Document ID: FRA-2010-0122-0001
Agency: fra
Document Type: Rule
Title: Buy America Waiver Requests: Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, etc.
Posted Date: 2010-08-23T04:00Z

[Federal Register: August 2, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 147)]
[Notices]               
[Page 45197-45198]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02au10-146]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

 
Notice of Buy America Waiver Request by Northern New England 
Passenger Rail Authority To Purchase 3,340 AREMA Specified Carbon Steel 
Standard 1\1/8\ Nominal Diameter Nuts

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), United States Department 
of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of Buy America waiver request and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: FRA is issuing this notice to advise the public that the 
Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA) is seeking a 
waiver from FRA's Buy America requirement--49 U.S.C. 24405(a). NNEPRA 
was awarded $35 million in an America Recovery and Reinvestment Act 
(``Recovery Act'') grant to extend Amtrak's Downeaster passenger 
service from its existing route of Boston, Massachusetts to Portland, 
Maine further north to Brunswick, Maine with a stop in Freeport, Maine. 
The project requires the purchase and use of 3,340 AREMA specified 
carbon steel standard 1\1/8\ nominal diameter nuts. NNEPRA seeks the 
waiver under 49 U.S.C. 24405(a)(2)(B) in that it asserts that the 
specific nuts it needs are not produced in the United States in a 
sufficient and reasonably available amount or are not of a satisfactory 
quality.

DATES: Written comments on NNEPRA's Buy America waiver request should 
be provided to the FRA on or before August 12, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Please submit your comments by one of the following means, 
identifying your submissions by docket number FRA-2010-0122. All 
electronic submissions must be made to the U.S. Government electronic 
site at http://www.regulations.gov. Commenters should follow the 
instructions below for mailed and hand-delivered comments.
    (1) Web Site: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions 
for submitting comments on the U.S. Government electronic docket site;
    (2) Fax: (202) 493-2251;
    (3) Mail: U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue, SE., Docket Operations, M-30, Room W12-140, Washington, DC 
20590-0001; or
    (4) Hand Delivery: Room W12-140 on the first floor of the West 
Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9 
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Instructions: All submissions must make reference to the ``Federal 
Railroad Administration'' and include docket number FRA-2010-0122. Due 
to security procedures in effect since October 2001, mail received 
through the U.S. Postal Service may be subject to delays. Parties 
making submissions responsive to this notice should consider using an 
express mail firm to ensure the prompt filing of any submissions not 
filed electronically or by hand. Note that all submissions received, 
including any personal information therein, will be posted without 
change or alteration to http://www.regulations.gov. For more 
information, you may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the 
Federal Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477), or visit 
http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions about this notice, 
please contact Ms. Linda Martin, Attorney-Advisor, FRA Office of Chief 
Counsel, (202) 493-6062 or via e-mail at Linda.Martin@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Recovery Act requires FRA to apply the 
Buy America provisions contained in the Passenger Rail Investment and 
Improvement Act of 2008 (PRIIA), at 49 U.S.C. 24405(a), to grants 
obligated with Recovery Act funds. 49 U.S.C. 24405(a)(1) authorizes the 
Secretary of Transportation (``Secretary'') to obligate grant funds 
only if the steel, iron, and manufactured goods used in the project are 
produced in the United States. However, 49 U.S.C. 24405(a)(2) also 
permits the Secretary to waive the Buy America requirements if he finds 
that: (A) Applying paragraph (1) would be inconsistent with the public 
interest; (B)

[[Page 45198]]

the steel, iron, and goods manufactured in the United States are not 
produced in sufficient and reasonably available amount or are not of a 
satisfactory quality; (C) rolling stock or power train equipment cannot 
be bought or delivered to the United States within a reasonable time; 
or (D) including domestic material will increase the cost of the 
overall project by more than 25 percent.
    If the Secretary determines that it is necessary to waive the Buy 
American provisions, 49 U.S.C. 24405(a)(4) requires that the Secretary 
provide public notice of such a finding and provide an opportunity for 
comment. In addition, PRIIA requires a detailed written justification 
for the decision be published in the Federal Register. This notice 
intends to inform the public that NNEPRA has requested a Buy America 
waiver for 3,340 AREMA Specified Carbon Steel Standard 1\1/8\ Nominal 
Diameter Nuts and to request public comment on the potential waiver.
    NNEPRA was awarded a $35,000,000 Recovery Act grant to extend 
Amtrak Downeaster passenger service from its existing route of Boston, 
Massachusetts to Portland, Maine further north on to Brunswick, Maine 
with a stop in Freeport, Maine. The Project includes the rehabilitation 
of existing rail lines owned by Pan Am Railways, construction of two 
passenger platforms, the rehabilitation of 36 grade crossings, upgrades 
to signals, the installation of signals on the Brunswick Branch, and 
other right-of-way improvements.
    NNEPRA has requested the waiver pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 
24405(a)(2)(B) because it believes that for the reasons set forth in 
this notice the manufactured goods, 3,340 AREMA Specified Carbon Steel 
Standard 1\1/8\ Nominal Diameter Nuts, are not reasonably available in 
the United States and that therefore a waiver is warranted. The project 
calls for 3,340 AREMA specified carbon steel standard 1\1/8\ nominal 
diameter nuts that measure 1.8125'' across the flats and are 1.125'' 
thick to be used with 3,340 track bolts and 3,340 spring washers. All 
but 80 of the nuts and bolts will be removed when the joints are welded 
at a later date. The cost of the nut is estimated to be $0.75 (Seventy 
Five Cents) each. In its waiver request, NNEPRA asserts that only 
$60.00 worth of non-domestic material will remain in the project upon 
completion though this is largely irrelevant because FRA's Buy America 
requirement includes construction materials, as well as materials left 
in any finished projects. The track bolts and spring washers are 
domestically produced; however, NNEPRA asserts that the nuts are not 
available from a domestic source. NNEPRA asserts that it verified 
independently with six of the major track material suppliers and 
manufacturers that the nut is indeed not available domestically. The 
companies contacted were: Atlantic Track and Turnout, L.B. Foster, 
Progress Rail, Unitrac, A&K Railroad and Rockford Products.
    With this information in mind and in order to completely understand 
the facts surrounding NNEPRA's request, FRA seeks comment from all 
interested parties regarding the availability of domestically 
manufactured track nuts as described, and the potential Buy America 
waiver.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on July 27, 2010.
Mark E. Yachmetz,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Development, Federal Railroad 
Administration.
[FR Doc. 2010-18807 Filed 7-30-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P