Document ID: NHTSA-2015-0007-0001
Agency: nhtsa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Buy American Waivers
Posted Date: 2015-02-24T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 36 (Tuesday, February 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9849-9851]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-03695]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA--2015-0007]

Notice of Buy America Waiver

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of Buy America Waivers.

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SUMMARY: This notice provides NHTSA's finding with respect to three 
requests from the North Carolina Department of Transportation, 
Governor's Highway Safety Program (NCGHSP) to waive the Buy America 
requirement. NHTSA finds that a non-availability waiver of the Buy 
America requirement is inappropriate for the purchase of seven 
different models of child safety seats because there are comparable 
products produced in the United States. In addition, NHTSA finds that a 
non-availability waiver is appropriate for NCGHSP to purchase e-
citation printers, and HP printer cartridges and imaging drums because 
there are no comparable products produced domestically.

DATES: The effective date of this waiver is March 2, 2015. Written 
comments regarding this notice may be submitted to NHTSA and must be 
received on or before: March 11, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted using any one of the 
following methods:
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, M-30, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building, Ground Floor, Rm. W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590.
     Fax: Written comments may be faxed to (202) 493-2251.
     Internet: To submit comments electronically, go to the 
Federal regulations Web site at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
online instructions for submitting comments.

[[Page 9850]]

     Hand Delivery: West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time, 
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Instructions: All comments submitted in relation to this waiver 
must include the agency name and docket number. Please note that all 
comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. You 
may also call the Docket at 202-366-9324.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 
    For program issues, contact Barbara Sauers, Office of Regional 
Operations and Program Delivery, NHTSA (phone: 202-366-0144). For legal 
issues, contact Andrew DiMarsico, Office of Chief Counsel, NHTSA 
(phone: 202-366-5263). You may send mail to these officials at National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., 
Washington, DC 20590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    This notice provides NHTSA's finding that a waiver of the Buy 
America requirements, 23 U.S.C. 313, is not appropriate for NCGHSP to 
purchase seven different models of child safety seats using grant funds 
authorized under 23 U.S.C. 402. This notice also provides NHTSA's 
finding that a non-availability waiver is appropriate for the purchase 
of e-citation printers, and HP printer cartridges and imaging drums 
using grant funds authorized under sections 23 U.S.C. 405(c) and 402, 
respectively.
    Section 402 funds are available for use by State Highway Safety 
Programs that, among other things, encourage the proper use of occupant 
protection devices, including child restraint systems. 23 U.S.C. 
402(a). Section 405(c) funds are available for use by State highway 
safety programs to support the development and implementation of 
effective State programs that, among other things, improve the 
timeliness, accuracy, completeness, uniformity, integration, and 
accessibility of State traffic safety data. 23 U.S.C. 405(c)(1).
    Buy America provides that NHTSA ``shall not obligate any funds 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out the Surface Transportation 
Assistance Act of 1982 (96 Stat. 2097) or [Title 23] and administered 
by the Department of Transportation, unless steel, iron, and 
manufactured products used in such project are produced in the United 
States.'' 23 U.S.C. 313. However, NHTSA may waive those requirements if 
(1) their application would be inconsistent with the public interest; 
(2) such materials and products are not produced in the United States 
in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory 
quality; or (3) the inclusion of domestic material will increase the 
cost of the overall project contract by more than 25 percent. 23 U.S.C. 
313(b).
    NCGHSP seeks waivers to use Federal highway safety grant funds to 
purchase (1) seven different models of child safety seats for use in 
its Child Passenger Safety Program;\1\ (2) e-citation printers for use 
by local police officers; and (3) Hewlett-Packard(HP) 130A LaserJet 
Toner Cartridges and HP 126A LaserJet Imaging Drum CE314A for existing 
printers used by occupant protection program staff in their daily 
activities. In this notice, we first address the child safety seats, 
then the e-citation printers, and lastly the HP cartridges and imaging 
drums.
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    \1\ NCGHSP requests to purchase the following models of child 
safety seats: Baby Trend Inertia, Chicco Keyfit 30, Cybex Aton Q, 
Graco HeadWise 70, Graco Nautilus, Graco Affix, and Evenflo Rightfit 
Booster.
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    NCGHSP seeks a waiver to use Federal highway safety grant funds to 
purchase various models of foreign made car seats in its Child 
Passenger Safety (CPS) program to train prospective and new 
technicians. NCGHSP states that it is unable to identify any comparable 
domestic made car seats to use in its CPS certification and renewal 
training classes. However, NHTSA conducted an assessment and identified 
comparable American manufactured car seats that could be used to 
fulfill the purpose of NCGHSP's CPS certification and renewal training 
classes. Consequently, as explained below, NHTSA has determined that a 
waiver to purchase these foreign made car seats is inappropriate.
    NCGHSP states the purpose of the CPS certification and renewal 
training classes is to offer CPS technicians and prospective 
technicians the opportunity for hands-on training of a wide variety of 
child safety seats and booster seats. Based on their request, NCGHSP 
seeks a Buy America waiver to purchase various foreign-made car seat 
models to perform car seat training for CPS technicians and prospective 
technicians. In general, the car seats that NCGHSP seeks to purchase 
are categorized into four classes of seats: (1) Rear-facing only seats, 
(2) convertible seats, (3) combination seats, and (4) booster seats. 
NHTSA found that both Britax and Dorel manufacture seats in all four 
requested classes in the United States. Based on this information, 
NCGHSP has not demonstrated that it meets the Buy America waiver 
requirements to purchase foreign-made child safety car seats to use in 
its CPS certification and renewal training classes.
    NCGHSP states that each of the seven child seats has a feature that 
is not found on domestically produced car seats or the seat is popular 
with consumers. NHTSA recognizes that there are dozens of different car 
seat models in class of child restraints and that some domestic car 
seats may lack similar features available in the car seat models 
requested by North Carolina, but these features are marketing based 
features that have little overall impact on the functionality of the 
seats. Thus, even without the features of the car seats that NCGHSP 
seeks, the overall function of domestic made seats fulfill the purpose 
for the CPS certification and renewal training classes. The purpose of 
these classes is to provide the basic knowledge and technical skills of 
the correct use and installation of car restraints (i.e. rear facing, 
convertibles, forward facing), booster seats, and seat belts necessary 
to certify technicians to conduct safety inspection stations and 
provide basic community education. With such a large variety of car 
seats in the market, and with marketing features to distinguish a 
restraint from competitors, the CPS training classes must provide basic 
training that is common to all seats. A large number of domestically 
produced car seats are available for this purpose. Since comparable 
models of the requested classes of car seats are produced domestically, 
NCGHSP's Buy America waiver is denied. NHTSA invites public comment on 
this conclusion.
    NCGHSP also seeks a waiver to purchase mobile printers to assist 
North Carolina law enforcement agencies in participating in North 
Carolina's state-wide e-citation program. North Carolina's e-citation 
program is an integrated state-wide system that permits data obtained 
from by an officer during a traffic stop to be available 
instantaneously in the state court system. Following state procurement 
procedures, NCGHSP opened a publicly advertised bid for two types of e-
citation printers: (1) Inkjet printer and (2) thermal printer. None of 
the bids received offered a printer that was produced in the United 
States. The specifications NCGHSP requires for the inkjet printers are 
as follows: print resolution of 600 DPI Black and 4800 x 1200 DPI 
color; print speed of 22 ppm Black and 18 ppm color; compatible with 
Windows; Borderless printing (up to 4 x 6 in); USB 2.0 connectivity; 
and Bluetooth capability. The specifications that NCGHSP requires for 
thermal printers are as follows: Print resolution

