37222 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 143 / Tuesday, July 28, 2009 / Notices 

plans and design’’. After extensive 

research by the design engineer and the 

VTANR, the system has provided 

information to the EPA representing that 

there is currently no other UV 

disinfection equipment from a domestic 

manufacturer available to meet the 

System’s exact design 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 utilities, 

such as the Sharon Elementary School 

Water System, to revise their standards 

and specifications and to start the 

bidding process again. 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 a 

fundamental economic purpose of the 

ARRA, which is to create or retain jobs. 

The construction must be completed by 

late August when the students return for 

the new school year. 

EPA’s national contractor prepared a 

technical assessment report dated June 

19, 2009 based on the waiver request 

submitted and supporting 

documentation. The report determined 

that the waiver request submittal was 

complete, that adequate technical 

information was provided, and that 

there were no significant weaknesses in 

the justification provided. The report 

confirmed the waiver applicant’s claim 

that NSF Standard 55 Class A UV 

disinfection equipment of the size 

specified are not available from a 

domestic manufacturer. 

The Municipal Assistance Unit (CMU) 

has reviewed this waiver request and 

has determined that the supporting 

documentation provided by the Sharon 

Elementary School Water District is 

sufficient to meet the criteria listed 

under section 1605(b) of the ARRA and 

in the April 28, 2009, ‘‘Implementation 

of Buy American provisions of Public 

Law 111–5, the ‘American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009’ 

Memorandum’’: 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) of the 

ARRA. 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 System’s technical 

specifications and requirements, a 

waiver from the Buy American 

requirement is justified. 

The March 31, 2009 Delegation of 

Authority Memorandum provided 

Regional Administrators with the 

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 this manufactured 

good was not available from a producer 

in the United States, the Sharon, 

Vermont Elementary School Water 

System is hereby granted a waiver from 

the Buy American requirements of 

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

the purchase of the specified UV 

disinfection equipment using ARRA 

funds as specified in the System’s 

request of June 15, 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: July 17, 2009. 

Ira W. Leighton, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region I, New 

England. 

[FR Doc. E9–17931 Filed 7–27–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–8935–7] 

Notice of a Project Waiver of Section 

1605 (Buy American Requirement) of 

the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to 

the Lewiston, ME Department of Public 

Services 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The EPA 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 Lewiston, Maine Department of 

Public Services (LMDPS) for the 

purchase of a Hydroslide model DR–400 

VN-Vario constant flow regulator. This 

is a project specific waiver and only 

applies to the use of the specified 

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 project specific 

circumstances. This flow regulator is 

manufactured outside of the United 

States by Gabriel Novac & Associates, 

Inc., a company based in Canada, and 

meets the LMDPS’s technical 

specifications and requirements. The 

Acting Regional Administrator is 

making this determination based on the 

review and recommendations of the 

Municipal Assistance Unit. The LMDPS 

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 specific 

constant flow regulator for the proposed 

project being implemented by the 

LMDPS that may otherwise be 

prohibited under Section 1605(a) of the 

ARRA. 

DATES: Effective Date: July 17, 2009. 

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, One Congress Street, CMU, 

Boston, MA 02114. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

In accordance with ARRA Section 

1605(c) and pursuant to Section 

1605(b)(2) of Public Law 111–5, Buy 

American requirements, EPA hereby 

provides notice that it is granting a 

project waiver to the Lewiston, Maine 

Department of Public Services (LMDPS) 

for the acquisition of a Hydroslide 

model DR–400 VN-Vario constant flow 

regulator manufactured outside of the 

United States by Gabriel Novac & 

Associates, Inc., a company based in 

Canada. 

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, or unless a waiver is 

provided to the recipient by the head of 

the appropriate agency, here 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; 

mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 143 / Tuesday, July 28, 2009 / Notices 37223 

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. 

This manufactured good will be 

installed as part of the ‘‘Goff Brook 

Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) 

Storage Project’’ to help reduce 

combined sewer overflows. Parts for this 

specific constant flow regulator device 

are manufactured in Germany, will 

arrive in several pieces, and require 

assembly at the job site prior to 

installation at a total cost of $14,700. 

The Hydroslide DR–400 VN-Vario 

model is a hydraulically-operated flow 

control regulator that allows for 

continued discharge to the downstream 

sewers under normal, dry flow 

conditions. Under specified wet weather 

conditions, the mechanical flow control 

regulator would be activated to divert 

flows to a separate discharge pipe and 

storage chamber to help eliminate CSOs. 

