcc.gov. If Ms. Bina is 

unavailable, you may contact Ms. Vickie 

Robinson, Assistant Chief, 

Investigations and Hearings Division, by 

telephone at (202) 418–1420 and by email at vickie.robinson@fcc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Bureau debarred Ms. Cynthia K. Ayer 

from the schools and libraries universal 

service support mechanism for a period 

of three years pursuant to 47 CFR 54.8 

and 47 CFR 0.111. Attached is the 

debarment letter, DA 09–1115, which 

was mailed to Ms. Cynthia K. Ayer and 

released on May 21, 2009. The complete 

text of the notice of debarment is 

available for public inspection and 

copying during regular business hours 

at the FCC Reference Information 

Center, Portal II, 445 12th Street, SW., 

Room CY–A257, Washington, DC 20554. 

In addition, the complete text is 

available on the FCC’s Web site at 

http://www.fcc.gov. The text may also be 

purchased from the Commission’s 

duplicating inspection and copying 

during regular business hours at the 

contractor, Best Copy and Printing, Inc., 

Portal II, 445 12th Street, SW., Room 

CY–B420, Washington, DC 20554, 

telephone (202) 488–5300 or (800) 378– 

3160, facsimile (202) 488–5563, or via email http://www.bcpiweb.com. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Irene Flannery, 

Assistant Chief, Investigations and Hearings 

Division, Enforcement Bureau. 

The debarment letter, which attached 

the suspension letter, follows: 

May 21, 2009 

Via Certified Mail Return Receipt 

Requested and Facsimile (803) 252– 

8290 

Ms. Cynthia K. Ayer, c/o James Edward 

Holler, Holler Dennis Corbett