[[Page 9851]]

of 300 DPI; print speed of 6 ppm; compatible with Windows; must be able 
to print 4'' thermal roll paper and and 8.5'' sheet feed thermal paper; 
product weight of 1.1 lbs; USB 2.0 connectivity; and Bluetooth 
capability.
    NHTSA conducted a market analysis that did not locate any 
comparable American manufactured e-citation printers that are 
compatible with North Carolina's state-wide e-citation program. NHTSA 
was able to identify the FieldPro Series, a direct thermal mobile 
printer manufactured in the United States by Printek, Inc.\2\ However, 
it does not appear that the FieldPro Series meets the specifications 
required by North Carolina. The FieldPro Series printer is unable to 
print 8.5'' sheet feed thermal paper; it prints at 2.8 ips and at a 
resolution of 203 dps. Since the FieldPro Series printer does not meet 
the specifications required by NCGHSP, NHTSA has determined that there 
are no comparable products manufactured domestically. Therefore, a Buy 
America waiver is appropriate since Printek's FieldPro Series does not 
not meet the specification required by NCGHSP for its e-citation 
program. NHTSA invites public comment on this conclusion.
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    \2\ See http://www.printek.com/index.php/mobile/about.
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    Lastly, NCGHSP seeks a waiver to purchase HP printer cartridges and 
imaging drums for existing HP printers. The State intends to use the 
printer cartridges and imaging drums in the Injury Prevention section 
of its Buckle Up Kids/Safe Kids NC program. The requested equipment 
will be used to print outreach and educational materials for the 
program. NCGHSP states that only HP cartridges and imaging drums should 
be used in the program's HP printers because equipment produced by 
other manufacturers may cause degradation or quality issues when used 
in place of HP products. It is unable to identify any printer 
cartridges and imaging drums for existing HP printers that meet the Buy 
America requirements. The State noted that HP is a large, multinational 
corporation with facilities, including manufacturing facilities, world-
wide. NCGHSP is unable to identify the location of the facilities that 
produce the replacement HP printer cartridges and imaging drums. NHTSA 
conducted similar assessments and cannot confirm that HP printer 
cartridges and imaging drums are produced domestically and is not aware 
of any comparable printer cartridges and imaging drums produced in the 
United States. Therefore, the Buy America waiver is appropriate. NHTSA 
invites public comment on this conclusion.
    In light of the above discussion, and pursuant to 23 U.S.C. 
313(b)(2), NHTSA finds that it is appropriate to grant waivers from the 
Buy America requirements to NCGHSP in order for it to use Federal 
highway safety grant funds to purchase e-citation printers and HP 
printer cartridges and imaging drums. These waivers apply to North 
Carolina and all other States seeking to use section 405(c) funds to 
purchase e-citation printers meeting the specifications described above 
and section 402 funds for HP printer cartridges and imaging drums for 
the purposes mentioned herein. These waivers will continue through 
fiscal year 2015 and will allow the purchase of these items as required 
for North Carolina's Governor's Highway Safety Program. Accordingly, 
these waivers will expire at the conclusion of fiscal year 2015 
(September 30, 2015). In accordance with the provisions of Section 117 
of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity 
Act: A Legacy of Users Technical Corrections Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-
244, 122 Stat. 1572), NHTSA is providing this notice as its finding 
that a waiver of the Buy America requirement is appropriate.
    NHTSA also determines that it is inappropriate to grant a waiver 
from the Buy America requirement for NCGHSP to use Federal highway 
safety grant funds to purchase various models of car seats in its Child 
Passenger Safety Program.
    Written comments on these findings may be submitted through any of 
the methods discussed above. NHTSA may reconsider these findings, if 
through comment, it learns of additional relevant information regarding 
its decisions related to NCGHSP's waiver requests.
    These findings should not be construed as an endorsement or 
approval of any products by NHTSA or the U.S. Department of 
Transportation. The United States Government does not endorse products 
or manufacturers.

    Authority: 23 U.S.C. 313; Pub. L. 110-161.

    Issued in Washington, DC under authority delegated in 49 CFR 
1.95.
O. Kevin Vincent,
Chief Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2015-03695 Filed 2-23-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P