CSOs currently discharge directly to a 

small brook nearby, and this project is 

being implemented to minimize those 

occurrences. The proposed project was 

designed to accommodate a one year, 

six-hour rain event (approximately 2.04 

inches over a 6-hour period), which is 

based on historical rain data from the 

area. 

As represented by the LMDPS, the 

project site is located in a remote rural 

area with limited space and no available 

electrical power. As a result, constant 

flow regulators with modulating sluice 

gates requiring electrical service cannot 

be installed for this project. The 

Hydroslide model DR–400 VN-Vario 

constant flow regulator, which does not 

require any electricity, maintains a preset flow rate at varying water levels 

ranging from 0 to 10 feet on the 

upstream side, with an adjustable flow 

± 30% from the above ground. It is 

operated by use of a float to control a 

sliding plate to reduce the outflow area 

as the water level rises. This allows full 

use of the storage chamber while 

maintaining a constant flow to the 18 

inch outlet pipe. 

According to the LMDPS, there are 

only two other non-electric 

manufacturers of regulators for CSO 

flow control, one foreign and one 

domestic. The only domestic alternative 

is not feasible for several reasons: (1) 

The flow rate is not adjustable; (2) the 

opening is 21⁄2 inches smaller, making it 

more likely to be plugged; and (3) it 

does not reach its peak flow until the 

water level in the tank is at its peak and 

therefore would require a larger storage 

volume in order to capture the same size 

design storm of a one year, six hour rain 

event. As a result, the domestic 

alternative would not be able to meet 

the proposed design specifications. 

If the footprint of the project needs to 

be expanded to increase the storage 

volume to accommodate the domestic 

alternative, additional wetlands would 

be required to be filled. If the storage 

volume was not expanded, the tank 

would overflow more frequently and 

discharge a larger volume of combined 

sewer effluent. This would result in a 

large reduction in the environmental 

benefit for which the tank is being 

constructed and would not meet the 

level of abatement control in the CSO 

Long Term Control Plan approved by 

the State of Maine. 

The April 28, 2009 EPA HQ 

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 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.’’ Based on the 

information provided to EPA and to the 

best of our knowledge at this time, there 

do not appear to be other constant flow 

regulators manufactured in the United 

States available to meet the LMDPS’s 

exact technical specifications and 

requirements. The Hydroslide flow 

regulator is self-operating, requires low 

maintenance, and does not use 

electricity. There do not appear to be 

any American manufacturers that make 

a comparable product. 

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 utilities 

such as the LMDPS to revise their 

standards and specifications and to start 

the bidding process again. The 

imposition of ARRA Buy American 

requirements on such projects otherwise 

eligible for ARRA 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 a fundamental economic purpose 

of the ARRA, which is to create or retain 

jobs. 

EPA’s national contractor prepared a 

technical assessment report dated June 

19, 2009 based on the waiver request 

submitted. The report determined that 

the waiver request submittal was 

complete, that adequate technical 

information was provided, and that 

there were no significant weaknesses in 

the justification provided. The report 

confirmed the waiver applicant’s claim 

that there are no comparable nonelectric domestic products that can 

handle the design storm event without 

overflow, and can be installed at the 

proposed site without requiring 

expanding the necessary storage 

volume. 

The Municipal Assistance Unit has 

reviewed this waiver request and has 

determined that the supporting 

documentation provided by the LMDPS 

is sufficient to meet the criteria listed 

under Section 1605(b) of the ARRA and 

in the April 28, 2009, ‘‘Implementation 

of Buy American provisions of Public 

Law 111–5, the ‘American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009’ 

Memorandum’’: 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) of the 

ARRA. 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 System’s technical 

specifications and requirements, a 

waiver from the Buy American 

requirement is justified. 

The March 31, 2009 Delegation of 

Authority Memorandum provided 

Regional Administrators with the 

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 this manufactured 

good was not available from a producer 

in the United States, the Lewiston, 

Maine Department of Public Services is 

hereby granted a waiver from the Buy 

American requirements of Section 

1605(a) of Public Law 111–5 for the 

purchase of a constant flow regulator 

using ARRA funds as specified in the 

System’s request of June 5, 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: July 17, 2009. 

Ira W. Leighton, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region I, New 

England. 

[FR Doc. E9–17937 Filed 7–27–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES