Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 143 / Tuesday, July 28, 2009 / Notices 37221 

there is no reasonable and less 

environmentally damaging practicable 

alternative for achieving the 

Congressional directive than to locate a 

sector gate adjacent to the Bayou aux 

Carpes CWA 404(c) site. 

In consideration of the above 

information, EPA believes that 

compelling circumstances justify a 

modification of the 1985 Bayou aux 

Carpes CWA Section 404(c) designation, 

that there are no less environmentally 

damaging practicable alternatives that 

would adequately address those 

circumstances, and that all feasible 

means of minimizing adverse wetland 

effects to the Bayou aux Carpes site will 

be implemented. Therefore, EPA is 

modifying the 1985 Bayou aux Carpes 

CWA 404(c) Final Determination with 

conditions to allow for discharges 

associated with construction of the West 

Closure Complex on the Bayou aux 

Carpes site as described in the Corps’ 

November 4, 2008, request for 

modification. EPA believes that this 

Final Determination for modification 

achieves a balance between the national 

interest in reducing overwhelming flood 

risks to the people and critical 

infrastructure of south Louisiana while 

minimizing any damage to the Bayou 

aux Carpes CWA Section 404(c) area to 

the maximum degree possible in order 

to avoid unacceptable adverse effects. 

Dated: July 21, 2009. 

Michael H. Shapiro, 

Acting Assistant Administrator for Water. 

[FR Doc. E9–17928 Filed 7–27–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–8935–8] 

Notice of a Project Waiver of Section 

1605 (Buy American Requirement) of 

the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to 

the Sharon Elementary School Water 

System, Sharon, VT 

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 Sharon 

Elementary School Water System in 

Sharon, Vermont for the purchase of 

NSF–55 Class A certified Ultra Violet 

(UV) disinfection equipment. This is 

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. The UV 

disinfection equipment under 

consideration is manufactured outside 

of the United States by two companies 

based in Canada and meets the water 

system’s technical and design 

specifications. The Acting Regional 

Administrator is making this 

determination based on the review and 

recommendations of the Municipal 

Assistance Unit. The Sharon Elementary 

School Water System 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 the ARRA. This 

action permits the purchase of specific 

UV disinfection equipment for the 

proposed project being implemented by 

the Sharon Elementary School Water 

System. 

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 Sharon Elementary 

School Water System (the ‘‘System’’) in 

Sharon, Vermont for the acquisition of 

NSF–55 Class A certified Ultra Violet 

(UV) disinfection equipment 

manufactured outside of the United 

States. 

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; 

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 State of Vermont requires that 

water supply installations must comply 

with the Vermont Standards for Water 

System Design, Construction and 

Protection (Vermont Water Supply 

Rule—Chapter 21). In order to meet 

these standards the State of Vermont 

requires public water systems using UV 

disinfection to use National Sanitation 

Foundation (NSF) Standard 55 

(Ultraviolet Microbial Water Treatment 

Systems) Class A certified UV 

equipment. The State of Vermont, 

Agency of Natural Resources, Water 

Supply Division (VTANR) has identified 

three lines of UV disinfection systems 

with NSF–55 Class A certification, all 

manufactured in Canada. Two of the 

three include the UV Pure Hallett 15xs 

ultraviolet water system, as well as the 

Trojan Technologies Sterilight SPV 200 

series units. The design engineer and 

the VTANR have conducted research 

and determined that there are no 

domestic manufacturers that have NSF– 

55 Class A certification at the time of 

this waiver request. 

The design engineer for the System 

indicated that he chose to use four 

Hallett 15xs (15 gpm) UV units for the 

school buildings and one Sterilight SPV 

200 (2 gpm) UV unit for a remote 

location which receives its water supply 

from the school well. The designs also 

took into account the limited space 

available for retrofitting the water 

supply and distribution systems, as well 

as the attributes of the specific 

equipment. The estimated cost for all of 

the UV equipment for the proposed 

project was under $10,000. 

The System’s submission clearly 

articulates functional reasons for its 

technical specifications and 

requirements, 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 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 

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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